richard.grayson8f5b
Member since May 11, 2009
Recent Comments
Re: “The War Memorials of Brooklyn”
Wonderful article. Thanks so much, Henry.
Re: “The Doors Don't Suck”
People under 60 really can't appreciate them, obviously.
Re: “HUGE: On the Future of the Open Web in 1, 5, and 10 Years”
Back in the 1980s, I was a "computer educator." I would go into public schools in Florida school districts and train teachers on the use of computers and how to program in Basic and other languages. At that point, states began mandating that students learn computer languages and programming. Texas had a curriculum in which elementary school students would learn the language Logo, middle school students Basic, and high school students Pascal. Even at the time, I could see that this was all flawed, and you can see that in the history of technologies like the automobile, where in the beginning, every driver has to be a mechanic and understand his or her car's operation and how to make repairs. But then professionals took over. In 1984, I took a graduate course in education in a language called PILOT (Programmed Instruction, Learning, Or Teaching) which enabled teachers to program quizzes and tests and other educational materials before there was much off-the-shelf software. By the end of the 1980s, all this was utterly beside the point as it was obvious that a few professionals could do the work and that most lay people just needed to be end users of a product. So I am skeptical that in the future, people will have to know how to code.
Re: “Can E-Books Save the Indie Bookstore?”
How can you completely omit that most Americans associated Kobo with Borders Books and Music?
From the New York Times on December 15, 2009:
Borders Group announced Tuesday that it is developing a new e-book reader and e-book service in partnership with Kobo, a spinoff from Indigo Books & Music, a Canadian publishing company. The Web service is already live at Kobobooks.com and will be integrated into Borders.com within the second quarter of 2010.
The partners said the new e-bookstore will also offers mobile reading applications and will be “device neutral,” allowing readers to download content to the most popular smartphones, including the Apple iPhone, Research in Motion BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Google Android devices.
The Kobo service plans to offer 1.8 million free books from the Internet Archive and 200,000 other books starting at $9.99 and serve the European Union, Asia and the United States.
Borders and Kobo offered little information about the upcoming e-reader devices, but here’s what I know: Kobo plans to release more than one version of the e-reader, they will have wireless connectivity and they will be sold in Borders bookstores.
In an interview, Ron Marshall, chief executive of Borders Group, told me that the company wants to reach “readers who buy a couple of books a year and we hope to offer a product for that market.”
Kobo didn't save Borders, did it? What makes this different?
Re: “In Which I Meet an OkCupid Dom”
When it's least expected - you're elected. You're the star today
With a hocus-pocus - you're in focus.
It's your lucky day
It's fun to laugh at yourself. It's a tonic, tried and true.
It's fun to laugh at yourself as other people do.
How's your sense of humor?
There's a rumor: Laughter's on its way.
Smile!
Re: “The Best of Young Brooklyn”
How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
Over fifty years.
Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
The young people.
What's next for you?
Death.
Re: “"An Applebee's Grows in Brooklyn"”
I suspect their clientele is year-round residents, not seasonal visitors. The people who live in Coney Island are mostly poor and lower middle class. An Applebee's will provide them with a year-round dining choice they didn't have before, just like the locations they've put at the Junction, downtown at Flatbush & DeKalb and in Atlantic Terminal, and Restoration Plaza. It's on the street, not the boardwalk, and will be open all year round. They're aiming at a community underserved by fast-casual restaurants, as can be seen by their sponsorship of events like the Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series at Winthrop Field. As a vegetarian, I don't eat there, but I bet their demographic survey of the community led them to believe they'll be successful there. And Applebee's is a superior experience to another Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, etc. for people with limited funds.