I am a Facebook voyeur, and I have been guilty of shameless schadenfreude. Several years ago, I got a friend request from a man I didn’t know, but we had friends in common, so I accepted. All I knew is that he was a widower in his late 70s. He sent me a nice message. But after a few months of seeing his posts, I…
Why Should You Research a Nonprofit Before You Donate? In general, nonprofit organizations exist to further a social cause or provide a public benefit. While many do, some don’t live up to the values and mission they claim. How nonprofits spend their money may be different than what you expect. For instance, ProPublica has reported on how the Red Cross built just six homes after…
I have no intention of quitting Twitter, the social media site that I’ve dutifully scrolled through nearly every day since I joined in 2009. I intend to stick around and watch this train wreck happen. The sight of Elon Musk getting his comeuppance will be at least as entertaining as the dozen or so accounts the algorithm masters in Twitterland have decided to send my…
A few people felt it. Other people didn’t. Some said L.A. earthquakes have felt stronger in Wine Country. Some said they and their cats were scared for an hour after feeling the tremor. The tie-breaking quote, however, came from Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the U.S. Geological Survey. A magnitude 3.7 earthquake was reported Friday at 9:41 p.m. Pacific…
It may seem counter-intuitive considering the rapid decline of newspapers, but New York Times columnist Dave Leonhard told UC-Riverside students that “In terms of high-quality, ambitious journalism, we are living in a golden age right now.” Leonhard made that comment, and others, on Feb. 27 as he gave the 51st Hays Press-Enterprise Lecture on Feb. 27 at the UC Riverside Extension Center, 1200 University Ave, Riverside,…
Baseball season has ended, my baseball season anyway since all I live for is watching multiple Major League Baseball games on numerous devices and screens. They call it the post-season for a reason. OK. While watching baseball games, I also dedicate a screen to scream at cable news while reading computer stuff about dotard and his disgusting criminal traitor regime. Not to get too far…
This bit of Escondido-mania has blown up on social media since Wednesday. Desiree Bates of iHeartMedia sent me the “scoop” saying, “Thought I’d send this to you since it’s relevant to Escondido.” No sale. I wrote her back, saying, “Whoa, what is this thing? Don’t think our viewers are into it though.” Wow, was I wrong. This sucker has blown up all over the Internet….
Nothing like fire to spark interest in the “mainstream media” — it’s the easiest and most colorful spectacle to trot across local TV — and social media. Throw in spectacular smoke, large numbers of responders and close proximity to freeways and morning rush hour traffic and voila’, the perfect 2016 media storm. (Updated at 4:30 p.m.) It’s an easy story and no doubt interesting although…