China

China gets all the perks. First it was announced that they would play host for this year's Olympics. If that weren't enough they also got the total solar eclipse.

You can go here to check it out in case you missed it. They have a few videos recapping the amazing event. Totality occurs a little after 51 minutes in the telescope-only video.

I will always be amazed by the cosmos. I do recall a solar eclipse when I was in elementary school that was truly amazing.

Patch Print Problems In Three Easy Steps

I'm a parasite.

A leech.

According to this article in the Maui Time Weekly I am part of the problem, not the solution. Ted Rall makes some interesting market-based points about how to remedy the tanking print industry. Among them, all newspapers should pull the plug on their online offerings.

Other suggestions included copyrighting every article and cease participation in wire services.

Other key points:

• "The New York Times or the big city daily has better news, but how much better?" said San Jose State University business professor Joel West. "If it's $20/month (or even $10 or merely requires a login) will readers bother? Most won't. As with other commodities, better loses to 'good enough.'"
• "A reader of The New York Times' print edition generates about 170 times as much revenue as someone who surfs NYTimes.com. (This is because print readers spend 47 minutes with the paper. Online browsers visit the paper's website a mere seven minutes)."