June | 2009 | Paul M. Davis

Personality Crisis: The Dissolution of the Independent Press Association

From Punk Planet #80 Late in December 2006, while most offices were closed for the holidays, the Independent Press Association (IPA) quietly sent an e-mail to its member publications announcing that the organization was closing its doors. Despite previous optimism expressed … Continue reading

Innovative Ways for Newspapers to Commit Suicide

There's been plenty of bad ideas recently on how to save the newspaper industry: forcing Google to stop driving traffic to newspaper sites, for example. But here is an idea so insane as to tempt disbelief: an argument in favor … Continue reading

Michael Jackson and the Narcissism of Minor Differences

I don't intend to add to the cacophony of responses about the thoroughly sad life and death of Michael Jackson; instead to the cacophony over people's reactions to the death. I've seen three major pillars of responses on the social … Continue reading

Google Reader and its discontents

RSS and it's discontents The Santa Cruz Weekly is running a feature this week about my particular experience with information overload, online, and my rediscovery this year of the joys of slow print reading. Unforunately, it's not available as a … Continue reading

Writing for Nickels

Freelance writing mills are ubiquitous online: generally, they demand that you devote hours of your time building your reputation and profile on what is essentially an eBay for tedious, lifeless copywriting. The rewards are minor. While Dan Baum gripes on … Continue reading

The Iranian Elections, Social Media and Protest Pr0n

The use of social media like Twitter and Facebook to organize Iranian protestors and broadcast news to the outside world is a testament to the potential for social media to break through a repressive regime’s media iron curtain. There is … Continue reading

Bloody Mary Mornings, and Time to Write

My old band Mule Train did a cover of Willie Nelson’s “Bloody Mary Morning”, a song about a lovelorn Willie managing a cross-country flight from LAX with a stiff plastic cup of vodka and spicy tomato juice. It’s a great … Continue reading

Travel of the Mind

One of the frustrations of travel is that you only completely appreciate it in retrospect, not unlike nature. The immediate experience is banal, unimpressive—standing in front of a breathtaking vista merely thinking to yourself, “oh, well I am supposed to … Continue reading

Some Cursory Impressions of Australian Radio

It really isn't (only) a stereotype: the Australians love their country music, as evidenced by Australian radio, approximately 20% of which is populated by country stations. Just today, I heard Kenny Chesney, Dolly Parton doing "9-5", and a truly abysmal … Continue reading

How to Relax: Australia, Days 3-5

After three days in Sydney, we have made our way out to the rural Kangaroo Valley, and are staying for a few days at a farm house owned by my wife’s uncle. The sights are rather breathtaking, I can attest … Continue reading

Paul M. Davis

Technology, social justice and the independent arts. Austin via Chicago via Santa Cruz.

Month: June 2009