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What Magazines Do You Read?
Osgyth asks: "Everyone is quick to complain about a magazine when the author makes a mistake or a stupid comment. Wired and PC Magazine are only some that have fallen to this attack. Which 'PC related' magazines does the Slashdot crowd read? Are they informative and accurate? Or merely read for their entertainment value?" Why limit the topic to just PC Magazines? What other periodicals do you all read that you find interesting?
...Scientific American, National Geographic, 2600, Mens Health, Instinct, Gourmet, Wired, Time (latest 3 weeks), and a myrid of catalogs on a variety of topics.
Scientific American is the only magazine that is interesting enough to make me regularly read it cover to cover.
Yes, given the state of education in America, the magazine title is becoming an oxymoron. :(
I look forward to every new issue just to see what they'll do next.
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
Major Topics
steal this sig
Actually I've found the news reporting on FoxNews to be fairly much down the middle of the road. Now their *commentary* such as that given by Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reily, is definitely tilted to the right. But the actual news reporting seems fairly unbiased. Not at all like CNN, in my opintion. CNN tilts so hard to the left I feel dizzy after watching it. Speaking of Bill O., I have to laugh when he mentions his show is a "no spin zone". He has more spin that just about any show I watch.
I agree with you about the New Yorker - it's currently the only magazine to which I subscribe, but the cost isn't too expensive, since they publish close to 50 issues per year. Plus, its proper grammar counter-balances Slashdot. :)
My favorite columnist is Peter Schjeldahl, the art critic. I learn - or at least am exposed to - at least one new word in every article he writes and he has amazing density. Take this example, from a recent issue (June 7): "The god of the plains is an orthodox minimalist, specializing in brute coups of uninflected space and light."
I mean, 300 comments and nobody mentioned it yet? Maybe I have a grossly inflated opinion of them, and someone can clue me in as to if they suck, and why.
The magazine is short, to the point, has a truckload of awesome tips and tricks sections (most of which would be of interest to even advanced computer users), has phenomenally accurate hardware and software reviews (to the point where I'm almost inclined to take their reviews as gospel) and it has a good geeky attitude that makes it an entertaining read. I've been a subscriber since they were called Boot magazine in the mid-1990s, and to this day I've never seen anything to make me doubt their integrity or make me want to cancel my subscription. It's also a damn cheap mag, renewals are usually $12 for the year.
Basically if you give a damn about computer hardware, you should have a subscription. Very highly recommended.
Hell is being intelligent in a world full of idiots.
Every month Playboy has something where the review software, games, and other tech stuff. They once reviewed Mozilla (Firefox didn't exist at the time, I don't believe) and gave it rave reviews. I thought that was pretty cool. I even brought the issue to school to show my nerdy friends, heh.
-Vic
Linux Journal is a great magazine too. Their articles are incredibly rich in technical details - and the coverage isn't just linux kernel focused. They also have great articles about system administration tools, embedded systems, new hardware and general open source software development. They do accept advertising, but the ads are actually useful and relevant -- embedded h/w suppliers, cluster computing manufacturers, hosting providers, etc. I'm sure this is all preaching to the choir, though.
When is the last time you opened a Playboy? Picture content isn't very high. . . There are maybe 10 pages of pictures while all the others are either ads or articles.
YOU'RE WINNER !
Another lame blog
Now if they would just stop selling my address to all those snail-mail spammers that seem to think every nature subscriber is a microbiologist.
I've tried just about everything, trying to find an efficient way to stay as informed as possible. One principle I've learned: The longer time there is between publications (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc), the better the articles. I guess it shouldn't be surprise.
...
Not just magazines, in rough order of how essential they are.
NEWS AND CURRENT EVENTS
* National Journal Daily Briefing: If you read one thing every day, make it this national headline summary from the beltway publication, the National Journal. Available for free here: doonesbury.com/media/dailybriefing/index.html (there's nothing about it that will remind you of Doonesbury).
* The Economist: I can't add to what's been said above
* The Atlantic: They ask great questions, and think well. They get a little too far from the facts some times, but otherwise fantastic.
* Foreign Affairs: Written by the leading foreign policy experts.
* Stratfor.com: Cold hard geopolitical intelligence, not news. Far superior to most other sources in their predictions, analysis, and willingness to address the fundemental, practical questions.
* NY Times, Wall St Journal, Wash Post, LA Times, Christian Science Monitor: The dailies worth your time.
* BBC World Service Newshour: The toughest journalists around. The interviews are the best, with regular pregnant pauses from world leaders. Unfortunately, at an hour a day with no index to the segments, too time-consuming.
WORLDWIDE PERSPECTIVES
* News International from Pakistan: (jang.com.pk/thenews) I've looked around for good '3rd world' media; this daily isn't perfect, but they're far ahead of most peers. Esp. good when balanced with
* Hindustan Times: Another excellent daily from the developing world.
* AFP: The major French newswire covers stories omitted elsewhere.
* Institute for War and Peace Reporting: (iwpr.net) Unique, close-to-the-action coverage of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and other hot spots.
* Far Eastern Economic Review (feer.com) Owned by Dow Jones (publishers of the Wall St Journal), matchless coverage of the 'far east'.
OTHER SUBJECTS
* SCIENCE: ScienceWeek (scienceweek.com) If you want efficient, serious coverage of science, there's no peer; Scientific American is for wimps. Absolutely take a look at this weekly. I can't recommend them enough.
* PUBLIC OPINION: PollingReport.com: Summaries of all major polls at one, well organized, no-nonsense website.
* BASEBALL: Baseball Primer weblog: (baseballthinkfactory.org/files/primer) If you're as much a baseball geek as you are a computer geek.