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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?
I *read* Playboy. No, really...it's for the articles!!
T...The Magazine for the Slashdotter who missed the story the third time around!
Extra!, the paper magazine of the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).
FAIR analyzes how the media reports, what they report, what they don't report, and calls out their biases.
They've done a lot of work around telecommunications policy , looking at what the governement is saying, what business is saying, and how it will affect you and me.
They don't speculate--I love them because they are so analytical. They are data heads who use the LexisNexis database to stastistically evaluate how the media does. Is there a conservative bias in media? They'll give you the numbers and let you decide.
Subscription is $21/year.
I'm much funnier now that I'm a subscriber.
Asian temptress, and Hot House wive regularly.
(\_/)
(O.o) This is Bunny. Add Bunny to your signature
(> <) to help him achieve world domination.
The ones that I do like to read are most of the men's fitness/health magazines. My all-time favorite is Mens Health though. They seem to be very accurate on alot of things and I still haven't seen it matched by the myriad of other ones that are out there.
Hmmm.
When I can sit and reload slashdot all day!
CIO Insight, eWeek, CRM, PC Week, PC World, Dr. Dobbs Journal, Information Week, Info World, Maxim, FHM, Stuff, Golf World, Seventeen, Glamour, InStyle, Wired, EGM, Outdoor Life, Something Music Retailer, Something about Embedded Electronics, American Baby, Parenting, Home Channel New, plus a few others that I probably missed. Of course those are all the free ones I've found. The only sub I pay for is Playboy of course. :)
I have only subscribed to one magazine ever... Maxim . The first time I picked up Maxim I said to myself, "what a joke." I didn't realize just how right I was! I have subscribed most of the way through college and it continues now. The stack on the shelf behind the toilet is chock full of great articles, beautiful women, and some of the best "toys" that you could find. I wish I could afford all the goodies they list.
:)
The best part of Maxim is that my gf enjoys reading it as well and doesn't complain about the half-naked hotties that dot its pages.
It's inexpensive (generally under $17.00/year), it's funny, it's well put together, the articles are worth reading, and the women are plentiful and gorgeous. The only thing that I wish it had that it does not are the 1000+ line BASIC programs for me to type in that Byte used to. Now *THAT* was HOT!
No, I don't work for Maxim but I wish I did.
Computer Power User - it's what Byte tried to be, before they were forced to have 3 pages of adverts for every page of content, and renamed themselves "MaximumPC"
------- "From bored to fanboy in 3.8 asian girls" ----------
Wired and PC Magazine are only some that have fallen to this attack.
While Wired can still be interesting (I read it since I started getting a free subscription somehow) it has steadily turned into the "shiny things" computer magazine. Anything stupidly expensive instantly gets coverage. PC Magazine went from being a reasonable source of information to a huge glut of advertisements with worthless content sprinkled in here an there.
2600 is entertaining still and I buy it regularly (don't want to be on that subscription list though *GASP*!) although some of the articles list tech information that's just nowhere near correct. A little too heavy on the lame windows exploits/security information too.
Non tech: Maxim and Stuff really do have pretty interesting/funny articles (and other things too)
Casual Games/Downloads
Linux Magazine (UK), Wired, SI, and 2600
I'm a hamker. Hams, hackers, same ethos, different medium. == 73 de KB0STG
Hustler and National Review. Proceedings of the ACM now and again.
The best magazine around. It's not PC related, but I got tired of reading PC rags right about the time they all started sucking up to the manufacturers 7 years ago.
"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."- Steven Wright
dead tree edition... then see the articles posted here after they hit the wired website a few days later =)
*shrug*
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
I was reading Mental Floss until my local Barnes & Noble stopped carrying it... I might just have to start up a subscription.
I do subsribe to National Geographic but I've found myself not reading it that much but just looking at the pictures.
I read wired cover to cover every month. It's the only paper publication I read. It's as pretty as it is poignant.
--What, you ain't know about them country fried sessions?
Smithsonian and Discover are the magazines of choice, but only for the pictures! Oh and Sysadmin Magazine, which always has useful articles in it (can't wait to dig through the CDROM they sent with their back issues on it).
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
I gave up buying consumer PC mags as they didn't tell me anything that I hadn't already found out at least 6 weeks before. I still read some of the weekly trade magazines though, mainly because I get them free at work.
Other than that, the only ones I buy are related to mountain bikes, or occasionally hi-fi kit.
...Scientific American, National Geographic, 2600, Mens Health, Instinct, Gourmet, Wired, Time (latest 3 weeks), and a myrid of catalogs on a variety of topics.
yeah, that's right, the one where ol'Dicky is supposedly a robot.
Why? Because if I want to read lies, I might as well know I'm reading them.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
The Financial Times offers analysis as well as news and rarely makes the thicko comments inferences found in other papers (including The Times I'm afraid to say - I mean 'Loosers' was clearly a reference to Wayne Rooney - not to Rebecca Loos...)
As an aside - none of the newspapers have decent IT columns///
The Economist. By far the most thorough, witty and unabashedly opinionated source of news and analysis in the English-speaking world. Politics, technology, business, arts and literature--it's all there.
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. :(
Only magazine I buy periodically is the Reader's Digest - usually at airports.
And yes, ACM CrossRoads too, though I find it has very little useful content nowadays - they need volunteers btw.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Newsweek, Wired, 2600, and Maxim
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.
Smithsonian, the official mag of the Smithsonian Institution. I always tell people, if you can't find at least one article of interest in any given issue, than you are a very boring person.
Save Maine's economy: write stuff down. All comments are exclusively my own, not my employer.
Hey, I know its not "cool" but I got the best kick ass vaccum cleaner they make for $150 dollars and its more quiet then my fridge.
;)
Oh, and PC Mag occasionally, although the writting has gone down hill.
Wired has great articles, but who has time to read them.
"Club" - if you don't know what this mag is, don't ask.
Informative and Funny. How can you go wrong? Seriously, this is the more entertaining than I thought a computer magazine could be. The writers are brilliant.
I also read whatever magazines the previous occupants of our house subscribed to. This usually amounts to Latina and Stuff. I wouldn't recommend Stuff. It's like Playboy without the softcore porn and competent writers.
My dingo ate your honor student.
The New Yorker because it has funny cartoons to get you going, fiction and non-fiction. They had a really good articles about google a while back. Lot of interesting off beat stuff. Good short stories.
The economist is more on world events the economy (although it includes that too). They have interesting perspective on things.
Both are unfortunetly fairly $$ as magazines go.
The two things I do subscribe too are national / international news magazine called The Week it's great for the stuff that you don't think about till the weekend.
And a literary magazine called The sun, that does mostly personal essays, fiction, interviews, poetry, and photographs.
"think of it as evolution in action"
Living in Sweden, I'm not sure how relevant my answer will be to you, but here it goes:
* Nätverk & Kommunikation
* PC för alla
* Mikrodatorn
* Internetworld
* Computer Sweden
* Linuxworld
Of those N&K is the most "professional" and "PC för alla" is the most versatile.
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
Since the question was Which 'PC related' magazines does the Slashdot crowd read? I can't really comment. I don't do to much off-line reading about tech. the problem is that it changes so much, by the time you get the magazine, what you're reading is out of date...
But i do keep my car and photography magazines around.
The Following: FHM Loaded Maxim Rolling Stone Wired 2600 Stuff Tattoo Internationl What can I say, it's a long bus ride to hell and back everyday ;)
A densely packed periodical with a ton of well thought out opinion pieces that cover the whole world. Their articles contain a lot of fact but are - ultimately - opinion pieces. I don't always agree with them, but when I don't I have to sit down and think about my reasons.
Although, if you read their technology quarterly you realise that they aren't delving that deep into each issue they research.
IMHO, as per.
J:)
Oh well, no point in steering now.
I stopped reading magazines all together years and years ago. Too little content for too much money (seriously, why pay for advertising?)
Reminds me of the Fight Club quote:
We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear.
C't. IMHO the best computer magazine out there, covering Windows, Linux and Mac. I also like their fair and balanced (no joke intended here) product tests.
...covering only the most relevant information for those interested in taking over the world!
I read The Economist. The articles are well-written and insightful and, since it's published in London, you get a non-US perspective which is hard to find these days. Also, it doesn't try to be exclusively conservative or liberal (not that there's anything wrong with that -- I read Salon too).
They do tend to see free-market capitalism as the cure for everything. I don't really have a problem with this (in fact, market-based solutions often work in places you might not expect them to), but it's something to keep in mind when you read the magazine.
Remember the days when Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility?
Minerva Magazine is awesome, although the web site is rather weak in comparison.
What, my username didn't tip you off?
Major Topics
steal this sig
...but, as if anyone were interested, I regularly read:
:-)
The Economist - intelligent political and economic coverage with a distinct UK/European background. Smart enough to make you think even if you disagree with its editorial slant, as I often do.
The New Yorker - good writing, often thought provoking and cartoons.
Atlantic Monthly - more intelligent current affairs writing.
Granta - excellent if sometimes inconsistent modern fiction.
GQ - decent men's magazine, although the US edition is noticebly dumbed down in comparison with the UK edition.
Premiere - movie reviews and in-depth articles on the entertainment industry; think Entertainment Weekly with brains and a staff of almost journalists
Of the computer-related magazines, I used to subscribe to Wired, but it has descended into mediocrity in the last few years. At least it had verve during the dotcom years. I also enjoyed Byte and have issues going back to the early 80's. It was beginning to head towards just another PC review magazine before it folded, but in its heyday it really was a hobbyist's delight.
Sailing over the event horizon
"Unix Sys Admin" - always great
"TapeOp" - home recording
but that's it, it's all on the Internet these days, no?
CVB
free ipod and free gmail!
I love and always will love Maximum PC. Its the best magazine out there for PC enthusiasts. They got some good PC game reviews, Good hardware reviews. The best thing is the experiments they do like see which thumb drive lasts the best through very harsh conditions such as running it over with a car. They also have great articles on keeping up to date on the new technology like pci express and the new line of processors comming out. The magazine is extremely entertaining as well as being informative.
while most articles are german, there is an english edition.
topics include information society, privacy, computer games, influence of american politics on europa, technological advances and so on.
however, beware of the wide range of article quality. most authors are freelances. some obviously suck, but they are easy to identify.
Always an interesting read cover to cover. It's a weekly though, so don't stumble or you'll find a mountain of unread magazines piling up.
I used to love reading computer related magazines. There's just something great about laying on a couch while you read. However, the net destroyed all of that fun. I'd read stories online and then read the same "news" a few weeks later in the magazine. Rather than pay for deja vu, I stopped subscribing. News stops being news when it turns old.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Notably, Wired took the #1 spot:
Myself, I read Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The New Republic, Aperture, Harpers and Scientific American. I'm thinking of picking up Reason, Foreign Affairs, The Economist and The Weekly Standard.
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
I don't remember when, where, who or how, but I once received a piece of advice I've never forgotten, which seemed wise at the time, and which I've since found invaluable.
There are magazines devoted to everything -- sports cars, handguns, knitting, ferrets, Italian cooking, Civil War reenactments, log cabins, etc. Magazines are a terrific (and cheap) way to expand your horizons.
crib
Please don't read my journal
American Iron Magazine because AIM has a good balance of tech, reviews, and custom bikes.
Backpacker provides not only reviews of equipment and hikes, they're now including GPS waypoints with the maps.
It's all fun and games until someone loses the key to the handcuffs.
Computer trade rags get skimmed briefly then tossed, or just tossed.
Is this room 215?
Yes, can I help you?
Hi, I'm here for the flamewar?
Yes, please do come in. Won't you have some tea? we're discussing Star Wars.
Ah, good. I was looking for some potential converts to the world of Gene Roddenberry. Phasers can shoot through light-sabers, you know.
Careful, the tea's hot. And everyone knows that Imperial Shields can stop any energy/ballistic attack as long as the Shield Generators remain undamaged. Then Darth Vader would force-choke Captain Kirk into submission.
Mmm, good tea. May I have a scone?
Oh, please do.
Thank you. But that's absurd, if Geordi modulated the phasars on a plasma-variance intercorrelation loop, the meso-barions surrounding the ---
*knock knock* Is this the Paris Hilton vs. Natalie Portman thread?
(all) next thread, by the water cooler
Ah, much obliged. *leaves*
--look, Kirk was a ninny, anyway.
Hey, Kirk could kick Picard's pseudo-French hiney any day of the week!
Oh yeah, well Picard favorably impressed the Q continuum, so in them he has the friendship of a literal race of Gods, I think I've made my point.
See here, let's not have this bickering and whining about who killed who..
Hey, that's Monty Python! GET HIM!!!!!
Can't we all just get along?
Apparently not, but we can argue about why next week.
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"d'Oh!" ~Homer
The best "PC Related" Magazine that I know of is c't.
Very insightful, good know-how articles, writers that know their stuff and even an occasional homebrew hardware project (like a USB / RS232 Interface in the latest issue)
What other PC tabloid these day still has detailed architectural comparisons between the latest AMD and Intel creations. Or will devote pages to the advantages vs. disadvantages of the current RAM technologies.
I would compare c't to Byte Magazine in the mid-80s, before Byte went "mainstream".
Thomas
X IMPRIMITE "SALVE TERRA!"
XX ITE AD X
I used to read Playboy, but now I am blind!
I pay for The Nation, which is an excellent news/politics weekly. Some of the stuff is online, but there's nothing like having the paper itself for the train.
I used to get Harper's but I really don't have time to finish a Harpers and they usually just end up in the bathroom after I've read the main story. A fine magazine with some very intelligent writing. The Harper's index is worth the admission price alone.
I subscribe to salon.com too. I never understood the allure of Lumpen and the other 'hip' liberal weeklies.
Thanks to the web and tivo I watch almost no televised news and get my AP/Reuters and NYTimes, Wash Post, etc for free.
The reviewers in the New York Book Review usually bring up challenges to the argument/methodology used in the books reviewed. Most of the reviews also cover 2 or 3 books on the same topic, comparing the strengths/weaknesses of each.
Just a warning though, there is an obvious liberal bias to the review. It isn't of the Michael Moore/Al Franken variety that "all republicans suck" but is more reasoned and researched arguments against specific policies. And even though I'm liberal it would be nice to have some intalligent consevative views printed more often just for variety's sake.
About the only critcism I have of the magazine is that nearly every issue for over a year now has had an article (usually an editorial as opposed to an actual book review) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (almost uniformily critical of the Israelis). Which is fine, Israel is certainly open to some criticism, but after ten articles it becomes a little tiresome.
I used to subscribe to Men's Health and found the health and fitness articles informative and well written, but after 2 years the articles became a bit repetitive. Other than medical updates there is only so much you can really write about doing arm curls.
Maxim? Wired? gee, maybe I should check them out next time I pick up my new American Idol CD at the walmart.
Here's what I like, when I can find them:
These pretzels are making me thirsty.
I read wired (though lately not in print, because I'm starving) and a british magazine called Computer Arts (http://www.computerarts.co.uk/) because I'm a graphic artist, and there's really nothing in holland that can compete with this beauty.
And when my budget allows for it, the Dungeon and Dragon monthlies. cause I'm a geek like that.
Machine9dotNet
There was a time when some journalists were driven by the ideals of their profession, to inform the public. As our society has become more materialistic, however, that has become much rarer. Nowadays, journalism is driven by the profit motive. And the way to make money in a mass market is to entertain, not to inform.
There are a few exceptions - some people are also driven by the wish to convince others of some agenda. But, of course, this also leads to bad journalism. Our media have degenerated into a mixture of entertainment and propaganda.
I used to read The Economist. Now I don't read periodicals at all. I get raw news from the Internet, and I'm old enough to be able to make some sense of it. But we rarely get the full story about anything.
Here's a old man's observation: the only time you can be pretty sure you're getting the truth, is when the government tries to ban or suppress a story, but it comes out anyway.
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.
nah it just means i only have to see up to her neck before i'm horny ;)
------- "From bored to fanboy in 3.8 asian girls" ----------
...in electronic copy edition. This is the only magazine I pay for. I find enough reading material online to fill both my geek and non-geek news quotas.
Come on, guys, there are subtler ways of collecting demographic info.
Can I see Armund Tanzarian's copy of Swank?
Not really, every month I get a couple of magazines but none of them are computer related anymore. I simply got sick and tired of the lies, damed lies I read. Every time a new whatcamacall it came out every magazine review called it the best thing since sliced bread. Only rarely did the thing they were touting do much better than it's predicessor. It was so obvious that all that they were doing was pandering to the advertisers. So, I quit reading them - in a sense, I discovered more honest reviews on the internet.
I do read Pop-sci every month and I have to say that when I read about a product that they may advertise, I will take their review with a grain of salt too.
If you've ever thought about subscribing to Car and Driver or Motor Trend or a similar mag, I urge you to check you Grassroots Motorsports. It definitely caters more to the autocross and weekend racer market than the average consumer, but the articles are long, informative, entertaining and written by people without God's budget. Every year they do a this-year-dollars challenge, which this year ended up with 70-something highly competant racecars for under US$2004. To stay on-topic, I read 2600, The Economist, Scientific American, and after reading this thread, I'll take a look at StratFor, Extra!, and Mental Floss.
Even if you have no interest in the material (clothes and makeup for 20-something women), pick up a copy of Jane and analyze it for its design and its point of view.
Communications of the ACM and Dr. Dobbs Journal.
Well, actually my subscription of DDJ lapsed a while back, and a rarely read CACM anymore.
But if I were going to read a magazine, those would be the ones.
plus-good, double-plus-good
I subscribe to as few print rags as possible. Nevermind the nagging guilt over all those dead trees, I simply don't need the clutter! If want to read up on something, I'll do it on the web.
;) It's also one of the few that discusses actual programming instead of marketing BS.
I only get two magazines at work, "EE Times" and "Embedded Systems Programming". I'd ditch EET except then I'd have to check "none of the above" on the ESP renewal form. Sounds silly, but ESP is one of the few that's actually selective with their free subs (ie. you have to lie a little better than the average joe
At home the only thing I get is the never-ending subscription to "Popular Science" that I got suckered into a few years back; it barely even rates as bathroom reading...
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.
The articles are far too long to read online, and many of the good ones are only in the paper edition.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
I had to buy 40 subscriptions to Vibe from some guy named Steve, who came from a rough area and used to be addicted to crack but is now off and trying to stay clean, in order to keep him from telling anyone about my money laundering scheme so I can stay out of federal reserve pound me in the ass prison.
New Scientist is a British import I really wish I had the cash to subscribe to. Their science coverage is a notch above Scientific American and a few steps above Discover. It is a magazine that I make a special trip to the library for at least once a month. In addition, it is quite interesting to see how a European science periodical approaches issues such as GMOs and energy policy.
Fortean Times sort of a brainy "Ripley's Believe it or Not". It manages to cover the weird and bizzare without falling into either smug skeptical dismissal or empty-headed conspiracy. Their recent coverage of H. P. Lovecraft's connection with the occult was excellent. (verdict: Lovecraft was a life long atheist who did just enough background research to fill his stories) In some cases they are willing to step in and declare a myth to be bullshit. For example, with the WWI angels legend, the creator is both still alive, and explicitly honest as to having created that little bit of propaganda.
As others have mentioned, The Atlantic is a bright spot on the American media landscape. It's impressive in that it shows a lot of the deeper trends, and it isn't afraid to explore ideas. Instead of focusing on controversy, the articles tend to be more about getting past the shrill argument and down to the real matter at hand. William Langeweische and James Fallows write brilliantly. It's worth noting that the Atlantic has offered perhaps the best overall coverage of 9/11 and its aftermath of any American magazine.
For those who complain about supporting advertising, check out The New Republic. It gets right down to business. The pages don't have much advertising. Excellent coverage of a wide variety of topics make it a worthy suppliment to the Economist, and proof that not all American publishers underestimate the average American's brain power.
It can be very worthwhile to read The New Republic and then read The National Review. Also not aimed at children, the National Review is solidly right-wing Catholic. The experience of reading both magazines one after another can be incredibly jarring. But for me it reveals a lot about why American politics is dominated by polarization and controversy. It also forces me to confront a world-view that overlaps with my own only infrequently.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
The Atlantic features in-depth stories on topics that are relevant, yet one seldom finds the same kind of information that any story in the Atlantic features. For example, as the Iraq situation heated but before the rest of media seriously used the word "invasion," the May issue featured Tales of the Tyrant, a piece about Saddam.
Earlier than that, the April 2001 issue gave us culture closer to home in The Organization Kid, which anyone who has been involved in the education process as a student, parent or teacher should be forced to read. The article adopts a skeptical tone of today's do-it-all culture without being didactic or heavy handed.
The former NYT Editor who left after the Jayson Blair scandal aired his opinions concerning the Times, the importance of the Times and the direction of news in America in a piece so long and thoughtful that I planned to read the lead before a run, and instead spent 1.5 hours reading and digesting the article before running even crossed my mind again.
And then there's the "Primary Sources" sections, which I'll leave for another rave. Fact is that The Atlantic is a consistantly great read.
Um, hello, where were you in 1998? The US pulled the inspectors out in advance of Desert Fox. Iraq refused to allow them in afterwards - not surprising, since many inspectors had already gone public with the fact that the US had spies in the teams. Here, turning to FAIR! (thank you for the concice collection!), we can watch how different news agencies became suddenly forgetful (like you!):
What A Difference Four Years Makes
I'm an owl exterminator!
Gee, I just use the internet to research topics about which I know nothing about. I am web-surfing, data devouring junkie.
Meh.
FAIR reports that Halliburton has made US$4,508,231,125 trillion dollars mining stem-cell futures in Gadzookistan in the past forty-five minutes alone.
Jesus, who was a liberal, said that abortion is wrong. Since only aborted harp seals can operate the machinery used to mine stem-cells in the giant redwoods of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, this practice is clearly in opposition to the will of God, and also against the will of God's boss (Noam Chomsky).
You are, therefore, a fascist, an atheist, a corporatist bourgeois swine, a damned foreigner, a sexist pig, a child-molester, and a jerk. I hate you. The whole world hates you. FAIR has demonstrated that the New York Times has run NOT ONE STORY in the past year reporting that the whole world hates you and the God-fearing, Bible-believing multicultural harp seal fetus that you rode in on, you evil freak. This is stark media bias at its most reprehensible.
You can get Jesus out of the schools, but you can't get him out of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge! He hates you too, by the way. Because you hate fags, you damned fag. And because you don't use Linux. BSD is, after all, dying. Where will YOU be on Judgement Day? Installing XP Service Pack Twelve, you pathetic deluded sheep?
Science News is an excellent source for recent stories about science-related topics (even better than Slashdot most of the time, I think :).
Have you read my blog lately?
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.
IEEE Spectrum / IEEE Computer (I'm a programmer)
Physics Today (I have a physics degree)
Aviation Week (I work for NASA)
Car and Driver (I'm a gearhead)
MIT Technology Review (I'm a tech geek)
and...
Penthouse Forum! (for the... uh... articles!)
Every week, topical, broad, and well written. Rarely do they publish completely stupid articles, without at least acknowledging that many readers might find them so, New Scientist is the best magazine out there.
They publish good computer related articles as well, from social issues like privacy and security to physics issues of fabrication techniques.
Most importantly though, they still have a concept of journalism, unlike WIRED's mornoic McLuhian "there is no objectivity" "geeks are our heroes" "all technology is perfect and wonderful" breathlessness that overwhelms any actual intellectual value that might lurk accidently unexpunged from their articles. Unfortunately their worse-than-useless meme has infected most of the US technical press to a greater or lesser extent.
Technology Review used to be good, but took a huge dive into pathetic pandering and breathless sensationalism under the train wreck that was John Benditt. They started to recover a tiny bit under Robert Buderi, but alas, they've just replaced him with somone from that other "long boom" loosers magazine, Red Herring, though I don't know anything else about Jason Pontin and he may turn out to be smart - perhaps he left Red Herring out of disgust?
Why is it that random placement of irrelevant paragraphs and illegible typography has become central to any US magazine's technology identity? If there was one thing more stupid and ill-concieved than WIREDs self professed end of objectivity, it was the illegibility they passed off as cutting edge design, after stealing it from Mondo 2000 and cleaning it up a bit.
Even that centuries old bastion of reason and depth, Scientific American, has succumbed to the "expanded readership" afforded shallow, mindless optimism and has scaled back their thinking articles for more content that would be at home in WIRED's pages, and seems to have cut back on opposing views, letting corporate flacks define the market impact of their inventions without any critical review - the very heart of WIRED's journalistic abdication.
As far as I've found, aside from professional journals, that leaves New Scientist as the best source of real news about technology, and the only source I've found with any critical analysis of the consequences of an invention or discoverty.
The reason why I rant so is that, particularly since the advent of the internet, WIRED style breathless but glossy reprints of corporate press releases are irrelevant. When I want to know what Microsoft thinks is their greatest innovation, I'll go to their website and save my money. What I'm willing to pay for is a journalist who takes the time to read MSFT's latest boast, then finds the people who can meaningfully and authoritatively comment on the veracity of the release and integrates the answers, all properly attributed. Only New Scientist still does this.
All the news that really matters.
Linux Journal (subscription)
Linux Magazine
Wax Poetics (subscription)
2600 meaning to get subscription
sysadmin (subscription)
Ready Made (subscription)
Wired (only purchased in airports)
Mother Jones (off the rack, when the cover grabs me)
Stay Free! (subscription)
Future Music almost every month
And I buy about a dozen random magazines a month, news, music making
CIA Industries - Running the world for fun and profit
Bein' from Jo-jah, it took me a moment to unda-stand the statement "you all." Then, I just realized it be a bastardization of "y'all." Come own now - ain't no problem sayin' "y'all."
But in a weak attempt to stay on topic - I don't read PC mags. I saw a guy laughing over a Unix mag once and asked him what was so funny, and he said - "Can you believe these pleebs think that the standard carburator can run at 3700 jigawatts on a 1998 Googenheimer Blonhoowhatzit?" I looked at him vacantly. "Exactly! That's what I'm sayin'!" He said before turning back to the magazine.
In short, I don't read them because - more often than not - I feel incredibly out of the loop. Most advanced users and technology writers write and talk as if they're working for a specialized trade magazine, so it's harder for me to keep up.
That being said, I stick to the Victoria's Secret catalogue... not that I understand how their products work either.
Poor form to reply to myself, but the ALDaily sister site - Science and Technology Daily - is always worth a look too.
Wired seems overly pleased with itself and if others seem to appricate it I suppose that's fine. However if they are kidding themselves that they are still an IT mag I have some news for them...
I recall Wired when it first came out, gloss and glam ala Spin or Entertainment Weekly. But they caught the market just in time. It was a time of transition from when Joe Steelworker went from thinking that home computing was either too geeky or lacked any practicality to a time when Joe now spends more time online than he does in front of the tube.
Wired's popularity was a matter of circumstance. If Wired were the new kid today it wouldn't last. It's only through the years that naive "n00bs" have respected wired for giving a more social aspect to an otherwise geekfest persuit.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
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.
Powerlifting USA, The Horse, Ol' School Rodz, Street Rodder, C++ User's Journal, American Iron, and 2600.
--- Jump!! Fire!! Bullet time!! - Lego version of the Matrix
I tend to read PC Gamer and PC Mag regularly. Sometimes, whenever Science crosses my path I check it out. Can't say I've ever "read" Playboy, probably cause I get more turned on by the latest Falcon NW Exotix case (yeah, I'm a loser, so sue me). I'm sure Playboy and Penthouse are worth reading for their "intellectual" value, but it's the tech stuff that really appeals to me. Besides, I've got a girl (yes, in real life, yes, a real one).
This isn't really a geek/nerd magazine but I just got my latest issue of Hot Rod magazine. It came with an AOL CD.
WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!
My brain hurts..
I'm 100% certain no-one cares at all, but what the hell.
I am currently subscribed to Cook's Ilustrated and Cuisine at Home. I occasionally will buy Saveur, Gourmet and Good Food (a UK mag-I love Borders). If it's around I'll paw through the latest National Geographic and laugh when they blither on about global warming and evolution as if they're established, proven facts. If someone I like is on the cover, I'll pick up Maxim or FHM, but generally those magazines seem like they're made for guys who never matured beyond the fourth grade.
I also like Macworld OK, MacAddict more and Mac Design most of all. PC Magazines are all the same: how to make your PC faster, defend against viruses/trojans/worms, how to tweak windows to make it faster/crash less/take out the garbage/satisfy your woman better than you could ever hope to/whatever. So I read them for comic relief.
Told you you didn't care.
I think that I'll try to do that. It'll probably pick me up out of my discouragement. I'm sure that I'll start off @ the public library, though. I could save big bucks that way. I might try to start @ the "A" section of the magazine rack, then work my way over to "Z". It seems much more structured that way.
While I'm on the topic of public libraries, I'd like to suggest to everybody to go to the public library, & borrow some children's music to learn a foreign language. I tried that with French, & picked up some catchy tunes & new words.
testing out my trending skills
Noone reads Linux Journal? I like it so much I just got a subscription...along with Wired which I've had for a while.
Other than those two, I sporadically get Linux Format(expensive, but comes with nice DVDs), Linux World(little too focused on enterprise for my tastes), 2600(compact, sometimes useful, often entertaining in its un-usefulness), C/C++ Programming(had a subscription but only read half of them), Men's Fitness(another subscription that rarely got put to much use...), and every now and then its fun to read Heavy Metal(adult-oriented cartoons if you've never read it).
btw, thanks to whoever mentioned free subs. to stuff like Wired...I just extended mine a year for free!
once you go slack, you never go back
In fact you are wrong.
The Economist is not 'conservative' - that'd be the Tory version you are referring too. They most certainly are not a Tory magazine.
Nor are they left wing - in fact they are very opinionated about socialists, Social Democrats and all of that ilk. State control is anathema to them.
To describe the Economist in the traditional way you would refer to them as Liberals. The original Liberals that is.
Now in the US you refer to Michael Moore as a Liberal - WTF? Go figure - he's a socialist dude! Make that Socialist with a capital S.
Liberal in the original British meaning basically means Liberty and freedom for all people to pursue happiness and self-fulfillment. Usually this is exercised in an economic sense by way of markets, where individuals and groups of individuals agree to exchange goods and services to mutual benefit.
Liberals espouse low taxes, self help and community participation. Liberals also believe that the role of government is only to provide and enforce the legal framework to ensure this freedom.
Bush is not a Liberal in this sense - Steel Tarrifs and his intervention in markets show him up as pandering to special interests.
Moore is not a Liberal in this sense as a close reading of his works shows that he favours favours for special interests as well. Affirmative Action and State intervention and a desctruction of incentives for self help are all through his writings.... but he does provide a useful tonic. And a bit of Bush-whacking never goes unappreciated.
The Economist is Liberal in the social realm too. Years ago they had a cover story stating "Let them Wed" with a wedding cake decorated with two grooms. The Economist is pro gay marriage, pro-choice (but anti-abortion) - anti-prohibition (alcohol and drugs) and all for the decriminalisation and legalisation of the sex industry. It basically sees the choice to make these decisions as the concern of individuals - not for the state to get involved.
There is a clear parallel between this social liberalism and economic liberalism. The Economist believes that given the opportunity people will make decisions that are best for themselves, and in doing so will make decisions in the interest of everyone. We are all members of society and when individuals thrive so does society.
So in what way does this make them look like "raving Marxists" ? - especially when it views George Bush as being dangerously ready to make state interventions in the economy.
I think that the mistake you are making is assuming that social liberalism is the province of "trendy lefties" (Socialists) when in fact it is a more rational set of ideas focussed on the notion of individual freedom.
Now that is something that most Americans should be able to agree with - especially as the Economist is one of the most Pro-American publications on the planet... even if has huge doubts about Bush. It will be interesting to see who they plump for in the US Election. They've been right (as in correct) in the last few elections... Clinton x2 and Bush x1.
But I think the US view of the world of left and right will prevail - and in such a black and white world the Economist can't be described - and I admit - Liberal is too confused a meaning.
So I propose that we refer to the Economist as Pragmatic. Whatever works is good.
20 something years ago they had the Economist in my school library. I was prigish and right wing. I was pretty appalled by what I thought was a cynical, left-wing, agit-prop kind of magazine.
Boy was I mistaken.
Sure, they have articles about how greedy bankers are lending too much money backed by too little capital and will cause a disaster. They have articles about corrupt businessmen buying corrupt politicians to stop the accounting standards body from forbidding auditors to do non-audit work for audit clients. They helpfully explain that auditors get bribed with lucrative 'consulting' contracts to overlook dodgy accounting practises. And they do this pre-Enron.
But it is the magazine of the establishment, grumbling about its members, and how they are letting the side down. Now I love reading it. There is a real feeling of "Ah that's how the world really works"
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