Friday, March 16, 2007
Off the List
Today, I begin my spring break. Yes, even graduate students get a week off from classes, though our professors are kind enough to assign enough reading to make sure we don't get off of our game. For example, I spent about 10 hours in the library yesterday reading about postwar metropolitan organization...and I still have a 200 page book left to finish and a reading response to compose. Not to mention the two dozen books I need to read for my historiography paper at the end of the semester. And all of this is for one class! I haven't even begun to think about the others...
But before I get overwhelmed with work, a moment of respite, and not just for me. As some of you may recall, in September 2005, I added the New York Times to the Invisible Ben's Enemies list following their website's implementation of the TimesSelect system. At the time, it seemed like a scheme to prevent people like me, who weren't willing or able to pay for a Times subscription, from accessing the best features of the newspaper online-like the most interesting columnists, the archives, and feature articles. I admit that I haven't fully withdrawn from reading the Times. After all, a paper written by undergraduates can only get one so far. Still, the Times remained the subject of my Nixonish ire for a year and a half.
Until two days ago, when I was informed by my girlfriend that the newspaper had changed its policy and people with e-mail addresses ending in .edu can now access the site's full features for free. And lo and behold, she was right!
So I suppose it's time to remove the Times from my Enemies List. Don't worry, there are still plenty of other media conglomerates on there against which to plot revenge. (I'm looking at you NBC promotional advertisement staff...Windows Vista is not made for TV promos!)
Today, I begin my spring break. Yes, even graduate students get a week off from classes, though our professors are kind enough to assign enough reading to make sure we don't get off of our game. For example, I spent about 10 hours in the library yesterday reading about postwar metropolitan organization...and I still have a 200 page book left to finish and a reading response to compose. Not to mention the two dozen books I need to read for my historiography paper at the end of the semester. And all of this is for one class! I haven't even begun to think about the others...
But before I get overwhelmed with work, a moment of respite, and not just for me. As some of you may recall, in September 2005, I added the New York Times to the Invisible Ben's Enemies list following their website's implementation of the TimesSelect system. At the time, it seemed like a scheme to prevent people like me, who weren't willing or able to pay for a Times subscription, from accessing the best features of the newspaper online-like the most interesting columnists, the archives, and feature articles. I admit that I haven't fully withdrawn from reading the Times. After all, a paper written by undergraduates can only get one so far. Still, the Times remained the subject of my Nixonish ire for a year and a half.
Until two days ago, when I was informed by my girlfriend that the newspaper had changed its policy and people with e-mail addresses ending in .edu can now access the site's full features for free. And lo and behold, she was right!
So I suppose it's time to remove the Times from my Enemies List. Don't worry, there are still plenty of other media conglomerates on there against which to plot revenge. (I'm looking at you NBC promotional advertisement staff...Windows Vista is not made for TV promos!)
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