_______________PROFILES IN CLUELESSNESS BY SCOTT ROSENBERG (11/10/98)
	Great article by Scott Rosenberg! I just downloaded the latest PointCast offering out of curiosity since I was an "original" user when the product first came out. I haven't used it for years for the very reasons Rosenberg points out: It interferes with more important operations, ties up hard drive space and is, well, "pushy." Who needs that? I don't think much has changed in the current product and I will take it off my computer. About the New Yorker, mine is a longer lament. I am in my early 70s, a Manhattanite for many years. I remember the anticipation I felt each time the magazine hit the newsstands, the Peter Arno cartoons, James Thurber and so much more. It was a civilized magazine in a sophisticated city. I learned so much about the English language just from reading it until it began to "speak" a version of the English language which was far too complex for ordinary folk and it finally just annoyed the hell out of me. I don't like to read with a dictionary for a prop. Ken Auletta, and his scrupulously uninformed piece is just another step toward deinstitutionalizing a publishing institution. Does it bother me? You bet it does! Does it matter? Maybe not as much as I thought it would because the Net is spawning much more interesting, available and topical publications. Salon and Slate, both excellent and lively products, are current examples. Poor old new Yorker. She's trying to hike her skirts while keeping her literary dignity. While in the checkout line in the supermarket the other day I noticed a well-thumbed Cosmopolitan in the rack which featured a cover story about "23 ways to have a guaranteed bed thumping, toe cramping orgasm" or something similar. Anything for the New Yorker there? -- Stephen B. Peck
_______________BEWARE OF THE BLACK CON-SERVATIVE BY C. D. ELLISON (11/13/98)
	C.D. Ellison's comments are a wonder to behold. Here's an obscure black guy working for Newt Gingrich -- one of the most spectacular failures of recent American political history -- denouncing as "isolated" and "out-of-touch" black people like Larry Elder, Ken Hamblin and Armstrong Williams, three of the nation's best known radio personalities, with millions of listeners between them. Not to mention Ward Connerly, whose crusade against affirmative action, waged against overwhelming odds, is a model of political courage, skill and success. Ellison's erstwhile boss could learn plenty from these guys about the successful communication of ideas. But then, Newt won't need that sort of skill where he's going, right? -- Hiawatha Bray Quincy, Mass.
_______________A NEW ONLINE BOOKSELLER FOR SALON BY MICHAEL O'DONNELL (11/12/98)
	I know Salon has to make money, but when I hit your site just now, the part of your home page that is visible on my first screen included one pitch about content -- the package on Africa -- and four commercial pitches: one from Anne Lamott on why I should become a Salon member (I didn't read it, but why does she care?), one from Visa, one from Lexus and one extolling the joys of Salon's alliance with Barnes and Noble. Like I say, I respect the realities of commerce. And I've liked Salon since you started. But I'll stop coming if you don't back off this relentless, intrusive hawkery. Believe it or not, the chance to read ads and your shameful, shameless edvertorials is at the absolute bottom of my list of reasons for visiting Salon. You guys are starting to make Matt Drudge look good. -- Stan Jones Anchorage, Alaska I am disappointed in your decision to join forces with Barnes and Noble. I know that you will receive a monetary benefit from the arrangement, but I question your ethics in helping this mega-corporation destroy all other booksellers. Barnes and Noble is not a company worthy of your association. -- Mary Ellen Baldridge Haven't you heard? Barnes and Noble just bought out the book distributor that supplies many of the independent bookstores and is even a supplier of their online competitor Amazon.com. With the increasing consolidation of the publishing industry we are at the point where huge booksellers like Barnes and Noble are effectively acting as censors for readers by controlling completely who gets published and who gets distributed. This is not a good thing. I am disappointed to see Salon involved with these evil bastards. -- George P. Hickey Barnes and Noble is a lame choice for a bookselling partner. I live in Texas where I frequently shopped at a chain called Book Stop, which offered an excellent selection and deep discounts. Barnes and Noble bought Book Stop. At some point, Barnes and Noble stores started popping up close to almost all of the Book Stop locations. The Barnes and Noble stores did not offer anywhere nearly the same discounts for their customers. Sure enough, Barnes and Noble shut down nearly all of the Book Stop locations. I much prefer shopping online at Amazon.com, which offers a great selection and deep discounts. Barnes and Noble sucks. -- Cleland Early
_______________PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED BY ANDREW O'HEHIR (11/13/98)
	Greetings! As a friend of members of Vancouver-based band 54/40, I was rather surprised to read in Andrew O'Hehir's review of "Hard Core Logo" that the band "disappeared" after releasing one major-label record. The band, in fact, is very much alive and well and kicking on the Canadian music charts thanks to its latest release, "Since When" (Sony Music Canada). The group just completed a Canadian tour and played a few dates in the U.S. including shows in New York City in early November. First signed to Warner Brothers in the mid-'80s, 54/40 now records with Sony, has a number of major-label recordings to its credit, is a favorite on the Canadian music scene and has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe. By the by, the Hootie and the Blowfish hit "I Go Blind" is a cover tune of a 54/40 classic. For more information on the band, check out its Web site at www.5440.com. -- Erica Smishek I found Andrew O'Hehir's review of the Bruce Macdonald Film "Hard Core Logo" to be entirely credible. Credible, that is, until he mentions the band 54/40. While they may have disappeared from the American cultural landscape, they've been performing and releasing albums here in Canada for over a decade. Maybe the press kit O'Hehir received was wrong. Maybe he didn't do his homework. But for those of us who live north of the 49th it's just another small example of the willful ignorance most Americans have for the rest of the world. But he's right. The movie rocks. -- Trent Burton Calgary, Alberta
_______________JANE EYRE, TO GO BY VICTORIA OLSEN (11/13/98)
	As a second-year M.A. candidate in English at a large Southern state school, I'm really enjoying your new "Ivory Tower" department. I laughed out loud at the first two paragraphs of "Jane Eyre, To Go" -- completely identifying with the writer's description of the Angel of Death effect assignments can have on even the best "classroom camaraderie" -- but stopped laughing when I realized (again) that many problems with student plagiarism originate with teachers, not students. The first line of defense against student plagiarism is a thorough in-class explanation of its costs and intellectual falsity, but an even more important defense is individuality -- both in the writing of assignments and in how we as teachers approach students. If we don't construct intriguing, unique assignments that can't be cribbed from a database of bland papers and fail to become conversant with our students' individual writing styles, then perhaps we deserve to deal with plagiarism and its aftereffects. -- Amy Weldon Thanks for publishing Victoria Olsen's enjoyable, informative and thought-provoking article, "Jane Eyre, to go." It's commonplace to observe that the learning that a student gets outside the classroom in college is as important as what goes on in the classroom, if not more so. A student who tries to turn in a term paper from one of these Web-based term paper mills is going to learn that he should avoid dishonesty, not only because honesty is better, but also because dishonest gains are often crap. The "Rolex" watch you buy from the guy with a card table around Times Square is likely to be far inferior to the Timex purchased honestly in Kmart. Finally, arguments against copyright and intellectual property are wrongheaded and potentially dangerous. Sure, any "original" work is largely derived from its predecessors -- but, at least when it comes to written work, copyright law already recognizes that. The arrangement of words is copyrighted, not the ideas, and the copyright only lasts a finite amount of time. -- Mitch Wagner SALON | Nov. 19, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| HE CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN BY MARC COOPER

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