| March 18, 2005 | What goes through my head when I'm doing my job at Yahoo! and I put up the headlines about Terri Schiavo... |
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A few months ago, my mom asked me to sign some official papers saying that I am her health care proxy if she is ever unable to speak for herself in the hospital. She told me she doesn't want "to be kept alive by machines" if something happens and her health is compromised. This document is helpful because it means my mom and I spoke about this topic, and that I "understand her wishes." I agree with her that this is what I would also want for myself in such a circumstance. However, I also think it's easy to say that you believe in this as an idea or a concept; I can't fathom how difficult it must be to make these decisions when something tragic actually happens. For instance, if my mom was ever in a coma and on life support systems from an accident, would I be able to tell the doctors to unplug her from the machines? Further complicating the issue, the younger brother of one of my friends was in a coma after an accident a few months back. Several of the doctors at the time said that his prognosis for recovery was very slim. Months later, he has slowly been making progress -- though he still requires a ton of hospital care and rehabilitation. I feel so terrible for all of these families involved in these rough cases. I also feel terrible for Terri Schiavo who will be remembered by like this rather than by who she was in the photos that were taken of her before the brain damaging incident occurred. Further complicating my feelings on Terri Schiavo, is that in the pre-1990 pretty photos of her -- she had been struggling with an eating disorder that some doctors say caused the very chemical imbalance that gave her this brain damage in the first place. So, was she ever really "OK"? And honestly, are any of us ever? posted by Jess Barron @ 12:41 PM 
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| March 11, 2005 | Rules for Employees Traveling Together |
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In order to contain the potential loss and disruption associated with a catastrophic accident, Yahoo!'s policy is to limit the number and mix of key employees who travel together and are placed at risk. This applies to airline flights, trains, cars and any other mode of transportation. I'm about to jump on a plane to LAX with the entire Yahoo! Full Coverage team (except Molly). You have seen The Full Coverage team's handiwork if you ever view the headlines underneath the "In The News" heading on yahoo.com. Yes, as I have pointed out in the past many times, actual humans choose our news stories. It ensures that the news mix and relevance is better quality than than what can be found on computer-generated headlines found on some other competitor websites. Anyway, please do not tell the folks at Google News that we are all travelling together. We will be spending the weeking at the Loew's in Santa Monica to see the new Yahoo! Media Center and to look for housing. Luckily, there are no rules in the company handbook limiting how many employees may drink together. Labels: drinking, flying, rules, santamonica, travel, work, yahoo posted by Jess Barron @ 8:42 AM
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| March 10, 2005 | The Fear of Clowns |
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Today the Ask Yahoo! team tackled the question I sent them about my friends' fear of clowns. I think I first realized that this existed back in 4th or 5th grade when I would have slumber parties at my house, and all the girls would be afraid of my clown marionette hanging from the ceiling. Or maybe it was in 8th grade when my friend Kim and I were both reading Stephen King's 'It'. Anyway, pretty much everyone I know is afraid of clowns. According to the gods of Ask Yahoo!:
Labels: clowns, fears, worries, yahoo posted by Jess Barron @ 12:44 PM
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| March 5, 2005 | Very Important Commentary |
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As she points out in her blog, Allyson wrote a piece of very important commentary on a very important topic for the Yahoo! Buzz Log.
posted by Jess Barron @ 12:46 PM
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| March 4, 2005 | Gavin, Give Us a Call |
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We're doing the radio show tonight from 6-8p.m PST. Tune in online or at 87.9 on your FM dial in San Fran-silly. Tonight's topics will include tales of hook-ups on waterbeds, Martha Stewart and male fantasies about women's prisons, and songs that made young girls cry in 1986. Also, we're hoping Jackson from SFist will call in again and tell us more stuff that cracks us up. And we're still waiting for our call from mayor Gavin Newsom. C'mon, if he's phoning Paris Hilton, he damn well better call us. Gavin -- call us on the studio line tonight: 415.401.7393. We promise we'll still respect you in the morning. Labels: gavinnewsom, piratecatradio, pirateradio, sf posted by Jess Barron @ 12:47 PM
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| March 3, 2005 | Mongoose Posing as Ferret |
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Mindy posted her photos from our trip to St. Thomas the day she got back. It took me a little bit longer, but mine are also now available. We saw whales, wild donkeys, and a mongoose (which I incorrectly identified as a ferret!). Labels: mindy, photos, st thomas, travel posted by Jess Barron @ 12:48 PM
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| Are Blogs to Blame? |
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Tom Regan, who I met last month at Poynter, posted to his Christian Science Monitor blog called My American Experience a piece positing that Americans' news and information consumption is today largely made up of opinion pieces rather than actual reporting and that this has a very dangerous impact on public opinion. He points to a Harris Interactive Poll showing that 64% of Americans *still* think that Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al-Qaida. While I agree that Americans are consuming more opinion-influenced "news," and I do agree that blogs contribute to this somewhat -- I think that more of the blame in this case needs to be given to FOX News and conservative radio commentators. I just don't believe that any bloggers (right-wing or left-wing) have this huge of an influence on the opinion of the average American yet. For instance, is there any one blogger with readership over 1 million yet? (All the most influential newspapers in the U.S. have online readerships over 2 million). I would bet that the average American still does not read blogs regularly to get their news. Anyone agree/disagree? Add your comments at the end of Tom's post. Last week I did also see an Op/Ed piece that editorial cartoonist Ted Rall wrote on "Bloggers and the New McCarthyism". Rall also focused on the danger of these right-wing blogs. It was interesting to me that Rall pretty much ignored that there are any non-right-wing blogs out there. Am I underestimating the "threat" of right-wing blogs? Labels: blog, blogger, journalism, journalists, news, newspapers posted by Jess Barron @ 11:44 AM
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| March 2, 2005 | Lend Me Some Sugar (Ray). I Am Your Neighbor. |
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After all that smack I talked about Sugar Ray the other day, I hafta admit I had a good time, in spite of myself. The band had a sense of humor about the whole thing, and they put on a fun show. As you can see, Bethany was *thrilled* to be in the front row. Melanie was pulled up onstage. Allyson and Rachana rocked out. We were swooning like tipsy dot-commers from 1999. Eric even rapped onstage with Mark McGrath. I was this close to Mark, but I fell for the bassist. The guitarist gave Melanie his guitar pick, and then we also got the bassist's shoe. (We returned it to him later.) Dear poprocks fans, I'm really sorry if I let you down. I just sometimes can't resist having a really cheesy, silly good time. Your pal, Jess. Labels: band, birthday, photos, sugarray, yahoo posted by Jess Barron @ 10:42 PM
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| Go Yahoo!. It's Your Birthday. |
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Last night to celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th birthday, we launched an interactive "Netrospective" documenting the 100 most important moments on the web in the last 10 years. Go check it out. Lucky you -- you get free ice cream and I get.. Sugar Ray. ;) Speaking of which, I heard some gossip today at the office, that the entertainment planners were initially trying to book Pearl Jam to play at the birthday party. Now, that would've been interesting. Finally, check out the online content blog Does Online Journalism Have a Future?, and post your comments. Labels: birthday, sugar ray, yahoo posted by Jess Barron @ 7:41 AM
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