After months (and months, and months) of enduring Rupert Murdoch’s noise and the news industry’s anti-Google rhetoric (including accusations of vampirism), we learned today that The New York Times will charge for content beginning in 2011. Their plan is to allow a limited number of articles on NYTimes.com to be accessed for free each month, and a fee will be charged for unlimited access. Seems as reasonable as any paid content scheme, which is to say it’s fraught with problems, but hey power to ‘em for finally putting their money where their mouth is.

And thank God!

Ever since Murdoch began yammering about this I prayed the news industry would follow his lead. Like most people, I will never, ever, pay to read articles on NYTimes.com or any other website, so this kind of thing is exactly what I need to keep from inadvertently consuming news, which has brought me nothing but heartache and misery.

Don’t get me wrong, I like to know what’s going on in the world, but I can do without the “in depth reporting” and “insightful analysis”. Usually a few words (y’know, like those found in a tweet) is sufficient to let me know what’s happening. I don’t need the high definition photos either; a shot from a camera phone is just fine. The vast majority of “news” articles out there are just so much blather. Am I a better person for “being informed”? Nope. Would I have acted differently if I hadn’t “been informed” during those years I was addicted to news? Probably not.

Sure, keeping up on current affairs, analyzing them, and debating the issues is a nice exercise for the brain, but unless you have some direct connection to the story that’s pretty much all it is. You’d be better off trading in the New York Times for Sartre, Camus, or Lao-Tzu.

And let’s face it, most of us, most of the time, don’t have that direct connection with news stories. Will your familiarity with the current health care debate cause you to take actions you wouldn’t otherwise have taken? Do your daily obligations change depending on Obama’s standing in the polls? Has Google’s decision on China resulted in any change in your behavior? I’m guessing the answer is no.

I say good riddance, NYT. Hopefully other news organizations will follow suit and the internet will be cleansed of their drivel.

In an age of banal status updates, recycled quotes, retweets and shared links, I want to take a moment to salute the content creators – the thinkers, artists, musicians, writers, philosophers, coders, and everyone else who contributes original content to our digital lives.

Cheers to the bloggers, webmasters, wiki editors, copywriters and all who add substance to the web.

Cheers to the tweeters with something meaningful to say.

Cheers to the forum members and commentators who listen, reply, and carry on a dialogue.

Cheers to the programmers and designers who put flesh on the web’s bones.

Cheers to the artists, photographers, and videographers who feed our eyes’ appetites.

Cheers to the musicians who crank out new material, knowing we may or may not pay for it.

Cheers to anyone and everyone who conceives an original thought, offers unique insight, or shares a novel idea.

Cheers to those who give us something new.

Welp, I’ve had about enough of 2009. Frankly the whole last decade is passé at this point. It’s time to put the past behind us and move forward, so I’ve compiled a list of things I hope to accomplish in 2010. Next to each item is the probability that it’ll actually happen. These figures were determined using a sophisticated algorithm factoring in past experience, motivation cycles, financial scenarios, and many other variables. Trust me, it’s sophisticated.

Mattdude’s Goals for 2010:

1. Stay More in Touch with Friends & Family – 98%
2. Stay Current on Utility Bills to Avoid Late Fees – 47%
3. Visit Mikedude in Colorado At Least Once – 99%
4. Get a New, Newer Model Blue Lumina – 2%
5. Redesign Mattdude.com – 97%
6. Perform Better at My Job – 74%
7. Read Some Books – 25%
8. Never Login to Facebook – 0.4%
9. Hold My Own with Patchdude in a Quake Live Duel – 7%
10. Be Nice at Work – 51%

Seek praise and it will always elude you.

Feign expertise and you’ll appear ignorant.

Deflect blame and it will land squarely on your shoulders.

Be everyone’s friend and you will be alienated.

Avoid labor and suffer twice the hardship.

Tinker with everything and you will accomplish nothing.

…

The work is all that matters. Do your work and rewards will follow. Humble yourself and you will be elevated. Accept blame and you will be admired. Be true to yourself and you will attract others. Confront your duties now and avoid suffering later.

Focus on your task and achieve greatness.

“Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.”

Sometimes when I’m half asleep I speak in tongues. Does this ever happen to you? They call it “somniloquy“. With me it often happens when I’m on the verge of passing out after a night of drinking with my brother, and he always tries to maximize the experience by egging me on. One night he transcribed our conversation. I offer that transcript here for your entertainment:

Mattdude: Shit is fucked up is what it is… selling the ice rings.

Voidious: What’s fucked up about selling the ice rings?

Mattdude: You don’t have to spend anything.

Voidious: Why would I care about spending anything?

Mattdude: ‘Cuz… it’s expenditures yo.

Voidious: So what you’re saying is that I need to buy some ice rings.

Mattdude: No… I’m just saying that…

Voidious: That what?

Mattdude: That Google needs to fucking kiss my ass.

Voidious: Why do you say that?

Mattdude: Dude, don’t toy with me dude… Do not be toying with me yo. I can tell, yo, when I’m being toyed with yo.

Voidious: Dude I thought we were talking about ice rings.

Mattdude: Dude, I got my special no-fuck-with-me glasses on dude. I think there’s something Rachel wants to say to me yo.

Voidious: Well, I dunno dude.

On another occasion he recorded a video of my half-conscious ramblings, but I’ll save that for a future post.