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The Washington Post details what happens to a “Cash for Clunkers” car, from the final minutes of life until it’s carved up by Metro-area shade-tree mechanics.

Awwwww….

[From Endangered Leopard Cubs Born at National Zoo Facility - washingtonpost.com]

I opened my browser today to get a check of the headlines from the Washington Post, using their “mywashingtonpost.com” custom portal. I was quite disappointed at the message I received today:

Thank you for being a loyal reader of washingtonpost.com and a user of our customized mywashingtonpost.com page. Over the years, washingtonpost.com has developed new technology and methods to customize the delivery of our news, features, multimedia and more. As a result, we will be discontinuing mywashingtonpost.com as of February 23, 2009.

[Links omitted]

Thank you for your understanding as we offer more ways to get you the washingtonpost.com content you want quickly and easily.

Sincerely,

David Heyman
Director, Customer Care

Anyone who had accessed the site in the last several months would have guessed this was coming. The articles on the site were often stale or out of date. The weather widget never reported accurate information. In fact, the site never really developed after its initial launch. The feature I enjoyed most was that mywashingtonpost.com allowed me to strip down the sections to what I wanted most: international, metro, politics, and technology.

As newspapers have struggled to cope with the new era of instant information, a number of different models have come and gone. The NY Times, for example, tried to charge a subscription fee to accesses much of the site’s content. This model, of course, doesn’t work with casual observers, but it was worth a try.

There is a real danger, in my opinion, of the WP’s lack of innovation will only hurt its position on the internet. As news aggregator sites and other third-party sites continue to pull headlines, the relevancy of visiting the WP’s site is becoming more and more diminished.

I will, however, miss mywashingtonpost.com. In fact, I’m not sure how I’ll access the Post’s information in the future. While I have a number of RSS feeds in my aggregator already. I deplore the main page layout — it’s too overrun with adverts, cluttered and poorly organized, and focuses too much on “fluff.” I especially hate the WP’s overuse of poorly written, browser slowing javascript. And don’t get me started on “autorefresh.”

Of course, I may just be complaining unnecessarily. I haven’t spent much time on the WP’s main page. I could very well adapt to using the site in this way, or give the RSS another try, or some combination of the two.

Happy Year of the Ox!

Vanessa and I went down to watch the Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown. We couldn’t have asked for a better day to go out in Washington, either. The weather got up to about 60 degrees today without a cloud in the sky.

While there was a lack of overall organiation at the event, it was neat to see. There was the typical dragon dance, another dragon dance, and yet another dragon dance. The drum groups were pretty cool.

The biggest disappointment, however, was the failure to light the giant firecracker.

I’ve also uploaded a few snapshots to flickr. Click the image below to view.

The Montgomery County Council has voted unanimously to approve the proposed “Purple Line,” a light rail line that would connect New Carrolton Metro Station to Bethesda Metro Station. Not only will this relieve congestion on the Beltway, but it should also revitalize a number of older neighborhoods isolated from rapid transit.

As a cyclist and as a citizen concerned with the neglect of green space, I welcome the inclusion of mixed trail usage and a focus on minimizing the loss of trees and grassland where the light rail would run along the Georgetown Branch Trail.

There are a number of issues to be worked out, not the least of which is funding and disputes over the residents of Chevy Chase. However, if President Obama’s proposal for infrastructure investment comes to fruition, then the Purple Line may find funding to be more than plentiful.

[From Montgomery Council Backs Light Rail for Purple Line - washingtonpost.com]

The snow has been falling here in DC all day.  Looking outside the morning, I saw a fresh blanket of white coating the cars and the road.  As far as I know, the ordinary panic that besets Metro-area commuters every time the weather changes has not occurred.

Of course, the crispness will not last.  Even as I type this, the snow atop the house next door is beginning to turn from bright white to a muddled grey.

Current Temperatures From Select Cities:

Washington, DC: -2ºC (Longitude: 38.833º N)

Helsinki, Finland: -2ºC (Longitude: 60.316º N)

Svalbard, Norway: -6ºC (Longitude: 78.250º N)

I’m starting to feel left out in the cold.

Quick post to say I’m still alive, just haven’t taken the time to update.

For those who are curious, here’s what DC looks like at rush hour.