Comments on: Google introduces News Commentary

By: Will. M

Will. M — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:29:55 +0000

Your “We look out to look in” sounded sooo familiar, so I thought I’d try to find out if those words were used before. On the Quotations Book website I found these:

“Our roots are in the dark; the earth is our country. Why did we look up for blessing — instead of around, and down? What hope we have lies there. Not in the sky full of orbiting spy-eyes and weaponry, but in the earth we have looked down upon. Not from above, but from below. Not in the light that blinds, but in the dark that nourishes, where human beings grow human souls.”
Ursula K. Le Guin

“Look up, and not down; Out and not in; Forward and not back; And lend a hand.” Edw. Everett Hale

“The world looks at preachers out of church to know what they mean in it.” Richard Cecil

And, “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” Alan Watts

I think any idea – google, wikipedia, etc. – will stand or fail on its own merits; on whether folks find it useful or not, and for how long.

By: Shifty

Shifty — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:37:19 +0000

Florian, try what I told Laguna2 a few comments up: Here

By: Florian

Florian — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:22:35 +0000

hmm – seems that I am not able to read this comment. I am online from germany – and every time I hit the link “Comment from Dr. Phil Plait” I get redirected to the “Google News Deutschland” site…

By: David Vanderschel

David Vanderschel — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:53:48 +0000

I must be missing something. (This is about the Google feature, not anything the BA is doing.) If I follow the BA’s “so I did” link, I see his comment on a Google page below a link to the article. However, I have not discovered a way to find Phil’s comment without the link he provided. E.g., if I load the article page itself, there is no indication there that the BA has responded. (Not too surprising, since it is National Geo’s page.) The Google page with the BA’s comment is titled “Comments by People in the News”. I don’t see a way of getting there from either the article or a Google News search that actually finds the article. (E.g., search on “Mercury” and “Plait”.) So how does one get there? Is there a script that I need in a bookmark or something like that?

By: Rick Schauer

Rick Schauer — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:49:56 +0000

It is simply refreshing to get astronomy “news” of interest from a qualified, uncensored source. A very sincere thanks for taking the time keeping some of us amateurs well informed with your excellent insights and efforts. Cheers!

By: LarrySDonald

LarrySDonald — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:23:38 +0000

It seems like an excellent idea. I’ve had friends in family in the media off and on growing up and went through that normal phase of “Every article I know anything much about I can spot tons of mistakes in – they’re miscovering everything I know about” and then on to “Hey, why am I thinking the stuff I *don’t* know about is covered better?”. I’m not saying “better” as in matching my opinion, but things that are plain fact, like saying “Phil can bench press 300 lbs” when we know good and well he doesn’t (ok, so perhaps he can – but I’m guessing no). Letting those involved correct mistakes and keeping everyone honest seems like a good, if controversial, move. Open season for everyones comment is good too, but I think there’s lot to be said for a “people who actually know this” area beside the news. It could be killed of easily by, say, the agencies actually calling up those that might be invited to comment and taking their opinions to heart, but I’m not holding my breath so inviting those ref:ed or mentioned to comment seems like a fine solution.

By: Laguna2

Laguna2 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:04:00 +0000

Thanks Shifty. I have to remember that workaround…