If it's Tuesday, This Must Be Slate
If It's
Tuesday, This Must Be Slate
On Tuesday, Nov. 4, we
unveil the latest version of our contents or home page. (Maybe even a day or
two sooner if
Slate
's hearty software developers are willing to
suspend their centuries-old common-law right to a three-hour lunch break,
double helpings of Caesar salad and salmon hash, and 1.3 liters of a tolerable
sauvignon blanc, followed by a nap of at least two hours' duration. As provided
in the ancient Codewriters' Code , which dates back to ancient
Sumeria--or is it Sumatra?--management is forbidden to wake them but may send
them back to their computers if they awaken by natural means before closing
time.) Where was I? Oh yes, our new contents page. We hope you like it. It's
intended to be simpler and clearer, to require less scrolling, and to draw more
attention to our "Back of the Book" culture section. This new page is not to be
confused with our (also fairly new) Internet Explorer 4.0 contents page,
designed to take advantage of the capabilities of the Internet Explorer 4.0
browser. Users of that browser can choose the version they prefer. And those of
any browser, race, or creed who prefer our "by date" contents page, which lists
all current
Slate
articles and features in reverse chronological
order--i.e., today's new stuff on top, then yesterday's, and so on--can still
get that one, too.
Future
offerings will include tables of contents sorted alphabetically (by title, by
author, by opening sentence), by author's height (or religion or preference in
beers), by the editor's confidential opinion of the article's merits, by Bill
Gates' opinion of the article's merits, by the amount the author was paid, and
by the number of appearances of the phrase "irrational exuberance" or
"distinguishing characteristic." (No article has appeared in any publication
for at least six months without either of these phrases.) Have we forgotten
your preference? Just let us know. We hope ultimately to have a unique table of
contents configured to the taste of every
Slate
reader.
Today's
Economic Puzzler
Steven E. Landsburg, who
writes
Slate
's "Everyday Economics" column, has a new book out called
Fair Play: What Your Child Can Teach You About Economics, Values, and the
Meaning of Life . Click here to order it from the publisher, The Free Press.
Several chapters originated as columns in
Slate
. Steve
specializes in delightful explanations of apparent economic anomalies, so he
surely can explain why ordering this excellent volume directly from the
publisher costs the full price of $24 plus shipping and handling, while a
bookstore with vast overheads of real estate and espresso machines will sell it
to you at a 10-percent or 20-percent discount.
--Michael Kinsley
