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4/13/2004</title></head><body>
<div>MIT EDITORS' CLUB<br>
<br>
*Meeting Notes from April 13, 2004*<br>
</div>
<div>Did *you* know that there's a magazine out there printed on
special drool-resistant paper because it's "read" by folks
aged 6 months to 2 years? And that one of Our Own was recently
published in said magazine? Plus, how do you tell the difference
between a cockroach and a centipede? And did you know that one of Our
Own started her career as an entomologist/horticulture agent?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>These gems and more meant a rather raucous meeting, but somehow
we also managed to cover a great deal of Useful Stuff:</div>
<div><br>
*Newsaggregators/Real Simple Syndication*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Apparently there is at least one techie area where MIT is behind
the curve, reports Robyn Fizz of Information Systems and Technology.
There are computer "thingies" (my word) called
newsaggregators or Real Simple Syndication (RSS) that could spell a
new way for communications offices around the Institute to share news
with the rest of the MIT community. RSS is essentially a way for any
one of us to pick what publications (or companies) we want to get news
from every day, and receive that news in the configuration we like
best.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Next week, Robyn said, IS&T folk will be meeting to talk
about RSS and its potential for the rest of the community. In the
meantime, Jack Morris of the Alumni Assocation reports that his group
is already receiving RSS "feeds," and, I learned, the new
News Office web site will be, too.</div>
<div><br>
For more information about this topic, check out the following sites
that Robyn sent over:<br>
<br>
To get a head start on RSS, check out RSS Quickstart guide at
http://rss.lockergnome.com/resources/articles/quickstart.phtml.<br>
<br>
The most popular RSS reader on the Mac is NetNewsWire:
http://ranchero.com/netnewswire/. NetNewsWire Lite is freeware (link
near bottom of web page).<br>
<br>
The most popular RSS reader on Windows is BlogExpress:
http://usablelabs.com/productBlogExpress.html. Also freeware, though
you can donate via PayPal.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Stata Center Media Event*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The dedication of the Stata Center in early May will include a
SUBSTANTIAL program for the media, which is being coordinated by my
News Office colleague (and fellow Editor) Patti Richards. Patti has
invited beaucoup media from the technology and design press to a
day-long series of lectures, tours, and demos on May 5. ALREADY some
60 media from places including the New York Times and Vanity Fair have
confirmed that they'll be there.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>To that end, I'm throwing out a perennial request: send the News
Office (through me) story ideas that might appeal to reporters
covering technology and/or design. These folks are always hungry for
leads. ALSO: please send Patti the names of reporters you (or your
faculty) know who you think should definitely be invited. Patti can be
reached at prichards@mit.edu</div>
<div><br>
*New MIT News Office Website*</div>
<div><br>
My colleagues (and fellow Editors) Lisa Damtoft and Darren Clarke have
completely revamped the News Office web site with loads 'o new bells
and whistles. The site will be unveiled in early May, and because it's
so cool I've asked Lisa and Darren to give a demo of the site for the
next meeting of Editors' Club. Actually, their demo will be at a JOINT
meeting with the Web-Pub group. So mark your calendars for Thursday,
May 27, from 12-1 in 3-133. (Many thanks to Suzana Lisanti for booking
the room and suggesting the event.) This meeting will REPLACE the May
Editors' Club meeting that I originally scheduled in the News Office
for May 10.<br>
</div>
<div>*MIT News?*<br>
</div>
<div>Janet Wasserstein of Foundation Relations asked whether the new
MIT News Office site will include the latest news about MIT from
outside media, which would be a very useful resource for her office.
Not immediately, reports Lisa Damtoft, but such a service will
probably be added later.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>IN THE MEANTIME, here are a variety of nifty tips for getting
that kind of news AND for finding archived media articles about the
Institute.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>First, take advantage of the Google news service. The following
URL is already primed to bring up news stories about MIT:<font
face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=%22Massachusetts+Institute+of<span
></span>+Technology%22+OR+MIT&btnG=Google+Search</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Another cool thing: Jack Morris of the Alumni Association notes
that you can also have Google ship MIT news stories directly to your
inbox. Simply scroll to the bottom of the Google news service page
(see above) to sign up for this service.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Finally: The MIT Libraries subscribe to the LexisNexis database
which allows you to search for--and find--archived stories about MIT
from a WIDE RANGE of media. Because MIT subscribes to the service, you
can find these articles for free, rather than having to pay the small
fee that most media web sites charge for access to older articles. Go
to<font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000">
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe?_m=669e5617a375692177793e25545d3f<span
></span
>16&wchp=dGLbVtz-zSkVA&_md5=d0c2462369215e152c6b4922af3ac09f</font
></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Readership Survey*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The next issue of the Information Systems and Technology
newsletter, due in your mailboxes around April 22-23, will include a
survey about how people want to get their computing news. Robyn Fizz,
editor of the newsletter, encourages everyone to fill out the survey.
When she's analyzed the results, she'll give us a summary, since this
is an issue that most of us are interested in.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*About Drool-Resistant Paper and Bugs*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I KNOW, just KNOW that many of you have read this far simply to
find out who was recently published on drool-resistant paper. And the
answer is: Debbie Levey, editor of the newsletter for the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who penned the following poem
for the magazine Babybug:</div>
<div><br>
A Centipede Enjoys a Rainy Day<br>
<br>
It's raining on the tulip<br>
It's raining on the rose<br>
There's mud on all my little feet</div>
<div>And dirt between my toes.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>And which of us started our career as a horticulture agent and
still gets occasional plant and bug queries from MIT folk who know
this history? Me.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Elizabeth</div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>===================================<br>
Elizabeth A. Thomson<br>
Assistant Director, Science & Engineering News<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
News Office, Room 11-400<br>
77 Massachusetts Ave.<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307<br>
617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)<br>
<thomson@mit.edu><br>
<br>
<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www><br>
===================================</div>
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