Watch through to the end.  You’ll feel fine.*

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* You’ll feel fine for at least five minutes, when we remember that emotion and nostalgia won’t change the fact that it is, really, the end of the publishing industry as we know it.   It’s also, though,  the beginning of a new publishing industry with a different shape and feel, a model that will shift and change as we navigate to we-don’t-know-what-yet, a journey we take with trepidation and excitement and anticipation, knowing that – like newspapers -  it’s the words and images that deliver.  On paper, on screen, on device.  It’s the words and images that deliver.

End of August, Steve joined us.

In September we started to build…  A few contributors started to post in November… In April we launched our Alpha release… and now, on June 8th, we bring you our True/Slant Beta.

What’s in it for you?

Topics: We now have several places to easily find contributors and content by topic, including a Topics button in the black navigation bar and a By Topic tab in the contributor module, top right on our homepage.

Index pages: Improvements to Contributor, Headline Grabs and RSS pages, including a See All button for an easier way to scan.

Contributor Activity Feeds: Expanded activity feeds on contributor pages so you can follow their new posts, active conversations and see whose comments they’ve called out.

Account area: Log in and click on your name in red at the top of the page to see the new and improved account area.

Ads: Okay, this one’s for us but we’re excited to launch with ads from The Economist.

RSS 2.0 feeds: New and updated feeds available across the site for Topics, Contributors and more.

Search Results: Better searching, better results.  Try it.

New registration process: Simpler and streamlined.

And let’s not forget: Behind-the-scenes updates especially for our 100+ contributors, to make it easier for them to post, share and engage.  Also, behind-the-scenes updates especially for you, to make T/S  faster and stronger.

We consider our Beta release just the beginning.   If you’ve been with us before, we hope you enjoy these updates.   If you’re new to True/Slant, jump in and join us.  Sign up, follow a few contributors and comment on some posts.

Most of all, welcome to True/Slant.

Image via CrunchBase

Staffers at The Wall Street Journal were the lucky recipients this week of rules for “professional conduct.”   These rules included a long and specific list related to social media and social networking.

Dow Jones spokesman Robert Christie declined to comment to E&P today on why the updated rules were put out at this time, saying they speak for themselves. But it is clear they are in place for those involved in social networking on the likes of Facebook or Twitter, requiring editor approval before “friending” any confidential sources.

“Openly ‘friending’ sources is akin to publicly publishing your Rolodex,” the rules state, adding, “don’t disparage the work of colleagues or competitors or aggressively promote your coverage,” and “don’t engage in any impolite dialogue with those who may challenge your work — no matter how rude or provocative they may seem.”

New ‘WSJ’ Conduct Rules Target Twitter, Facebook

I get why you shouldn’t ‘friend’ a source.  That’s pure common sense, the same way a cop wouldn’t ‘friend’ an informant’ or a lawyer wouldn’t ‘friend’ a key witness.  But don’t aggressively promote your work?  Sure, you don’t want to spam people but promoting your work on social media sites is one way to, y’know, get people to read it.  To draw attention, create a debate, engage the audience.

I think this one is my favorite though:

“Business and pleasure should not be mixed on services like Twitter. Common sense should prevail, but if you are in doubt about the appropriateness of a Tweet or posting, discuss it with your editor before sending.”

Don’t mix business and pleasure on Twitter.

Discuss a Twitter message with an editor before tweeting it.

Um, really?   Does the person who wrote these rules have anything other than a cursory knowledge of Twitter, Facebook and other social media?   Did anyone raise a hand and say, “The point’s over here and you’re missing it”?

For an industry that is supposed to support free speech, inquiry, discourse,  and — at its core — curiosity, I just don’t get how they don’t get it.

I do agree with one point, however.  Common sense should prevail.  Unfortunately, there’s not much common sense in these rules of engagement.

You can see the entire list of rules for online behavior, along with the other rules of conduct included in the e-mail.   What’s your favorite?  And what rules did they miss?

google chromes microsoft

a heated debate raging on techcrunch today over the pronouncement that google’s imminently-launching browser will, in effect, kill windows.    if that prediction comes true, it would certainly be a slow and agonizing death.  windows still has over 70% of the browser market.

besides, there’s nothing to fear here.  google announced it with a comic book. see?  they’re funny and quirky, those googlers.

except…there’s something uncomfortable here.  like the walls are closing in, despite the trumpeting of openness, the “do no evil” mantra.  they have me surrounded. gmail…gtalk…docs…youtube…search…googlemaps…targeted ads…and so on.

they probably know me better than anyone else — whether i want them to or not.  and i’m not the only one who’s worried.

gigaom says: Not having seen Chrome, I will withhold any final judgement myself, but I would look at the privacy implications of Chrome very, very carefully. I have long since stopped buying into the “do no evil” drivel the company keeps espousing.

having come from the walled gardens of aol, i know the signs.  blugh.  i have to go.  gotta google ‘claustrophobic’ now…

He Remembers Forgotten Beauty / William Butler Yeats

today’s new york times story — yeats meets the digital age, full of passionate intensity — made my pulse quicken.  seriously.  this, i thought, is what digital-ism is all about.  a notebook that captures the intimacy and fire of yeats’ five-decade-long relationship with maude gonne is now on display at the national library of ireland.  so what, you ask?  well…it’s not just sitting under thick glass.  it has been digitally reincarnated, bringing to life faded words and images put to paper 100 years ago.  there’s a touchscreen that lets you actually flip through the notebookand see passages up close, audiotapes, short films…all bringing us inside, letting us feel their connection , their hearts, still beating.   the nyt talks of “software that brings light and breath to aging manuscripts.”

the exhibit may come to the us in 2009.  i hope…

I have spread my dreams under your fairy feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven / William Butler Yeats

yep.  i did just do that.  oig.

anyway, i came across something gloriously grey –  the morning news gallery on phone sex operators.  it’s culled from phillip toledano’s new book, Phone Sex.

we see what’s behind the voice, a glimpse into the body and the mind.   and we voyeuristically get to take a walk on the wild side.

take a peek…