Geek Habitat

My first indication I’d somehow veered into FORTUNE magazine territory in my online reading was this incredibly lame title for an iPod article:
“Play That Funky Music, White Toy”

Still, I gave the writer the benefit of a doubt and continued reading. The article’s first sentence begins with:

Clue to the writer — unless you work at The Motley Fool , it’s just not cool to mix up the word full with the word fool. Maybe the writer was fired from Fool.com and is a newbie at FORTUNE, though I’d anticipate their web editor catching the error of a newbie reporter, wouldn’t you?

By now, I’m primed to rip the article to shreads, but I have to stop reading when I stumble upon this insanity:

What the…?! I suppose the writer thinks he’s being clever and “edgy” with these labels? Instead, it’s jarring and silly, like the article’s title and initial sentence. And he doesn’t get the point, ‘cuz you know what, the next paragraph further expounds on his theory. For the finale, he hands us a trite Valentine’s witticism wrapped up in this agonizing exposition.

Sure, I’m throwing stones at someone who’s published in FORTUNE magazine, which I’m sure pays at least some of his bills — though not enough for some writing classes and a good copy editor! Needless to say, FORTUNE isn’t exactly at the top of my reading list. I tried reading FORTUNE once while staying in a hotel on business — it’s FOX News for people with a slightly higher IQ: trying too hard to be “hip” and “informative,” and failing to be readable/watchable in the process. At least when I do accidentally watch FOX News, I know Shepard Smith will flub at least one line every broadcast, and the majority of his flubs result in a profanity of some sort. One such classic was, “The President is a lesbian,” which bore no similiarity to what he was actually supposed to have read, other than the word “President”.