Last November,
I told you
that only a dozen U.S.
World War I veterans were still living. As of Friday, the number, by my count,
dropped to four. A couple of those deaths: Moses Hardy, the last known black WWI vet,
died in December. KATU-TV in
Portland, Ore., tells me that
108-year-old Howard Ramsey just died. That leaves
this list:
- Charlotte Winters, 109, lives in Boonsboro, Md.
The Decline of Confession
Catholic confessions are way down -- way, way down.
Just in time for Lent, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has
launched a new ad campaign trying to get folks to come back to the
confessional.
The
Washington Post reported:
The
campaign, the first big public endeavor by the new archbishop, Donald Wuerl, is
timed to start with Lent, the 40-day period of reflection and penitence. [...]
Brochures that parishes are distributing lay out rules for the rusty, complete
with a pop-out, wallet-size card ("Step 3: Confess all of your sins to the priest.
If you are unsure or uneasy, tell him and ask for help."). [...]
Parishes
have been cutting back the time they set aside for confessions for years; many
now allot only 30- or 45-minute blocks or ask for appointments. Years ago, lines
at confessionals were long and priests listened for hours.
To Get a Trucker's License
KPRC-TV in Houston
took a look at what Texas
requires in order to get a commercial truck driver's license. The answer was -- it
doesn't take much. The American Trucking Associations responded to the story by
saying requirements should be tougher.
Al's Morning Multimedia
Here is a simple idea that taps into people's daily
frustrations. The Bakersfield Californian
built a pothole map that allows people to map their most hated pothole and
even, on the same page, request the road department to do something about it.
Online Merges With TV This Week
I don't want to overstate how significant I think this week
is in the continuum of how media consumption is changing, but I think it is
pretty big.
This week, Apple rolls out its Apple TV. This $299 device will
allow you to watch anything you download from iTunes on your TV -- probably a big
screen HD plasma monster.
The reason this changes the game is because now there is a
reason to post high-definition video online. Movie downloads begin to make sense, because now
you can watch them on something other than an iPod or your computer screen. And
you won't have to plug something in to watch it, because this device sends the
video wirelessly to the TV.
In effect, I think, it opens the way for way more Web sites
to begin acting like TV stations; only they don't have to have licenses or
transmitters. Newspapers can be in the video business and, dare I say, the TV business.
Stories from PC Magazine and
Red
Herring said this application could be a DVD killer. Macworld explains
how it works.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
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