Replaced my Blackberry last week with the new Blackberry Storm, the new touch-screen crackberry that is, depending on who's reviewing it, the greatest thing since the iPhone or a monumental failure in both engineering and software.

After a week of using the Blackberry, I can report that, for me, the answer is somewhere in between.  The Storm is an elegant device, nicely designed and easy to use. The touch screen, which depresses with an tactile "click" allows easier typing than my old 8830 Blackberry.

Still, it takes some getting used to. The famous wheel is mising and you have to learn to use the right feel with the screen. Some of the actions aren't as intuitive as I would like but as I learn the software it becomes second-nature.  The software had some original glitches but two recent operating system updates appear to have resolved most of the issues.

I think I'll keep it.

Jay Leno will leave his job as host of NBC's Tonight Show in May 2009 but he won't be leaving NBC. He will move to prime time as the host of a Tonight-show style show at 10 p.m. Eastern time -- five nights a week.

Reports The New York Times:

As expected, Tribune Co. -- owner of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times -- filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

...the mighty Chicago Tribune is headed for bankruptcy.

According to The Wall Street Journal:

Tribune Co. is preparing for a possible filing for bankruptcy-court protection as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter, in a sign of worsening trouble for the newspaper industry.

Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz brought the hoaxsters who convinced NBC and others in the media that they were campaign advisers for John McCain and fed phony tips to the meda big boys.

The demise of American newspapers is a popular topic these days. Just about every daily newspaper in the county has cut back on staff and some weekies are feeling the pinch as well.
 
Legendary Chicago film critic Roger Ebert says the news business is killing itself by turning into nothing but gossip sheets.

I've been a journalist for more than four decades and sold my first story and photos to a newspaper while still in elementary school in Farmville, Virginia and worked for the weekly Floyd Press and the daily Roanoke Times (as a stringer) while attending high school in Floyd County, Virginia.