TypePad's Demise Ends Dave Barry's Blog. He's Moving To Substack (herald.com) 28
Humor columnist Dave Barry won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for commentary — and answered questions from Slashdot's readers in 2003. That same year he convinced thousands of people to call a telemarketing company (which had filed a lawsuit protesting America's "Do Not Call" registry). He's criticized electronic voting machines, wrote Dave Barry in Cyberspace, and even helped popularize "Talk Like a Pirate Day."
But this week the 78-year-old humor columnist announced he's shutting his blog down. ("Actually, technically, TypePad is shutting it down, by going out of business September 30.") Dave Barry will be moving to Substack, where he'll write new humor columns — and where paying subscribers will also be able to comment and participate in chats.
On his TypePad blog, Barry wrote "GOODBYE, YOU CRAZY, WONDERFUL PEOPLE..." After [September 30th] this site will disappear, and I've made the decision not to attempt to migrate it to another platform. Everything, except Keith Richards, eventually comes to an end, and it just feels like it's time, after all these years, to let the Blog go to that Big Archive in the Sky.
It has been a fun couple of decades, hanging out here with you very funny folks — discussing the International Squirrel Conspiracy, and what WBAGNFARB, and all the entities, human and otherwise, that qualify for Florida drivers' licenses, and the many, many other random topics that made up whatever this weird thing has been. Thanks to all of you — the people who sent me all those news items; the excellent commenters; the lurkers — for being part of this. Really: Thank you. You made it work.
Dave Barry reminds readers that he'll continue blogging on TypePad until the end of September — and that after that they can still reach him at his new Substack blog (where "you don't have to subscribe to read my posts").
And his Substack blog already has a humorous "About" page... When people hear that I'm starting a Substack, the question they always ask is: "Dave Barry? Isn't he dead?"
I'm delighted to report that the answer is: Not yet! I'm still alive, and along with an estimated 85 percent of the Earth's population, I have a Substack, which I invite you to subscribe to...
In 2005 I stopped writing a weekly column, after which the newspaper industry — draw your own conclusions from this — collapsed. I've continued to write books, and every year I write a massive Year in Review, which is wildly popular with everyone except the people who hate it. But I've missed writing columns, which is why I started this Substack. I will use it to comment on the major issues of the day, ranging all the way from stories about snakes showing up in people's toilets to stories about completely different scary things showing up in people's toilets. I will sometimes even write about issues that are totally unrelated to toilets. That is how wide-ranging this Substack will be. I plan to occasionally do chats, and I may even do podcasts or interviews with my famous minor-celebrity friends if I can get them to return my phone calls. Also I'll publish the Year in Review here.
So that's the plan. I'm hoping to build a community of civic-minded people with a sincere interest in reading about and discussing useless and often wildly inaccurate things instead of doing something productive. Kind of like Congress, but without a dress code.
A frequently-asked questions list then promises the Substrack will "have much more writing from me, and more interaction between me and subscribers. The blog has always been something I did in my spare time, when I wasn't working on something else, usually a book. The Substack will be my main focus, essentially my day job." Q: [H]ow much does a paid subscription to your Substack cost?
A. Eleven million dollars.
Q. Whoa. That's expensive!
A. You drive a hard bargain! But OK, for you let's make it $5 a month, or $50 a year....
Q. What if I don't want to pay?
A. Burly men will barge into your home and confiscate your major appliances. [Barry then crosses this out using HTML strikethrough characters.] Nothing bad will happen to you. You can still see my Substack posts, though you won't be able to comment on posts or participate in chats.
Thanks to wiredog (Slashdot reader #43,288) for sharing the news.
But this week the 78-year-old humor columnist announced he's shutting his blog down. ("Actually, technically, TypePad is shutting it down, by going out of business September 30.") Dave Barry will be moving to Substack, where he'll write new humor columns — and where paying subscribers will also be able to comment and participate in chats.
On his TypePad blog, Barry wrote "GOODBYE, YOU CRAZY, WONDERFUL PEOPLE..." After [September 30th] this site will disappear, and I've made the decision not to attempt to migrate it to another platform. Everything, except Keith Richards, eventually comes to an end, and it just feels like it's time, after all these years, to let the Blog go to that Big Archive in the Sky.
It has been a fun couple of decades, hanging out here with you very funny folks — discussing the International Squirrel Conspiracy, and what WBAGNFARB, and all the entities, human and otherwise, that qualify for Florida drivers' licenses, and the many, many other random topics that made up whatever this weird thing has been. Thanks to all of you — the people who sent me all those news items; the excellent commenters; the lurkers — for being part of this. Really: Thank you. You made it work.
Dave Barry reminds readers that he'll continue blogging on TypePad until the end of September — and that after that they can still reach him at his new Substack blog (where "you don't have to subscribe to read my posts").
And his Substack blog already has a humorous "About" page... When people hear that I'm starting a Substack, the question they always ask is: "Dave Barry? Isn't he dead?"
I'm delighted to report that the answer is: Not yet! I'm still alive, and along with an estimated 85 percent of the Earth's population, I have a Substack, which I invite you to subscribe to...
In 2005 I stopped writing a weekly column, after which the newspaper industry — draw your own conclusions from this — collapsed. I've continued to write books, and every year I write a massive Year in Review, which is wildly popular with everyone except the people who hate it. But I've missed writing columns, which is why I started this Substack. I will use it to comment on the major issues of the day, ranging all the way from stories about snakes showing up in people's toilets to stories about completely different scary things showing up in people's toilets. I will sometimes even write about issues that are totally unrelated to toilets. That is how wide-ranging this Substack will be. I plan to occasionally do chats, and I may even do podcasts or interviews with my famous minor-celebrity friends if I can get them to return my phone calls. Also I'll publish the Year in Review here.
So that's the plan. I'm hoping to build a community of civic-minded people with a sincere interest in reading about and discussing useless and often wildly inaccurate things instead of doing something productive. Kind of like Congress, but without a dress code.
A frequently-asked questions list then promises the Substrack will "have much more writing from me, and more interaction between me and subscribers. The blog has always been something I did in my spare time, when I wasn't working on something else, usually a book. The Substack will be my main focus, essentially my day job." Q: [H]ow much does a paid subscription to your Substack cost?
A. Eleven million dollars.
Q. Whoa. That's expensive!
A. You drive a hard bargain! But OK, for you let's make it $5 a month, or $50 a year....
Q. What if I don't want to pay?
A. Burly men will barge into your home and confiscate your major appliances. [Barry then crosses this out using HTML strikethrough characters.] Nothing bad will happen to you. You can still see my Substack posts, though you won't be able to comment on posts or participate in chats.
Thanks to wiredog (Slashdot reader #43,288) for sharing the news.
Re: (Score:1, Informative)
Translation: substack allows freedom of speech. Which is bad, because its somehow anti-fascist to censor viewpoints that differ from the left-wing media-established Narrative.
Re:Substack is trash (Score:5, Insightful)
Conservative: I have been censored for my conservative views
Me: Holy shit! You were censored for wanting lower taxes?
Con: LOL no...no not those views
Me: So....deregulation?
Con: Haha no not those views either
Me: Which views, exactly?
Con: Oh, you know the ones
Re: (Score:1)
Me: Which views, exactly?
Con: Oh, you know the ones
Views like "we don't need high levels of immigration with people who refuse to assimilate"
Views like "a boy in a dress is not a girl".
Also, you created a cancel culture where people get fired and sometimes physically attacked for having unapproved views. Real classy then, to turn around and mock people for fearing your heavy handed viewpoint enforcement exactly as you hoped they would ...
Re: (Score:2)
I read those views every single day for years, nobody has been censoring that. Nancy Mace said it to another Congresswoman. What are we talking about
Re: (Score:2)
And immigrants and trans people have also seen abuse from speech if that's what we are calling it now. JK Rowling's speech could be linked to literal laws being created in the UK.
Why am I arguing with you you don't know what freedom of speech means.
Re: (Score:2)
it promotes fascist content.
So throw it in a heap and burn it.
Re: (Score:2)
FWIW, they did say the push notification promoting a Nazi was an error that got debugged. https://arstechnica.com/tech-p... [arstechnica.com]
Re: (Score:2)
so, like ... slashdot?
Re: (Score:2)
I've kind of forgotten about Dave Barry (Score:4, Interesting)
I used to religiously read his newspaper columns, and I've bought a few of his books in the past. He is pretty funny... however I'm not sure what this has to do with Slashdot.
Re: (Score:3)
And I also thought it was just really cool that Slashdot reader #43,288 submitted the story...
I do wonder how many people are still reading his column - but 25 years ago he was one of web publishing's bigger stars...
Re: (Score:3)
I'm not sure what this has to do with Slashdot.
"What happens when a platform you've used goes dark."
Re: (Score:3)
That is a good point. It's also interesting from the point of view that Typepad (and its predecessors, even more so) helped kill off a lot of newspapers, which is what used to be Barry's bread and butter; and now it's going dark because it can't figure out how to pay for itself.
Re: (Score:1)
it seems he still has readers, so why shut down a personal website to join a generic platform?
I don't quite see the appeal if it already worked for him
Re: (Score:1)
to clarify: there are many other places to host a personal website even if TypePad is disappearing
Re: (Score:2)
He is pretty funny... however I'm not sure what this has to do with Slashdot.
I believe I have the distinction of being the only person in the world to own a copy of The Mythical Man-Month that's been autographed... by Dave Barry.
(I swear I'm not making this up.)
Re: (Score:3)
I used to religiously read his newspaper columns, and I've bought a few of his books in the past. He is pretty funny... however I'm not sure what this has to do with Slashdot.
Dave Barry is deeply intertwined with the origins of Slashdot. The very pseudonym of our co-founder, CmdrTaco, is a reference to a Dave Barry column.
Unfortunately, the Miami Herald's archive does not appear to include Dave Barry's entire serialized oeuvre (Just most of it [miamiherald.com]), and the only other citation I can find for "Commander Taco" related to Dave Barry is from his book, Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week, reportedly in an essay about the worst places
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, there are some Boomers on here.
Watch: PDP-8
Essays in replies.
the real question (Score:2)
But the real question is: is he making this up?
hawk
Fucker Is Still Hillarious (Score:3)
Long live Dave Barry.
Dave Barry Does Japan (Score:4, Insightful)
For some reason that has never been clear to me Dave Barry Does Japan, written on a two-week publisher-paid holiday to Japan with his family, sums up what Japan feels like better than any other book about the Land of the Rising Sun. He captures the weirdness, the earnestness, and the similar-but-differentness in a way that I never could when talking to friends and family about the place I lived, worked, and raised a family for seven years.
Disappointed in his choice (Score:2)
I guess I can't be too mad at a white dude in his 70's not knowing better, but Barry is pretty smart. It's disappointing to see him choose Substack when he has the chance to start fresh and isn't fighting with having to move *off* of Substack to a less problematic service.
In other news, the Titanic gas gone down (Score:1)
This is an old story. Barry made this move several weeks ago. I know because I subscribe.