I Am Not Downloading The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's DFW OT App For My I-Pad

I don't know why I got email from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today. I ceased being a subscriber years ago. I understand why I got email from the Fort Worth Library today, because I still subscribe to that service.

The email from the Star-Telegram was announcing the introduction of something called DFW OT. With DFW OT apparently being DFW's first and only digital sports magazine for the iPad.

It appears Tony Romo is the cover cowboy on the first issue of DFW OT. Tony Romo is the quarterback for the local football team called the Dallas Cowboys, which is expected to win the Super Bowl this year.

What I am wondering is did it not cost the Fort Worth Star-Telegram any money to produce DFW's first and only digital sports magazine?

One really can not help but wonder why a newspaper which has shrunk considerably since I first saw it over a decade ago and which is known to be struggling to survive, money-wise, would invest in an electronic publication that runs on a device that is not a device the majority of people use.

I read in this week's FW Weekly in an article titled More Jumping Ship that more Star-Telegram employees are jumping ship. The most recent ship jumper is the Star-Telegram's business columnist, Mitchell Schnurman, who left Fort Worth for Dallas and that town's Morning News.

Maybe DFW OT will be a big money maker that saves the sinking ship. Maybe not. I don't think I'll be getting this app for my iPad.

Up With The Sun On The Last Sunday Of March Thinking About Being In A Dallas Jail

I stepped outside to take a picture of the outside view at about the same time the sun started to arrive on this last Sunday of March of 2011.

Now that the sun has done its daily illuminating duty I can see we are under a bit of a cloud cover.

I do not believe any rain has fallen, so we are still on course for a record breaking lack of rain for a March in North Texas.

Rain is in the forecast for the next several days. It won't take much, only .01 to tie the 1926 March rain total.

I think I have previously mentioned that the Dallas Morning News online has gotten very annoying. Not satisfied with generating revenue via ads, the DMN online now only gives limited access, unless you pay a monthly fee.

This morning on the Dallas Morning News this headline caught my eye...

"Three years since being declared innocent, mans waits for ruling to set him free"

I clicked on the link and was able to read this....

"Three years have passed since State District Judge Rick Magnis found that Ben Spencer was innocent of a March 1987 deadly robbery in West Dallas. But Spencer, 46, still sits behind bars because the Court of Criminal Appeals hasn’t ruled on the judge’s recommendation that his conviction and life sentence...."

Before I came to this....

"Get Subscriber Content access to read this story."

I would think that the Dallas Morning News webstats are likely way down, which likely has led to a big drop in their online ad revenue.

I think it is time to go swimming now.

Up Early After A Bad Bout Of Insomnia With Morning Aggravation With The Dallas Morning News

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the second Wednesday of March it appears we have dawned with yet one more blue sky morning in North Texas.

It is 45 degrees out there this morning.

I had myself a bad insomnia outbreak last night. Endless bouts of short bursts of falling asleep and then waking up again, with constant tossing and turning.

I likely burned a lot of calories during last night's attempt to sleep. The problem was exacerbated, I think, due to it being a bit warm and muggy. Opening the window brought in a cold breeze, causing bouts of blankets off blankets on, til common sense kicked in clear enough to cause me to shut the window.

Just typing this blogging I can see this is going to be a rough day. Almost every other word I am either misspelling or typing some odd typo. I don't recollect ever giving the backspace key the level of workout it is getting right now.

I think I am going to have to bail on the Dallas Morning News online. You have to be an online subscriber to read the content. When I open the paper it says "Hi Durango" indicating I am logged in.

However, this morning when I clicked to read a story about the Dallas kayaking whitewater section of the Trinity River that is part of the Dallas Trinity River Vision, which sees a bit more clearer vision than the cross-eyed Fort Worth Trinity River Vision, I was told I needed to subscribe to read the content.

When I clicked on the register and subscribe button I was brought to a subscribe to the hard copy offer. Which I rejected when I clicked "No Thanks" and took off to read the Seattle P-I online.

For free. Except for annoying ads.

I guess I will try and go swimming now and hope that that perks up my tiredness and sloppy synapses.

Two Degrees Above Freezing On The 3rd Wednesday Of 2011 In Texas Aggravated By The Dallas Morning News

The temperature chilled to 34 degrees overnight, which seems to have caused a lot of condensation on my viewing window.

But, not enough condensation that I am prevented from seeing that this 3rd Wednesday of 2011 is starting off with a nice, clear, blue sky.

This morning my #1 Aggravation is the Dallas Morning New online. The hard copy version of the Dallas Morning New is the last newspaper to which I subscribed, til they aggravated me well over a year ago.

The online version of the DMN had a total makeover in the past couple days. You have to be a "Registered" user in order to read the full text of an article. I was already a "Registered" user, but had to confirm my info when the DMN switched to its new format.

One supposedly only needed to confirm ones info once and from that point on logging in would be automatic.

However, this morning the Dallas Morning News online did not remember me. I re-entered the info again. I then got a message that I had til some particular date to do some particular thing that made no sense.

I really don't need to be reading both the Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News, even though, for the most part, the Dallas paper seems the better of the two.

So, I'll give the Dallas Morning News online one more chance and if it fails that chance it'll be going in to delete-ville.

And in the meantime I'm going swimming.

Finally A Bill For Zero Owed From The Dallas Morning News

A couple weeks ago I blogged the sad story of the demise of my longtime habit of reading a newspaper in the morning.

I had pre-paid for the Dallas Morning News for 3 months. When that 3 months was up I was not contacted by the Dallas Morning News to ask if I wanted to continue my subscription.

The paper continued to show up on my doorstep for 43 days after the 3 pre-paid months were up. On day 44 there was no paper on my doorstep. I had no idea the 3 months were up, since, like I said, there'd been no contact from the Dallas Morning News.

So, I called to complain about the missing paper. I was told the paper had been stopped due to me not paying the bill. I told the customer service person I had received no bill. At that point in time it had not occured to me that I had not authorized continued delivery after my 3 month pre-paid subscription was up. And that I owe them nothing.

And then I started getting daily phone calls from an unknown number. After a week or so of that I answered the phone to learn, via fractured English, that the calls were in regards to the un-paid bill that I had not received. The caller told me she'd inform the Dallas Morning News that they needed to send me a bill.

So, today I finally got a bill from the Dallas Morning News. That's part of the bill, at the top, that says I owe $0.00 for my subscription. And asking me to donate $2.00 to Newspapers in Education. And telling me that that $2.00 is due May 15, which is today.

And it's a mystery why the newspaper business is in trouble?

To make it even more ironic and funny. And incompetent. There was a letter enclosed with the "bill" from the Editor of the paper. I can't make out the name, it's in bad long hand. Maybe the last name is Morry. No clue about the first name, it looks like it might begin with a B.

The letter is addressed to "Dear Subscriber," It starts off with "I wanted to thank you again for reading the Dallas Morning News and for your loyalty."

Thank me again? This is the first thanks I've gotten. My loyalty? I no longer get the paper.

The letter continues on about how the paper wants to continue serving me and the community and their commitment to me and a whole lot of other nonsensical blather that is silly because I'm not a subscriber and no longer read their paper.

I liked it while I read it, though, even said nice things about that paper on this very blog. And then they went all screwy on me. And continue to be screwy. At least now I have a piece of paper from the Dallas Morning News that quite clearly says I owe them no money.

Putting The Dallas Morning News On The Do Not Call Registry

Yesterday I blogged about getting pestered by multiple phone calls from (636) 925-1746 and how a little Googling led me to learning that this number is a phone bank thing used by newspapers. I speculated it was either the Dallas Morning News or the Fort Worth Star-Telegram trying to get me to re-subscribe.

I was wrong. It's even stupider.

My one reader may remember me dropping the Dallas paper after they stopped delivering due to them never managing to get a bill to me after my 3 month pre-paid subscription had run out.

When I told their customer service guy I was not going to pay them $30 a month, for their paper, I also told him to send me a bill for the amount owed, which was $27.50, I think.

I have not received a bill. But I have been getting those annoying phone calls. Today I decided to answer it.

A woman not fluent in English fumbled through mispronouncing my name, mangling it really bad. Then she tried to do some "how are you doing" type pleasantries. To which I said what do you want and why do you keep calling me?

To which she said she was calling on behalf of the Dallas Morning News to tell me I was late paying for my subscription.

I told her I was told I would be sent a bill and no bill has arrived. To which she said "Thank you, sir. I will put in a request for a bill on your behalf." Or something like that.

I'm appalled that the Dallas Morning News has gone from the slick way they hooked in a new subscriber, to continuing to totally botch up ever since.

The Sad State of Newspapers: Dallas Morning News & Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A couple days ago I blogged about the sad demise of me getting the Dallas Morning News. I'd pre-paid for 3 months. After that 3 months was up, the paper kept coming. I got no bills. And then delivery was stopped. I called to say I'd gotten no paper that morning, which is when I was told it'd been stopped. I was told I could re-start the paper, which would now cost $30.00 a month.

I said send me a bill for what I owe and keep delivery stopped.

I have not yet received a bill, but I have received a "special offer" from the Dallas Morning News. Now, keep in mind the reason I dumped that paper, in addition to the incompetence, was the price increase.

But in this "special offer" it says I can get the paper 7 days a week for $15.75 a month. Which, I believe, pretty much matches what I thought I remembered being told by the guy who originally talked me into subscribing.

So, why did the Dallas Morning News customer service guy pretty much kiss off a subscriber with that $30 a month deal, while they are sending out "special offers" for $15.75?

It's a big mystery why the newspaper business is in rapid decline.

And on that rapid decline line of thought, fresh newspaper weirdness this morning. I opened my front door and what do I find? A Fort Worth Star-Telegram! With a "special offer!"

The Star-Telegram's "special offer" was not as special as the Dallas paper's. I don't remember what it was now.

I had not read the Star-Telegram since I fired them. The paper seems to have shrunk some more. One example was the pathetic editorial pages. The editorial section is 2 pages. 50% of those 2 pages is now taken up by the weather! 12.5% is taken up by editorial cartoons. The paper was so thin it felt flimsy.

And in the Star-Telegram there was no mention made, that I saw, of last night's pre-election event at the Botanic Garden's Moncrief Room. Named, according to one of my sources, after one of the "good" Moncriefs, not the current corrupt mayor, who, incidentally deigned to briefly appear at this event, causing giggles and snickers when he said he could not stay long.

The Dallas Morning News Has Been Canceled

My one longtime reader may remember that some time back I was at Sprouts Farmers Market when I got talked into subscribing to the Dallas Morning News.

I'd been living fine without a newspaper, after an addiction to reading a morning paper that goes back as far as my memory, but then that sales guy at Sprouts made an offer I just could not refuse.

I got 3 months of the Dallas paper at something like 15 bucks a month and $25 of Sprouts gift cards. I thought I remembered the sales guy saying the monthly rate after the initial period would be somewhere in the $17 range. But that may have been if I pre-paid for a year.

I'd gotten rid of the Star-Telegram when the delivery person annoyed me, but that was just the last straw. The paper had been steadily shrinking, and then when I was in Washington, last summer, they raised the monthly subscription to $17.50. Paying more for a smaller paper seemed wrong.

So, I'd been wondering why I've not seen a bill for the Dallas Morning News, or had the delivery person knock on my door. Or someone call me.

This morning there was no Dallas Morning News on my doorstep. So, about 8 I called customer service. One does not as quickly get a live person when calling the Dallas paper as one does when calling the Fort Worth paper. When I finally got a human on the line he told me the paper had been stopped because the bill had not been paid.

I told the guy I'd gotten no bills. I said I can pay it right now. He said that'd work. Apparently the pre-paid period ended March 21. He told me I owed $27.50 for the period from March 21 til May 4. I said fine.

So, that'll be $57.50 to get the paper started again in the morning, he said.

What? Why's that?

He said to get the paper started I had to pay a month ahead. The paper is $30 a month, I asked?

Yes, he said the rate had recently gone up. So, I'm thinking for the 43 day period between March 21 and May 5 I'm getting charged $27.50. And then for the first 30 day period after re-starting the subscription I'm getting charged $30.00?

That really did not make a lot of sense and seemed a rather steep price increase. And so that's what I said to the customer service guy.

He then told me if I pre-paid by some number of months, I don't remember the number, I could get the paper at $22.50 a month. That had me thinking back to that guy at Sprouts and me thinking he said it'd be something like $17.00 a month.

Anyway, I wasn't liking any of this. And so I told the guy to just send me a bill for the amount I owe and we'll just keep the paper stopped from being delivered.

And now I'm thinking it's pretty dumb on the Dallas Morning News' part to go to the bother and expense of sticking a couple guys in Sprouts to lure new subscribers. They hook one, that being me. And then the follow through is not so good.

The first problem was they had trouble getting delivery started. I got a call thanking me for subscribing, which is when I told the caller I'd not gotten a paper yet. To which she replied that delivery was supposed to have started 3 days prior. The little mistake could easily have had me canceling way back then.

But, I stuck with it. I blogged about thinking the Dallas paper was so much better than the Star-Telegram. So, then they had their new subscriber casting out positive words. Look what they've got their ex-subscriber casting out now.

And then they botch getting a bill to me. And then they stop delivery without ever contacting me. And then the cost of the paper goes up to nearly double what I thought it'd be when I initially subscribed.

It really is not that great a mystery to see why newspapers are in trouble. And in a perfect metaphor for that, Monday night the Fort Worth Star-Telegram building caught fire and had to be evacuated. I really don't know if that's a perfect metaphor, or not. I just like that "perfect metaphor" cliche.

So now I'm back to reading books when I lay on the floor in the morning drinking coffee. And I'll be getting my local news from the online versions of the two local papers. For free. I'll also be getting FW Weekly weekly. For free.

This probably is a change for the good.

I'm Moving From Fort Worth To Dallas

I mentioned in a blogging, earlier today, that after I had lunch at Costco, went hiking at Lake Grapevine and checked out Gaylord Texan and the Big Balls of Grapevine, I went to Sprouts Farmers Market where something happened that will change my life.

My one longtime reader may remember me mentioning that I cancelled my longtime subscription to the Fort Wort Star-Telegram at the start of the month. I had a lot of issues with that paper. It was constantly shrinking. The ads were getting bigger and more numerous. They raised their rates and shrunk the paper.

When I experienced the Tacoma News Tribune, this past summer, with it also being a McClatchy paper, but one that had not gone bad, like the Star-Telegram had, the News Tribune still had a robust editorial page. Very few ads in the first section. No page after page of full page ads. Way more content.

Now, to be fair, the Tacoma market is a bit, well, uh, more educated than the Fort Worth paper's market, with way more high school and college graduates and a way higher per capita number of book buyers and readers. So, maybe a town gets the paper that matches its readers. I don't know.

So, I walk into Sprouts and this guy started yammering at me, wanting me to sign up for a raffle. I hate being accosted in this manner when entering or leaving a store. It seemed very un-Sprouts-like. Then he said something that had me saying I cancelled my subscription to the Star-Telegram this month. Then I got confused and said, "uh, are you hawking Star-Telegram subscriptions?"

"No. I'm hawking Dallas Morning News subscriptions."

I told him I'd cancelled the Fort Worth paper years ago due to bad delivery, then got the Dallas paper and the delivery was worse, so I cancelled it and went back to the Star-Telegram when they got a new carrier.

So, the deal was, if you paid for a year's subscription you got a big discount plus $85 of Sprouts gift cards. I said, I would not want to pay a year in advance for a paper that might not get delivered on time. So, he then offered me 3 months for $47.25 plus a $20 Sprouts gift card and another $5 gift card just for giving them another chance.

Sounded like a good deal. So, starting Thursday I'm back in the paper reading business. I'm pretty sure it will get successfully delivered because one of my neighbors gets the Dallas paper.

The Dallas Morning News is more like a real newspaper than the Star-Telegram. It'll be like reading the Seattle P-I or Times or Tacoma Tribune again. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is more like my old hometown newspaper, that being the Skagit Valley Herald. Although the SV Herald has a better editorial page than the Star-Telegram. And way fewer embarrassingly dumb letters to the editor. But then again, once more, Mount Vernon is an area with a much higher educational level and number of readers than Fort Worth.

Unlike the Star-Telegram the SV Herald does not make note of anyone in the news or on TV's connection to Mount Vernon or the valley. When the SV Herald mentions Secretary of Defense Bob Gates it does not use verbiage like, "Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, who has a home on Big Lake in east Mount Vernon, has been asked to stay on by President-elect Obama." Everytime the SV Herald mentions Jim Cavaziel they don't use verbiage like "Mount Vernon's Jim Cavaziel plays Jesus in the new Mel Gibson movie."

When Mount Vernon was named the Best Small Town in the USA by, I think it was Rand McNally, it was a legit award, CNN showed up. But Mount Vernon did not have a citywide celebration. Those of us who lived there wondered if a mistake had been made. Don't get me wrong, Mount Vernon is a great town, but best in the USA?

Fort Worth got named as one of the most Livable Communities in America by some lobbying group in D.C. who used the bogus awards to advance their agenda. Fort Worth acted like the ugly girl suddenly finding herself winning a beauty pageant. In other words we had a city-wide celebration. I told this to a Tacoma city official (Tacoma/Pierce County won the same "award") and he chuckled. I asked if Tacoma had a city-wide celebration. "No", he said, "we politely thanked them. And then ignored it."

So, anyway, come Thursday I'm reading the Dallas Morning News. Please please please let there not be anything in there like "Dallas native Jessica Simpson is rumored to be pregnant with Tony Romo's baby." Or "Dallas native Jessica Simpson being pregnant with Tony Roma's baby is making cities and towns far and wide green with envy over Dallas' good fortune."