We’re big fans of Doghouse Diaries here at Geekosystem, especially when they speak a slightly exaggerated, hilarious truth. As we learned last week when the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden broke, social media — particularly Twitter — spread said news long before President Obama delivered it himself on live television. A guy even unknowingly live tweeted the raid on Osama’s hideout.

Luckily, if one doesn’t understand that the times are a’changin’, Doghouse Diaries provides the above handy lesson in a’changin’ times. Head on past the break to see a larger version of the comic.

New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. provided some information about the media giant’s new subscription service that will place much of the newspaper’s digital content behind a paywall. The new rules go into effect today in Canada, in order to test the system, and on March 28 globally.

The new subscription plan is being offered in a tiered system, with limitations being placed on the paper’s popular smartphone and tablet apps. The highest level, $35 per month,  grants users full site access on all devices and on all apps. The cheapest plan will cost $15, giving users full access to the site, and full access through smartphone apps.

E-reader subscriptions, like those offered for the Kindle, are not currently included in the plan and must be purchased separately. The Apple iPad will also be the only tablet supported at launch.

But mooching, nonpaying users will not be left out in the cold.

That’s it, you should probably just stop reading this site. Except for maybe the cat videos. In a paper presented at TED this year, Rolf Dobelli breaks down 15 reasons news is bad for you:

1. News misleads systematically

2. News is irrelevant

3. News limits understanding

4. News is toxic to your body

5. News massively increases cognitive errors

6. News inhibits thinking

7. News changes the structure of your brain

8. News is costly

9. News sunders the relationship between reputation and achievement

10. News is produced by journalists

11. Reported facts are sometimes wrong, forecasts always

12. News is manipulative

13. News makes us passive

14. News gives us the illusion of caring

15. News kills creativity

Each point is elaborated upon in Dobelli’s paper. [PDF]

(Rolf Dobelli [PDF] via Paul Kedrosky)

CEO of Newscorp Rupert Murdoch unveiled The Daily the subscription-based news app for the iPad earlier today making it the first of its kind on Apple’s app store. The app will deliver text, video, and other media for $0.14 a day, or about $0.99 a week.

Using a layout similar to Apple’s coverflow, The Daily delivers news content tailored for tablets. From Ars Technica:

“There’s no paper, no multimillion dollar presses, no trucks, and we’re passing on these savings to the reader,” Murdoch said to the crowd. “The target audience is the 50 million Americans expected to own tablets in the next year.”

Rumors have been swirling about The Daily for a while now, though nothing about Newscorp’s subscription-based magazine app for tablets was set in stone. That changes today, with a firm unveiling date of February, 2 2011. The invitation names Newscorp CEO Rupert Murdoch and Apple’s VP of internet service Eddy Cue as attendees at the announcement in New York.

Details are still scarce on the launch of The Daily, but it is expected to operate within the existing App Store but under a new pricing model. Ars Technica reports that the model will be based around a $0.99 per week subscription model. This would be a slight change from existing digital publications which typically charge per issue, with each being downloaded either as separate apps or using Apple’s in-app purchasing framework.

Given Newscorps backing for the project, its success or failure of The Daily will likely dictate the future of tablet and mobile publications. More to follow, of course.

(via Ars Technica)

In this 2007 video, San Diego’s 10 News experiences seemingly every possible technical, communication, and existential failure possible in the space of one minute. Everyone has their off days, but they’re rough when a large live audience is watching …

(via Urlesque)

For several months now, the UK has been transfixed by a mysterious man who crashed dozens of live TV news broadcasts on the likes of the BBC, Al Jazeera, Channel 4, and Sky News. Until recently anonymous, the man has been unmasked as Paul Yarrow, a 38-year-old caretaker from south London. Despite appearing on as many news shows as he has, Yarrow’s motives have been a mystery, until now:

Remember Apple Daily, the Taiwanese tabloid that produces CGI videos depicting the events of major Western news stories? And how their segment on the Tiger Woods scandal started a mini-empire of Internet virality? Adult Swim is now airing the videos as “Adult Swim News” segments. Can a show composed entirely of “viral” “internet” “vids” be far behind?

(That is, one that isn’t on G4?)