Pretentious, erratic, unmissable (News/Media Online - General)

Member Name: caro

Product:	News/Media Online - General
Date:	09/06/02 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating articles you might never find otherwise, range of international publications, updated daily

Disadvantages: Sometimes cryptic descriptions

For most of us, most of the time, online news serves one of two functions: either to get the latest headlines immediately, or to read more in-depth articles not easily accessible elsewhere. Arts & Letters Daily (www.aldaily.com) is invaluable for the second purpose.

The name has probably gone halfway to explaining the “pretentious” bit of the title, and when you reach the site, you will see that it even has a Latin motto. However, this little bit of Latin has more contemporary resonance than most: ‘veritas odit moras’ translates as ‘the truth hates delay’. The layout may look a little old-fashioned, but that is deliberate. It is based on eighteenth-century newspaper design.

However, don’t let the pretentions put you off. The site is superb, and well worth a daily (or at least, regular) visit. It is basically a collection of links to articles of interest throughout the web. Although American, it has a good proportion of British and other international articles on a huge range of subjects. Divided into three sub-headings (articles of note, new books, and essays and opinion), it has an introductory sentence with a link to an article or articles about the subject.

The featured items range from book reviews to opinion pieces to in-depth essays, with a mixture from the humorous to the highly serious. Science and economics are covered alongside literature and philosophy; history, current affairs and politics also feature along with a whole host of topics best described as ‘miscellaneous’ (whew, never thought I’d remember how to spell that!). New links are added daily from Monday to Friday, and there is also a weekend edition. The most recent are at the top, so it’s easy to access the latest articles. Unfortunately, there will be a few broken links further down as the original articles are archived or deleted, but these are actually relatively rare.

So, pretentious and
unmissable; why erratic? We’re back to those introductory sentences for that. Although some are simply factual, and many have a slightly cruel humour (“Modern etiquette. What do you do with that awkward wad of gum? Care too much and you’re a snob. Care too little and you’re a slob...” or “The great Kamasutra is fanciful, dangerous nonsense. It’s not to be read in bed while drinking, or to be held with only one hand...”), a certain proportion bear almost no resemblance to the content of the article, or are simply too cryptic to make sense. However, that is a minor quibble when set against the huge range of materials brought together here.

A really nice touch is the list of links to various worldwide publications at one side of the page. It’s probably the most concise, useful set of links of this type that I’ve come across. More scattered are the inevitable adverts, which are relatively few, inconspicuous and altogether less obvious than on most sites.

If you want something a little more intellectual or provocative than the usual web content, Arts & Letters Daily is highly recommended. It’s an easy and rewarding way to keep up with major news stories and debates in North America and beyond, and has its fair share of amusing or downright weird content too. Go on, visit!

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