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We Don't Know What We Don't Know

2012-04-29T21:43:11Z

As a newspaper reporter, occasionally I was assigned to report on a story whose subject I didn't know well.

I learned that if I don't know what questions to ask. Otherwise I was at a huge disadvantage and at risk for being misled.

When these assignments came my way, I wasn't about to be taken advantage of due to my ignorance on the topic. How would I know what to question? I was vulnerable to all kinds of misinformation.

I didn't know what I didn't know.

Now I'm going to date myself: I am old enough to remember going to the public library and using the card catalogue to do my research.

I know, I must be a dinosaur.

I never trusted just one book for my reference. I couldn't trust one book as a source just the same as I would never use one interview as the sole source for a story. I had to find out what else was available to me.

The same is true for today only in a different context: We have the Internet.

Think of the Web as a virtual library. The analogy I'm using is not to go only one search engine such as Google to do our research.

Google is huge in its compilation of data. I love Google. I use it every day and find fabulous information. Google opens up the world in amazing ways. No question.

Yet, Google is like using one book for all your investigation. There are more "books" available to us to find the information we are looking for besides Google.

The difference in these virtual books ranges from marginal to quite significant in what is available on any topic.

Below is a short list of some of these sites:

Search engines, such as Google, are rate the information based on mathematical algorithms. Basically, it is a popularity contest. The Web sites that get the most hits get the highest rating. In addition, the companies that pay the most money also get great placement. Below is a short list of search engines:

Google

AOL

Yahoo

AOL

Yahoo

Bing

Alta Vista

Excite

Galaxy

All The Web

Directories are compiled by real people. Directory panels evaluate a Website and then categorize it based on content only.

• AboutUs.org – a wiki-based Web directory.

• Ansearch – Web search and directories focusing on the United States, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

• Best of the Web Directory – Lists content-rich, well-designed Websites categorized both by topic and by region. This is a paid for service.

• JoeAnt – A community of editors from the now-defunct Go.com volunteer-edited directory.

• Open Directory Project (a.k.a. ODP or dmoz) – The largest directory of the Web. Its open content is mirrored at many sites, including the Google Directory until July 20, 2011.

• Starting Point Directory – A human-edited general directory organizing sites by category.

• World Wide Web Virtual Library (VLI – The oldest directory of the Web.

• Yahoo! Directory – The first service that Yahoo! offered.

Metasearch engines are search engine sites that may include from 10 to 90 search engines on one site.

Infospace

Info.com

Dogpile

Excite

Search.com

WebCrawler

Ixquick

Mamma

Metacrawler

Try an experiment. Pick a simple topic, such as "publishing" and look it up in several of these various "books." I'll bet you will be surprised at the wider amount of information you retrieve from each of them.

Remember: We don't know what we don't know.

Geri Spieler is an author, book reviewer and conducts Internet research workshops. You can find her at www.gerispieler.com

Four New Internet Research Classes

2012-03-21T17:37:37Z

Four Classes to Choose From

Class #1

SUPER SLEUTHING:

INTERNET RESEARCH SECRETS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

But Few Do

A comprehensive workshop on how to conduct research on the Internet:

Reduce the amount of time you spend searching and find reliable information.

What you will take away:

Ø 11 unique "search engine strings" that go way beyond the typical "Google" search and cut your research time in half.

Ø Discover over 100 research tools that include directories, databases, graphics, periodicals, government and references all free.

Ø The 10 Best Online Research Apps/Sites You've Never Heard Of

Ø How to find the Deep Web, 500 times bigger than the searchable Web.

Ø Learn the critical difference of information from Free Visible Web, the Free Invisible Web and Paid Databases

Ø How to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

Ø 10 strategies for detecting bad information and identifying the source.

Ø How to organize your Internet search.

Ø How to decode a Web address and detect Web site spoofing.

(PowerPoint presentation)

Class #2

Hand's On Internet Research Class--Bring your laptop and search projects for an individualized exercise.

Journalist and investigative reporter Geri Spieler shares her advanced Internet research techniques that will cut your research time in half and yield reliable and verifiable information.

· Get tips on how to use search engine strings that go way beyond the typical Google search,

· Tools that include directories, databases, graphics, periodicals, government documents, and references—all free.

· Learn about the Deep Web, which is 500 times bigger than the searchable Web.

Class size limited to 10 participants

(PowerPoint presentation and online demonstrations)

Class #3

Why Facts Matter and How to Find Them

Whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction, your descriptions and references must be accurate. Never underestimate your reader. Facts, references and accurate details are critical examples of professional writers.

Examples:

Does a helicopter have wheels or skids?

What is the difference between a revolver and pistol?

Does it matter? You bet. You do not want an editor or reader to lose respect for your work and damage your credibility. Hear more examples of how inaccuracies lost writers jobs and literary contracts.

To avoid these mistakes, discover the top six research sites and facilities to find just about everything on anything.

(Lecture only)

Class #4

"Fact Finding for Fiction Writers:

Free & Easy Research Techniques to Pump Up Your Skills"

Fiction does not release a novelist from fact. Inaccurate detail will sink a book into the chasm of sloppy writing and lazy work habits. Never underestimate your reader. Accurate references such as historical data, legal and medical references are critical examples of professional writers.

Learn the skills for fast, accurate and reliable Internet search techniques that boost your book out of the slush pile. (PowerPoint presentation)

Geri Spieler is an author and investigative reporter. Geri has written for Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Forbes. She is a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books, an official blogger for the Huffington Post, member of the National Book Critics Circle, the Internet Society and a former Research Director for the Gartner Group.

She is the author of the four-time award winning Taking Aim at the President: the Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford, Palgrave Macmillan

www.gerispieler.com

Fact Finding for Fiction Writers: Free & Easy Research Techniques to Pump Up Your Skills

2012-03-07T19:38:12Z

"Fact Finding for Fiction Writers:

Free & Easy Research Techniques to Pump Up Your Skills"

Book Passage Class with Geri Spieler

Sunday, April 15, 2012 1:00 -2:30 PM

Learn the skills for fast, accurate and reliable Internet search techniques that boost your book out of the slush pile.

Geri Spieler is an author and investigative reporter. Geri has written for Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Forbes. She is a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books, an official blogger for the Huffington Post, member of the National Book Critics Circle, the Internet Society and a former Research Director for the Gartner Group.

She is the author of the four-time award winning Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story Of The Woman Who Shot At Gerald Ford, Palgrave Macmillan

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http://www.bookpassage.com/event/class-geri-spieler-fact-finding-all-writers-easy-search-techniques

Book Passage

51 Tamal Vista Blvd.

Corte Madera, CA 94925

(415) 927-0960 (800) 999-7909

$40.00 -- Limited Seating --- Reservations suggested

Book Review: Opposition Research Revealed

2012-01-30T01:34:25Z

We’re with Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics

by Alan Huffman and Michael Rejebian

Reviewed by Geri Spieler | Released: January 24, 2012
Publisher: William Morrow Trade Paperbacks (208 pages)

“There is humor and personality in every paragraph of We’re with Nobody. The writing is intelligent, detailed, and intimate. While the authors don’t explain the personal cost of spending months on the road and what effect it had on their lives, they let us in on their highs and lows of the day-to-day tasks in such a way that I did not want the book to end. I wanted to know where we were going next.”

In politics, hubris abounds. It is truly amazing that politicians think they can keep secrets.

After reading, We’re with Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics, by Alan Huffman and Michael Rejebian, there is no question—there are no secrets.

The scenarios of secrets revealed are played out in detail in this entertaining account of opposition research, sometimes called “oppo.”

A good example of this arrogance is the story of candidate who believed he could keep a secret from his own team. When presented with the services of Mr. Huffman and Rejebian to prepare the candidate for an upcoming congressional race, he balked.

“Why the hell do I need to hire you? What could you possibly tell me about myself that I don’t already know?”

Such was the naïve lament of what turned out to be a failed campaign, and we get a front row seat to the shenanigans that go on behind the scenes of the campaign trail. For an outsider, watching these political antics is great entertainment.

Opposition research is a multimillion-dollar business. It is the practice of uncovering damaging background information of candidates that will compromise a run for elected office. It is also practiced for other situations, such as celebrities and business officials. It parallels the private investigative business, but opposition research stays close to the political arena.

The term may new, but the practice is as old as when two people wanted the same position of power. Opposition research is a practice with a long history. An article in The Washingtonian magazine revealed this piece of history: “In the 1828 presidential election, Andrew Jackson’s opponents unearthed his marriage records, seeking to imply that the hero of the Battle of New Orleans was an adulterer for marrying Rachel Robards in 1791 before she was legally divorced from her first husband.”

We’re with Nobody cleverly takes us through the detailed steps of performing opposition research. More often than not, the results are usually less than positive for either side of the political aisle. We see firsthand the gritty details and feel the frustration through stories about obstructionist clerks who are determined to keep public documents private.

The book is presented as a diary of sorts, each chapter alternating authors. The reader gets a glimpse of this work from both perspectives that add an interesting element to the subject.

The authors are highly credentialed and seasoned professionals. Mr. Huffman, a former journalist, is also a contributor to the New York Times and author of four books. Mr. Rejebian was a reporter in Texas, director of communications for the Office of the Mayor in Jackson Mississippi, and political advisor to the Attorney General of Mississippi.

They team up on most assignments to make sure the research gets the best treatment from both perspectives.

Because Mr. Rejebian and Mr. Huffman exclude the names of their clients, they let us inside this murky and sometimes dangerous work. We get to go along for the ride, which is sometimes amusing as well as laborious, but always engaging.

There is no attempt to glamorize the world of opposition research. In fact, we see the strong component of tedium in the research process. There is enough monotony in investigation to discourage any would be political junkie who doesn’t possess the strongest commitment to unearth a nucleus of illicit activity under a candidate’s rock.

A significant part of the book is spent describing the various methods used to pry files from self-styled gatekeepers of public information. The stories are amusing as well as instructive. Among the more comical situations, this one in particular stands out:

“Standing about five foot five, she’s a manly woman, troll-like in many ways. And though she might very well reside under a bridge, she works in a local government office in Missouri. From the expression on her face, we can tell this is going to be unpleasant—a trip to the dentist and a prostate exam wrapped into one,” wrote Mr. Rejebian.

In an instructive chapter, the authors give us ten tips for how obtain the desired documents with grace and grit. Among them, Mr. Huffman suggests a confrontational approach for a particularly difficult clerk: “Listen, this isn’t the CIA and I don’t have time to stand here while you figure out ways not to do what you’re paid to do. So here’s a novel idea—just do it!”

We’re with Nobody makes it clear that it takes more than mere dedication to the cause, clearly illustrated by assignments requiring the team wade through 20 years of financial reports.

Yet the descriptions of hours of laborious thumbing through paper are written with a very light hand. There is humor and personality in every paragraph of We’re with Nobody. The writing is intelligent, detailed, and intimate. While the authors don’t explain the personal cost of spending months on the road and what effect it had on their lives, they let us in on their highs and lows of the day-to-day tasks in such a way that I did not want the book to end. I wanted to know where we were going next.

This book was originally published in the New York Journal of Books www.nyjournalofbooks.com

Reviewer Geri Spieler is the award-winning author of Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). She is also a member of the National Books Critics Circle.

Facts for Fiction Writers-Pump Up Your Novel

2012-01-18T02:39:54Z

Interview by Linda Loveland Reid –for the Redwood Writers Conference, April 28, 2011

Geri Spieler – Researching Facts for Fiction Writers-Pump Up Your Novel

“The most exciting thing about teaching,” Geri Spieler says, “is giving students that Ah Ha! Helping them to that Wow place where they can see how much value and fun there is in research.”

Spieler, a journalist and investigative reporter now working at Stanford, wants to help writers do research to make their details sing. “A reader will go anywhere with you if they trust your facts.”

A researcher long before the Internet, Spieler points out that in today’s world, 60% of what you need is on-line; however, much of it is hidden. She wants to share how writers can locate information that is not only more accurate than what’s available on the surface, but more interesting.

Reid: I imagine it can be embarrassing to miss a truth.

Spieler: If you use the wrong weapon, one that was not invented at the time of your story or is not capable of doing what you say it does, it will turn your reader off. The wrong year of an historic event or a famous person turning up who isn’t born yet−these are issues that destroy a writer's credibility.

Reid: We have Google. Why do we need any other tool?

Spieler: Deeper. That is, the Net is wonderful and fast, but must be used properly. Google is my gateway to the Net. What I teach is how to go much deeper. How do you know if you can trust what you find? I teach “string research,” how to disambiguate, that is, put your question into words the browser recognizes so you can get beyond the junk, into the real sources. It’s important to us sources built by actual people, not just built by search engines.

Reid: Should I use Wikipedia?

Spieler: Yes, but be careful. The problem here is there is no verifying information. Even when an error is corrected, the misinformation remains. You can find verifiable information by going into the “deep-web,” places populated by institutions and experts.

Reid: Deep-Web?

Spieler: It’s critical to understand the difference between “data base” and “search engine.” When you research at the library, you don’t limit yourself to one book; you use many. You need to know how to use more tools; how to get there; how to find those tools.

Reid: What do traditional publishers look for in historical fiction or non-fiction works?

Spieler: Publishers want to know where you got your facts. The agent reading the book cares. They will ask the questions. You want to have relevant answers. The problem with the Net is it makes us sloppy. We go to the Net first. My technique includes first organizing what you want from the search; then go on line. There are many things to consider. You can use links and websites, but what if a URL you depended on expires? You need to keep clear records.

Reid: How did you get to be a research expert?

Spieler: As a reporter, I became a Badger, would not let go until I had all the facts. This skill led to my working with various newspapers and finally a global company as an analyst where I became the Research Director. I left to write a book involving the FBI and police records. This book is in universities as an example of good research; on how to do solid work.

Reid: What is the most exciting experience you’ve had as writer?

Spieler: Creative non-fiction! I wrote a factual story into a novel, Capote style. Very difficult. I began by taking creative writing classes. “You can make up nothing!” my agent told me. “A story has a lot more power when it’s true.

Reid: What do you see in the future for research, the trends?

Spieler: People are taking control of their writing, which is terrific but which also means they are not going through the rigor of the editorial process, of a publisher checking facts. It’s your job to be that editor. Growth of the self-publication industry offers great opportunity, but writers need to be even more careful. You can be lazy but, a well-researched book shows respect for your audience.

Reid: There’s a rumor out there that research is a dry subject?

Spieler: No! It’s a game! Everybody likes a good mystery. It’s shocking what you can find out! The more you find, the more you realize, wow, I never thought about that in this way before. It expands your mind and, consequently, your story.

Geri Spieler will be giving a session at the Redwood Writers April 28 Conference in Santa Rosa, California: Facts for Fiction Writers−Research Secrets Everyone Should Know.

http://redwoodwriters.org/conference/

Geri Spieler – Bio
Geri Spieler is a journalist and investigative reporter. Her specialty is to take the buzz on the streets and turn it into investigative stories that are not being covered anywhere else.

She has reported for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Forbes. She was the founder and editor of Electronic Commerce News, a technology journal published by Phillips Business Information, which led to an eight-year assignment as a Research Director and Analyst for the Gartner Group, an international technology advising company. Geri is also a book reviewer for the New York Journal of Books, an official blogger for the Huffington Post, a member of National Book Critics Circle, member of the Internet Society, author with Red Room and a senior writer with Ezine Magazine.

In her capacity as a reporter, she met and corresponded with the would-be assassin Sara Jane Moore. Palgrave Macmillan published her four time award-winning book, Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman who Shot Gerald Ford, Jan. 2009. Sundance Film director Robinson Devore is making a documentary film about Sara Jane Moore's life.

Geri graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a degree in English. She is former president of the San Francisco/Peninsula Branch of California Writers Club, conference director of the Jack London Writers Conference and board member of NorCal, a consortium of Northern California Writers Club consortium.

Currently she is research associate at Stanford University. www.gerispieler.com

How to Become An Internet Search Expert

2011-08-30T02:50:24Z

Want to become a search expert? Try doing your Internet searches using phrases, called search strings, which cut your search time down while increasing the relevant results.

If you pay attention to your standard search engine results, you notice that often just the first two to three pages of a search using just the word you are looking for results in relevant information.

Following those pages more and more of the information begins to lose the relevancy.

Take for example the word “Panda” on a Google search. All things Panda, the animal, last almost not quite three pages. After page, three the relevance to Panda's evolves to Panda-related products and commercial businesses begins.

By entering such a broad subject such as "Panda" with no related words, the time and energy searching for Websites and information takes longer and omits what might be excellent results.

A better approach is to refine the search to specific needs to not only speed up the search process, but yield pages and pages of relevant and reliable information.

Therefore the Search String.

Search Strings are not limited to Google. The Search String is a device that should be used on all searches using Search Engines and Databases.

Blog keyword search. Again, this is similar to the "Exact Search," in that we are looking for something specific. Only in this case, the term "inurl: indicates we are looking exactly for the subject in a blog. For example inurl:chickens

The definition search. The definition search is great for writers. Another option is to use a dictionary or Thesaurus site. However, when we are in a hurry, the "define" search can speed things up. define:pullet.

The date range search. This is obvious. To search for information within a specific date range, do these: Self Publishing daterange: 2010 january-2011 January

This type of research is especially important if you need relevant and updated information.

The wildcard search * is the "Star" in your computer. To use a wildcard search insert the * symbol instead of a word. When we are not sure of exactly what we are looking for, the Wildcard is an excellent way to explore what is out in the Internet world. I used this option when looking for anything related to the phrase, "San Francisco Values." I received all the latest political responses as well as real estate information,

The file type search. Easy to use. Just add the file type to the term: filetype:pdf

The safe search. This is helpful in terms of using the computer along with children. The safe search excludes all adult content from the results: safesearch:online

The exact search. A phrase or exact search allows us to find relevant information by putting quotes “” around our search term. This will cut out all irrelevant and time wasting results. For Example: “chicken blogs."

The link search. If you are looking for a specific Website, you can put the link either into your browser window or into the search window as well. link:www.gerispieler.com

The site search. If we want to find information on only the one website, then precede the link with the term "site" and you will find this site only. This is helpful if you are not sure of the URL. site:gerispieler.com

How to find stuff using either or results. If we need information on two words that might not even be related, we can use the OR in between. For example: chickens OR hens.

More info. Many are familiar with the Boolean search techniques. These items will further define what we are looking for. Such terms as the + used between three words will "string" together exactly what we are looking for. For example: chickens + egg + seasons. I like to use the term "What is." This is another way to tell the browser I'm looking for information about something, somewhat like the Wild Card, but not quite so broad.

Using Search Strings gives us an advantage to improve our accuracy and speed up the search process. You will be faster and able to find more accurate information from now on.

Geri Spieler runs seminars and Webinars, Super Sleuthing: Internet Research Skills Everyone Should Know But Few Do, www.gerispieler.com

Twitter Has No Clothes--Guest Blog

2011-07-21T20:45:20Z

My friend, analyst extraordinaire, Janet Asteroff, says Twitter is on the way out.

Read what she has to say about this:

Twitter's Limited Shelf Life, by Janet Asteroff.

"Ok, chief marketing officers, you may have to sit down. It won't be easy. Or, maybe it will, depending on your strategic agility.

"Twitter will be gone. Not tomorrow, not next year, but soon, and something will replace it. Microblogging will be here for a long time, but Twitter most likely won't. Twitter is wonderful but flawed. Liking it is easy but replacing it is inevitable. If you don't think so, then when's the last time you checked your MySpace account? Or GeoCities? Used 1997's best search engine Alta Vista? Or signed on to Prodigy?

"One of the better computer industry axioms is "nothing works until version 2.0". Twitter is microblogging version 1.0. And it will always be version 1.0 no matter how many technical iterations or user interface changes or third party applications happen. The next service will be the one to make more lasting waves by correcting Twitter's inherent downsides and providing a deeper usefulness for users and marketers. Twitter's a simple idea, a mix of instant messaging, e-mail and interactive talk is what made it easy to use, but that's exactly what makes it difficult to expand as a practical communications utility.

"Why can't Twitter recover, thrive and live forever? Well, there's always a chance it can re-invent itself, but what usually happens is that some enterprising group or start-up is at work on the next application which has the features marketers and consumers need. Twitter's founders and developers are locked into their technical platform and modes of operation.

"Think of Twitter as a funnel with a very wide top and an extremely narrow bottom – much goes in, but it takes forever to get out. Information can't be well organized because there's too much of it and no easy way to do it. It streams all day and all night and the signal-to-noise ratio is unacceptable. But whether using the Web interface or tools like TweetDeck or Twidroyd, the linear presentation is difficult for interaction because there are

a) too many flows of communication

b) moving too fast to

c) enable people to easily connect with those interested in the same things. For marketing, getting the message read is hit-and-miss, but Twitter has the eyeballs, so marketers have to be there.

"Twitter has become, with some exception, a broadcast media. It's great for headlines, and almost a replacement for RSS in its "scan-and-go" format. On the Web, it's hard to use for anything but the basic read-and-post function; the Twitter BASICS instruction page contains more than 75 entries. This simple service has run away with itself in terms of complexity of use.

"As a broadcast media, those who do the best are churning out one-liners. Comedians like Steve Martin and Joan Rivers have short, effective communication which standalone. Twitter works well for experts, pundits, groups and entertainers to reach a wide number of people.

"Don't confuse popularity with utility. Twitter is popular. The recent US Presidential Twitter event was nice but not very successful. And on the back-end it's a data machine which produces trends by city, state, country, and demographics about products and services. But none of this means that Twitter has the function and utility needed for effective communication between groups, or for following opinion leaders or friends, or effectively embracing products, services and ideas.

"Some of what version 2.0 will need to make microblogging a potent marketing and communications conduit include:

- A means by which to save communications you've missed, or to collect them, or put to the side and looked at later.

- A way to easily resurrect the "conversation" on a topic, to keep better track of one subject or one group within a specific timeframe, not just looking back at earlier postings.

- Security beyond password protection for groups which want to keep in touch confidentially but don't have access to a private system

"This makes it more like the next generation computer conferencing system, but that's what version 2.0 may be.

"Facebook is version 2.0 of AOL, Prodigy and CompuServe. Google+ is trying to be the better Facebook. Google should have tried to create the new Twitter, because nothing works until version 2.0."

Read more Janet Asteroff at http://www.asteroff.com/

New York Times-The Saga Continues

2011-07-12T00:22:34Z

Page One: Inside the New York Times and the Future of Journalism

Edited by David Folkenflik

“. . . thorough, thoughtful, and exceptionally well written. . . . Page One is a most encompassing volume on the issue of the future of journalism and newspapers. . . . Highly recommended.”

Can print journalists be objective about the future of news? Page One attempts to answer this question in 17 essays and interviews with respected and well-known writers from various positions in newspaper and public affairs worldwide.

David Folkenflik, NPR’s award-winning media correspondent based in New York City, edits the book.

The project was originally a documentary film shown at Sundance in January 2011. At the core of the film is a story told by journalists in the business representing different generations. David Carr, a former drug addict, is out of central casting as an eccentric, old school, gravely voiced reporter. On the other side of the proverbial desk is Brian Stelter who epitomizes the model of a fresh faced, new media journalist.

The essays contained in the book cover the global challenge of how will newspapers and professional journalism survive in the age of the digital demon Websites like WikiLeaks, Gawker, Politico, and the Huffington Post.

For a reporter, a job at the New York Times equaled being admitted to Harvard University. The romance of the New York Times held forth until 2007 as things began to change. After the paper moved into its resplendent and high-tech new home across town, even the Times could no longer hold off the advance of a changing landscape and stuttering economy.

Kate Novack and Andrew Rossi created this idea for a film project. Novack and Rossi are husband-and-wife documentary filmmakers. An earlier film by this team is “Eat This New York,” about friends trying to start a restaurant in Brooklyn.

Each essay reveals, and offers solutions, to the various ailments of the newspaper business. Some take on the Internet as the insect that infected journalism and caused it to wither away.

The history of the newspaper business is filled with stories of deals gone bad, buyouts, massive firings and questionable business decisions about what is news and what people want or will read.

James O’Shea is the former managing editor of the Chicago Tribune and then the editor of the Los Angeles Times. In his essay, he chronicles the calamitous events when the Tribune Company of Chicago acquired Times Mirror Company of Los Angeles.

O’Shea calls it the “Deal from Hell,” as the arrangement emptied the Times of nearly 50 percent of its news staff and changed the editorial style from one of hard news to cotton candy.

He is emphatic that it is not the Internet that was not the cause of declining readership but the reaction of those who are in charge. O’Shea said, “The lack of investment, greed, incompetence, corruption, hypocrisy, and downright arrogance of people who put their interests ahead of the public’s,” as the reason newspapers are having problems.

Others, such as the piece by Jennifer 8. Lee, taught the paper how to embrace the electronic frontier and see it as a way to flourish as it never could before by creating a new arm for its staff to explore; the blog.

Chapter Eight by Evan Smith, former editor and president of Texas Monthly, writes about a growing anecdote to the threatened loss of real investigative journalism, which are the grant and donation supported nonprofits. These entities are creating a new business model: public news organizations.

In this chapter Smith describes these organizations as the saving credible journalism in a world of one sided and un-vetted opinion.

The mission of nonprofit and nonpartisan journalism is to disseminate the product, investigative reporting, to news agencies for free. They can afford to do this as large grants, foundations and contributions fund the newsrooms. The idea is to keep good journalism alive and good journalists employed.

The first of this new breed is ProPublica in New York followed by the Texas Tribune out of Austin and the Bay Citizen in San Francisco. It is a model being emulated around the country.

The Associated Press is expanding on its own model to distribute content from nonprofit news organizations to newspapers around the world. Investigative News Network, another nonprofit, has 51 members of news organizations also producing investigative journalism available to newspapers and other outlets.

The manuscript/script is thorough, thoughtful, and exceptionally well written. Each essay offers another wrinkle in the evolutionary saga about the fate of newsprint. All of the authors, including Alan Rusbridger, Editor in Chief of The Guardian newspaper and executive editor of its sister Sunday paper, the Observer, and Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, have something of value to bring to the story.

For those interested in the status of how news is being analyzed and delivered, Page One is a most encompassing volume on the issue of the future of journalism and newspapers.

Highly recommended.

This review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books

How to Search the Invisible Web

2011-06-27T00:43:14Z

If you limit your Internet research to a general search engine, such as Google, it is the same thing as limiting your research to just one book.

You wouldn't do that, so why limit your Internet search to just one site.

There are many more "books" available online that yield more results you don't want to miss.

The Invisible Web offers thousands of Web sites, databases and directories you just can't find using a standard search engine.

Why can't you find these treasures? There are several roadblocks. There are four types of invisibility to conquer. According to The Invisible Web by Chris Sherman and Gary Price, there are four types of barriers:

The Opaque Web-This Web consists of files that are not included in a standard search engine search.

The Private Web-These sites are not indexed Web pages and are deliberately excluded from search engines. Often these sites are password protected.

The Proprietary Web-These pages are only accessible to those who have agreed to special terms such as registration.

The Truly Invisible Web-There is technical reasons keep these sites under wraps. So far, search engines just can't find them with the current technology used to find these directories or databases. However, as the technology grows, these sites may be found in the future.

So, how to break through these barriers? There are ways. A lot depends on how you go about go about designing your approach and understand how to go about it.

One way is simply "ask" a search engine to take you to the Invisible Web. For example, "Bio Science + Invisible Web."

In addition, you can access special Invisible Web databases, such as:

Surfwax, Academic Index, Dogpile, Turbo 10, Multiple Searches, Clusty, Mamma, World Curry Guide, Fazzle, IceRocket, Izito, Ujiko, pipl, and Mensur.

These are just a fraction of Invisible Web sites available. You can find even more Invisible Web sites at www.completeplanet.com.

Ooogeling Google and Beyond

2011-06-18T22:22:18Z

Google is a general, all around search device.

It's fine for wide swath searches, but if you are trying to dip deep and look for some specialized and reliable sources, you may want to look elsewhere.

Robots using algorithms create Google searches. All this means is that everything Google looks for is based on your previous preferences and searches. A new search will yield results using what you already like to know.

These results are limited and don't offer the user the best possible information.

Bottom line--you are not getting unbiased results. The way around this is to look elsewhere such as going to other search devices such as Yahoo, MSN, AOL and or Lycos. There are many other types of search vehicles, known as portals or directories.

The difference between a "Search Engine, portal or directory will make a big difference on your results.

Search engines, such as Google, rely on an automated system with your history coded into it, thereby delivering information based on what you have fed into it.

Portals were originally designed as gateways to other Internet resources. However now they have become destination sites with popular information such as news, shopping, entertainment and Internet services including E-mail.

Directories are classified a listings of Web sites. A directory will have records for sites placed within a hierarchical system. The classification of sites is typically performed by human editors and is searchable by the category names, titles and descriptions.

While there are some specific distinctions, there is a lot of blurring between search engines and portals today. Google has joined in with Yahoo and Aol in offering E-mail, news and entertaining.

Yet, a same search performed on all three will yield some differences in the result.

Don't limit yourself to just one "book." Take a broader approach for a fully comprehensive search experience.

The Genius of Design--Frederick Law Olmsted

2011-06-06T01:03:16Z

Genius of Place, The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted by Justin Martin

Da Capo Press

The gift of artistic vision on the large stage of life is rare. When witnessed it is so overwhelming few can appreciate its impact for years to come.

Such was the man, Frederick Law Olmstead, the founder of landscape architecture in the United States, designer of Central Park and many other significant parks, communities and schools.

By today's educational and academic standards, Olmsted was a "self made man" with little formal education. Raised on a farm and barely supervised by various schoolmasters, Olmsted was free to roam about the grounds and explore his grandmother's book collection. At the age of nine, Olmsted supplemented his erratic education with consuming such works as The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith and Laurence Sterne's Sentiment Journey Through France and Italy.

His curiosity for life contributed to his love of nature and adventure. His quest to learn about the world and yearn to travel also presented him with challenges no one could have prevented him from exploring. Olmsted was a determined person whose kept his own counsel.

As often the case with exceptional talent, determination and vision can override more socially acceptable characteristics. Fortunately, for us all, Olmsted's skills and talents had shown through any personality defects that could have dismantled his successes.

Remarkably, New York's Central Park was Olmsted's first architectural landscape project. His official position for the task was as a superintendent to oversee the labor in dismantling the previous scattering of gardens throughout the city.

The park project came at a time when cities were expanding quickly and an interest in the country of creating communities that are more hospitable was on the rise. The population of Manhattan more than doubled from the 1840's to 1860's from three hundred thousand to almost eight hundred thousand. The demand for some open space and tranquil grounds was heightened as more people moved to the city.

The cry for open space in the nineteenth century was heard across the country. James Gordon Bennett in the New York Herald compared a park to a pair of lungs when he wrote, "There are no lungs on the island. It is made up entirely of veins and arteries."

The dismantling and clearing of the previous 17 separate park locations was not without controversy and heartache for many. Local businesses and unwelcome manufacturing plants such as bone-boiling plants that processed animal carcasses to create glue to match manufacturers inhabited most of the 700 acres of land. There were impoverished immigrants crowded into one-room cabins. Some had formed communities called Dutch Hill and Dublin Corners.

All had to go. It was accomplished by eminent domain, the first time in U.S. history that this principle had been used to create a large park. They city earmarked money to pay off the occupant's.

Although Olmstead was the park's superintendent, he had no official role at the time as a designer. Andrew Jackson Downing with his partner, Calvert Vaux, was the original force behind the park. Downing and Vaux were to submit a design for the park. In 1852, Downing died in a riverboat accident and Vaux asked Olmsted to take his place. In 1858, they entered the competition to design the park with an entry they termed Greensward, which was chosen as the park's design. Vaux and Olmsted continued to partner on many projects off and on through the years.

Vaux was an architect, a skill that was a perfect complement to Olmsted's more aesthetic eye.
In the succeeding chapters, Martin's attention to detail is breathtaking. He describes Olmsted's vision and plans with great clarity and his eye for balance. Martin's skill is exceptional as he describes Olmsted's design with a footpath here, a Willow tree there and mound rising to soften the landscape over there.

Martin takes the reader through the painstaking political process that almost capsized the entire project as Olmsted and Vaux envisioned and was eventually approved. The reader joins with Olmsted's life of travels, missions and projects world wide and throughout the United States. Olmsted put his mark on many U.S. landmark's both public and private, including Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY, Stanford University in California and Niagara Falls State Reserve. The entire list is profound.

The biography is a comprehensive journal of Frederick Law Olmsted's life written with great precision and exhaustive historical specifications. However, these elements do not get in the way of a well-told tale. Indeed, Martin's respect for history only enrich the experience of reading a biography that goes beyond the narrow life of one individual to encompass a century of lifestyle, politics and personal relationships.

Highly recommended.

This review appeared first in the New York Journal of Books.

For Mom,

2011-05-27T17:36:13Z

I’m Dorothy’s daughter, Geri.

I am very proud of my mother and I hope I can live up to the legacy she left to me. She was a very brave woman who fought for what she believed in.

She never let artificial barriers get in the way of what she wanted to do, she never hesitated to go after what she believed was right.

All of 5’1”, raised in an orphanage and with a high school education, Dorothy Spieler drew on her values and beliefs in order to make the world a better place both for her family and others. Many people will never know that she was the person whose efforts were behind their newfound good fortune.

My mother and my father had a 47 year plus love affair. My mother was never a battered woman. Yet one of the many places Mom volunteered, Human Options, was a battered women’s shelter.

Mom believed in the cause and she worked hard for those women. She helped them for ten years. When she first started to volunteer for Human Options, I commented on her “Women’s Rights” inclinations.

She quickly corrected me. She said that battered women was not a “Women’s issue,” but rather a “human issue” that includes everyone involved.

My mother could be strong willed, even stubborn at times. However, it requires just that kind of strength to take on the “establishment” in order to make a difference. It takes conviction to confront conventional wisdom in order to right a wrong.

It takes guts and belief to get out there to fight the good fight, even if you make a few enemies battling for what you believe. Mom was very clear when she said to me: “Geri, the person who never made a mistake never did anything. So get out there. You’ll make some mistakes, but so what. Do something with your life. Make a difference, she said to me.”

Dorothy Spieler Goldsmith left a wonderful legacy for her family, a model of giving back and making the world a better place. I will do my best to continue to make her proud of me.

What Is RSS and Why You Want It

2011-04-08T23:32:00Z

(This post is second in an ongoing series of posts to help in doing Internet research.)

Are there blogs and Web sites you go to often to look for updates? Wouldn't it be great to have these updates come to you?

You can with a technology called RSS.

What is this? It appears as a funny little orange icon on a Web site you are visiting. It represents an RSS feed. The acronym has several explanations. Some say it stands for Really Simple Syndication. Others define it as Ready for Some Stories or Rich Site Summary.

Next to this little button is often an invitation to "Subscribe to this feed." When you click on the link you might find yourself staring at lot of computer code you may not understand.

What you are seeing is a computer language called XML, similar to HTML. All you need to know is that this is the language used to connect what you are reading with a link to your computer and any updates in the content.

The advantage of RSS is a time saver. Instead of having to scour Web sites to check for updates or weigh through another Google search, all you have to do is check your desktop RSS folder or open your RSS E-mail alert.

You can choose all the sites you want to get updates for and sign-up with them if they offer you the option to "Subscribe to this feed."

The first thing you need to do is install an RSS "tool" or "Feed Reader" on your system.
There are four types of Feed Readers to choose from:

Desktop feed readers: With a desktop reader, you have an icon that sits on your desktop. Desktop readers to choose from include AmthetaDesk (www.disobey.com/amphetadesk), RSS Bandit (www.rssbandit.org) or BlogBridge (www.blogbridge.com).

Browser feed readers: Some browsers offer extensions that give this functionality. Popular readers like Firefox's Live Bookmarks (www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/livebookmarks.html), as well as Internet Explorer 8 (www.mircrosoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx).

E-mail feed readers are easy to use. All your feeds come into your E-mail so you will need to be set up for this. Mozilla Thunderbird (www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/), Newsgator Inbox (www.newsgator.com/NGOLProduct.aspx?ProdID=NewsGator+inbox) or Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts). You can tell these readers how often you wish to receive announcements.
Another popular option for those who use their smart phones more often than their computers if the mobile feed reader. Yahoo, Google and AOL all offer the option to get alerts.

The best way to begin is to choose and install a reader onto your system. Once you have that in place, go to a Web site or Blog you visit often. Chances are the site will have an RSS icon on the page.

Click the icon, choose where you want this information to live, such as a folder in your reader or in the case of Google Alerts, it will show up in your E-mail.

If you are a blog fan, there are several ways to find the blogs you like. You can go to Technorati (http://technorati.com/) and do a blog search by typing in the subject. Technorati probably has the most extensive list online. You can also go to Google blog search and find blogs in their database. Almost all blogs have the RSS option available. By linking up to the feed, you will be alerted every time there is an update.

You can also narrow your search if you are not interested in an entire site but only interested in certain topics. Most sites will offer RSS feeds for various segments within the site. Another way to narrow the search for a topic is to put quotation marks around the phrase.

This is a handy way to narrow any search on all search engines. For example, if you are a sports enthusiast and like a certain football team you will want to refine your search to "San Francisco Giants," not San Francisco Giants. Without the quotation marks, your feed or search will separate the words and pour an ocean of information in your lap--most of which will be about everything but the San Francisco Giants.

Happy hunting.

Beyond Google: The Art of Time-effective Information Gathering

2011-04-03T22:01:00Z

Conducting Internet research is a challenge. It's time consuming, often confusing and who ever thought too much information could be a problem?

The Internet has opened up the world of information gathering to the extent that it can be overwhelming and therefore problematic. Standard Google searches can be but conflicting, redundant and often incomplete.

Common complaints for online research include:
• Validating the information for reliability
• Relevance of the results.
• Multiple points of view and the inability to source the information
• Time intensive

There is help. Several research techniques that will smooth out the bumpy road to Internet information. Effective research tools can cut research time significantly as well as reduce the amount of irrelevant information and improve the reliability of the results. Follow my research secrets to streamline your process and give you the skills and tools you need to conduct fast, effective investigations.

Super Sleuthing Research Tips

• Understand the different between Data and Information. DATA is a single piece of information, as a fact, statistic, code or an item. It may be a fact assumed a matter of direct observation. INFORMATION is the knowledge received concerning a particular fact or circumstance.

• Know how to remove ambiguity in your search. Many words have different meanings such as the word "Capital" for example: Seat of government, money, letter or crime.

• Use standard "Search Strings" to narrow your search and improve results. For example: The hyphen search string, The wildcard search, The date range search, The exact search using quotation marks, Blog keyword search: inurl, The file type search such as PDF, PPT or XLS, The link search: link: www.gerispieler.com, Find information using "either or" and the definition search: define:writing, Boolean search: And, Or, Not, +:

• Use the "Deep Web" which is 500 times bigger than the standard searchable Web. To find "Deep Web" search engines, just use "Deep Web" plus the topic in your search box.

• Use a Web credibility formula to evaluate information and pre-screen Web sites for credibility. A good program is the CARS check list: Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness and Support.

• Avoid unintentional plagiarism. Everything on the Internet is protected by copyright. Always cite anything taken from a Web site and use the URL with a date to note the quotation or information.

For a more complete and comprehensive explanation on the details for conducting Internet research and the skills required to improve your search capabilities, Geri Spieler hosts a one-hour LIVE Internet Research Webinar. Go to http://www.gerispieler.com/Reviews.html

San Francisco Values: Who Will Be Sorry Now?

2011-03-12T00:06:00Z

The GOP is in knee jerk reaction mode in an attempt to reduce spending to mend the debt created by the past administration.

What are these senators and congress people thinking? Cutting education spending by penalizing teachers is such a bad decision it defies reason. Why do we want to make becoming a teacher in this country any more unattractive than it has already become?

Is there anyone who thinks teaching in this country is lucrative? Do they not understand that by not having a job for three months is truly a vacation? If you know someone who teaches in the K-12 schools, then you know teachers scramble to find employment during those three summer months.

These ill-conceived cuts to our teachers are hysteria that we will be paying for for generations: You don't cut education. The lasting effects in ineffectual schools can never be undone.

That Sad Facts

The three-yearly Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.

We should be Number 1 so why is cutting education, when the facts speak loudly, that we are devastating the very thing that will keep our country vital.

It gets worse.

According to the Educational Testing Service (ETS), there is a wide disparity in literacy and numeracy skills among our school age and adult populations. Our high school graduation rates reached a whopping 77 percent in 1969. Then they fell off to 70 percent in 1995. They have not improved since. Graduation rates for disadvantaged minorities are closer to 50 percent.

Adults in our country do not show much skill in educational ability either. A national survey of our adult population indicates that large numbers of our nation’s adults, 16 years of age and older, do have even the basics in literacy skills needed to complete an employment application.

Teach for America

Additional cuts are expected for the Teach for America (TFA) program, about $20 million or, 400 teachers. This is another disastrous mistake.

Teach for America accomplishes what no other education system can possibly do: Put passionate teachers in underserved school districts around the country. These "teachers" are college graduates who commit to teach for two years in one of 39 urban and rural regions. Statistics for the program show that TFA "corps" members' impact on their students' achievement is equal to or greater than that of other new teachers. The research shows that these teachers' impact exceeds that of experienced and certified teachers in the same schools.

We Don't Value Teachers

How do we get better teachers into the classrooms? Well, paying a living wage would help. A McKinsey study showed that schools might also pay more money to fewer teachers—a big class with a good teacher may be better than a small class with a bad one.

The GOP's budget proposal speaks volumes about their values. Keep the rich rich even if by doing so they destroy one of the most critical values in America: Education. And this option, cutting teacher's support network, comes from the party that demanded keeping the Bush tax cuts at a cost of over half a trillion dollars for the next two years. These same folks defended $4 billion in subsidies to big oil after a year when oil companies reported nearly $80 billion in profits. In addition, they call themselves the party of fiscal responsibility.

What Makes San Francisco San Francisco?

2011-02-03T04:37:00Z

With all the hullaballoo about "San Francisco Values," I decided to add some facts to the subject.

Many people who throw this phrase around know nothing of the history of the region and what makes a San Francisco native behave they way they do. With all due respects, the people of San Francisco are true settlers of this country helping to build America to what it is today.

Think about what it took to survive the journey? Read a little history to understand the true nature of a San Franciscan:

The miners came in '49,

the whore's in '51,

they rolled upon the barroom floor,

and created the Native Son"

-- an old San Francisco ditty, author unknown,

Many visitors reach San Francisco by driving up the magnificent coastal highways from the south that includes Highways 101 and 1. These roads essentially trace the route followed by Father Junipero Serra, the five foot two inch tall Catholic priest who, between 1769 and 1782, founded nine Catholic missions along the Nueva California coast.

For seventy years, Nueva California continued to be part of the territory owned by Spain, and then part of the Republic of Mexico after that nation declared its independence from Spain in 1810.

A July 9, 1846 name-by-name census document of the three communities collectively identified 290 residents. Including outposts, there were fewer than 400 people in the area.

On January 24, 1848, John Marshall discovered gold at Capt. John A Sutter’s Saw Mill on the American Fork River as it was called then. As word got out, San Francisco, the nearest port and cross-country terminus to the gold fields, became a boomtown almost overnight.

In 1849, gold hunters poured into San Francisco by the thousands every month from all over the world; by the end of that year, the population had reached 40,000 people. San Francisco continued to grow rapidly through the balance of the 19th century, to 150,000 people in 1870, and almost 350,000 people in 1900.

Coming to San Francisco was not for the weak hearted or simple minded. Those who made it were the hardiest, luckiest, and most determined to survive the journey. The overland route, by covered wagon, took six months, following a winding 2,000 to 3,000 mile trail through prairies and deserts, and across the steep Rocky Mountains. Many died along the way from starvation, infection, flooded river crossings, contaminated water holes, and attacks by Indians or from other wagon trains out to steal provisions.

Despite the difficulties of the journey, people flooded in by land and sea by the thousands every month. The men who came out West to find gold didn't take the time to build anything more than basic living spaces. There was little time for any kind of community planning, or evolving ways to manage growth or supply services for city residents. Few cared about anything except getting to the foothills of the Sierra Mountains and finding gold; those not going out to pan for gold were focused on developing supply sources and services for the miners.

The streets were uneven, knee-deep in mud and dark at night as there were no streetlights yet. The hardy adventurers who came to San Francisco were, at first, almost all men. Men without families, without the leavening influence of mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters.

Parental authority figures to tame the wild behavior of the gold miners were not part of the landscape. Absent families, there was no one to tell the men how to behave, or how to use the correct fork, or how to require other men to treat women who could in other settings be their sisters. Displays of poor table manners, mismatched shirts and pants, and a lack of a civil tongue were common on the streets and in the saloons. There were more than 50 men to each woman.

When women did begin to arrive, many of them, in turn, were also adventurous – and their adventures were to provide female company and services to the men. Prostitution was flourishing in every major American city in the second half of the nineteenth century, but with the untamed and unbalanced nature of the growth of the gold [and then silver] adventurers in Northern California, and the easy virtue of that environment, brothels became a special and major factor in the evolution of the San Francisco landscape and soul.

Some women were disempowered, remaining in the lower echelons as they worked in the hastily constructed cribs of the back alleys of the Barbary Coast area; others gained an unprecedented ascension to power in San Francisco becoming real estate barons that their families carry to this day.

By 1900, the population of San Francisco had grown to 342,782, making the city the most populous in California and ninth most populous city nationwide.

The "personality profile" that began in 1849 of an independent-minded individualist carries on in San Francisco today.

Geri Spieler is working on her new book about "San Francisco Values."

Adventurer Sir Richard Branson's Rare Introduction to Watchman’s Rattle

2011-01-30T19:12:00Z

A fabulous book I reviewed last year, "The Watchman's Rattle: Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction," by Rebecca Costa, is getting some very impressive attention.

"In a rare gesture of support for a first-time author, Sir Richard Branson has stepped forward to contribute an introduction to Rebecca D. Costa’s, The Watchman’s Rattle. The introduction will be exclusive to the edition slated for release on February 3, 2011 in the United Kingdom and Australia.

“This comes not only as an honor and surprise, it’s exciting because it’s the first in a series of foreign releases,” offered the author. Following Random House/Virgin Books’ lead, the largest publishers in China, Korea, Brazil, Germany, Romania and other countries are rushing to get translated versions out the door. “I’m thrilled at the international response,” added Costa."

Full post:
http://www.americanbankingnews.com/2011/01/30/adventurer-sir-richard-branson-offers-rare-introduction-to-the-watchman%E2%80%...

To see my book review, go to the New York Journal of Books,

http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/watchmans-rattle-thinking-our-way-out-extinction

Oliver Sipple: It's Time to Recognize His Heroism

2010-12-25T20:50:00Z

Oliver Sipple, the Marine who saved Pres. Ford's life in Sept. 22, 1975, is no longer "just a bystander."
Because of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by Pres. Obama and Congress, Sipple is now a well-known hero. A Marine hero. A Gay Marine hero.

The woman who attempted to assassinate Gerald Ford, Sara Jane Moore, has had her name out there. For years, we heard nothing about the person who foiled Moore's second shot. He was just a bystander.

Just a bystander?

On that warm September day, Sipple was among the thousands of people who waited around San Francisco’s Union Square for hours waiting for Ford to exit a meeting of the World Economic Council. His presence was purely coincidental. A Vietnam veteran and a former Marine, he was taking a walk. Something he did every day.

As soon as Ford walked out of the St. Francis Hotel in Union Square, there was a loud bang. Those nearby most affected turned and saw the "neighbor lady" raise her arm, gun in hand, getting ready to fire again. Sipple, a former U.S. Marine, jumped into action and grabbed at her arm just as Moore pulled the trigger.

To correct a common error, Sara Jane did get off one shot at Ford before Sipple knocked her arm and caused the bullet to miss by several feet. No one was looking at Moore when Ford first appeared. All eyes were on the President.

He saved Ford's life. Sara Jane's first shot missed Ford's head by a mere six inches and only because the gun had a faulty sight.

Richard Vitamanti, the lead FBI case agent working with Superior Court Judge Samuel Conti, Judge Conti himself, the U. S. Secret Service and the San Francisco Police, specifically Tim Hettrich, will confirm, the only reason she missed was due to her using a gun she was not familiar with.

The chilling fact is that Sara Jane Moore was a southern girl with three brothers. She knew her way around firearms. She was in the Women's Army Corp and she had been practicing with her .44 Charter Arms revolver.
He refused to call himself a hero was a very private person trying to live below the radar of San Francisco's Gay community. He was involved with Gay activist events, but kept his personal life very circumscribed and did not want his sexuality disclosed.

So what of this bystander, Oliver Sipple, who happened to be nearby? His life was ruined.

Suddenly Sipple's life became public fodder for the press and local government. News reports mentioned that he was gay even though Sipple had not yet come out to his family. His mother disowned him and he filed a $15 million dollar invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the newspapers that outed him.

He was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1941. His parents were devout Baptists and Sipple was one of eight children. He moved to New York’s West Village.

By 1975, no one would have recognized this overweight, emotionally unstable person was a former football star and ex Marine. He had a very unhappy childhood: He was dyslexic so he was unhappy he couldn't read very well, that he had dropped out of high school, and he was gay

Now he was a hero among gay organizations. There has been speculation from sources who wish to remain anonymous that Harvey Milk was responsible for the public outing of Sipple. The reason, some say, is that his actions were motivated by revenge. Sipple had been involved with an ex-lover of Milk's, Joe Campbell. When Sipple and Campbell broke up, Campbell attempted to kill himself.

Milk took advantage of the opportunity to illustrate his cause that public perception of gay people would be improved if they came out of the closet. He told friends that Sipple being gay was too good an opportunity. "For once we can show that gays do heroic things, not just all that ca-ca about molesting children and hanging out in bathrooms." (Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1989).

Although many in the Gay community told Milk it was not his place to out Sipple, Milk would not back off. The San Francisco Chronicle exposed Sipple as gay and a friend of Milk's. (Randy Shilts, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, St. Martin's Press.

Sipple was found dead in his bed in 1989 with a half-gallon bottle of bourbon at his side. He had been dead for two weeks. President Ford sent a note of condolence to the family.

Geri Spieler is the author of, Taking Aim At The President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman who Shot at Gerald Ford. Palgrave Macmillan. Spieler is working on a new book about San Francisco Values. www.gerispieler.com