ACM Queue gets it -- they went from a primarily print edition to online, and now that they're
online they're looking for ways to drive readership and interest. One of the (many) reasons I like
print media is that you get an edited, assembled product that tells a story to some extent. You'll
find content you want (which is why you purchased, subscribed, or liberated the dead trees from
the next cubicle over), some content you don't want, but most important, some content that you
didn't know you wanted but is informative, challenging or otherwise useful. This is the downside,
for example, to googling the answer to an HTML/CSS question: you learn the syntax needed but nothing
of the design, best practices or larger questions you could have been asking, many of which
would have been prompted if you bought the magazine or book and took it to your nearest favorite
reading spot. If you want to expand your readership, you have to expand the potential content
that attracts those readers to your online property.
Editors at Queue are now aggregating author blogs, with a lineup on the Queue landing page and a full aggregation page one level down. And, shameless plug, they've added my blog with Sun peers Tim Bray and Bryan Cantrill and some marquee names like Cory Doctorow, Werner Vogels and Bruce Schneier. They're taking a risk as they have no editorial control over what I say in this white space, but if it helps their readers explore further than a search result, it's a win for both of us.