It was cool … if you were there.

You weren’t there (and you weren’t at TED, either, were you?), so you might as well join the “enough, already!” haters.

Asleep At the Wheel played — which I found particularly interesting, because I remember them playing an AOL partners conference in Arizona way back in the day (when AOL was still charging by the hour). Even in the world of cutting-edge conference entertainment, everything old is new again.

I don’t know about this one.

Yes, the people of Japan can use all the help they can get. But when the earthquake is used as a way of enticing Mafia Wars users to spend their reward points … ehhhhhhh ….

Hey, Zynga: Why not just make a donation and leave it at that?

If, like me, you’re using Windows Mail instead of Outlook as your mail program, you’re going to love this tip.

I found that my Windows Mail program was running significantly slower than it used to. I’d click on “Create Mail” or “Reply” or “Reply All” and it seemed like it was taking forever to do its thing.

Here’s what I discovered: In the Send tab of the Options menu, there’s a box you can check or uncheck (it’s highlighted in the screen shot above) that tells Windows Mail to automatically put people you reply to in your Contacts list.

Which means everyone you’re sending mail to — everyone! — is being added to your Contacts. Which also means that Windows Mail is spending all sorts of time searching through and adding to that Contacts list as you go about your daily mail chores.

Over time it can get ridiculous. How ridiculous? When I went to Tools>>>Windows Contacts, I saw that I had nearly 3,000 items in my Contacts folder. I’ve pared it down to around 200, unchecked the box so it doesn’t start growing uncontrollably again, and my Windows Mail is running significantly faster than it was yesterday.

“With the coming of spring, I am calm again.”
—Gustav Mahler

The New York Times sent the following letter to its mailing list today. It details the next steps in the Times’ digital evolution … which makes this a good time to review how Newsday failed in getting online subscribers. The Times will probably have more than 35 subscribers three months from now, but will they have enough to claim success with their new online initiative?

Dear New York Times Reader,

Today marks a significant transition for The New York Times as we introduce digital subscriptions. It’s an important step that we hope you will see as an investment in The Times, one that will strengthen our ability to provide high-quality journalism to readers around the world and on any platform. The change will primarily affect those who are heavy consumers of the content on our Web site and on mobile applications.

This change comes in two stages. Today, we are rolling out digital subscriptions to our readers in Canada, which will enable us to fine-tune the customer experience before our global launch. On March 28, we will begin offering digital subscriptions in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

If you are a home delivery subscriber of The New York Times, you will continue to have full and free access to our news, information, opinion and the rest of our rich offerings on your computer, smartphone and tablet. International Herald Tribune subscribers will also receive free access to NYTimes.com.

If you are not a home delivery subscriber, you will have free access up to a defined reading limit. If you exceed that limit, you will be asked to become a digital subscriber.

This is how it will work, and what it means for you:

• On NYTimes.com, you can view 20 articles each month at no charge (including slide shows, videos and other features). After 20 articles, we will ask you to become a digital subscriber, with full access to our site.
  
• On our smartphone and tablet apps, the Top News section will remain free of charge. For access to all other sections within the apps, we will ask you to become a digital subscriber.
  
• The Times is offering three digital subscription packages that allow you to choose from a variety of devices (computer, smartphone, tablet). More information about these plans is available at nytimes.com/access.
  
• Again, all New York Times home delivery subscribers will receive free access to NYTimes.com and to all content on our apps. If you are a home delivery subscriber, go to homedelivery.nytimes.com to sign up for free access.
  
• Readers who come to Times articles through links from search, blogs and social media like Facebook and Twitter will be able to read those articles, even if they have reached their monthly reading limit. For some search engines, users will have a daily limit of free links to Times articles.
  
• The home page at NYTimes.com and all section fronts will remain free to browse for all users at all times.

For more information, go to nytimes.com/digitalfaq.

Thank you for reading The New York Times, in all its forms.

Sincerely,

Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
Publisher, The New York Times
Chairman, The New York Times Company