The official BLADE thread

Great idea.

I hope that you point to this thread before you ask Blade questions in other threads, like this one.

begin quote...

nits posted at 09:08:54 PM on Mar 06, 2013:
I'm seeing a pretty consistent 2,000,000 visits a month since November of last year.

visits don't equal people
how many unique users are you seeing?

end quote...

http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/144386#144449

Folks, I was just answering questions... I realize that it is inconvenient for people who otherwise do not care. However, advertising is still the primary income source for The Blade - where I still receive a paycheck.

Someone commented on the Berdan Building thread by writing, "I wonder if The Blade tells its' advertisers that a portion of the web traffic has now been cut off due to a subscription block. Number of hits on sub pages has to have gone down."

It is very likely that some potential Blade advertising customers read these threads. I would just like the opportunity to set the record straight. Comments and threads on this discussion board show up in search results. Therefore, when I see a comment that is clearly not true and potentially damaging to The Blade, I have two choices:

1) Ask jr to delete the negative comment about The Blade because it is not true and could be damaging to the company...

or

2) Answer the comment so that search results show both sides...

As far as I am concerned, jr could delete all references to The Blade's advertisers and advertising process in the thread:

http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/144386/Michigan_developer_seeks_to_buy_revive_Berdan_Building

Most of the TT community, nits, would love for this thread to serve as the default Toledo Blade thread.

However, there is a regular TT poster who is paid by the Toledo Blade and whose duties include visiting sites like these to promote the paper. I suspect that despite your efforts we will continue to get our regular fanboy updates in unrelated threads on Toledo Blade advertising sales records, Toledo Blade website visits, Toledo Blade circulation numbers, and the various reasons why the Toledo Blade is the best goshdarned newspaper since, well, newspapers were invented.

:-)

Whoops - I walked away to get a cup of coffee in mid-post, and voila! Instant case-in-point.

historymike:

Which do you choose?

1) Ask jr to delete the negative comment about The Blade because it is not true and could be damaging to the company...

or

2) Answer the comment so that search results show both sides...

As far as I am concerned, jr could delete all references to The Blade's advertisers and advertising process in the thread:

http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/144386/Michigan_developer_seeks_to_buy_revive_Berdan_Building

Stop all. It's my fault. I take full responsibility. I was lazy and did not start a new thread on the subject. Let's drop it and move on.

This is jr's site, paulhem, and he is free to administer the site as he sees fit. I am but one voice among hundreds who post here and thousands who read the site.

I am merely expressing my opinion regarding the commentary of a poster whose job duties include visiting sites like this to promote the Toledo Blade. Other Toledo Blade employees drift in and out of the site on given topics, but only one poster promotes the Toledo Blade as a part of an actual job obligation.

Personally, I am ambivalent about what jr does regarding this particular poster's Blade- boosterism; when a thread turns into a Toledo Blade praise-fest by a salaried social media manager (or whatever the title of the position is), I usually get bored and find something more useful to do with my time. The one time I attempted to counter the sycophantic deluge, I wasted far too much time in a pointless argument, and looking at my watch, I see I now have lost 12 minutes of my life in the same activity.

Hmmm, forcing an unrelated message board to delete threads because it might reflect bad on another company? That seems to be over stepping bounds and hopefully JR would never cower to such a level. As long as the posters are with in the rules of the site, IMO...anything goes. Business reviews are posted all the time on other companies...you just deal with it. If you are sucking it up, you fix the problem - not try to cover it up.

I still read the Blade fairly regularly, even though I haven't lived in the area for years, but my opinion remains the same. The Blade is a consistently negative on the area and is one of the main reason why the region has a horrible image problem. There is rarely a news story that is pushed to help improve the image of the area or spread good news.

One quick case that comes to mind is the airport. A story on passenger declines has no problem showing up. However, any time there is any positive news (like the recent airline anniversary celebrations) you get the "while we'd like to cover everything, sometimes we just aren't able to." Funny how it works out.

I wish the Blade could be like my local paper. It is very balanced and doesn't slant to one direction. It also isn't owned by a Family that has an image of self importance in a city that most of them don't even live in anymore. So I wouldn't expect much changes until the Blocks are finally completely gone or someone comes in a buys them out.

Justasooner:

So, you choose 2), above?

So, the Walmart model is good for news?

I agree with JustaSooner, the Blade could learn a few things about promoting the city in which it lives from the Toledo City Paper.

Guys: breeman and justasooner -

You are out of my area of expertise.

The Blade's editors use email and are all on Twitter and Facebook.

Why not contact them directly if you think that The Blade has problems?

I will pass your comments along. However, it would be a little easier to take your opinions more seriously, if you would contact the people whom you are accusing.

Since this is Blade thread...A while back, the story I referenced on Deadspin regarding a former UT running coach turned into a debate about old vs. new media and who scooped who.

What matters to me (a former avid Blade reader) is this. I read the Deadspin story first. Was this because my Deadspin delivery boy woke up five minutes earlier than the chap from the Blade? Nope, their online content is free while the Blade charges.

Now you can try to sway me with stories about sources and credibility, but the Deadspin story was simply better. Additionally, and I'm just spitballing here, but it think that little website with a bunch of hacks for journalists is probably killing it in the page view department.

Perhaps, a teachable moment. Did I mention their content is free?

I think that Kurt Franck answered this very well.

http://jimromenesko.com/2013/02/13/toledo-blade-editor/

Kurt explains:

"Both stories have different styles, written for their respective audiences..."

For example, the story from Deadspin drops the f-bomb in large font over a photo at the very beginning of the story. I don't think that The Blade attracts the same audience that Deadspin attracts.

Yes. A teachable moment, indeed.

this is what the "new, clean look" of the blade looks like in chrome on osx 10.8.2, btw.

whyyyyyy do you pop up a new window for sylvania and perrysburg news?

is it a digital reflection of suburban sprawl?

net art.

The first screen shot may have caught a temporary glich, which I saw, as well. After I did a few refreshes, the site seemed to be fixed.

Also using Chrome Version 26.0.1410.28 beta; and OS 10.8.2

Refreshed and yeah, looks better.

Why is your nav repeated again just below the main story section? (in your screenshot)

wow! what a change! i like that it's more "newspapery"

toledolen_ Didn't see it. I'll take another look. I was not involved with the redesign. I knew that they were going to go live with it. I just didn't know when. Now I know :)

toledolen_ don't know why that happened. Maybe cause I'm using a beta version of Chrome with the old plugin?

Do you have this issue? The photo galleries are a bit "off".

which ends up knocking everything in that column down, creating a gulf of white space before you hit the footer...

you should probably have those thumbnails 2 or 3 in a row. and you don't need the unordered list dots/bullets beside each thumb.

toledolen_ First. Thank you for pointing these things out! I didn't see that particular problem with the photo galleries. They must have fixed that too. I will look into it because it may be that there might be a browser compatibility issue. If so, then we need to get it fixed, like real soon.

Thanks again!

Mar 7, 2013 - Toledo Blade - New, cleaner look launches for Blade Web site

Since we're in the second decade of the 21st century, and I don't read printed newspapers, what does this mean, "looks more like a newspaper?" Is it referring to a printed newspaper? If so, what consultant is running around telling newspaper companies to design their websites to look like print, and why is that a good idea in 2013?

m.toledoblade.com is still the "cleaner" look, but for some reason m.toledoblade.com does not update as fast as the regular site.

The Toledo Blade's Twitter feed is a "cleaner" look.

Blade provides RSS feeds. This feed of local news is a "cleaner" look.

I'll go in a different direction on this thread since I haven't read the thread that prompted this thread...

I am annoyed at Press+ - I signed up for the online version ONLY to get the coupons in the Sunday Blade (its the cheapest way), but I do read the Blade on line as a side benefit. And every few days I get an email from Press+ telling me that they can't verify my account, and eventually after a few weeks deactivates my online Blade access so I have to sign back in, verify my address, and the cycle starts all over again. Seriously? Can't the Blade coordinate with their online people to get my subscription right?

MrsArcher: I am really sorry for the issue you are having. I will pass this along to someone in our Circulation Dept.

BTW, we darn well better get your subscription right.

jr:

Yes. I will make sure that your comment is passed to others. Although, I think that the "others" to whom I would send this to are probably already reading it.

Mrs. Archer:

I am being told to make sure that you have contacted The Blade's customer service manager, Clara Intagliata. She can be reached at 419-724-6306 and her email address is cintagliata[at}toledoblade[dot]com

Again, I am very sorry for this issue.

Paul

Nah, what'll happen is you-know-who will go claim ToledoTalk.com is infringing on the property of The Bl*d* and get the domain name taken away from jr, sans due process or any actual proof or court hearing or anything like that, just like what happened with Th*M*nt*lBl*ck.

Or certain people will be turned over to the FBI for magically racking up $250k in bandwidth usage for uncapping their cable modems (instead of just terminating service, like EVERY REAL MAJOR ISP did).

"Guys: breeman and justasooner -

You are out of my area of expertise.

The Blade's editors use email and are all on Twitter and Facebook.

Why not contact them directly if you think that The Blade has problems?

I will pass your comments along. However, it would be a little easier to take your opinions more seriously, if you would contact the people whom you are accusing."

Maybe it's because when things do get brought up, questions never get answered. I brought this up to you on twitter and through email, yet to hear back. And the funny thing...just the next friggin' day there was a negative HEADLINE in the paper about the airport...Granted, I've been way too busy personally to follow up, but the point remains. Maybe I should start tallying negative headlines versus positive ones to prove what we are saying...

avinsurer:

I passed along your concern. If you have questions, then you are welcome to contact the reporter and or editor.

Taking cheap shot drive-bys on social media won't do you any good.

avinsurer:

Here's what I received in response.

"I'm going to forward your message to the city desk, because they have traditionally covered the airport more than the business section has."

Haven't received a response. So, neither have you.

Contact Dave Murray, managing editorator, dmurray[at]theblade.com 419-724-6069

editorator = editor iPhone fat-finger

Sorry, I know this is totally off the topic but the toledo blade's new logo or there logo period i would be ashamed of it. It's a total rip of facebook's logo. Same color to lower case font. I would think they would want to be different or unique.

Wow someone's getting pissy. I guess it goes hand in hand with how the Blade operates. What exactly is your role again? So far everything I'm gathering is you don't really do anything but tell people to contact someone else. Did you work for AT&T's customer service department before? LOL

Seriously though. People through the years have raised issues with the Blade. Many of those issues are legitimate, but what recourse do people really have? The Blade's biases are well documented and it isn't hard to figure out which politicos are in the paper's back pocket. Of course cross the Blade and expect a few good articles trashing you. Such is life I guess.

One of the best things that could happen FOR the city of Toledo, would be for someone to come in and buy the paper and then eliminate everyone that is currently a writer and editor there and start over with fresh blood. There are a lot of long time employees with bad attitudes that continue to spread their filth in articles and its time for them to find something new to do.

Of course one of the problems with attempting provide alternate point of view and to help people here is that some will hide behind their anonymity to make ad hominem attacks and otherwise vent their spleen. That's because a few competitors, people who applied for a job and didn't get it, former employees who were let go, and those who demand the news outlet to be their personal cheerleader can use this venue to exact revenge, bully, or otherwise act like sociopaths.

I've been here for years and accept that this is the price of participation.

Contributing here is not part if my job. As a matter of fact some at The Blade are very unhappy that I participate here at all. However, I believe that message boards, blogs, and other social media give those who actually have valid concerns a venue to discuss the same.

All of my contributions are my own. I am not an official Blade or Block Communications spokesperson. Therefore, my words here are to be construed to represent The Blade nor The Blade's parent Block Communications.

Hey Paul - The Blade site looks terrible on my browser. I am using Firefox. Serious alignment issues. FYI

Paulhem bounced from the ropes nicely in this thread.

My contributions are NOT to be construed as representing The Blade or Block Communications.

Thanks for the heads up Molsonator! 6th_Floor :)

Molsonator: Are you seeing the alignment issues at the bottom of the home page? Please let me know what browser and operating system that you're using. Thanks, man!

Oops Firefox version...

Firefox 19.0 on Vista

Molsonator: Thanks! I can test now.

"I know this is totally off the topic but the toledo blade's new logo or there logo period i would be ashamed of it. It's a total rip of facebook's logo. Same color to lower case font."

I never got that impression. The Toledo Blade's "blue" is darker than Facebook's. I think the Facebook blue color is #3b5998. Both logos have a faded area but in different locations. And the Facebook "f" is off-centered and aligned to the bottom. One has rounded corners and the other pointed corners. The logos look drastically different to me.

I use #2B547E for blue.

Folks: I am going to be out of touch for a few hours. I'll check in when I can.

Thank you,

Paul

Thank you, Paul. I will try and contact him when time permits. Thank you for the follow up.

Hi Paul -

There is a new poll on the website about the new look.

The question is:

What do you think of the new toledoblade.com design?

The possible answers are:

Finally, it needed it.

Still not sure.

Whatever.

Thrilled with the new look.

I'll deal with it.

I am surprised they don't want any feedback in the poll to show if someone doesn't like it?

Whatever and I'll deal with it aren't quite the same as something as direct as "I don't like it".

I would hope that the powers to be would like honest feedback. That poll doesn't allow it.

Well, your contributions are being construed to represent the official opinions of The Blade, and I don't think there's much you can do to change that. I suspect, although I'm not certain, that a large part of that undesirable accreditation stems from the fact that you get paid to surf the 'Net and defend The Blade from the likes of the notorious LineCrosser, and the irascible DBW8906, and - dare I mention? - that infamous instigator of flame wars, that defender of reason over wreckage, that opprobrious poster of fact over fiction... HistoryMike!

I know, it's a tough job but someone's got to do it. Best of luck to you, Paul.

If it wasn't for the ink I think The Blade would make excellent toilet tissue. Your paper is so thin my pencil really tears up the crossword and sodoku just about every day and I'm not sure if its from the press or what but there is probably only 1 day a week that it isn't mangled in some form. Wrinkles in the paper ripped or just mangled on one corner or another. Last Sunday we didn't get any grocery store adds along with the coupons that come with them. Its not the first time either. We still get the paper because there isn't a suitable replacement and the adds and coupons are almost necessary to afford groceries.

Hmmm, I may be a fish out of water here, but I actually like The Blade. I don't care for the editorial stances most of the time, but I enjoy the paper as a whole.

I wish they would bring back the bikini pics that used to be in The Peach Page! LOL

Madjack:

Thanks? :)

Linecrosser: Sorry for that problem. I appreciate an opportunity to help. I'll get with production and circulation. Is anyone else having problems with paper tearing when doing the puzzles.

Linecrosser: Would you please consider sending me your contact info? That way I can better assist. with circulation. I promise to keep it private.

Shamrock44: That's why I am here. We need all the feedback that we can get.

avinsurer: I think you should escalate your concern. Dave Murray is a great guy. I think you would like to talk with him and-or email.

And don't forget to contact Jack Lessenberry too. His email is: omblade@aol.com - When you work with Jack you might get your concern published in the paper.

I stopped long enough to attempt to answer everyone. Even though TT works well on an iPhone, sometimes the iPhone and I have different ideas as to what I am typing.

Shamrock44: Thank you. You wouldn't believe the number of people who ask me about those Peach photos from back in the day. :)

1. If indeed your job as social media manager (or however your job is titled these days) does not involve commenting on blogs, message boards, and engaging other forms of social media, then I extend my apology, paulhem. Most other persons with such a title are expected to actively interface with various social media. Is "social media manager" still your current job, or are you doing different things now?

2. I trust this statement was not directed at me: "That's because a few competitors, people who applied for a job and didn't get it ..." You see, I applied to the Toledo Blade many years ago when I was still a freelance journalist but never came to any sort of agreement regarding freelance work. If this was directed at me, you guys are a little weird to be digging that one up, since I have not even worked in the field in four years and have zero interest in ever writing for the paper. I would also strongly suggest that you refrain from making this kind of statement, regardless of who you intended to use it against, since it could represent divulging confidential employment data. Just a word to the wise.

3. On a semi-related note, I was going to suggest that Toledo Blade could be moved to a new forum known as /b/, but FourChan ruined /b/ forever. :-)

historymike: I would not reference you indirectly or directly. I think I have been reaching out. Maybe I come off a little rough.
When can we have that beer?

Off topic but, how does a newspaper "vet" a column writer's accuracy when reporting on a subject that has verifiable science and the science is reported incorrectly? I'm not referring to a controversial subject ( like global warming ) but undisputed science such as soil pH?

I have emailed the writer in polite terms with references and, later with another similar "gaff", emailed Jack Lessenberry. All communications were signed and included address and phone number. Absolutely no response.

There is rarely a column that doesn't contain a mistake, or is so overly broad with generalizations, as to be basically useless. How does one get to be a Blade science writer? I'd like to apply. Even with no journalism experience I could put out better work, both interesting AND accurate.

At the risk of jumping into a thread I don't really want to touch with a ten foot poll, I didn't realize Holland that the Blade had a science writer.

Last time The Blade had a science writer was like six years ago AFAIK.

I will clarify: Garden/Landscape writer. Gardening is based completely on science. Get the science wrong and you can have poor results, unexpected results or costly disasters. There are two garden writers, one as good as the other is bad.

holland: My email is paulhem[at]toledoblade[dot]com If you would like to forward you correspondence to me, I'll ask around.

The new Blade Web design looks good and operates fine on my tablet.

This is what's wrong with America.

Sports, Food, and Entertainment over science.

Thanks jr.

This is one of the reasons that I like to participate here.

Would you please let us know the make and OS of your tablet. You could email the info if it doesn't inconvenience you.

Molsonator notified me about an alignment problem. I have one PC with Vista, but it has a cooling problem, so I'll fire it up update Firefox to 19, shut it down to cool, then start up again. It is a laptop and I and struggling with trying to order a new fan. No one has one. It is a poor man's Alienware. Not the best purchase I made - dual core quad though...

Actually it's a Sager or Clevo and it is quad core Intel. Needless to say it doesn't run long on the battery.

After seeing you as the victim of an obvious recent attempt at forum "Valerie Plaming," I can understand how you would be a little suspicious.

"Would you please let us know the make and OS of your tablet. You could email the info if it doesn't inconvenience you."

Sure, but it won't be much help, since I use an abnormal tablet: HP 9.7 inch tablet, running WebOS.

In the summer of 2011, HP decided to exit the tablet business, so they dumped their inventory in a fire sale. They dropped the price of their 32 GB tablet from about $600 to $150, so I snagged one. It works great. It has become my main casual Web reading device, and I read books with the Kindle app. I would say the tablet has caused me to read more than I did in the old BT days (before tablet). And I do some Web writing with the tablet like this comment.

Looking Great now Paul!

Cool! Thanks Molsonator!

I hope it is proper for me to bitch about the poor studies that are printed in the Blade as absolute proof of whatever Obama and therefore the liberal press would like us to believe.

The headlines on A-3 of this morning's paper proclaim "Study: Strict Laws, fewer gun deaths". The text of the article shows the study was released by the Journal of American Medical Association.

I googled "JAMA in favor of Gun Control" and got almost half a million hits. Admittedly, many proved to be from right slanted groups complaining about JAMA's slant on gun policies.

I suppose the Blade kept their contacts with JAMA from a decade ago when they published misleading studies from them and any other source they could find that supported their side of the argument.

Boo Blade.

Given the amount of fertilizer available at The Blade, I'd think they'd do a good job with gardening.

But then, you have to keep the fertilizer in the garden...

My compliments to JimAvolt for the nice catch.

I read that article, and it is absolute stable dressing. This is an example of The Blade and the owner's anti-freedom policy in action. This POS was actually published by reuters: States with strict gun laws found to have fewer shooting deaths and contains a standard disclaimer in the fine print.

The authors cautioned that their methods did not prove any cause and effect connection between firearms laws and deaths, and that factors including how effectively the laws were enforced could undermine their conclusions.

But it's perfectly acceptable for The Blade to publish half truths and slated pseudo science so long as it supports the anti-freedom agenda.

Right Paul?

Let The Blade and task its investigative reporters to discover just why the cities with the highest violent crime rates also have the most restrictive gun laws, while the reverse is also true.

Guys: I have owned firearms for years. My son has quite a few military type weapons, as do I.

Also, I used to write - shall we say - "firm" letters to the editor.

One of my letters was published Christmas Day 1989 when I was ranting about an editorial that proposed America The Beautiful for the National Anthem instead of The Star Spangled Banner.

I grew up in Toledo. Like many old people, I remember when The Blade was an evening paper. My father brought it to the dinner table where all six of us would argue about one thing or another that was in it.

When I was stationed overseas all I had to read was Stars and Stripes. That was back when the military actually owned it - Well, it seemed like it did, anyway. I was an officer so I towed the company like, so to speak.

I wound up living near New England. My wife and I missed The Blade so much that we had a subscription mailed to us. As you can imagine that was a disaster.

I was very exciting to get a job at The Blade. I still tell friends that if someone told me 20 years ago that I would be working in The Blade newsroom, helping journalists use technology to report on military matters - especially Tiger Force, then I would have accused them of deliberately provoking my anger.

Funny how things work out. I am married to a journalist and admire what they do. Irony..

My iPhone decided on what words to use, again. I need an editor! ;)

Do you have a computer paul? ;)

You think you could fix this CSS issue? It's really annoying.

Hey Thanks! toledolen_ That looks ridiculous! I know there has been some work going on with the sharing code. But, that shouldn't affect the fonts. Or did it? ;)

In other words...

I'm on it. Again, sorry for the ugly, goofy-looking Web post...

Hey Paul, when you are finished with the goofy looking type, can you work on the machine that makes bias and slant less obvious? It seems to be broken.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2013/04/07/Bell-s-latest-trade-mission-taking-him-staff-to-Germany.html

Paul - silly question here about The Blade droid app.

How do you get it to stop sending news alerts? I don't see any way to stop them from popping up when I look at the settings section.

shamrock44: Sorry for the late reply... Let me look into that. I would think that there would be a way to turn that off.

Thanks in advance !

Paul - I can verify what Shamrock44 is saying with the Android OS. It is an annoying feature, and there are no settings that I can find to turn it off.

Thanks, GTVT!

I needed that input. I am being told by a Blade friend that a Nokia 7 has a setting that allows it to turn off. Neither of the two Android phones that I use have that feature for The Blade app.

So... The Blade is now trying to verify that this notification feature, in fact, can't be turned off.

Now. I'm looking at the iPhone iOS Blade app. I don't see a way to turn off those notifications there, either.

As soon as I know more, I'll be back with more information.

Paul,

Thank you for the quick response and for staying on top of it!

Hi shamrock44. The reason neither of us saw the checkbox is because it is so small :)

Please look at the image. You will see a small checkbox, just under the "Force stop" button. If you uncheck that, then the notification will turn off.

The iOS switch is found in settings>notifications>The Blade app

I learn something from every question. :)

Thanks Paul - I appreciate your help!

Mine doesn't show anything under Force Stop - so I will try the Force Stop itself to see if that helps!

Same version (1.08) - am surprised I don't have the show notifications option on mine?

shamrock44: That is strange!

Try uninstalling the app the app via Play, and then reinstall it via Play.

will do! Thanks for checking it out!!!

Don't know if everyone else figured it out, but I found the place to change it. Under the phones settings, go to Application Manager, scroll down to The Blade, and then you will find the screen posted above, and un-check the box as suggested.

Paul;

Can can you talk to your app admin to see if they can do an app settings under the whatever they call the left button on the smart phone. That way people can turn it off as they choose. I too un-installed the app to re-install it to fix it, and couldn't help but view the comments people were posting.

I wouldn't mind the notifications if was about traffic delays or major news events, but the only thing I was getting was notifications for sports, which is not worth the aggravation.

While we're at it: is the Blade site not compatible with IE 10? I keep landing on a banner page at the Blade site telling me I'm using IE 6, 7 or 8 to try to view the site. I'm using IE 10. Seems to work fine with Chrome though.

Sorry you're having problems, Foodie. It is compatible with I.E. 10.

Here it is using IE 10, Windows 8

Just to make sure, Foodie, which version of Windows are you running? Win7 or Win8?

Windows 7 with SP1.

Thanks. You need to turn off compatibility view in IE 10. I could not find it while using IE 10 with Windows 8. IE 10 may behave differently running on Windows 7.

However, if you follow the guidance found on this page then the problem should be cleared up.

Please let me know.

Turning off compatibility view did the trick. Thanks Paul.

Any time, Foodie! :)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but turning off notifications in the android settings--->apps menu, turns off notifications for updates to the app, not news notifications.

Side note: if you are a diehard Internet Explorer fan I recommend sticking with IE-9 instead of IE-10. There are tons of bugs with IE-10, and I got zapped with a nasty malware virus a week after "upgrading" to the crappy IE-10.

jbtaurus98: Thanks for looking into it. I had not turned notifications for any app. This was a new one for me.

I wasn't sure so I Googled (really DuckDuckGo).

Here's what I got:

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57467781-285/how-to-turn-off-notifications-for-an-app-in-android-4.1-jelly-bean/

historymike said: "Side note: if you are a diehard Internet Explorer fan I recommend sticking with IE-9 instead of IE-10. There are tons of bugs with IE-10, and I got zapped with a nasty malware virus a week after "upgrading" to the crappy IE-10."

Not necessarily a die hard fan - it's what the office uses. And required for many of the companies we interface with. Always vigilant and on guard - hopefully, our Firewall and multiple layers of anti-virus and anti-malware will help keep us safe.

Thanks for the heads up though hm.

Desperation- I got an email to get six months of the Sunday blade for a grand total of $4.99. Yes, I subscribed. The coupons alone will pay for the Sunday paper thru October.

"The coupons alone will pay for the Sunday paper thru October."

jbtaurus98: You gotta know that I am happy that you subscribed!

Would like to get one of those coupons... I guess this is an offer only for some?

I too recieved the same email unsolicited solicitation from TB. I know they must have used this site to glean emails/contacts. Not really sure I like what they did here.

"jbtaurus98: You gotta know that I am happy that you subscribed!"

-Never got the Blade today.

it took a week or so for my subscription to kick in FWIW

Coupons are about the only reason to get a paper subscription anymore. However, they pay for themselves in most cases...depending on the specials running. We had one here for $20 a year for Weds & Sunday only - crazy price IMO. The other is $13/mo for Wed & Weekends. Yes I get two Sunday papers, well technically 3 with one from the local newspaper that also has the typical Sunday coupons. If you plan appropriately (pair the coupons with weekly specials) you can save quite a bit, especially if you have a store that doubles. I think Giant Eagle up there does (but only on coupons with a face value of 99 cents or less which knocks out a ton that are typically $1 off) and also Krogers (up to 50 cents IIRC). We have a store here that doubles coupons with a face value up to $1 and it isn't out of the ordinary to save 60-80% off of tagged prices.

To me that makes the newspaper worth it. Sometimes you can find some interesting stories to read too as well. Granted down here I much prefer the local paper over the large metro wide paper. Less political bias and agenda, as well as more "real" stories that seem meaningful.

Paul, why does the blade think my iPhone is using internet explorer?

upso: I am stumped because my iPhone's Safari browser does not show that. Notice how it nags me to download the app? :/

I would try going to Settings>Safari> Clear History and Clear Cookies and Data to see what that does...

works now!

upso: Great!

it's weird
it's doing it again, but on only one article today

upso: Looking into this now... That is confusing.

I signed up for the 4.99 promo April 18. Credit card charged, again no paper today.

I'm on it...

jbtaurus98: Of course, I do not know your name. However, if you use the phone numbers, below, The Blade will have a manager deliver your paper to you. The photo is not clickable, The link is below.

Blade customer service link:

Thanks. I submitted online, and it was delivered around 11-11:30.

Another Sunday, no paper.

I'll discuss this on Monday with the folks in charge. Did you call and receive your paper?

Gee, I didn't get a Sunday paper either.

Yes, I did call, the paper was delivered about an hour later.

You should come over to my house. They are giving them away over here. This is the fourth week in a row I got a paper. Delivered right to my front porch. I don't even subscribe to The Blade. The delivery guy is even putting them on the duplex next door. I don't think the 20 somethings subscribe. They usually sit on the porch until Wednesday or Thursday.

We got a notice that we would be receiving the Sunday Paper for free for the next 4 weeks (maybe 6 I can't remember). anyways, I kinda like it and when that runs out I think I am going to get a Sunday subscription, but only if Paul gives me a password to the web site. I am sick of reading around the blocker.

You get the Sunday paper for "free" if you sign up for an online account.

I think I will wait until this runs out then sign up. I would have loved to have read the article on Notre Dame pulling the plug on a speaker but I missed buying a paper and I am blocked from reading anymore.

@jbtaurus98: I'm a manager in the Circulation Department and want to get this permanently resolved. To do that, I'm hoping I can get your delivery address. Please don't post it here; you can call customer service at 419.724.6300 and ask for Tom Z. Or you can email me directly at tzeller@toledoblade.com. This is totally unacceptable service, so I appreciate your patience, and I hope you'll give me a chance to permanently fix this.

@Moslonator: if you are receiving the sample paper right now, you are eligible for a great introductory signup offer for new subscribers only. Visit www.theblade.com/sample for more details. You can reach me at the contact info I provided above if you have any questions.
Best,
~Tom

Thank you, Tom.

Thanks Tom, just sent an email.