There has never been such mainstream media blitz for an online publication as there has been the past week for Slate.

Slate was on Charlie Rose. Slate was on National Public Radio. Slate was on CNN. Slate was on Entertainment Tonight.

And everywhere Slate was, there was Michael Kinsley, the late liberal of CNN's "Crossfire," parading his new mag about and looking much like a proud college journalism professor showing off the work of his students.

In case the hype train passed you by, Slate is an almost exclusively online Magazine focusing on national affairs, politics and social commentary that has been called by one media analyst, an online reunion of the Harvard Crimson. It is co-owned by Microsoft Corp. and Time-Warner, and Kinsley is its managing editor.

Finally, the mainstream media have in Kinsley, a familiar face in the digital world, which is why there were so many stories on Slate. But there was nothing in its table of contents that was particularly newsworthy or really worth reading. Without a doubt it found its way onto the bookmark list of the nearly any journalist with a Web browser ‹ including my own. And it probably has generated a lot of non-journalist readers. But not for long.

Slate's ultimate weakness is its future plans. Later this year, you will have to pay $19.95 a year to read the Slate, even if it is on the Web. Visitors will be required to register within a few weeks, and non-paying registered users can expect to be booted by Nov. 1. Kinsley's defense is that Slate should be self-supporting. But so far there is little in the way of content that would motivate many general interest readers to pay anything for the right to browse a Web-based publication. For $20 I can subscribe to printed magazines like George or Vanity Fair, and get more for my money each month. Plus, I get the added benefit of being to take the mag with me to read over breakfast at Oliver's on Sunday.

Slate can learn by those who can come before -- namely Hotwired and Tweak.

Hotwired, (www.hotwired.com) which I have mentioned before, is probably the most successful online publication ever. When it debuted, it carried with it the brand-name recognition of its sister paper magazine, Wired. It also has been consistently better than anyone in pushing the limits of new media. Using Real Audio, Telnet, Java and other new tricks of the trade, Hotwired is the paradigm of online publications that is constantly recreating itself. I would happily pay $20 a year to read it, but I don't have to it supports itself through advertising sales.

On a smaller scale, Tweak (www.tweak.com) sees itself as fighting the encroachment of publications like Slate onto the Web. In its mission statement it claims to be fighting corporate conglomerates in their attempt to put "the same grip on new media that they have on old media. ...We don't seek to change the world. We just want to tweak it a little."

Slate looks good, reads well, and may eventually offer some worthwhile content. But without Kinsley's name, it would be just another seat-of-the-pants venture into online publishing.

It's official.

Last week's ruling by a federal court in Philadelphia on the Communications Decency Act will be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Justice Department is reportedly filing papers on the appeal as I write these words. The case is likely to be argued before the court in the fall, so we can expect a decision about this time next year.

It ain't over, until it's over.

A reader pointed out that last week I overlooked two local businesses that offer classes in Hypertext Markup Language, the primary -- and very easy -- programming language used to design World Wide Web Home Pages.

The two businesses are Web Resources, a new Pocatello Internet Service Provider, and the Data Foundry, a software support and consulting firm. Both offer classes in HTML and basic Internet usage. From what I've heard, if the Internet is still a mystery to you, they can help you figure out the basics.

Arik Hesseldahl covers business and technology for The Idaho State Journal.