I find my eyes drawn to the headline and as long as headline and some text is clearly visible I'm not annoyed as I can start reading immediately. So I don't think there is a need to devote majority of your above fold area to immediate content.
In fact the blog is annoying because I couldn't read even a single line of text without scrolling down. The picture was completely irrelevant. Atleast in nytimes, everything except the banner ad, above the fold is useful. often I find myself clicking on the tech category soon after reading a tech article.
Good point. The picture was more confusing than helpful. But, it was a cool shot so I forgive the guy.
The main problems with the blog in my view: (1) There's a big banner at the top complaining that I'm using "IE6 (or below" and recommending Firefox, but I'm using IE8; (2) I literally cannot read its logo. I can barely make out "optimize" after double-checking the address bar to see what it is supposed to say.
I agree. The variables involved with computing how much attention something receives is more than simply %space, %words, and other measurable things like that.
It's like saying that letters are mostly whitespace.
In fact the blog is annoying because I couldn't read even a single line of text without scrolling down. The picture was completely irrelevant. Atleast in nytimes, everything except the banner ad, above the fold is useful. often I find myself clicking on the tech category soon after reading a tech article.