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Most recent update: January 8, 2005 at 11:50 a.m. Atlantic Time (GMT-4)
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Who's measuring the love of newspapers? (28 December 2004)
There's an oft-quoted business adage that says "you can't manage what you can't measure." But there's an angle that doesn't get discussed . . .
From Yelvington.com on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Bloggers: People of the Year (1 January 2005)
ABC News has declared bloggers the People of the Year, Merriam-Webster says blog is the most looked-up word of 2004. But blogging . . .
From Yelvington.com on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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RSS, an overnight sensation (7 January 2005)
I got a kick out of the Hypergene folks' observation (quoted by Susan Mernit) that "the speed at which RSS has . . .
From Yelvington.com on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Wikinews: Ignoring the elephant on the table (8 January 2005)
There's an interesting interview on news.com with Jimmy Wales, one of the founders of Wikipedia and a backer of Wikinews, an experiment in . . .
From Yelvington.com on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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ABC News names bloggers People of the Year
Last night (Dec. 30) on ABC World News Tonight, bloggers were named People of the Year. The segment was a standard fare wrap up of important blogging events of 2004, although they notably failed to mention Rathergate. It closed by showing the fake Time Magazine cover that we created.
From Hypergene MediaBlog on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism
Another must-add for your favorite RSS reader. Although he's not saying what his new business is, he does say he has "support from some first-rate folks," Mitch Kapor and Pierre Omidyar. Good company, indeed.
From Hypergene MediaBlog on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Interview: We Media one year later
Karma Peiró, a digital journalist and professor in Barcelona, Spain, interviewed us this week by email for a magazine article she is doing on participatory journalism. She asked about feedback we've received on "We Media," and to speculate how mainstream media will change the way it informs audiences in the future.
From Hypergene MediaBlog on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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The most awkward moment at CES
This has to be it. And if you think that's bad, watch the video (right column). Plus: Intel wants to own the digital home...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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SmartVideo inks TV deals
SmartVideo calls itself "the ultimate in portable television," and now the technology company has signed content deals with ABC News, NBC Universal and The Weather Channel to deliver video to cell phones. Press releases: ABC News | NBCU and The...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Other media news today
A little news outside the Consumer Electronics Show (or so I'm told): Reuters: NYTimes.com considers charging subscription fees TVNewser: CNN's Klein hopes to highlight reporters in primetime Washington Post: Government VNRs are illegal "covert propaganda" AP: Fear Factor viewer sues...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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The Archos Pocket Media Assistant
The folks at Engadget got a sneak peak at the Archos Pocket Media Assistant PMA430, a cross between a portable video player, audio player and PDA. It also has a touch LCD screen, 30 GB hard drive and integrated WiFI....
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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TiVo stock dips from DirecTV news
Now that DirecTV has unveiled a new DVR without TiVo technology, analysts worry about the impact on TiVo. "Longer term, we believe that TiVo's subscriber numbers will be negatively impacted," said Gene Munster, Sr., an analyst at Piper Jaffray. So...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Backup power for home theaters
Don't want to miss the end of Anchorman on your home theater system just because power went out? APC, best known for computer battery backup, is launching the APC AV line for increasingly computer-like high-end audio-visual gear. In March, the...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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IBS inks deal with Monster
The TV web network will use Monster.com for its career content. (Reg. req.) More: Monster goes local with new ad campaign...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Verizon brings TV to cell phones
Today at CES Verizon Wireless took the wraps off "the nation's first and only consumer 3G multimedia service," named VCAST. "This is not a plan for services on the horizon, this is about now," said Denny Strigl, CEO of Verizon...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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TV to TV streaming
Want to stream video from one TV to another? Belkin's RemoteTV allows streaming AV from any cable box, DVD, satellite box or DVR to any other TV in a household, up to 350 feet away. The one-foot-high sleek silver units...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Personal pick: XM2go satellite radio
Sure, portable video is everywhere at CES. But my personal pick is portable satellite radio: The new Delphi MyFi XM Satellite Radio. The size of an iPod, think of it as TiVo for satellite radio. Listen in real time (with...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Fox nixes Mickey Rooney's butt
The cold remedy company Airborne put together a Super Bowl spot featuring a glimpse of Mickey Rooney's bare butt, but Fox said it went too far. Airborne is getting bombarded with media calls -- free publicity -- but it hasn't...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Gates: I'm not some media expert
A big (and unexpected) get for Gizmodo. The gadget blog landed an interview with Bill Gates at CES. "I think blogging is super-important and we've got to do a lot more software," Gates said. And he admits, "I'm not some...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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CNET's Next Big Thing winners
CNET picked its favorite innovations at CES. The Samsung 67-inch rear-projection DLP TV wins best of show. Other winners: the Slingbox personal broadcaster (pictured), Alienware's DHS 2 series Media Center PC and the Toshiba HD-DVD recorder....
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Piping video to TiVo boxes
A handout at the TiVo booth at CES explains how video providers can use developer tools to deliver pay-per-view video straight to TiVo boxes "packaged, priced and protected to your specifications." Interesting stuff. "I hope that the amateurs won't be...
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Your tax dollars at work!
CES can debut all the cool toys they want, but journalistic integrity continues to be a challenge. If you haven't heard yet, commentator Armstrong Williams admitted he was paid by the feds to promote the No Child Left Behind program....
From Lost Remote on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Nature's Terror in Asia
I've just sent off a donation to the Red Cross to help the survivors of the earthquake and tsunamis that have struck south Asia. Please help if you can. UPDATE: Here's a site with many relief resources.
From Dan Gillmor's eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Airline Meltdowns
It's easy to understand the frustration felt by the workers at hard-pressed US Airways (and other legacy airlines), who've seen the bottom drop out of their companies' finances and their own paychecks in the past couple of years. But if it turns out that last weekend's "operational meltdown" at US Airways (the airline management's own description) was due, as has been charged, to an employee sickout, then the workers will have helped kill what's left of their ow
From Dan Gillmor's eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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The Scale of Horror
We use the word "disaster" too casually, but some events warrant the word. That's the case with the simply horrific scale of death and destruction in south Asia from the earthquake and tsunamis. The tens of thousands who will have died when the counting ends are the immediate tragedy. But their numbers are dwarfed by literally millions of people whose lives have been turned inside out by this disaster. They must be the world's focus now. We must all do what we
From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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The Tech Year So Far
(This is also my column today in the San Jose Mercury News.) Google, Oracle, Mars, voting: What these otherwise unconnected topics had in common this year was their importance to Silicon Valley and beyond. As 2004 ends, let's look back at the highlights: More...
From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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Yes, We're Stingy
  • Molly Ivins: How 'bout a do-over? Emblematic Political Moment of the Year: As the full dimensions of the tidal wave in the Indian Ocean became clear, Bush's staff used the occasion to... take a few cheap shots at Bill Clinton. Explaining why the president had neither returned to Washington nor even bothered to come out and read a statement of sorrow, The Washington Post reported that one official said: "'The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He doesn't want to make
    • From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Now That's More Like It
  • AP: U.S. Boosts Tsunami Aid Tenfold to $350M. The newly announced aid came after some critics claimed that the initial U.S. contribution of $35 million was meager considering the vast wealth of the nation. Whether we were shamed into doing the right thing, or whether this was a recognition that the disaster needed much more in the way of a response, it's good to see that we're moving toward the right response. Keep up the private contributions, too, folks.
    • From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Book, Blogging Notes
    I've been swamped with last-week-on-the-job details, along with getting over the flu (first time in years without a flu vaccination, and wham) and writing my final column for the Mercury News (it appears on Sunday). In the past week there's been lots of great coverage of the blogging world, and some kind words for my work along the way. Among the noteworthy material:
  • My colleague (until tomorrow) Mike Bazeley discusses how blogs and other online forums have become a "global commons" in the wake o
    • From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    New Year, New Gig
    Happy New Year to all. May this one be an improvement on the one we've just ended. As many of you know, I've left the Mercury News to work on a project to help citizen journalism. I've started a new blog where we can discuss that topic in some depth. I'll post here as well periodically, though the future of this blog is not entirely clear right now. I'm incredibly grateful to you for your support, or at least your readership and involvement in a normally valuable conversation here. We haven't always agreed, but we&apo
    From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    A Final Newspaper Column, and My Thanks
    (This is also my final Sunday column in the San Jose Mercury News.) Wow, what a ride. I moved to Silicon Valley a little over 10 years ago. I've been constantly amazed by what has happened here since then -- a furious rush of innovation and change. I'm not smart or wise enough to predict in any detail what will happen in the next decade. But I'm certain that, as always, it'll be interesting, because innovation and change are sti
    From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    New Contact Information
    If you need to reach me by e-mail, please don't try my Mercury News address, which no longer works. Send e-mail to "grassroots at gillmor.com" -- thanks.
    From Dan Gillmor'apos;s eJournal on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Free tsunami satellite photos
    DigitalGlobe is making a number of QuickBird satellite images available to media. "Showing 60-centimeter resolution, the satellite images offer the world's highest resolution available to the commercial industry." This photo shows the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka slightly less than...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Networks air amateur video
    The New York Times: The massive scope of the disaster touched on more than six different countries, many of which have the kind of technological infrastructure that allowed vivid imagery to be transmitted before the dimensions of the disaster were...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Top CyberJournalist stories of 2004
    Here is CyberJournalist.net's annual list of the top online journalism stories of the year. Unlike past years, this year's list is chosen by the readers, based on the most popular entries on CyberJournalist.net in 2004. Top CyberJournalist.net Stories of 2004...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Tsunami disaster reporting tips
    The South Asian Journalists Association has compiled an excellent, continuously updated site with experts and journalists in South Asia, news & opinion links and ways you can help: saja.org/tsunami.html...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Technology defines tsunami coverage
    More on how technology, the Net, tourists with cameras and mobile phones are defining how the tsunami and aftermath are being covered. "The new technology is making the old journalistic saw about one tragic death at home being worth as...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Tsunami home videos, photos
    There's a seemingly endless amount of amazing home videos and photos of the deadly tsunami and aftermath. Collections of video on waveofdestruction.org Scores of photos on Flickr Know of more collection sites? Post here. ...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    More free tsunami satellite photos
    DigitalGlobe is making more high-resolution satellite images available to media for free; this set is from the Banda Aceh shore in Indonesia.......
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Aimations of tsunami impact
    An anonymous reader sent in this amazing animation of the satellite photos showing the tsunami impact on the Banda Aceh shore in Indonesia: Click for animated image UPDATE (1/4): Another animation: a computer simulation of the Asia Tsunami produced by...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Blog readership up 58% in 2004
    Weblog reading and creating is up in 2004 -- not surprising after all the attention blogs have gotten during the presidential election. Still, blogs are still far from mainstream -- only 7 percent of Internet users have created blogs, and...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Video blogs hit by tsunami traffic
    Dozens of amateur videos of the tsunami have been making their way across the Net, highlighting the power of such footage and raising the profile of video bloggers. But their popularity has also highlighted a key problem with videoblogging and...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Tsunami Video Hosting Initiative
    The Media Bloggers Association (which CyberJournalist.net is a founding member of) today launched the Tsunami Video Hosting Initiative, a public service offered in response to concerns over bandwidth issues facing bloggers posting tsunami videos. The Tsunami Video Hosting Initiative is...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Tsunami aftermath resources
    The tsunami has taken so many lives and touched so many more that nearly every media outlet in the world will be covering some aspect of this story for a long time. Here are some excellent resources for journalists, from...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Tsunami bloggers forge a 'tribal news network'
    The Asia Times (quoting CyberJournalist.net's Jonathan Dube) says tsunami bloggers have forged a "tribal news network": Blogs appear to be renewing faith in the efficacy of technological transformation embedded in the principle of "doing the right thing".... "I have been...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Citizen journalist photography
    WestportNow.com, a small site covering Westport, Conn., published an interesting "2004 Year in Pictures" feature this week. What's interesting about it is who shot the photos: More than 50 citizen journalist photographers contributed to the feature, which includes nearly 400...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Googlezon And The Newsmasters
    A fascinating Flash movie called EPIC has been making the rounds online, forecasting how the news media will evolve between now and 2014 and portending a future where the Press, as you know it, ceases to exist, and everyone contributes...
    From CyberJournalist.net on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Taking Tsunami Coverage into Their Own Hands
    The Tsumnami was a turning point for citizen journalism, writes Steve Outing. "What's amazing is how many of the people who experienced and survived the disaster -- spread across several countries and thousands of miles -- were able to share their heart-wrenching stories, photographs, and videos with the rest of the world." I think what was also different about the Tsunami coverage is that the citizen journalists changed the point of view from the 'high profile' statements and expert opinions to the human drama struggle with, and report on, the disaster. Dan Gillmor argues that
    From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Jack Hulland Space Mission
    I wish they had had this stuff when I was a kid. Heck, I want to experience this now! But I had to be satisfied with my scale model of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). Anyhow, the reason I like things like this is that they're immersive - they're a whole-body experience that completely occupies the mind. Learning is experience, first and foremost. Via the Teacher's List. By Cam Good, Jack Hulland Elementary, January, 2005 [Refer][-->
    From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Academia and Wikipedia
    A back-and-forth debate, prompted by Larry Sanger's criticisms (carried here a few days ago), has erupted over the role of Wikipedia. In this article, a response to Clay Shirkey's response to Sanger, Dinah Boyd argues that "many librarians, teachers and academics fear Wikipedia (not dislike it) because it is not properly understood, not simply because it challenges their privilege." Moreover, Wikipedia should not be tak
    From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    JavaScript Graphics Library
    This is just beautiful. A set of Javascript DHTML functions you can download that allow you to draw lines sand shapes on a web page. The functions are fast and the effects compatible with almost every browser. Via NTK. By Walter Zorn, January, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]
    From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Education Dept. Paid Commentator to Promote Law
    The important question to ask, of course, is how much other coverage concerning education policy is bought and paid for, and what other issues have professional journalists been happy to take a few dollars in exchange for supporting. I am often critical of traditional media because I consider it less reliable than, say, blogs. This sort of item illustrates one reason why I hold such views. By Greg Toppo, USA Today, January 7, 2004 [Refer][From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    Mobile and Open: A Manifesto
    One of the differences between mobile computing and the desktop kind is that mobile hardware is generally contained in a sealed package - you don't open up your mobile phone and reinstall the operating system, for example. Under such conditions, notes Howard Rheingold, "Only a cockeyed optimist would forecast an open, user-driven, entrepreneurial future for the mobile Internet." Still, "This should not prevent us from trying, however. Sometimes, envisioning the way things ought to be can inspire people to work at making it that way. That's what manifestos are for." Exactly. By Howar
    From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    OASIS Releases OpenDocument 1.0 Committee Draft Specification for Public Review
    Something to keep an eye on. "This document defines an XML schema for office applications and its semantics. The schema is suitable for office documents, including text documents, spreadsheets, charts and graphical documents like drawings or presentations, but is not restricted to these kinds of documents. The schema provides for high-level information suitable for editing documents. It defines suitable XML structures for office documents and is friendly to transformations using XSLT or similar XML-based tools." Via Tim Bray. By Robin Cover, Cover Pages, January 4, 2005 [From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    NOT the WebCT & Blackboard blog
    James Farmer has been on a tear for the last week, launching a new section in his blog called Not the Blackboard or WebCT Blog... because "BB and WebCT just don't wanna go 'a blogging." Kicking off with the observation that "WebCT and Blackboard were routinely criticized for skyrocketing prices, bugs, and ease-of-use problems," Farmer then links to Simon Welton, who asks "why VLEs cannot be more open and flexible to allow better creativity and
    From OLDaily on January 8, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..
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    E-Learning and Sustainability
    This paper "review(s) major trends in e-learning and attempt(s) to draw out their implications in terms of the sustainability of e-learning." The author "stresse(s) the interaction between the development and implementation of technology, the organization of education and educational institutions and the role of teachers and trainers." The whole sustainability angle doesn't do a lot for me (because this is usually a prelude to cutting support for something, or privatizing it), but as Scott Leslie points out, the paper "could we