[there are six news stories in this post, make sure to read 'below the fold' as there are some interesting reads.]
Wisconsin Technology Network :: The Blog Nation
by Chris Shipley
...Blogging may be the first truly disintermediated, widely distributed and democratic publishing medium. Because blog media is low- or no-cost, there is no barrier to becoming a blog publisher. Indeed, anyone can create a blog. Whether anyone else reads it is another matter, but it is at this point where the reader, rather than writer/publisher, is truly empowered. In print or even online publishing, publishers assume their access to the printing press (physical or digital) washes them in journalistic integrity such that they can say to the reader, "Trust me," without necessarily earning that trust. As readers, we are trained that the media establishment is legit, that they more or less print truths. That trust relationship is turned on its ear in blog media. The reader who returns again and again to the source says to the publisher, "I trust you." Breech that trust, and the feedback loop of comments and referring links and the like will relegate your blog to the long, long list of the unread. Credibility, point of view, integrity are the lifeblood of the blogger.
For this reason, exactly, it is more than probable that bloggers will become the most influential commentators on all aspects of business and society. They can publish quickly to loyal and trusting readers. The blogger's perspective will carry tremendous weight, just as the venerable New York Times or - in our industry - PC Magazine do with their readership. And just as savvy product marketers learned to court the favor of journalists in other media, they must learn to reach out to bloggers who will become the king makers of the future...
ONLamp.com :: Markov blogging
by Andy Lester
...Three times a week, MarkovBlogger posts an entry at use.perl.org. It always has something interesting to say, like:
as we all fear about cloning is reproductive cloning - replacing your failing organs with fresh, healthy ones (by creating a new IO system on my knee for about an hour with wireless (source)
if we decide to install ZoneAlarm on the schedule because there are no O'Reilly books for us, the Old Executive Office Building was in Monterey, I think. Perhaps "furniture" is a pro-choice/anti-microsoft one. (source)
I'm glad I got another email message to fill a bottle with a laser printer for a database with lots of useless constant globals. :-) (source)
I went to lunch with most object inheriting from the heat. The crocodile feeding was the response to a different icon) (source)
The MarkovBlogger was created by Joe Johnston. It's a simple Perl Program adapted from a program in The Practice Of Programming that performs its analysis on use Perl journal entries, and posts a journal entry of its own twisted creation.
I first ran into autogenerated text back in 1984 from an article in Byte with a program listing for Travesty generator. I believe it was in BASIC, and I had to translate it into Turbo Pascal. I was hooked, and threw every scrap of text at it that I could find.
My thanks to Joe for providing this valuable public service...
The Advertiser :: Logging protest 65m up a tree
By Tim Martain
...ENVIRONMENTAL activists took their fight 65m above the forest floor yesterday, setting up camp in one of the Styx Valley's tallest trees.
And they plan to stay there until Gunns Ltd's bulldozers roll in.
The Wilderness Society has joined forces with Greenpeace in what is being touted as Australia's highest and most sophisticated anti-logging tree-sit protest.
The State Government and the forestry industry yesterday labelled it a cheap political stunt.
"The Government has very clearly indicated it's working towards the goal of phasing out clearfelling in old-growth forests - working with the community and key interest groups and preserving jobs," Deputy Premier Paul Lennon said.
"The Greens are obviously unable to move past the old-style politics of protest and division."
Mr Lennon called the protest "juvenile and meaningless".
The Global Rescue Station has been erected 65m up an 84m eucalyptus regnans nicknamed Gandalf's Staff in logging coupe Styx13C, south of Maydena.
The coupe has been earmarked by Forestry Tasmania for logging by Gunns Ltd some time next year.
The protesters say they will make the tree their home until the area is exempt from logging operations, and will share their experience with the world via the Internet.
"We're going to take a stand here until the Government intervenes and does the right thing," said Greenpeace Australia/Pacific campaigns manager Danny Kennedy.
"We have satellite communications that enable web broadcasts, and weblogs will be uploaded daily on to the Wilderness Society's site for people around Australia and the world to look at." ...
Silicon Valley Biz Ink :: C I Host Enhances e-Memories Program to Empower Digital Camera Buffs
...BEDFORD, Texas, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- C I Host, a global leader in Web hosting, Internet infrastructure and software development, has completely retooled and re-launched its e-Memories software to capitalize on the holiday surge in digital photography.
Christopher Faulkner, CEO of C I Host, said, "e-Memories now can transform a photographer into a `virtual media mogul.' This is more than an on-line scrapbook. Version two is an on-line media center with streaming video, blogging, family TV, digital family trees, e-mail, slide shows, postcards, chatrooms, birthday reminders and more."
Experts estimate the digital camera market is a $4.5 billion industry. However less than 15 percent of camera owners have experimented with on-line slide shows and similar products, researchers say.
"Any one of these features alone could be priced higher than where we have positioned the entire e-Memories `bundle,'" Faulkner said. "The value of the product and the ease of use should attract many holiday shoppers hoping to complement their new digital cameras."
In addition, a person armed with a digital photo-equipped cell phone with Internet service literally can up load shots to their Web site on the go.
"With digital photography, people don't buy or process film, so they are shooting more frames," Faulkner said. "e-Memories is a great way to display their talents."...
Newswise :: How Blogs and the Internet Are Impacting the 2004 Presidential Campaign
...Newswise - Web logs or "blogs" and the Internet have already sparked much discussion in the presidential campaign, as candidates such as Howard Dean have used them to generate popular support and to raise money. But how much will they impact the presidential race between now and Election Day?
This topic will be explored in a symposium entitled "The Internet and Political Campaigns -- What Impact Will it Have in 2004?," which is being held on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003 at the Johns Hopkins University's Bernstein-Offit Building, located at 1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW.
The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. It is sponsored by the Communications and Government Programs of Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Advanced Academic Programs.
Panelists include Michael B. Cornfield, research director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at The George Washington University; R. Rebecca Donatelli, president of Campaign Solutions and who was lead Internet consultant to the McCain for President campaign in 2000; Laura Quinn, managing partner at QRS Newmedia Inc. and former deputy chief of staff to Al Gore; and Harrison "Lee" Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project and an expert at the use of the Internet in American society and culture.
The discussion will be moderated by Alexis Rice, a fellow in the Center for the Study of American Government at the Johns Hopkins Washington Center. Rice is the creator of www.campaignsonline.org and the author of a recent report on web blogs, entitled, "The Use of Blogs in the 2004 Presidential Election."...
dot Journalism :: Blunt: a cut above the rest
By: Jemima Kiss
Email: jemima@journalism.co.uk
...Blunt, the web magazine run by journalism students at Cardiff University, was the surprise winner of the best web site award at this year's Guardian Student Media Awards.
Gareth Brown, online editor of Blunt, told dotJournalism that he had been unable to hear the judges' commendation when he accepted the award because runners up had been jeering so loudly.
"We were completely surprised to win. The other sites had proper funding, and some of them were built by external companies," he said.
"Ours was all our own work."
Judges commended the site for its quirky, irreverent style - despite fierce competition from the University of Durham, University of Bath and University of Southampton.
The site was built in 2002 by Gareth Brown and fellow student Fred Dutton as part of their Magazine Journalism course at Cardiff University.
For their efforts, the students won 500 cash, return flights on Easyjet and work experience at Guardian Unlimited. Awards were presented by Radio One presenter Colin Murray at a ceremony at Millbank in central London.
Mr Brown is now working on a new publication for backpackers, which will involve a web resource of news, information and community features for 18-25s.
"We want to include blogs, so that people can write about their travel while they are away," he said.
"I'm excited by the idea of creating an online community."
The Guardian Student Media Awards are now in their 25th year and award prizes in 13 categories including best newspaper, best budget publication and best reporter. This year's judging panel included Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, Jon Snow of Channel 4 News, Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman and Rebekah Wade, editor of The Sun...
K-Collector