http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com A blog in support of the Peachpit book with tips for citizens, journalists, and others of the commons. Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:45:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en learly, I've been distracted lately. You can check out what I've been up to at the AFI Digital Content Lab. But couldn't help checking in to mention a new online service that looks like it might be something well worth subscribing to. FriendFeed is the brainchild of four individuals who ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/friendfeed-hopes-to-make-our-lives-less-messy/ o-called "shield laws" have provided protection for at least some journalists who refuse to divulge their sources, something that history teaches us is an imperative if the public is to be exposed to wrongdoing in government and other seats of power. In the United States, 32 states have passed such ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/bloggers-protected-by-shield-laws/ ver on the Aviva Directory site, you'll find a well-researched compendium, "12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know." Beneath topics like "Whether to Disclose Paid Posts," "The Legal Use of Images and Thumbnails," and "Laws that Protect You from Stolen Content," the article offers tips and pointers to ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/laws-for-bloggers/ anny Hillis never thinks small. One of his recent projects is a clock for the Long Now Foundation that is intended to last ten thousand years. Yesterday Hillis launched freebase, a wiki-like database that he and his crew hope will become a true "data commons," collecting and somehow making sense ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/freebase-sets-us-free-maybe/ ust when you think you might have a handle the plethora of websites taking advantage of user-generated content and many-to-many communications, a list like this compendium of Web 2.0 services reminds us that the world is evolving at a remarkable pace. Arranged by category (Audio, Bookmarking, Calendar, Design, Games, ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/keeping-up-with-web-20/ oday, Google launched a news search service that lets us sift through 200 years of news reports from publications both grand in scale and local. Called News Archive Search, the service mines more than just the usual web search fare. Drawing on content contributed from venerable publishers like Time, The ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/mining-historical-news/ ell, okay, it's in SOME stores and my publishers tell me it should be more widely available within the next week or two. Plus, of course, it's for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Ignore the promotional text on Amazon (somehow unvetted text was uploaded at some point and ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/the-book-is-in-stores/ he folks over at ars technica report that Warner Music Group has forged an agreement with video newcomer/behemoth YouTube to host its entire music video catalog. That in itself would be ground-breaking these days, but in addition Warner invites fans to create their own videos using Warner songs as soundtracks. ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/warner-music-embraces-the-future/ loggers who choose to mask their offline identities behind a pseudonym or no name at all are increasingly common, raising questions about the integrity and verifiability of the content posted by these individuals, while at the same time allowing certain bloggers the freedom to post truths and opinions that would ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/anonymous-blogging-explored/ rguments about the advantages and disadvantages of web-based applications are raging across the net. If the topic interests you, the discussion going on over at Read/Write Web is well worth a read. On that site yesterday, Ebrahim Ezzy posted an article titled Webified Desktop Apps vs Browser-based Apps. In it ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/desktop-vs-browser-apps/ here is much being written about the pluses and minuses of citizen journalism and its influence on professional news gathering, but there's nothing like a report from the trenches. An excellent example is Hartsville Today, a joint effort by the Hartsville Messenger and the University of South Carolina School ... http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/citizen-journalist-cook-book/ http://www.dispatchesfromblogistan.com/writely-definitely-worth-checking-out/