Thursday, January 13, 2005

The truth about WMD. No, not that truth -- the one about them not being there. The one about not everyone thinking they were there in first place. 8:13:26 PM    comment []

Adam Penenberg's column in Wired News is about the tensions facing journalists with weblogs. "But it's not just about who gets the scoops. A more serious question is how can bloggers, whose success depends largely on sharing unvarnished opinions, also work as so-called objective journalists?" I get around a lot of those problems by not blogging about stuff I cover in my day job as a biz/tech writer -- easy for me, since I report on pretty specialized material. And since my other paying job is as an opinion columnist, voicing my opinions online is a brand extension, not a conflict. 5:05:40 PM    comment []

Time is running it on the Matisse-Picasso exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Art. They're open 32 hours straight this weekend, and I bet a wee-hours visit would be really fun. I'm headed down to Raleigh this morning with a group from GSO to give a talk about the collection and its collectors. Henri Matisse, Seated Odalisque, Left Knee Bent, Ornamental Background and Checkerboard 1928 Oil on canvas.  BMA 8:16:29 AM    comment []

Eric Muller: "Sweetheart, the last time I spoke German, there was no such thing as a cellphone." 8:09:44 AM    comment []

Zephyr Teachout on buying bloggers: "In this past election, at least a few prominent bloggers were paid as consultants by candidates and groups they regularly blogged about...On Dean's campaign, we paid Markos and Jerome Armstrong as consultants, largely in order to ensure that they said positive things about Dean...the initial reason for our outreach was explicitly to buy their airtime." UPDATE: Jerome emails that he was on hiatus from blogging while working for Dean. Zephyr notes this but adds, "We were paying him in part because WE hoped that he, and Kos, would blog positive things about Dean, but that was never explicit or implicit in the contract. This has to do with OUR motives, not some contract, and no compromise on their part." I thought that was clear from her original post; and I regret any appearance to the contrary. More from Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Jarvis. 8:00:47 AM    comment []

As Greensboro City Council members establish weblogs, shouldn't those blogs be linked from their official pages along with phone and email info? I'd give each new blog a little time, to see if it is going to be maintained or just introduced and ignored (that's my general policy here in terms of linking to new blogs) --  but once a blog looks like a keeper, it should be available to the public. 7:50:05 AM    comment []

Lex notes a grant program that will give cash to community news ventures. "Given Greensboro's growing blog community and growing interest in community news, I'd be extremely disappointed if we didn't have several applicants and very surprised if we didn't have at least one winner." Agreed. Paging Roch Smith, Jr. 7:41:09 AM    comment []

"Does Eminem sound like Pee Wee Herman?" Elizabeth B doesn't put permanent links in her blog, so you might have scroll down to register an opinion. 7:34:38 AM    comment []

Long day yesterday. Plane, cab, meeting meeting meeting meeting, cab, airport, plane (parked), plane (air). I did read a lot of The Confusion while in the clutches of the air travel system, and when I got home the dog was glad to see me and Lisa made dinner and we watched the Tar Heels whip GA Tech, so it really ended quite nicely. 7:05:23 AM    comment []