Google AdSense, your blogs & the EFF. Lawrence Lessig asked us all in his OSCON 2002 speech, "What have we done?" The new Google AdSense campaign has made a lot of ripples throughout the blogging world. Let me make a proposal. If you feel so inclined to ad GoogleAds to your personal or hobby weblog why not send the cash to the Electronic Frontier Foundation [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service: O'Reilly Network Weblogs] 
7:30:39 PM      comment []   trackback []  



My conversation with Mr. Safe. Mr. Safe: Hey, I've been reading about that RSS thing you were telling me about. It was mentioned recently in the New York Times, and also the Wall Street Journal. I'm thinking maybe it's a safe choice after all. ... [Jon's Radio]

If you ask me (as an outside observer), this piece says it all. Right on the button, John.

 
6:50:41 PM      comment []   trackback []  



Gates and Security. An anonymous reader writes "Orwell was wrong about Big Brother! Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates told a homeland-security conference on Wednesday ... ...[Slashdot] 
6:49:46 PM      comment []   trackback []  



Google AdSense:. Aaron Swartz describes a new Google program in which you place some HTML on your site which causes your readers' browser to request ads from Google. Google, having analyzed your site, sends ads it thinks are particularly relevant to your content. In return for letting Google do this on your site, you get paid 50 cents every time one of your readers clicks on an ad. If you have a weblog or other website and are curious as to what ads Google would think are relevant to your content, Swartz has a gadget on his site that will tell you.

Swartz says that he made $100 from the program in one day and argues that this system might make small 'labor of love' weblogs viable. Nota bene: I won't be implementing this system. This labor of love is a freebie for you. [Follow Me Here...] 
3:10:32 PM      comment []   trackback []  



When They Talk Tech, DC Listens. What do politicians know about technology? For the most part, only what their advisers tell them -- which explains the growing influence of science and tech whizzes in Washington. Meet four of the heaviest hitters. From Wired magazine. [Wired News] 
3:09:30 PM      comment []   trackback []  



Hacker How-To Good Summer Reading. Stealing the Network is an entertaining hacking manual that purports to get inside the minds of hackers, explaining how they think. It's a good read, but it may infuriate some security types. A review by Michelle Delio. [Wired News] 
3:08:30 PM      comment []   trackback []  



"Google Weblog": Try Before You Sell: Want to see what ads AdSense thinks are relevant to your page? Just enter its URL: [Daypop Top 40] 
3:04:49 PM      comment []   trackback []  



Artima Creates Buzz
People are using RSS more and more to guide them to interesting HTML pages. Because readers are changing the way they relate to websites, website owners need to change they way they relate to their readers. Find out how one website, Artima.com, has attempted to catch and ride the RSS wave. And if you have a weblog, find out how you can "Join the Buzz." [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service: O'Reilly Network Weblogs] 
12:32:46 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Blog voices settling the wilderness of politics.

Lance Knobel has posted a very interesting piece at the BloggerCon 2003 Weblog about Tom Watson, blogging MP. A sample:

Why did Tom start his weblog? "I wanted to develop new forms of political participation, particularly with communities that weren't really that involved in politics," he says. Tom says that when he started he had a "vanity website: a big photo of me, with details of my surgery [constituency office] hours". He quickly recognised that he needed something different.

He'd never even heard of weblogs, but Tom did some searching on the Web for something that would satisfy his needs. "I wanted to convey information very quickly and do it myself. I wanted to be relevant." He found weblogs.

"For me, it was a huge risk," he says. "I've taken a few hits in diary columns and most of the people in Parliament just don't get it. But the community I was talking to knew what I was on about and understand." Tom spends an average of one hour a day on his weblog, which he admits is "a big commitment for an MP".

Although he didn't start his weblog for either his constituents or the media, both are beginning to take an interest. A few of Tom's postings have developed into news stories in the national press, and he says some of his constituents now read the site.

However, it isn't about electoral advantage. "If I get half a dozen additional votes at the next election because of my blog, I'll be surprised," he says. "It's not a campaign tool. It's a political ideas tool."

For the first time I'm starting to believe we are reaching the implementation stage of Cluetrain in politics: The point where voice and authenticity matter more than any campaign strategy. When serving finally means more than campaigning. When sharing ideas in a place where they grow and change matters more than calculated, and usually intransigent, positions.

I like it.

[The Doc Searls Weblog] 
12:31:22 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Searching for Commentary on Cluetrain Manifesto.
InfoSeeker News
Yesterday I watched an expert complete a search in Google for commentary of the Cluetrain Manifesto. Analyzing behaviors of experts can be both instructive and provide interesting avenues to explore personally when participating in similar activities. The expert I worked with in this example spends eight hours a day searching for information for other people, usually creating reports based on what she finds online, and which the reports are usually heavily annotated with plenty of good quality links for the client to follow-up interesting leads her/himself. Explore with me this expert's activity to see what you can gain and implement in your searching. [Elwyn Jenkins: MicrodocHeadlines] 
12:30:10 AM      comment []   trackback []