Recently in About Blogging Category

It's ironic that a cable news host such as Chris Matthews would attack bloggers for supposedly not checking their facts, considering the amount of falsehoods and factuallyinaccurate statements he regularly utters on the air -- which have all been fact-checked by bloggers.

Star Tribune

SAN FRANCISCO - They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece -- not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

A growing workforce of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

Of course, the bloggers profess a love of the nonstop action. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly.

Once again, it's blame everything except the personal choices made by people. I usually don't speak ill of the dead, but in this case I have to speak out. It is not that a blogger's lifestyle kills, it is that people choose to work the hours they do, and live the life they live.

What is it with people? Something new comes along that makes a major impact on society, and those not benefiting from, or participating in, the new trend, decide it is evil and dangerous.

Cue Shatner; Get a life, people.

Ancient Blog Shuts Down — Why Now?

After a decade Kenneth Quinnell is shutting down T. Rex’s Guide to Life to concentrate on his group blog, the Florida Progressive Coalition.

- A Blog Around The Clock on Facebook and breast-feeding.
- archy: want to buy a country?
- Bark Bark Woof Woof pokes a stick.
- Bloggg: Moi goes to Bug's first parade.
- Collective Sigh: Andante doesn't think much of HillaryCare 2.0.
- Dohiyi Mir: NTodd is not happy with the Senate.
- Echidne Of The Snakes on the MoveOn.org ad.
- Grateful Dread Radio on the Jena 6 rally.
- Happy Furry Puppy Story Time takes a break. Come back soon, Norbizness.
- Iddybud Journal with a picture of an Edwards supporter.
- Left Is Right: Friday fun.
- Lefty Side of the Dial: in light of "Talk Like a Pirate Day," Lefty has some suggestions for some other days.
- Liberty Street is having page-loading issues.
- Make me a Commentator!!! takes on Cal Thomas.
- Musing's musings on meaningless resolutions.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web does a great blogaround.
- Rook's Rant on who the Democrats should go after.
- rubber hose: Hey, Rudy, what does NATO stand for?
- Scrutiny Hooligans likes Sally Field.
- SoonerThought: lost weight now; ask him how.
- Speedkill: oh, the horror.
- Steve Bates welcomes a switch hitter.
- T. Rex's Guide to Life catches up on Florida news.
- WTF Is It Now?? on the threat by Bush to veto health care for children.
- ...You Are A Tree with Pet Peeve #26.

Paul Krugman

What I found striking about the whole thing was the contempt the pundit consensus showed for the public - it was, more or less, "Oh, people just can't resist a man in uniform." But it turns out that they can; it's the punditocracy that can't.

- A Blog Around The Clock: a dose of science for the week.
- archy is over being outraged.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof on the Democrats' ineffectiveness.
- Bloggg: your money's worth.
- Collective Sigh shares good news.
- Dohiyi Mir: NTodd on his Vermont senators.
- Echidne Of The Snakes: a primer on how to interview Laura Ingraham.
- First Draft: let them have it.
- Grateful Dread Radio: tree hugging.
- Happy Furry Puppy Story Time: some good movies to watch.
- Iddybud Journal: John Edwards's response to the president's speech on Iraq.
- Left Is Right on a brave soldier.
- Lefty Side of the Dial: Lefty's guilty pleasure music list (including Neil Diamond...)
- Liberty Street on pushing the veto.
- Make me a Commentator!!! on Cal Thomas's standard of faith.
- Musing's musings on landmarks in Washington and landmark ideas to live by.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web shares the joy of her husband's artistic success.
- Rick's Cafe Americain: an observation on disasters being the new mission.
- Rook's Rant on New York Times ad rates and the free market.
- rubber hose on another rightie blogger who can't read.
- Scrutiny Hooligans: Drama Queen has the lowdown on Patrick McHenry's posse.
- SoonerThought has moved to Blogger. Please update your links.
- Speedkill on the war.
- Steve Bates made it through Hurricane Humberto.
- T. Rex's Guide to Life: get your fill of Florida politics. It's fun in the sun!
- The Fulcrum on the anniversary of September 11, 2001.
- The Invisible Library and the Endless Library.
- WTF Is It Now?? Oops...
- ...You Are A Tree: don't read this!

Deprecating legacy systems as new technology became available. In the information systems world, the word "legacy" implies outdated and inefficient hardware and processes to deliver data. And that's the place where I think the U.S. media resides.

In describing the media, I don't think that anyone wants to imply that the information points they provide us (the data, if you will) is, by default, incorrect or faulty. Taking in news in the information age that we're in is like drinking from a fire hose. There's just so much information, and too little time for reporters and editors to properly distill and analyze the raw information (for the most part). By the time that a true commentator or analyst has actually looked at the data points and drawn some supportable conclusions, everyone else in the world has moved on, because information continues to flow in a torrent.

So, if I use the term "legacy media", it's not really a derogatory or dismissive term. It's describing a media that, by it's own admission and financial results, is losing ground rapidly to our own ability to distill and interpret raw information (such as we do daily, here on Kos and other internet venues). But "legacy" also implies that there was (and is) value in both the methodologies and processes that bring us the information.

Honestly, it just fits.

Boing Boing

We're also happy to be reintroducing comments to Boing Boing, a feature we reluctantly dropped a couple of years ago. At that time, we lacked the resources to manage the comments, and felt that a lousy comment system was worse than no system at all, so we pulled the plug. We've never felt good about it, though, because our readers' comments added a great deal of value to the blog. To correct this, we hired a terrific community manager to oversee the conversations: Teresa Nielsen Hayden. At her own blog, Making Light, Teresa has proven herself to be a wonderfully wise and talented tender of online conversations. Teresa worked closely with our designers to develop a commenting system that supports the Boing Boing community while preventing noise from drowning out the signal. "We want this new community system to make Boing Boing even more fun and informative," says Teresa. Under her supervision, we're sure it will be.

MNPublius

Last week Al Franken was endorsed by the netroots group Blue Majority, an organization made up of the chief-high-muckity-mucks and the members of DailyKos, MyDD, OpenLeft, and the Swing State Project.

I think that like many other groups, this should be viewed as an endorsement and nothing more. Just like the Sierra Club, Stonewall, NARAL, and EMILYs List Al Franken received an endorsement. It doesn’t carry as much weight or money as the Sierra Club, or Unions, (or likewise before Republicans think they can get all high and mighty you guys have the NRA, religious organizations, CoC’s etc) but it’s an endorsement none the less, and one he should receive kudos for.