Clippings.reblog

trends.pdf (application/pdf Object)

global unemploment statistics from ILO

If you knew about the future

"The future can’t be foreseen, but most of us need some kind of certainty and security anyway concerning the time to come. That is why we use predictions – from ‘fortune tellers,’ astrologists and weather forecasts to consultants..."

Don't Stop thinking about tomorrow

Conference organized by the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, 15 March 2006

Xerox PARC Takes on Clean, Green Technology

"The Palo Alto Research Center, the storied Xerox subsidiary responsible for many of the computer world's breakthrough technologies, is making a move into clean technology and sustainable products and services."

Identity Production in a Networked Culture

danah boyd's rough write-up of her recent presentation on MySpace research.

MIT makes move toward vehicles that morph - MIT News Office

ROMA VICTOR® :: Home of the historically authentic Roman Empire MMORPG

Refresh! The First International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology, 2005

REFRESH!

Paradigm Shifts: Presidential Censures, Women Presidents, Muslim's Critics and More

It's a day for big shifts in thinking, starting with Sen. Russ Feingold, a possible 2008 Democratic presidential nominee and today's No. 2 burstiest person for proposing a vote today that would censure President George Bush (today's top top news story and No. 3 top blog post) for exceeding executive powers and ignoring judicial oversight for the NSA domestic spying program. Brilliant at Breakfast is obviously thrilled to see a Democrat with a backbone; blogger Don Surber calls it more adolescent politics. What does a BlogPulse trend graph say about the "i-word" vs. the "c-word"?

Chile Breaks the Gender Barrier
From the stage of world leaders comes Chile's gender-shifting decision to elect Michelle Bachelet (today's No. 16 most-blogged-about personality) as its first woman president (today's No. 3 most-cited news story). "Wouldn't it be something?..." says a wisftul U.S.-based Magpie blogger. Former Yugoslav presidetn Slobodan Milosevic is today's No. 3 top person after being found dead in his cell at The Hague over the weekend, and former Iraq President Saddam Hussein is in the news because apparently thought about what might happen in post-war Iraq...perhaps more than his country's "liberators" did?

Speaking out
Two people are capturing attention for speaking out, including former British soldier Ben Griffin, today's burstiest person because of an interview in which he describes his moral decision to leave the British military rather than continue fighting what he calls an immoral "mess" in Iraq. And at No. 15 among today's burstiest people is Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Syrian-born woman whose criticism of Muslim extremists (today's No. 6 most-cited news story) is bringing her praise...and death threats. "Meet the voice of reason," says one blogger; the blogger at Sisu offers perspective and background.

BlogPulse News
The Olympics are over, Josh Mankiewicz is back from vacation, and his Mank Blog is back on MSNBC's Dateline, which receives weekly blog data from BlogPulse.com and Technorati in a blogosphere roundup.

Making Their Presence Felt: Space Maps, Bird Flu and Liberals

Doesn't matter if you're the kind of navigator who gets lost driving around the block: there's no reason to get lost in outer space, now that Google has expanded its mapping functionality to Google Mars and Google Moon, today's two most-cited URLs among bloggers. Bloggers from around the world, in fact, are discussing the ability to Google-cruise the Red Planet and the lunar surface the same way travelers locate a hotel in downtown London. Probably useless, says Shelly Lives blogger, "but worth that 10 seconds of amazement."

Yeah, crows George, I'm a liberal
At least in Oscar winner George Clooney's mind, being a liberal is a thing of pride, and his Huffington Post essay declaring his liberalism is today's third most cited URL among bloggers. "We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, But please don't say bad things about us. You gotta be a grown up and take your hits. I am a liberal. Fire away," says he. And you know bloggers, they take up the challenge. "Moronic" says Brainster, and the American Princess thinks George has probably already used Google Mars. But a musing Chicagoan likes what he hears, and so does Fiat Lux.

So let's take the theme of that symposium a step farther and use a BlogPulse trend graph to see how "conservative" vs. "liberal" stacks up, with a hint of progressivism thrown in for good measure (note: the January peak coincided with Canada's elections):

Bird flu flutters
After hearing reports of pending bird flu infestation in the U.S., I had to wonder: should I start stocking up on duct tape and plastic again? Actually, tuna and powdered milk are on the agenda, according to the contents of one of today's most-cited news stories. Enough of the alarmist tone already, says Jiblog, urging instead sound advice and plenty of planning for what could be more sweeping natural disasters. (And we all know how well our governmental bureacracy is at dealing with THOSE). Get ready, says Crofsblog, "for the great tuna rush of 2006". Just eat around the mercury and stuff.

Winners, Losers, Quitters...and Passings

Buzz is starting to filter through the blogging universe, now that the 2006 Bloggies have been awarded to the best blogs of the year. Bostonist (not a winner) has some of the awards. Among the winners: Boing Boing (a consistent top-ranked blog at BlogPulse.com) and PostSecret, Frank Warren's postcard blog of anonymous secrets, which was profiled today in USA Today.

No more Chef?
Singer Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef on Comedy Central's "South Park," is today's 13th most-blogged-about personality for quitting the show because of its spoof about Scientology (today's top and No. 19 news story). "Hypocrisy piled on top of hypocrisy" is one blogger's reaction; Delusions of Grandeur notes other discrepancies in the singer's sudden attack of conscience.

Google on a tear
Google's managed to create more buzz in the past week, first by snapping up Writely/Upstart (today's No. 12 top blog post), then by launching Google Mars (today's top link) and then by acquiring 3-D software firm @Last Software this week (today's No. 16-17 most-cited links). Google's also being asked to turn over search data to the federal government, and the judge overseeing the case is today's fifth-burstiest person.

Passings
Today's burstiest personalities make the list for tragedies this week: former game show host Peter Tomarken was killed in a plane crash in California, and Tara Rose McAvoy, Miss Deaf Texas, was killed by a train.

A Day For Sitting Back and Listening In

Sometimes, it's worth the price of admission to just sit back and let the bloggers spout off on whatever's on their minds, because it's some of the best entertainment in town. Today's offerings:

Evil twin theory?
Today's top blog post, from Talking Points Memo, poses the theory of the evil-twin brother to explain the resignation of Claude Allen, President Bush's former domestic policy advisor, after he was arrested for a shoplifting spree. I had one, too! says American Princess blogger. TMP Cafe blogger just has some fun with the whole scenario.

Security tricks...in basketball
You wouldn't really expect a technology/security expert to discuss basketball, but Bruce Schneier does just that at Schneier on Security (today's No. 4 top blog post), as he details a clever prank by UC/Berkeley's student basketball fans against a star USC player. "Cleverer than the feds," comments The American Scene blogger.

Head-scratching time
Blogger Seth Godin takes a moment to examine blogging in general, and Search Engine Watch's Danny Sullivan takes a hard look at constantly-expanding Google (today's No. 24 top link).

Political commentary? Yeah, got that, too
Among today's discussions: Did the President sign the wrong budget bill into law? What is Molly Ivins' latest message for the Democrats? Salon.com puts the Abu Ghraib file in context, and online. And Jerry Falwell opens his mouth, which is about all it takes these days for him to make waves.

Occupational buzz: tax time
Federal taxes are due in less than a month. Are you ready? Cheating? A BlogPulse trend graph plots the buzz. For the curious, the unusual spike is the result of tax-related blog spam.

Wearin' of the Green, Bettin' in the Pool

Everyone who's Irish today (or claims to be) is taking time to recognize St. Patrick's Day. How do we know? Among today's key blog phrases are St. Patrick's Day itself (No. 14 key phrase) and one of the holiday's most notable foods, corned beef and cabbage (what? no green beer?). The Art of Getting By blogger has a thoughtful essay on all things Irish. That other March pasttime is also there, evidenced by the phrases "March Madness", followed by "office pools" and "NCAA tournament." Which gets more buzz? You might be surprised:

Stirring rants
The blogosphere this week contains some gems, too...essays, videos and a "quote of the week" worth pointing out, including AmericaBlog.com's plea for an end to sloppy journalism (today's No. 9 top blog post), a video of actor James Spader's "Boston Legal" rant about the deteriorating of legal rights (and outrage) in America (featured at No. 6 blog post from Crooks & Liars blog), and this "quote of the week" from Wayne Besen's blog.

Maj. Mosquito?
And couldn't help but notice this "huh?" story from the BBC, about Pentagon plans for an insect army? (today's' No. 20 most-cited link). "Creepy," comments Adam's Life blogger. Indeed.

Point-Counterpoint: The Iraq Invasion Anniversary and Other Topics

The three-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq provides the perfect setting for a mixed bag of blogger analysis today, from Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld's op-ed in the Washington Post piece about what's been gained in three years (today's second most-cited news story) vs. retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton's call for Rumsfeld's resignation in a New York Times op-ed. Think Progress posts a three-year timeline of the Iraq invasion (today's No. 26 top blog post).

While former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (today's burstiest person) says a civil war had already begun (No. 7 top news story), Gateway Pundit notes the lack of active protest against the war (today's No. 5 top blog post) and blames the Democrats.

A BlogPulse trend graph shows opinions are still mixed:

More political punditry
Kevin Phillips, the man who predicted the emergence of the conservative/Republican right, is getting lots of ink today for his new book on "American Theocracy," (another top new story being cited today by bloggers). Is he a conservative turning against the right, asks Daily Kos? Is theocratic thinking part and parcel of the Bush Administration, asks Jesus Politics?

Entertaining thoughts
The film "V for Vendetta," the weekend box-office leader, manages to land among today's most-cited links (No. 5). AMySpace blogger places it among his most-anticipated movies of 2006. And Futurama fans are excited that another batch of episodes isin the works. "Long live the hyno-toad," gushes a LiveJournaler.