The latest person to get fired for keeping a blog is Joyce Park, who was a developer for Friendster. In this ZDNet article, Park says that she only posted public information. Audience is always a powerful force in autobiographical writing, even if the writer doesn't intend for anyone to see her writing. The writer herself is an audience - she might be worried that one day, years in the future, she will read what she wrote in her naive youth and embarrass herself. So she chooses her words more carefully. But has anyone been fired for publishing a traditionally printed memoir that discusses the company they work for? For those of us who aren't lucky enough to be independently wealthy, most of our lives are spent working. What can we write about in our memoirs if we can't write about our jobs? [Link][comments?][Karma: 10 ( + / - )]
Yes, bloggers not only critique the news, but they create it as well. As pointed out in Daily Kos, it was a blogger who outed Virginia Rep. Ed Schrock. Schrock voted for the Marriage Protection Act but was caught calling into a phone service to pick up guys. Schrock is married - now, is that any way to protect your marriage? He will not be seeking re-election. I would rather that people not be involuntarily outed. But if certain politicians are arguing that gay marriage will ruin the sanctity of that fine institution, then maybe they shouldn't be ruining the sanctity of their own marriages by cheating on their wives. [Link][comments?][Karma: 7 ( + / - )]
I added a couple of links to blogs covering the RNC convention or sites listing said type of blogs. I'll be perusing them in the hopes that I'll catch one or two going off message. [Link][comments?][Karma: 7 ( + / - )]
Here's a short article from Houston's channel 13 about the legal pitfalls of blogging about work. [Link][comments?][Karma: 11 ( + / - )]
The New York Times has an article (free registration required) about using blogs in the classroom. Kids use the blogs to discuss their projects in math, science, art, or any other subject. Shy kids open up in the blog and everyone gets their turn in the conversation. The International Herald Tribune posted the article here and don't require you to register. [Link][comments?][Karma: 11 ( + / - )]
Zach Braff, the writer, director and star of the new movie Garden State, is keeping up a blog about the movie. It's a great example of a blogger reaching out to people and responding to his reader's comments in the blog. Braff heroically tries to read and respond to every comment even though one of his posts can garner over 500 comments. Some of his posts could be used as content for another screenplay. Hopefully he'll write another one - he says he's being encouraged by his blog readers' enthusiasm. And by the way, see the movie. It's great - good characters, a good inner journey. If my first screenplay is that good, I'd be pretty darn proud of myself. [Link][comments?][Karma: 10 ( + / - )]
Rich Ord of Web Pro News takes note of the rumors about Sun possibly buying Novell. The rumors were started by Sun's CEO Jonathan Schwartz via his company blog. Though Schwartz never specifically expresses an interest in buying Novell, he wonders what the benefits would be if IBM bought Novell. He then tells readers to pay attention to what happens to Novell. The blog doesn't allow comments, so maybe Schwartz is using the blog to fish for reactions from Wall St. [Link][comments?][Karma: 6 ( + / - )]
In his C|Net article, Dan Bricklin offers a counterpoint to criticism aimed at the DNC Convention bloggers. Some people were disappointed with the results, but Bricklin argues that the real achievement of the bloggers was their experimentation with the tools they used to blog the event. Blogging events must be a difficult task. Bricklin says that you have to "learn how to do it." I wrote a travel journal on my recent trip to Spain and Italy, adding entries during breaks in hotel rooms or on the train. I had time to reflect on what I did and to massage my thoughts. I'm sure if I blogged each event of my trip as I was experiencing it, my entries would have been pretty crude. ("Crap, just 'bumped into' an anti-war demonstration. Christ, they started with the firecrackers. Better leave.") To blog an event the way most DNC convention bloggers did, with instant but shrewd commentary, takes a lot of practice. You have to learn to write something interesting and worth reading on your feet. [Link][2 comments][Karma: 5 ( + / - )] |
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