New Scientist magazine reveals that the National Security Agency is funding research into how to add information from social networking site MySpace listings to profiles of individuals garnered from banking, retail and property records. As detailed in a footnote to a paper entitled Semantic Analytics on Social Networks, data from online social networks and other databases can be combined to uncover facts about people. The footnote said the work was part-funded by an organization known as ARDA, which stands for Advanced Research Development Activity.

Published in January by the Congressional Research Service, a report named Data Mining and Homeland Security, noted that part of ARDA's role is to promote integration of heretofore format-incompatible data sets about people- data sets that could be combined to generate more complete profiles of individuals under suspicion for potential terrorist links. To facilitate this integration, research is believed to be underway on Ressource Description Framework, a way of tagging data in a way that will promote more common uniformity with other data.

"By adding online social networking data to its phone analyses, the NSA could connect people at deeper levels, through shared activities, such as taking flying lessons," writes article author Paul Marks. Complete integration of such databases with phone calling records now believed to be in the possession of the NSA could be utilized in this manner: Calls from say, Pakistan to the U.S. could be data-mined, and if the recipients of those calls (identified from their phone numbers) called several other numbers within a few hours after receiving those calls from Pakistan, those other numbers could be checked for suspected terrorist links. And with a list handy of those who have been called available, it wouldn't take much to go to MySpace (or an archived MySpace repository), and search for MySpace users who have posted personally identifiable information that would indicate the need to explore their backgrounds further. Information such as the "flying lessons" example Marks writes about.

I'll do you one better. I believe that computer facial matching software will soon advance to the point where photos stored on NSA computers of terrorist suspects could then be mapped for similarities to photos on MySpace and other social networking sites.

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Google, Microsoft And the Spreadsheet

Google and Microsoft announced that they have teamed up to make entering spreadsheets a web-based application.

Google Inc. is going back to the future by reinventing the spreadsheet as a Web-based application, seeking a simpler on-ramp for consumers to input data into databases, the company said on Monday.

The Web search leader will begin a limited trial on Tuesday of the classic software application defined by its grid of rows and columns and simple calculating capabilities that allow users to enter and organize information in structured form.

*****

Google Spreadsheet relies on technology the company acquired from a small Wall Street software developer it bought last year called 2Web Technologies, which in 2004 introduced tools to convert Microsoft Excel spreadsheets into Web services. "What is missing is the ability to share data more easily," Rochelle said. Users can sort data and take advantage of 200 functions and common spreadsheet formulas for doing basic calculations of numerical data. Google is working on improving printing, charts, filtering and "drag and drop" features, he said.

Rochelle said his company would be studying how much demand there is for Google Spreadsheet to work with Google Base, an online database service that allows Google users to post various types of information online. "Databases in themselves are really hard to program," said Charlene Li, an Internet analyst with Forrester Research. "What people use spreadsheets for is low-end databases," she said. Google Base is viewed by analysts as a stepping stone into the classified advertising or e-commerce markets, by helping users feature relevant information on Google's main search index, the Froogle shopping site and Google Local search.

It's so easy. You just enter all your personal medical, tax and financial information into an Excel spreadsheet and upload it to the Web. What could possibly go wrong?

Posted on June 5, 2006
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Martha Stewart Starting Social Networking Site: MySpace.com Terrified

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced is diving into the online social network business: the company is starting social networking site like MySpace.com, but aimed at adult women.

The network would appeal to women aged 25 to 45, and allow members to share photographs, scrapbooks, recipes and similar projects with each other and home design experts, said the company's chief executive, Susan Lyne.

"There is no place like MySpace, like Friendster, for that demographic," Lyne said at a financial conference. The social network would be part of the Marthastewart.com Web site, founded by lifestyle expert Martha Stewart, rather than a separate Web site like MySpace. The community is tentatively scheduled to launch in the second half of 2007, spokeswoman Elizabeth Estroff said. Social networking and other types of online communities are becoming more interesting to investors following the success of MySpace, which Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought last July for $580 million.

MySpace boasts more than 56 million members, many in their teens and 20s. It has prompted the launch of competing sites, such as JibJab Media's JokeBox.com and Sisterwoman.com, which is designed for women over 21.

It's an interesting project. The real question is whether soccer moms have time to add 1,000 people as friends, upload videos of their day and list all their favorite bands. MySpace.com is reportedly terrified of this new competitive threat which the blogosphere has already named "MarthaSpace."

Posted on May 25, 2006
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Are You A Blogoholic?

Fraywatch examining the tragic addiction pattern of blogoholics.

Blogoholism. Sarah Hepola's confessional piece on her recent decision to shut down a long-running blog prompted fraysters to share their own struggles of addiction. synesthesia offers words of solidarity in admitting it happened to me, too. 4cabbage describes the same painful withdrawal symptoms as being like "quitting smoking or drinking."

*****

According to rundeep, here's the real problem with blogging:

1) It causes the untalented to believe themselves writers with something of interest to say, and;

2) He who blogs is often not reading books, so as to develop the ability which might cure 1) above.

Blogoholic? We don't think so. We can quit anytime we want, like that. But first maybe we'll just head on over to PerezHilton to see what's new since we just checked it five minutes ago. (Well, you never know...what if Charlie Sheen's "Denise" Tattoo-Removal scars aren't healing properly and we don't hear about it?) What does David Spade think about Denise's latest revelations that Heather was the cheater? This is important stuff.

Oh, wait.... that article is about people who can't stop actually blogging, not people who just obsessively read blogs all day. Nevermind.

Posted on May 3, 2006
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Man Trades Paperclip for One Year's Free Rent

When we last left Kyle MacDonald he had managed to trade his red paperclip for several items. His last trade back in November was a red generator for an instant party. Since then his trades have included items like a skidoo and a trip to Yahk. And now the clever trader has worked his way up to one year's free rent at a rental house.

After a cross-continental trading trek involving a fish-shaped pen, a town named Yahk and the Web's astonishing ability to bestow celebrity, MacDonald is getting close. He's up to one year's free rent on a house in Phoenix.

Not a bad return on an investment of one red paper clip. Yet MacDonald, 26, vows to keep going until he crosses the threshold of his very own home, wherever that might be.

"It's totally overwhelming, I'm not going to lie," he said by phone from Montreal, where he and his girlfriend, Dominique Dupuis, live with two roommates. "But I'm still trading for that house. It's this obsessive thing."

Good for Kyle. He has almost achieved his original goal: "I'm going to keep trading for bigger or better things until I get a house." He has a house for one year. Will he be able to achieve his ultimate goal of owning a home? You can keep up with Kyle's trading at his blog.

Posted on April 22, 2006
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Technorati's New Favorites Feature

Technorati has launched a favorites feature which allows you to keep track of up to fifty of your favorite blogs. You can add this blog to your favorites list by clicking here. More about Technorati's favorites feature can be found here on BloggersBlog.com.

Posted on March 1, 2006
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Google, Subpoenas and Silly Putty

When they're not fighting off burdensome, privacy-invading, intrusive government subpeonas, the folks at Google spend their time investigating the myriad of uses for 250 lbs of Silly Putty.

Not long ago, I walked by the desk of software engineer JJ Furman, and saw that he had made an interesting addition to his desk: a large blob of Silly Putty, about the size of a grapefruit. Intrigued, I asked how he'd gotten so much of the stuff. The answer? A bulk order directly from the manufacturer! Of course.

I knew then that I wanted some, and it dawned on me that I probably wasn't the only one. So I set out to place a really, really big bulk order. An email went out to cohorts. Their orders came in. Three weeks later, I had an eighth of a ton of Silly Putty delivered to my desk.

Naturally, we were all curious to see what 250 pounds of Silly Putty would look like, so before distributing the stuff, we put it all in a single pile to see. Huge mistake. The problem was that once together, Silly Putty doesn't like to come apart, and none of us had any idea of how to deal with this effect. We tried everything: very strong people (didn't work), scissors (stabbing worked, slicing didn't), 28-gauge steel wire (broke), 22-gauge steel wire (broke), 16-gauge steel wire (too thick), and twisting and breaking (worked well for "smaller" pieces -- under five pounds, that is.)

Two hours later, with the help of more than a dozen enthusiastic Googlers, everyone was finally able to walk away with a giant piece of Silly Putty. And then what? Some people are giving it for holiday gifts. Others are using it to exercise their arms, play basketball (rebounds are tough), and of course, imprint entire newspaper pages. Any regrets? Absolutely not.

We say: respond to the subpoena by mailing the government one ton of Silly Putty.

Posted on January 24, 2006
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iTunes and Privacy Issues

The BBC reports on the iTunes controversy: bloggers discovered that a feature on iTunes was tracking user information without disclosing the info to users.

The row arose following the update to the iTunes software released by Apple on 10 January. The new version includes a MiniStore feature that recommends tracks to buy similar to those a user is listening to. MiniStore looks for similar tracks when a user clicks on a tune in a playlist. It even makes recommendations about songs that were not bought via the hugely popular online music store. iTunes sends data about the song selected in your library to the iTunes Music Store to provide relevant recommendations. When the MiniStore is hidden, this data is not sent to the iTunes Music Store.

Soon after the update was released, blogger Marc Garrett wrote a journal entry about MiniStore and the data it passes back to Apple. Further work by other bloggers such as Kirk McElhearn found that the data being sent back to Apple to make the recommendations included artist, title, genre as well as unique identifiers for a computer and iTunes account.

Privacy advocates complained that Apple had not done enough to warn people about the information that was being collected, nor what was being done with the collected data. By contrast Apple does mention in the licence agreement for iTunes that it contacts the Gracenote music database to work out which album is being played via the program. "Apple should be clear about its information gathering practices," wrote Mr Garrett on his blog.

Apple said in response to a request for comment: "Apple does not save or store any information used to create recommendations for the MiniStore". On its support website, the company has posted and updated information about how to turn the MiniStore feature off. Information on the page has been updated since the row about iTunes blew up. "iTunes sends data about the song selected in your library to the iTunes Music Store to provide relevant recommendations," says the entry on its support website. "When the MiniStore is hidden, this data is not sent to the iTunes Music Store." Digital detective work by bloggers has confirmed that no data is passed to Apple when MiniStore is turned off.

The bottom line is that every service that recommends personalized products to you is tracking your preferences. We have no problem with that so long as everything is disclosed to the customer: otherwise, Amazon.com would have trouble recommending cool new books and CDs to us. But the problem arises when the company does something else with the information it has collected: like sell it to a third party. And that we do have a problem with.

Posted on January 16, 2006
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The Star Jones Blogging Drama

Newly svelte Star Jones has launched a blog in connection with her new book tour and it's been a really bumpy ride so far. First she posted really strict rules for posting comments. Then the posters went wild and posted horrible, tastless quotes and photos (surprise, surprise). Then, she stopped blogging. Then she started back up. Just Jared has been following it all very closely. Here's a snippet:

Thursday, January 5, 8:47:26 PM EST

Star Jones launches her official blog, introduces the word hateration to her blog and lays the smackdown in her very first blog entry with "Star's Rules" --

RULE #1 :: Since you know who I am but I don't know who you are, I insist that you play fair. I don't do insults, mean-spirited comments or undue nastiness. If that's your thing...do it somewhere else. I will debate and discuss an issue with you but anything that falls under the category of pure hateration will just be deleted from my blog.

RULE #2 :: Please remember not to post on my blog in all caps; it's equivalent to screaming at someone. I'm new at this, but even I know that...so act like you know.

RULE #3 :: Try to keep track of the conversation. No reason to repeat what's already been said.

RULE #4 :: Don't use foul language; that will get you nowhere. If you're upset about something, please keep it clean. Otherwise your post will be deleted and I certainly won't respond.

Friday, January 6, ~10PM ::

Bloggers (specifically LiveJournal community OhNoTheyDidn't in "The Post," which has since been deleted) take notice of Star Jones' blog and post literally hundreds of comments and pictures. Star Jones (or her blog minions) takes immediate action, deleting 'hateration'-filled comments and banning users like excitabledude23 (this was one of the nicer comments left for Star) --

After reading Just Jared's summary and BloggersBlog's entry on the fiasco, we then decided to head on over to Star's personal website where we encountered this Mission Statement at the top of the homepage: "I am the author of the only dictionary that defines me." After reading that we just gave up.

Posted on January 10, 2006
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K-Fed Launches New Website

It's the moment you've all been waiting for: Kevin Federline has finally launched his official website. After a Flash opening rap about not messin' with his family which accompanies photos of all the Britney-Kevin tabloid headlines, we finally see a personal message from K-Fed:

Hey, Everyone,

I don't think we've ever been formally introduced. My name is Kevin Federline. I'm 6 feet tall, have brown hair and brown eyes. I enjoy horseback riding, long walks on the beach and the wind whipping through my hair. Ha ha ha. On a more serious note, there's going to be a lot more information and updates on here in the coming weeks and I think this will provide you with the opportunity to get to know who I really am. Anyway, thanks for checking out my site and be sure to come back often. You can click here to join my email list and also check me out on MySpace.

It's really his website, as is his MySpace page: Britney links to the site from her official website. His first single drops on January 1, 2006. No doubt it will be a huge success. Ahem.

Posted on December 28, 2005
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Make Your Own Snowflake

If you have some time to kill there is a nifty little snowflake maker online called Make a Flake. Don't get too excited because you can't create a real snowflake at Make a Flake -- only Mother Nature and ski resorts can do that. But you can make a digital snowflake on the website using virtual paper and virtual scissors. By cutting sections out of the piece of paper you are given you can create different snowflakes. If you really like one of the snowflakes you make you can even store it online in the gallery or download it to your computer. It's December so enjoy snowflakes while you can because you will be really tired of them by February.

Posted on December 13, 2005
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Kyle Trades Paperclip for Bigger and Better Things

Kyle MacDonald has a blog called One Red Paperclip. Kyle is trying to trade his way to a house by continually trading his item for something better.

Kyle: "I'm going to keep trading for bigger or better things until I get a house."

Kyle began his series of trades with one red paperclip. Kyle managed to trade his way up to a red generator, which is much better than a paperclip, but he may have taken a step backwards with his latest trade for one instant party. Yet, Kyle remains confident. Kyle believes the funtential will be to his advantage. Here is some of Kyle's logic:

But remember, this is not eBay. This is one red paperclip. I'm not here to sell stuff; I'm here to barter stuff - and barter is supposed to be fun. I'm not sure about you, but I'd argue that "one instant party" has a lot more potential for fun than one red generator. I'm sure Marcin will have an awesome time with his red generator - that's assured. Generators are fun too. I'm just saying that even though one red generator may have a higher cash value than one instant party, "one instant party" has more funtential.

Posted on November 22, 2005
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Daily Dancer Likes to Boogy Down

The Daily Dancer is a software developer who loves to dance. He posts new videos of himself dancing to various songs like "Come on Eileen", "I Think We're Alone Now" and "What is Love" three days a week. And he even takes song requests. The Daily Dancer really loves dancing but he explains why he can't post every single weekday anymore.

Even though my name is Daily Dancer, I do not post a dance every single day. Originally, I posted every single weekday, but I have found that the commitment became a little bit too much. Also, many viewers had found that my dances had gotten stale. To counter that, I decided to post my own dances only three times a week. With only three dances, I have more energy to give my fans great dances.

(Via J-Walk Blog)

Posted on September 28, 2005
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Microsoft Sues Google Over Theft of Chinese Scientist

Now that's what we call a valuable employee. Microsoft is suing Google for enticing away their top Chinese scientist, Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, to work at their top-secret new R&D center in China. The lab is so secret that Google will not even disclose its location. So who is this mysterious Dr. Lee that Microsoft will do anything to have back? And what in the world is so top-secret that the lab must be in an undisclosed location?

"By establishing an R&D center in China," the company said in a statement, "Google is making a strong commitment to attracting and developing Chinese talent, as well as partnering with local universities and institutes."

Lee, widely known for his speech recognition and artificial intelligence work, joined Microsoft in 1998 as its managing director of research in China, founding its Beijing research lab. More recently, he was corporate vice president of Microsoft's Natural Interactive Services Division, where he oversaw efforts to develop technologies to make user interfaces simpler and more natural.

Google hired Lee directly from Microsoft, boasting about the appointment in its news release. Microsoft responded by filing a lawsuit Tuesday against Lee and Google in King County Superior Court in Washington, charging that Lee breached Microsoft's "confidentiality and non-compete agreement" and that Google enticed him to do so.

Ok, but what exactly will Dr. Lee be doing in China for Google? Why is he so valuable? What does he know?

"As a senior executive, Dr. Lee has direct knowledge of Microsoft's trade secrets concerning search technologies and China business strategies," the company said in a statement. "He has accepted a position focused on the same set of technologies and strategies for a direct competitor in egregious violation of his explicit contractual obligations."

In the suit, Microsoft called Lee "one of the main architects of Microsoft's business strategies in China" and said he led efforts to develop "certain proprietary search technologies...that compete with substantially similar services offered by Google."

It's all very mysterious, but we're sure those wild rumors about Google building a secret robot army are completely untrue.

Posted on July 20, 2005
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Noah Posts a Photo of Himself Every Single Day

Noah Kalina is a photographer living and working in New York City. Noah has relentlessly posted a photograph of himself online every single day since January 11, 2000.
(Via Also-online.com)



Posted on July 13, 2005
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Wasting Time at the Office

Now, we don't want to upset you, but it appears that American workers waste at least two hours a day surfing the Net when they should be working. We know, it's shocking.

U.S. workers say they squander over two hours a day at the workplace, with surfing the Web, socializing with co-workers and simply "spacing out" among the top time-wasting activities, according to a survey released on Monday. Most U.S. companies assume about an hour of wasted time, but workers admit to actually frittering away more than twice as much time at a cost of $759 billion in annual paid salary that results in no apparent productivity, an online survey conducted by America Online and Salary.com showed. Wasted time did not include the standard lunch hour.

Of 10,044 employee respondents, 33 percent said they engaged in time-wasting activities because they didn't have enough work to do. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they squandered their work hours because they were underpaid.

Men and women wasted an equal amount of time at work, but older workers were significantly more attentive than younger workers, the survey showed. Workers over 55 years old wasted an average of just 30 minutes a day, according to the survey. Bill Coleman, senior vice president at Salary.com, said some time-wasting activities -- such as personal use of the Internet -- can be positive, resulting in new business ideas or a happier work environment.

A happier work environment? Bill Coleman is probably right. Workers who are downloading the naughty plug-in for Grand Theft Auto when they're supposed to be doing the monthly sales reports are probably pretty happy.

Posted on July 12, 2005
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Crying While Eating

Daniel Engber, a New York writer, explains how he created the Internet hit website Crying While Eating in this confessional piece on Slate. Crying While Eating features pictures and videos of people crying while eating food. Engber launched the site in an effort to win a $2,000 prize in a website contest. In the process his girlfriend's picture ended up on a Japanese sex website. But he did create a website that was very popular -- at least for a little while.

It's easy to look back and see why Crying, While Eating did so well, at least for a time. It's a simple concept. It's interactive. It makes you laugh and feel uncomfortable at the same time. But there are two parts to contagious media. You have to make something that people want to spread around, but unless you're as lucky as the Star Wars kid you also have to do a little of the spreading yourself. CwE got lots of free publicity because it was an entry in a contest; if Casimir and I tried to make another contagious site, we'd have to do that legwork for ourselves. I don't know if we could pull it off. It seems like a real pain in the ass.

Engber did not win first place, but he did win two $1,000 prizes. And he's promised his girlfriend a fancy dinner to make up for putting a photograph of her crying while eating food on the Internet.

Posted on June 26, 2005
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TomKat Edges Ahead Of Brangelina in Blogularity

The continual press releases and very public courtship between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is finally paying off. The oft-denied, secret "affair" between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (or Brangelina, if you like) has now fallen just slightly behind TomKat in the polls blogs. The graph below clearly shows that Brangelina had a slight edge during most of June. Brad and Angelina are clearly the wiser of the two pairs. By using stealth and denial they have generated great interest in their brand relationship with much less effort than TomKat. All that work by TomKat -- appearing on talk shows, jumping on couches and wildly professing their love to millions of shocked listeners around the world -- appeared unable to overcome the sexy, cunning denials by Brangelina and Angelina Jolie's dominatrix outfit in Mr. And Mrs. Smith. That is until Tom Cruise whipped out the giant diamond engagement ring and proposed to Katie on the Eiffel tower, causing TomKat to surge in popularity. But will TomKat's marriage plans and amorous PR assault plan be enough to hold the lead over the coy denials of Brangelina?


Graph by Blogpulse.com

Posted on June 19, 2005
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Thousands of Smileys

If you like smileys then you'll love SmileyCollector.com. The site includes all kinds of smiley-related items and media including smiley graphics, smiley poems, smiley quotes, smiley photos, and smiley links. The site also includes a smiley trivia page that explains the origins of the smiley:

Worcester, Mass., is the birthplace of the yellow smiley face. Resident Harvey R. Ball, who co-owned an advertising and public relations firm, designed the Happy Smiley Face in 1963 to boost the morale of workers in two recently merged insurance companies. Harvey Ball was paid $45 for his artwork by State Mutual Life Assurance Companies of America.

A Boston.com article has more about smiley creator Harvey Ball who died in 2001 at age 79:

He never applied for a trademark or copyright, something his son, Charles Ball, said his father never regretted.

"He was not a money-driven guy," Charles Ball told the Telegram and Gazette of Worcester. "He used to say, `Hey, I can only eat one steak at a time, drive one car at a time."'

"He'd get letters from all over the world thanking him for Smiley. How do you put a price on that? He died with no apologies and no regrets."

(via J-Walk Blog).

Posted on June 13, 2005
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Young Man Builds Website Requesting Date With Natalie Portman

Andy Goldfarb, a 140 pound, 5' 7'' nineteen year-old sophomore at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT has built a website to tell Natalie Portman, the actress who played Queen Amidala in the Star Wars films, that he wants a date with her. Goldfarb doesn't want to marry Natalie Portman or go on an exciting vacation with her. He just wants to "have a meal" with Natalie Portman.

So here it is. I'm pouring myself out. This site doesn't exist to proclaim how very much in love I am with Natalie Portman -- I've never even met the girl. No, this is simply a way for me to tell the world (and hopefully Natalie herself) that I feel as though we have the potential to be compatible. All I'm asking is for a chance to explore that compatibility, to see if we're a good match. If I get this date with Natalie and it's awkward and doesn't work out, so be it. I just need to know I tried.

If it's awkward? Why would it be awkward? Some comments in Goldfarb's FAQ make it sound like a not very exciting date.

How long have you been in love with Natalie? I never said I was in love with her. Again, I've never met her. I just think we share similar interests and it would be great to talk to her. I never said any of this has to be romantic.

Yeah, who wants a date to be romantic? So will Andy Goldfarb get a date with Star War star Natalie Portman? Probably not. His website isn't bad though. He should try his web design skills out on a less well-known girl that lives near to him. Chicks dig guys with skills. But he better hope the next girl he pursues doesn't see his DateMeNatalie.com website!

Posted on June 4, 2005
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Teen Finds Blogging Really Boring

Not all teens like blogging. In fact, the ABQ Journal (no doubt so named because no one can quickly type "Albuquerque" into a browser window without horrific typos) has found a teen named Patrick Lester that does not like blogging one bit. Patrick shares his thought about blogging. But don't call him a blogger.

"The allure of posting online messages, pictures and journals is too much for some to resist. The intrigue of talking to electronic friends you've never seen before is just plain addictive for some. What did Snazylarry45 have for dinner last night? And did he get that job at Dairy Queen? Obviously this is deep stuff. Who could help but be captivated?"

So much sarcasm and from someone so young. What's really the matter Patrick --will no one link to your blog?

"I think it's ridiculous. Hundreds of students at every school are on MySpace, for reasons I can't begin to fathom. I've seen them in action, looking at everyone's pictures and what they've written. Mostly it looks like a silly attempt to see how good-looking your schoolmates are."

"But if it isn't lust that motivates a MySpace-user, I guess it's the opportunity to check in on your online friends. I guess some people confess serious things. Or not. Maybe MySpace-users are online because they don't have anything better to do. Really people, I don't want to read about how you brushed your dog this morning and then ate a bowl of Corn Pops. And if your Aunt Gertrude passed away this morning, cry with your parents. She's not my aunt, and I'd rather not get any electronic tears on my shirt."

No blog is good enough for Patrick! Patrick, dear, before MySpace.com there were (and still are) actual print relics called Class Yearbooks that are full of pictures of one's classmates. And that really isn't a nice thing to say about someone's poor dead Aunt. Ok, the Corn Pops blog could use a bit of punching up.

"People think technology is a big social opportunity. I've been told at least twice, even by own sister (13, I might add), that I don't have a social life because I don't instant message. If anyone thinks staring at a computer screen for three hours reading someone's account of brushing a dog constitutes a social life, he's just wrong. It sounds more like online stalking to me."

Patrick, your sister is trying to help you.

"Instead of pouring your soul into a computer, tell your problems to a live friend -— in person. You may think it's great that you were so drunk on Saturday, you couldn't think straight, but that's the kind of thing you tell a doctor, not post on the Internet. Your guinea pig's heart may be failing, but honestly, who really cares?"

"Now I'm not blaming MySpace for ruining the youth of America. MySpace doesn't cause teen drug use, and it didn't get your girlfriend pregnant. Ultimately, we have to make our own decisions about how to spend our time. But blogging, instant messaging? Count me out."

Teens are doing what they have always done: talk to other teens. Only the method of the communication has changed -- from all-night phone calls to all-night Instant Messages.

Patrick does make a good point that people need face to face communication. But in today's teen world, the precursor to that live interaction may be endless trivial Instant Messages. By intentionally excluding himself from today's teen network he is missing some opportunities to meet people at school that he could later talk to in the real word.

People are blogging about the little things that mean something to them -- the Corn Pops, the guinea pig and the intricacies of dog grooming -- none of which may matter to a stranger. But they matter to the blogger and his friends. And if Patrick feels the current blogs aren't up to snuff, why not take the excellent advice of his sister: take those excellent blogging skills of his, raise the standard of teen blogging and join the community.

Posted on May 17, 2005
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Good Morning Blogosphere

Dr. Bombay probably doesn't think so, but it's clear that the Web needs more blogs. So here's another one. Pleasant Morning Buzz will feature commentary about current events and items of interest to us you. It's the latest addition to our blog network, and we hope you enjoy it.

Posted on May 11, 2005
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