Internet Activists, Legendary Inventors, Falling Presidents

Several things are evident in today's BlogPulse findings: the Internet has indeed become a spot for activism, the microchip inventor is being revered, and President Bush this week has fallen out of the Top 10 blogged-about personalities for the first time since May (perhaps even earlier).

Even Billy Corgan, former lead singer for the Smashing Pumpkins, scores higher (No. 9) today than the President (No. 13) for saying he wants the band back together.

Point I: Activism, Community on the Web
The Internet certainly has become a place for support groups and activism. A blog called PostSecret seems to have lasting power among bloggers (today's No. 4 link). It's a place where users can post their innermost secrets for the world to see. Sordid Blog can relate.

Secondly, the folks at Moveon.org are keeping alive their online petition drive (No. 7 link) to save the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (NPR/PBS) from Congressional funding cuts and political attacks. The Dirt Under My Nails blog is typical of the "how dare they?" comments that bloggers write as they pass around the petition link. News that a longtime conservative think-tank member was hired to monitor Bill Moyers is only fueling the flames.

And the Electronic Frontier Foundation is launching a similar online campaign (No. 15 link) to counter a Congressional movement to resurrect the "broadcast flag," which would allow broadcasters to interfere with public/personal videos. The Build Your Own PVR blogger mentions the campaign.

Ode to a chip maker
Today's burstiest person is inventor Jack Kilby, the 81-year-old Texas Instruments engineer (and Nobel Prize winner) who died earlier this week of cancer. His legacy: much of the groundwork that led to the invention of the microchip...and the electronics revolution that followed. Good Morning Silicon Valley puts him in the company of Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Is Social Security an issue on its way out?