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February 28, 2006
A Sci-Fi Icon Dies; BoingBoing Takes a Stand
While Monday's bloggers mourned the deaths of well-known actors, today's blogosphere includes numerous tributes to another actors, Dennis Weaver, star of "Gunsmoke" and "McCloud", and science-fiction writer Octavia Butler, 58, who fell outside her home near Seattle on Saturday. Both are among today's burstiest blog personalities.
Standing tall
Butler, in particular, is being singled out for her writing achievements, not only as one of the few African-American women who wrote science ficition but also because she was the only sci-fi writer to win a MacArthur Foundatoin "genius grant." Writer Steven Barnes' personalized tribute at Dar Kush is today's most-cited blog post.
Censored, Boing Boing fights back
Without fail, BoingBoing is consistently one of the most popular blogs in BlogPulse's rankings, so it's understandable why the BB staff is miffed at BoingBoing being blocked/censored in several Middle Eastern countries (today's fourth-most-cited blog post). So it's fighting back...against the U.S. makers of Smart Filter, whose technology labels web sites as offensive or not, such that posting a photo of Michaelangelo's "David" classifies as "nudity." BoingBoing's team is not making any compromising deals, and bloggers are applauding them for it.
Oscar Buzz Builds
Check out today's BlogPulse Spotlight for a look at which nominess for best director are capturing the most traction.
Olympic look-back
Bodie crashed and burned, but the Flying Tomato flew to new fame during the recently completed 2006 Winter Olympics. BlogPulse trend graph captures some of the buzz...
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:31 AM | Permalink
February 27, 2006
Passings: The One-Bullet Sheriff's Deputy and Ralphie's Dad
There's plenty of international unrest today among BlogPulse's top weekend news stories, from riots in Dublin and at an Afghanistan jail and the "bubbling cauldron" in Egypt, but what's really on the minds of bloggers are the deaths of two of TV's most memorable faces: actors Don Knotts and Darren McGavin, both of whom are among today's most-discussed personalities.
Knotts is the subject of eight of today's top news stories, McGavin is mentioned twice in the top 12.
Oh, Barn....
Most TV fans knew Knotts as the bumbling Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show, the guy who carried his sole bullet in his pocket so he wouldn't shoot himself in the foot again. "Mayberry will never be the same," laments BoozySmurf at LiveJournal. "He will be missed," points out SilntBobs journal, noting Knotts' portrayals of the landlord on "Three's Company" and Mr. Limpet from an animated movie. JiggsBlog even provides links to favorite Barney Fife quotes.
"Christmas Story" father
Eulogies for McGavin are equally nostalgic, and Scared Monkeys provides some one-liners from "The Christmas Story." The Daimnation blogger, noting the additional death of Bruce Hart, composer of the "Sesame Street" theme song, sums up the collective loss quite eloquently: "the planet's level of Awesome just went down three points."
One week, and we'll knowOne week from today, we'll know the winners of this years Oscar awards. Check out today's BlogPulse Spotlight for the latest buzz....
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:15 PM | Permalink
February 24, 2006
The Next Wedge Issue? And O'Reilly a C-and-R Advocate?
The next political wedge issue may be brewing now in the state that ranks, populationwise, No. 46 among 50: South Dakota, where legislators are pushing through a bill that would ban most abortions (today's burstiest phrase) for the state's 770,883 residents.
News of the bill's passage is found in seven of today's top links and six of today's most-cited news stories. State Sen. Julie Bartling, the bill's sponsor, is today's burstiest person, followed at No. 2 by Kate Looby, director of the state's only abortion clinic. "The Supreme Court has been loaded and they are ready," observes one LiveJournaler. The Centrist blogger invites all South Dakotans to Massachusetts as an alternative. Funny, says the native New Wisdom blogger, how a state can move into the future and past at the same time.
Did Bill O'Reilly REALLY say that?
Media Matters is today's No. 12 most-cited news item for featuring Bill O'Reilly's newest (and verbatim) proposal for an Iraq war policy: "the only solution to this is to hand over everything to the Iraqis as fast as humanly possible" because "[t]here are so many nuts in the country -- so many crazies -- that we can't control them." Isn't that this? Is he, as the Moderate Left blogger suggests, embracing his inner liberal?
Issues in perspective
A BlogPulse trend graph highlights what's on blogger's minds when it comes to the day's pressing issues:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:50 AM | Permalink
February 23, 2006
Taking On The Big Guys: The Prez and AOL
It's a day for mobilizing the troops against big targets in the blogosophere today, with political pundits lining up against President Bush and Internet diehards taking aim at AOL.
More than the war in Iraq, the budget deficit, Supreme Court nominees and torture issues, the looming sale of the operation of six major U.S. shipping ports to a company owned by the royal family of Dubai (United Arab Emirates) is an issue (and today's burstiest phrase) that's coalescing Republicans and Democrats against the Bush Administration, with mixed opinions.
Bloggers react
Instapundit (No. 2 top blog post) discusses the pros and cons. Wall Street Journal Online (today's No. 3 top link) editorializes for some context and history. Todays' top blog post, from Think Progress, casts doubts about the "thorough review" that the administration claims went into the decision. What terror threats create buzz?
MoveOn.org to AOL: free e-mail
Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org climbs to the No. 4 spot among today's burstiest people for the group's petition asking AOL to drop its plan to charge companies the equivalent of an e-mail surcharge for spam-free, filtered e-mail service. Their theory? A two-tier e-mail system leaves the folks at the bottom -- everyday users, non-profits, small businesses -- with secondhand service, and that's not what the Internet's about. Move On, MoveOn, encourages one blogger. BlogPulse's Conversation Tracker picks up a day's worth of discussion.
Funny? True? Fun?
Several other discoveries from the blogosphere. From the realm of artistic endeavors comes a Lego version of Brokeback Mountain set (today's No. 14 most-cited link). And from the Is It True? department comes a Capitol Hill Blue post that questions the sobriety of a certain newsmaking hunting party in Texas. Engadget predicts "fun new products" next Tuesday from Apple, and Larry Brilliant is today's burstiest person ...and the newly announced Executive Director at Google.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:12 AM | Permalink
February 22, 2006
Bikers to the Rescue; Re-Classifying Documents
When mean-spirited, anti-gay protesters show up at the military funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, who you gonna call? The Patriot Guard Riders, that's who, and they're the subject of today's second-most-shared link among bloggers. As one of the group's cycle-ridin' leaders (and burstiest blog person) Don Woodrick explains eloquently: “The most important thing we can do is let families know that the nation cares. When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement."
The bikers are showing up, sometimes thousands strong, to drown out protesters and shield families from protesters organized by Fred Phelps, a so-called minister at a Kansas church who organizes tasteless protests at military funerals. Good for them! says one blogger of the bikers' efforts. Another LiveJournaler calls the guys on wheels "patriotism at its finest."
Re-classifying once-public documents
When does a public document become secret again? And who decides? That's the discussion taking place, based on a New York Times story detailing a massive re-classification of once-public documents at the National Archives by government intelligence agencies (today's top news story). ChangeLog puts the effort in the same category as 1984. "This is not how democracy works," insists Shakespeare's Sister. Norwegianity chalks it up to more scary tactics from "Republican Bizarro World." It took a few pages of blog comments to find one (Discarded Lies) that called the move much ado about nothing.
Dead parrot, anyone?
Find out why I can't contain my excitement at the BlogPulse Spotlight blog.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:35 AM | Permalink
February 21, 2006
Personalities Galore...Stingy, Snoopy, Sicko (And a Little Something for English Majors)
Out of nowwhere, personality expert Renee Baron is today's most-blogged personality, mostly because of a popular Enneagram meme (shared activity or game) that's making the rounds among bloggers (today's No. 21 top link) (The Enneagram is one method of classifying people based on personality traits). Which probably makes sense, because there are lots of, shall we say, intriguing personalities in the blogosphere today.
Stingy personified
From the stingy category comes a Canadian family who found someone's camera in Hawaii and then decided, well, their kid liked it so much they wouldn't return it to the owner. It's the subject of today's No. 2 top blog post.
Snoopy, scary
Thank goodness the librarians in Bethesda, MD., are a quick-thinking lot. They politely escorted OUT of the library a few overzealous "officials" who asked a few too many questions about what patrons were looking at on the library's public computers (today's ninth most-cited news story among bloggers). Is this what the fight against terrorism has come to, asks Swisher's Untitlted Blog Project?
Cartoon defense
The Danish editor who published the Muhammed cartoons that have stirred up the Muslim world defends his actions in today's most-cited news story, titled "Why I Published Those Cartoons." The blogger at Villainous Company wonders if the melting pot has melted into a tribal society that will be constantly at odds?
Not the marrying type
On the heels of Valentine's Day, here's a warning to all women about the kind of guy NOT to consider in your nuptial dreams, thanks to the second-most-shared link from The Smoking Gun.
English Major humor
If Garrison Keillor can do public service commercials for the Coalition of English Majors, then Geoffrey Chaucer can have a blog. And he doth, at today's third most-popular linke.
BlogPulse News: the 23-million blog milestone
For those who keep track, BlogPulse.com today surpassed the 23-million blog milestone in its index.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:28 AM | Permalink
February 17, 2006
Torture & Detainment: Issues That Won't Go Away
Torture and detention of Iraqi prisoners/terrorism detainess by the U.S. is an issue that won't go away (and it's today's top phrase at BlogPulse). It's returned today in several forms, including new 2004 photos of Abu Ghraib prison abuse released by Australian news sources and Salon.com (today's No. 2 top news story), a United Nations finding against the U.S. detainment policies at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and more recent photos of what's going on at Abu Ghraib by the Black Five military blog.Reactions range from lingering disgust to questions about media double standards.
Knitting Olympics update:
If you want to see what those Olympic knitters are up to, the Yarnharlot blog (today's No. 8 top blog post) provides updates of the thousands of participants who are knitting to their hearts' delight while the 2006 Winter Olympics take place in Italy -- from their kickoff knitting parties to the progress of their projects.
What do we call this Cheney thing?
The media is still actively dissecting Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident (Cheney remains the most-blogged-about person), but apparently so are Republican punidts who are discussing a possible Cheney replacement if DC can't survive the fallout of shooting a 78-year-old lawyer in the face and chest. Who might it be? bloggers ask. BlogPulse prediction: sometime between now and June, the VP will resign "for health reasons." (Remind me to check back).
What's your favorite Olympic sport?
What are Olympic watchers watching? As the wife of a northern Minnesotan (ya, sure, you betcha), you can guess that curling has been big on our list. But a BlogPulse trend graph shows overall sports buzz:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:00 PM | Permalink
February 15, 2006
The 2006 Iraq Travelogue from Michael J. Totten
One of the true benefits of blogging is that it can be done anywhere there's an Internet connection, and today's No. 21 top blog post does that just from Erbil, the capital of the northern Kurdish territory of Iraq. Blogger Michael J. Totten, author of the Middle East Journal blog, says the war's already over in much of northern Iraq. His photos, descriptions and encounters with a driver provide a fascinating look at a part of the world most Americans see only as sound bites on the evening news.
Writes Totten: "The city didn’t look like anywhere I wanted to be. Few things in this world are uglier than totalitarian cities. And while Erbil isn’t totalitarian anymore, Saddam Hussein left his stinking thumbprints all over the place." For intrepid behavior alone, Samizdata blog recommends Totten's writings. "A great read" says Small Dead Animals.
Dick Cheney, the moving humor target
Vice President Dick Cheney remains today's most-blogged person, not only because 78-year-old Harry Whittington (second burstiest person) suffered a minor heart attack earlier this week after being shot by Cheney while quail hunting but because comedians everywhere have scared up a covey of jokes. Boing Boing's "Ten Ways Dick Cheney Can Kill You" feature is today's No. 9 top blog post, and The Daily Show's Rob Corddy is the fourth-burstiest person in the blogosphere for his Monday night commentary about the shooting. Conservative bloggers, led by Michellel Malkin, are questioning the motives of Washington Post reporter Dana Milbanks, who appeared on TV wearing an orange vest and hat, but are silent about Florida Gov. Jeb Bush doing the same. What...pointed humor is acceptable only if you're related to the President?
Calling it quits
Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett is the subject of today's sixth-most-cited news story for dropping out of the U.S. Senate race because of pressure he claims was exerted by Democratic party-leaders and fund raisers ("no room for liberal hawks?" asks Professor Bainbridge), and quitting is also on the agenda in the UK, where a smoking ban for bars and private clubs goes into effect in 2007 (No. 18 top link). "And the search for civilisation continues," moans Warren Ellis.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:21 AM | Permalink
February 14, 2006
How NOT To Attract Attention
If the Bush White House thought that trying to keep Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident under wraps would work, they were absolutely wrong. Cheney is today's most blogged-about person, and his (ahem) athletic skills are stealing the the show from now-withdrawn Olympic skater Michelle Kwan (No. 3) and snowboarding gold-medalist Shaun White (No. 4).
Moreover, nine of today's most-cited news stories and seven of the day's most-shared links deal with the hunting accident, in which Cheny shot 78-year-old attorney Harry Whittington in the face and chest (today's second and third most-cited phrases) while quail hunting. By comparison, a web site offering coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics ranked No. 14 among today's top links. Blogger analyses of the Veep who couldn't shoot straight range from "birds of mass destruction" to "holy shades of schadenfreude."
When bloggers dissent
One of the week's most popular blog posts so far comes from Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, who examines the "liberal" and "conservative" labels and how they play out in the blogosphere. Interesting reading for anyone curious about political influence that's spilled over into the blogosphere.
Did you remember Valentine's Day?
If you forgot your sweetie on this Hallmark day of days, check out today's No. 27 top link from GlassGiant.com: a web site where you can make your own romance novel cover and share it. Says one LiveJournaler: "It's just like being published, without all that annoying writing..."
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:59 AM | Permalink
February 13, 2006
Straight Stuff: Straight Talking, Not-So-Straight Shooting, Straight from the Heart
What is there to say when the morning headlines report that the Vice President of the United States (today's most blogged-about person) shot a hunting buddy with buckshot while quail-hunting? It's today's top news story and most-cited link. Plenty, if you ask bloggers, who've used everything from Elmer Fudd references (check out the poetic comment) to the term "cheneyquidick" to analyze what happened...and to wonder why the incident wasn't acknowledged for 24 hours? Katharine Armstrong, the owner of the ranch where the shooting occured, is today's burstiest person.
Pillar...of information
Also attracting attention is former CIA analyst Paul Pillar (today's seventh burstiest person), who's now going public with his assessment of the Bush Administration's use of pre-Iraq War intelligence, saying it was "cherry-picked" to justify a war (today's No. 14 top news story).
Kwan's Olympic hopes dashed
You gotta give her an award for integrity and grace: U.S. Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan (today's No. 3 most-blogged-about personality) promised she'd withdraw if she couldn't perform at 100% in Torino, and she did just that over the weekend, opening a door for Emily Hughes (second burstiest person) on the U.S. team. The blogger at Peacebang awards a gold regardless, while another blogger isn't as kind.
Anticipation?
Having watched 12 inches of snow fall on the Baltimore area Saturday and Sunday, I had to wonder: how many folks were thinking of a "snow day" today? A BlogPulse trend graph takes a look:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:53 AM | Permalink
February 10, 2006
What a Little Exposure Can Do
Just goes to show you that a little media exposure goes a long way, which explains why singer Kelly Clarkson, the "American Idol" winner who snapped up a few Grammy Awards this week, is today's second most-blogged personality and why a real-estate evaluation web site called Zillow.com is among today's most-shared links after being featured this week on NPR.
Apple/iPod speculation abounds
Two other popular blog posts today discuss Apple and its iPod/iTunes domination, which will either expand if the company acquires Palm (today's No. 3 top blog post) or diminish if open-source Songbird takes off (the No. 2 top post) as an iTunes competitor, depending on whom you believe. Jake's Blog isn't all that impressed with Songbird; neither is the blogger at Insignificant Thoughts, pointing out that as an open-source application, "there will be 30,000,000,000,000,000,000 point releases fixing one bug at a time 30 times a week."
The cartoons...debuted in Egypt?
Today's top blog post, from Rantings of a Sandmonkey, notes that the editorial cartoons of the prophet Muhammed, the ones causing riots in the Middle East, also appeared without comment last fall in Egyptian newspapers. The Freedom for Egyptians blog (No. 10 blog post) seconds the motion. Operating on the notion that humor might perhaps work some magic, Iowahawk blogger offers satire on a similar cartoon brou-ha-ha brewing in the Midwest, as in Wisconsin.
Valentine's Day is for...eating?
If you wanna know what your sweetie has in mind for Valentine's Day this year, get ready to chow down:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:49 AM | Permalink
February 09, 2006
Freedoms in Various Forms: Cartoons, Funerals, Spying
How curious, don't you think, that at a time when the U.S. is waging war ostensibly to spread democracy around the world, one of the fundamentals of democracy itself ("right to free speech" is today's 38th-most-cited blog phrase) seem to be in the crosshairs of international and national discussion.
The right to speak up is discussed in several contexts, such as the messages that civil rights leader such as the Rev. Joseph Lowery (today's No. 11-12 burstiest person) and former President Jimmy Carter delivered earlier this week at the funeral of Coretta Scott King (today's most-cited phrase). Some observers were offended that pointed political messages were intermixed with tributes...and delivered to an audience that included President George Bush. ThinkProgress provides today's No. 5 top blog post, which is video of the standing ovation that Lowry received.
Cartoon perspective
Columnist Amir Taheri is today's fourth burstiest person for an editorial he wrote in the Wall Street Journal Online that explains the Muslim underpinnings...or lack thereof...for outrage over cartoons portraying the prophet Muhammed (today's No. 6 top news story) in the Middle East and elsewhere. Other notable personalities: editors at the New York Press who walked off the job this week (today's No. 3 blog post) when their publisher refused to publish the cartoons.
What is the NSA REALLY doing?
Even Republicans are curious now, which is why Rep. Heather A. Wilson is today's No. 2 burstiest person, now that she's called for a full-scale investigation of the Bush Administration's domestic spying program at the NSA (today's third-most-cited news story). Fear of political failure, writes the LawandPolitics blogger, is the great motivator. Other bloggers offer their assessments of the heightened NSA scrutiny, and a BlogPulse trend graph looks at what bothers people most these days:
AIDS cure?
Today's second most-cited news story tells of a possible AIDS breakthrough, and comments are already starting.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:51 AM | Permalink
February 08, 2006
Can Cartoons Precipitate War? (And Can't We Focus on A Different Kind of Paradise?)
Today's most-cited blog post raises the dire possibility that the increasing Middle East tension over months-old cartoons considered offensive to Muslims may, in fact, combine with other factors to start a war that would spread from the Middle East to Europe and beyond. The blogger at Civitas raises the possibility by asking, "If There's Hell Below, Is This Where We All Shall be Spending Xmas?"
Other assesments emerge from The Volokh Conspiracy, who writes that "intolerance, ignorance, and parochialism" are fueling the East vs. West clash (today's No. 14 blog post), an event no doubt fueled by Iran's solicitation of Holocaust cartoons as retribution (today's fifth-most-shared link). (Seems to me, the world needs a strong mother figure to deliver a pointed, finger-wagging lecture about everyone settling down, taking a time-out and acting like grown-ups for a change).
Meanwhile, paradise IS out there
Scientist Bruce Keehler is today's burstiest person because his trek into the Indonesian jungle (the subject of today's No. 5 news story) uncovered new species of butterflies, frogs, birds and plants. "It's beautiful, untouched, unpopulated forest; there's no evidence of human impact or presence up in these mountains," Dr Beehler told the BBC News website. (We like it already). "So cool," agrees Shakespeare's Sister.
Oscar Buzz
The Academy Award ceremony is in early March, and BlogPulse's trend-graphing tool monitor buzz about the nominees for this year's best picture. Will "Brokeback Mountain" win? Will "Crash" steal its thunder, as some have predicted?
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:54 AM | Permalink
February 07, 2006
The Topics to Avoid at Family Gatherings (Politics, Religion, Science) Bubble Over into the Blogosphere
Families intent on harmonious get-togethers often agree NOT to discuss topics of religion, politics or science....but family harmony is NOT apparent in the blogosphere today. All three of those topics, however, are:
Religion
Tensions remain high and violence has erupted over Muslim protests against the publication of Western cartoons that feature the prophet Muhammed (today's No. 13 top phrase). The Boston Globe's "We Are All Danes Now" essay (today's No. 2 news story), Mark Steyn's "Sensitivity Can Have Brutal Consequences" (No. 4 news story) and Slate's Christopher Hitchens' "The Case for Mocking Religion" (No. 9 news story) all examine the various short- and long-term implications of multiculturalism, respect and extremism in the modern world. Talking Points Memo does the same with historical context thrown in.
Politics
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was on the hot seat this week, as Senators grilled him on the Bush Administration's rationale for a FISA run-around that they say allows them to spy on U.S. citizens without legal warrants or oversight. Blogger Glenn Greenwald live-blogged the hearings.
Science
When NASA's global warming guru, Dr. James Hansen, went public about government attempt to squelch science last week, he started something. Astronomers who were worried that their niche would be next (the subject of today's No. 4 blog post)...are more worried now. Because of this (No. 5 blog post). And these reactions.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:19 PM | Permalink
February 06, 2006
Super Bowls, Hot Tempers, And Passings...
While football revelers contained their weekend outbursts to cheering at the annual U.S. tradition know as the Super Bowl (today's two top phrases), things weren't so calm in Lebanon, where protesters burned the Danish and Norwegian embassies (today's No. 4 top news story) to protest what they claim are offensive cartoons, published recently in Danish newspapers and elsewhere around the world, that portray the prophet Muhammed.
In an Internet-driven age, it's kind of hard to AVOID the cartoons, now that they're being blogged about, archived (today's No. 4 most-shared link) and analyzed in light democratic concepts and religious principles, especially when the two clash so openly and so publicly.
For those not interested...
And for those among us, like Phil Ewing over at BlogPulse's Spotlight Blog, there was always the Puppy Bowl for anyone not inclined to pay attention to the sports commentators or the news headlines. Just cute, adorable little puppies.
Passings...
It's quite possible that two careers could never have been more different, but feminist, activist and author Betty Friedan died over the weekend, as did actor Al Lewis. Friedan, 85, author of The Feminine Mystique and often described as one of the founders of the modern-day feminist movement, is today's No. 2 and second-burstiest personality. Poppymom blogger offers a simple, heartfelt tribute. Lewis, 95, played Grandpa Munster on "The Munsters" TV show, Officer Schnauzer in "Car 54, Where Are You?" and led an active post-TV life as a restaurateur, basketball scout and good sport. Scared Monkeys blogger offers a similar heartfelt tribute.
Super Bowl plugs
Hollywood used the Super Bowl venue to promote several upcoming movies, and here's how BlogPulse tracked the buzz:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:10 PM | Permalink
February 03, 2006
BlogPulse Live Is....LIVE!
Just a few minutes ago, a new feature took up residence on the BlogPulse home page (upper-right corner), and it's called BlogPulse Live.
Powered by a behind-the-scenes tool we lovingly refer to as FloodGate, BlogPulse Live provides a real-time, minute-by-minute view of the most popular topics that bloggers are writing about. Each topical line represents a percentage of all blog posts as they're published (Eastern time). Click on the small chart on the home page for a larger view.
Here's how it works: BlogPulse Live captures new blog entries, and then text-mining and text-analysis technologies categorize the posts into key subject areas, such as "Diaries" (personal journals), "Politics," "Movies/TV," "Technology," "Sports," "Health," "Religion," "Meme," (online game/activity/quiz that's circulated by/among bloggers) "Food" and more.
BlogPulse Live will be especially useful when certain news events take place, and this weekend will provide a perfect example to put it to the test. Check back before, during and after the Super Bowl game on Sunday, for example, to see if "Sports" discussion muscles its way into the leading categories.
More blog innovation
Matthew Hurst, Intelliseek's Director of Research and a key member of the BlogPulse team, has been working on different visualization methods for capturing what's going on in the blogosphere. You can check out the work at Matt's Data Mining blog.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:48 PM | Permalink
Cartoons, Brokeback Parodies...and WHAT Oil Addiction?
When is an editorial or political cartoon offensive, and who defines offensive? The issue is boiling in the blogosphere today, over European cartoons (today's No. 7 top news story) that have angered Muslims around the world (today's No. 8 top phrase) and a Washington Post cartoon that has angered the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Blogger Michelle Malkin, in fact, has taken up the issue in several to-ranked blog posts today.
DeLay's successor
No sooner had Ohio Rep. John Boehner (today's 14th burstiest person) been elected as the new majority-party leader of the House of Representatives than the scrutiny started from various camps.
When you're No. 1, everybody takes a shot
During the week that Oscar nominations were announced, parodies of the much-nominated film "Brokeback Mountain" also made appearances on BlogPulse, including Mighty McPilgrim's "Broke Mac Mountain" (a computer funny and today's 30th most-shared link) and "Brokeback to the Future," (today's most-shared link) which features clips of old "Back to the Future" episodes.
That was some FAST backpedalling
President Bush swore Tuesday night that the U.S. is addicted to oil. Two of the country's high-level bureaucrats/departements swore just a day later that, well, it's not quite true. Especially if you don't want to upset those Middle East countries that like selling the U.S. their oil.
Oscar buzz
Today, BlogPulse trend graphs look at buzz for this year's Oscar-nominated directors:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:40 PM | Permalink
February 02, 2006
So Much for Freedom of Speech?
The charges have already been dropped, but the damage has been done over anti-war activist and Gold Star Mom Cindy Sheehan's arrest (today's top news story) for "unlawful conduct." Her crime? As a ticketed audience member, she wore an T-shirt to President Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday night that read: "2,245 Dead. How Many More?" Cindy's version of the events appears several times among today's top blog entries and most-shared links, at Daily Kos and on Michael Moore's web site.
You gotta wonder: would charges have been dropped if another woman, a certain Beverly Young, a Congressman's WIFE, hadn't been removed (but not arrested) as well for wearing a "Support Our Troops" T-shirt? Young is today's burstiest person; Sheehan is nipping at the President's heels again, literally and figuratively. Blogger Glenn Greenwald calls it like he sees it: "completely disgraceful." Says another blogger: "tactical mistake."
Let's just hope they don't start dancing in iPod commercials
Sen. Ted Stevens, 82, bragging about his iPod? Weirder things have happened on Capitol Hill, I'm sure, but some bloggers think it's time all Senators who are called to vote on issues such as copyright laws and new technologies at least understand what the heck they're talking about. Hence, iPac Action (today's No. 30 most-shared link) is asking bloggers to donate cash to buy iPods for Congress.
Oscar Buzz
Over the next few weeks, BlogPulse will deploy its trend graphs to track buzz about the 2005 Oscar nominations. Today, a look at the men nominated for best supporting actor...
...and the women nominated for best supporting actress.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:02 AM | Permalink
February 01, 2006
Condolences for Coretta Scott King
I turned off the TV and went to the grocery last night during President Bush's State of the Union speech, and apparently I wasn't the only person who didn't put the annual event at the top of my agenda. The President himself fell to No. 3 among today's most-discussed people in the blogosphere, while news of Coretta Scott King's death on Monday captured far more buzz. Mrs. King was the most-discussed and the burstiest person in the blogosphere, with condolences ranging from simple thanks to poet Aria Nicole's heartfelt observation that "the King legacy has forever changed."
Random observations
Newly sworn-in Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is today's fourth-most-discussed person, and despite all the D.C. wrangling, A Snitch in Haste offers some tempered reality-checking. But if you can't stop your liberal-conservative, red-blue bashing, blame your genes, the subject of today's most-cited news story, in which scientists examine genetic underpinnings for political biases.
Couldn't help but wonder which senatorial persona will be the target of today's No. 2 most-cited blog post?
More Wikipedia "edits"
A piece in the Lowell (MA) Sun has remained highly visible this week for revealing that certain Congressional staffers are changing the Wikipedia biographies of their bosses...and their enemies. Seems we've heard this one before.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:30 AM | Permalink
Can Blogs Predict Movie Buzz? Oscar Winners?
How good are bloggers at predicting movie success? Does blog discussion serve as a leading indicator or reflective mirror to box-office success? BlogPulse piggybacks on yesterday's announcement of Oscar nominations (today's No. 2 most-cited link) for the 78th annual Academy Awards program to examine the issue of blog buzz and flick successes or failures.
First, a research paper titled "Predicting Movies Sales from Blogger Sentiment," coauthored by Intelliseek's own Natalie Glance (a senior researcher and key member of the BlogPulse Team) and Gilad Mishne of the Informatics Institute at the University of Amsterdam, has been accepted for presentation at a symposium titled "Computational Approaches to Analysing Weblogs" March 27-29 at Stanford University.
Their conclusion? References to movies in blog posts correlate with their financial success (before and after release), and factoring in sentiment measurements works better (especially in pre-release phases) than raw counts when making correlations. Genre and time of year also factor into a flick's success.
So what's this year's Oscar buzz?
Over the next few days, BlogPulse will begin tracking ongoing blog buzz about this year's nominees. Today: the actors and actresses nominated for this year's awards. First....the guys nominated for Best Actor, wherein Heath Ledger of "Brokeback Mountain" and Philip Seymour Hoffman of "Capote" seem to heading the pack:
And the women nominated for Best Actress, where Reese Witherspoon of "Walk the Line" seems to have an edge going into the event.
Tomorrow, a look at the films nominated for best picture.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:31 AM | Permalink
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