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September 29, 2006
Here's a New One: Smell Maps
The New York subway system, like all subway systems worldwide, has an ambiance all its own. And its own particular smells, too, as today's No. 5 most-cited blog post informs us. Gawker Media offers the New York City Subway Smells Map, with pop-up windows and olfactory icons for each stop. Sniff sniff. Which makes me wonder: what ever happened to Smell-O-Vision TV?
(Happy 82nd birthday, Mom!)
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:34 AM | Permalink
September 27, 2006
Roll That Tape One More Time, Please (Everybody Else Is)
You gotta hand it to William Jefferson Clinton. For a guy who's an ex-president, he's certainly riled things up (and made his way to the top of the list of most-blogged-about people today) for his weekend interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace (No. 4).
And everybody's joining the discussion among today's most-cited blog posts, from Patterico's Pronouncements (Chris did ask the other side hard questions) to Glenn Greenwald's "cut and run" Senatorial quotes to Keith Olberman's assessment to insights from a former intelligence honcho/blogger known as Spook86.
A BlogPulse trend graph shows a little head-to-head Presidential bantering on the upswing:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:15 AM | Permalink
September 25, 2006
Frank Talk about Terrorism, From Ex-Presidents and Current Intelligence Pros
Today, and you can bet for the next few weeks leading up to the November elections, it's going to be about terrorism, thanks toformer President Bill Clinton (No. 3 on today's list of most-blogged-about personalities) and a massive report from U.S. intelligence agencies about the impact of the ongoing U.S. war on terrror on the terrorism movement around the world (today's top news story).
Clinton is making waves for making waves on Fox news with commentator Chris Wallace (No. 5 on the top people list), accusing Wallace of asking former presidents much harder and much more pointed questions about anti-terror activites than are lobbed at current presidents. The one-on-one makes up seven of today's top 10 blog posts. In addition, four of today's most-cited news stories deal with weekend news of U.S. agency reports that find U.S. involvement in Iraq has served to embolden and spread the terrorism movement around the world (the topic of today's most-cited phrases by bloggers). A BlogPulse trend graph plotting "war on terrorism" vs. "war in Iraq" finds that discussions about the two are often one and the same:
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:37 AM | Permalink
September 22, 2006
Get Engaged!
If you want to know how online consumers, including those in the blogosphere, are having an impact on today's advertising industry, check out a new blog, Engagement by Engagement, launched by Nielsen BuzzMetrics as part of the upcoming Consumer Engagement conference, co-sponsored by the Advertising Research Foundation and American Association of Advertising Agencies next week (Advertising Week) in New York City.
The blog is led by Nielsen BuzzMetrics' own Max Kalehoff (VP Marketing), CMO Pete Blackshaw and and others, but submissions (short! pithy!) are being accepted from others with something to say about advertising (send an email to Max at max (dot) kalehoff (at) buzzmetrics.com.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:19 PM | Permalink
September 21, 2006
This And That...and Elections
There's this in the blogosophere today, about terrorists on trial, and there's that in response as well...which is what makes blogs so much fun to read, don't you think? Touche!
Let's talk elections
There's tons of speculation about the upcoming mid-term elections, so we turned to a BlogPulse trend graph for a little insight, based on phrases associated with Democratic/Republican parties:
The August spike in buzz occurred at the time of the Connecticut primary in which Democratic incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman was defeated by challenger Ned Lamont.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:03 AM | Permalink
September 20, 2006
A Decidedly International Flavor
The blogosphere takes on definite international tones today, including blogger observatioons of the Thailand coup (today's third most-used blog phrase) that overthrew Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (today's second-burstiest person). Also on that list is the coup leader, Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin.
Religious fervor, of various stripes
Pope Benedict XVI continues to make news (and waves) among Muslims who have not accepted his apology, for statements construed as anti-Muselim, as very apologetic. Speaking of religious fervor, today's most-cited news stories contain this coverage (No. 9) of "Jesus Camp" by ABC. (Thanks, Mom, for signing me up for Girl Scout day camp instead).
Mistaken identity?
Canadian Muslim Maher Arar also appears among today's most-discussed personalities, for reports that he was wrongly identified by Canadian and U.S. authorities as a potential terrorist and sent to Syria, where he was held for 10 months and tortured...before being released and exonerated by the Canadian government, according to news reports. Although bloggers have differing opinions about the issue.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:08 PM | Permalink
September 19, 2006
Let's Assume Voting Machines Are Like Space Stations
So the space station develops a leak, and NASA delays its return to earth to make sure every possible precaution is taken that the technology works properly. Not so the makers of Diebold voting machines, whose innards, it seems, can be accessed with key cards that also work in hotel mini bars (subject of today's No.7 top blog post) and can be purchased at office furniture stores, according to Princeton University computer scientists who set out to test the security of the votinig machines. Do YOU feel safer for the future of democracy now?
Diebold's response: The company's "In the News" section of its web site hasn't been updated since May; SC Magazine quotes Diebold's response: "Dave Byrd, president of Diebold Election Systems, blasted the Princeton report, saying in a statement that Diebold machines are secured with advanced encryption software".
(Maybe we should vote absentee from the space station?)
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:02 PM | Permalink
September 18, 2006
Religion's Divisive Nature
Proof that religion can be as divisive for some as it is peaceful for others is more than obvious in the blogosphere today. Evidence ranges from a Londoner's Sunday visit to Westminster Cathedral (today's No. 2 most-cited blog post) to coverage of a Somali Muslim cleric's calls for the Pope's assassination (today's No. 2 most-cited news story).
In fact, half of today's most-cited news stories among bloggers mention a variety of religiously-themed issues, including coverage of the death of a nun in Somalia, linked to the Pope's comments about the Muslim world last week, and continued anger among the Muslim world, even after the Pope apologized.
Keep paying attention
Today's most-cited news story, curiously, details the re-construction of Iraq and the requirements to get an admission ticket.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:36 AM | Permalink
September 14, 2006
Talk About Zingers!
MSNBC commentator Keith Olberman and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne are getting attention in the blogosphere today for zingers.
Olberman is among today's most-blogged-about personalities for today's top blog post, his 9/11 commentary (courtesy of Crooks and Liars) titled "This hole in the ground, Mr. President." References to the essay, in fact, show up five times among today's top 20 most-cited news stories. It's nice to hear well written, well thought out, non-screaming commentary on news programs again, you know?
Crowd control?
And Wynne is today's burstiest person for suggesting that "non-lethal" weapons being tested ought to be tried out on Americans first for crowd control just in case...you know...someone gets hurt. Hmmm....
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:51 PM | Permalink
September 11, 2006
Remembering 9/11
Everyone remembers something about Sept. 11, 2001. I was in Homer, Alaska, waking up a newly remarried woman after an incredibly beautiful, simply and fun ceremony with newfound strangers who became instant friends the night before at The Rookery Restaurant in Otter Cove. From so far away at the time, it all seemed like an unbelievable nightmare, and because of the disrupted air travel in the next few days and weeks, my husband and I ended up driving 4,159 mile home from Anchorage to Ohio in a Ford Escort.
Today, the blogosphere is filled with memories of 9-11...where people were, what they recall, how they react five years later to the images and re-telling of the events of of that day. A BlogPulse search for 9/11-related phrases captures peoples' memories and stories.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:09 AM | Permalink
September 08, 2006
Bloggers Take Aim Again at MSM Again
As blogger Glenn Greenwald points out today, bloggers have a history of calling out the media/entertainment business when it produces material that is not historically accurate, which is what's happening again this week in the blogosphere (today's top blog post). Only this time it's not conservative bloggers asking for the true history of Ronald Reagan, it's liberal/progressive bloggers (led by ThinkProgress.org) asking fro truth about the events leading to the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
So far, an FBI agent involved in the ABC/Disney "docudrama" apparently quit during the project, and former President Bill Clinton has asked ABC to drop the program entirely (today's Nos. 1 and 4 most-cited news stories) or stick to the facts. TPM Cafe offers a full text of Clinton's letter to the network. Sakes one wonder: WWDRT? (What would Dan Rather think?)
Tech updates
From around teh blogosphere: SixApart has acquired Rojo, The Modern Day Alchemist blogger provides interesting tips for Gmail addresses, the practices at news-voting patterns at Digg.com are under scruinty and Facebook users are revolting about new RSS feeds that provide automatic notices of profile updates.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:42 AM | Permalink
September 07, 2006
If Numbers Tell a Story....
Couldn't help but notice one of the week's most cited news stories from Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly. It's a pretty interesting state-by-state chart that tracks median income growth (or lack thereof) over the past six years. How interesting...and curious...that the five states that show any growth are Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Rhode Island...and one of them (District of Columbia) isn't a state at all. Discuss.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:33 AM | Permalink
September 06, 2006
Shiny New Things, Shiny New Faces
Sometimes, everything seems new again, whether it's Katie Couric as the new evening news anchor at CBS (and today's fifth most-discussed blog personality) or Alan Mullaly, the guy who replaced a Ford as head of Ford Motor Company and today's burstiest person.
New toys!
And that's not all! Todays' blogosphere hints of new iPods and iMacs from Apple within the next week, and Gizmodo thinks there's a new Nintendo DS on its way as well.
New interpretations?
As we head for the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, some (including former terrorist chief Richard Clarke) are also claiming that an ABC documentary is tantamount to revisionist history. Thank goodness, then, for Fareed Zakaria, who can at least exhort everyone to take a deep breath.
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:23 AM | Permalink
September 05, 2006
Crikey! So Long, Crococile Hunter
No doubt the Labor Day news had very little to do with labor and everything to do with Australia's famed "Crococile Hunter" Steve Irwin, whose weekend death from a stingray bite dominates the blogosphere today.
Irwin is today's most-discussed and burstiest personality, and news of his death is captured in today's top 15 most-cited links and the top 12 most-cited news stories today. In addition, many of today's most-used phrases involve descriptions of various aspects of Irwin's life, the documentary he was filming when he was killed and news of his death.
Common reactions include those that are short and to the point to those that take time to honor Irwin's contributions to wildlife education and conservation. Says one: "I hope his legacy to be a wildlife warrior, a passionate conservationist will carried on by his family and friends at Australia Zoo and his colleagues from around the world."
Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:09 PM | Permalink
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