Nice history of innovation of newspapers and the rise of the internet.

Quoted: A moment of sympathy, please, for newspapers, whose readers and advertisers have been fleeing at a frightening rate.

I think online communities for consumers of a product/service are a great idea - for the right product/service; it's got to be one that your customers are highly engaged, and need a high level of support and desire to give the company/community feedback. Kitty litter, is NOT a good product for this kind of thing.

Also interesting that the WSJ was suckered into a really big blunder on the "research study" - but the error is corrected online with a strike out in this post.

Quoted: One of the hot investments for businesses these days is online communities that help customers feel connected to a brand. But most of these efforts produce fancy Web sites that few people ever visit. The problem: Businesses are focusing on the value an online community can provide to themselves, not the community. Most corporate-sponsored online communities are virtual ghost towns That’s according to Ed Moran, a Deloitte consultant who just completed a study of more than 100 businesses with online communities. Not surprisingly, these sites failed to gain traction with customers. Thirty-five percent of the online communities ...

A demo at Microsoft made Scoble cry. See his teaser post at:

http://scobleizer.com/2008/02/14/microsoft-researchers-make-me-cry/

He can't disclose it until Feb 27th - with a video release on March 3rd.

The terms of the (proposed) settlement - $1,300 per television show streamed and, in 3 years, 2% of residual online revenue stream.

Quoted: The governing boards of the two writers’ guilds are expected to meet as early as Sunday, and the long and bitter strike could be over by Monday morning.

Quoted: Starting today, we become the first major media website to tackle the following problem: Can a business publication blend journalism and online community to create something better than either by itself?
...
We're an entirely new community of people brought together because we want to share ideas about business. We like business. We think it's important. Work gives more meaning to our lives. We believe business profoundly helps define our culture.

Awesome visual gags used in advertising.

Quoted: 19 Best Ads I Have Ever Seen Pictures

I just noticed that YouTube shows you:

1. Number of videos you've watched (while logged in to your account).
2. The number of views your own uploaded videos have received.

Mine are 544, and 11,385 respectively.

I calculate my Contribution-Ratio as: 20.9. What's yours? That would be a cool score to show on Blue Dot as well, I think.

Quoted: Share your videos with friends and family

The book - first published - 1988.

Quoted: Amazon.com: Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media: Books: Edward S. Herman,Noam Chomsky by Edward S. Herman,Noam Chomsky

This is one magazine mentioned by Chomsky, not as a suggestion, but as an example, of independent media. Run by two people (in 1993) out of their house in Boston.