BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis

August 25, 2003

Share and share alike
: I haven't done a video weblog (aka vlog) in too long because (a) I'm lazy and (b) I'm cheap -- that is, I don't want to find myself with a big bandwidth bill.
The solution to that problem is bubbling up: weblog P2P. It was a topic raised at the Boston weblog conference and now John Robb is raising it again, starting to define how it would work.
Unlike nefarious Napster, weblog P2P would work, Robb says, only via links, not hard-drive searches. Thus the files would be legit. And they'd be served from many webloggers all sharing the bandwidth bill. Content communism. jazz downloud

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Not funny
: Maher tries to find humor in a dead child. He fails. jazz downloud

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Flashmopes
: Says Jenny the Librarian:

You know flash mobs are "over" when they land on "Jim Mullen's Hot Sheet" in Entertainment Weekly (August 22/29, 2003, p. 12)"
"Flash mob: hundreds of people are alerted by text messaging to show up at a certain time, and they do! The only hard part is getting Mom to drive you there."

jazz downloud

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Subscribe to The Week
: There's a good cause behind these ads for The Week: If you subscribe, you prove that blogs can be good for business. So subscribe already. (More on this here)
: Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the plug.
: Bloggers: If you'd like to sell The Week as well, leave your name in the comments. If this test is successful, I'll pass on your name...jazz downloud

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The PC editor
: Watch the Orlando Sentinal's "public editor," Manning Pynn, twist his knickers in knots trying to justify not calling Hamas a "terrorist" organization.

In April, the committee adopted this standard: "Use caution when using these terms [militants, terrorists], which can show bias toward one side in a conflict. Generally, 'bombers,"attackers' or 'suicide bombers' are preferred terms."
The term "terrorist" certainly expresses judgment: It imputes to the person or organization being described the motive of trying to instill fear. "Militant" seems to me much more neutral. And that may be why the Sentinel, despite its style committee's decision, continues to use that term to describe Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Most of the news organizations I surveyed do the same.
I'm afraid that the horse is out of the barn on the labeling of al-Qaeda. Although journalists strive to avoid expressing bias in reporting the news, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, so shocked Americans -- including the news media -- that they almost universally applied the term "terrorism" to what had happened. I don't think the Sentinel will retreat from that.
Does that mean, though, that we should extend that judgment to all attacks on civilians? ...

Oh, man, if you can't tell a terrorist until he bombs your town, then you have a problem with language and logic. You're "afraid" that horse is out of the barn? Oh, that horse got blasted out of the barn long since.
See the post below on how PCthink is making a lie of news and art. This guy proves the point.jazz downloud

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Damn, scrap that convention junket
: Says Reuters:

Iraq has postponed to next April a trade fair aimed at attracting foreign companies to help rebuild the country, a senior official said on Monday, but he blamed a shortage of hotel rooms rather than security concerns.

jazz downloud

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Our man in Kabul
: Ben Hammersley files his first report from Kabul. Damn, I love having a blogger as witness; the viewpoint is fresher, more immediate, less sculpted, more human.

The contrast here between the destruction and the rebirth could not be more marked. The buildings are covered in bullet scars, the horizon is punctuated with bombed out neighbourhoods, and the runway at the airport is lined - and truly lined, like some twisted can-can troupe - with destroyed aircraft. But despite all that, every other shop in this neighbourhood is selling some form of technology. There’s a Dell dealership, with hand painted signs and no electricity; there are shops selling the latest Nokias and extolling the benefits of MMS; I passed a market stall selling pirated versions of Windows XP and the entire Adobe range, and that was next to an entire store of pirate DVDs. Kabul’s ancient position as the trading hub of Central Asia continues: these are the same discs I’ve seen for sale in both Iran and Bangkok for a couple of dollars each. No mac software, dammit. :-)

Go read the rest and getaloada the 9/11 commemmorative Afghan rug he bought.jazz downloud

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