Eubie's notes

A Chicago Tribune writer changes name and profession of a source quoted about a riot by Aborigines in Sydney. Reader complains, papers investigates, paper suspends writer, writer says he did it to protect the source and has no regrets. This is the quote: “These people always complain. They want it both ways ? their way and our way. They want to live in our society and be respected, yet they won’t work. They steal, they rob and they get drunk. And they don’t respect the laws.”

To me the quote is proof of why the name and profession should not be changed. So who was he protecting?

Lost Remote: 31% of Internet users were online as the watched Academy Awards on TV. Sounds like wireless internet access and laptops are mainstream. Also I read recently that ESPN had designed its web site for viewers who are online as they watch its shows.

NY Times: Medicare and Social Security Challenge. Analysis article saying both systems will be broke and that politicians continue to ignore the problem. Article was on the heels of comments by the Fed’s Greenspan that Social Security benefits need to be trimmed. Bigger issue is Medicare because of the uncertainty of how much medical costs will rise in future decades.

With today’s virus du jour creating email headaches and Boston Globe joining other newspapers, including the N.Y. Times, that offer RSS feeds, this article from AP, Enthusiasts Call Web Feed Next Big Thing, is just more confirmation.

Dallas Business Journal: Patients’ Rx: fast food?: Giving the term ‘hospital food’ a whole new meaning. “More and more Dallas-Fort Worth hospitals are resembling shopping-mall food courts, with retail kiosks and counters offering everything from Subway sandwiches and McDonald’s fries to Starbucks coffee.”

Current: Jennifer Government by Max Barry
Finished: George Washington’s Christmas Farewell by Stanley Weintraub

Audio books
Current: Lost victories the military genius of Stonewall Jackson by Bevin Alexander
Finished: What Went Wrong? : The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis.

Wall Street Journal covers the tests by power companies of delivering high-speed access through power lines. Earthlink is testing in the Raleigh area and Cinergy is testing BPL, or broadband over power line, in Cincinnati area. The cost of access through power lines is expected to be cheaper than cable or DSL.

Reuters: Nearly Half of U.S. ‘Net Users Post Content – Report summarizes latest report from Pew Internet & American Life Project. Most common ways to create content is posting photos and offering music to download. Survey showed 2 percent have created blogs and 11 percent read blogs. The Pew study found 53 million adults, or 44 percent of Internet users, have created content in some way or another. That would mean more than 13 million American read blogs and 2.4 million blog.

Bloggers were upset over AP’s coverage Study: Blogging Still Infrequent, including Jarvis.

Kansas City Business Journal: Rural carriers worry about VoIP disconnecting access fees.

The issue will continue to grow as major companies offer service. From news.com:
AT&T to launch VoIP nationwide, which is expected to cost less than $40 a month.

Clay Shirky writing on VoIP: “It’s clear what the consumers want — the maximum amount of experimentation with all sorts of models, and not being forced to choose between new features and backwards compatibility. However, telephony regulation is notoriously resistant to user demands — neither the FCC nor state regulators are elected, and neither group is very responsive to citizen action.”

Steve Outing writes in Editor and Publisher about how journalists and their employers deal with personal blogs. Most journalists let their bosses know. A few keep it secret and write as anonymously as possible.

Some papers, such as the N.Y. Times, are strict about limiting blogs by their news staff. Other papers follow similar rules to their free-lancing guidelines.

A personal look at a reporter’s blog and his paper’s reaction is Daniel Weintraub’s article in Online Journalism Review. His blog covered politics, which is also his job with The Sacramento Bee. His blog become part of his work with the paper, and there was close cooperation with his editors. His column created a debate among bloggers about whether blogs should be edited.