Warmest Greetings,

:: Friday, January 31, 2003 ::

TipToe Through The Forum..SupportForums.org's Chris Ridings, author of PageRank Uncovered, has started a new search engine optimization forum with a few twists. It has a toolbar and a private forum area. Click on >>> SearchGuild.com to learn more.

Changes are occurring at SearchEngineForums.org too, including new ownership, so that Chris can pursue new endeavors. . Click here to learn about the changes >>> Ollee The Internet Owl

It's Nice To Be Noticed...About.com writer Jennifer Laycock mentions Cre8asiteForums in her latest article on search engine forums. "The recently launched Cre8asite Forums have only been online since the summer of 2002, but are already becoming recognized as a great place to share in some in-depth analysis of industry trends." Thank you to everyone who has been sending "Congratulations" emails.

Today is officially Chris Ridings' Day...Peter Da Vanzo interviews him in the next of SearchEngineBlog's famous SEO interviews. Click on >>> Chris Ridings Interview

A savvy Cre8asiteForums member pointed this out to me...kim krause sex goddess and seo sex goddess.

And even at this, Peter Da Vanzo won't interview me. (heh heh) And he's SO HANDSOME!!

Today's Favorite Email Message to Kim >>> "I'm just curious...how many marriage proposals do you now get in a day?"

Answer: Actually several a month on average. I simply have no idea why! :):)

It doesn't end here... For more news, including hot DMOZ stuff, click on Cre8pc.com

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/31/2003 07:12:13 AM

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:: Thursday, January 30, 2003 ::

Everybody's Jumping on the Bandwagon...Seems as though AOL wants to offer Blogs to its homepage users. Click on >>> New biz on the blog. "If recent rumours are to be believed, AOL is getting ready to add blogging to the homepage services it offers users in the next month or so." (snip) "Weblogs are one of the few things online still capable of generating both media buzz and bucks."

I bet Ted does NOT tell all in HIS blog... Click on >>> CNN founder Ted Turner is stepping down as vice chairman of AOL Time Warner."

Looking for the hottest discussions on SEO, Usability and Webdev? Click on >>> Cre8pc's Homepage where links to the top threads are updated regularly.

Last heard screaming on Cre8asiteForums..."I must have done something to piss off the google gods." Click on >>> Google sure is sticking it to us.

And lastly, tomorrow I get to announce some exciting news. But I have to wait. I've been sworn not to blab to anyone about this. But, you heard it here first - that the news is coming, that is.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/30/2003 09:14:29 AM

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:: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 ::

I'd Rather Be A WallFlower...but if you're one of the many who love to have a heart attack everytime Google re-indexes, you'll be interested in the Google Dance threads and articles from the party going on right now...

Click on >>> GoogleDance Article or

Chris Ridings analyzes this dance - "The more known about a factor is, the more likely people are to use it. The more likely people are to use it, the more likely it is to get abused. The more it gets abused, the less its weighting." or

Cre8asite Emergency Support Services - "The dance just started my site stayed right on the same page where it always was and has been for 2 years now! Oh my God!" and "OH MAN THIS SUCKS!!! my site just dropped 2 pages in www2! " plus more minute by minute live member accounts.

This blog entry is dedicated to Cre8asiteForums member, xelA, who has me laughing so hard I'm about to pee myself.

And finally. A clever way to look for a job.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/29/2003 12:52:46 PM

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:: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 ::

Company Policy Makes Smoking Safer Than Blogging...Although his fellow workers take cigarette breaks, this guy was fired for blogging at work. Click on >>> Man sacked for blogging

Yahoo! nuzzling Google down.... According to OneStat, the chess game continues between the two top search engines. Click on >>> Search engine war: Yahoo is back according to OneStat.com

And finally, pop a Pill.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/28/2003 09:29:22 AM

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:: Monday, January 27, 2003 ::

Hide and Go Seek...If your company uses Microsoft servers, you were s___t outta luck on Saturday when a SQL 2000 worm struck. If you needed anything online, website or email, that was connected in any way with a Microsoft server, you had to do something else on Saturday, like talk to people face to face or something. Click on>>> Experts try to track vicious 'Slammer' worm

An alternative to Overture and Google Ads...AskJeeves is now offering keyword bid advertising. Click on >>> The Ask Jeeves® Keyword Network

Shari Thurow, of Grantastic Designs, a longtime well known SEO/SEM expert, has written a book and launched a companion website along with it. Congratulations Shari! Click on >>> Search Engine Visibility to learn more.

In denial. Judge says "No" to SearchKing's motion for a preliminary injunction. "In addition to money damages, SearchKing also asked the court to order Google to restore its PageRank and to turn over the source code to its ranking engine. It was those requests that Judge Miles-LaGrange denied, at least for now." Click on >>> SearchKing update: preliminary injunction denied

Cha Cha Cha...The Google Dance is on! Click on >>> Google Dance to check where your website stands, or steps on someone's toes.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/27/2003 08:27:40 AM

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:: Friday, January 24, 2003 ::

But Can They Share A Bedroom? ... The age-old dilema of SEO vs Design, or SEO with Design is discussed by Eric Lander in Effective Visual Designs and Optimization – A Tough Pair to Combine. Quote: "When the processes and dissections of search engine optimization are stripped down to the basics, content and clean coding proves to be the most effective approach to SEO. Unfortunately, combining a stunning and effective visual design with clean and effectively optimized code – is difficult to accomplish."

Froogle Still In The Easy-Bake Oven...Top Site Listings author Jason Mills researches Google's Froogle, the retail shopping engine, and finds room for more improvements. Click on >>> Early Froogle BETA Shortcomings Quote: "There are a number of issues that must be addressed before Froogle will be able to establish itself as a reliable online shopping resource."

Peter Da Vanzo of SearchEngineBlog caught up with Ammon Johns and got him to talk about himself instead of SEM/SEO in his latest of interviews. Ammon quips, "I still suspect that half of your readers will have no clue who I am or why I'm here." Well, silly, that's because you went by the name "Black Knight" and everyone considered you their hero because you volunteered so much time behind the scenes teaching SEO in forums. (He still does, at Cre8asiteForums.com.) Click on >>> Question time with: Ammon Johns or visit Cre8asiteForums to see how handsome Ammon is without his suit of armour on.

PS. If Ammon is an unknown, then *I* definitely don't stand a chance in Jupiter of being a fascinating interview subject.

What a shame you have to pay a fee to get into the "relaxed" WMW forum. .. Whatever that means. See >>> Subscribe to WebmaserWorld

"I no longer want to know where my files are stored. I no longer care.... Here is all I want to see when I save a file:" Click on >>> OS Usability for a giggle or three.

And finally, stupid me. I thought the world wanted to find Osama Bin Laden. Guess George changed his mind. The world isn't pleased.

Oh yeah, and for Eric, who wished it had more white space and was kinder on the eyeballs, I dedicate the new UI for this Blog to you.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/24/2003 08:50:06 AM

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:: Thursday, January 23, 2003 ::

Whose "Opinion" Is Correct? Is Google PageRank a mathematical computation tool or popular opinion measurement device? Even the Judge wants to know. Click on >>> Judge's Ruling

Yet another reason to avoid frames in your navigation scheme...Click on SBC claims web navigation 'covered by patent

Google loses out to FAST as the search of choice...Click on >>> CareerBuilder Passes Up Google For Another Search Engine

And finally, in memory of Maurice Gibb of the BeeGees...In Memorium

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/23/2003 08:56:56 AM

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:: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 ::

Catch up on FAST and Teoma...Kalena does a nice job covering the latest changes and goodies that can be found in two of the top search portals. Click on >>> Search Engine News Blog. Thank you Kalena!

Can a search engine understand JavaScript after all? Maybe so. The risk is yours if you use JavaScript to disguise links, so says Chris Ridings of SupportForums.com. Click on >>> Warning, to read more.

Make them think...Ever wonder if shoving a product down a person's throat works as well as asking them to think about what that product could do for them? This article is a great find if you need food for thought on how to write effective marketing content for your website, or simply ask users for feedback. Click on >>> The Art of Asking the Right Questions

Today's Website Usability "Scary Website Trick" award ... (like I really give out these things everyday. Not!) goes to www.lefteardesign.com for its attempt to remove the browser, user controls, window resize option and use of a popup saying thank you for visiting when I didn't do anything more than bring up the URL.

Glitz and glamourous sites do not make website users happy if the site does all the driving and forces the user into the trunk of the car.

And lastly, Nosey Neighbor...this just totally cracked up. Who needs search engine optimization when you have a hilarious idea for a website? Click on >>> Red Neck Neighbor

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/22/2003 07:44:07 AM

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:: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 ::

Mitnick, Nitpick. He's Out. But, no need to watch your back, he says....Legendary hacker Mitnick to be released into cyberspace.. Is there such a thing as hacking into search engine algorithms?

Give Peace A Chance. Contrary to what World Leaders would have you think, most US citizens want nothing to do with war. Not since the Vietnam era anti-war protests has there been the numbers of protesters, so say onlookers of this past weekend's rallies. Why so many people coming out BEFORE a war even starts? The Internet. Somebody should give President Bush an Internet account. Click on >>> Internet Stokes Anti-War Movement .

Next stop, Woodstock 2003.

Picture this. Images for your website project. Click on >>> Photos.com for the relaunch of their stock photo site.

Friends. Microsoft and Sun join hands for a new deal. Click on >>> Microsoft, Sun deliver a joint plan. "Microsoft will obey a court order to distribute Sun's Java programming language in its Windows operating system." The Judge made them do it.

Exactly why would Yahoo! shoot itself in the foot? "The new emphasis on Google will improve the quality of Yahoo’s searches. However, now that the results are identical to Google, there is no unique competitive advantage to use Yahoo. Additionally, Yahoo will start to loose significant income, as webmasters will no longer use Yahoo’s paid Express Submit. By some estimates, Express Submit nets over $200,000 a day." Click on >>> Yahoo changes to have major impact on SEO strategies

And finally, a celebration of the work of famous artist, Al Hirschfeld, who died in his sleep at age 99. Click on >>> Al Hirschfeld to pay homage, and view an online exhibit of some of this work.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/21/2003 08:20:02 AM

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:: Monday, January 20, 2003 ::

Enough Government Haggling... "He said the bill could save US business $9bn a year by requiring spammers to provide an unsubscribe option to those they spam. "Harsh" penalties would be imposed on spammers who try to spoof their identities to evade detection, he said. Click on >>> US senate takes aim at spam, spectrum, broadband

Yes, but how will we know the unsubscribe invitation isn't bogus?

Enter "MailFilter... Click on >>> Programmers aim to hit spammers where it hurts - "At the (MIT) conference at least, MailFilter, which is still in alpha testing, was being seen as the great white hope for battling the escalating spam problem."

Recently heard on Cre8asiteForums..."In the past couple of days I have realized that a little more cre8asite BEFORE getting started, could save a bunch of redo/rewrite/rethinking that I am into now."

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/20/2003 11:09:26 AM

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:: Sunday, January 19, 2003 ::

Spam + Ham = Jam

Ever wonder why we name things after food? Unsolicited email is spam, welcome email is ham, and too much of any of it cause a jam. This, and other intelligent valuable contributions, could be heard at MIT's conference on Spam. Where they ate email for lunch. Click on >>> MIT Conference Takes Aim at Spam E-Mails.

"Altogether, spam costs U.S. businesses $8.9 billion and European businesses $2.5 billion annually, according to a study released this month by San Francisco-based Ferris Research."

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/19/2003 10:24:29 AM

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:: Friday, January 17, 2003 ::

More Gator Scum

If you haven't heard this news yet, inform yourself now >>> Search engines get "Gatored. "If someone did a search on Google, they likely don't expect to get a bunch of results coming from Overture," (Danny) Sullivan (of SearchEngineWatch.com) said. "From the advertiser's point of view, there may be concern that these kinds of ads will not perform as well for you. From users' standpoint, they are probably not excited about getting a pop-under window because they're often not welcome."

And for some Positive News...we have Gimpsy, one of the newer contenders in the search technology realm. Instead of giving up in the face of some big name competitors, Gimpsy focused on improvements. Take another look at all the improvements, starting with the announcement here >>> A Revamped Gimpsy and take it for another test drive while you're there.

I really feel for ya Billy. "Linux continues to be a threat to our server business. The ramifications of free software to our business model should be obvious to everybody," Connors said. Microsoft announces earnings but still fears the little people. Click on >>> Revenue

Thank God for Democrats."Our country must fight terrorists, but America should not unleash virtual bloodhounds to sniff into the financial, educational, travel and medical records of millions of Americans,'' Wyden said. ``Congress ought to step in and put the brakes on this program now, before it grows unchecked and unaccountable." Click on this news from Washington >>> Senators vow to halt `data mining' project

Want more? Click >>>Cre8pc News

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/17/2003 10:48:18 AM

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:: Thursday, January 16, 2003 ::

Watch Your Back ... Kalena Jordan of HighSearchEngineRanking.com warns in her Blog about one's website stats being fodder for nosy people. Check out her experience and see if it applies to you too. Click on >>> Think your site statistics are safe?

Made in China .... Popular blogger website "Blogspot" has been banned in China. Chinese bloggers have no access to their blogs. Click on >>> China blocks Internet blogs

Geek link >>>Tek-Tips Forums. Get in while it's still free.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/16/2003 08:57:54 AM

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:: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 ::

No Class Act

What happens when people buy domains that closely resemble a popular one? They build stupid websites that suck, that's what. Case in point, I typed in SearchEngineWatch.com, but forgot the "e". Instead, I typed in "www.searchenginwatch.com" and got back a website that dares to call itself a search engine. If you type in something it's never heard of before (which happened on my first several tests), it brings back an ad. The domain points to another completely different domain the moment you perform a search. And a search for "search engine watch" or "searchenginewatch.com" on this site brings back 5 sites, none of which are the one I asked for. In fact the latter sends me to an ad for the Yellow Pages.

If you want to do something positive and productive today, place your vote for the most popular search engines in many categories. Click on >>> The 2002 Search Engine Watch Awards. This is your opportunity to let search engine portal companies know how you really feel about their products.

Not surprisingly, the sorry search site I found today isn't in the running.

If voting doesn't make you happy, you may be curious to learn you may need more than a new car, house or sports to make yourself burst with joy. The formula to happiness is:

Happiness = P + (5xE) + (3xH)

P stands for Personal Characteristics, including outlook on life, adaptability and resilience.

E stands for Existence and relates to health, financial stability and friendships.

And H represents Higher Order needs, and covers self-esteem, expectations, ambitions and sense of humour.

Click on >>> The formula for happiness

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/15/2003 12:33:30 PM

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:: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 ::

Rebel Yell

If you can't be in Google's shoes, scream and stomp on them instead. Click on >>> Google's Gaggle of Problems

"For Google, though, the honeymoon may be over. A customer rebellion seems to be brewing. (snip) Company executives declined interview requests."

You Love Me!

Google Labs has come out with another nifty little toy. Find out what people are saying about you. Click on >>> Google WebQuotes

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/14/2003 08:26:04 AM

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:: Monday, January 13, 2003 ::

What Do Viagra, Nigeria and the US Military Have in Common?

SPAM!

The latest in covert propaganda turns the Internet into an instrument of mass desperation. Click on >>> US.mil launches Operation Desert Spam

or view the letter *I* wrote on behalf of the US Military here >>> Cre8asiteRant

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/13/2003 05:18:34 PM

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"You can't occupy valuable mindshare by simply *saying* something unique, though. You've got to *have* something unique."

Here's a gem from Andrew Goodman of Traffick.com. A must-read if you're an SEO, or dream of getting your website into search portals. Click on >>> Differentiation Can Be Brutal in the Web Search Business

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/13/2003 09:15:21 AM

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By the way. Peter was the first intelligent person to use the NEW "Got News" button on Cre8pc.com to send me news. I have a thing for really smart men who can push my buttons...

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/13/2003 08:38:45 AM

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He's Back!

Peter Da Vanzo returns from his long holiday break by cranking up his SearchEngineBlog. Glad to see you back in the saddle again, Peter!
Click on >>> Peter's Predictions for 2003 for funny stuff like "There will not be a major IPO by a major search engine. Instead, they will start a hippie commune and just "be good, man".

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/13/2003 08:35:44 AM

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:: Friday, January 10, 2003 ::

And if that isn't enough for ya...

Click on >>> "After reading Google's response to the SK lawsuit, I'm confirmed in my belief that Google is a threat to the World Wide Web."

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/10/2003 09:29:08 AM

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It's My Opinion That Counts and That's Final?

Now that the legal papers on the SearchKing vs Google are available to read (for a mere $20, mind you), some people are taking another look at Bob Massa's claims. Chris Ridings, who gained fame by unlocking the mysteries of Google PageRank, took another look and this caught my eye because it echos what others have been thinking or feeling.

"For Google no longer represent the idealised statements in their research project or on their site. They are no longer making measurements or assessing the opinion of a whole. They are beginning to be about their opinions, them, what they think and this becomes the (whether legal or moral) argument for being able to do whatever they like. Court case or not, whether they win or not, that is worrying and something that must be fundamentally changed or they will go the same as Altavista."

This fits with my own hunch that the once idealistic, Linux farm Google is going the way of other dotcoms that realized they had bills to pay. Google IS losing favor among many webmasters due to the threat of site/page penalization and low PageRank scores that appear suspiciously like censorship. Warranted or not, the very idea of what a search engine is has come under scrutiny. Search engines stopped being objective when pay for inclusion/rank dominated search results. With the possibility that Google PageRank, on an engine that doesn't charge for inclusion, is more closely related to an opinion than an actual formula-based metric, the ability to search without bias, or submit pages without fear, may be gone forever.

Click on >>> SupportForums.org Entry for January 10 to read more of Chris's ponderings on the court case.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/10/2003 09:14:23 AM

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:: Thursday, January 09, 2003 ::

Get Real. Make It Usable.

It's always amazed me, even before I became a usability fanatic, how many software development companies completely ignore their customers. They THINK their bases are covered because someone in marketing is telling them so, but Marketing isn't doing usability testing. They don't know how the thing works. They just sell it. In one case, after spending $150,000 for a webdesign firm to redesign a website, I sat down one of the big bosses and asked him to find the one thing most users come to the website to find. He couldn't find it. He couldn't figure out how to find it. He was shocked. I made my point, but the frustrating thing was that I, and others, had been trying to make this point all along. Nobody listened to us. The whole project went back to the drawing board, $150,000 went down the drain and more money was invested to do the job right.

If you still don't believe in usability, and knowing just EXACTLY what users do on a website or that how they operate Internet software is critical to the success of the product, and the failure of dotcoms hasn't convinced you, then perhaps the data in this article will put some sense into your head. Of course, that would mean someone with power actually reads this Blog.

Not! (So I'll just arm you all with ammunition.)

Click on >>> Return on Investment for Usability

"Summary: Development projects should spend 10% of their budget on usability. Following a usability redesign, websites increase usability by 135% on average; intranets improve slightly less."

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/09/2003 11:06:00 AM

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:: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 ::

Toodles Mystery Continues...

So. Is it a PR0 because it's a page in birth, or penalized because we pee'd on the party, or part of the normal gestational period of a page in "that popular search engine"..?

Here's another take on the subject. Click on >>> SupportForums.com "Keeping An Open Mind"

More fun reading about conspiracy theories here >>> CounterPunch.org "Searching for Daniel Brandt"

"I got kicked off of one of the webmaster (www.webmasterworld.com) forums for being too anti-Google."

This, alas, could be the least of our worries...

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/08/2003 09:48:19 AM

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:: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 ::

Pandia Awards Give A Nod to Cre8asiteForums.com

Pandia.com has just announced their awards and WebMasterWorld has won for Best Search Engine Discussion Forum. But, (insert Rebel Yell here), the Forum I started with a group of SEO/Webdev friends, Cre8asiteForums.com has been mentioned as well as a forum to "Look out for."

We're thrilled! Congratulations to ihelpu Forums too, and Danny Sullivan's SearchEngineWatch.com who were also noted or honored by Pandia. WebmasterWorld has had a banner year. Congratulations to them as well. To the members of Cre8asiteForum, we couldn't accomplish anything without your participation, so thank you!

Special thanks to Robert Clough of SearchEngineGuide.com for interrupting me from working to tell me the great news...

Click here for >>> Pandia Awards 2002

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/07/2003 12:25:43 PM

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Toodles Censorship or Paranoia?

Are you one of the poor folks discovering that a certain search engine, which I'll refer to as "Toodles", has PR0'd any page on your site that says anything negative about it?

The entire December archive of this Blog just got penalized. It's not alone. Click on >>> (Name Deleted) Gets Sinister!

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/07/2003 09:28:40 AM

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:: Monday, January 06, 2003 ::

To Zeus or not to Zeus?

Cyber-Robotics owner, David Notestine, is always defending Zeus, the linking software tool that's helped many webmasters find compatible websites to link with. But, with Google penalizing links pages and throwing doubt on what's "safe" to use, webmasters are growing nervous and reluctant to take risks. Cre8asiteForums invited David to talk about Zeus and address these concerns, which he kindly did in a detailed written response. (Click below.)

Some snips:
"'Link Popularity' is a term mostly used by search engine marketers and though Zeus does enhance it, It's not what Zeus is about."

"In August of this year, I gave the presentation on 'Link Building Tools' at Internet.com and Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Strategies Conference
in San Jose, CA.

While there, I talked to Matt Cutts of Google about Zeus (one of many
times), after his presentation, to the attendees of SES. He stated that
Google is happy with the quality and theme tightness of Zeus directories.
He said that Google did not have ANY problems with Zeus directories,
as long as the Zeusmaster did not misuse the Zeus software product with
bad intent."

Free download to try, click on >>> Download Zeus

To read David's response at length, click on >>> Zeus and Googe, David Notestine Responds

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/06/2003 03:37:54 PM

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Make It User Friendly

"Did you know that nearly 20 percent of all Web users have some form of disability? "

Robin Nobles writes a good article that hits some basics to remember...Issues for SEO's: Making Pages Friendly to People with Disabilities

Contains links to resources, including this gem: Accessibility

Also, did you here this? Click on >>> Bush signs new act with benefits for web accessibility.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/06/2003 09:55:08 AM

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:: Friday, January 03, 2003 ::

Come Again?

Yet another odd one from the software Google employees developed while doing mushrooms:

"seo is a young man in constant forward motion"

Click on >>> Googlism for SEO to see more stuff that makes no sense whatsoever.

Yep. This is a company well worth investing in.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/03/2003 02:28:49 PM

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Ta Da! Something Useful

Already tired of 2003 predictions and Yahoo!/Inktomi/Google taking over the world news, I went out in search of something interesting. Found this, by Chris Ridings, that he compiled last August. It's one of those nice little lists that belongs in your SEO bag of tricks (although, of course, none of us would ever call them "tricks".)

"Recently events have meant it made sense for me to generate a list of possible search engine ranking factors. Many engines suggest there are around 100. I've got to 63, feel free to add!"

Click on >>> Ranking Factors

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/03/2003 10:04:27 AM

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:: Thursday, January 02, 2003 ::

Down Under and The Last To Know, If You Use Netscape in Australia

Click on >>> Note to Australians: In Case Of Terrorism, Be Sure To Be Using Internet Explorer.

Guess switching to Opera is also out of the question?

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/02/2003 09:27:56 AM

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So Mature

So. This little Blog is in with the cool 'Net kids. At least for 2003. So says...Tiffany Shlain, founder and director of the Webby Awards, in From blogs to news, Internet watcher sees Web maturing

"For Ms. Shlain, the biggest developments of 2002 included the rise in instant messaging and the proliferation of Web logs (or "blogs"). Blogs are regularly updated Web journals that address specific issues and offer links to similar sites. Observers estimate there are about 500,000 blogs currently on-line. Evan Williams, who runs Blogger.com, told Wired News that 41,000 new blogs were created last January alone.

"What blogging has brought back to the Web is that initial beauty of connecting to other sources of information," Ms. Shlain says. "The Web started in the academic community, to share ideas, and we're going back to that."

Ms. Shlain feels that the Internet could eventually supersede television as the source for late-breaking news, referring to the Washington sniper crisis as an example of people turning to the Web for updated reports."

I WANT MY BLOG TV! (Sung to the tune of "I Want My MTV") of course.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 1/02/2003 09:23:46 AM

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