Governor Rebound

The last 30+ days have been watershed for New York Governor David Paterson. As the Senate coup and the resulting political cacaphony began to make the Governor look more like a village idiot, Paterson snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by announcing he would appoint former MTA Commissioner Richard Ravitch as Lieutenant Governor!

Friday afternoon I was to have interviewed Richard Ravitch for WAMC News. The Governor's press people kept calling me and saying "there will be a short delay" --- 5 minutes became 10 --- 10 became 20 --- and finally, "he's not going to be able to speak with you...meetings are running over into other meetings..." Ah, that's okay. It's politics and things can get hectic in a heartbeat. I had a great batch of questions prepared for RR, and hopefully he'll be able to answer them some time this week.

The Sunday Times Union paints a picture of Paterson, "the first black and blind governor" as positioned to enjoy a "rensissance" thanks to public perception that his appointing Ravitch jump-started the chaotic Senate into taking action to break the 31-31 deadlock. Quoting the TU's Lawrence C. Levy: "...the appointment of Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor changed everything. It didn't matter that Paterson's legal authority to do so was questionable at best. It didn't matter that one of the state's most popular democrats, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, had declared the move unconstitutional... The Ravitch gambit put Paterson squarely with the people in showing he was 'mad as hell,'... Paterson's approval rating should be on the way up..." And THAT, my friends, is what we must wait and see about. Did the Senators carry their clownery far enough over the top that it restored public faith in the Governor? Stay tuned!

Tags: Governor David Paterson, NY Politics

Is all of this Tweeting, Blogging and "Lifestreaming" really necessary?

Technology Burps! Digital gremlins must be dancing with glee. Saturday morning I sent out a tweet that didn't post for two hours. Seven more tweets sent from my cell phone never appeared on twitter. Was it the cell carrier or twitter? Last night when I checked posterous, an article I posted with text and photo never made it onto there, except for the title, making me look stupid since posterous feeds into my LiveJournal blog and gods know where else!

Factor out the so-called A-List bloggers like Michelle Malkin, Xiaxue and TechCrunch: the average blog is read by less than 30 people a day! A lot of bloggers have gotten caught up in the frenzied debate over tweeting, friendfeeding and this "lifestreaming" concept...

From what I have observed so far, nothing kills an online presence (or a blogger's number of tabulated daily hits) faster than a switch to "Lifestreaming." While it may be the darling of the 3.0 crowd, the rest of the online world is still into blogging, and now tweeting and FaceBooking...

AUGUST 2008: Sarah Perez, in The Future of Blogging Revealed, seems to have everyone jumping on a bandwagon --- that's going nowhere fast --- she wrote about how and why blogging was dying and "Lifestreaming" was ready to take its place as "everyone's preferred method of communication." (*yawn*) That was almost a year ago, a century in "internet time," and while more people may be tinkering with "Lifestreaming" its more akin to "being a Civil War buff" versus "having a FaceBook (or MySpace) page" or tweeting.

Many say they are convinced Twitter is now a vital journalistic tool for both reporting events and breaking down barriers between legacy media and its audiences.

Although twitter certainly enjoyed a "rush" this year, and may who formerly called MySpace their HQ jumped to Facebook as they embraced twitter and friendfeed, "Lifestreaming" is still several steps down the ladder from blogging.

WHY ARE MYSPACE MEMBERS BRANCHING OUT? I hadn't been on my MySpace in awhile... I was shocked to find that "something" had happened to the neat, easy to load page that I had designed.

One of my dissatisfactions with MySpace had always been that some pages were way too "busy," took too much time to load, and overextended beyond page borders i.e. you had to scroll not only up and down but ACROSS to view the page, and it was impossible to view all at once or even print to fit a regular sheet of copy paper.

Now MY page is "overloading" beyond the bordering frames. WTF?!? Another thing I immediately noticed was that many of my "friends" have inserted their twitter URLS into their displayed names accompanying their pictures. They're in essence telling me "move along... my action is now on twitter."

Picking up material again from The Perez article: "Lifestreaming Is The Always On Blog...There was a time when casual, personal blogging was your way to communicate with your friends on the web. Via posts, commenting, and blogrolls, bloggers formed niche communities on the web to socialize with each other. Today, new tools provide that same level of socialization - perhaps even better than blogging ever could. Via micro-blogging sites like Twitter, every quick thought or link can be shared with your community of followers and you can see theirs, too. You can join and exit the never-ending conversation at your leisure. Plus, other social sites like FriendFeed provide today's new discussion boards where conversation occurs surrounding the items posted and shared, leading to even more of a community feel, and one that's drawing more users every day."

Well, yes, and NO... commenting and blogrolls are still in fashion, and there have been (and still are) blogs that really get the forum groove on within their "comments" sections. Think XiaXue, Michelle Malkin, Bobby Revell. Twitter and FriendFeed certainly HELP: I've added my recent 5 tweets to the top right hand sidebar in this humble weblog, and a few weeks ago, after twitter had that little meltdown, I joined FriendFeed (and I'm lovin' it)! Say, isn't blogging part of one's lifestream? Lifestreaming is defined as a sum (digest?) of your activities. Blogging is one of your activities.

By far, the most interesting part of the Perez article is the COMMENTS section! Just a few samples:

"I don't think life streaming will replace blogging. Twitter for example is interesting and almost addictive but it has no depth. For myself one of the great things with twitter is when people I am following point me in the direction of a great blog or post they have found."

"The quickest way for a blogger to loose it's dedicated readership is to move to life streaming. I dont give a shit if you just took a shit on a train, I read a blog because there is something of value there (like this post). 6.5 billion lifestreams is nothing more than than a river of mud."

"Many blogs have become pseudo magazine publishing sites (Engadget, Techcrunch) - the personal, communicative element has been totally eroded there. I think sites like LiveJournal are truer to the roots of blogging. ie blog = weblog = web log"

"I don't mind lifesteaming, but ultimately most of us aren't going to care about the day to day lives of people we don't know."

Should People Kill Their Blogs in Favor of Lifestreaming? The short answer is NOPE! As for the twitterer in you, you might want to follow Justin Korn's advice and get your services together all in a row...

Tags: Lifestream, web3.0

Fallen Angel

Nadja Benaissa, who sold more than 5 million records and performed concerts around the world with No Angels, was accused of having unprotected sex with three men in 2004 and 2006, knowing that she was HIV positive. No-Angels-Sängerin spricht erstmals über HIV-Infektion ... Plattenfirma: Haftbefehl gegen No-Angels-Nadja aufgehoben

That's got be difficult to live with... but look at Magic Johnson, who claims to have had HIV for YEARS now! He's looking good... BTW if you Google "No Angels" youtube you'll find a lot of their material. "Forever Yours" is my favorite. Pretty good stuff!

HIV Kenya discusses HIV and circumcision

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Poopernet

A few weeks back I riding a CDTA bus along Central Avenue. There was a group of young teenaged boys and girls on board engaged in a lively discussion about MySpace and the internet. I overheard one girl say to her friend "texting is the shit!" I wish she could read THIS!

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My Lifestream Flow-Chart Model

Back on June 26th, noted blogger Steve Rubel gave his followers a look at his "lifestreaming workflow." He presented a graphic chart where he outlined how he divvied up his favorite web services and presented three categories:

Capture:: This is where I collect my inspiration for content and create it. I am increasingly using Friendfeed as a front-end filter for all my social network content. I read feeds in Google Reader. I build mindmaps using Mindmeister and Mindnode. Finally, I create media on my iPhone - text using WriteRoom, sound using the voice recorder, and photos/videos using the camera.

Process:: Everything lands in Gmail and/or Evernote. I email feed items to myself that get tagged. I subscribe to certain Friendfeed lists that I have set up in Gmail. Finally, I am experimenting using Zemanta to find related content.

Share and Connect:: Then I email items into Posterous - text, images, audio, videos. These automatically populate certain social networks depending on the address I send them to (this is a Posterous feature). Comments come back to me in Gmail both on the site and through searches. I learn what you have to say and then that too gets stored.

That particular flow may work for Mr. Rubel, but for my needs it is flawed. I went ahead and made my own chart. Like the Rubel Chart, everything gravitates toward Google. But there is a difference... can you see what it is?



...keeping my #1 rule "always have a back-up" in mind, evrything still gravitates toward Google, but if Google suddenly vanished from the picture, nothing would catastrophically collapse.

Everything in the red circle is my personal interconnected web-presence. See "MyBlogLog" on the edge, just penetrating the red circle? If I lost Google, GMail and Blogger, "MyBlogLog" (which contains my Yahoo email and chat) could immediately step in. If you look at the header of this blog, you'll see my "About" link goes directly to my "MyBlogLog" profile.

My back-up blog is my LiveJournal, which captures material posted on Posterous. MySpace exists outside any circle because it is my channel to certain friends and musicians relevant to my DJ persona.

The blue circle contains my professional and work-related sites. They are not interconnected, although they could be if needed.

But again, what happens if you LOSE any of your content, especially your blog? Hmmm... I do have software on the computer I'm blogging from that can save an entire blog from day one, and it can be viewed in a browser, but who would really care about it except for me? Below is a comment on Steve Rubel's log from one of his readers expressing this fear, followed by his reply:

Krishna De said... Your post was a good reminder to me of Posterous which I had set up almost a year ago. I know there are things that just don't make the cut for my blog and that I want to add multimedia when travelling and just with my Blackberry with me so I have gone back today to revisit Utterli and Posterous to decide which to use.
My only concern on using a hosted service is that no matter how good it is, if there is no back up my content could disappear overnight as happened with Magnol.ia earlier this year.
Have you considered this Steve or isn't it an issue for you?
Jun 28, 2009
Steve Rubel said... @Krishna, I absolutely did. First, everything is backed up in Gmail. Second, Posterous has said that all content will be exportable. So, should they go belly up, I can port my content to Wordpress or some other solution.

See? Always have a backup, always have a "Plan B" - and if you really wanted to, you could do what one blogger I know does: every day she prints her blog: just the newest "front page" and places the printed papers in a box. I won't tell you how many boxes she has accumulated since 2003. Again, the question arises, is anyone really going to care about all this blogged printed stuff one, two or three years from now? Or when the blogger dies? Unless she becomes famous, we have so much information out there in cyberspace already, too much to read, too much to digest at times!

Tags: Lifestream, Steve Rubel

Around The Blogosphere 11 July 09

When I was poking around the Capitol on Friday, I met Times Union writer reporter blogger Casey Seiler. His wife makes awesome Chocolate Chip cookies!

Ndesanjo Macha blogs in Global Voices about President Barack Obama's use of new media... Obama is visiting Ghana 10-11 July. It is his first historic visit to Sub-Saharan Africa: he is using tools like Twitter, Facebook and SMS to speak directly to Africans.

Twitter Suspends Accounts of Users With Infected Computers - Twitter has been (and will likely continue to) suspend accounts of users whose computers have fallen victim to a well-known piece of malicious software that targeted other sites such as Facebook & MySpace. The malware, Koobface, is designed to spread itself by checking to see if person is logged into a social network. It will then post fraudulent messages on Twitter. Here's something else to ponder: ImageShack Hacked by Anti-sec Movement

If you're living green and into twitter, check out Green Girl!

Juldyz writes about the Kazakhstani rock band that has managed to get through selection process and perform on the prestigious international rock-fest.

Adam writes about Mamer, a musician and ethnic Kazakh from Xinjiang, who has already become a celebrity in China and Europe, but remains totally unknown in Kazakhstan.

Keeping up with the latest BUZZwords? Recessionspeak: Your guide to our new vocabulary

Waiting for opening day? Love and Lust, Harry Potter-Style

TIME Magazine -- U.S. Edition -- March 19, 1984 Vol. 123 No. 12

"A sickening cover story on Jackson in the March 19 Time takes as its theme that there is something wonderful about being an incompetent human being." - Michael Kinsley

Half his life ago, at age 25, Michael Jackson was a media darling: "The numbers, which are incredible, are also becoming indelible. How many Beatles were there? How many homers did Babe Ruth hit? How many Grammy Awards did Michael Jackson win on Feb. 28? How many copies of Thriller have been sold? Well, the Grammys are easy. Jackson won an unprecedented eight. The album question is tricky, simply because the record keeps selling, long past the point anyone expected it to: Epic Records sells more than a million copies a week worldwide; to date it has sold more than 30 million copies." - Time Magazine

Poor dead Jacko! Hardly any fan support in the way of purchasing his product ober the last 20 years or so. His demise is making SOMEBODY rich. Clueless people are paying to download Jackson mp3s by the bazillions, as if they were going to suddenly disappear in a New York Minute.

Is that what the Internet has taught us? To be hoarders of digital material, dysfunctionally distrustful of the web? That may be why those web-based operating systems eventually will fail. You never can be ceratin that something won't happen to the servers holding your data, photos, music, etc. Once it is gone, it may be gone forever!

TOP SECRET! You don't have to spend your dollars, euros, pesos, pounds or yen on the coveted March 1984 Michael Jackson article in TIME. READ IT FOR FREE (until Time figures out they can make money charging people to read it!) The actual title of the article is "Why he's a Thriller" --- STOP! Did you know that as far back as March 1984, people were asking serious questions about Mr. Wacko Jacko?

Michael J. has developed weird androgynous looks and a high falsetto voice. He favors an eccentric half-military, half-debutante style of dress. His keepers deny that he takes female sex hormones, but admit that he's had plastic surgery to give his face a softer look. Does he mind appearing schizophrenic? "I don't mind. I feel I'm Peter Pan as well as Methuselah, and a child."

That quote comes from an april 16, 1984 article in The New Republic, entitled THE PRISONER OF COMMERCE, written by Michael Kinsley.

RELATED:
How many Grammys has Michael Jackson won?

1987 'BAD' Interview

Tags: Michael jackson in Time Magazine, Time Magzaine March 1984

5 Dollars Well-Spent

Early this year Newsmax magazine offered a "free gift emergency radio" along with a 4 issue trial subscription. I took the bait and spent around 5 bucks for shipping and handling. I like the little radio. It's a little toy-ish, and the analog-style tuner seems fragile to the touch. That might be a good thing: I once had a CCrane radio with a digital display. I loved the radio but the display crapped out after only two years. While not as good as the sound was on the CCR, the sound on the "newsmax" set is excellent!

It has FM, AM and short wave, perfectly fitting my listening needs. There's a hand-crank, which is exactly what it is there for: an emergency. I don't mind plunking down spare $ for a couple of batteries. There's a built-in flashlight, headphone jack and AC adapter plug. Albany area reception is excellent: I'm picking up CBS6 on its new FM signal loud and clear! WAMC 90.3 FM, 1400 AM and CAP9 900am too... the only fuzzy signal is 810 WGY. 770 from New York comes in about the same. New York City's abundance of radio stations makes it difficult to zero in on some frequencies. 770 and 880 are strongest on AM, while WPLJ and Hot97 rule the FM band. Of course once the sun goes down. the 49 and 41 meter bands blossom!

Tags: newsmax.com, newsmax

Don't blink. You'll miss something.

Have you seen the TV commercial for Latisse.com? This type of topical application was the stuff of science fiction not too many years back. Makes me wonder what other breakthroughs are out there in research or "test" mode. Back in Leonardo Da Vinci's day few men dared to dream to the extent Leo did. All things are surely possible!

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The Art of Collaboration

I've discovered a flaw in the "lifestream" model. I believe that I have also found a way to defeat that flaw. Developing... Check back in a day or two for an update.

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End of the rainbow?

How long will it take for humanity to blend into a single race? How many years? Or... Could new "races" develop? I'm thinking at least 400 years for an ethnic mixdown. But what if the "opposite" were to happen? What if war or some natural disaster cut off isolated pockets of people? From that could there emerge "new" races? Keep in mind that despite our vast differences in appearance, genetic markers indicate we all came from one original ancestral family. Changes came with migration over extended periods of time. Comments?

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What Am I Doing?

Darned critics! Here's text from one: "Self-proclaimed 'Blogger Queen' (or whatever she calls herself), Xiaxue aka Wendy Cheng, seems to have lost her Midas touch, yes? No?" D'oh! The correct answer is NO! Looks like XiaXue has survived and is doing better than ever! Which is more than we can say about the "awesome" blogger who posted that back in January 2008! Think that was bitter? Listen to this!

Now, howzabout Five Fantastic Friendfeed Filters for Flow from Micro Persuasion?

Justin Korn: Instant Updates On Any Topic From Around The Web!

I've finally figured out how Posterous is going to fit in as part of my online activities. I have renamed the blog "Dave Lucas RAW ...:::LIFESTREAMING:::..." and it will be/is what it says: material that just kinda gets thrown up there and if it sticks it could land someplace else. Maybe here, maybe somehwere else in the cybergalaxy.

Steve Rubel: Conversation of the Day: Is Twitter "Awful?"

I'm putting this on my "projects to-do" list!

Ghost Town

The Capitol in downtown Albany is dead as a doornail this morning. Yesterday's return of Senator Pedro Espada restored the denocratic majority. The Senate convened, passing over 130 bills before adjourning near 2am. Still to be taken up: the issues of mayoral control and gay marriage. I've been told that a session today is not likely. It is anticipated that Gov. Paterson will withdraw his proclamation for a special session and legislators will head back to their home districts, perhaps coming back to Albany on Monday or Tuesday. For more on Sen. Espada, see davelucas.posterous.com

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Pop Clips10 July 09

Kenyans in Central New York explain WHY, For Kenyans, running is a way of life...

One of my favorite topics: Tesla! The Reference Frame looks into the biography of ingenious Czech inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), and discusses his role for the development of science and industry. If Tesla were alive today, he'd be 152!

What do Britney Spears, Santa, Jesus, ex-convicts, whales and Wall Street all have in common? They were the subjects of award-winning work in the 2009 NYF Radio Awards! View the complete list of winners in PDF format HERE.

Hareega marks four years of blogging...

Chinese authorities arrested a university economics professor in Beijing after he posted reports about the riots in Xinjiang on his blog.

I'm still not sure what I'll be posting on Posterous. I was thinking along the lines of work-related material?

Fake Plastic Souk's Alex McNabb posts a list of what he says are Dubai's best blogs, according to Dubai Sunshine, who republished the list.

Bunch of Links:

• The Top 50 Productivity Blogs Of The Year
• Hadopi 2 – La loi 2 fois plus puante
• Hellfest Libre
• FileBox eXtender - keep favorite folders at your fingertips
• Direct Access Auto Text And App Launcher
• Les couples et l'argent: Points à savoir avant de vous engager

CBS6 Joe Biden and the Times Union

I've noticed that CBS6 has been quite agressive in touting WRGB's web presence on twitter and Faecbook (wish they'd be as dilligent about sending out a digital signal that all 4 of my TV sets could receive) and with today's visit from VP Joe Biden to the Saratoga region, 6 got a bump from the Times Union newspaper website, which placed a link smack dab mid-web page: * WRGB: Watch a webcast from vice president's visit to Shen... BTW WRGB is also experimenting with getting the FM service back on around 87.7-87.9, which means I might at least be able to LISTEN to the 11pm news on my bedroom radio...

Around The Blogosphere 9 July 09

Dead Rappers Get Better Promotion… - What has Michael Jackson’s death taught you? Let's get schooled. Dallas Penn instructs. And howzabout an Interview with a rap artist turned Muslim? It's on The Hip Hop Cosign.

You've heard the nonsense about Michael Jackson being an "internet era star" - now read what one generation REALLY THINKS about El Wacko... Bahrain fashion blogger Aysha remembers Jacko's style: “From his staple sequin white glove to his sequin socks, and his many sequin military jackets, MJ helped remind us that fashion is not only about following trends but creating them too.”

RIPThe Printed Blog, a hybrid blog/newspaper, has announced that it's ceasing publication after running into funding trouble only six months after being launched.

Holy S*** Batman, now we're mind-mapping? It's all too much... Now for even more: a video interview with Team Posterous.

2012. We were warned.

Consider yourself warned about this: United Airlines has a public relations 2.0 crisis on its hands.

A new Harry Potter clip has been released, but you can only find it on iTunes.

Let's make something good to eat!

Storms of Life

There are times in our lives when we pause for a moment or two and ponder our existence. Usually this happens when someone close to us dies, or when one of our favorite celebrities dies. One thing for sure: life is NOT static Like a river it flows and you either ride on the surface, tread water, or let the current take you under. Deep down we all want happiness, but the substance of our lives is defined by unhappiness. It's a balancing act. It's also a believing act. Believe that you will make it through, and so shall you. Make friends with people who will accept the pure you. Keep those who would love you conditionally outside the realm of "friend" status. Find a religion. Be good. Stay cool. That's all you have to do. Have a good night! Peaceful blessings.

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A Cloud Over Albany

Hmmm. can you make out that "Children At Play" sign? Shouldn't it be moved down to the State Capitol building? Mouseover and click on the picture to enlarge.

This is a huge cloud that passed over Albany around 1pm today. I snapped this picture during my lunch break.

There's another cloud that passed over Albany around 5pm. I made it the subject of my very first Posterous post. I've decided against linking Posterous to this humble weblog... instead it will link to my LiveJournal and Facebook pages, as well as my FriendFeed.

In MY interpretation of "LIFESTREAMING" Posterous is a kind of glue that connects everything. The only services "on the outside" seems to be my MySpace and LinkedIn pages, but that's cool. I use MySpace more for my PR and HipHop contacts and LinkedIn to network with journalism and other professionals. So I guess everything has a purpose... I guess!

Tags: Governor David Paterson, Albany politics

Hand In Glove

News of Michael Jackson’s death at age 50 back on 25 June jammed the Internet. Why? D'oh - in case you haven't heard - newspapers are dying! Even on the day MJ passed, BBC World News was the only organization bold enough to take hold of the story and announce the death a full half-hour before all other mainstreammedia sources! Jacko's memorial service was touted as most-watched webcast ever, even as seemingly every TV station carried the spectacle live. Can't get enough of that Jackson!

Now there are nutcases out there twisting history, proclaiming Michael Jackson the "first too-young-to-die megastar of the internet age." He's being compared to Pricess Diana, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. (*yawn*) Rule #1: When you are COMPARED you are not as great as the media woul have you think. Like the clowns who keep ranting that Lady GaGa is the new Madonna. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

As for poor dead Jacko, the truth is, Michael Jackson is really NOT "of the internet" age. He was a star in the 1980s, who just happened to DIE during the internet age, at a time when the music industry is in shambles and the iPod is KING. Period. Had he not died, he wouldn't be selling all that much product online. Again I ask, where were all these "fans" and why weren't they buying his music a month ago, when he could have used the profit?

MediaWatch 08 July 09

“President Barack Obama did prove that content of character transcends race. In Michael Jackson’s case it was star power”: Dominica Weekly thinks there are lessons to be learned from Jackson's life... Trinidadian blogger Tattoo lists his “Top Five Michael Jackson Funeral Moments”, while Coffeewallah is among those of us touched by “Paris Katherine talking about her daddy being the best in the world and the love he had for them.”

A goodbye to a Capital Region radio professional: RIP former WROW newscaster Cynthia Senecal, who on July 3rd lost her battle against cancer. Cynthia had quite a sense of humor and was one of those rare souls who could laugh at her own mistakes... case in point: a newscast she once delivered where she mistakenly referred to killer Bucky Phillips as "Bucky Dent." Everyone in broadcasting has a horror story like that. Do you radio or TV people want to share yours? I didn't think so!

My personal horror-story favorite (yes, I have more than one) happened when I was working at an oldies station and had gotten sick during my shift. (Most of which I spent in the bathroom!) All of a sudden, it was 6:00 PM - newstime! I rushed across the newsroom to sit down at the mic as the news sounder played. Suddenly, I realized that my newscopy was way way way at the other end of the room! The deejay on the other side of the glass opened my mic and pointed to me to begin --- I managed to deliver an accurate (albeit short) newscast, complete with a sports score and the weather, from memory! *Whew!* The deejay had eventually figured out what happened and came in after the newscast and shook my hand!

Sleeping with Pengovsky tells about a recent incident where a cabinet meeting of the Slovenian government was broadcast by mistake, which has caused extensive debate in the country.

The Capital District Transportation Authority announced today that free wireless Internet service is available on all 15 buses in the Northway Xpress fleet.

Project Wednesday Lifestream

Could it be any chillier outside? Earlier this morning I tweeted about the cold July weather... Just imagine if a large volcano had gone off in early spring... this could have then been one of those years without a summer!

Mid-week seems to have arrived too fast... I was up late last night writing... I also have (if you didn't notice) jumped on FriendFeed after that big twitter glitch and I have opened a Posterous account... now is that a blog or a lifestream? Whatever! There's nothing on it yet, and other than a URL jump (when it's time) from this blog, I won't be linking to it from here. Several reasons for that, including redundance, which I am seeing already on FriendFeed.

Plans for today include finishing up several stories at work and getting ready to possibly cover Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Saratoga tomorrow. That should be interesting. Last time I covered anything presidential was when First Lady Laura Bush came to the area. I had to get secret service clearance and a special badge to wear. Media people were shuttled around in a special vehicle.

There's talk that NY Governor David Paterson may appoint a Lt. Gov. today... something experts say he cannot do because it would violate the State Constitution. And of course another rainy, cool day on tap... maybe we'll have a dry winter after all of this???

Have a great day! I'll tweet if anything exciting happens... maybe...

Aimee Mann @ MASS MoCA

Golden Globe nominee and famed vocalist Aimee Mann will appear at MASS MoCA this Saturday, July 11 at 8:00 pm. The concert will be held in Courtyard C or the Hunter Center, depending on the weather. Limited seating and standing room only. Call 413.662.2111.

http://www.massmoca.org

http://www.aimeemann.com

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BBC World News

This evening's BBC tv newscast bumped Michael Jackson's memorial to second in the rundown: the beeb went with ethnic unrest in Xinjiang, China as top story. Until I first heard about this earlier in the week, I had no idea there were Muslim communities so deep within the Chinese interior. In China there are officially 55 ethnic minorities, the government having a hard time keeping them all in line. As for the MJ Memorial, the most touching moment came when his young daughter spoke. And in Mumbai, they're rationing water due to lack of monsoons. All that monsoon water has apparently been and continues to fall on New York.

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Around The Blogosphere 07July 09

If by any chance you aspire to become a power-twitterer, this book was printed for you!

What happens When People Go M.I.A. on Twitter? Inquiring minds wanna know!

The Black Iris of Jordan (Naseem Tarawnah) takes a deeper, darker look at the Marwa Al-Sherbini murder ... (Background::::News)

NYC Subway info via your mobile phone.

Nicaraguan blogger Juan Ortega pays tribute to Alexis Argüello, a former boxing champion and politician [es], who recently passed away. Even though Ortega was too young to remember watching Argüello's marches, he recalls hearing his grandmother speak highly of the boxer.

It's Michael Jackson Memorial Day

Jackson, Jackson, Jackson... Jermaine will perform at the memorial.

Los Angeles police were bracing for gatecrashers amid reports that 1 million people could descend on the Staples Center, creating as much of a spectacle outside as inside where the likes of Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey and Lionel Richie are expected to pay tribute to Jackson. But anyone with TV or Internet access will be able to see the service unfold beginning at 1 p.m. New York time, 10 a.m. PT, shortly after Jackson's relatives and close friends gather for a private service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park where many Hollywood legends are buried. Major networks and news channels were planning live coverage of the public memorial, an honor usually reserved for heads of state

Oh no! Jacko is the US version of Princess Diana? D'oh! Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has authored a congressional resolution honoring our dear departed Jacko.

Channel V Buddie tweeted to the members of Channel [V].

--------------------
Subject: Michael Jackson Memorial LIVE on [V] at 12.55am HK/SG TONIGHT!

This WEDNESDAY, July 8th don't miss History in the Making: Michael Jackson Memorial LIVE on [V] at 12.55am HK/SG, 1.55am MAL, 8.55pm (-1 day) UAE.

Repeats:
7am HK/SG, 8am MAL, 7pm UAE
8pm HK/SG, 9pm MAL, 4pm UAE


You can also catch the LIVE online broadcast right here on ourMichael Jackson tribute page -
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.channelv.com/rde/v/3631.htm

Not Quite Steve Rubel's Lifestream

This Lifestream Thing Is Catching On... AIM has jumped on the "lifestream" bandwagon. But isn't AIM kind of passé? All kidding aside (even though I'm not kidding!), aren't all of the more progressive bloggers really "lifestreamers"? Is Steve Rubel the King Arthur of Lifestreaming? Here's a partial post by one of his new subjects:

Though I’ve had my Posterous account for a year now, only recently have I found a use for it. Based on Steve Rubel’s lifetreaming declaration, I am now a full-time lifestream-er! I still write essays that go to my Squarespace, Blogger, and WordPress blogs, but I’ll also be adding pictures, links and video to YouTube, Delicious, and Facebook. I don’t bother autoposting to Twitter or FriendFeed, since they seem separate from the Posterous experience (and since FriendFeed is a lifestreaming entity itself).

THERE YOU HAVE IT! FROM THE MOUTH OF A BABE! Did that last bit sink in? The part about FriendFeed is a lifestreaming entity itself. Thing is, AOL/AIM is moving toward capturing "Lifestream" as a brand: rumor has it they are going to stop bloggers like Steve Rubel from infringing upon their new trademark!

I've already got a handle on this "lifestreaming" or whatever we may have to call it after AOL puts the old corporate foot down.

For your extended amusement:
The Big To-Do Over To Do's - The Steve Rubel Lifestream
Does Anyone Use Posterous?
Steve Rubel shows how to make your Posterous your main hub on the ...
blogs are dead - Really? - OMG. I better tweet this!
Always have a "PLAN B"!

This comes via TechCrunch: AOL took another step towards fully embracing the lifestream today with the release of a slew of new AIM clients in beta and a new AIM Lifestream site, which brings together status updates from your AIM buddies with your activity streams from Facebook and Twitter. Earlier today, AOL quietly launched beta versions of AIM 7 for Windows, AIM for Mac 2.0, and a new AIM Windows Mobile client. (An upgrade to its iPhone app cannot be far behind). [..::MoRe::..]

Tags: lifestream, AIM