Around The Blogosphere 12 January 09

Monday night is "Gossip Girl" night: Ypulse Essentials: 'Wimpy Kid' Makes A Splash, Whopper Sacrifice On Facebook, 'Gossip Girl' Raises Race Issues... Check out these new pics of Gossip Girl hunk Chace Crawford on the set of British singing sensation Leona Lewis’s music video for her new single “I Will Be.” “[He's] is one of the nicest people I’ve met,” Leona has said of Chace. “Super talented and he’s in one of my new fave series’ Gossip Girl.” ...Nicole Richie to Make Guest Appearance on “Gossip Girl'”

Hacker Charged With Selling Modems That Get Free Broadband via blog.wired.com — In the first case of its kind, a Pennsylvania man faces federal criminal charges for allegedly selling hacked cable modems capable of stealing free, anonymous internet service from broadband providers!

Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, is in Israel: Joe the Plumber: Ban media from war

Global Voices presents Mapping the blogosphere in Brunei : More than half of Brunei's population are internet users. More and more young Bruneians are setting up their own blogs.

Like puppies? Wendy has the cutest little bitty doggie y'ever done seen... it's creating BUZZ!

This is a few months old but has suddenly been appearing in more and more places (including spam e-mails) ... Some would have us believe that Barack Obama is a big supporter of "payday loans".

“I have an idea: Why not create a multi-author English-language Maghreb/Sahel blog? There are enough general MENA/Arab Middle East blogs in this vain, but stupendously few blogs that bring together English-speaking bloggers, academics and political scientists specifically about North [west] Africa,” writes Algerian blogger The Moor Next Door.