Five of My Favorite Blogs
Bored with what his RSS reader has been feeding him, Kent Newsome is rebuilding his reading list from scratch using the recommendations of others. He's asked me to suggest five blogs, which is a good excuse to pimp some sites I follow that deserve a bigger audience. Retrospectacle, a blog by neuroscience postgraduate student Shelley Batts, consistently finds great stories in science before the mainstream media. She won a blogging scholarship last year and answers questions I didn't realize I wanted to know, like ... read more
Lee Padgett, the Blogger to Be Named Later
I'm pretty thick-skinned when it comes to criticism, because in eight years of blogging I've made the occasional gigantic mistake that sends my credibility crashing through the guardrails into a ravine like Toonces the Driving Cat. But a recent cheap shot by Paul McNamara, editor and blogger for Network World, has stuck with me: Cadenhead is a former newspaperman ... who appears to have forgotten a lot about the journalism business. (By the way, I worked for 20 years as a local newspaper editor before coming to ... read more
Putting a Blogger's Identity on the Record
Network World blogger Paul McNamara covers the St. Augustine Record's attempt to out a local blogger, calling me a "former newspaperman ... who appears to have forgotten a lot about the journalism business." The Record, believing Padgett to be part of an organized political group out to unseat Rich, not merely a lonely pamphleteer voicing his displeasure with a public official, decided that making public Padgett's identity was the right to do. They were correct. While there may be a long-held and cherished ... read more
Newspaper Asks Public to Identify Local Blogger
A Florida newspaper appears to have hit an all-time low in the relationship between bloggers and the media. The St. Augustine Record is asking the public to help expose the identity of a local blogger who recently started a site critical of county politicians. This evening, the paper's home page has a grainy surveillance photo of a man accompanied by this text: Who is this man? Believed to be connected to a politically charged but anonymously-run Web site targeting the character of members of the St. Johns ... read more
Fundraiser: Creative Commons for Christy Corum
I'm organizing an online fundraiser for Christy Corum, a Jacksonville girl who broke her neck in a 2002 jet-skiing accident and was paralyzed from the neck down. Pictured here with her niece, Christy turned 17 in October and needs an exercise bike, laptop and a wheelchair that can lift her to a standing position, according to her parents. With a fund-raising goal of $5,000, we're going to produce a Creative Commons Calendar, a 12-month wall calendar that features 12 photos contributed to the Creative Commons. The ... read more
Saturday at the ACC Championship Game
I attended yesterday's ACC Championship game between Wake Forest and Georgia Tech in Jacksonville, picking up two $125 lower deck tickets near the 50-yard-line. I wanted to see whether seats that good at Alltel Stadium are worth the price. The game wasn't even close to a sellout, so there were giant packs of unhappy scalpers outside. One thing I didn't need to hear as my son and I walked in: "Lower deck seats, $5!" The section we were in, 237, has its own entrance and a Carrabba's, Outback Steakhouse and other ... read more
Hallowed Be Thy Republican
During every election, the Wonders of Truth Christian superstore reminds locals that the road to hell is paved with Democratic politicians. In honor of today's vote, here's the front and back of their signs: ... read more
