MSNBC.COM has made its first acquisition in its 11 years of existence, shelling out an undisclosed amount to purchase citizen journalism/participatory news site Newsvine.
Here’s an excerpt from the Computerworld article:
Mike Davidson, CEO and co-founder of Newsvine, noted that the deal will allow more people to contribute to the site and helps “further the cause” of citizen journalism.
HERE’S an interesting Los Angeles Times article on documentary filmmaker AJ Schnack, whose blog has taken on a life of its own.
Shnack’s latest documentary is “Kurt Cobain: About A Son,” which we blogged about in Soundtrip. Here’s an excerpt from the LA Times story:
Though the blog began in the summer of 2005 as a direct outgrowth of working on “About a Son,” it has since taken on a life of its own. Schnack has become something of an authority figure for the world of documentaries, covering various issues faced by nonfiction filmmakers. In particular, he has written about the recent changes to the Oscar qualifying rules for documentary features, giving close attention to the newly mandated 14-city theatrical rollout for all potential nominees. Unlike many in the documentary community, Schnack has largely been in favor of the rollout, because it promotes theatrical exhibition of documentary films.
Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said that the rollout rules will likely be “streamlined” for next year, in no small part because of the response the academy has gotten from the documentary community, both online and in a series of meetings between AMPAS governors and filmmakers.
One sign of the growing influence of Schnack’s blog is that while “About a Son” has played at more than 50 film festivals, the filmmaker has begun to be accredited as a journalist at some festivals where his work has not been shown.
FILIPINO bloggers are reacting to a remark made by one of the characters in a recent episode of television series “Desperate Housewives.”
While many condemned the remark as a racist slur and called for a boycott of the show, others suggested that people write to the producers of the show to complain.
The Filipino bloggers were reacting to a remark by the character Susan Mayer Delfino, played by Teri Hatcher, who was objecting to being checked by a doctor until she was sure of the doctor’s credentials.
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
PAYPAL is finally opening up to users based in the Philippines.
Paypal is an online service that allows payments and money transfers through the Internet. Emerging as an alternative means to checks and money order, it is currently used to process payments for online vendors and auction sites like eBay. This e-commerce service in turn charges a fee.
Paypal’s worldwide services indicate that Philippine residents can now use the service to “send and receive money worldwide,” the service’s website said.
