Google Blog Search – CONFUSED.COM!!!

I consider myself to be considerably aware of the workings of the Internet – but this week I was left slightly stumped by Google Blog Search.

In March 2009 I was utilising Google Blog Search for some research on my PhD into the London bombings, at the time the search parameters I used revealed 195 blog posts – I completed the same search yesterday and was presented with over 2000 articles.

At the moment I am looking into trying to find out some possible reasons (with a little help from some friends) for the difference – any feedback would be most appreciated!!!

Blogging and the Police

I just noticed a tweet by the BBC “Why have police been called into a blog war?”…http://twitter.com/bbcnews

Take a look at the article (link below), as the author argues, this does call into question the degree of freedom of speech on the Internet. How do the police assess claims made on the web?

For more info see….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/01/seismic_shock_when_blogging_me.html

Time Article – Lessons of Flight 253

Well worth a read…….

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1950579-1,00.html

Again – the bravery and ability of members of the public to deal and respond to an act of terror is commended!!!

Another article in Time this week  is by Amanda Ripley – http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1950576,00.html

Some interesting quotes from this article include……

“And yet our collective response to this legacy of ass-kicking is puzzling. Each time, we build a slapdash pedestal for the heroes. Then we go back to blaming the government for failing to keep us safe, and the government goes back to treating us like children”

“By definition, terrorism suceeds by making us feel powerless. It is more often a psychological threat than an existential one. The authorities compound the damage when they overreact – by subjecting grandmothers to pat-downs and making it intolerable to travel.”

“…It was a metaphor for all regular citizens: Thank you for saving the day. Now go sit down.”

Again and again the question comes to mind – how should the government (around the world – not just in the US) utilize the public in planning and resisting terrorism??

Why the Internet is Failing Iran’s Activists

Interesting Article – well worth a look!

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/01/why-the-internet-is-failing-irans-activists/

Happy New Year

Happy Holiday’s!!

Off on holiday for a couple of weeks!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

My First Publication….

Check it out!
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7822/

Exciting times!!

Wiki Leaks 9/11

At 3am on Wednesday 25th November 2009, Wikileaks began to release over 500,000 sms pager data that were broadcasted on the morning of the 9/11 attacks. See – http://911.wikileaks.org/

For information on current discussion of the messages see – http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/a7xpt/conspiracy_theories_commence_wikileaks_to_release/

Unfortunately I don’t have time to comment on this at the moment – for now all I can say, is that based on news related articles on the topic – some extremely quick observations and generalisations are being made.

It will be interesting to see how the data will be analysed.

Please let me know if you know of anymore on this topic!!!

Lecture Feedback

After running four seminar’s following the lecture I gave last Thursday on New Media and Disaster, I feel that I can safely say that the lecture was a success!

Feedback from the students suggests that the lecture was well organised and they were able to follow and understand the topic. The best part – they found it interesting!

When will the next lecture – no immediate plans for the future but I would certainly like the opportunity to do this again! Time now to get back to the PhD and get down to business!!!

Sucky Technology

Yesterday I seemed to have a day of computers going to hell on me! It started early Friday morning….happily sat working, attempting to shorten a report I had been working on. Felt as though it was a productive morning, over 1500 words written up! Went to log off the uni computer – having saved my work, thought I’d email it to myself and the damn thing disappeared. After another half hour of searching the file had indeed disappeared. Even the computing people weren’t able to help.

Royally annoyed, I gave up for the morning and had lunch etc with my family. Went to use my computer at home later in the day and somehow it deleted a crucial email.

Not a good day for computers! Its now Saturday and am back to attempting to cut the report up! Unfortunately its not quite the quick editing session I’d hoped for!

Ah the joy of modern technology!

First Lecture

Today I gave the first lecture of my academic career. The lecture concerned a sociological analysis of New Media and its role in communication during a disaster. I felt as though I had sufficiently prepared for the lecture and despite knowing all the students I still felt that gradual sense of dread of having to speak publicly.

Time will tell on Monday to see whether or not the lecture made any sense! Will certainly be interesting to see how the seminar’s go!

Lecturing…..definitely a case of practice makes perfect. Beyond glad that I’ve had the opportunity though!!