Personal Political Attacks on Sen. Lieberman

Sen. Joe Lieberman's blog was inundated with unbelievably nasty personal attacks, forcing the campaign to turn off the function. The comments came from supporters of Ned Lamont, who is running against Lieberman in Connecticut, but disavows any involvement. Nonetheless, I somehow think less of Lamont for it. You can see a representative sample of the comments here.

I think it's time for candidates to be pro-active about this (after all, this happens regularly, whether it's blogs or other type of media). Sending out Rules of Engagement to their supporters would be a good start.

Wikipedia vs. Britannica

At a meeting last month of Wikipedia contributors, founder Jimmy Wales emphasized quality over quantity, and the Wall Street Journal follows up by asking, Will Wikipedia Mean the End Of Traditional Encyclopedias? This is a 12 Sept. interview between Mr. Wales and Dale Hoiberg, editor-in-chief of Britannica.

I swear this isn't a blog about Wikipedia, but I just find this discussion on quality fascinating. And yes, it is directly tied to consumer-think: Wikipedia will thrive only so long as non-posting users believe in the quality and value of Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Banned from Class Papers

In November last year I wrote about Wikipedia's desire to burn its entire website to CD and make it available to schools in the developing world. I didn't like this idea, only because I feared that since there is no official checking of the facts, Wikipedia could (and would) spew bad information. Isn't that a great way to keep the poor down?

Anyway, Frank Ahrens at the Washington Post writes that "many teachers and professors have forbidden their students to use, or at least cite, information found on Wikipedia and similar user-generated sites."

Reviews Come to Real Estate

It was bound to happen: now you can post your review of that over-priced bungalow you looked at in the Bay Area or wherever you currently lay your head. Check out ZipRealty and Reply (beta).

Maybe owners will be brought to their knees (or at least their senses).

Consumer Reviews Giving Small Business Big Internet Space

Sometimes small retail businesses (pilates studios, designer t-shirt shops and the like) find it hard to find elbow room on the internet. But online reviews at a growing number of consumer review sites are giving them new space - whether they like it or not.