Ranked as 10th in the state, other net ponderings

In this week's listing of the top 20 PA Political Bloggers, Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates is 10th.

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Yesterday at PodCamp, it was funny to hear how the contemporary history of Pitsburgh political blogs. My blogs and internet days were reported to have started in the 1970s, so said Bram of the Pittsburgh Comet.

In the early times, there were only two blogs, said Matt. Rauterkus.com and 2PJ. I was nice to get the nods.

The theme of Bram's statement was that the bloggers are now a force that shape the mainstream media coverage. Journalist read the blogs. The blog content is showing up in the coverage. Themes from blogs then run on the evening news and with both the Trib and P-G. Blogs have become a hot source and the bloggers keep more honesty in the coverage. Bloggers that don't get it right are told so.

There is much more 'peer review' with bloggers than with newspapers and tv news. So, when something that isn't 'spot on' gets published, doubts are raised with comments and at other blogs.

Bram gave an interesting take on the value of blogs in these times.

Another way of putting those concepts into action is to say that the bloggers have been providing a wake-up call for the watchdogs. Or, some might say the bloggers are now effective pests to the now-no-longer-slumbering watch dogs.

For years I've been hard on the local media about coverage I've seen that isn't accurate, balanced and as insightful as it could be. People have told me to NOT pick on those who buy ink by the barrel.

Pittsburgh needs, and democracy needs, a viable Fourth Estate. Journalism matters. I'm a J-School (Journalism School) graduate. Pittsburgh's trouble has come, in part, from the poor coverage from the local media.

One guy in the final PodCamp session was all about 'blame' and hitting upon the media. He was funny. Plus, his remarks hit home for me.

There was one person from the P-G at the final session. Who was that? Were there others from the P-G in throughout the event?

The Trib's Sunday paper had a great article on the event.

Pittsburgh conference draws budding bloggers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pittsburgh conference draws budding bloggers"

Reform Pittsburgh Now has a copyright notice on the bottom of its home page

I asked a question about the license for Bill Peduto's new site. He and the others didn't know. I invited him to the 4 pm talk I delivered on open source tools, data, and content. I think Bill had an appointment for a haircut. Does he really use the same barber as John Edwards?

Reform Pittsburgh Now Paid for by Reform Pittsburgh Now. Copyright (c) 2007 Reform Pittsburgh Now. All rights reserved.

Here is a blurb from the talk I gave at 4 pm.

Woody Guthrie including the following note in a 1930s songbook distributed to listeners who wanted the words to his recordings had the following message: "This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin' it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ours, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."

It would be great if the new efforts of REFORM would be FREE.

Here is another example, also presented at the 4 pm talk to Pittsburgh PodCamp:

A journal was published with the following copyright statement: "All texts published in (this journal) may be freely reproduced, translated and edited, even without crediting the original source."

Bill, Justine, Justin, Matt and others. I'd love to have a "Podcast" via TalkShoe.com to talk with you all about the new site's license, copyrights and such. It would be best, in my not so humble opinion, to put the contents into the public domain.

I am not a lawyer (IANAL) and this is not legal advice. Furthermore, the contents of this blog posts are not intended to be legal advice nor should they be relied upon as or represented to be legal advice. CreativeCommons.org cannot and does not give legal advice. You need to assess the suitability of Creative Commons' tools for your particular situation, which may include obtaining appropriate legal advice from a licensed attorney. Yada, yada, yada.

Update:

The Pittsburgh Women's Blogging Society: Bill Peduto's Online PAC: "Today I attended the launch of Bill Peduto's online Political Action Committee at Podcamp. I think there were some mixed signals coming from the audience and the speakers (i.e. Bill & iJustine)."

I would never question anyone's experience. Getting new candidates and new helpers is very important. And, the new voices can be much better than the old. Rookie players are fine with me. My knocks go to other sources, such as Bill's statements.

Plus, the word was all about a lot of 'new faces' involved -- except for the campaign manager, Matt, and of course, Bill. So, the guys in charge are not new. They are veterans.

The saga has the same feel, for some strange reason, as the day Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced the formation of the Pittsburgh Promise. Many in the room that day seemed to be impressed with the hype. The mainstream media was impressed with Luke's talking skills. My jaw was still on the floor.

Of course I want to be proven wrong. I want all the kids who graduate from Pgh Public Schools to have college tuition paid for -- starting with the seniors in high school today. Of course I want Santa to climb down from our roof and leave us presents on the night of Dec 24th too. But let's be real. The Pittsburgh Promise is nothing but a broken promise. We must stop the lies we deliver to our kids. They know better and they see it. And, when they can -- they leave. They don't want to live with false hopes. We need honesty.

If we need a fix on local issues without personality -- we can always turn to the Allegheny Institute -- and Jake, who should not be confused with Justine.

Live blogging Peduto's site launch

I'm here at Pittsburgh's Podcamp having a fun time. Friends are calling my cell. Justine is live blogging in a seat in front of me. David T is passing out campiagn materials. He is running for the Allegheny County at-large seat. Travis is next to me. We talked about New Zealand and the Ron Morris show this morning.

Bill is late.

Matt and I heart burgh are here among other Peduto heads.

Steve from Duquesne is here too. He was the caller just ahead of me on yesterday's Lynn Cullen show talking about impeachment, constitutional lines of the president and war. Steve attended my last podcamp presentation some months ago. He'll be a blogger soon.

Guru.com's live wire, Jia, was talking with Justine and then figured out he was streaming. He went on to kick himself. Funny. You gotta know what you say could be out on the web, realtime. Eeeks. Here is a note to self -- always be nice.

WDUQ microphone ison the table. Bill sits. A big screen is in the background. The room is full, about 60 people.

Monthly podcast. V-Cast. Bill's Blog. Online libary.

By the end of October. Every minute of a weekend you'd not have enough time.

Raise the bar and based on issues.

Take out the personality issues. But, the talk was about how the people who are going ON TO council RAN (past tense) on reform.

There are a lot of things that Bill didn't do.

Directing the operation is my former campaign manager, Matt Preston. This is a very different team. Fresh approach.

It is not about personality, but Justine sits down and rides the bus with Steve Bland. You'll be able to click on one button and contact all you state legislatures. You'll be able to send email to all the members on city council.

The Gathering Hurd -- Marshall. ??

To talk to politians.

Pokey, the bobble head doll can tell if your street needs to be re-paved.

Events. What about a Gmail calendar for Grant Street.

Camping, trivia, mini-golf, white water rafting. Bottom line, we want to make it fun, so says Bill.

Bottom line isn't reforming Pittsburgh.

Excited to see the comments. First episode is the public transit. The next episode is emerging economy, the New Mon Valley. The 3rd, culture/arts/history to revitalize the city. Going to be all over the city.

Later, community benefits agreements.

Asked Bill about use of the Google Calendar I started some months (or a year) ago.

New Web site urges reform in Pittsburgh politics

New Web site urges reform in Pittsburgh politics Mr. Kownacki, who has been producing Web video for four years, said 'a lot of folks just do it for their own personal gain, or to have their own voices heard by the masses. What you don't see a lot of is actual pro-active video, or social media in general that tries to rally people to a cause, get them to actually effect change.'

Perhaps Justin does not see a lot of pro-active video nor social media that aims to get people to effect changes for causes. But, it is out there. And, it has been for some time.

Remember Ground Zero and Ground Zero's Art of News?

There have been plenty of social calendar sites in Pittsburgh.

People that have nothing to do with politics as reformers should be interesting. I won't be watching. No, I'll be an uninvited participant.

My first question: Will you need a username and password to view the blog, like the last time Peduto ran a blog?

My next question: Will spoofing be possible. If so, it will be a problem.

My last question now: Can I call for a vote?