2008 in review

Here's a couple of my Year in Review pics this year --

The BBC has posted excerpts from this year's Harare diary. If you haven't seen it yet, it's the diary of a young professional woman living in Zimbabwe. I think this is one of the best examples of citizen/new journalism, or however you want to categorize it.

This is more of a "Five Years in Review", but Reuters has posted a photo timeline of the Iraq War -- Bearing Witness. (It's a multimedia presentation, so prepare to watch video. Incredible footage, but it's not for those easily disturbed by images of war.)

And then of course, there's the JibJab year in review.

It's been a pretty long year, and the end has really snuck up on me. Maybe next year will bring a little more online consistency!

Happy new year!

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FaceBook In Reality - idiotsofants.com and BBC'sThe Wall

sure, it's been passed around for a while ... but still worth sharing.

Looking for Sundance swag?

Okay, I get zero kickback from this, but since it's coming up I thought I'd point out the Sundance store. Hats, t-shirts, posters -- yeah. And if you're heading out there this year, so much the better.

If you're not heading out this year, you can still catch some videos posted on their site. Enjoy.

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Dancing Under Crossfire

Filmmaker Hayder Helo is working on a documentary on an Iraqi dance troupe, and he's put a trailer for the film up on the film's blogspot page.

My particular interest in the film has a lot to do with the theme of being exiled. I left New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, so in many ways I could relate to the dancer who says his home is neither away from Iraq nor in Iraq anymore. I think many people, regardless of life circumstance, can relate to the feeling of exile.

I hope very much that the film gets enough funding to be completed. To check out the trailer, or find out how to support the film, check out their website.

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20% of teens posting nude pics?

Prepare to be shocked (or not?) -- Ars Technica reports on a survey that claims 1 in 5 teens has posted inappropriate photos of themselves online or sent said pics to others via email.

Personally, I wonder if ye kids are pranking the survey takers, but I suppose with the right "Tweet everything" mentality, anything is possible.

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The science of influence

I've been crazy busy with work and I've sadly neglected the site -- but just read an article in Science News about the power of being influenced.

In a way, it's a review of Malcom Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. If you haven't read it, basically Gladwell makes the argument that "exceptional people" drive social epidemics and make certain things more popular more quickly by convincing others of the value of said certain thing. Confused?

Basically, some people are naturally awesome. They're trendsetters. Identify them, and get them to love your idea/product/service, and you immediately gain influence over large groups. Make sense?

There's more to the article than that, but that's more or less the gist.

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Top 25 websites and new media metrics

Media Life has listed last week's top 25 websites, as measured by Nielsen Online.

The ratings are split into several lists: Top 25 parent companies, top 25 online brands, top 25 advertisers, and top 25 advertising sites. Scroll down to the bottom to see average use metrics for this week and last week, as well as the percentage change.

You can check out Nielsen's new media traffic metrics each week at Media Life, or you can visit the Nielsen Online site for things like the Global Index Chart and Net Audience Metrics. Some of the data on their website lags, but it's good reading for anyone tracking online ratings.

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VIETNAM AIDS: The Grass House (from current.com)