Bloggers

Just four years ago, the Internet-savvy political world was ablaze with excitement about the 2000 conventions. In Philadelphia, the Republicans paved the convention hall's "Internet alley" with 6,600 miles of fiber-optic cable, making it the first truly "wired" party convention. New robo- reporters were outfitted with headcams to stream live feeds from the floor to home PCs. Startup companies offered gimmicks, chief among them software by speakout.com, whose users could connect and rate prime-time speakers literally paragraph by paragraph, creating a flashy, if shallow, "national EKG" of public opinion.

Philadelphia was once again the subject of head-scratching and ridicule on Monday, this time with the "blog tax" controversy. On BuzzFeed, a popular website for stories, photos, and video competing to go viral, "Philadelphia Blogger's License: $300" was in the running, in between videos of a bored cat having a birthday party and Lady Gaga dancing at a Kiss concert. New York magazine's website weighed in, as did the Washington Post's. The New York Daily News had a story about "Cash-strapped Philly" resorting to a blog "tax.

Philadelphia was once again the subject of head-scratching and ridicule on Monday, this time with the "blog tax" controversy. On BuzzFeed, a popular website for stories, photos, and video competing to go viral, "Philadelphia Blogger's License: $300" was in the running, in between videos of a bored cat having a birthday party and Lady Gaga dancing at a Kiss concert. New York magazine's website weighed in, as did the Washington Post's. The New York Daily News had a story about "Cash-strapped Philly" resorting to a blog "tax.

Self-described "citizen blogger" Faye Anderson said she is all about civic engagement - and she called the style at Saturday's BarCamp "the epitome of civic engagement. " Anderson was among attendees at the third annual BarCamp NewsInnovation event at Temple University's Annenberg Hall, organized by TechnicallyMedia, the company behind tech blog "TechnicallyPhilly. " Anderson, who writes a daily blog, " Anderson@Large ," said she had come to BarCamp to pick up tips about blogging and social media.

This is the medium of the moment in action: Dave Winer, 49, shows up for his Democratic National Convention credentials and realizes that he doesn't have to stand the long "radio, TV and print" line. He's a blogger. There is no line. Two tables, no waiting. Just go in, show your ID, and you're done. "That was depressingly easy," says Winer, as he pulls out a microphone and plugs it into his computer, enabling him to record every conversation he has - yes, it will be online within minutes - so the world can listen as he experiences the subway rides, the protests, the political pageantry.

'Holy Cow!" "I'm still reeling!" "Somebody do a bed check on Charles Manson!" Worldwide chatter about Saddam Hussein erupted in the blogosphere within minutes of his capture and was still at fever pitch yesterday. Warbloggers rejoiced. Anti-war bloggers searched for clouds behind the silver lining. Iraqi bloggers praised Allah. And a soldier who's a translator and interrogator and goes by the nom de blog Baghdaddy (whosyourbaghdaddy.blog-city.com) compared reaction there to a Star Wars movie.

If you think the Bloggies is the name of a British animal-training show or a newly diagnosed mental-health condition, please go immediately to the nearest computer and connect your brain to the 21st century's hottest medium. The Bloggies are to journal-keeping on the Web - better known as blogging - what the Emmies are to television and the Oscars are to movies. They are the annual awards handed out to the best of blogs. Like the practice itself, the awards are all about individuals having a distinct voice amid the ink and chatter of the mainstream media.

The tip jar, which took hold in the early 1990s with the explosion of coffee bars, has long since extended its guilt grip to the dry cleaner, doughnut shop, and ice-cream drive-through. So it was probably inevitable that it would migrate to cyberspace, where virtual tip jars have been sparking debates about greed, overreaching and taxes. With the tax deadline tomorrow, there has been chatter about whether cybertips are income, an issue the IRS has yet to address. But for bloggers with high traffic, devoted followings, or persuasive begging skills, tip jars can mean big bucks, with some A-list bloggers pulling in thousands of dollars a year.

About 15 people - bloggers, freelancers, and small-business owners - took up the city's invitation to meet for happy hour Wednesday in Old City to clear the air about what they owe in taxes and fees. At least that many city representatives were on hand at National Mechanics, a bar on Third Street, to lend a sympathetic ear and also dispel lingering notions that Philadelphia has a "blogger's tax. " Andrea Mannino, special assistant to the city's revenue commissioner, said city officials had begun to discuss changing, and maybe eliminating, the fee required for a business-privilege license.

Nothing's been hotter in the blogosphere in recent days than news accounts of the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun reporter fired after she posted a workplace rant - "I really hate my place of employment" - on her personal Internet diary, or blog. It wasn't the first time an employer had dumped cold water on this free and easy world of online musings. With as many as two dozen cases documented, more bloggers are being asked to clean out their cubicles. Some employees who blog ran afoul of their bosses for Internet postings made on company time at their office computer terminals.

Musicians today are writing and blogging, speaking directly to their public, involving readers in, yes, process - but also gathering up fans and a cache of personal investment that may or may not have anything to do with the music itself. Does it really matter what the pianist had for breakfast? Friend me, the classical world pleads. Jeremy Denk is an especially appealing denizen of the electronic ether. Tuesday night's intermission crowd at the Perelman Theater lit up with chatter about his recent New Yorker essay, an illuminating gaze at his own reflection in recordings.

CAIRO - A prominent Egyptian blogger accused of attacking soldiers during deadly clashes was released Sunday after nearly two months in detention, during which he became a symbol of the pro-democracy activists' struggle to end military rule. Alaa Abdel-Fattah's first stop after he was freed was Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February. The square remains the focus of the campaign against the military, which took power in Egypt after Mubarak's ouster.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian authorities have charged a U.S.-born Syrian blogger with trying to incite sectarian strife, activists said Tuesday, while regime forces fired on a funeral procession in a restive northwestern region, capping a bloody day of attacks that left at least 28 people dead. Razan Ghazzawi is the latest among dozens of activists, journalists, and bloggers who have been detained since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began nine months ago, triggering a brutal crackdown that the United Nations estimates has killed more than 5,000 people and put thousands into security lockups.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Fourteen countries, including the United States, vowed Friday to work to promote online freedoms, with an emphasis on helping bloggers who operate under oppressive regimes. The countries, which also include Britain, France, and Canada, endorsed a statement at the end of a two-day conference in the Netherlands, saying their goals included preventing "the misappropriation of technologies for repressive ends, inappropriate requests for personal data for political purposes, and illegitimate blocking of content.

THERE HAVE been days when I wished I didn't have an editor so I could say exactly what I wanted, without worrying about pesky libel issues or about crossing the line of civility. Joshua Scott Albert doesn't worry about any of that. For the past three months, the 25-year-old North Carolina native has been lobbing hand grenades at some of the city's most prominent restaurateurs, and whether they admit it or not, getting under their skin. On his website StaphMeal.com, he has attacked restaurateurs Georges Perrier, whose legal threat led the formerly anonymous blogger to identify himself; Stephen Starr; Marc Vetri (whose stutter Albert mocks relentlessly)

Operation central for Design Milk, the popular blog covering cutting-edge, international modern design, is a combo laundry room and office in a midcentury ranch house in Cherry Hill. The washer and dryer take up at least as much real estate as the desk and computer where Jaime Derringer, Design Milk's founder, posts six times a day to satisfy her more than eight million readers a year. Derringer was employed in medical marketing and publishing for eight years, working on the blog nights and weekends for three years until 2009, when it became her full-time gig. These days Jaime is at least as preoccupied with the house surrounding what her husband, Jordan, calls her "multitasking room.

What is public health? Well, it's the health of the public. And its practitioners include engineers (designing water-treatment plants), nutritionists (developing healthy diets), even politicians (passing laws on bioterrorism and insurance). And bloggers. In "The Public's Health" ( www.philly.com/publichealth ), their new blog, Michael Yudell and Jonathan Purtle are on a mission to help us understand why we as a nation or a city or a neighborhood are ailing or not - and to begin a dialogue with readers on what can be done about it. "I'd like to hear creative ideas and solutions to some of the challenges we face," says Yudell, an associate professor at the Drexel University School of Public Health.

Besides what culinary schools are offering this fall, restaurants, kitchen stores, and even supermarkets are offering cooking classes on topics ranging from the yummy (cupcakes) to the sensible (healthy eating). Local food bloggers are getting in on the action by passing their niche expertise on to students, at both regional venues and in-home events. Also of note is a new Rittenhouse spot called Cook, where students get to interact with their favorite chefs, while getting fed.   Teaspoons & Petals is a blog that was founded by Alexis Siemons in 2008.

An anonymous blogger who rocked Philadelphia's normally serene restaurant community with allegations, against some of its most prominent names, of racism, sexual harassment, and violence unmasked himself Tuesday on his blog, StaPHmeal. Joshua Albert, 25, worked briefly at a number of city restaurants, and, according to online court records, has been convicted of public drunkenness in Philadelphia and credit card theft in North Carolina. He said he revealed his name because Jonathan Cohen, the attorney for Georges Perrier and another chef (both of whom are disparaged on the blog)

AN ATTORNEY for chef Georges Perrier has initiated legal action against the blog StaphMeal.com by filing a writ of summons in Common Pleas Court. Attorney Jonathan Cohen 's filing indicates that a complaint outlining allegations of libel and defamation could be forthcoming. The writ of summons lists John Doe as a defendant because Cohen does not know the identity of the blogger (or bloggers) behind the site. The legal action is intended in part to unmask the writers.