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News by popular demand

During the Iraq war it became abundantly clear that news – defined as an impartial account of current events – is hard to come by.

During the Iraq war it became abundantly clear that news – defined as an impartial account of current events – is hard to come by. So many filters are placed on news by the people who selectively dish it out and spin it, and by a public that doesn’t seem to want to hear the truth if it’s bad, that the media is no longer trustworthy.

The fact is that even with half a dozen 24-hour news stations, news radio, magazines, newspapers, and hundreds of online news sources at our disposal, we know less than ever before.

In the U.S. polls show that the majority of Americans still believe that Iraq was at least partially responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, even though no links have ever been established, and that claim was publicly refuted by the president and his secretary of defense. Still, the president and his administration at least implied the link on several occasions, and that was good enough to make up the minds of most people.

We also live in a day and age where commentary is king, and most people get their news through radio and television talk show hosts that have strong and biased opinions of their own.

For the time being, the Internet is the foil that keeps opinions from owning the news – there’s just too much of it out there to filter it all. You may have to go looking for it, but it’s there.

Then there are the Web technologies out there that allow news content to be customized to readers, and not always with the readers’ knowledge. For example, if a reader tends to focus on sports then the coverage he receives will emphasize the sports stories. That makes it harder for the sports fanatic to find the other important news stories that could pique his or her interest from day to day.

As a result of this obfuscation of the news, more and more people are visiting alternate news Web sites, and using services like Google and various news blogs to get a bigger, broader and more accurate picture of world events.

But even these sources are subjective in the sense that they have to select and rank stories somehow, and that brings in an element of subjectivity.

Blogs are personal, and updated only when the blogger has the time. Alternative news is alternative, and news often comes loaded with perspective, days after the actual event.

Even the Google news service, which searches 4,500 news sources for news and is updated every half hour, is imperfect. For one thing, the top stories are generally regional. For another, Google also selects and ranks stories based on where they appear on various leading news pages. Because leading news pages are almost universally guilty of using filters, that can also skew the news presentation.

Enter Technorati, a news blog that takes a more democratic approach to the top news stories of the day.

Created by programmer David Sifry, Technorati tracks links and commentary in online news blogs that represent the widest possible spectrum of views and filters. The blogs themselves only link to stories on other news sites, based on what the bloggers find interesting and important.

Technorati now actively tracks more than 1,300,000 Web logs, which in turn follow about 65 million active links to news sites. If that isn’t enough to get the big picture, I don’t know what is.

It’s an overwhelming job, seemingly, but Sifry built a tracking tool that simplifies and distills all of this information into a news page that doesn’t look anything like Google, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or any other news site or blog.

Visit www.technorati.com and use the top toolbar to navigate through a current list of the top 100 news blogs, current events, breaking news and hot links. It takes a while to get used to navigating this site but it’s an interesting and rewarding exercise – you’ll find news and opinions that you wouldn’t have come across in your regular browsing.

Safe shopping on the Web

Christmas approaches on the gossamer wings of Styrofoam and bubble wrap, as thousands of people living away from home in Whistler put together packages for their friends and families. Driven by guilt and holiday homesickness, Christmas shopping takes on a new urgency.

Many will turn to computers this year to do their shopping, and why not? It’s fast and affordable, and the selection in incredible. Days of shopping can be condensed into a few hours.

(My only recommendation for this is not to shop at Indigo. The gifts I ordered were late by a week, even though I gave the company lots of advance time, and that wasn’t the half of it. They forgot to wrap the gifts I sent home last year, even though I paid extra for that service, didn’t include the messages I had written, and they missed a couple of items I bought. I called to complain several times and they didn’t do anything – not even a refund for the wrapping job.)

Although online sales are jumping every year and are expected to jump another 21 per cent this Christmas, there are a lot of people out there who would rather not give their credit card information out online. Computers get hacked, information gets compromised, and one way or another millions of credit card numbers have wound up in the wrong hands.

The Better Business Bureau released a list of tips to help people reduce the risks:

1. Trust your instincts – if you’re not comfortable buying or bidding on an item, walk away.

2. Read and understand the privacy policy to understand what information a vendor needs from you, how it will be used, and how you can opt out. If there is no privacy policy, the BBB suggests that you shop elsewhere.

3. Read the companies’ policies on returns, refunds, shipping and handling, prices, taxes, and other legal details.

4. Use a secure Internet connection – if the company doesn’t use encryption technology to protect your information, don’t shop there.

5. Pay by credit card so you have a record of the transaction.

6. Double check the pricing with the cost of shipping. Like purchasing concert tickets, mysterious handling fees and shipping charges sometimes crop up.

7. Keep records and receipts. Copy receipts into word files, save e-mails, or print documents relating to the transaction and hold on to them.

The cardinal rule is that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is.