A friend sent me this site that features studies tracking the eye movements of readers of a given webpage.

Lots of useful information, including the fact that the upper-right and bottom quadrants of a webpage typically are not seen well by a reader.

Worth checking out: The Best of Eyetrack III:What We Saw When We Looked Through Their Eyes:

The eyes most often fixated first in the upper left of the page, then hovered in that area before going left to right. Only after perusing the top portion of the page for some time did their eyes explore further down the page.

Nice brief coverage of the some of the new technologies discussed at the Personal Democracy Forum.

The political world is a picture with a lot of chiaroscuro. Some elements are illuminated with very bright lights. Others are shrouded in shadows.

As more of the visible parts of government are explored with the
precision of digital technology, there may well be pressure to reduce
the area in darkness.

Life is often full of surprises.  Our sleepy little farm outside of Downsville is becoming a hotbed of political activity even though I wasn't expecting it. A few weeks ago it occurred to me that it was a shame that lots of bloggers are covering the Democratic Convention in August, but that there isn't any centralized place to read all of that work. 

Then, more recently, Borges (from Kicktime )and I were at the Journalism That Matters and National Conference for Media Reform shindigs in Minneapolis, and we got to talking about how it's too bad that there's no central place to read all of the blogs in Wisconsin.  We talked to some other people about that as well, and a few actions are falling out from that.

Promoting progressive talk radio.

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Are you looking to
forge a national community of Progressive Radio activists? Would you
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REGIONALLY, this blog concentrates on Northern Thailand and Wisconsin.

TOPICS blogged about include: ~ media ~ environmental awareness ~ community empowerment ~ sustainability & sufficiency ~ agriculture ~ globalization ~ economics ~ government & politics ~ history ~ education ~ religion ~ AND peace

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According to an article at Dissident Voice digital TV won't give America a voice on their own airwaves.  In an article entitled "Grand Theft Digital: How Corporate Broadcasters Will Hijack Digital TV ", Bruce Dixon has this to say:

Although the airwaves are the property of the public under US law, and broadcasters receive their licenses from the FCC only on the condition that they serve the public interest, neither Congress nor the FCC, have attached any public service or public interest requirement to the thousands of new DTV channels that current broadcasters will receive. And current broadcasters, according to the deal worked out by Congress and the FCC back in the 1990s, are the only ones upon whom the new stations made possible by DTV will be bestowed. They’re in. Congress and the FCC, in their wisdom didn’t think local governments, schools, colleges, libraries, unions, community organizations, local churches, blacks, Latinos or females deserved a shot at any of the thousands of new DTV channels. They’re out. That’s it and that’s all."

 He continues:

So it's like this -- I've been talking to a lot of kindred spirits, journalists, fellow citizens, and all the other people Fox news is so upset about for five days now, and my head is reeling with ideas and enthusiasm.  Plus, I need to pile back in the car tomorrow to give a talk in Madison. So - I'm not going to say much more about the conference right now, since it would be a quickie job of pouring things out on to the page.

Instead, I'd like to do something different - a series on the Media Reform movement, why it matters, and some resources for you to learn more.  I'll intersperse this with pictures, video, and other information from the conference. I will try to make this a weekly feature for a while, and I hope you'll stay with it. The media in the US are failing us  miserably on many counts. The conference made it clear to me that there are many people who feel the same way and want to do something about it.  We have some plans, and we're really excited about them, particularly for bringing more coverage of what is going on in Wisconsin to your web browser.  

Also - please also go visit Kicktime - thank you for reminding me Borges - Read more about the convention there over the next couple weeks, and learn something about the Viroqua area and what is shaking there.

But at the moment I need to let the ideas and inspiration settle down. While you are waiting for me to get my act together, watch this spectacular presentation by Lawrence Lessig.

You may have "enjoyed" the Bill O'Reilly video yesterday about how terrible it was that Dan Rather was going to the NCMR conference, and speaking to the worst radical left-wing nuts in the US. Count me as being proud to be one of those people. O'Reilly has promised that his show tomorrow night (watch it - no really, I mean it - just not right before or after dinner) - He's going to expose us for the nutjobs and radicals he is sure we are. I'm looking forward to it. Compare his editing of this story with what you see below:

Fox was all over the convention with video crews. I'll have to say that I chatted with a couple of the video crew for a while, and they seemed like decent hard-working folks just doing their job.

But this is an example of what happens when they "interview" someone - I have no idea why someone would try to pull this in a convention full of people who have video recorders on them. There are a few more examples - they also accosted him on the street, but here are 2 different accounts of the backstage conversation, one from our friends at The Uptake, and one from On The Earth Productions' Karen Rybold Chin: - note the plug for Fighting Bob Fest - more on that in a few weeks:

I'll leave this conference with feelings of hope and helplessness. My hope comes from the fact that this conference is even happening. That people are spending time and money to connect with each other and figure out what the hell has happened in this county. The media is supposed to represent what's happening in this country. And it doesn't. It represents what sells. And therein lies my feelings of helplessness. If people didn't buy the crap, it'd stop selling. Right?

When I was in college, I went to a "student radio initiative" meeting. I realized once I got there that these meetings had been going on for years. And it was still just an initiative. I was at the first Conference on Media Reform and here I am again, years later. The sessions are different and there has been success. But ultimately. We're still fighting the same battle.