Wikileaks: U.S. Cables Concerning Pakistan in Pakistan Newspaper
Dawn Presents Wikileaks' Pakistan Papers, Dawn, Karachi, Pakistan.
The Dawn Media Group and Julian Assange, Chief Executive of Sunshine Press Productions, the publishing arm of WikiLeaks, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the exclusive first use in Pakistan of all the secret US diplomatic cables related to political and other developments in the country. ...On May 20, 2011, Dawn carried the first set from a huge cache of cables, and will continue to publish them in the following days. Dawn’s extensive coverage will include publication of the actual cables as well as specially commissioned stories around them. All cables referenced are available for viewing in their original form on Dawn.com.Newspaper in Pakistan Publishes WikiLeaks Cables, By JANE PERLEZ, New York Times, (May 20, 2011).
The leading English-language newspaper, Dawn, and its Web site on Friday began publishing a selection of more than 4,000 American diplomatic cables obtained from WikiLeaks that are devoted to Pakistan, opening a window onto the American-Pakistani relationship and domestic politics never before seen here.Continue reading
Google and Newspaper Archives
On a tangent: Google is cancelling its newspaper digitization project:
- Google abandons master-plan to archive the world's newspapers, by Carly Carioli, The Boston Phoenix (May 19 2011). Google told partners in its News Archive project that it would cease accepting, scanning, and indexing microfilm and other archival material from newspapers, and was instead focusing its energies on "newer projects that help the industry, such as Google One Pass, a platform that enables publishers to sell content and subscriptions directly from their own sites." ...In an email, Google said it would continue to support the existing archives it has scanned and indexed. It added, "We do not, however, plan to introduce any further features or functionality to the digitized news product."
It remains to be seen whether Google will complete the process of indexing the newspapers it has scanned. We'd guess not.But wait, there's more:
...The deal Google struck with partner newspapers stipulated that, somewhere down the line, a paper could purchase Google's digital scans of its content for a fee. That fee is now being waived, and Google is not only giving publishers free access to the scanned files, but also the rights to publish them with other partners. In essence, Google just scanned a huge chunk of the newspaper industry's valuable long-tail content, and then handed it to the publishers.... Are any of us is in a position to exploit those resources without Google's help?I wonder if any libraries or library consortium is willing to strike a deal with the publishers and put those scans online? BTW, this is evidently completely separate from the Google purchase of PaperOfRecord, which, after going offline after the Google purchase, is now, apparently, back online:
- Disappearance of Paper of Record Database.
- Help forum > Google News > Google News Suggestions > Paper of Record.
- The historical newspaper database Paper of Record is now back online.
- paperofrecord.com
Zombie post at CDC crashes server
Zombie Apocalypse Claims its First Victim: a CDC Blog, By Joseph Marks, NextGov (05/19/11).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention want us to be prepared for the zombie apocalypse, according to a recent post on CDC's public health blog. But an agency tweet touting that post Wednesday night sent so many people rushing to the blog, presumably wide-eyed and arms outstretched, that it crashed the site for several hours, a CDC communications official told Nextgov.Social Media: Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading
The Public Library Manifesto
The Public Library Manifesto, by David Morris, Yes Magazine, (May 06, 2011).
We need a grassroots effort to defend our public libraries, an effort that can and should be part of a growing nationwide and international effort to defend the public sphere itself.Continue reading
Could Pass-The-Hat Kill Open Government?
Could Pass-The-Hat Kill Open Government?, By Joseph Marks, NextGov (05/18/11).
With the E-Gov fund, which paid for open government websites such as data.gov and usaspending.gov, severely trimmed and unlikely to be restored, the open government group OMB Watch speculated in an article Wednesday that those sites may have to turn to the so-called pass-the-hat funding model to stay in business.The Trouble with the "Pass-the-Hat" Funding Model for Government Technology Projects, OMB Watch (May 17, 2011).
Rather than using funding expressly designated by Congress, a project under a pass-the-hat model is funded by contributions from other purpose accounts of multiple agencies, frequently prorated based on agency size or use. This model is different from "fee for service," which also involves agency payments but is usually in return for specific services, such as payroll.Continue reading