Will Sullivan

A great background on the revolutionary platform. - Will Sullivan

"Twitter’s new Lists feature is all the rage right now. There are probably already millions of lists, and that number is growing by the minute (or second). So what are people using all these lists for? Are people creating lists just for the sake of creating lists? Savvy individuals are looking for ways to use lists to further their personal/professional agendas, and while we are all still learning how to harness the power of this new feature, here are a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing." - Will Sullivan

"Earlier this year, we had a discussion on the changing nature of sports beat reporting in the internet era, and one of the points we made is that there really is an awful lot of overlap and duplication in effort in some cases (such as the NY media). And yet, as pointed out by Jay Rosen old school baseball reporter Murray Chass is complaining that about half of the newspapers that have baseball beat writers did not sent a reporter to the World Series this year, calling it a "sign of a dying industry." Apparently there are 60 newspapers in America that have beat reporters who travel with the teams they cover, but only 31 of those papers sent reporters to the World Series. " - Will Sullivan

"Significantly, the Microsoft unit is also launching a new MSN Local Edition, which will exist as a stand-alone Web site, but also feature prominently on the relaunched MSN home page. The renewed focus on local content resulted from internal MSN research, which found that such content -- from local news and events to weather and sports -- was "the Number 1 unmet need online," according to Lisa Gurry, senior director at MSN. Likewise, consumers who were surveyed said they wanted less clutter and easier access to information and services they care about, which MSN took into consideration when redesigning its site." (Via Rich Gordon) - Will Sullivan

"Two still mythical tablet devices, the Microsoft Courier and the Apple Tablet, are probably the hottest and most coveted devices that do not yet officially exist. To further fuel the anticipatory gadget lust, Gizmodo has scored an in-depth look at the former’s user interface and overall design. As we were clued into by earlier leaks, the Infinite Journal is the key metaphor for Courier. It’s like an enormous notebook for collecting pretty much any kind of content: clippings from the web, your own notes, diagrams and drawings, photos from the on-board camera, etc. Each item gets a timestamp and geotag, and you can add more tags for better searchability as well." - Will Sullivan

"I'm not ashamed to admit it: The first time I saw Twitter, I thought, "What's the point?" Maybe you did too, or maybe you're just more perceptive than I am. Even Twitter's founders have said they didn't know exactly what it was when they started working on it. (Biz Stone: "If anything we sort of thought it a waste of time.")" - Will Sullivan

“Digital access is essential to first class citizenship in our society. Without digital, you lack full access to information, you are second class economically and even socially,” Ibargüen said. “If a job application at Walmart or McDonald’s must be made online, how can we pretend that we have equal opportunity when significant portions of our communities don’t have access?” “Extending broadband access is one of several critical components to revitalizing Midtown and Detroit,” said Jay Noren, president of Wayne State University, a key member of the Community Telecommunications Network that is administering the project." - Will Sullivan

"Today, Google News is making it even easier to follow the latest stories on whatever subjects interest you. We are happy to announce our Custom sections directory, which gives users of some of our English-language editions the expanded ability to create comprehensive sections to put on their Google News home page or share with other users." - Will Sullivan

"The Hotseat software allows students to use either Facebook, Twitter, Myspace (MySpace), or SMS to post messages during classes, or they can simply log in to the web site to post to and view the ongoing backchannel. Right now it’s only being pilot tested in two courses, but has already become a fast favorite for both teachers and students. Professor Sugato Chakravarty, whose personal finance course is one of the pilot tests, said, “I’m seeing students interact more with the course and ask relevant questions.” - Will Sullivan

"Internet Explorer 6 has finally been surpassed by Firefox according to the latest worldwide market share numbers." - Will Sullivan