A new neighbor has moved into an old house in the 'hood, renovated the place and promises to be part of the community -- going to PTA meetings, Little League games, community centers and talking to local activists. But the guy you know and love will still come back and visit. Vienna, Virginia's Backfence has acquired Dan Gillmor's Bayosphere, garnering further citizen-media cred and a new market! Susan Mernit scooped the blogosphere yesterday morning, beating even the press release and Dan himself to the news. The Mercury News offered full coverage, with no fewer than three items.
Backfence Moves Into Our Backyard
Bay Area Blog Pulse
Dan Gillmor bows out of Bayosphere in Businessweek -- reactions from JD Lasica, Jonas Luster and Thomas Hawk. Blogger Tom Foremski says he's doing just fine, claiming to be more popular with PR folks than the Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg. Hey, at least no one has had to resort to astroblogging (astroturfing + blogging, natch).
SFist on SFist
Last things first: When we signed off with a hearty "Happy SFisting" last month, we didn't think we were conjuring up a column, but it looks like that's what's happened. We're feeling a little amazed by our own power, and wondering if we could pull off the same trick twice... Now, what to say between here and the magical final words?
Dan Gillmor Makes His Move
Well, it's official -- Dan Gillmor's "citizen journalism" project is here -- and it's called Bayosphere. Well get to that in a second. First, we'll let Dan introduce the project in his own words:
Get Ur Geek On: Apple Bites
Well, we'd reported on kerfuffle between Apple Computer and a few punk bloggers (AKA Apple v. Does) before, but now there have actually been some legal developments in the case. And while it doesn't look good, it's not entirely hopeless yet, either.
Emerging Technology Conference: New Media Sticking It to Old Media. But How's the Food?
Nothing like media-business wonkery, news aggregation and browser-based application design to get a blogger all hot and bothered. Thanks to Susan Mernit, Beth Laing of Mediacenter invited us to their Emerging Technology Conference. Okay, not really. We just got invited to the casual dinner at Yahoo, where they plied us with booze and chicken and then tried to take advantage of our post-prandial trance to slip some PowerPoint slides by us. Little did they know that if there's one place bloggers are most comfortable, it's at corporate catered events. The hard work is elbowing up to the table -- but once they're done eating, the bridge has been crossed, and will probably be burned behind them.
You're So Vain, You Probably Think This Merger's About You
So Carly Fiorina is no longer the most powerful woman in business, or at least, the most powerful employed woman in business. Hewlett-Packard let her go today after months of speculation that there would be a shakeup. Quoted in the Merc, "While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision...HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future." She also added "But they better not set foot on the island I'm gonna buy." Okay, she didn't say that.
Ballin' Bay Bloggers to be Beset with Bling
The ghost of Malcolm Gladwell has come to haunt Silicon Valley tastemakers. You know those schwag-bags you're always hearing about on Defamer? It's all part of massaging the 'Connectors,' the folks of style and influence who supposedly have more to do with wildfire word-of-mouth sales than the rest of us schmucks.
Creative Commonists
It's good to be a nerd. At least that's how SFist feels after hanging out at the Swedish American Hall, taking full advantage of the open bar, nodding our head to the DJ's beats, nibbling on tidbits from the trays of finger food and stuffing our bag with schwag at the Creative Commons party last night. Intellectual property lawyers sure know how to party!
Get Ur Geek On
- Dan Gillmor, the last top tech writer standing at the San Jose Mercury News, has decided to leave the Knight-Ridder corporate family to become a 'Citizen Journalist.' Is that a fancy term for unemployed blogger? [From Slashdot]
- PowerLight, of Berkeley, has installed the world's largest solar array in warm, sunny Germany. SuperaffenT****nturbogeil, naturlick! [From SFgate]
- Apple can't keep up with demand for Mac computers, so you better get your butt down to the Apple Store and grab what you can, or your relationship will founder on the rocks of the iRiver. [From Cult of Mac]

