Chris Hardie's Weblog

Last week, the Palladium-Item - Richmond's daily paper - launched an updated website. Here's my initial review:
Good:

The site clearly continues the paper's commitment to encouraging conversations and interaction between people who track what's going on in the community. As I did in 2006, I commend them for this.
The abuse reporting system in the [...]

The "pros and cons of a global distributed network" edition:

Do you depend on Gmail or Google Calendar? Did you know they're not ready for production use yet?
The Rockridge Institute, a progressive think tank (THE progressive think tank for many) abruptly closes its doors because there wasn't enough money coming in. But as a [...]

The feeds reminder and redux edition:

I've been updating my list of local blogs and bloggers in Richmond and Wayne County, Indiana. Check out the new additions, and if you have any blogs to suggest or corrections to make, please let me know.
My page of custom RSS feeds doesn't have a whole lot going on [...]

Well, you know my criteria for good April Fool's Day jokes. Here's what I've kept track of so far for the day:

I had a little fun with the users of the Palladium-Item forums who like to post anonymous rants. It resulted in at least one phone call threatening legal action against me and [...]

I spend a lot of time on this blog and elsewhere encouraging people to avoid ceding too much power over their lives to the individuals who would claim it for the wrong reasons (or in many cases, claim it at all), or to institutions and organizations that may not truly have our best interests in [...]

Happening to me too much lately:

The "I'm too busy with the dog show to blog for real so I'll grow them a linkfarm" edition:

Popping Culture Blog by Michelle Manchir: Michelle's journalistic efforts at the Palladium-Item are some of the more refreshingly comprehensive and useful to come along in a while, and her blog entries are turning out to be [...]

I don't usually go to restaurants the first day they're open. The last time I tried to do that it was based on bad information and the place was still preparing to open. The time before that we walked in and seated ourselves, only to realize that the *next* day was the official [...]

Jason Truitt, Online Editor of the Palladium-Item newspaper here in Richmond, recently asked what readers are looking for when they ask for more "local news." My response:
For me, a good local news story is one that reflects the things that are happening and the experiences people are having in and around our city and [...]

Anna Lisa will begin a journey home today from her delegation trip to Hebron, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and at-Tuwani, where she's been for the last several weeks. You can read her latest post on the delegation blog about what it means to say goodbye. This as the news headlines are still filled with stories [...]