BuzzMachine

Slow
: Apologies for the site being slow today. I check Insty, who comes out of the same factory of froth, and he’s slow, too. So I’m guessing it’s just the worm terrorists causing traffic hell.

Seeding
: James Lileks writes about the lessons and prophecy of Dean and blogging and The Scream in his Newhouse column and he confesses to taking part in the Scream Meme with his remix:

I assembled one of the more popular songs. Within 36 hours it had been mentioned by The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal; it was played on NPR, Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio shows in a hundred markets — and even made MTV.com. I didn’t mail the song to newspapers, or call up radio stations and offer payola. I simply seeded the URL in the comments section of a well-read liberal weblog and a well-read conservative one. And it was off. This is how information works today: You can go from the bottom to the top with no friction whatsoever.

Hmmm. I’m honored that he seeded the address on this blog. I wonder whether this was one of them and if so, was it the liberal or the conservative one, I never can tell.

Anyway, that ego break aside, James goes on to judge the significance of this:

Meaning? Well, weblogs make it tough for candidates to sell falsehoods, because there will always be a hundred dozen foes ready to feast on the lie…. Forevermore now, there’ll be someone watching who can tease an offhand remark however he pleases, post it to the Web and join the roiling conversation….

It’s not the e-mail. It’s not the blog. It’s not the Web sites. It’s the computers, and the people behind them, connected like never before. They won’t control the buzz this year. But in 2008? Count on it.

Two down…
: BBC honcho Greg Dyke resigns. This is the same sanctimonious prig who lectured U.S. media: “For any news organisation to act as a cheerleader for government is to undermine your credibility. They should be… balancing their coverage, not banging the drum for one side or the other.” Mr. Dykes, for any news organization to act as a cheerleader against government is to undermind your credibility, wouldn’t you say?

Next: Bring us the head of Andrew Gilligan.

: UPDATE: The BBC apologizes to Blair.

Iraq to Howard Dean: Explain yourself
: Iraqi blogger Ali writes an amazing open letter to Howard Dean following the candidate’s assertion that Iraqis’ “living standard is a whole lot worse now than it was before.”

Ali calls that “too irritating and insulting” and says, “I

Blogger du jour
: Nick Denton and I agreed tonight that Mickey Kaus is on a hot streak.