Here’s some great food for thought from Clay Shirkey about what’s going on as the need for newspapers goes away (emphasis mine):

“With the old economics destroyed, organizational forms perfected for industrial production have to be replaced with structures optimized for digital data. It makes increasingly less sense even to talk about a publishing industry, because the core problem publishing solves — the incredible difficulty, complexity, and expense of making something available to the public — has stopped being a problem.“

And he draws a smart distinction between the need for newspapers and the need for journalists:

Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism. For a century, the imperatives to strengthen journalism and to strengthen newspapers have been so tightly wound as to be indistinguishable. That’s been a fine accident to have, but when that accident stops, as it is stopping before our eyes, we’re going to need lots of other ways to strengthen journalism instead.

I’ve clipped out just two points. The whole thing is a completely worthwhile read.

[via Matt Haughey's blog]

This was weird to me because I’ve never seen all 3 lights blinking when traffic light isn’t working.

It’s usually either a blinking red or amber.

I’m a total Jack White fanboy so I’ll be looking forward to this one. I hesitate a little because he’s not playing guitar on it, but it won’t really matter in the end.

Bishop Allen’s ‘The Broken String’ was one of my favorite albums of ‘07 so I was excited to read that their newest album is coming out next week. I especially like that they’re embracing the idea of making a digital copy of available right away with your pre-order. That’s one of my favorite internet things.

You can pre-order here and get your download code after you pay.

This Saturday, March 7th, my buddy Ethan Seltzer is presenting the inaugural Pedal Power event to promote cycling as part of a self-sustaining lifestyle and to illustrate the amount of electricity a two-person team can create by bike.

There will be a solar power demonstration, an explanation of some non-traditional recycling offerings, and local food information, too. The idea is to highlight all of the different ways we can take steps to be a little more self-sufficient and a little more green. I’m no patchouli-soaked tree-hugger, but I am all about being less of a jerk (in an environmental sense; I will stay a jerk most other ways).

If you’re local to Richmond and you’re into riding bikes or would like hear more about not being an environmental jerk, you should check it out. My moustache and I will be there generating crazy amounts of electricity.