Time agrees to turn over the private notes of its reporter. As former newspaper reporters, we look at the implications for writers moving forward. And what does this mean to a budding crop of Citizen Journalists?

Given New Englanders are sports nuts, maybe there will be lots of Red Sox clips here.

Something like... "It's deja vu all over again."

I lived through the San Francisco newspaper strike in 1994. In fact, we launched The Gate during the strike. The details of what happened are closely held, and I'd prefer to leave it that way.

Nonetheless, I hope there is no strike this time; the one I went through was U-G-L-Y. However, the issues on the table (including new media use of content) are significant.

Good luck!

You aint seen nothing yet, if you haven't see the new 3D maps. Google's is out first; Microsoft will be shortly behind.

The end game is populating these maps with as much content as possible. Say you are flying in to an aiport and want to find a hotel that's nearby, but not too nearby. Zoom... check the 3D map and you're good to go.

More on this later...

I think the Google Video service is a big deal. Maybe not for what we see on the site today, but where it's headed. I wrote a report (that should be free) that's posted on my company's Website.

We’ll have to go some to beat today’s baseball game. It was about 101 degrees out at 10:30 am and there were no seats at the Giants Spring Training facility at Camelback and Hayden. The game was free, but these players—rookie wannabes from the Giants and Angels—played their hearts out. They played as if it was for their very baseball lives—which is was.

The players are a mix of high school players and JC (Junior College) players who were drafted or recruited by the Giants or Angeles. There were no number 1 picks here, but a lot of very talented young men. It was cool to think that in early March, on this very field, the “real” Giants practiced before Spring Training. At that time, there were barriers and guards and hoards of fans. Today, I stood next to the cage, talked with the young players and shot video…lots of video.

A true standout for the Giants is Antoan Richardson, a 35^th round pick from Vandertbilt. He had been drafted before by the Orioles and The Mariners in higher rounds, so something must have happened for him to drop. He is a leadoff hitter with speed and power. Richardson, who is not identified in the videos because there was no roster) is #1, and has the look of a big league player.

The two pitchers who hurled for the Giants (we left in the 6^th inning lest we pass out from heat stroke) looked good. They were two Dominicans: Shairon Martis and Frolian Ramierz..  Also, we met Ryan McGovern’s mom, who made the trip from Canada to see her son pitch. He just turned 21 a few days, and she was here to help him celebrate his birthday and lend some moral support. McGovern was on the shelf for a year after having Tommy John surgery.

For the Angels, Robert Cassevah was on the hill. He was talented, but man did he look young. I see where he won’t be 20 years old until the fall.

We’re psyched to come back as the season unfolds. We might even have some rosters with numbers so I actually know who I am talking about.

The Summer of Baseball began with a game at Bank One Ballpark between the Diamondbacks and the Detroit Tigers. A small crowd just over 24,000 braved the 100-plus degree heat to see an interleague game of minor significance. I don’t think many Tigers fans live here, but when the NHL Red Wings come to down (or least when they did)… look out—it’s a sea of red jerseys.

One of the highlights here is the ceremonial first pitch by the members of the Arizona State Sun Devils baseball team who just barely missed the finals of the College World Series.

This was the first of six games for us between June 24^th and August 10^th. The others include a Rookie League game, a game at Camden Yards, one at Citizen Bank Park, the Atlantic League All-Star Game and then, my first trip to the Bronx to see the Yankees host the Chisox on Cap Day. The game at Camden Yards also is Cap Day.

I hope to be able to shoot video at each game.

While we wait for The Court to render a decision (not like rendering beef fat), Mike takes us through the legal possibilities. Seems to be a somewhat outdated case now that the media firms are embracing (well, that might be too strong) P2P technology.

Vandalism? Why couldn't the LA Times have hired an army of interns to screen postings? Think there's a shortage of young j-school students who wouldn't work at the paper for free?

The buzz is that Google is working on an online payment business to compete with Paypal. If so, it seems to me it would be to support Google's new media business. How else could they charge people to view all those uploaded videos? If you have uploaded videos, you could note that it allows the video producer to indicate that he or she wants to charge for viewing. A new payment scheme makes sense.

One of my hometown newspapers, The Philadelphia Daily News, has started a Podcast. They claim to be the first newspaper doing such a tech product. Not so. It's good nonetheless.

I can take just about any sort of video file. Send them to me at allen_weiner@yahoo.com

The key for newspapers is that they need to stop thinking like newspapers. Is that possible?

Nearly one-fifth of Web users who read newspapers now prefer online to offline editions, according to a new study from Internet audience measurement company Nielsen//NetRatings

Mike and I long have talked about Amazon as a major player in the media landscape. They had a cool movie series and now are delivering a concert in honor of their 10th anniversary. We're still waiting for some definitive media strategy.

Check out Penguin Remixed, a site in which consumers can download audio content, remix it and then upload it to the site. Why are those media folks in the UK more clever than many of their American counterparts?

Wherein we discuss AOL's transition from subscription-only to open portal.

Read below... Mike and I believe that riffed, experienced journalists will emerge to create blogs that compete with their former employers.

By Mark Jurkowitz, Globe Staff  |  June 11, 2005

Two months after Boston Herald publisher Patrick J. Purcell said he was seeking deep newsroom cuts in an effort to find $7 million in savings at the financially troubled tabloid, a massive exodus is in full swing -- one that involves some of the paper's best known and most seasoned journalists.

According to Herald managers and union officials, 30 to 35 of the 145 unionized newsroom staff members have already left or are expected to leave soon. The vast majority have applied for a buyout, and a handful were laid off. The same managers and officials also estimate that 10 to 12 of the paper's 52 nonunion newsroom employees -- editors, columnists, and staff members working under contract -- will have departed by the end of the month. A small number of employees recently left voluntarily, without being laid off or taking a buyout.

The buyout packages offered by the Herald gave its departing journalists a monetary settlement based largely on their years of service at the company. The situation remains fluid, because some staff members whose buyout applications were accepted have not formally ratified their deals.

The below is true. All the Portals are looking to create new "browsers" or plaforms that allow consumers to easily look at various media files without inconveniently changing "players" based on file type.

Yahoo! Inc., owner of the most-visited website, may consider developing its own Internet browser to help attract more users and advertisers to its websites, chief executive Terry Semel said.

Anyone familiar with Seinfeld is familiar with Monk's, aka Tom's Restaurant @ 112th and Broadway in the Upper West Side of New York. It's also the place upon which the song, "Tom's Diner" (by Suzanna Vega) is based.

A quick clip from the NY City Subway. I actually don't think you are allowed to use a video camera on the subway, but I was quiet about the shot (no narration).

As someone who took the subway and "El" growing up in Philadelphia, I was telling my daughter the rules of the subway--no staring at anyone; look disinterested and don't take out your wallet or money. Leave the Rolex at home. And so on...

More music underground, although not part of the formal "New York Music Underground" series. Here's a keyboardist/singer peforming Lionel Richie's "Easy Like Sunday Morning."

Words cannot describe the heart-pounding feeling one has upon seeing Ground Zero, the site of the horrific Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Hopefully, this clip captures some of that emotion.

The stakes will be high. The next few months will dictate the future of AOL. It will be exciting to observe whether the company that invented "online services" can morph into becoming a leading Web Portal.

My answer...it depends.

Not quite as wonderful as the violinist I captured a few months ago playing in Grand Central Station, here is a group of eager musicians performing right by the headquarters of MTV. Calling Nina Blackwood.

In memory of the passing of Anne Bancroft, the theaters on Broadway dimmed their lights. Here's a look--

Crowds gather outside the Today Show studio at Rockefeller Plaza in hopes they will see Matt, Katie and Al when they come out in the plaza for a cooking segment.

Around 7 am, NY's Times Square begins to get going. On a hot, humid June morning, a short tour of the buzz in the heart of the Broadway area.

Looks like Amazon is getting into the audio download business. There was a piece I read last week that spoken word audio--books, customized news, city tours, etc...--will be instrumental in driving Podcasting. Looks like the No. 1 online bookseller is getting in the game. This was on their site:

Digital Audiobooks
Calling all publishers: Send us your digital audiobooks! Amazon is developing a new store to offer downloadable audiobooks to our customers. If you are a publisher of audiobooks or other spoken audio content and would like your products to be included in our store, please e-mail us at digital-audio(at)amazon.com

Mike came to visit us for the weekend (note special occasion  previously posted), so we took the chance to play talking heads in my backyard. It's raw, unedited footage (sounds cool, but it means we couldn't get iMovie to work properly) as we ponder Qualcomm's new mobile content strategy.

Sites that specialize in TV listings are going to be hot. CNET’s new one is just an example of how companies will use a listings grid as a platform to enable consumers to share great programming finds (everyone has an opinion) as well as perform DVR functions right from their PC. Check out MeeVee as another one these Web-based TV platforms. Mike and I have written about this trend, and it’s going to be huge and a key part not only of the development of IPTV/TV over the Web-type programming but also furthering the cause of viral sharing.

Three days from my daughter's Bat Mitzvah, the coming of age for a young Jewish child. Today, she has her final rehearsal.

Yes, this is true, but can he get newspapers to believe it? I think the bigger issue is that newspapers are operating from a mentality of fear rather than entreprenurial behavior.

The Internet could provide newspapers with a new engine for growth with greater reach and better speed rather than threaten the traditional print industry, says Arthur Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of the New York Times.