New Software Judges Blog Credibility

Woman ordered to pay $2.5M for online defamation

(NEWSER) - In what could end up being very bad news for outspoken bloggers across America, a federal judge has decided that a blogger was not acting as a journalist when she accused an Oregon lawyer of acting unethically and illegally as a trustee in a bankruptcy hearing. The judge denied Crystal Cox's request for legal protections customarily offered to journalists, and a jury subsequently ordered her to pay $2.5 million for defaming lawyer Kevin Padrick and his company. More»

It's first time Internet has caught up; average is 13 hours a week

(NEWSER) - The Internet is officially as popular as TV: In a first, Americans spent the same amount of time online (an average of 13 hours a week) as they did watching television this year, says a new report on consumer habits. Email remains the most popular online activity, with 92% of Internet users holding an active account. Other findings: 60% of users shop online, about double the percentage of three years ago, and 35% log on to visit a social networking site, up from 17%, reports the Los Angeles Times . More»

Books, blogs popular in recession

(NEWSER) - What with the recession, worldwide poverty, and impending environmental doom, it’s no wonder that bookshelves and the blogosphere are crammed with tales of voluntary privation and experiments in skimp. Last month there was On a Dollar a Day, about a couple's attempt to live on that amount—in San Diego. Last year, it was No Impact Man, and the web abounds with other examples. “It's like everyone is doing their own version of Lent,” a serial experimenter tells Time . More»

More than ever, experienced insiders are scooping news organizations

(NEWSER) - Many high finance blogs just “stink,” David Weidner writes, but discerning “Wall Street junkies” can depend on a few that engage top talent and often scoop major news organizations. He runs down 10 of the best news and analysis sites in the Wall Street Journal , “skipping the stockpickers or pure investing sites.”

• The Big Picture: Fund manager Barry Ritholz's site is "beautiful," "updated frequently," "written in plain English," and counts Nouriel Roubini and the Fed as readers.

Minnesota woman births new level of online sharing

(NEWSER) - A Minnesota mom-to-be has been blogging about her pregnancy daily for months and plans to bring readers into the delivery room with a live online broadcast of the birth. Lynsee and her husband agreed to a request from online community MomsLikeMe to allow a tasteful video of the birth, she tells ABC News . There won't be any graphic "over-the-midwife's shoulder shots," although she does plan to chat online from the delivery room, pain permitting. More»