Hey Dan

When asked, I say heydan is a blog or Web log. It is an online journal. The things I write here are public. Being public anyone can read ‘how my day is going’ or what I am outraged about currently. You as a reader have open access to my published work.

With the popularity and press awareness of blogging a number of questions have become important. First, do I have the same rights as a traditional publisher? These rights include the right to protect the confidentiality of a source. Say I publish an anonymous quote of the day that becomes an issue in a civil suit. Can I be subpoenaed for this information?

This week a California judge ruled that Apple Computers will be allowed to subpoena the names of sources that provided three blogs with information.

Second, is heydan a creditable source of information? I do not mean am I a liar, I mean can you use what I write in as a source document? If I wrote about an event such as the day gunman drove by the office shooting at the Richardson police as they went, am I a creditable source. How would it be different if I was writing for the New York Times?

As a first hand account of my life, I would say I am creditable source. Even so, I have a bias. Every source does. Heydan is bias and so is the New York Times. Blogs are a great source of primary source material. Like asking people on the street question, great way to understand likes and dislikes, but a bad way to learn about economics.

I really think blogging will change the world, maybe not for the better.