Blog Items of Local Interest, Plus Your Rights as a Photographer

Hi folks... for my last post of the evening, I've got a few blog-related stories of local origin that might be of interest to you. And no, I'm not referring to today's Washington Post story about a Montgomery County judge who ruled that mooning people in Maryland is not illegal.

* Wonkette Sex Change: DCist reports that the Washington Post's Reliable Source column confirms that Ana Marie Cox, the founder of the seminal and usually-profane politics/gossip blog Wonkette, is handing the reins over to two dudes, so as to better devote herself to being a full-time novelist.

If one were so inclined, I suppose that one could archly make something out of the fact that it will take two men to do the job previously performed by one woman, though that would be silly.

* Speaking of DCist... The DC-area blog just ended an experiment where they were using the TypeKey comment authentication service to try to cut down on spam, trolls and sociopaths in comments. It looks like they abandoned it due to technical integration problems, but they're still exploring options.

Because AOL Journals & AIM Blogs requires the use of a screen name, we get a level of  authentication built-in. Of course, spammers and miscreants can still create screen names to comment, but it is a barrier to entry.

Of course, a barrier to entry is just that. Currently, people who can't or won't sign up for a screen name are unable to comment to your blog, which might discourage some people whom you might otherwise want to comment to your blog.

As previously noted, managing comments is an issue everywhere, and there are a bunch of different strategies being used. We're working on ways to give you the measure of control that you need to manage who can comment to your blog, to go along with however you use your blog.

I, for one, would like to see an option where you can allow people without screen names to comment to your blog; others might like to have a setting where everyone could read your blog, but only a set roster of people would be allowed to comment.

* Playing With Your Food: My last item of local interest has also made some waves in the big ole Sphere 'o Blogs; as blogged in DCist, blogger Jason Storch over at D.C. Foodies got a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer because he took a camera-phone picture of his meal to use in a later blog review.

I didn't see the original post (which has been replaced), so I don't know what transpired. However, this would probably be a good time to link to a USA Today column by Andrew Kantor that came out last week, entitled "New digital camera? Know how, where you can use it."

It's all about your rights as a photographer, including when you can shoot a photo, and whether you can (or should) publish something you've taken. It's written in plain English, and it's pretty much good news for shutterbugs, though honestly it's making my head hurt -- especially the bit about the difference being legally allowed to be someplace vs. whether you can take pictures (they're not the same thing).

You can see the followup entry on his blog.

That's it for now -- talk to you later. Thanks -- Joe