Our last poll asked what people thought of blogs. Most people turned out not to know what a blog is. Blogs have been around for years. They're essentially personal journals. But in recent times, the software and infrastructure to make them has gotten so good that critical mass has been achieved and we now have an explosion of these web logs (blogs for short).

Many blogs are actually becoming popular enough to serve as an alternative to the "mainstream" media. This has made those who feel that the media is corrupt or biased quite happy. Having viable alternatives for news and analysis is a good thing. On the down side, there are little controls in place to garauntee the accuracy of the "news" reported on blogs. Users have to use a critical mind when reading them. Those who are really into blogging have found that they are self-policing. Blatant errors tend to get commented on by other blogs. Bloggers tend to look at the "blogsphere" as a whole.

Here are some popular blogging (or blog-like) sites:
JoeUser.com (https://www.joeuser.com).
Andrew Sullivant (http://www.andrewsullivan.com)
Metafilter (http://www.metafilter.com/)
Instapundit (http://www.instapundit.com)
USS Clueless (http://www.denbeste.nu)

Some of these tend to be right of center. Others left of center. For reasons that are often debates, most of the blogs tend to present conservative views. But regardless of your interest, whether it be politics, science, technology, history, home and gardening, graphics design, you name it, there is probably a blog out there on that topic.

Have fun.

This week's poll: Your feelings about Iraq!