I read an article over at Mashable today, labelled New York Times Will Go Out of “Print” Sometime in the Future, which should come as no surprise, as most newsprint is likely to be extinct within a couple of decades, probably sooner. The “Gray Lady” will no longer be a physical newspaper, according to NYT’s publisher and chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. And furthermore:

“We will stop printing the New York Times sometime in the future, date TBD,” he said to attendees of the International Newsroom Summit.

That is all as one might expect. After all, we no longer use black and white TV’s, do we?

The really baffling thing about the New York Post however, is how, with the Internet edition’s sky-rocketing traffic figures, it should be possible to generate respectable revenues, wouldn’t you think? Sadly, that isn’t so. Or, again, to quote Mashable:

[…] it’s taken most news outlets quite a bit of time to come around to the realization that print isn’t the be-all-end-all of journalism. By delaying innovation, many publications have put themselves in financially dire straits while scrambling to catch up with web-friendly revenue models.

This particular newspaper has flirted with various revenue models for online content over the past several years. Readers will be subject to a metered paywall beginning next year.

[…]

NYTimes.com had previously toyed with another paywall-type mode, called TimesSelect, around three years ago. The change wasn’t as lucrative as the paper had expected; still, Sulzberger sees the experiment as educational, not necessarily a failure.

In response to my assertion the other day, that more online newspapers should try NYT’s formula for success, the CEO of Norway’s leading online tabloid, VG Nett, told me that “NYT is extraordinarily boring to look at, and unprofitable to boot,” which, ties in nicely with the information shared by Mashable (above). That said, I can’t help concluding that they must do something right, producing this kind of statistics:

Detail from Dagbladet.no's frontpage.

You don’t get that kind of figures if you’re “extraordinarily boring”. The VG Nett CEO is right though: NYT has proven itself utterly unprofitable, but ask yourself, if you love good journalism, which do you prefer, the NYT way or the Norwegian model (Norwegian tabloid Dagbladet.no, see screendump to the left)? The latter characterised by an extremely cluttered use of (huge) photographs and (equally huge) ads. Looks like the advertiser’s own website, doesn’t it, with a bit of news squeezed in on the middle.

I’m really sorry, but that really doesn’t cut it. With me, anyway. Then again, the difference between Norwegian online dailies and the New York Times is enormous. Looking at the NYT again, you have to admit there’s plenty of room for a few more ads. Don’t tell me that the advertisers aren’t interested in reaching 32 million unique users a month!

Remember when Salon.com launched their freemium model back in the 1990′s? Apparently quite a few of the magazine’s loyal readers were quite prepared to pay not to see the paid-for splash screen. I didn’t count myself among them, living by the maxim Information wants to be free, but I really didn’t mind the ads. You really can’t if you want it to stay that way. It would seem, though, that the New York Times is opposed to the cluttered appearance of Norwegian news sites, for which you really cannot blame them, but to think that this will save “The Gray Lady”:

Sorry, Mac (pun partly intended)… I don’t buy into that either. Norway’s equivalent to New York Times, former broadsheet Aftenposten, degenerated to a tabloid over the last decade, seems to believe there’s future in the iPad. According to editor-in-chief Hilde Haugsgjerd today,

[…] By charging a user fee from day one, we break the Internet dailies’ trend. The product will have a whole different set of qualities, and we are convinced that the advertisers are willing to pay more – for instance by enabling them to buy fullpage ads, Ms Haugsgjerd explains.

— My translation

Oy vey… We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we.

But I can tell you this much: There’s absolutely no reason why New York Times shouldn’t succeed with a free Internet edition, with a free iPad edition, for that matter. If they are willing to let the advertisers in.

Top photograph: The New York Times headquarters. Photographer: Haxorjoe/Wikipedia

The first real blogs to surface at the turn of the century, or thereabouts, represented a huge leap in the media disruption, later manifesting itself in the demise of numerous newsprint outlets and the subsequent plunge in the old media’s revenues, further manifested by the coming of Facebook, Twitter and similar phenomena, rendering most news corporations’ quest for a sustainable business model, by way of pay walls and mobile apps, a rather desperate one.

Along came the automated aggregation tools, such as Paper.li, enabling the private news consumers to compile their very own newspapers, based on tweets, stories, links and video clips from a number of sources, of his or her very own choice. The beauty of it is that there’s really no rocket science involved. Truth be told, the concept isn’t entirely new either. As I started researching the phenomenon, I suddenly remembered my old account with The Twitter Tim.es, in principle based on Paper.li‘s idea, if in fact it’s not the other way around.

Journalism’s decline

As you may have surmised already, I am a bit of a media buff. Can’t be helped, after some 30 years in the trade. On the whole I am very pleased with the general development, rendering newsprint a thing of the past in the Petterson household. I do however not subscribe to the idea that the quantity of social media represent an improvement in the quality. In general terms we must admit that the quality of journalism, even in the old media, has seen a downturn, in spite of  the technology’s added value, in terms of audio and video streaming, live reporting via Cover it Live, Twitter integration, great, animated infographics opportunities, and real-time commenting. Sadly the majority of our tech enthusiasts and social media advocates seem to take the opposite stance, making out the means an improvement in their own right, ignoring the impeding consequences for the written word – or the thoroughness with which journalism is practised.

Get your media kicks over @ media3oh Daily

In an attempt at exploring even that aspect of the growth of social media, and the consequential demise of journalistic quality, I set out to launch a blog the other day, prepared to invite some of the most influential and experienced media (and “new” media) experts as occasional contributors. I’m happy to announce that the project stranded, even before launch (as you will see), only to be replaced by the obvious Paper.li alternative; media3oh Daily, as seen to the right, with reference to Media 3.0, of course.

The daily digest regenerates every 24 hours, with stories, links and flicks provided by top notch media resources throughout the world, based on this Twitter list, growing by the day (please leave a comment if you have any suggestions).

The editor is dead, long live the editor

Now that we’re all our own editors, the institutional media find themselves in a more vulnerable position than ever before. Their feeble attempts at alienating even more of their up until recently loyal users by raising pay walls around their content, and launching freemium solutions, will only add to services such as Paper.li – and others, even more sophisticated, to come.

The Apple enthusiasts among you will of course appreciate the fairly recent Flipboard app for iPad, sporting a really appealing interface, even if it resembles the Paper.li service – in principle.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2vpvEDS00o

I have noticed how the social media optimists depict the technological development an improvement for journalism, which it could well be, but I fear it’s more of an excuse not to exercise proper journalism.

Norwegian blogger Chrstoffer Biong published a blog post last week (in Norwegian), criticising a severe case of misinformation in an extremely protectionist agricultural campaign, launched by the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food; Nyt Norge (Enjoy Norway), set up to prevent import of food and beverages, and, of course, promote same of Norwegian origin. He is now threatened with legal action from same authorities, on pretext of his illustrative use of the Nyt Norge logo, as a copyrighted property.

There can be no doubt that blogs writing in favour of the campaign would not receive threats of legal prosecution, whereas critical voices are threatened to silence. Granted in the letter Mr Biong received from the Nyt Norge lawyer, Ms Nina Hegdal, he is instructed to remove what they see as unjustified use of their logo only, which may seem a fair demand, if it hadn’t been for the fact that it’s used in a series of satiric campaign mock-ups – which, in the view of the public, and legal custom, is considered fair use.

Imagine, if you will, that bloggers and the press were denied any use of the BP logo in relevant articles on the Mexico gulf disaster. Unthinkable, of course. In Norway: Not so (or so they would have us believe).

Mr Biong’s real offence lies in pointing out the intentional misinformation in a campaign setting out to render Norway’s agricultural products healthier and better than that of the European Union’s, for instance, while in reality it is the other way around. In fact, some of the organisations behind (alongside the Ministry of Agriculture and Food) the campaign make out the very core of Norway’s EU opposition.

We like to see ourselves as a modern democracy, with obvious rights, such as freedom of expression. This blatant attempt at intimidating a private citizen, whose only crime is to voice his opinion, is a mockery of everything we hold sacred, such as democratic values.

Finally, a sample, one of many similar, from the campaign – even if it contains a logo:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=upzhwud87qY

Late addition: The whole affair reminds me of Norwegian farmers’ conduct in similar situations, such as earlier this year, when a good friend of mine made a huge mistake: That of using a blog title reading Bloody peasants (in Norwegian). It nearly cost him his job.

Photo: Norwegian sheep. Photographer: Jeroen Hellingman/Wikipedia

The world press went completely bonkers Sunday night, remaining frenzied, in the wake of The Guardian’s, The New York Times’ and Der Spiegel’s publication of extracts from some 90,000 classified logs from WikiLeaks, documenting alleged mistakes and unnecessary civilian casualties, by the hands of NATO-lead ISAF forces in Afghanistan.

Time, or rather lack thereof, forbids me to investigate the matter in detail, if at all, but whenever this amount of classified documents becomes public domain, there’s much cause for alarm. Yes, I’m all for unearthing inappropriate conduct, especially when civilian lives are in harm’s way, as in this incident, published by just WikiLeaks earlier this year:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=25EWUUBjPMo

In supporting it, however, there’s no need to uncritically condone the bulk release of some 90,000 logs, of which there’s bound to be faulty, potentially doctored  material. I’m full aware that said newspapers (and magazine) have spent the last couple of weeks confirming loads of logs, finding them above board and in order, but they cannot possibly have managed to cover more than a fraction.

Even so, we need to take into account that we’re still dealing with classified material. Classified for a reason. By making it available to a world audience, WikiLeaks and their media cohorts expose tactical routines, secret designations, possible identities and so forth and so on. Yes, they are right to reveal unjustified civilian casualties, which, in my humble opinion, could well be done without publishing the sum total of 92,000 classified military reports.

You may well ask who stands to gain. This much, I think, is certain: Not the ISAF soldiers and their safety, not the Afghan people, whose safety largely depends on the safety of the former.

In short, since I’m so pressed for time: Dear WikiLeaks, please continue to share grave mistakes with serious implications for Afghan (or Iraqi) civilians or ISAF soldiers, even, but in doing so, please consider the overall consequences, too – and leave irrelevant material be, however classified.

Uncovering secrets for uncovery’s sake, is nothing short of stupid.

Photo: Norwegian troops running operations in the Faryab Province, Afghanistan. Wikimedia Commons

I’m not in the habit of indulging in personal matters, not in this blog anyway, but will make a rare exception, as a novelty, if you will, pertaining to my family’s life in the wastelands – or rather; on a semi-desert island, as it were.

You may, upon reading this account, find it hard to believe the likeliness of people living here at all, given the circumstances I’m about to share. Nevertheless, some really do. In our case some 2800 individuals, spread across a 255 km² area, making up the group of islands that is Tysnes, including our very own small community, shown in this Google Street view reproduction:
View Larger Map

A community made up by some 400 widely spread inhabitants, supposed to maintain the future existence of a supermarket, a post office and a bank outlet. As you will know, such ambitions are futile, as their basis for a sound business would require twice that number, at least – or so one would think.

Then of course, they dismantled the post office almost a decade ago (admittedly: as they’ve done all over the country), to resurface as a reduced service, ran by the supermarket. The bank outlet was abandoned by the local bank at this year’s beginning and, to top it all, last Saturday saw the dismantling of our local supermarket, which insides looked something like this on Monday:

As luck would have it, though, another supermarket chain decided to have a go at our 400-people customer basis, reopening on 1 July, which is all pretty fine and dandy – if, in the meantime, you have alternate sources for groceries, mail, pharmaceutical products and so on. Which, in our case, sadly isn’t so.

Meanwhile we shall have to commute to the community’s commercial centre, some 11 kilometres away, by an infrequent bus or by tagging along whenever my in-laws decide to make the trip – as we’re environmentally sustainable, insofar that we’re car-free (which, under the circumstances, is a long way from being carefree).

In all honesty, I thought the place the proverbial ghost town (provided you keep the term “town” out of the equation) prior to the mercantile discontinuations. Clearly, I had seen nothing yet. The now absent supermarket served as the community’s life nerve, offering a place to chat over a cup of coffee and the gathering of vital information on local goings on, by way of rural gossip and the notices pinned to the bulletin board. We do however still have the local community portal Lundegrend.no, ran by yours truly, by the way. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the website relies on said notices and gossip, it could very well serve as an alternative, indeed.

I know… If it’s all half as bad as I would have you believe, then why oh why do I live here?

I can see why you ask, really I do. The answer isn’t as straight forward as you might think, but in order to keep it short and sweet, this is where my wife is born and bred. As her homesickness grew to intolerable proportions, I decided that I was prepared to be unhappy in order for her to be happy, in repayment of same service rendered – so far a partial success, to the extent that I’ve only succeeded with the former, not the latter. I suspect it’s all to do with the lacking appreciation of the mere fact that it’s even remotely possible to be unhappy in such a place. The very thought, I think, strikes the local population (among whom I count my wife) not only as unthinkable, but highly offending – as if nearly half a century’s urban life is instantly convertible to an event-less rural existence. Whereas urban dissatisfaction is self-evident (yeah, I know…).

I think it’s safe to say that it does take a little getting used to. Certainly more than merely ten months, and yes, it has rendered me profoundly unhappy, which is no big deal, really, as it is something I’m prepared to embrace, if the effect on my spouse is the opposite one – which, after ten months, it remains to see.

Besides: In truth, most people are deeply unhappy, aren’t they? And please, do not read this as an invitation to introduce me to Mister Christ.

On the upside, on the other hand, the sceneries around here are absolutely breathtaking, if you, unlike me, are into that sort of thing – as shown in a video I edited for the local authorities a couple of weeks ago, based on a number of stills:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA3sm_Eu9M0

I am happy(?) to add that I am not the only one to suffer a severe case of cabin fever. My better half uses every opportunity to flea flee the place, as is the case even as I write this.

Surprisingly, I find that the propensity to roam the neighbourhood, axe-in-hand (hence the Jack Torrance photo from The Shining), seems remarkably absent, though – mostly ascribed to an all-too busy schedule. Work-wise, that is. Then again, you know how it goes:

Come to think of it, I’m beginning to feel a bit like “Number six”:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TfdA9fWb_g

I know that I have touched on this subject on numerous occasions, but find it increasingly hard to understand the Israelis’ disbelief when facing foreign criticism. With last year’s Israeli new year offensive still fresh in mind, and Israel’s subsequent offence, and astonishment even, in the international community’s disapproval, you have to wonder.

Our support of Israel’s right to exist does not pave the way to act as if the nation owns the entire Middle East, which would make our support unconditional. Well, Mr. Nethanyahu, it is not.

Today’s Israeli raid on the six-ship large flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip, has appalled the civilised world to such an extent that it will be extremely hard to restore what ever support we originally harboured.

Granted, atrocities take place all over the world, on a daily basis, but rarely committed by countries or powers seeking our approval and support – which is a concept of which the Israelis appear to have no understanding whatsoever.

Surely, they cannot expect us to approve or continue our support upon discarding the international community’s views. It’s most certainly of little help that the six ships transport aid workers from countries all over the world, among them my own country.

You’re in way too deep this time, prime minister Netanyahu.

In a blog post about a year ago, reporting on WW2 revisionist (and Holocaust denier) David Irving’s Oslo visit in May 2009, I quickly found myself at the very centre of the global extreme right movement’s attention, or what to me seemed the centre. Assuming that I remain on the revisionist watch-list, I would very much like to use this opportunity to rectify the impression of an enemy of free speech, lest I end up sucking on a .45 barrel, as suggested by one of them.

As a translator—among other things—I translate books on a number of various subjects into my native tongue (Norwegian), among which, it turns out, we find the memoirs of Der Führer’s valet, secretary and driver, starting, just recently, with the former: With Hitler to the End: The memoirs of Adolf Hitler’s Valet, to be followed by He was my Chief: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler’s secretary and I was Hitler’s Chauffeur: The Memoirs of Erich Kempka.

Here’s what I’m up against – Heinz Linge, Hitler’s former valet in a documentary shown on French TV:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxZ2UIJoo-c

Even in the introduction to the first book—which is as far as I’ve come—I realise that this is going to be a challenge.

“[…] This apparently sympathetic portrayal of the Nazi leader might sit uncomfortably with some readers,” Roger Moorhouse writes in the introduction, continuing:

[…] Yet, we are kidding ourselves if we imagine that Hitler was some one-dimensional monster – all rolling eyes and rabid ranting. He was not. As this book demonstrates, the Hitler  that  we  know  –  the  man  who  had  millions  murdered  and started  the  most  costly  and  destructive  war  in  history  –  also  had a  human  side:  he  could  be  affable  to  his  staff,  kiss  his  secretaries’ hands  and  be  kind  to  his  dog.  If  this  apparent  humanity  offends our preconceptions, then perhaps our preconceptions need altering.

Do you, like I do, feel a hint of doubt upon reading that kind of reasoning, or at least the conclusions drawn from it?

Also, I must admit that I feel a bit like an instrument in the hands of people with an agenda, but have come to conclude that, whatever their motives, their right to speak, if not heard, should remain unchallenged—and, reliable or not, their stories continue to captivate, even if they’re pure fiction.

For entertainment’s sake.

So what if I’m HHH-ing (Humanising Herr Hitler)? Feeling a little soiled, of course—used, even… I can live with that.

But I won’t stand being accused of trying to gag the would-be Obergruppengauleitersturmbannführers of the world again. Do you hear me, orion 1497?

P.S. Ah, yes! I do write “humanising” with an s. Then again I write “colour” and “centre”, too. Never cared much for aluminum, see. Or Hitler. Still, submitting myself to weeks and weeks of massive brainwash… Will I be able to resist?

Reading spam comments has become increasingly discouraging over the years (or decreasingly encouraging, depending on your view on the glass half-full/glass half-empty concept). I mean… What ever happened to creativity? Let me illustrate with a handful of samples from today’s catch:

• I liked it. So much useful material. I read with great interest.
• found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later
• Are you a professional journalist? You write very well.
• This post increased my knowledge… very interesting..thank you..
• I added your blog to bookmarks. And i’ll read your articles more often!

Honestly, guys… I expect a lot better. So puh-lease: The next time, please don’t try to insult my – or any other blogger’s intellect. It’s not that we don’t welcome your futile (just so we’re clear on that) attempts. It’s just that… Well you know!

Agreed?

Today is a day for rejoice, albeit with a hint of regret. Regret that my childhood best buddy Tomas Espedal was passed over for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize again today. Rejoice, however, in the nomination itself, even though he received a 2006 nomination, too. And, but not least, because it is our daughter’s seventh birthday.

Ample cause for celebration, in other words. With regards to Tomas, I also find solace in the fact that he did receive the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature 2009, awarded just a few weeks ago.

This year’s Nordic Council Literature Prize winner however, is the Finnish author Sofi Oksanen, for her work “Puhdistus” (“Cleansing”).

Sofi Oksanen (born 1977) shows her full strength with her third novel “Puhdistus”. In a rich and expressive language she weaves a specific historical event, the Soviet occupation of Estonia, with a burning topical global contemporary theme – trafficking around the Baltic Sea.

The Adjudication Committee wrote:

Sofi Oksanen’s novel ‘Puhdistus’ (‘Cleansing’) takes place in two periods of time in Estonia, but its themes of love, treachery, power and powerlessness are timeless. ‘Puhdistus’ vibrates with tension: unspoken secrets and deeply shameful deeds stretch out across the book like a web and compel the reader to keep reading. With a rare precise and apposite language Oksanen describes what history does to individuals and history’s pervasion in the present.

The nominations were:

From Denmark:
Peter Laugesen, Fotorama
Ida Jessen, Børnene

From Finland:
Sofi Oksanen, Puhdistus
Monika Fagerholm, Glitterscenen

From Iceland:
Einar Kárason, Ofsi
Steinar Bragi, Konur

From Norway:
Karl Ove Knausgård, Min kamp1
Tomas Espedal, Imot kunsten

From Sweden:
Steve Sem-Sandberg, De fattiga i Lodz
Ann Jäderlund, Vad hjälper det en människa om hon häller rent vatten över sig i alla sina dagar

From the Faroe Islands:
Gunnar Hoydal, Í havsins hjarta

No nominations were submitted from the Greenland or the Sami Language Area this year.

The prize, worth DKK 350,000, will be awarded during the Nordic Council’s Session in Reykjavik at the beginning of November 2010.

Revelation postponed

I was planning on revealing a secret from our childhood days to Tomas, in the event that he won. But it’ll have to wait until he does – which, inevitably, he will.

P.S. Appropriately enough we’re entering a holiday named passover in Judaism, which could explain Tomas’s very recent misfortune.

Photos: Acclaimed Norwegian author Tomas Espedal (Photographer: Helge Skodvin, 2005) and Finnish author Sofi Oksanen (Photographer: Toni Härkönen).

In connection with the Bergen Railway’s 100th anniversary last Friday, the Norwegian Broadcating Corporation (NRK) ran a highly bold experiment during Saturday’s prime time: A spectacular journey from Bergen to Oslo, for the full duration of the approximately seven-hour trip, as seen from the engine driver’s seat.

Screendump from the NRK programme on the Bergen Railway.

The programme re-ran in its entirety on the auxiliary NRK 2 today, a huge success, praised on Twitter, Facebook and in a number of domestic blogs, but is available to you, too, as the entire “show” has been released on Internet TV, shown in full (if you have some seven hours to spare) – or in three parts, circa two hours each:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

The Oslo train leaving Bergen station at 15:58 (Blogger's mobile photo)

I know how I must appear more than averagely absorbed with trains. Never used to be, but global warming and the consequences of frequent flying considered, I’ve become quite the advocate of high-velocity express trains, likely to improve on our total greenhouse gas emissions, as well as our overall economy (if we’re willing to give up the income from fossil fuels, that is).

Be that as it may: Give the seven-hour Bergen Railway trip a go. You’d be surprised how addictive it can be. And extremely beautiful.

Top photo: The Bergen Railway. Photographer: Rune Fossum/NSB

It’s been 15 years today since the Norwegian public turned down an EU membership in the 1994 referendum, held on Monday 28 November. After a long and heated debate the nay-sayers drew the longest straw, winning 52.2 percent of the votes, on an 88.6 percent turnout.

As an (extremely) active member of the European Movement at the time, I would be lying if I declared myself unaffected by the outcome, like the rest of the remaining 47,8 percent yes voters. The European Movement held a party in central Oslo that night that I attended, alongside other EU activists. Spurred by the Swedes’, the Finns’ and the Austrians’ loud and clear yes during their respective referendums that autumn, we expected nothing short of a landslide in favour of an EU membership.

The Norwegian EU polls at some point during Monday 28 November 1994.

Which made our defeat all the harder to accept, of course. I saw hardened politicians crying in corridors and hallways – or sitting face-in-hands on steps. Personally I found no comfort in the whopping 76 percent victory (the exact figure has escaped me over the years) in my own township, Oslo’s Nordstrand, at the time, where I personally set up a local European Movement chapter. For weeks on end I spent my days in silent apathy, until, being father of two little boys, Christmas brutally jerked me out of it.

So you see, today I just want to remain silent, even though I’m not entirely convinced that we deserve being accepted into the EU.

See also: A bitter-sweet celebration

Imagine, it’s 20 year’s since the Berlin wall fell today! I suppose that, like most, I’m glad it did, but can’t help missing a more lucid world, with us good guys in the West and the bad guys in the East. Very, very bad guys.

Last week I browsed the web for communist memorabilia, but would be lying if I claimed to have found much worth mentioning. Fired by, above all, nostalgia, I decided to put up a sub-site, hard-coded, just as we did it almost 20 years ago. But I wanted to recapture the very look and feel of early 1990′s web pages, too – sans the animated gif’s that flourished at the time, of course. There are limits (although I must admit to overdoing the textured backgrounds back in the on-line stone ages – along with the occasional <blink> tag).

One might almost suspect a certain amount of communist sympathies on my part, but I can assure you that nothing would be farther from the truth. On the other hand I miss the old commie buggers, too, with their dachas and their Volga ZIL’s, driven by fur-hatted, uniformed drivers.

I launched the pages today, with only a handful of cold war memorabilia and propaganda items, I’m afraid, but promise to follow up with more in the days to come. Care for a look-see? Just click the picture:

This upcoming Monday marks a milestone in Europe’s recent history; the fall of the Berlin wall on 9 November 1989 and the subsequent reunion of a war-struck Germany – taking both WW2 and the following cold war into account.

British pre-war PM Neville Chamberlain had a point, you know, in claiming peace in our time – depending on how you define our time. As luck has it, France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg signed the European coal and steel union treaty, the European Union’s predecessor, on just 9 November 1951. Unfortunately, the date coincides with that of Germany’s 1938 Kristallnacht – which, in a sense, only goes to show what’s at risk, if it hadn’t been for the European Union.

The coal and steel union and the resulting European Union both have proved to materialise in the biggest international peace project in our time. The European continent, with its vast number of nations and conflicting interests, has experienced no era of such lasting peace as just the one brought about by the EU.

In claiming an outside, bitter-sweet look at that, I’m merely acknowledging the fact that my own country, in its infinite wisdom, has decided – not once, but twice – to exclude itself from that project (and the beneficial consequences thereof), by turning down the union’s gracious offer to join.

Living in a supposedly peace-loving country, I won’t deny having certain difficulties stomaching that attitude.

Our reiterated No to a European Union membership is based on sheer selfishness, clad as gravely mistaken socialism, branding the peace project a result of the market forces’ attempt to control the continent and its resources.

The thing is, though, if it hadn’t been for Norway’s vast oil and petroleum resources, we’d be begging on our knees to join. That’s right, good people, that’s the kind of people we are, paying heed to no-one’s interests but our own. Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen didn’t make up Troll, to thyself be – enough, based on nothing, you know.

Which makes our decision not to partake all the more discouraging – and the esteem in which we ought to hold ourselves all the lower. Not so, I’m afraid. On the contrary, we see ourselves as knights in shining armour, yet devoid of an actual will to contribute.

So you see, dear fellow Europeans, it is with much grief and humility I humbly ask your forgiveness, and permission to partake in what to me seems a bitter-sweet celebration – however unworthy. I remain, nonetheless, very happy for you.

Many happy returns on the 20th anniversary – as well as the 58th!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhS55x8J7pw

International reactions to U.S. president Obama’s Nobel peace prize award have been mixed, to say the least, since last week’s announcement, as they’ve been at home. In fact, the Norwegian public is split down the middle in the matter, despite general support for Obama and his political agenda.

Of course, it comes as no surprise, as, after all, the laureate himself has very little to show for himself. In fact, he seems just as surprised as the rest of us.

Much as I share president Obama’s ideas, goals, hopes and aspirations, I must admit that I’m prone to join the sceptics in this matter. Granted the prize appears aspirationally motivated, rather than by accomplishments, but, I fear, in breech of the Nobel committee’s bylaws – and Alfred Nobel’s intentions (whose legacy the committee’s been appointed to honour and enforce).

Could it be, as claimed by some, that U.S. president Barack H. Obama has been awarded for not being George W. Bush jr? Yes, it could, or better still, it is. There’s no point in denying the obvious; The Norwegian public and our politicians, included yours truly, had a hard time stomaching president Bush and his hard-line conservative policies.

In many ways this year’s Nobel peace prize can – and should – be viewed as expression for the Norwegian government’s rejoice in finally being rid of the old master, waggingly welcoming the new one, whose bidding we’ll eagerly do (hence the above picture). Of course, you could argue that our government’s involvement is irrelevant, if not non-existing, as the Nobel committee is an independent body. Only in the name, I’m afraid. Believing in that independence is highly naïve, at best. Make no mistake about it: These guys talk a lot (between themselves, that is).

The Norwegian Labour party is considered what we’ve dubbed a state-bearing party, filling crucial positions in our bureaucracy and our institutions for generations – including the Nobel committee. In fact, the committee’s chairman, Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, has held a number of posts on Labour’s behalf:

• MP (1993–2009)
• PM (1996–1997)
• Minister of foreign affairs (2000–2001)
• President of parliament (2005–2009)
• Secretary general of the Council of Europe (2009–)

(God forbid that the Council of Europe’s peace prize candidacy should arise)

If you want to convince me that Labour had nothing to do with this year’s peace prize reward, please be my guest.

Full disclosure: I’m a member of the Norwegian Labour, but not prone to comply with party programmes or dogmas – and not about to begin to now. I follow my own, constantly revised and evolving thoughts and convictions only, rendering me unsuited for political memberships, really.

In a sense we have a set of dogs, only too happy to comply with his master’s voice: The Nobel committee, eagerly executing the government’s (so long as it’s Labour) bid, and the Norwegian government, whose zeal to please America is legendary. You have to applaud the strategists behind it all, though:

What better way to ensure an American presidential visit – and to draw the world’s attention to the Norwegian capital?

Yes, I’m a huge fan of U.S. president Obama and the promise of his current conduct, and yes, I fully understand the Nobel committee’s intentions, but fear they’re about to ruin the institution’s reputation.

However, we’d do well to keep in mind that the road to hell remains paved with good intentions.

My absence from the social media scene during summer, mainly based on a number of all-too time-consuming assignments, has lead me to realise that I simply do not miss it, save for blogging, as you will understand. And I think I know why, as I suspect I really tired of the social media more than a decade ago. “Hang on,” you say? “Social media didn’t exist at the time”?

Dear reader, I beg to differ.

The sudden enthusiasm for web 2.0 and, in particular, the scores of social media outlets emerging over the last five years or so (in some instances much less) is a very puzzling one, implying that we’re dealing with something altogether new – which indeed it is not. In fact, many of them are, for one reason or the other, 1990′s phenomena – some even older –  cracked up to be new.

You have to wonder though, where the enthusiasts were in the early 1990′s to the mid-nineties, at which time the social media flourished, even though you cannot blame them for revelling in the wonders the rest of us hailed some 15 years ago. Even so, it is fascinating to see how so many of the newly converted appear as experts, chiefly based on mere ardour.

My guess is that most of them still wore shorts at the time, lacking Internet access, as most did. Which, in my view, is a perfectly understandable and valid excuse. I, for one, am not the least surprised that they perceive social media as a novelty.

Granted you never found sophisticated, convoluted packages such as Facebook, with its multifaceted solutions back in the heydays of Web 1.0. Nevertheless most of them did exist, albeit separately. What Mark Zuckerberg et al did, was to offer it all as a package, invoking much praise. For work already done by the included third-parties.

Also, video clips weren’t nearly as accessible back in the 1990′s as they became with the launch of YouTube. But accessible they were, even in pre-web times. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’re back in the 1980′s, at which time even many of Facebook’s, Twitter’s and the instant messengers’ basic features indeed were available.

In the 1980′s you had access to the net, even if it was a different one, by way of a slow dial-up modem and a plethora of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), first and foremost championed by CompuServe, as I recall (please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong in that assumption). It offered much of what we find on today’s Internet, less the GUI (Graphic User Interface) and hypertexted functionality. Let me mention but a few:

• YouTube? A matter of instant on-page access only. You could download just about any video you wanted back in the 1980′s, although often as native AVI files (later, in the early 1990′s, Apple’s Quicktime MOV files came to)
• Flickr/Picasa? Same thing here: Photos were shared by the numbers, quite often at impressive resolutions for that time
• Socialising? Numerous fora were available on the equally numerous bulletin boards

As for socialising, by the end of the 1980′s, some had even been on the Internet for almost two decades, enjoying the blessings of email and the very email-like Usenet (more often referred to as Newsgroups), offering threaded discussions, not to mention IRC (Internet Relay Chat), when it came along at le fin de décennie (i.e. the 1980′s).

When it came to video, we also had Real Player and Quicktime files embedded in web pages for years and years prior to YouTube, which by the way really wasn’t much of a novelty in terms of technology, as it was based on Flash, introduced back in the mid-nineties.

My chief motivation for hooking up in pre-web times was the ability to “modem” (as a verb) brochure and magazine originals to print offices. Little did I know, at the time, that the yet-to-come web would make printed publications obsolete.

Before long I was, however, deeply fascinated by the interactivity (as in interaction between the individual and the on-line community – and between individuals) offered by the web, at a time when “interactivity” was largely seen as a highly graphical experience, with avatars and landscapes, in which the participating parties roamed. VRML (Virtual Reality Markup language, as opposed to the static HTML, Hypertext Markup Language) came along at some point, bringing hope to those who were taken to the idea.

There were simpler, more widespread alternatives, too, such as The Palace, Virtual Places and WBS – of which the latter really brings out the nostalgic in yours truly, a regular guest back in 1995.

Screendump from the soon-to-maybe relaunched Webchat Broadcasting System, with the look and feel of its mid-nineties predecessor.

Later on, early 1996 saw the first major Norwegian webchat, SN-snakk on Schibsted Nett:

The mid-nineties header of Schibsted Nett, with changing daylight as the day (and night) progressed… A feature that I found highly intriguing at the time.

And oh, there were some quite advanced instant message systems and clients out there, too, such as the mid-90′s PowWow, with VoIP and shared whiteboards! I remember trying it out for a while, before I laid eyes on ICQ and AOL’s IM.

Soon after, in 1999 or so, I found myself a victim of social media fatigue. Which, I suppose, makes my marvelling in present-day social media enthusiasm all the more understandable. At any rate you will, of course, understand that I find the novelty of social media to be greatly exaggerated – and that my absence from social media is to do with more than just time-consuming assignments.

In many ways the various on-line communities of yesteryears were endowed with several (isolated) features superior to those of Facebook or Twitter. In blessing Twitter for its unsurpassed role as conveyor of breaking news, useful links and so forth and so on, we completely ignore that in fact all of the above mentioned, now outdated, services had it all – even that. To their own misfortune they were launched at a time when business models were immature, to say the least.

By the time Larry Page and Sergey Brin eventually incorporated their spare-time project, Google, on 4 September 1998, the infamous dot com era was already long since on its way. I worked in a leading Norwegian daily’s Internet edition at the time, in sync with the Internet’s constant development, as it were. We all sensed that a “new economy” was afoot, even if we did not anticipate its short lifespan.

Google in 1998.

But Page and Brin inspired much innovation by demonstrating how far you can go with limited funds. The company, founded by the two not yet eleven years ago, now boasts some 20,000 employees, after several credit crunch motivated cut-backs. Nevertheless, I think it’s fair to say that Web 2.0 started with the two. I even took an initiative myself, back in 2000, which could well be construed as a web 2.0 phenomenon; video assisted on-line medical consultations. Needless to say; raising money in the post-dot com period wasn’t easy. Five years later we just could’ve pulled it off.

But others, who either waited the crisis out or came up with their ideas at a later, financially more favourable stage, succeeded, supported by huge expectations to the second generation worldwide web. With Ajax and other means of integration, syndication and cross-publishing came the ability to package a lot of functionality in one portal – or as many as you like. Third-parties were invited to contribute in an open community, such as Facebook.

Wikipedia, launched in 2001, paved the way for content collaboration, such as citizen journalism or even competitors. The blogs, a factor to be reckoned with even then, grew to unfathomable proportions, utilising elements imported or embedded from many of the above mentioned, as well as mutual syndication, linking and, not least, by facilitating a dialogue, by way of reader comments.

Having said that, homepage owners of the 1990′s had much of that, too, even if comments were usually made in the now archaic guest books. But we had feeds, even if the technology behind wasn’t called RSS. I personally had a number of various hard coded (html coding in Notepad) homepages, some made in WYSIWYG editors, too, between 1995 and 2002, of which the last is still available (in Norwegian), by the way.

In many ways the only new thing about blogs, back when they first surfaced, was that they required no prior knowledge of html coding.

In short: Web 2.0 and the social media brought about precious few new features. It has, however, been cracked up to have done just that. Probably, as already mentioned, because the enthusiasts couldn’t possibly know that last century’s Internet indeed offered much of the same.

Upon reading this, I see how I must be perceived as anti social media, but believe me; although I’ve tired of them, I still urge my clients to make good use of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and so on, as demonstrated on this website, that I recently helped to launch. Most enterprises’ participation in the social media is long overdue. However by approximately 15 years, not four or five, as the newly converted social media consultants would have it.

The real revolution in web 2.0 lies in the so-called cloud. We all know Google Docs and a number of similar services. Personally I’m currently testing the promising G.ho.st service, reminiscent of older thin client solutions, which most definitely is the way to go.

Even Microsoft recently announced a “cloud computed” version of their Office 2010. Who would’ve thought, only two years ago!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBzFdmmeomA

But wait… There has to be a catch. Will the use of Office 2010 provide a Sharepoint server of your own – or access to one? That’s pretty much what it sounds like to me. Otherwise they just wouldn’t be Microsoft. But things definitely move in the right direction.

Therein, dear reader, lies the novelty in Web 2.0. Social media, on the other hand.

That’s just yesterday’s news.

I am yet not departed. Actually, I’m not even sick, except perhaps, mentally. But I do struggle. With unimaginable loads of work, preventing me from blogging, twittering, facebooking – or leading a life of my own at all, truth be told.

For the better of a fortnight I’ve been my clients’ exclusive property 24/7, and am likely to remain so for most of summer, amid our family’s move from the Oslo region to the west coast.

I’m terribly sorry for late responses on comments, tweets, private emails and what have you, but can assure you that I’m very much alive, kicking and up and about.

Please forgive the absence, for the duration of I don’t know exactly how many assignments.

As for the rest of you: Enjoy summer (even if it pours down in these parts).

P.S. Some probably would have written something along the lines of Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, so I won’t. What is it with that phrase anyway? Do we think we introduce our readers to great wit by recycling it ad nauseam?

Both Sweden’s minister of foreign affairs Carl Bildt and his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre confirm a joint effort to defend Iceland’s air space as of 2011, expected to be joined by Denmark and Finland as the Nordic foreign minister ajourn in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik on Tuesday.

The arrangement is considered controversial, as Denmark, Norway and Iceland herself are NATO members, as opposed to non-NATO countries Finland and Sweden.

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas G. Støre.

In an interview on Norwegian national TV news Sunday evening, however, Norway’s minister of foreign affairs expressed no concern over this.

The joint Nordic force is expected to take over the derelict U.S. Naval Air Station Keflavik, once established.

The American military command The Iceland Defense Force (IDF) was responsible for Iceland’s defence between 1951 and 2006, at which point the last U.S. airmen left Icelandic territory. The country has been left without a dedicated military defence since.

Top photo: Norwegian F-16 on the ground (Wikimedia Commons)

Some of us have mourned the apparent demise of CitJ site iNorden.org, a service we all hoped would once become the Scandinavian response to the Korean success OhmyNews, which, evidently, never came to pass. After about a year’s existence, iNorden flopped big time last autumn, at which time I decided to retire myself as editor, leaving it all to co-editor Øyvind Strømmen, who clearly didn’t have much time to spend on the project either.

The remaining staff, if that’s an appropriate term, was unable to uphold the regularity we came to rely on during iN’s first year, leaving us all to believe it had come to an end. Until Øyvind mailed a few of us the other day, wondering if any of us had any ideas. Along came iNorden 3.0 – a full-fledged social media outlet, boasting functionality never before seen in the open (seeing as Facebook provides a log-in), and I have to say: For the first time in about a year, I’m all about great expectations, if Dickens will excuse my insolence.

Click for full size (1:1).

iNorden 1.0 started out as an online newspaper, really (as seen in screendump to the left, click for full size), with an ever-growing number of contributors – up until a certain point of time. Personally I have to admit to losing faith as I discovered that I was left to edit the whole thing single-handedly for the last couple of months prior to my “retirement”. By then we were already slightly connected to other social media, boasting a few functions ourselves, but nothing close to what we see in today’s version, offering blog pings, feeds from major Scandinavian ping services, Twitter-style dialogue and an integrated, filtered blog search engine, courtesy of Google. For now.

Apparently the ambition is to offer Nordic newspaper listings (feeds, perhaps?) and a host of additional functions, undoubtedly, and in all honesty, this may very well turn out to be the place to be for Nordic on-line socialites, citizen journalists, bloggers and all of you who are simply interested in Nordic goings on.

I can tell you this much, though: Even if I’m no longer involved, other than as an average contributor, I keep my hopes up high for iNorden’s re-introduction, which is much more in line with the 21st century social media requirements. That said, much remains to be done about the interface, and several functions are yet to be implemented, according to Øyvind Strømmen. In other words, it’s early days yet, but I can say this: Here’s a site with potential aplenty.

If you read this: Please don’t hesitate to spread the word. These things tend to rely on a certain participatory level, but are more often than not short of funds necessary to make themselves known.

iNorden 2.0 is still available, by the way, in a very crude, default WordPress theme.

Top photo: The Nordic social media outlet and ping service iNorden.

I’ve never had the pleasure of counting myself among the Alexa elite (as a matter of fact, this blog holds a humble 8763rd place – among sites Norwegians visit). Never paid much attention to search engine optimisation, commenting wildly on other bloggers’ posts for requital traffic, unless I should, for other reasons, but I do appreciate frequent visitors and love the input you provide, unless you’re up to no good, that is.

In short, my insignificances are indeed highly insignificant, in the big picture that is the blogosphere, but I cherish my readers, who, more often than not, provide additional facts to my posts – or correct them, even, which is even better. There’s no better way to expand your horizon than to have your own misconceptions rectified, no matter how embarrassing at the time. Which is why I’m pleased to pride myself with a highly competent parish, whose own blogs I admire immensely.

Even though my traffic figures have been and remain modest, I’ve discovered that there’s really nothing to boost traffic, if that’s what you’re after – provided you have the time, unfortunately a very sparse commodity, to actually maintain the blog regularly.

Seeing as I prefer quality over quantity, I broke my stride the other week somehow,  on deciding to experiment with a somewhat more popular – some would say common – approach, delving into the realms of popular culture. Which, believe you me, is a lot easier in Norwegian, as we Norwegians do not much care for high brow phenomena, save for the odd occasion when, for one reason or the other, we’re flaunting our faux intellectualism. In reality we’re every bit as commercially inclined as the outrageous Americans. The decision was made: I was determined to attract the salt of the earth by blogging a few posts of monumental interest to the average news reader (useful information: Hereabouts the term “news” refers to entertainment, celebrities and the “heinous Muslim immigrants”).

My blog boasts a meagre average of some 500 visits a day (not unique), but on 20 April  I published a post on the Pirate Bay verdict (in Norwegian), which was all over the place, linking liberally to every Twingly-enabled news outlet, thereby securing a minor boost in reciprocal traffic, to 2252 visits and 10,475 page views that day, an exercise I repeated on several occasions, in relation to other popular subjects, such as Norway’s Eurovision Song Contest contender, who accidentally won the whole thing (did I remember to inform you that Norwegian news are all entertainment, celebrities et cetera?).

As you will see from this table, activity was extremely low during the year’s two initial months, until a gradual increase became evident as of March:

The May figures aren’t complete at the moment, but with all probability end at approximately 10,000 unique visitors. Still not impressive, but I’m more than happy. A monthly average from just below 1000 unique monthly visitors to say 11,000, wouldn’t be possible for a fairly new blog, such as this (launched in the end of last September, with moderate activity), if it hadn’t been for the Twingly trackbacks and Google Friend Connect. Here’s an interesting piece of information, see:

Of the above shown figures, some 48,5 percent are referred from my very limited participation in the Google Friend Connect network – among those actually referred from elsewhere, that is. I’ve joined a very moderate number of blogs, as follower, if you will. All blogs that I intend to follow, mind you (joining those you don’t care much to follow, simply in order to attract reciprocal traffic, would be a little overzealous, in my opinion).

In other words, if increasing traffic figures is a goal in itself, I really ought to join more sites – via Google Friend Connect. As the screendump to the left (or the real deal in the lower end of my sidebar) shows, I haven’t got more than 13 followers to show for myself, me included. Followers who undoubtedly have come to much of the same conclusion; that Google Friend Connect indeed is a proverbial lifesaver, in terms of traffic figures.

In fact, I’m amazed that very few blogs seem to have discovered. If you don’t have one, Go get. If you’d like to assist fellow bloggers in their attempts at improving visits, that is. If you’re all about attracting traffic to yourself: joining blogs who have it is an alternative, I suppose.

British Holocaust revisionist and pseudo-historian David Irving, originally invited to the Lillehammer literature festival, arrived in Oslo on Monday, in spite of the festival’s cancellation last autumn, according to Norwegian news site ABC Nyheter (in Norwegian).

The initial festival programme contained an Irving lecture on the concept of truth, later to be withdrawn on account of massive protests.

It’s been rumoured later that Mr. Irving intended to attend regardless. He is currently confirmed present in Oslo, on his way to Lillehammer.

“Yes, I’m in Oslo, saying ‘tusen takk’ [thank you] wherever I go,” he says, trying to keep a low profile for security reasons.

His presence during the literature festival has been uncertain for some time, as none of the Lillehammer hotels have been willing to accommodate him, but he now claims having friends in the area who are prepared to house him.

David Irving is scheduled to hold a speech alongside the official festival programme.

A brief update on Tuesday 26 May: Up until now there’s been precious little mentioning of Mr. Irving’s visit in Norwegian news, save for these two nationals yesterday (both in Norwegian):

• Irving er i Oslo – ABC Nyheter
• – David Irving er i Oslo – ap.no

Granted several regional and local newspapers picked up on the news, too, but the above two remained alone on the national arena.

Recent news however has it that Mr. Irving was met by a number of protesters in Oslo today, which is always of a certain interest for a sensation-driven press. I’ll try to keep the list as up to date as possible (all still in Norwegian):

• David Irving møtt av demonstranter i Oslo – db.no
• Her kommer David Irving til TV 2 – tv2nyhetene.no
• – Vi skal fotfølge Irwing [sic] uansett – VG Nett
• Minst én person pågrepet under Irving-demonstrasjon – db.no
• TV 2 betaler Irvings norgesreise – db.no
• TV 2 betalte Irvings Norges-reise – VG Nett/NTB
• David Irving: – Hitler utpekte meg til sin biograf – tv2nyhetene.no
• TV2 [sic] betalte for Irvings Norges-reise – vl.no/NTB
• Irving måtte ta sidedøren til TV2 [sic] – vl.no/NTB
• – Jeg var ikke invitert som løgner – vl.no
• Men hva er usant? – vl.no
• Irving på vei hjem til London nå – db.no
• Irving har forlatt landet – VG Nett
• Holocaustsenteret trakk seg fra TV2-debatt [sic] – VG Nett
• David Irving til VG Nett: – Prøv å motbevis meg – VG Nett
• Irving: Jeg reiser hjem nå – vl.no
• Overlevde Auscwhitz – fortvilt over TV2 [sic] – vl.no
• Irving på vei tilbake til Storbritannia – tv2nyhetene.no
• Norsk professor: – Irving er en amatørhistoriker – tv2nyhetene.no
• David Irving: Nordmenn samarbeidet med tyskerne i stort omfang – tv2nyhetene.no
• Lønnsomt Norges-besøk for David Irving – VG Nett
• – Undercover i min egen by – db.no

It’s been argued that Irving’s cause gains less by a silent press, with which I have to agree. Personally I’m more curious as to whom his Norwegian cohorts might be, which is something that further press coverage may indeed unearth.

For a peek into David Irving’s repulsive, however irrelevant, mindset, please have a look at this, recorded last summer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhCbHZPwEEQ