Lawrence R. Velvel is the dean of the University of Massachusetts Law School and writes an interesting blog called Velvel on National Affairs. This earlier post referred to one of Dean Velvel’s earlier posts relating to the plagiarism scandal at Harvard Law School.
In this recent post, in the course of complimenting this Joseph Ellis op-ed regarding what George Washington would recommend as goals for the Bush Administration’s second term, Deal Velvel provides one of the most insightful descriptions of the power of blogging that I have seen:

Frankly speaking, I assume — I don?t know this, but am assuming it — that the column got into the papers in the same way that the book and newspaper industries normally work together. That is to say, to flog sales publicists at big name publishers ask big name newspapers to carry a column by a big name author relating to the subject of a new book the author wrote. Because the publisher and the author are big names, the big name newspaper agrees. This typical arrangement is symptomatic of the symbiotic elephantiasis which exists everywhere in this nation and is ruining the country: It is typical of the fact that, in every walk of life, only the huge in size, huge in money, huge in reputation, and/or huge in connections can really get anywhere.
This fact, incidentally, is one of the reasons for the rise of the poor man?s printing press called The Internet, which gives a small opening to people who are otherwise shut out regardless of competence — just as, conversely, others are insiders regardless of competence.

Second Circuit Judge and scholar Richard Posner and University of Chicago economist Gary Becker are now posting on their long awaited blog. Check it out here.

Your cell phone may be the victim of the next wave of viruses.

Thinking Machine 4. Play a computer that shows you the various moves that it is considering. Very, very cool.

SBC Communications Inc. begins a major Wi-Fi broadband internet service today by offering its broadband Internet customers $2-a-month access to its wireless hotspots. The $2-a-month charge is only for customers who have an SBC digital subscriber line connection. SBC charges non-DSL subscribers $20 a month for the service and sells day passes on its network for $8 in most location
The plan gives SBC customers access to its FreedomLink wireless Internet service in nearly 4,000 locations across the country and 262 in Texas, including UPS Store locations. Including the UPS Stores and many Barnes & Noble bookstores. The company has a full list of its FreedomLink locations at www.sbc.com/freedomlink.

and maybe even if you are, read this.

I have been meaning to pass along the Electoral Vote Predictor 2004, which has one of the best interfaces that I have seen in analyzing the upcoming Presidential election. Check it out.

Six of the pioneers of legal blogs (i.e., “blawgs”) — Tom Migdell, Dennis Kennedy, Ernest Svenson, Marty Schwimmer, Denise Howell, and Rick Klau — are collaborating on a new blawg called The Blawg Channel. Ernie described the purpose of the new blawg in the following manner:

[to promote] some positive changes in the legal world, and, more particularly, in the newly-minted realm of lawyer blogs. Somehow the Internet seems to have injected steroids into the concept of self-publication, and we believe that we can use this blog in a way that is beneficial to lawyers (especially those that who aren’t themselves blogging but who, nevertheless, want to tap into blogs as a source of useful legal information). And, since I mentioned steroids, I should mention, for what it’s worth, that a couple of us are even willing to submit to drug tests.

Dennis kicked it off with a post “What five things can lawyers do to better serve entrepreneurs and their businesses?” Given the contributors’ knowledge and insight, this new blawg has great potential as a resource for lawyers. I recommend that you check it out regularly.