With Spec on summer vacation for over a week now, it's time to check in with that other journalistic medium: the internet. And now, a closer look of what some of the blogs on the sidebar have been publishing.

Roar Lions Roar: Columbia athletics, the high school years

The Phlog: Diners go Greek

The Blaaag: Finals week, we're nostalgic already!

The One Train: Bwog can't quite figure out where this bench is. Any guesses?

Off Broadway: More from our Ecuadorian correspondent

Reflective Pundit: Fancy graph points to sensibility of Clinton nomination

Tipster Mariela Quintana, who volunteers at Park Slope's 826nyc (a tutoring endeavor of Dave Eggers & Co., and previously featured on Bwog for its Superhero Supply Store), was kind enough to pass along a link to a new blog, "Fish Slaps A Baby," started and run by their elementary-school-age students. Here you'll read on such topics as

Rock Jellyfish!

Rock Hot Dogs!

Penguins!

Bwog is ever-so-pleased. Pleased enough to plug their excellent opportunities to volunteer as well. Plus, you can tell your friends that, in four years in New York, you managed to visit another borough at least once.

— ZvS

According to The Spine, a blog written by New Republic editor Marty Perez, Joseph Massad has been denied tenure. There's no other source on the story so far and no official word on the reasons behind the decision, but Gil Ronen of Israel National news claimed yesterday that the decision to make Nadia El-Haj a tenured professor was part of an internal deal in which Massad's tenure would be turned down.

The Columbia publications scene can seem oversaturated—there's always something new on newsstands and strewn across dorm hallways. But Barnard has historically been a one-publication campus, with the Bulletin absorbing the journalistic energies of those who don't take their writing talents across the street, or down Broadway to the Spectator.

Until last fall, that is. Keondra Prier, BC '08, had been developing the idea for a magazine centered around the African Diaspora since her sophomore year—and at the end of first semester, it was born in hard copy with the proxy (decapitalization intended), a glossy, full-color, 44-page compendium of reflections on the African experience, from spoken word to personal essays and graphic pastiches. The magazine's inaugural issue has no standardized font or color scheme, creating an almost zine-like collage of words and pictures. One of the most valuable inclusions is a reprint of the infamous Blacky Fun Whitey cartoon published in the Fed in spring 2004 2005, which helped set off a wave of protests and which many students are too young to have actually seen (if you haven't, it's a bit of a punch in the gut.)

The proxy will come out again this semester, with the theme of "commodified activism." Meanwhile, the small proxy staff has followed AAA's Blaaag into the world of loosely ethnicity-oriented blogging with thep(rob)e, a fashionably spare site with posts that comment on campus controversies and celeb faux pas, among other topics. Webmaster Muya Souaiaia, BC '08, and web director Daphne Larose, BC '10, say that one of the reasons they started the blog was a feeling of bad communication, both from the top (Souaiaia was particularly disturbed that she didn't know about the rape of a journalism school student last spring until a professor told her) and among groups.

Next up is a WBAR radio show, and expanded p(rob)e coverage—but only if they've got the staffing for it. If you've got the itch to blog, e-mail theprobe@theproxyproject.org.

- LBD

A bit of late news that was recently brought to our attention: according to the ominously-titled website House of Bnai-Haman, September 24, 2007 will now permanently be referred to as "Columbia's Day of Shame," which the site asks to readers to make sure "is never forgotten." Granted, the blog was actively updated for a grand total of two weeks, so we're not sure how long people will remember such an appellation -- never mind the nifty bit of poetry in the left hand column. Hey, at least its's got those sister sites loaded and running (more or less, anyway).

He even makes up quotes from PrezBo himself! Here's one selection:

"Since Hitler is no longer available and Amadinejad has already spoken, I want our students to have the chance to hear from this scummy scoundrel," Bollinger said' in a news release.

Bollinger further promised that he'd give the nooseman a public dressing down before providing him an open forum to spout his message of hate.

While Professor Constantine told news outlets covering the story that she found the incident "very personal and very degrading," Bollinger said the feelings of all victims matter not. "What counts," Bollinger said, "is that in America, everyone from the corner grocer to the corner cannibal has his or her opportunity to besmirch the reputation of our campus."

Now that would require some serious sensitivity training.

Because Bwog doesn't do hot, sandy or constantly-in-existential-danger, Iraq didn't quite make it into our summer plans. Not so for Matt Sanchez, GS, who has been blogging out of the war-torn country for the past couple of weeks. What the hell's gotten into the conservative activist, military man, Spec opinion writer, American studies major and one-time porn icon? We reached the Marine corporal by e-mail in an attempt to find out.

How did you get the opportunity to travel to Iraq? Moreover, why go there in the first place?

I applied for the media embed; the process seems daunting but if you're tenacious and know exactly what you want to do, your chances of getting approved are a lot higher. I had several advantages. I have a security clearance from my time at NYPD Counter-Terrorism, I know people who have been through the process and they explained it in detail, I had a definite plan of doing a syndicated radio show, In Their Own Words and Hometown Heroes, and I was as specific as possible with dates, units, places etc.

Think your summer plans are exciting? Well porn legend turned Marine corporal turned conservative activist Matt Sanchez has you beat. Eschewing the safety of comparatively calmer destinations (Eastern Chad, for instance?), Sanchez has traveled to a certain far-away quagmire of death squads, roadside bombs and internecine warfare--namely Iraq.

Not satisfied with American media coverage of the Mess-O-Potamia, Sanchez is attempting to set the record straight, embedding himself with an American military unit and posting daily to a blog. Sanchez's work makes for some interesting reading, and Bwog wishes the Corporal luck in returning to America safely.

In case you don't regularly frequent the world of tech-geekery, pay a visit: there's some crazy shit going down in freedom-of-informationland. Bwog freelancer Kate Redburn summarizes.

It seems Columbia students aren't the only ones having trouble with copyright law.

Yesterday, there was an internet revolution on Digg.com, the popular website-rating site, over the "digging" of an HD-DVD decryption key (see BBC coverage here). The 32-character key--now the subject of its own facebook group--allows unauthorized access to DVD content, and Digg complied with a request to take down the popular post. They also deleted several accounts which had posted the key. However, the users overrode the site's administrators, continuing to angrily post the key. The site finally capitulated. In a post to the Digg blog, co-founder Kevin Rose wrote:

"But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you've made it clear. You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be. If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying."

So far, the Digg community has won. The main page is covered with key pages, and articles related to the incident. Will May 1st be known for something else from now on?

This year has so far seen the launch of several Columbia student blogs, and the death of almost as many: Spectator's opinion blog The Steps and its sports blog Pressbox are both defunct, and the Dems' Lion and the Donkey hasn't published since April 5. Fortunately, the Columns is still going strong, and WikiCU adds new stuff every day.

Optimism check: Columbia's web presence may expand and contract, but Bwog feels confident that the teleology is positive. Let us know if we're missing any!

We've been eagerly waiting on the CPU blog for a while, and today it appeared! Behold the Columns, a complement to the Steps (the Plaza, anyone?) (Meanwhile, The Eye, which was supposed to launch blogs, seems to have disappeared altogether). Anyhow, so far they've got two Socialists and a Fed writer who hates politics, plus a few CPU staffers. Now you have a new platform to natter among yourselves about Iran, immigration, or whatever bee is in your political bonnet.

Although we love you here too.

- LBD

EDIT, 3:10 PM: The Columns' proprietors have informed us that the blog will also play host to columnists from the Dems, Republicans, United Students of Color Council, and Milvets, as well as unaffiliated students and professors.

With our recent posts on Matthew Fox's impending Class Day speech ballooning to nearly 500 comments, collectively, a protest Facebook group attracting 150 members so far, and even a failed attempt to hawk "Matthew Fox Does Not Speak for Me" buttons (they've been removed...we assume ABC's copyright lawyers struck quickly), this was a story the blogosphere couldn't ignore. Some highlights:

Televisionista called Columbia seniors "whiny, pretentious and snobbish," capturing similar sentiments across the board. MollyGood weighed in with "How precious! Yet another protest! They've always been so successful and righteous in the past!"

Seriously? OMG! WTF? writes "I mean Columbia is a good school, but please it is not the top Ivy League for a reason and don't get me started on their crappy football team"...proving that unintentional irony is the best kind. Just Jared, meanwhile, had little more to add, but wasted way too much time on Photoshop concocting the graphic we've displayed above-right.

After the jump: what Glamour, US, Gothamist & TV Guide had to say...

UPDATE: Word has it l'affair Fox made E!'s "Daily Ten" this evening, with harsh words for Columbia students - who nonetheless, they asserted, "love the Daily 10!"

We like blogs. Apparently, other people like them too. In its incessant web surfing, Bwog came across a couple new kids on the block:

Editor Josh - Ever wanted to know what Spec news editors think about constantly, unceasingly, all day every day? One of them has started a blog to give a little more back story behind the headlines, and it's actually really interesting. And he has the same geeky interest in CCSC that we do, so hurray for trivia.

Hash Browns...and Toast! - We know these kids, and are respecting their wish to remain anonymous. Probably a good thing, because you might look at them oddly if you knew their true identities.

And, coming soon...

The Eye blogs! We've been hearing that several of the top editors at The Eye have been given their very own web platforms, which may or may not launch tomorrow. Hope that goes well for them, considering that it's hard enough to provide content for a weekly magazine that also competes with a daily arts section.

Columbia Political Union blogs - Still in development, but promise to be rollicking good entertainment, since we've been told that they'll include several top campus political leaders (three guesses). Hey, if they can do it, why not Pelosi and Bush?

- LBD

Columbia student (and Spec style editor) Xiyin Tang '09 was featured in New York magazine's feature "Say Everything," discussing her use of LiveJournal and, of course, Facebook.

"Xiyin clicks to her Facebook profile, which features 88 photos... 'To me, or to a lot of people, it's like, why go to a party if you're not going to get your picture taken?'" How very Edie Sedgwick.

The Barnard Bulletin (Barnard's weekly magazine on, among other topics, female empowerment) is now up as a blog. And it's pink. Really really pink.

According to its mission statement, the magazine "seeks to inform and entertain readers by featuring in depth articles that explore important campus issues;" you be the judge. Point of interest: the publication is probably the first ever (or one of the first, at least) to have online archives before posting its current edition on the internet.