Most annoying countries according to Google

Google unveiled a page that lists government requests from Google. Google explains its decision here. Turkey is not at the top of the lists as she just decides to shut down sites instead of more elegant approaches:)

Amazon refuses to turn over customers’ reading records to North Carolina tax department

North Carolina’s tax department wants to ding NC residents for sales tax on purchases from out-of-state etailers like Amazon.com, so they’ve asked Amazon to cough up a list of everything its NC customers have bought — books, sex-toys, steaks, CDs, whatever. Amazon’s taken the high-road, and has gone to court to protect its customers’ privacy. Good on ya, Amazon!

Amazon’s plans to kill book publishers thwarted by Apple

The New Yorker‘s Ken Auletta has a feature about the current power struggle between Apple, Amazon, and Google for the ebook market.

Collaboration Deepens at Logan Symposium on Investigative Journalism

BERKELEY — I’m settling into a large auditorium at the University of California-Berkeley for the 4th Annual Reva and David Logan Investigative Reporting Symposium . Not to sound too snooty, but it’s an exclusive event that’s run by Lowell Bergman, professor of investigative reporting at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Of course, Bergman is most famous for his work at “60 Minutes.” Plus, he was played by Al Pacino in “The Insider.” Each year, the symposium picks a theme, and brings you panels on that theme. This year’s theme: “The State of Play: Collaboration, Consequences, and Cash.”

Bloomberg targets WSJ and FT readers with redesigned website

Bloomberg is the latest news organization to attempt to take a bite out of the WSJ readership with a redesigned website. Bloomberg.com has ditched its old black and amber for a more traditional black text on a white screen look, reports Business Insider.

World’s press rallies to journalists in exile on World Press Freedom Day

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is calling on publications world-wide to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, by honouring journalists who are forced to flee their countries just for doing their jobs.

WikiLeaks, Bay Citizen, and Lessons from the Logan Symposium

Over the past two days, I had the pleasure of attending the 4th Annual Reva and David Logan Investigative Reporting Symposium. If you want a blow-by-blow account, check out the live blogs from Day 1 and Day 2.

Now that I’ve had a chance to catch my breath, I want to reflect on what I heard (and what I didn’t hear).

Text Messaging Among U.S. Teen Explodes

Following our recent coverage of  how young online people value their privacy, here comes another report centering on the same demographics this time looking into the exploding text messaging habit of U.S. teens. The study, conducted by Pew Internet shows how teen-agers have embraced text messaging and made it as their main communication medium among circle of friends.

How Social Media Can Affect Real Social and Governmental Change

from Mashable! by Craig Newmark