Talkinator & other stuff

• Talkinator, a no-registration chat site, has debuted from the creator of Mailinator, which has become one of the most popular sites on the Net to use to keep yourself from being overwhelmed by spam. Cringley has details and suggests that these days a 5% margin of "better" might be enough to thrive. (Personally, I've pretty much stopped using chat, what with Twitter and other things. But then again, I still use e-mail. What a dinosaur I am.)
  
• David Sullivan aptly notes that in all the hoo-ha about Tribune's/Zell's pronouncement that the ad/news ratio in the papers would be rejiggered, some basic journalism was overlooked -- so what exactly is the typical ad/news ratio. Some of the figures he has from earlier years might surprise you.
• KnoxNews's posting from this weekend's church shooting shows why every reporter should have a Flip or similar video camera.
• I've seen some broad themes develop and coalesce lately across the new media discussions. One is the realization that the business model is a tough nut to crack but one that has to be. Another is the idea that young journalists are starting to flee traditional newsrooms almost, it seems, at the same rate as the layoff notices are coming for older ones. The latest entry: Braden Nicholson leaves Indy.com. Pat Thornton has more. And this comment on the Gannett blog. Frankly, this kind of stuff worries me a lot more than whether newspapers are innovating. If you are eating your young, you are R.I.P. (Earlier from Mark Glaser's interview with Vickey Williams who studied newsrooms as part of the Learning Newsroom poject.)
  
• The Citizens Media Law Project has launched the final section of its online media guide. Sadly, it includes only the 15 largest states for now. It's a lot more than just a libel guide. There is information on freedom of information, forming a business, etc. Get the details at the Media Shift Idea Lab blog.