There seems to have been an increase in the number of articles about podcasting in print publications over the last two weeks. As I read the articles, I noticed something common — they have failed to do a complete job in the online editions of the report. They have done so in one of two ways:

• They have failed to provide typewritten URLs to websites, blogs, podcasts and events that were mentioned in the article; and,

• They have failed to provide clickable links to websites, blogs, podcasts and events that were mentioned in the article, whether or not the URL was mentioned.

Hyperlinking is the foundation of The Web. Indeed, it’s part of the user experience and has become an expectation of everyone using the Internet. Any site that does not offer this core functionality is not just missing the point, it’s doing a disservice to the readers/visitors of that site — fee-based subscribers or the general public.

It’s time for newspapers and other media organizations to update their style guides and reporting policies to require clickable links to all sites mentioned in their articles.

Early registration for Podcasters Across Borders 2007 is CDN$75/person and closes today at 11:59pmET. The price increases to CDN$100/person at the stike of May 1.

I’ve uploaded photos from the Montreal podcast meetup and Ottawa podcast meetup to my Flickr account.

Thanks to Arthur Masters for driving both ways for the Montreal meetup, and to Scarborough Dude for making the Ottawa meetup necessary.

I published my very first podcast on April 29, 2005. I can’t even listen to the damned thing any more - much as I expect I won’t be able to listen to the shows I produce this week in two years.

To celebrate this event, I did something that I haven’t been doing on a regular schedule this year — I released an episode of Electric Sky. My guest on the anniversary episode is Tod Maffin, the man responsible for me podcasting and blogging.

A long version of the conversation with Tod will be published later this week on MarkBlevis.com.

Arthur Masters and I will be hitting the road shortly for the Montreal podcast meetup.  Expect some photos and audio from the trip.

Shannon Proudfoot has written a great article on podcasting for Southam News.  The article, which includes quotes from Brian Hogg (dotBoom) and Bob Goyetche (representing the Canadian Podcast Buffet), has been picked up by The Vancouver Sun.  Let me know if you find it elsewhere.

Market research firm Hitwise has published a report that compares the popularity of Internet-based social networks to Internet porn. According to the report, sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook have helped to catapult social networking past the catalyst of commerce technologies such as caching, flash video and shopping cart technology… porn.

Some time ago, I started a dialog with some University of Ottawa Technology Law folks about social media and public policy. I’m curious why it is so hard for government departments and public servants to adopt social media to build bridges with the country, and for those who do, why they have so much trouble being able to speak freely. After all, people can say whatever they want at parties and social gatherings. Why is it such a stretch to overcome the perceptions and fears of the online community?

Do you have thoughts, information or experiences on social media and public policy? If so, please contact me. I’d like to have as much background information as possible before arranging a round table session with key players and legal experts on the subject.

Scarborough Dude will be in Ottawa. Anyone who wants to chill with the Dude for a few pints and amazing conversation should be at this event!

The meetup will take place at the Clock Tower Brew Pub (575 Bank Street) at 8:00pm on Saturday, April 28.

Please RSVP.

Shortly after being contacted by John Harris Stevenson with details of the Copyright Board’s Tariff 22 hearings, I discovered that Michael Geist has blogged about SOCAN’s proposed $60 annual fee for podcasters whose music programming accounts for 20% or less of their podcast.

If I understand that correctly, podcasters would pay an annual fee of $60 to obtain performance rights to include any amount of music in their podcast provided the music programming does not exceed 20% of the program content. Before you get too excited, remember that this proposal only applies to the rights which SOCAN can license… performance rights. Podcasters will still need to obtain reproduction rights.

I will be meeting with John Harris Stevenson later this week to discuss the hearings. John is representing community and campus radio at the hearings and has suggested that the podcast community may want to present a formal case to the Board.

Stay tuned.