In today’s new media world, there are many options that you have to consider if you are interested in blogging. Whether the blog will be used as a corporate platform or simply to recap little Johnny’s baseball games, decisions need to be made.  What will be the theme of your blog? Which software are you going to use? How often will you post?

One of the biggest decisions you need to make right out of the gate is the manner in which your blog will be hosted. Should you throw on your IT hat and setup a self-hosted site or simply use one of the many blog services that are available?

In my opinion, it depends on the time you want to invest.

Ultimately nothing is more powerful than running your own hosted application, I don't think there's any doubt about that. You are able to:
- Point the blog at any domain or URL you want
- Use any blog software you want, or potentially change
- Have access to your own data in your own database
- Install any plug-ins or extensions to your blog software you wish
- Have whatever visual design you want.
- Import and export your blog data into whatever format you need
- Easier integration with the rest of your website

However, hosted applications have their advantages too:
- Quickest start time: You can usually have a blog within five minutes using hosted services.
- Price: most of the hosted services are free and provide free hosting
- No administration overhead: You don't have to install or keep any software updated.

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I think it's time we the people take control and start our own online national primary and general elections.

No offense to New Hampshire, Iowa, Florida and the others jockeying to be first so they can dictate what happens next, I want a national online primary. I want a national online general election. I don't want the DNC and the RNC picking our candidates. I don't want any one state making or breaking a politician's campaign. We in the collective should do it.

The party apparatus puts us through a primary campaign season during which the liberals and conservatives pander to their base so they can win the nomination. Then they all go to center. How about a national online pan-America people's primary in early August, 2008, just before the conventions. How about we let our average person preferences be known. Then if the DNC and RNC wants to ignore it, so be it, but at their peril.

Seems to me a couple of smart techies along with a handful of political pros could devise an online system pretty quick. In fact, someone must already be doing this. We will all be voting online within ten years anyway. Why not get the ball rolling. If the major candidates knew that in August 2008 some 80 million Americans would vocie their party preference online, I bet we'd be hearing some different things coming out of their mouths today, don't you?  Plus, think of the speed, convenience and accuracy of an online national primary and general election system… think of the demographics…

Hey, if we can pay our Federal taxes online, I don't know why we can't vote online with the same level of security. C'mon, don't you want to send a message and take down the political establishments of the professional Republicans and Democrats?

[Photo source and credit.]

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Back in the day when traditional PR still had currency in a world then dominated by establishment media that told us what to think, I used to advise clients to never say "No comment" in an interview with the press. The expression, I told them, was a favorite of crooks on 60 Minutes. By using it, they came across as dodgey, guilty, even arrogant. Much better to say, "I can't answer that" or give an answer to some other question, no matter what question was asked.

Now in a somewhat ironic reversal, the establishment media in many instances seems to have its own "No comment" policy. Here, for example, is a somewhat glaring example. It's a story about the power of comments on blogs, written by Allan Hoffman of The Star Ledger and used online with permission by NJ.com. Good piece, except guess what? There's no way to leave a comment.

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