Kevin: Clayton Christensen and the disruptive-innovation crew from Harvard — who developed the NewspaperNext program with the American Press Institute — struggle to get us to understand how and why simple, low-end, inadequate, "junk" products and services so often topple the big guys.

Kevin: This is a very interesting piece that raises a lot of questions about columnists and abuse. I'd really like there to be a clearer differentiation between columnists and journalists. I think this piece slightly blurs the lines between the two. As far as I can tell, this piece is about columnists and a former Gawker blogger. But maybe I'm holding too closely to the US separation of columns and reporting. The comments are very much worth reading. The one thing I would say is that columnists are often shocked by the tone of the 'debate'. However, if you read the columns, they don't set the stage for a debate but rather seem written solely to provoke a reaction. Again, read the comments if you're running a comment site. They make some reasonable and very valid points.

Kevin: A good analysis by the folks at Bivings of the top 10 best US newspaper sites (from the top 100 newspapers in the States by circulation.) There are some good mentions in the comments from sites that don't fit those criteria. Check out the WikiJax feature at Jacksonville. It's an interesting innovation. I wonder if we wouldn't increase newspaper usage if we explained our features better. Of course, the best features and web sites explain themselves.

Kevin: Let the British media iPhone app rush begin. The one thing to note in this release is how ITN will enable offline video access.

Kevin: BitTorrent site Pirate Bay has just released a Google Maps mashup showing their worldwide user base. Janko Roettgers has some good analysis of the numbers. It's just a snapshot in time. It's also interesting to see where BitTorrent, or at least Pirate Bay, isn't used widely such as Africa and the Middle East.

Kevin: Some great sources of where to follow the Australian Bushfires via social media. I've been using a search based filter on Tweetdeck to follow the fires.

Kevin: I usually find mobile trend watchers in denial about the industry. They focus on handset manufacturers and ignore the speed bump/impregnable road block that the carriers are. But this trend list for '09 seems reasonable. I think we're finally seeing some movement in terms of Location Based Services. Apps are finally breaking the on-deck strangehold carriers used to have in terms of mobile data. Definitely worth a look.