I hate to have to say this again, but the idea that a vast majority of online users would object to having their behavior tracked by marketers is not surprising at all. I’d be more surprised if a study on that issue resulted in any other conclusion.

But what I’d like to see is a study that looks at people’s opinions about an internet that does not contain some level of behavioral tracking. Higher pay walls, more ad clutter (volume to make up for targeted specificity) and other changes I’m guess would not be so welcome. And the study would have to be free of the bias that would come from talk of behavioral targeting.

I’m not a huge fan of the practice and think that fair disclosure should be made when people are being tracked in this manner. But there’s a trade off and before any policies are put into place that are hard to undo it’s important to gauge just how willing people would be to make that trade.

The East Bay Express’ Robert Gammon thinks that a project involving student journalists is going to be the death knell for his publication. Obviously he had little faith in the strength of a professional news gathering organization if he feels this threatened by something that’s more an experiment than something designed to be a direct competitor.

Stephen Baker at BusinessWeek talks about how journalists need to walk the line between serving their publications and themselves. Specifically, though, he’s talking about how the tactics that help writers build strong personal profiles sometime run counter to the social media policies that pubs like The Washington Post are putting out there.

David Poland offers his thoughts on the state of transparent media and how it means more people can chime in on a story, something he doesn’t necessarily think is a good thing.

You’re right…the current insurance system is just fine as it is. Just read this story and you’ll feel better about things.

As always, ROI in social media is going to be a target of your choosing. It may not be sales, it may not be clicks, but it should be something that gets buy in from all major stakeholders on a project.

Which is why this is a problem.

Interesting that as a number of companies put their CEOs in traditional ads (Chicago Tribune, 9/25/09) some “branding experts” say that’s not what people want to see in commercials. That thinking runs counter to conventional wisdom in the social media marketing field, where having a C-suite executive be the one writing a blog or running a Twitter feed is seen as one of the ultimate goals since their participation brings a sense of authority and authenticity to the effort.

The second season of “Dollhouse” premieres this Friday and I’m super-excited. Variety has a story that, like so many others, makes it clear Whedon’s success is due to his own enthusiasm and a passionate fan base that just digs his stuff.

Joel Stein at Time:

We complain less about the liberal side of antiscience because the women who believe in this stuff are generally hot.

The subject of the article, the vaccination of kids and the arguments against, is something we’re constantly fretting about here. That’s because when you have a child who’s on imuno-suppresants you begin to view every one of these non-vaccinated kids as a potential source of life-threatening illness. While I respect the idea that parents are trying to do right by their children, they’re putting every other kid out there – particularly those with compromised immune systems – at risk. Those diseases are no longer as rampant as they once were because of vaccinations. When parents are having this discussion they need to know how it impacts the rest of the world, too.

This New York Times story titled “The Right Way to Pray?” is something I’ve been reading and re-reading the last couple days. It’s full of lots of new agey thoughts on prayer but little in the way of actual Biblical thoughts on the matter. Instead there’s a mix of Eastern mysticism, modern Evangelical self-worship and a little of a few other points of view. Even the Jewish and Catholic points of view come off as being more about what’s easily accessible than what Scripture has to say on the matter.

I’ve been trying to figure out which is actually the most offensive part of the story and finally have decided on this passage:

In the afternoon, in a classroom of the tabernacle’s annex, Henderson delivered a workshop on technique to an audience of pastors and seminary students. “Some people think it is better and more meaningful to pray alone, but that’s false,” he told his students. “You improve by praying with others who can mentor you, people who are more expert than you.” According to Henderson, there are rules of effective praying: “Let God begin the conversation. Keep your prayers brief and clear. Repeat simple Scripture-based phrases. Pray standing up to fight torpor. And pray directly facing others, eye to eye, in a loud, clear voice.”

The person quoted quite clearly and frankly says that the idea of praying along being better is “false.” I wonder if he’s familiar with Matthew 6:5 – 8:

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Christ himself here says it’s best not to pray in public but to do so in solitude. I’d be amazed but this is probably just one area where Henderson doesn’t believe in the inerrant nature of Scripture but only finds it useful when it jives with the move of the spirit that’s inspiring him.

There’s actually nothing wrong with public prayer, especially when it’s part of a traditional liturgical service. But those prayers tend to be either A) Confessions of doctrinal unity (Lord’s Prayer, the Creeds) or B) Intercessory (“We pray for our leaders, those suffering illness and all according to their needs). But the former are the only times in the Liturgy when the congregation is praying together whereas the latter is the pastor – Christ’s rightly-called servant – leading and the congregation following along.

There is a right and a wrong way to pray and that’s found in Scripture, which appears to be the only place that articles author – and the people he interviews – didn’t look.

I hereby disavow my previously stated enthusiasm for the “Super Hero Squad Show” that debuted yesterday on Cartoon Network. It’s filled with fart and vomit jokes, portrays Captain America as some old geezer making jokes about the WPA and President Roosevelt and is just really, really poorly executed. I had high hopes for the show but it’s just bad.

I forgot to make this point below, but some of the food that my taxes go to subsidize is bought and consumed by illegal immigrants. That too is a main point of pushback by opponents to healthcare reform, that some of this government-provided health-care would be available to those illegal immigrants. That’s another point to consider when testing someone’s opposition based on what they say are high-level principles.