Mayor Hip

One thing that hasn't changed in my absence from the blogosphere is the amazing amount of web-related info that pours out of Doc Searls blog. You would think that the man must have a staff of researchers. I'm sure he doesn't. He's just blessed with a brain that works at twice the speed as the rest of us.

Doc's post a few days ago pointed to the new blog set up by Jerry Brown, the with-it mayor of my neighboring city of Oakland. Way to go, Jerry! A superb looking TypePad layout, by the way. I wish I had the chops to put something like that together.

There's been a lot of speculation about blogs being the wave of the future in public as well as private communication. Mr. Mayor's new efforts in this sphere may provide a bit of insight into the potential of our medium to transform public dialogue.

I'm not convinced yet. While brand-spanking new, nonetheless Brown's blog has the feel and smell of some plain old-fashioned PR in hip clothing. But kudos to Jerry for giving it a whirl. May my skepticism be proven wrong.