Jake Ludington

The second hour of The Chris Pirillo Show last night was truly amazing. Back in April 2005, I watched with some interest as Jacob Appelbaum blogged and photographed his travels during a two week visit to Iraq. While most of us were relying on news briefings and embedded journalists to paint a picture of what’s taking place, Jacob was there in the midst of Iraq’s national upheaval documenting his sojourn in war-torn poverty-stricken areas of the country. One of my initial motivations for attending Webzine 2005 next week was to hear Jacob speak about this trip.
More recently, I learned that Jacob was on his way to Houston and New Orleans to lend assistance to those in need during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. He is blogging and taking photographs of what the situation looks like from his perception. Last night, we got a chance to speak to Jacob via cell phone from Algiers, Louisiana, where he is lending his techie skills in organizing relief efforts. The conversation with Jacob speaks for itself.
I’m still enthusiastically anticipating Webzine 2005 at the end of next week. The conference originated as a gathering point for the emerging group of online zine publishers of the late 1990’s; many of the people we think of today as bloggers. After a five year hiatus, the conference is returning to its San Francisco roots and I’m not about to miss it. Scheduled topics lean heavily toward blogging, podcasting and videoblogging (all things I’m currently obsessed with). The entry fee is an affordable $20 for what should be one of the biggest online cultural events of 2005. We talked with one of Webzine’s organizers, Eddie Codel, about the particulars of the event on the show last night, further solidifying my position that Webzine is an event not to miss.