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A dozen sites
I'm diggin'

1. Check this cool weather site by the Las Vegas Sun. Make sure you see the top of the page forecast grahics.

2. Stay on top of Gustav with this site that includes radar, satellite, tracking maps, warnings and more.

3. The coolest storm tracking site I have seen in a while.

4. Vloggerheads fights back against YouTube chaos.

5. YouTomb is where videos go after they're booted off YouTube.

6. The evolution of voting in America is shown by interactive mapping.

7. The Las Vegas Sun has a crew driving to the Democratic National Convention and is filing multimedia stories along the way.

8. I have never seen anything like this amazing "Swan Lake" performance. [Flash]

9. The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen links written notes with audio. Cool for journalists and students.

10. An educator friend of mine in Lebanon reports that citizen- generated news is all the rage in Arab countries.

11. Here are photos of folks learning Soundslides in Poynter's recent seminar "Multimedia for College Educators." We'll offer this twice in 2009, in February and July.

12. This is my current home page.

All of my Diggin' sites are saved on Poynter's del.icio.us page.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.

When Sex Does Not Sell

This may be a "canary in the coal mine" kind of indicator. Business is down in Nevada brothels -- way down. It is so low that brothels are buying billboard ads to advertise their wares.

AdvertisingAge reports:

In Nevada, where legal brothels have operated since the late 19th century, business is suddenly a bit slow. George Flint, director of the Nevada Brothel Owners' Association, said revenue at the 25 legal bordellos for which he lobbies is down 25 percent to 45 percent, depending on the location. "We used to say Nevada was immune from recession," Mr. Flint said. "Not anymore."

This story isn't just about prostitution -- it's about whether spending on such things is affected by the economy. Consider gambling: I was just in Albuquerque, N.M., teaching at the New Mexico Broadcasters Association convention. The meetings were held at a resort hotel that included a casino. I noticed (in a highly unscientific survey) that the penny and nickel machines were full of players, but the dollar machines were not.

Here are some questions to consider:

Is brothel business down because the services are now readily available closer to town?
Is it a sign of the economy somehow?
Do people stop spending on vices in order to pay for essentials? (Somehow, I doubt it.)
How has local casino spending been lately?
How about bingo game attendance? Race track betting? Lottery ticket sales?

See additional stories:

"State Says Lottery Sales Are Lagging," Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal
"Gambling in Decline," KOMU-TV in Columbia, Mo. Gas prices may be cutting into lottery ticket sales in this state.
"Lottery Games Continue to Fall Short," The Miami Herald

Posted by Al Tompkins 12:11 PM June 9, 2008

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