Fellow bloggers and internet enthusiasts, the venerable and respectable practice of maintaining personal web logs, known around these here parts as blogging, is now exactly one decade old.

An entertaining, yet insightful, writ on the subject is available from the fine folks over at the Wall Street Journal. "On Dec. 23, 1997, on his site, Robot Wisdom, Mr. Barger wrote: 'I decided to start my own webpage logging the best stuff I find as I surf, on a daily basis,' and the Oxford English Dictionary regards this as the primordial root of the word 'weblog.'"

Today, far removed from their humble origins, blogs are posing significant problems for established online and print media, according to knowledgeable people from Forbes. Blog popularity, combined with the ubiquitous online keyword advertising, is draining precious ad revenues from established media outlets.

Quoting from Tech Boom, Media Bust:"Web sites such as GigaOm, TechCrunch and Valleywag--with a few laptops, a web server and some hustle--are crowding into beats once dominated by trade publications and enthusiast magazines who rely on printing presses and full-time writers and editors. Bottom line: A successful blog can simply grab more readers, per employee, than more traditional media."

Blogging is now officially serious business.

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