Michael Yon will continue to turn to his online audience to support his reporting from Iraq, which he will make available at no cost to the National Newspaper Association.

It maybe that Jason Calacanis just likes stirring up the SEO crowd, or it could be that he really feels a certain way about them. Either way, the hostility that met him at the beginning of the week meets him again at its close.

I support Google’s relaxed dress code.  But given all the hiring the company’s doing, I’d recommend one tweak: name tags.  Google added over 2,100 employees this last quarter, making it seemingly impossible for anybody to keep track of anything.

The concept of "free" isn’t exactly a new one, but it is taking on a sort of new life in the digital age as major publishers (slowly) warm up to the concept – except the recording industry, of course, where the "free" is usually coupled with "to help make us a lot more money."

Newspapers Going Free

The NYT just went free and likely the WSJ will follow. Once something goes free it is hard to start charging for it again – just ask Prince.

Fox Interactive Media (FIM) announced today that MySpace and a number of the company’s other Web brands will launch a series of new, ad-supported mobile Web sites that will be free to users on mobile devices.

Did NBC jump ship too soon? TechCrunch reports that now Fox will be offering their shows for free download via iTunes. The deal will feature season premiere episodes of Fox shows including Prison Break, Bones, American Dad and K-Ville—mostly returning shows. Fox hopes to expose more viewers to its shows.

Disney-ABC Television Group and AOL announced today the availability of full-length episodes of primetime shows on AOL Video.

The programming will be delivered on a co-branded version of ABC.com’s broadband player, full episodes of programs are available today at AOL Video and starting next week will carry ABC’s new fall lineup of programming.

NBC announced today the launch of its new service, "NBC Direct," on NBC.com, which will allow users to download and watch TV shows on their PCs for up to one week after broadcast.

Making the Wall Street Journal’s online subscription model go the way of the dodo could boost the paper’s Internet readership, along with its revenue.

After many rumours and crossed fingers (at least on my part), the New York Times has finally bitten the bullet and removed the pay wall from its website. Columnists and other content have finally been set free to find an audience wherever they can — and that’s not all.

IBM has decided to play in the free productivity suite market with a reincarnation of its Symphony brand, for a collection of Lotus Notes 8 editors under that name.

SpiralFrog.com, an ad supported Web site that allows users to download music and videos for free has launched in North America.

I’m seeing a LOT of hype about TechCrunch 40 being free for companies to demo at. Eric Norlin repeats that, for instance, on his blog.

That just isn’t true, if you look at it the right way.

Historically, in the brick-and-mortar world, we’ve had courts to settle disputes. Online, there are terms of service agreements and invisible judges determining, usually at the behest of the loudest and largest mob, who is guilty of crossing the line between conscious protest and hate speech.

With the nationwide expansion of fiber-optic wiring and digital delivery at the turn of the century, the federal government reclaimed and is still reclaiming large amounts of spectrum. Much of it, according to a former government official, has remained unused for seven years, and he blames the Federal Communications Commission for stifling competition in the wireless space.

To me, camping means carrying a lot of stuff and sacrificing a decent shower.  Hiking, on the other hand, suggests a pleasant jaunt through the wilderness.  So a new distance-measuring tool from Google Maps is rather interesting – it should make sure that hikes don’t inadvertently turn into camping trips.

Though M2Z Networks threatened to take to the FCC to court to force a decision on the company’s "family friendly" free nationwide wireless broadband proposal by September 1, a likely "no" vote from the commission has made M2Z decide more public debate is necessary.

That 36-hour blank spot where Skype’s login and authentication systems used to be may have been down for reasons beyond the official party line…but you have to believe the *truth* is out there.

Of all the SEO principles out there, two remain at the forefront as the most essential: keywords and links. Understanding the language of the searcher (the words they will use to find you) while maximizing the external link love (how search robots know whether you are trustworthy) are top priorities for anyone trying to optimize their website.

The US broadband situation is so dire that you may not even be able to give away access. Worse, there might be good reason for that. You may not have heard of M2Z Networks, Inc., but 50,000 others have and are pressuring the FCC to approve the company’s offer of free nationwide broadband access.