We couldn't resist joining the end of the year list bandwagon. But instead of doing our own, we thought we'd point out other people's lists that are worthy of your time. (Bucking the trend, these are in no particular order.)

NAA announced the finalists for the 2007 Digital Edge Awards. The awards were founded in 1996 to recognize creative, engaging work in multimedia journalism. This year, we received a huge number of entries, showcasing some real innovation in both editorial content and advertising. Everyone -- even the finalists themselves -- can learn something by studying what these people are doing.

Recovering Journalist blogger Mark Potts took issue with Joe Strupp’s top ten newspaper industry stories of the year, which ran on Editor & Publisher Web site last week.

It’s another (long!) weekend, which means another weekend reading list from the Digital Edge! Use these as a distraction when you’ve had (more than) enough quality family time this weekend.And if this isn’t enough, brainstorm some New Year’s resolutions for the digital media and newspaper industries, and post them to yesterday’s blog entry or e-mail them to me at beth.lawton@naa.org Happy holidays!Here's your list....

It’s resolution time. (I heard that groan….)   I’d really like to hear about a few resolutions we can (and will!) actually keep – ones that don’t involve losing twenty pounds, starting to exercise or spending more quality time with the family (although I will note those are all worthy efforts).   Here are a few to get you thinking....

Earlier this month, we posted an entry  about media companies popping up in the virtual world Second Life. CNet, Wired and Reuters are there, and the world even has its own newspaper, the Second Life Herald. Well, now it looks like Second Life Herald is about to get some more competition.

The latest reports from the Pacific Northwest reveal that the morning Seattle newspapers still haven’t hit many doorsteps thanks to a major wind and rain storm in the region.

But the online editions are there. Both the Times and Post-Intelligencer are updating their Web sites regularly today. Lost Remote reported that both major papers have published electronic editions (Times, P-I) through Olive Software.

For those who do have power (more than 1.5 million are without it, according to the Associated Press) and people out of the area who are concerned about the situation, the Web sites are invaluable sources of information.

This situation, like Hurricane Katrina (and NOLA.com and the Times-Picayune’s heroic efforts during that time) highlight the importance of having contingency plans for times when newspaper carriers and delivery people can’t safely do their jobs. And it’s a good trial run for the future when more and more publications go online-only.

It’s also a good excuse to post links to newspaper emergency planning articles. They are in reverse chronological order:

From Katrina to Rita: Coverage Q&A (Poynter, September 2005)

Journalism on the Border: The Beaumont Enterprise, Shreveport Times Prepare for Rita (Poynter, September 2005)

Preparing for Disaster: Are You Ready? (FM Global for NAA, PowerPoint presentation, 2003)

Covering Emergencies (Poynter, February 2003)

In Event of Emergency: Is Your Newsroom Prepared to Leave the Building? (Poynter, November 2001)

Sites Prepare Contingency Plans to Manage Massive Traffic Surges (Digital Edge, November 2001)

Gatehouse Media earlier this week started rolling out Creative Commons for many of its newspapers. CC is basically a flexible, customizable copyright (or “copyleft” as some call it). CC “provides free tools for authors, artists, and educators to mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry,” according to Creative Commons. Writer Lisa Williams posted an entry on Jay Rosen’s Pressthink blog early Friday about Gatehouse Media’s decision and what it means for the online newspaper industry.Wednesday’s Digital Edge Blog post discussed how using Creative Commons can generate revenue and Web traffic for license holders.

An AOL survey of more than 1,500 Instant Messenger users found that 72 percent of the teenage respondents said they sent more instant messages (IMs) than e-mails. But most newspapers, it seems, do not have an "AIM" (or other messenger) icon allowing readers to quickly instant message an article link to a "buddy."

In the past year or so, an increasing number of freelance writers, photographers, podcasters and bloggers have increased their use of Creative Commons licenses. Creative Commons is basically a flexible, customizable copyright. And 'validation links'  are driving traffic (and money, in at least one case) to the copyright owners.

Catch up on your reading this weekend.  Today's "Weekend Reading" includes: Your kids may be jealous of your Blackberry, the advent of long-form online video, the Internet’s role in investigative journalism and more.

The virtual world Second Life and its vibrant economy has drawn close to 1.9 million residents (690,000 of whom have logged on in the past two months), a few live concerts, countless companies like Toyota, Wells Fargo and Dell Computers… and a few mainstream media outlets. But now some bloggers are encouraging an independent citizen journalism movement in the virtual community.

Today's Fort Collins (Colo.) Weekly features an in-depth (2,600-word) article on the Gannett Information Center Initiative and what it means for both the Fort Collins Coloradoan daily newspaper and the paper's coverage area. The Fort Collins Weekly article is worth reading. (Yesterday's Washington Post included an article about the Gannett initiative and the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press.  Both articles are definitely worth reading, but there's one perspective that neither article really covered....

The Washington Post today had a feature article on Gannett’s newsroom at the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press. The News-Press is part of Gannett’s Information Center Initiative, which aims to turn newspapers into 24-7 cross-platform information resources with a focus on local stories. What’s interesting is the attitude of the News-Press staff. Some have optimistic but realistic attitudes. But toward the end of the article is the admission that newsroom opinions are really mixed.

A big, high-profile, citizen journalism experiment from Yahoo! and Reuters called You Witness News will start accepting content Tuesday.  Yahoo! will accept submitted photos and video, and they will appear on Flickr with possible distribution to Reuters. “Editors will then screen it to see which content is worth promoting to news stories or be distributed to Reuters clients. Yahoo will use the content for its sports and entertainment sections, and the company said it will soon expand to local news and high school sports,” Lost Remote reported today.

There's an interesting article in today's (Sunday) Washington Post about Wikipedia deleting "non-notable" entries. (Read the article.) A member of the Shiny Diamonds, a Canadian band whose Wikipedia entry was deleted earlier this week, wrote in an e-mail to the Washington Post, "I urge whatever Internet-snob wiki-geeks who deem our band 'non-notable' to look at their own lives.... The Internet is about sharing and the point of Wikipedia is that there's room for everything." Wikipedia apparently disagrees.