Technorati's terrific report this week on the State of the Blogosphere concluded with a look at the commingling of brands and blogs --- specifically, too, how blogs are becoming their own brands and how willing they are to shepherd marketing messages and content from non-traditional sources.
Yes, bloggers are getting full of themselves (one in five don't think newspapers will exist in a decade, while half believe blogs will be a prime source of information in the decade ahead).  But Technorati notes that bloggers are worth watching for another important reason: They adopt new technology earliest and are the sentries for the wider societal adoption of techniques and gear.
The report points to an increased credibility of blogs as sources of content and of legitimate media players. Technorati's package indicates blogs are now part of our lives in 2008 (they need no introduction that they needed, say, two years ago), that bloggers are increasingly making money, that they are adding to the public sphere, and that they are evolving swiftly into a vibrant form of media.

Much belatedly I'm posting our story from Friday on our partnership at The Vancouver Sun with NowPublic of the release of Vancouver's Most Public bloggers. The index calculates a variety of factors on posting, interactivity and community. UBC colleagues Alfred Hermida and David Beers are in the top 20, and the top local blogger is Darren Barefoot.
We'll be staging an event for everyone soon to talk about the future of news.

The Democrats and Republicans have been overrun by the bloggers and Twitterers.
The shape of journalism changes at each such major event (think Beijing Games).
A panel discussion in St. Paul organized by USC's Annenberg School of Communications this week didn't always laud the advancement.
Technology means the water-cooler discussion is all about what happened in the last second, one panelist asserted.
Which means, it's time to end this post and get on to the next talking point.