Since there's no Online Publishing Update today (President's Day) and I forgot (oops!) to publish a weekend reading for the long weekend, I wanted to post a few stories of interest that hit the Net over the weekend. "  And if you're not receiving the Online Publishing Update three times each week, you should be! Here's how to get it, plus a bunch of other reasons to join our very cool Digital Media Federation.

Here goes:

What's Wrong with DRM? (Wired): Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk wrote, "My friend John was trying to think of a way to explain the problem with digital rights management to his dad and friend of ours who don't see what's wrong with it.  He compiled a list of examples of DRM-related problems to help people understand what the big deal is with DRM." His helpful examples include academic foreign films not released in the U.S., music-player cell phones and the Zune player.

Broadband Adoption Passes Halfway Mark (CNet): Hooray! We know that many office workplaces have high-speed connections, but it looks like U.S. residents are seeing the benefits of having that at home, too. CNet's News.com reported, "U.S. residential broadband penetration is expected to exceed 50 percent in 2007.... By the end of 2007, more than 60 million U.S. households will be connected--around 55 percent--according to market researcher Parks Associates." Parks Associates is a company that does research on "digital living technologies." Perhaps in the next few years, newspaper Web sites will stop putting up disclaimers saying "This site may take several minutes to load using a dial-up connection."

Journalism Via Text Message (CNet): Journalism students who need to tighten up their writing should try this: Journalists writing about the government in Zimbabwe frequently have their e-mails and shortwave broadcasts blocked -- but the government hasn't figured out how to block text messages. SW Radio Africa founder Gerry Jackson, at the World Association of Newspapers press freedom conference in Paris last week, said it's difficult to get "the complexity of Zimbabwe's news into 160 characters including spaces. That's what I do every day."

User-Generated Content: Who's in Control? (DMWMedia) Ty Clancey, a self-described "young filmmaker with a fledgling production company" says he should be viewing user-generated content as a great opportunity -- but instead, he feels like he's "playing into Big Media's hands." He writes, "Well, maybe McD's is relying on You to sell their new excuse for food permutation, but let's take a hard look at what's really going on in the Big Media shake-up known as User-Generated Content."

How to Communicate with Millenials (Podcast, Fast Company): This may be of more help to parents than journalists, but communications and author Ruth Sherman discusses "how to communicate with millenials." Sherman wrote "Get Them to See It Your Way, Right Away."

Reinventing AJC ( Innovations in Newspapers): Last week, leaders at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced a newsroom restructuring designed to boost both print and online. Innovations in Newspapers published the memo from Editor Julia Wallace. Here's part of the memo:

"We must make these changes to respond to our readers.
They now have more sources than ever for news and information, and we must fundamentally alter the way we operate.
Online, we will show that we know Atlanta best, providing superlative news and information and becoming the preferred medium for connecting local communities.
In print, we will really listen to our core readers and create a newspaper that offers distinct and valuable content.
As we think about this future, we have four clear jobs:

Grow digital
Reinvent print
Create more regular local enterprise (distinctive content) that readers cannot get elsewhere
Improve our news and information gathering

We must organize ourselves to meet these goals.
That means a major shift in the way we work.