Thank goodness for Google Translator. The service over the years has gotten so good at automatically translating Web pages from one language to another that it long ago replaced Alta Vista's Babelfish for me, and has opened up the opportunity to see how others outside the United States are extending the conversations we've launched or participated in through blogs.

Of note, yesterday I caught a story in "Innovablog" discussing what they termed the "Myth of User Generated Content". In this detailed post, they touched on my analysis of Alexa traffic showing traditional media's losing out to new social media or blogs.

As they wrote: "En quelques graphs (de source Alexa), Louis Gray compare les audiences des sites sociaux les plus connus aux plus grands mass-media traditionnels."

Even the URL looks better in French.

Réflexion : le mythe du User Generated Content ?
http://innovablog.com/le-web/user-generated-content-mythe/

Other times, a simple recap of news we'd discussed makes it into blogs in non-English tongues, such as reaction to my Feedheads article last month:

Google News como aplicacion Facebook
http://www.error500.net/google-news-aplicacion-facebook

When they ask, "¿Qué podría aportar a Google News el ser social?" I have to say I was wondering the same thing. Right?

With Google's universality, when the company has hiccups, the reactions are felt just about everywhere. Back in June, when Google Reader stopped updating, the cries were in many different languages.

Google Reader zeigt keine neuen Feeds
http://www.whywerock.com/artikel/google-reader-zeigt-keine-neuen-feeds/

"Ok, scheinbar werden nach einer kurzen Downtime die neuen Feeds gequeuet und irgendwann im Laufe des Tages freigegeben. Weitere Infos in der Google Discussion Group und in diesem Blog."

"In Diesem Blog". That's me! Of course, given my four years of Spanish in high school, I think I figured out the headline of another one, which wrote simply: "Google reader con problemas".

http://www.maestrosdelweb.com/actualidad/google-reader-con-problemas/

"De acuerdo a reportes publicados en varios sitios web, el problema arrancó desde el día de ayer por la noche."

And another...

Google Reader im Leerlauf?
http://mitra.ch/?p=554

They add: "Spielt Google etwa gerade ein Update auf den Server? Hab grad entdeckt, dass ich tatsächlich nicht der einzige bin mit dem Problem."

Obviously.

I've said many times that blogging opens up conversations and new ways of communicating. Clearly, as you can see above, we are no longer limited by borders or even languages at this point. As technologies improve outside of the English-speaking world, the international blogging community is set to grow further and become a significant force. That I can use available tools to share ideas or react with my international peers is extremely exciting. Gehe hin und Blog!

Not too long after getting back from the last trip (to Colorado), we're taking off again, this time straying further from home by heading out to the East Coast, taking in New York and Boston. Early prospects show the weather in New York to be mild, not cold, but showers are anticipated on Thursday, and we might see snow flurries in Boston on Friday.

Regardless of the weather, this will be yet another test for how quickly I can adjust to jet lag. As my typical tendency is to stay up way too late on the West Coast, padding three hours on the clock isn't going to do us any favors tonight, as I'll probably be staring at the ceiling or reading RSS feeds in Google Reader around 2 a.m., rather than getting some much-needed rest. All part of the travel experience, I guess.

Of note, we're flying Delta instead of United, my typical carrier. My prior experiences with Delta were pretty good (as noted here), so I'm optimistic, but we'll see.

Also of note, I literally put my money where my mouth is this morning. Before leaving the house, I put a significant chunk of cash into eTrade stock. While I wish I had done so below $4, which was the opportunity on Monday, I think this trade (not investment... trade...) will pay off well. We're averaged in around $5.50 a share.

Slowly but surely, Friendfeed has been adding features which have made the service a more fully integrated and go-to destination for me multiple times throughout the day to share news and learn what others like me have found interesting, as I can see their Twitter, Digg, Flickr, and Google Reader shared items updates, all at once. Now, with the addition of comments, "Like" capabilities (the equivalent of "Digging") and the ability to share items directly through Friendfeed, the service has expanded to more than just a single repository for date from other services, instead being a platform for new content.

I first became interested in Friendfeed as the service could aggregate friends' Web activity in a single place. But in recent weeks, it's grown to be much more. In October, they added a function to say you like an item or get the feed by e-mail.

Today, Friendfeed introduced a "bookmarklet" that allows me to share Web pages on the service, independent of other Web sites, like Digg or StumbleUpon, directly to those friends who have opted to subscribe to my own feed.

Unlike Digg, Friendfeed isn't open to the unwashed masses, but instead, is open only through invites. Let me know if you want one.

In the world of tech blogging, it can be fairly easy to fall into the trap of being one of many reacting to the same story - whether it be analyzing Google's new mobile phone platform, the release of Microsoft's next generation Zune music player, or the latest updates on Facebook, MySpace and the social network of the month.

In the last six months or so, I felt I could offer the most value by generating new stories or insight that the vast majority of bloggers aren't discussing. I would much rather cover Ballhype, PhotoCrank, Wirenode, Spokeo and FriendFeed or discuss nuances of LinkedIn and Technorati than be the 100th person in line making comments on Google and Apple and Microsoft. I don't want to be the guy responding to TechCrunch or GigaOM or writing too many words that effectively should start out, "Robert Scoble said today..."

While I recognize that may not be the best way to get traffic, I want to add unique value, not acting as a repeater or echo chamber where others make a splash and I end up being part of the ripple effect.

I noted my stance this evening in response to Steven Hodson's comments on WinExtra where he complains the thousands of blogs he cover aren't breaking real news. It just could be he's looking for the wrong things in the wrong places. I'm not looking to break the news or follow someone who has. I want to experience technologies for myself and bring them to you if I think I've found something unique or if it will be something I use on a daily basis.

What I'm not in is a race to get a story first, to drive thousands of visitors my way, or to curry favor with the blogging elite. I'm here to have conversations with intelligent people who care about new applications, gadgets and Web sites. I gave up my run at journalism in college, and don't plan to go back.