And just because we haven’t spent any time pondering the blogosphere lately … Here’s a look at the world of corporate blogging, from the Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0602120371feb12,1,4487231.story?coll=chi-techtopheds-hed

One of the unsavory trends, the Trib says, is …

Key Quote: “‘character blogs,’ where invented advertising icons mimic the chatter of genuine bloggers. … Wrigley created phony postings related to an ad about shoppers tussling over Juicy Fruit gum in a checkout line. As in similar examples such as a pirate blog from Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, no one could mistake the Wrigley postings for a bona fide conversation.”

Herald colleague Victor Balta recently wrote something about a similar trend in the entertainment industry — blogs “created” by fictional characters on TV shows. http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/01/05/100ae_d5balta001.cfm

Key Quote: “Characters such as Dr. Robin Scorpio on ‘General Hospital,’ Barney Stinson on ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ Dwight Schrute on ‘The Office,’ Dave Groves on ‘Invasion’ and the creepy ‘Carver’ from FX’s ‘Nip/Tuck’ are among those filing regular updates about their ‘lives’ on the Internet.”

For the record, I am a real person. (Believe me, if I’d been created by our marketing department, they would have made me much better looking. And rich.) And Boeing Blogger-in-chief Randy Baseler really exists too — I’ve met him, or at least his evil twin.

Speaking of Baseler, his most-recent posting http://www.boeing.com/randy/ discusses the chances of Boeing developing a further-stretched version of the 787, what some are calling the -10.

Key Quote: “If you ask my opinion … my feeling would be yes, a 787-10 is something we’re likely to do in the future. It makes a lot of sense given the capabilities of the airplane, and it’s certainly consistent with our plans for the 787 and with our airplane strategy overall.”