Tiger Woods has always made a concerted effort to protect his privacy. He even owns a massive yacht named "Privacy". While Tiger makes his living based more on his public profile than his ability to swing a golf club, there will now be many who might argue that his desire for privacy was directly associated with his guilt. That he had something to hide all along.

I agree there's a certain responsibility that people like Tiger should have when it comes to their relationship with the public. While Tiger's fame may be based on his golfing prowess, his income is a direct result of his popularity, and the support of millions of fans and consumers.

However I also recognize that Tiger has a right to privacy, the same as any person, even if his wealth and power allow him to exert that right better than others.

Privacy is dead, and social media holds the smoking gun, at least that was the sentiment expressed on CNN.com by one of silicon valley's hottest pundits, Pete Cashmore. It's a sensationalist statement, but one that speaks to many people's feelings, both positive and negative, about how personal information gets caught up in the world wide web.

Is privacy really dead? No, not yet. However, there's a growing chorus of people empowered by social media who are eager to declare that it is. This is partly because of the power of networks, and their ability to leverage your private information for personal gain and/or amusement.

Social media is also regarded as a popularity tool that allows people to emulate the celebrity culture we are immersed in. We can all become micro-celebrities who capture attention and influence, albeit on a much smaller scale.

The fear is that as this starts to become more and more prevalent, discarding privacy will become compulsory, expected behaviour necessary for graduating from school, getting that job, buying the home, and succeeding in life.

When I think of the relationship between television and the internet my mind races to metaphors of historical proportions. The issue is one of orthodoxy and dissent, of opportunity and denial.

If you were alive during the Reformation would you only listen to or obey the Pope? If you were in St Petersburg during the first world war would you continue to believe in the infallibility of the Tsar? If you were a student in Paris in 1968 would you stick to your studies?

The world of technology is one in which great opportunities emerge for those who are willing to be critical and capable of understanding what is possible rather than just what is promoted. A clear example of this comes from the effort to unite our love affair with television with the empowerment that comes with online interactivity.

The start of each calendar year is marked in the technology world by the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and the unveilling of all sorts of new technology. This year was no exception, and one of the items that caught my critical eye was the latest generation of HD television sets which feature internet capabilities.

This past week I was overwhelmed with responses from a number of media stories. A couple of Blackberry business articles, a couple of Facebook expert articles, an article about a Hong Kong sex scandal, as well as some TV and radio appearances, first about the bust of a child porn ring, and then about the bust of a Quebec based Hacker cell.

In general my policy is to respond to anyone who takes the time to get in touch with me. Yet I've now had to revise this policy to only reply to people who show respect rather than outright hostility. Something about the audience that reads the National Post that brings all sorts of trolls out from under the bridge.

The CBC audience on the other hand is a pleasure to interact with. Even when they strongly disagree with me I find CBC viewers and listeners to be intelligent and engaging. One particularly pleasant email I received was from a "middle-aged mother" who will remain nameless, but I suspect represents a typical Canadian, from an average family. For the sake of argument, let's call her Louise.

Now that I've updated my website, my plan is to round out my blog by writing more reviews and bring to your attention sites and resources that I find particularly interesting or valuable.

One site in particular is the Tea Makers, which is run by Alphonse Ouimet, a pseudonym inspired by a former Canadian Broadcasting Corpoation (CBC) President.

Ouimet's blog is largely concerned with the CBC, and all the many issues, incidents, intrigue, and general intelligence that surrounds its operation.

In any organization or society, gossip plays an important and powerful role, and Ouimet has semi-accidentally setup an intelligence network that provides the readers of the site with incredible insight into the company as a whole.