Bunch of stuff today that has been collecting over the past few days:

• As many have no doubt heard, Canadian freelance journalist Ken Hechtman is believed to have been taken hostage by forces in Afghanistan. Hechtman disappeared outside Kandahar hours after our Foreign Affairs department began warning news organizations of a supposed plot to lure journalist into the city and use them as bargaining chips.
  Staff at CANOE have compiled his war reports from the alternative weekly, Montreal Mirror. You can also see his writings at the e-zine Straight Goods.
  Hechtman was released on December 2, but some journalists are now in a huff about his cavalier attitude toward his war reporting.
  Follow and comment on the story at Buzz.ca.
• On a semi-related note, Lee and I went to see Kandahar, the incredible Canadian pseudo-documentary about an Afghan-Canadian’s attempt to return to Afghanistan and save her sister. Though set (and filmed) prior to the current situation, the world portrayed is surreal and horrific. Though I may be alone in feeling this, I found the thread of hope running through movie had become bittersweet thanks to the current “climate.”
• News.com is reporting Google is working to improve its results using a technique many people have long promoted: reputation managers. If successful, watch this surge into the mainstream.
• Lastly, online journalist Wayne McPhail has a couple of projects underway. One is his attempt to use his experience to help improve the writing on Web sites; the other is a long, well thought-out rant/essay on the sad state of original, online content in Canada. Not only a subject close to home, but a worthwhile read, too.