Well, hello there, stranger. It's been some time.

No, it's not you. You've been great. It's me. You've been trying to chat, and I've been quiet here.

You've been visiting plenty. Thanks. I like to think we've made it worth your time.

We've been doing a lot with the place, as I'm sure you've noticed. The Daily Collegian is now video-savvy, and improving every day. It helps that the football team has been giving us plenty to chat about.

We've added a few new blogs, too. Check out our Icers blog, Between the Pipes, our politics blog and our food blog.

Keep an eye on our Venues Web site, which we'll be bulking up throughout the semester. Our movies page now includes trailers for all the upcoming shows. (Personally, I can't wait for Choke.) Think the ever-popular Sexy Meter is gone? Think again.

Our increased focus on the Web isn't taking away from our roots, though. Our reporters have been working tirelessly to produce the best content possible for the paper.

Heading to Purdue for the second Big Ten game? Check out Ben Skalina's piece on away-game travel. Did you hear that Penn State students might have to spend a little more to pay for PSU's electricity? Check out Aubrey Whelan's story. And don't miss Paul Nordeman's column, which explains why Philadelphia is superior, statistically, to its western neighbor.

This has been a whisper of a conversation for too long. Check back here often for my picks in the paper and online. See something you like? See something you hate? Let me know. I'd be happy to post some of your thoughts on here, and respond to your questions.

Welcome to the conversation.

It's Monday morning, and the ink from today's paper has already started to mark up my fingertips.

No cases of the Mondays in Happy Valley; the Nittany Lions are No. 6 in the country, according to the Associated Press poll. The big jump in the ranking came after Derrick Williams' huge game and Daryll Clark's pair of touchdown passes. Of course, don't forget to join our football reporters on the field for our Post-Game picnic, and check out our photo gallery of this year's White House.

Worried about all the dismal news surrounding the economy? Ryan Pfister, our Monday columnist and economics major, says that not worrying might make you rich.

You might have noticed something different about some of our bylines recently. Some read "For the Collegian" and others have two writers, but only one e-mail address. These are our candidates, the future staff members of The Daily Collegian. You'll be noticing their articles more and more as time goes on, and we'll be training them all semester to be the best reporters they can be.

Check out the Collegian's most popular blog, Exposure, and the photo staff's picks for photos of the week last week.

Don't forget that what you see in the paper isn't everything we've written each day. Sports fans would be wise to check out the sports section of our Web site for stories that we just weren't able to fit in the paper, but are absolutely worth reading. Check out Alex Angert's piece on Penn State crew, a club sport here.

That's all for today. Hope to hear from you.

Sen. John McCain joined his running mate for her follow-up interview with Katie Couric after a previous interview became fuel for satire and attacks from the media.

When Sarah Palin was confronted with one of her own quotes from the weekend that sided with Barack Obama and went against McCain's public stance, Palin struggled through a reply. But not long after, the Republican presidential nominee came to her aid, calling out Katie Couric for "gotcha journalism."

McCain claimed the quote was taken out of context. "This was a gotcha soundbite," he said.

"Gotcha" journalism is one of the things people love to hate about the media. Everybody slips up sometimes, sure. And to call someone out for a simple mistake is despicable, people argue.

It's an easy thing to criticize.

But take, at the simplest level, comedy. The Daily Show has some of the best researchers on its staff. It seems that team can dig up the dirt on anyone. But Jon Stewart is rarely criticized for "gotcha" journalism. Why? Because it's comedy. "It doesn't have an impact."

But what about in this case?

Gov. Palin was out on the campaign trail, schmoozing it up at a pizza parlor and answering questions from voters. A voter asked how she would deal with Pakistan. Palin said she would launch cross-border attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan, if need be, according to CNN.

Quote Couric: "Now that's almost the exact position Barack Obama has taken, and that you, Sen. McCain, have criticized as something you do not say out loud. Gov. Palin, are you two on the same page?"

Gotcha.

Sometimes quotes are taken out of context decades after they were spoken, even after their speaker has apologized and moved on. And sometimes, quotes are taken from a public event whose exact purpose is to get voters to be supporters.

I won't say McCain was wrong to cut off his running mate and criticize Couric. I won't say Couric had the right, nay, the responsibility to call out Palin for having public comments different from McCain. After all, it's in the past.

And that would be "gotcha."