If you're reading this in the new digital edition of FPM, you've already experienced one of the changes the journal is making in order to continue bringing you the information you need. I want to alert you to another. This month, FPM is taking its first plunge into the blogosphere, the online ocean of commentary, news, ideas and useful (and useless) information. We're doing so not because we think that the world needs more than 112 million blogs but because it appears to be another way we can help you.

In case you're not familiar with the whole idea of blogs and blogging, I should explain that a blog (short for Web log) is a simple Web site that's updated, typically by one person, with regular entries related to a particular area of interest. The entries are arranged in reverse chronological order, the most recent ones at the top of the page. To read a blog, you need only a computer with a Web browser and Internet access. FPM is starting off with three blogs.

“Making It: How to Succeed in Family Practice Without Really Trying,” is written by Douglas Iliff, MD, a solo family physician practicing in Topeka, Kan., and a member of the FPM Board of Editors. Dr. Iliff's provocative commentaries regularly stimulate reader comments. One of his more popular print pieces, “Does Primary Care Need Medicare?” appeared in our January 2008 issue.

The other physician-written blog comes from Bob Newbell, MD, a family physician in private practice in Hazel Green, Ala., who will offer “Paroxysmal Thoughts on Practice Management.” Dr. Newbell's cogent and often humorous views of practice have shown up in the “Last Word” department, most recently with “The Paper Chase” in the July/August 2008 issue.

The staff blog, written by the FPM editors, will give us an opportunity to provide you with updates between issues and pass along tips and bits of news that won't fit the pages of the journal.

I invite you to visit the blogs at https://www.aafp.org/fpm/blogs to get a sense of what they have to offer. Or look for the list of recent entries on the FPM home page at https://www.aafp.org/fpm. If you like what you see, consider signing up for one or more of the RSS feeds so you'll know when something new is available. And if you're not sure what RSS is all about, check out the introduction at http://www.whatisrss.com. Enjoy your swim in the blogosphere!