A few good articles...

One thing that's consistently true about information technology is that you can't trust what was true today to be true tomorrow. If it's hard to identify and articulate the scope for your technology project, it can be even harder to find the tools that match up with your requirements. Founded in November 2005 by a brave woman named Laura Quinn, idealware.org is a nonprofit organization that publishes unbiased articles about technology tools in a wide variety of areas, from electronic newsletters to blogging to Constituent Relationship Management. Laura seeks input from a wide variety of technology professionals and all the authors involved strive to provide honest, plain-talking information about a given subject, and in my humble opinion, they're doing a great job.

Check out Idealware.org's "A few good tools" report series on topics like Web Analytics and CMS, or more theoretical articles like "In Search of CRM" or "Building Peace Through Information and Communication Technologies."

Saving the Planet One Search at a Time

Back in January, 2007, Boston Blogger Mark Ontkush decided to do some fancy mathematical magic and figure out how much energy could be saved if Google switched from a white background to a black background. I had never considered this before, but it makes sense that a mostly black screen uses less energy than mostly white. Not an incredible amount (15 watts) less, but if you consider how many hits a day Google gets (about 200 million) it starts to add up. After his computations, Ontkush announced that changing Google to a black background would save 3,000 megawatt-hours a year. 3,000 megawatt-hours! Holy batteries, Batman! I was astounded. Primarily because I didn't know what a megawatt-hour equated to. After some quick research, I had some additional perspective. It turns out that 3,000 megawatt-hours could power roughly 95 homes for an entire year. Not quite as mammoth as I original thought, but still not inconsequential.

And other people took notice. Specifically, an Australian company called Heap Media decided to put Ontkush’s musings into action. And so, Blackle.com was born. Powered by Google Custom Search, Blackle returns Google quality search results while saving energy with its black background. A running tally on the front page notes how much energy Blackle has saved (at the time of this posting, approximately .147 megawatt hours).

For my own part, I’ve set Blackle as my new home page for my browser (sorry Google) to see how it feels to use this inverted color scheme as my primary search engine. Luckily, I don’t use any features of Google beyond the search engine; I don’t have a Gmail account or custom iGoogle pages, so I’m not really losing any functionality by switching to Blackle. It will be interesting to see if I can make the change stick.

In reality, using Blackle is not going to save the world. But it is a small, small step. And if it helps keep me conscious of my energy consumption, that’s something.

Visit Dresden's Art Gallery in Second Life

Not everyone can afford a trip to Dresden, Germany, but now anyone with a computer and a Second Life account can visit the city's famous art gallery. In June, a digital version of the entire building - 37,700 square feet and 750 paintings - was launched in the 3-D virtual world of Second Life.

My Second Life self viewing a painting in Dresden's gallery. (View Full Image)

Check out the full story and some images from WIRED.com.

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Don't miss the early-bird rate!

Just a quick, friendly reminder that the Early Bird registration deadline is coming up fast… less than two weeks away! Register by August 19 to take advantage of the lowest registration rate.

BOOKMARK ME: Database of Online Productivity Software

Here is an excellent database of Office 2.0 tools. "Office 2.0" is essentially a term describing the Web-based workspace that uses online tools such as customer relationship management, calendars and word processors.

The database is a great source of Office 2.0 toys, and everything can be sorted by name, vendor, reviews, user interface technology and Google page rank.

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Our Latest Sponsor - The School of Visual Arts

We are pleased to announce our most recent Quality Assurance sponsor, the School of Visual Arts (SVA).

Based in New York City, the SVA has been providing high quality art education for more than 60 years.

Check out their Web site for more information.

Thank you, SVA, for your valuable contribution to the conference!

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Web 1.0 is so ten years ago...

I happened upon a great blog entry on Slayerment.com about upgrading your Web site to Web 2.0. It provides 12 ways to move that pitiful static thing you created using a Geocities account back when Vanilla Ice was cool into an honest to goodness interactive online tool. Yes, "Web 2.0" is just one of those annoying buzz terms, but this entry is funny AND insightful, a great combination:

12 ways to turn your Web 1.0 site into a Web 2.0 site | Slayerment

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Keep Your Inbox Clean...

Here is a great presentation by Merlin Mann of the popular 43 Folders digital organization site on his Inbox Zero concepts. Basically, he discusses keeping your inbox completely clean by processing email in one of five ways: Delete, Delegate, Respond, Defer, or Do. It's a great method of dealing with email, and I encourage everyone to take 30 minutes to watch the main portion of his presentation.

Update on reCAPTCHA

Update on my previous post about the reCAPTCHA tool. I failed to mention that the creator of CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA is a professor here at Carnegie Mellon. Read more:

Latest weapon against spam also enlists computer users to assist the Internet Archive

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reCAPTCHA: Stop Spam, Read Books

Recently I noticed that we had roughly 6,800 spam blog comments awaiting approval. As much as I'd like to read nearly 7,000 entries about Viagra and someone's dead Brazilian father who left them $2 million of which I can have half if I just help them access the money, I simply don't have that kind of time. So I've added a reCAPTCHA tool to our blog's comment area. reCAPTCHA is a variation on the common CAPTCHA tool, which helps Web forms distinguish between human users and computer users (a.k.a. spammers). You've encountered a CAPTCHA if you've seen something that looks like this on a Web site registration form:

Well, reCAPTCHA is similar except that when you enter these funky words into a reCAPTCHA module, you're helping to digitize books. According to the reCAPTCHA Web site, about 60 million CAPTCHA words are entered every day. Since computers have difficulty "reading" scanned text to make it truly digital, reCAPTCHA presents Web form users with two digital words - one it knows and one it needs your help with. It uses the one it knows to validate that you're a human user and the one it doesn't know to add a new digitized word to the book.

Visit this site for more information about how reCAPTCHA works, and click "Comments" below to try it out!

Almost one year ago today...

I blogged about the issue of data loss many organizations and individuals, myself included (I can kiss all those undergrad research papers saved on 3 1/2 inch floppy disks goodbye) experience due to outdated file formats. I came across an article posted to the Americans for the Arts Cultural Policy listserv detailing the same issue. The article originally appearing in the BBC News Web site, "Warning of data ticking time bomb", can be read in full by clicking on this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6265976.stm

Part of me feels that the idea of a "ticking time bomb" is a bit on the sensationalist side. Surely large organizations with the resources to handle that much information will figure out a way to keep the data accessible. I think the people who will get the short end of the stick unfortunately are those without the labor and/or money to figure out. Having worked in a variety of arts organizations from five-person outfits to mid-sized organizations, my impression is that there is often not enough emphasis on proper data storage.

My challenge to you is to think of how you will safeguard your organization's vital information - data about your constituents, grant recipients, financial transactions, donor histories, etc - how will you ensure the information is still easily accessible thirty years from now? It is our responsibility to make sure as much of the organizational history as possible is passed on to our successors. It would be great if we could pass it on in such a way that they can actually use it to further the mission of the organization.

It was a wonderful two weeks for Technology in the Arts...

...with the addition of two partners.

The ArtsTech Award Ceremony & Reception is exclusively sponsored by ERC Systems, a California based creator of artist registries and online event calendars. Read more about their services at www.ERCSystems.com.

The VIP Dinner is graciously supported by Fig Leaf Software, a software provider and technology consultant firm based out of Washington, DC. More information about their products and services may be found at www.figleaf.com.

CAMT staff thanks both of these organizations for their support of the conference and is pleased to include them in the array of exciting programming coming this fall.

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If you're coming to the conference...

...don't forget to join us as we kick things off on October 11 with a tour of two Pittsburgh arts organizations:

• The Pittsburgh Glass Center - In honor of Pittsburgh's 2007 celebration of glass art (www.pittsburghcelebrates.org), we'll take a tour of this 16,000-square-foot glass art facility and be treated to a glass-blowing demonstration.
• The Entertainment Technology Center - This state-of-the-art technology training center at Carnegie Mellon University offers a two-year Masters of Entertainment Technology degree, jointly conferred by Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts and School of Computer Science.

Pre-conference also includes the "Birds of a Feather" affinity dinner. Be sure to sign up for this fun-filled afternoon for only $50 when you complete your online conference registration.

CAMT Partners with Historic Pittsburgh Hotel

CAMT is proud to announce its Technology in the Arts conference partnership with the Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh. Located close to all conference activities, as well as a wide array of cultural and dining experiences, the Omni William Penn will be offering special rates to Technology in the Arts attendees. View more information about our partner hotel.

Nominations

There's still time to nominate someone (including yourself) for the 2007 ArtsTech Award... Click here to read about the award and the nomination process.

Conference Registration Now Open!

CAMT is pleased to inform you that early bird registration for Technology in the Arts 2007 is now open! Don’t miss this opportunity to attend the conference at the low advance rate of only $160, which gets you two days filled with interesting sessions, workshops, exhibitors and hands-on activities. And for just $50 more, you can join us for some exciting pre-conference fun on October 11, including site visits and the “Birds of a Feather” affinity group dinner.

Register online now!

(Please note: If you attended the conference last year, you can log in with your existing account.)

Also, the Technology in the Arts 2007 scholarship application is now live as well. Through the generous support of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, attendees residing in Pennsylvania may apply for a travel and/or registration scholarship.

Please let us know if you have any questions about registration, scholarships or the conference in general.

We look forward to seeing all of you in October!

ArtandCulture.com Joins Exhibitors

It is my pleasure to announce that ArtandCulture.com, a very cool Web site showcasing a wide array of artists and arts organizations, has joined the Technology in the Arts 2007 exhibitor fair. The preliminary plan is for the folks from ArtandCulture.com to set up an informational booth where artists can learn about the site, discuss the tool's many interactive features and future development plans and even add their own profiles.

Thank you in advance to ArtandCulture.com for taking part in our conference.

And can you think of a better Web address than that?

Technology in the Arts - not the only reason to visit Pittsburgh this fall

Voters chose Pittsburgh as the best destination for the arts among mid-sized cities in the June 2007 issue of American Style magazine. Visit their Web site by clicking here to read the full article. You won't want to miss any of the museums or performing arts venues this fall so plan to come early or stay late. Pittsburgh is also at the top of the list of "most livable cities" according to Places Rated Almanac.

Check out these and other accolades at http://kdka.com/local/local_file_116160520/

Don't just read about it, come see what all the buzz is about. Online registration opens soon...sign up to get the Early Bird rate!

Thank you pair Networks!

Technology in the Arts welcomes its latest supporter, Pittsburgh-based web hosting company, pair Networks. We are fortunate to include pair Networks as a Development level sponsor for the second year in a row. Please visit their Web site at pair.com for more information about their services.

Stay tuned for more sponsor announcements!

I can hear what you're thinking . . .

French philosopher Rene Descartes is credited with the phrase “I think, therefore I am”; now, nearly four centuries later, a young British woman may have taken the idea one step further – I think, therefore I create art. Interactive artist Luciana Haill uses medical electroencephalogram, or EEG, monitors embedded in a Bluetooth-enabled sweatband to record her brain activity, and send the data to a computer that plays it back as audio. Since the human brain operates in the same frequency as sound waves (hertz), it's a relatively simple process to use software to convert the brain's raw data into a sound format. Haill has been honing her craft over the last 14 years, and she now uses Apple's OS X operating system to trigger digital samples in GarageBand with each type of neural activity.

Haill's music has been featured in new music festivals, including Cybersonica 2006 and the recently completed Future of Sound tour, but she hasn't yet brought her music stateside. To hear it for yourself, visit Luciana's MySpace page.