Brother, Can You Share a Desktop?

Need a quick and cheap (how about free) way of holding an online meeting with someone else on your computer? Try out CrossLoop. This free, secure screen sharing utility is easy to download and install. And even easier to use. I actually just used this program this morning to host a meeting; my attendee, who had never used CrossLoop before, had everything set up and ready to go on their side within two minutes or so. And presto! CrossLoop is still a relatively new program, so the longevity of its service and gratis status remains to be seen. Also, it is currently on available for Windows machines. But, in terms of quick and easy desktop sharing, it's something definitely worth looking at.

Collaborative Script Writing

I recently stumbled upon one of the most exciting (to me, anyway) Web 2.0 endeavors ever to hit the Internet: Plotbot. Plotbot allows two or more users to work on a script collaboratively. It's designed for the screenplay format, but it could be used just as well for collaboration on a new stage play.

Beyond simply adding and editing scenes and other elements to the script, collaborators can comment on their partners' efforts, and the site's project pages allow for blog postings and document sharing. The project pages act as a dashboard, providing a great deal of useful information about each of your projects.

Plotbot's project page

The system's script-writing engine (powered by AJAX) streamlines the formatting of dialogue, action and sluglines. Here is the "Add an Element" tool: Add an Element to Your Script

And here is how a full scene page looks: Scene Page

As you can see, it's a very slick interface, and every line that is modified has information in the right margin about who made the modification and when. You can also roll a change back if you're unhappy with it.

One other cool and useful aspect -- Each of your projects gets its own RSS feed, so your collaborators can subscribe and get instant updates to their RSS readers when changes are made.

Best of all, the site is completely free. I'd urge anyone doing collaborative script writing to register and check it out.

Second Search Engine Optimization Article

Make Your Art Organization’s Website a Top “Hit”: A 30 Day Step by Step Guide to Dramatically Improved Search Engine OptimizationPart 2 of 4

By Lance Trebesch and Taylor Robinson Lance@TicketPrinting.com www.TicketPrinting.com

Week 2: Objective:Your week two objectives are to implement a sitemap and create and maintain a successful blog.

What you need to know:

Sitemap- Having a sitemap that connects the entire website will eliminate the need for having multiple links on the homepage and will make the pages more crawlable by search engine spiders. A sitemaps purpose is to provide a central link hub for the website, allowing search engines or users to easily navigate the various pages. Search engines recognize new pages by following links from existing pages, so having a sitemap will ensure all pages are indexed properly. While this will have no effect on the websites SEO campaign, it is an important element of any successful website and will also help when introducing a blog (below). To download software to create your own sitemap, visit Site Map Pro.

Blog- A blog is basically an open forum where participants can discuss various topics. Nonprofits can utilize them to tell readers about organization projects, outreach programs, and upcoming events.

Reason for a Blog- In my article “10 Reasons every Art Organization Must Have a Blog,” I emphasize the important role blogs play. For SEO purposes, a blog is beneficial because other sites/blogs link to read the blog’s content and therefore the websites overall pagerank (level of importance) increases. However, blogs are not only important for SEO purposes, they are also excellent tools for marketing, fundraising, and allow organizations to convey the true “heart” of their efforts.

Create a Blog- Starting a blog is not only easy, but also inexpensive. There are dozens of free or nearly free services to create a blog including Blogger (recommended), Blog-City, EasyJournal, Blogeasy, Typead, Grey Matter, Userland, or Movable Type. Simply follow their step-by-step instructions to create your own blog today.

Blog Directories and Related Blogs- Once you have created a blog, you will need to spread the word about it. To do this, begin by submitting your blog to directories. Good blog directories include Technorati, Blogcatolog, Topblogarea, and Bloghub. The directories will categorize your blog and make it available for others to read about it. Next, use one or more of the listed directories to find other blogs focused on similar topics. Identify what blogs are most closely related to art organizations, and read posts to gain a better understanding of their blog format and writing style. One of the best ways to get new people looking at your blog is to post entries on other blogs with a link back to your own. According to the March, 2007 Blog Readership Report, 67.3% of bloggers found information by following links from other blogs. However, bloggers do not appreciate worthless entries with the sole intention of back links. When you make a post, be sure to add something useful to the conversation and explain why your link will be worth following.

Subscribers- Arguably the greatest measure of blog success is the number of subscribers. Subscribers are usually consistent readers and often post entries onto the blog. The greater number of subscribers your blog has, the more easily you can promote an upcoming event or inform constituents of a recent projects success. Copyblogger’s article, “10 Effective ways to Get More Blog Subscribers,” gives great tips for how to increase the number of blog subscribers. You will want a RSS feed for your blog to allow subscribers to receive updates when you add new blog posts.

Blogs True Purpose- Blogs have helped a countless number of organizations achieve their SEO objectives. More importantly however, blogs have allowed art related organizations to connect with their supporters in a completely new way. The stories, issues, and projects surrounding the organization reach a number of people who would otherwise not have been exposed. To learn more about how to put blogs to work for your organization, read one of the many informational articles on problogger or copyblogger. For examples of other nonprofit organizations that have successfully used blogs visit:

http://www.aspca.org/aspcablog/index.html http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs/ http://www.waterconserve.org/blog/water_conservation/ http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blog/ http://www.intelligentgiving.com/the_buzz/the_blog/ http://blogs.walkerart.org/ecp/

Week 2 Checklist:

• Create Sitemap
• Find blog provider
• Create your blog
• Visit topically relevant blogs and post entries
• Submit your blog to directories
• Get subscribers
• Research other ways to harness the power of the blog

Rhizome.org

Rhizome.org (part of the New Museum of Contemporary Art) is an online community devoted to the merging of art with technology. Their ArtBase is an archive of works that "employ materials including software, code, websites, moving image, games and browsers to aesthetic and critical ends." Rhizome.org Mission Statement - Rhizome.org is an online platform for the global new media art community. Our programs support the creation, presentation, discussion and preservation of contemporary art that uses new technologies in significant ways. We foster innovation and inclusiveness in everything we do.

Music and Video and iPods, Oh My!

On August 4th, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC, performed a concert entitled "Fantastic Planet" which combined classical music (of course) and more modern elements, such as video projections and....iPods? Prior to the show, NSO conductor Emil de Cou had recorded a commentary track that offered insights into the music of the evening. Pieces of history, trivia, and background that concert-goers eager to experiment could download to their iPods (or other MP3 players) and listen to during the live performance.

"I thought it would be neat to have the conductor being your seatmate, whispering into your ear at key moments," Emil de Cou said before the performance.

Reading the review on the Washington Post, it's obvious that the experiment achieved mixed results. Some folks had trouble syncing their iPods to the live music. Others found the commentary track distracting. With music, spoken words and video, all swirling around the brain at the same time, it's no wonder. According the Stephen Brookes, "Two minutes into the opening piece I quietly slid off my headphones, and by intermission it was impossible to spot anyone still plugged in."

But the idea of commentary tracks for classical music is not a bad one. DVDs almost always have commentary tracks. But usually those tracks are switched on during a movie you have seen countless times and know the plot, characters and dialogue stone-cold; so, it becomes quite easy to concentrate on the commentary and the movie at the same time. I doubt if many in the audience on August 4th knew Vaughan Williams's "Serenade to Music" as well as I know every line in the "Princess Bride."

Also, in commentary tracks, syncing is vital. Especially if the track refers to something occurring at a specific moment. With live music, it is probably hard, if not impossible, to truly craft a commentary track that will sync up, because the beauty of live performance is the fact that it is live, and thus different every time.

Regardless of the evening's perceived success, kudos to the NSO for trying something new! If I lived in Washington, DC, I would have been there with my iPod in one ear, the music in the other, a smile on my face, and a big thumbs up to their creative experiment combining arts with technology.

Original Washington Post Article

First in a series of Search Engine Optimization Articles

We are pleased to present the first in a series of four articles written by Lance Trebesch and Taylor Robinson from TicketPrinting.com related to search engine optimization. Read on...

Make Your Art Organization a Top “Hit”: A 30 Day Step-by-Step Guide to Dramatically Improved Search Engine Optimization Part 1 of 4

By Lance Trebesch and Taylor Robinson

Lance@TicketPrinting.com www.TicketPrinting.com

Do you ever wonder why some websites seem to steal the top positions on search engines? No, it is not magic, and yes, your art organization can do it too. The “secret” to achieving this success for your website is by harnessing the power of search engine optimization. By following this step-by-step guide, you will be well on your way to drastically improving your websites standing in only 30 days.

Overall Objective:

The overall objective should be to improve your websites position on search engines.

What you need to know:

Despite what some companies may want you to believe, there are no tricks or shortcuts to SEO and you will not top the list of search results overnight. Three major areas should be focused on for a successful SEO campaign. These areas include:

1. Keywords 2. Website design 3. Links

Week 1:

Objective:

Your objectives in the first week include submitting your site to several link directories and improving your websites keyword structure.

Let’s Get Started:

Directories- Submitting to nonprofit directories such as CharityNavigator, Yahoo Health, idealist.org, and fundsnetservices or general directories such as Business.com, Best of the Web, and DMOZ will immediately affect your websites search rankings. While listing your site on directories is worth your time, the links are of little overall value and will only have a minimal impact on your ranking.

Keywords- Keywords are the words/phrases that tell search engines about the purpose of your site. It is important to identify which words are most advantageous to your organization so they can be optimized in your content. Begin selecting keywords by brainstorming every word/phrase that is topically relevant to your organization. Remember, put yourself into the shoes of the searcher and avoid industry jargon. Be sure to include the name of the organization and the main service the organization provides. Additionally, when selecting keywords try to avoid general terms such as “theater”, “art”, or “fundraiser” and select keywords that are unique and relevant. Two problems arise when general keyword terms are used:

1. The phrase becomes more competitive and harder to rank well on.
2. The site receives traffic from people who are looking for a different service than your organization provides.

Art organizations in particular need to include action keywords such as “donate” or “contribute” to make their fundraising campaigns more successful. If you are still unable to generate keywords, browse through websites of similar organizations and look which keywords are used on their sites.

Keyword Tracker Tools- Once you have developed a starter list, you are ready to test the words using one of the many online keyword tracker tools. The best free online tool today is yahoo’s Overture. This will show the popularity of the keyword entered during the last month and give a rough idea of what additional keywords may work for the organization. However, for the organization that wants to launch a more targeted and successful SEO campaign, Wordtracker is the correct instrument to use. Wordtracker has additional features such as the inclusion of plurals and misspellings in its search. Most importantly Wordtracker includes the competition for each of the keyword phrases. The trick here is to select keywords that are popular searches but not commonly used by other organizations.

Keyword Density- There has been a great deal of hype regarding keyword density and finding the correct density for each search engine. Keyword density refers to the frequency that the keyword is used. According to the most current and accurate articles written on the subject, such as the Unfair Advantage (within searchenginenews.com), keyword density is in fact much less important than originally predicted. The only standing rule of keyword density is not use “keyword stuffing” techniques where the phrase is repeated multiple times. Search engines now monitor this tactic and will actually lower your sites ranking if they detect stuffing. Search Engine Land’s article, SEO “Don’ts”: 20 Fatal Mistakes You Must Avoid to Succeed, gives an accurate list of pitfalls such as keyword stuffing that you will want to steer clear of when implementing your SEO strategy.

New Website Content- When incorporating keywords into the websites text, be sure to look at the content from the users’ point of view, and strike a balance between the user and the search engine (priority always goes to the user), making content friendly for both. For further reading on how to layout your website to optimize its effectiveness with search engines read Matt McGee’s 21 Essential SEO Tips & Techniques or one of the many articles on the subject in Search Engine Land.

Title and Header Tags- The most important keywords identified should be included in the websites title and header tags. A title tag is a short html code that tells search engines about your site, while headers are viewed by users on the top of each page and tell the purpose of the page. The 7 Essential Title Tag Strategies of High Ranking Web Pages in 2006 has further information about how to improve title tags to optimize your search performance.

Week One Checklist:

• Submit your website to directories
• List keywords
• Test your keywords with online tools
• Research title and header tags
• Improve your websites content by adding keywords

Tux the Linux Penguin vs. Bill Gates

Can a little penguin destroy the Windows empire? (Photo Uncredited)

On one of our recent podcasts, we talked about Ubuntu, the Linux-based open source operating system. I recently discovered that Ubuntu is, in fact, the OS Dell and Lenovo are now offering as a Windows alternative.

People often ask about Linux and the move to open source, and I typically advise against it... at least in the current tech environment. While the open source model has its benefits, the most important being the leveraging of collective developer wisdom, there are also many pitfalls for the novice user.

When you buy your next computer and the sales rep or online form asks you, "Windows or Linux?," what will you choose?

The following article provides a few bullet points to consider before taking the open source OS leap:

Is it time to exit from Windows?

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speaking of tools

Here's a link to information about a giveaway by Members Only Software to one arts organization that will be selected on September 10.

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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