Technology in the Arts #40

In our most recent episode, Brad and Jason answer a listener's questions, including: 1. Why is Google saying my site is evil? 2. What are the best ways for artists to market themselves online?

Also, Brad attends Museums and the Web 2008 in Montreal, Canada, and interviews Web usability gurus Michael Twidale, associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and Paul Marty, associate professor at Florida State University's College of Information.

Use the following handy-dandy links to follow along with the episode:

Google's Harmful Site Info - Are Google's search results saying a Web site may be harmful? Here is some info to help make sense of that scary message.

SQL Injections - Some information about SQL injections: What are they? How do I fix it? How do I prevent them?

Paul Marty's Usability Info - A great place to start your research on simple, affordable Web usability testing.

Don't Make Me Think - A great book about Web site usability.

Cool Sites of the Episode

Jason: weatherbonk.com - Personalized weather and traffic information.

Brad: WordPress.com and WordPress.org - A great blogging platform that can also be used as a content management system. We've talked about it before, but Brad thought it was worth a mention, as the new Technology in the Arts site is built entirely in WordPress.

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

[display_podcast]

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #40

Technology in the Arts #39

In our most recent episode, Brad interviews Ben Cameron, program director for the arts at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF).

From 1998 until he started with the DDCF in July 2006, Ben served as the executive director of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for not-for-profit theatres. Prior to that appointment, he was active in corporate philanthropy, first as senior program officer at the Dayton Hudson Foundation and subsequently as manager of community relations at Target Stores in Minneapolis.

Ben has taught theatre at the Yale School of Drama, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech, and Columbia University.

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

[display_podcast]

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #39

Technology in the Arts #38

In our most recent episode, Brad interviews Jonathan Coulton, an independent musician known by millions of geeks as the guy who wrote the song Still Alive for the award-winning console game Portal.

Coulton discusses his use of Creative Commons and other online practices to build a rabid and connected fan base.

Creative Commons allows an artist to apply a standard copyright and then scale back the restrictions. While many musicians and record executives are trying to find ways to lock down their songs, Coulton has found a way to make money giving his music away. (But please... be kind and pay what you can. The guy's good and deserves to eat.)

Check out Coulton's songs here.

[display_podcast]

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #38

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

Technology in the Arts #37

In our most recent episode, Brad and Jason discuss Google's new free collaboration tool and why you sometimes get more than you pay for... even if you pay nothing! Use the following handy-dandy links to follow along with the episode:

Google Sites - Quickly create a network of internal or external sites for free. You can add and edit pages, attach documents and upload audio and video files.

PC Mag's 157 Best Free Software List - Amazing software that can be yours for the low, low price of nothing.

Mac OS X Server Software - With a little effort and a bit of cash, you can set up your own Mac-based internal network.

Cool Sites of the Episode

Brad & Jason: hillaryismomjeans.com - Our special presidential campaign edition. Tell the world what Hillary Clinton is doing at this ridiculously simple yet highly addictive and popular Web site.

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

[display_podcast]

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #37

Technology in the Arts #36

In our most recent episode, Brad and Jason discuss "crowdsourcing" and technology portfolio management. Use the following handy-dandy links to follow along with the episode:

CNN's iReport - You report the news by submitting photos, videos and stories.

Vocalo.org - Chicago Public Radio's content sharing site.

The Kennedy Center - Since opening in 1971, the Kennedy Center has continued its efforts to fulfill his vision—presenting the greatest performers and performances from across America and around the world, nurturing new works and young artists, and serving the nation as a leader in arts education.

Cool Sites of the Episode

Jason: www.mikedaisey.com - Site of the self-proclaimed "actor, author, commentator, playwright and general layabout."

Brad: Siti Extended Ensemble (SEE) - The interactive online community for SITI Company.

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

[display_podcast]

Technology in the Arts #35

In our most recent episode, Brad interviews Peter Jaszi, co-author of a new study by the Center for Social Media at American University that examines user-generated content with respect to copyright issues. The study was conducted by Center director Pat Aufderheide and Jaszi, co-director of the law school’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property. The study shows that many online videos using copyrighted material could be protected under fair use policies.

Fair use, a hotly debated concept that lacks clear guidelines, allows for the quoting of copyrighted material without asking permission or paying royalties. The study warns that perfectly legal and valuable social commentary might be curbed by major content holders' (Sony, NBC, Viacom, etc.) new practices for controlling piracy.

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

[display_podcast]

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #35

Technology in the Arts #34

In our most recent episode, Brad and Jason present their list of New Year's resolutions every arts organization should make in 2008. Technology Resolutions Every Arts Organization Should Make for 2008

1. JASON: Research and Experiment. There are plenty of free, online or downloadable demos for all kinds of software.

2. BRAD: Back up your data. Buy an external hard drive and buy a backup software. If you have Mac's new Leopard operating system, you can use Time Machine to back up your stuff. If you run Windows, there is a piece of software I use at home called Acronis True Image, and you can get it at Best Buy or through the Acronis.com web site.

3. JASON: Don't fall for the hype. Resist the buzzword. Which buzzword? All of them. Don't fall in love on the first date, people.

4. BRAD: Educate yourself. It is very easy to add a few items to your daily task list that will help you stay on top of technology. Visit Wired.com, pcmag.com and gizmodo.com, three great sites that feature all things geeky.

5. JASON: Befriend a geek. We're people, too, you know. And some of us are lonely. Besides, geeks love to talk about the latest tech, what they've done with the latest tech and what the latest tech can do. A 15 minute conversation bouncing ideas off the geek down the hall could save you some time with the consultants down the street.

6. BRAD: Contribute. Plug into the interactive Web by trying an online social networking tool. Go to Flickr.com and create a free account. Go to WordPress.com and start a free blog. You'll never know if a tool might have some practical purpose for your organization if you don't start using some of them.

7. JASON: Lock it down! There have been a number of high-profile data theft cases in the news of late. Your constituents won't be very happy if their credit card numbers happen to walk away from you. What are you exposing to the internet? Who has access to it? What kind of security are you running internally? Who can see what? How often are you changing passwords and network keys? It could happen to you!

8. BRAD: Aggregate. Aggregate. Aggregate. Whether you use Google Reader, the Firefox Web browser's built in module, Outlook 2007, or any other tool, start increasing your personal efficiency by using an aggregator. Aggregators, also known as feed readers, are tools that let you enter RSS feeds and have the content come to you. They pull syndicated content to a single location for easy viewing.

Cool Sites of the Episode

Jason: www.lasagnacat.com - Actors (all human) play out Garfield comic strips from the past three decades, then the result is remixed to a tangentially-related song. Art project? Time-waster gone awry? Both? My current favorite: 3/24/1979.

Brad: Speaking of getting an aggregator, check out tiinker.com. Tiinker learns what you like to read about and adapts. It's like Tivo for your RSS feeds.

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

[display_podcast]

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #34

Technology in the Arts #33

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #33

In our most recent episode, Brad is joined by the Center for Arts Management and Technology's new executive director, David Dombrosky, and they present their top Technology in the Arts blog and podcast topics of 2007.

They also talk about the potential death of digital rights management, or DRM.

Technology in the Arts - 2007 in Review

• Second Life: This topic was discussed ad nauseam. Here is a link to the "Second Life" search results on our blog.
• Microsoft's Ian Lindsay: Part 2 of our interview with the Microsoft representative is quite hilarious in retrospect now that the word is out that Windows Vista is junk.
• Press releases and Web 2.0: Adapting the press release for social media
• CAMT joins YouTube: A video of CAMT receiving the Grassroots.org Techie Award award at the 2007 Nonprofit Technology Conference
• Building a home on the Web: The National Museum of African American History and Culture has developed an online space before it even has a physical space
• Linux in the Marketplace: In 2007, Linux-based operating systems started to become more mainstream for the general consumer
• Portable Readers: Sony, Amazon and iRex Technologies all released portable readers, and none of them were to literature what the iPod has been to music
• Wired's Geekipedia: Anything you ever need to know about a tech term or buzz word

Cool Sites of the Episode:

Brad - Hulu.com: New media on demand site; Get your beta access here

David - Notsonoisy.com/gameover: Incredible movies that revive classic video games using people as pixels

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

Technology in the Arts #32

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #32

In our most recent episode, Brad and Jason present a very special holiday episode, featuring the song Ya You Betcha Christmas by Gary Sundblad.

20 Years of Holiday Gift Ideas:

1987: Tickets to the Broadway hit Les Miserable, which won 8 Tony Awards in 1987. (Side note: The Perl programming language was created by Larry Wall in December of that year.)

1988: Prozac! What better way to get through the holidays than with this newly released anti-depressant? (Side note: CDs outsold vinyl for the first time this year.)

1989: Atari Lynx handheld game device. The thing was huge. You might as well strap a flat panel TV to an Xbox and carry it around with you.

1990: Windows 3.0. This was back when Microsoft was Apple… it was cool to own Windows.

1991: Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Welcome to the 16-bit era of console gaming.

1992: Madonna’s Erotica. One of the most controversial albums of all time got Madonna banned from Vatican City.

1993: A subscription to WIRED magazine, which was first published this year. WIRED is one of my favorite magazines, both online and in print. Also, the World Wide Web is born at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, more commonly known as CERN. This gives the folks at WIRED something to write about every month.

1994: Tickets to Woodstock ’94, the 25th anniversary celebration of the original Woodstock festival. Guess what? Not as good as the original. Having all your bodily crevices filled with mud is not as much fun when water costs $10 a bottle. Also, Netscape Navigator 1.0 was released in 1994.

1995: Windows 95. The biggest enhancement over Windows 3 is the GUI (or graphical user interface). The Windows 95 graphics structure is still being used today in Windows Vista. And Microsoft wonders why Apple is catching up with them.

1996: Tickle Me Elmo. A store clerk in New Jersey was nearly trampled to death in the most outrageous instance of Elmo-mania. Also, Web TV was released. Grandmas everywhere could send email from their televisions. It’s now known as MSN TV and you see it in hotels a lot.

1997: Because I could come up with nothing else, I chose this as a music year: Radiohead’s OK Computer, Bjork’s Homogenic, Oasis’ Be Here Now, and Elton John’s single Candle in the Wind ’97. Also, Microsoft bought a $150 million share in Apple Computers, which was on the brink of financial ruin. And the term “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger. See the Technology in the Arts blog for an entry about Jorn.

1998: Furby. The fuzzy robot had the ability to learn English. Also, Apple unveiled its first iMac desktop computer. It was, and still is, an all-in-one machine with the monitor and other hardware all contained in the same casing.

1999: A trip to Milan, Italy, to see Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, which was put back on display in ’99 after 22 years of restoration work. Also, the Sega Dreamcast video game console is the hot toy. My friend had one, and it was underwhelming. The games were mediocre.

2000: Windows 2000. This version of Windows became the target of a number of high profile hacker attacks. I read that Windows 2000 continues to this day to receive security updates on a monthly basis.

2001: The Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube are the hot holiday toys. Also, Mac OS X v10.0 was released this year. And Windows XP was released. If you’re wondering why XP was released so close to Windows 2000, it’s because XP was originally intended to be more for home use, whereas 2000 was more for business use.

2002: Big year… big, big year. Barbara Streisand’s The Essential Barbara Streisand is released! Also, The B-52’s anthology Nude on the Moon and Nine Inch Nails And All That Could Have Been are under the tree… someone’s tree.

2003: Get Up and Bounce Tigger. The tiger from Winnie the Pooh sings, dances and apparently bounces for just $29.99.

2004: Nintendo DS handheld game system is released. The unit featured two screens – one a touchscreen – and wireless for short range interaction with other players. This was the first Nintendo system to have a US release before a Japanese release.

2005: Kickaroos Anti-Gravity Boots. My favorite part of the marketing for this and other products from the same company is that none of the kids in the promotional images is wearing a helmet. If you go to www.air-kicks.com, you’ll see three people on the homepage bouncing on things you know can lead to severe head trauma, and they just look as happy and ignorant as can be without their safety gear on.

2006: The Nintendo Wii.

2007: iPhone. Windows Vista. And if you’re buying someone Windows Vista for Christmas, you’d better buy them a brand new computer as well, because you need some pretty high-powered hardware to run this OS.

Cool Sites of the Episode:

Jason - Google.com recipe finder (as if they need the help)

Brad - RobotWisdom.com, Jorn Barger's weblog

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.

Technology in the Arts #31

Podcast - Technology in the Arts #31

In our most recent episode, Brad and Jason discuss Thanksgiving, the Broadway stagehand strike and the popular constituent management database Salesforce.

Use the following handy-dandy links to follow along with the episode:

Backstage.com - Updates on the stagehand strike, which fortunately came to a close on Thursday, Nov. 29. Read more about the agreement that was reached.

Salesforce.com - Web-based customer (or constituent) relationship management. Check out the company's nonprofit resource center at www.salesforcefoundation.org/resources.

Photosynth - Microsoft-developed tool that takes a large collection of photos of a place or object, analyzes them for similarities using complex algorithms, and displays them in a reconstructed 3D space.

Humblevoice.com - Brad's "Cool Sites of the Episode" entry. This online artist community allows members to maintain and manage a roster of friends, family and fans, and share their art with their network and the general public.

Prosper.com - Jason's "CSotE" entry. This site cuts out corporate lenders and lets people borrow money from other people.

Reminder - If you have any questions or interesting discussion items, please send them to podcast@technologyinthearts.org.