Final Blog

When I started this course, I was a great appreciator of technology. I was hoping this course would take me from being a passive appreciator of the wonderful world of multimedia to a competent creator. Mission accomplished!

This course challenged my creativity, as well as my ability to learn to work quickly with new programs. I enjoyed the creative freedom we had in this course, and I really learned quite a bit about many useful things that I will continue to use, such as video editing, Jing and Animoto.

I also never dreamed that I would learn so much about copyright law! While it seems we spent a lot of time with this topic, it demonstrated how real and pervasive this issue is. I was not really aware of it before, and never really reflected on how changing technology impacted the law, but I'm glad I learned more about it. In the future, I will definitely be reading tech-related articles that touch on this and other topics we've covered this semester.

Overall, I've had a great experience in this course, and I thank all of my classmates and Lisa for the assistance! It's been a fun ride!

Adding Value?

In watching the interview between Lawrence Lessig and Stephen Colbert on copyright law, I think Lessig's argument was most neatly supported at the 3:50 mark. At that time, Colbert draws with marker all over a copy of Lessig's book to demonstrate a "remix". As Lessig points out, Colbert has just added value to the original work, causing that copy of "Remix" to net much more revenue than a mint copy of Lessig's work.

To me, this is the crux of the issue. In this example, obtaining the original copy of the book would have put revenue into Mr. Lessig's pocket. He should not be owed the additional revenue that Colbert has added to the book, because he was not responsible for it.

I am of the opinion that remixes benefit the original artist, because it opens up new possible markets for the original. If someone buys the Colbert original copy of "Remix" on Ebay at an elevated price, but happens to also read the book's content, whose to say they won't seek out more works by the same author? Speaking for myself, I found a lot of cool music via sampling by another artist (for example, the Beastie Boys album "Paul's Boutique" samples Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin, to name a few).

I agree with Lessig that copyright laws are due for an overhaul, unfortunately, as I commented on someone else's blog, technology moves faster than the law...

The Characteristics of Online Life

I am a member of Generation X, not Generation F, but I really appreciated the article on the 12 characteristics of online life that are fundamental concepts for Generation F. I am an avid user of the internet for many things, and I've seen these characteristics in action in many different forums. Here are the characteristics that most resonated for me:

• Tasks are chosen, not assigned. Having worked as a manager for many years, I saw for myself that people tend to be drawn to the things they are "good at", and when I let people focus on those things that made them feel confident and successful, they WERE confident and successful. There's certainly always a place for people to stretch and be challenged, but it's also true that no matter how hard you push and pull, a square peg just doesn't fit into a round hole and that's okay. Self-selection of tasks can be a good thing.


• Resources get attracted, not allocated. The same way people are drawn to tasks that make them feel confident and successful, the momentum that's generated will build on itself to create more success. "The web is a market economy where millions of individuals get to decide, moment by moment, how to spend the precious currency of their time and attention" (Hamel 2010). I think that in the future, as our options continue to expand exponentially, time and attention will be the most precious commodity.


• Intrinsic rewards matter most. "Money's great, but so are recognition and the joys of accomplishment" (Hamel 2010). Truer words were never spoken, and if more managers recognized this, there would be many more satisfied and engaged employees of all generations out there.

Sliding Down the Long Tail

I apologize in advance that Blogger seems to want to blob all text into one loooong paragraph :( While reading Wired.com's article about the Long Tail theory, I found myself nodding along emphatically. As a regular user of sites like Netflix, I've become more savvy from a consumer perspective about the benefits of marketing directly to consumers in the digital world. I regularly rate the films and shows I watch on Netflix, knowing that it will improve the site's ability to recommend additional content that will "hit the spot" for me. While some may be concerned about an invasion of privacy, I see it as a great way to allow Netflix to reach into it's hundreds of thousands of titles, and pull out those that I will most enjoy. In short, it will save me a great deal of time. I've always been confused by the film and music industries' resistance to new media. As this article easily explains, marketing old titles via electronic download or inexpensively produced hard copies will actually help the studios make more money on its back catalogue than it would by allowing those titles to languish away in a vault somewhere. The digital age is allowing so many new opportunities for revenue, and clearly consumers have jumped on board, so why are studios in both the film and record industry dragging their feet? Ironically enough, I just wrote a review of an article printed last month in The Economist. In it, the current marketing strategy of the film industry was analyzed, and summed up with the following: "The studios are old-school advertisers: every year they spend billions of dollars in scattershot campaigns that often hit the wrong people. Every dollar spent trying to persuade a grandmother to see a Quentin Tarantino film is a dollar wasted (Quentin's granny excepted)." Why not embrace the fact that though they will lose money when their existing hard copy distributors go away, they will save billions in a more effective marketing campaign? In short, when will they see the long tail for what it is: a golden (cha-ching!) opportunity?

Tuning In to Podcasts

I discovered podcasts when I bought my first iPod. I was dizzy with possibility while exploring iTunes and found the wealth of music, audiobooks and podcasts. My car ride will never be the same!

I do regularly subscribe to a few podcasts, but my favorite are those that showcase discussions and back and forth. My first and favorite podcast was "Pop Trash Radio", which was essentially two friends gossipping about celebrity news and random current events. "Pop Trash Radio" was the radio show that would never make it on the air at a major radio station, but that I found much more entertaining than any morning show I've ever heard.

Like many of the multimedia outlets we've explored in class, podcasting gives a voice to the millions of individuals that are looking for a way to share what they love, what they are passionate about, and what moves them. It never ceases to amaze me how many different podcasts there are; there is literally something for everyone!

The other very nice thing about podcasts is that they are mostly free, unlike audiobooks, which can be very expensive. I am very cautious about the audiobooks I buy, but I can try a podcast with no risk and no commitment. If I hate it, there's always the off button! For me, podcasts are a great option for entertainment or learning.

Blast From the Past: A Book Review

Sorry for the long vlog, but this was a topic near and dear to my heart!

Vlogging: Take One

Join me in learning one of the secret weapons of parenting: The Supertickle!

Hans Rosling: Magician

As we spend some time this week exploring some truly bad Power Point presentations, it's refreshing to watch Hans Rosling mix key aspects of information and entertainment to create a very engaging presentation.

The first thing I noticed about Mr. Rosling is his energy. He's clearly passionate about his material, and takes steps to incorporate some humor into what can easily degenerate into a dry statistical lecture. Right out of the gate, that energy drew me in.

Rather than the standard bar graphs and pie charts, Mr. Rosling used circles of different sizes and colors distributed on the graph to represent the nations and regions of the world. He had clearly thought about the material, and how best to connect the audience to it. It caught my attention because it deviated from the norm, but when he began discussing growth and change of health and wealth, he had me hooked!

Mr. Rosling clearly understands the entertainment adage of "Show, don't tell." By conducting a fast slide show of the statistics year to year, he showed the change in nations health and wealth through movement on the screen. To complement, he also created energy in his commentary, making me, the viewer, sit up and take notice. He continued to "show" the statistics he was talking about, breaking up the world into regions, and regions into countries. The consistency and fluidity of his presentation was great, in that he spoke well enough to make his points, but kept the visual graphics moving at a pace that was engaging.

Often in Power Point presentations, I find myself racing ahead and reading the slides, but the pacing of this show kept my focus on Mr. Rosling, and allowed me to absorb what he was saying, not just what I was reading on the screen. I was really impressed with this discussion, and am going to strive in the future to incorporate some of the tips I've picked up by watching this magician in action.

A Kindle Lover's Tale

I love books. I've been an avid reader since the age of four, and I count my books among my most treasured possessions, much to the chagrin of the friends and family that have helped me move over the years! When Kindles came on the market, I sniffed in disapproval, thinking that nothing would ever replace the feel and the smell of new book.

But as airline baggage fees increased, the idea of a Kindle suddenly seemed much more practical. Why pay extra to pack ten books in your suitcase when you could have all that and more in a Kindle? This Christmas I was presented with a Kindle of my very own. It was love at first sight! Light as a feather, easy to operate, and no back lighting means no eye strain. No need to travel to the book store when I was in need of a fix. I began to wonder why I waited so long.

Please note that in the short list of the best Kindle features, the text to speech function does not make the list. For me, it doesn't really merit consideration. This added to my complete surprise in reading of the concerns of the Authors Guild, and their assertion that TTS represents an infringement on an authors rights to publish their books in audio form.

With all due respect to Mr. Blount, the TTS function on my Kindle is not comparable to an audio book. You see, as a lover of books in ALL their forms, I also have a large number of audio books on my iPod, all of which cost me more than a paperback copy of the same book. The reason I am willing to buy audio books at a premium is because of the amazing talent that goes into creating these individual pieces.

Often, these books are read by only one actor, who has the challenge of bringing distinct and separate characters to life for the listener. In his Op Ed piece, Mr. Blount references the incredible Jim Dale, who gave such life to the Harry Potter books that when I read the text, it's his voices I hear, because they are just spot on. In addition to the voice talent, there are sound editors and directors and mixers that all contribute to the final product. These craftsmen and artists work together to deliver a product that can stand alone, and that many folks purchase at a premium.

By contrast, the TTS function is a computerized, delivering the text in a flat, inflectionless voice. There is no artistic interpretation, no craftsmanship. I actually find it a frustrating way to try and hear books this way, as everyone's "voice" sounds the same. Exciting, action filled passages are read at the same pace as quiet, introspective ones. If authors tried to save money on creating their audio books and just sold an audio file of a compterized voice reading their work, a la Kindle, they would soon find the lucrative business of audio books decimated.

Ultimately, in addition to being completely frivolous and slightly greedy, Mr. Blount's Op Ed piece represents a tremendous insult to the talented teams that create the audio books!

Losing Hope

This week, we've explored the recently settled dispute between street artist Shepard Fairey and media giant Associated Press regarding the iconic "Hope" poster created by Fairey for the Obama campaign in 2008. Fairey used an image copyrighted by the Associated Press in creating the image, asserting the principle of fair use, and the AP has asserted that by using the photo without license, Fairey violated copyright law.

My first feeling, when viewing the photo and the poster side by side, was that the resemblance in the physical stance of Mr. Obama in the two works is virtually identical, however in my mind the resemblance ends there. The photo, while nicely composed, does not hold a candle to the striking and iconic image created by Mr. Fairey. In fact, had the photos not been side by side, with foreknowledge of the relationship, I would not have associated the photo with the poster. To me, that is the true definition of "transformative". I also feel that Mr. Fairey's transformation of the original has raised the value of the original photo, and that the AP has probably had more requests to license the original photo based on Mr. Fairey's interpretation than they ever would have had without it. To me, they have already profited from Mr. Fairey's use, with or without an original license.

Ultimately, the AP may feel like their photo was the inspiration for the campaign image, the real inspiration was the man and the electricity and excitement that the campaign generated. Both the photo and the image were theoretically available to be used by the campaign, and only one of them was chosen: Mr. Fairey's image, which encapsulated the excitement and emotion of the campaign.

I'm glad that all parties have come to an agreement they can live with, but I can't help but feel that Fairey was unfairly dragged through the mud.

Micro Art

I'm impressed, but unsurprised, about the explosion of micro art being created on the tiny frame of a cell phone. One of the most amazing things about art is the diversity of inspiration of the artist. Urban graffiti artists can use their talent to transform the most mundane and sometimes downright ugly objects: the side of a building, a dumpster, the wall of a bridge. This is just another example of an artist being inspired by the most mundane of things, the phones most of us carry. Like another micro art form, the haiku, artists are working under imposed conditions that dictate the form. Also like haiku, the challenges of the form can force artists to new levels of creativity and connection to the work.

Where the world of visual arts can be welcoming to new and innovative art forms, I find that the world of literature seems to be much less hospitable. This point is borne out in the New Yorker article describing the rise of the cell phone novel in Japan. The article describes a well-known critic's assessment, saying " 'I don't even want to use the word literary ' " to describe the novels. However, despite the literary condemnation they receive, the popularity of the cell phone novel, both in reading and writing them, should stand as a testament that the written word is not dead. It's merely taking a different form.

Art is such a reflection of time and culture, it only makes sense that the newest works of art are produced electronically. After all, it's how many of us live our lives. Just like my mother's grandfather predicted the decline of civilization with the advent of rock and roll, there will be naysayers. However, rock and roll is still alive and kicking, as are Bach and Mozart, as is civilization. Just sayin' :).

Power to the People!

The concept behind Creative Commons seems refreshingly innovative: there are artists and creators in the world who WANT to share their work with others, and allow reasonably controlled use by other artists for other purposes. This organization demonstrates that it is possible to retain control of your original content while inspiring others through their use.

Because there are so many options for licensing through Creative Commons, all written in plain English rather than legalese, the creator of original content can clearly communicate their intentions and requirements to anyone interested in using all or part of the work for their own purposes. For example, the Attribution option allows work to be shared, copied and distributed by someone other than the original copyright holder, provided that the work is properly attributed to the creator. The system also allows creators to spread the Creative Commons philosophy via the ShareAlike option, which requires that any derivative works created be shared under the same terms of the original work.

In the past many artists and creators have followed the "mine mine mine" philosophy of control, as demonstrated by J.K Rowling in her lawsuit against the Harry Potter Lexicon, working toward a more restrictive interpretation of the law. By searching for ways to become more collaborative, Creative Commons is better poised to function in this world of digital media as we know it today.

The One: Inspired by Kevin Kelly

I was really blown away by Kevin Kelly's thoughts on the next 5000 days of the internet. His words prompted a lot of reflection about where we are now, and where we will be.

The photo of the man with the cell phone rubber-banded to his head made me giggle, but in reality, isn't that where we're headed? As devices, or "portals into the one machine", as Mr. Kelly calls them, get smaller and more portable, there will be no reason to disconnect from a device for any reason.

Right now, when I log into Facebook, I see a sidebar of people and pages I might know and like, based on my current and likes and friends. Amazon and Netflix also display things that I might enjoy, based on previous purchases or rentals. Isn't it a natural extension of that to anticipate that the cloud will monitor all my habits to anticipate my preferences? Will my screen automatically redirect to Burlington Free Press at 12:00 PM, because I usually scan the paper while I eat lunch at my desk?

Early on in the discussion, Mr. Kelly mentioned artifacts in a casual way, referring again to our various portable devices. That word triggered a revelation for me. Right now, the majority of our culture exists in bits and bytes, not tangible artifacts. We can look back at the pots and tools and structures of an earlier time, and begin to form a picture of how people lived, and what their lives were like. For us, almost all of that will be electronic. In one hundred years, someone could find my computer and phone, but without the electronic media that those devices capture, they could not understand me and my cloud, which I illustrated last week. How will we preserve the anachronisms of "now" when it can be erased or dissolved in a flash?

One Snowy Day in The Cloud

Let me give you an example of my life in the cloud:

Yesterday was a snow day. How did I know? I logged into WCAX.com to check on school closings. I work as a recruiter and supervisor specializing in substitute teachers, so when I saw all my customer locations closed, I logged into the external website used for scheduling to cancel all posted absences, as well as send out automatic IMs to anyone scheduled to work. I also logged into my work email account to set up an out of office message to notify the world that I would be unavailable, and respond to all messages that came in the previous evening.

Once my professional obligations were dispatched for the day, I set up a streaming video on Netflix (through the PS3) for the kids, and logged into WaltDisneyWorld.com to finalize plans for a spring trip I'd been pondering. In a few clicks, I reserved a room, a flight, bought park tickets, and made dining reservations. Sweet!

Next, the kids and I played a little Wii. While they were outside playing with their Dad, I caught up with friends on Facebook, logged into Blackboard to do some homework, logged into my online banking account and transferred some money, killed a bit of time on the Television Without Pity website, downloaded some of the "winter fun" photos my husband took into Picasa, created and shared them on a Web album for those relatives that are not on Facebook.

After dinner (which featured a side of sweet potato hash from a recipe I'd downloaded to my phone from RealSimple.com), the kids were tucked in, and I was ready for sleep. I read for a bit on my Kindle, a new book that my brother had gifted directly to my account via Amazon.com, and then queued up an episode of Brothers and Sisters on Netflix to watch before falling asleep.

So there you have it; in one day, my work, my vacation, my money, my communication, my education, my dinner and my entertainment were all directly impacted by or utilized The Cloud. It's all integrated so seamlessly into my everyday existence that it's hard to separate the individual impact. Five years ago, I don't think I would have been able to predict how involved I would be in something like Facebook, which existed but did not have the overwhelming following that it does today. I hesitate to even speculate where I will be in the future!

Digital Revolution

I love the digital revolution!

As a child of the 80's, computer access was relatively limited during my elementary school years. In high school, word processing systems became more common, and I headed off to my first year of college in 1993 with a suitcase-sized word processor that had a screen the size of a pack of gum and allowed me to read 3 lines of my text at a time.

Now, at the ripe old age of 36, I find myself addicted to technology. My house is wired to the hilt, and in a pinch I can get online via my iPhone. When my husband and I get into an argument about some random piece of trivia, it becomes a Googling contest to see who gets the answer first. However, for all my love of technology for learning and entertainment, I am not a creator. And yes, I am certainly a bit nervous about embarking on this journey!

To be fair, I do maintain a personal blog, which is mostly a rambling account of life with my kids and husband, and religiously read by my mother-in-law. It can be found here, although I have been really lazy about updating it recently. I like blogging, because life with two little ones, a full time job, and courses on the side moves very quickly, and it allows me to document some of the smaller moments in my life for posterity. It also allows me to update family and friends without having to repeat the same story 15 times (did I mention that we are really busy?).

I've taken several online courses with CCV, and while they are quite a bit of work, I enjoy the flexibility that distance learning allows. I've never taken a tech course online, so this will definitely be a different experience. Overall, I'm excited about this course, because I've derived hours of enjoyment from various sources, like YouTube, Awkward Family Photos, Passive-Aggressive Notes, and Facebook, and it's probably time that I put something back into the entertainment cycle. It will be great to have some guided learning experiences with multimedia, and some other folks to share in the agony and the ecstasy of the creative process.

Thanks in advance for sharing your own creative voices with me!