A couple of days ago I became aware of the existence of personal wikis for desktop use. Basically, a personal wiki, as could be discerned from the name, is a wiki used not by a community but by a single person for collecting thoughts. This application of the wiki concept focuses less on collective gathering of knowledge and more on the connecting and organizing of one's own thoughts -- one personal wiki program, ZuluPad, describes itself as "a notepad on crack."
While I haven't gotten the chance to explore any of these programs yet, I am definitely interested in the possibilities, especially outside the purely thought-connecting use. One possibility is using the wiki as a database; for example, as mentioned on the ZuluPad website, as an address book. Another possibility, as I've seen attempted in several places, is using the wiki format to tell a story, albeit most likely in a non-linear fashion.
So yeah, I thought I'd post this in case anyone was curious (*coughMichaelcough* >_>). If you try any of the programs listed there, feel free to comment on how they worked/didn't work for you.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Art of the Music Downloading Movement.
As the downloading of music is directly about a specific artistic medium, music, the topic is obviously of great concern to musicians of all sorts. Accordingly, much of the art of the movement is musical.
When considering music related to music sharing and downloading, the technological basis of the movement must not be forgotten. Thus, many of the musicians share ties with so-called "geek culture". For example, song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic recently released the song "Don't Download This Song", which makes reference to several court cases involving the RIAA. There is also work by nerdcore hip hop artists, rappers who specifically record songs about "nerdy" topics such as computer culture.
The issue is also the subject of politically-minded musicians, particularly those involved with sound collage, which is aided immensely by access to downloadable audio. One notable example is the album No Business by sound collage band Negativland.
As for other art, there is little besides music, though there is one major exception. The "Home Taping is Killing Music" logo, with its extremist stance and simple yet brilliant graphic design made that campaign prime parody material for years to come, most recently with the "DRM is Killing Music" slogan. The tape and crossbones design has also been reclaimed by many self-proclaimed music pirates, including prominent featuring on the logo for popular torrent site The Pirate Bay. Even I, myself, have a patch of the design pinned to my bag.
I find it interesting that all of the examples I found while doing research approached the subject from a humorous point of view, with none claiming a somber approach to the topic. I suppose this is to contrast from the perceived humorlessness of such groups as the RIAA, who are known to be ruthless when pursuing lawsuits. I was also interested that, though several mainstream artists have spoken out in support of downloading (such as, like I mentioned before, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails), none have produced any real art in relation to this movement. I suppose this may be in part to the movement being falsely viewed as a geeky topic, which may spoil the bands' public image should they dedicate musical output to the subject. Then again, such as in the case of both bands mentioned just now, there are often other concerns that may be more pressing to the individual band to write music about.
When considering music related to music sharing and downloading, the technological basis of the movement must not be forgotten. Thus, many of the musicians share ties with so-called "geek culture". For example, song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic recently released the song "Don't Download This Song", which makes reference to several court cases involving the RIAA. There is also work by nerdcore hip hop artists, rappers who specifically record songs about "nerdy" topics such as computer culture.
The issue is also the subject of politically-minded musicians, particularly those involved with sound collage, which is aided immensely by access to downloadable audio. One notable example is the album No Business by sound collage band Negativland.
As for other art, there is little besides music, though there is one major exception. The "Home Taping is Killing Music" logo, with its extremist stance and simple yet brilliant graphic design made that campaign prime parody material for years to come, most recently with the "DRM is Killing Music" slogan. The tape and crossbones design has also been reclaimed by many self-proclaimed music pirates, including prominent featuring on the logo for popular torrent site The Pirate Bay. Even I, myself, have a patch of the design pinned to my bag.
I find it interesting that all of the examples I found while doing research approached the subject from a humorous point of view, with none claiming a somber approach to the topic. I suppose this is to contrast from the perceived humorlessness of such groups as the RIAA, who are known to be ruthless when pursuing lawsuits. I was also interested that, though several mainstream artists have spoken out in support of downloading (such as, like I mentioned before, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails), none have produced any real art in relation to this movement. I suppose this may be in part to the movement being falsely viewed as a geeky topic, which may spoil the bands' public image should they dedicate musical output to the subject. Then again, such as in the case of both bands mentioned just now, there are often other concerns that may be more pressing to the individual band to write music about.
Friday, April 18, 2008
On GNU, free software, copyleft, and open source.
Of the four of these, I am least familiar with GNU. I'm not really familiar with anything about it, though I am curious about the GNU manifesto. I regret not leaving myself time to read it, but I'm leaving it open in a tab so as to remind myself the next time I'm at the compy. From my current understanding of GNU, it seems like something that I could be into if I knew more than I did about coding. Plus I am a sucker for recursive acronyms.
Free software I know more about, and indeed is my choice when available. For instance, my preferred audio editing software is a free program called Audacity. Though perhaps not as powerful as its less free counterparts, it is still quite useful. Interestingly, one of my favorite aspects of Audacity is simply the fact that it is free -- that I am allowed to use it freely, and even to download and add additional plugins, as opposed to having to pay several hundred dollars for similar software then pay more for additional plugins.
Copyleft is a term that I've encountered before, albeit in a different context -- that of Discordianism, which I believe has a similar free view of the world (as well as a similar sense of humor). While I appreciate the sentiments of copyleft, I personally prefer Creative Commons: though both allow free use of content, Creative Commons gives more control and flexibility to the creator over the specifics of that free use, such as referencing the author of the content.
As for open source, I am thrilled by the idea. Not only does it help make a project better by inviting others to assist in development, it gives power to all involved in shaping the project whichever way is desired. I'm especially interested in how the idea of open source applies outside of software -- the most obvious example there might be the remixing community. Wikipedia mentions many open source projects that look interesting, especially some of the open source music and open source record labels. At a later time, I will definitely be looking more into this, and might even post a blog about open source music; although not tied directly with downloading, I believe the two have common ground in ethos that warrants thought.
Free software I know more about, and indeed is my choice when available. For instance, my preferred audio editing software is a free program called Audacity. Though perhaps not as powerful as its less free counterparts, it is still quite useful. Interestingly, one of my favorite aspects of Audacity is simply the fact that it is free -- that I am allowed to use it freely, and even to download and add additional plugins, as opposed to having to pay several hundred dollars for similar software then pay more for additional plugins.
Copyleft is a term that I've encountered before, albeit in a different context -- that of Discordianism, which I believe has a similar free view of the world (as well as a similar sense of humor). While I appreciate the sentiments of copyleft, I personally prefer Creative Commons: though both allow free use of content, Creative Commons gives more control and flexibility to the creator over the specifics of that free use, such as referencing the author of the content.
As for open source, I am thrilled by the idea. Not only does it help make a project better by inviting others to assist in development, it gives power to all involved in shaping the project whichever way is desired. I'm especially interested in how the idea of open source applies outside of software -- the most obvious example there might be the remixing community. Wikipedia mentions many open source projects that look interesting, especially some of the open source music and open source record labels. At a later time, I will definitely be looking more into this, and might even post a blog about open source music; although not tied directly with downloading, I believe the two have common ground in ethos that warrants thought.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Cyberactivism, Chapter 3.
In chapter 3, titled "Classifying Forms of Online Activism: The Case of Cyberprotests against the World Bank", Sandor Vegh lists three general types of activism using the internet: awareness/advocacy (spreading information about a cause), organization/mobilization (calling for action on behalf of a cause), and action/reaction (direct action through the internet, or hacktivism). He goes into the greatest detail on the last of these, noting specifically actions in connection to the WTO protests in Seattle.
My first thought when reading about hacktivism was skepticism. First, it seems more like an extreme version of spreading awareness than a useful tactic, and perhaps more alienating as well. At best, you might make a few visitors to the site aware of your cause, but it does little to convince your opponents to listen to you. Second, it seems a bit juvenile in its method; I couldn't help but think of our own campus's infamous "Anarchist Tagger" and the general student body's opinion on his methods. Graffiti is, by many, considered not revolutionary but annoying.
Upon further thought, however, I realized that I was leaving out the real point of both graffiti and hacktivism: a statement of defiance to the institution involved. Just like spraypainting all over the front doors of a bank is a slap to the bank's face, hacking into an organization's website and defacing it is a slap to the organization's face. In addition, it shakes the public's faith in that institution, providing further embarassment.
I suppose it depends on what one wants to accomplish. I personally believe in mediation and compromise over all-out assault and conquering, so I disagree with the usefulness of hacktivism from a practical point. As for emotional value, though, I sympathize with what the hacktivist is trying to do, and I won't deny that I get a kick out of seeing a corporate website infiltrated.
My first thought when reading about hacktivism was skepticism. First, it seems more like an extreme version of spreading awareness than a useful tactic, and perhaps more alienating as well. At best, you might make a few visitors to the site aware of your cause, but it does little to convince your opponents to listen to you. Second, it seems a bit juvenile in its method; I couldn't help but think of our own campus's infamous "Anarchist Tagger" and the general student body's opinion on his methods. Graffiti is, by many, considered not revolutionary but annoying.
Upon further thought, however, I realized that I was leaving out the real point of both graffiti and hacktivism: a statement of defiance to the institution involved. Just like spraypainting all over the front doors of a bank is a slap to the bank's face, hacking into an organization's website and defacing it is a slap to the organization's face. In addition, it shakes the public's faith in that institution, providing further embarassment.
I suppose it depends on what one wants to accomplish. I personally believe in mediation and compromise over all-out assault and conquering, so I disagree with the usefulness of hacktivism from a practical point. As for emotional value, though, I sympathize with what the hacktivist is trying to do, and I won't deny that I get a kick out of seeing a corporate website infiltrated.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Social Movements.
For this book, I was interested less in the historical examples than I was in the lessons learned from these examples. For instance, I was interested in the analyses of the anatomy of the social movement, for instance the idea introduced in chapter 1 and explored through the book of a social movement consisting of campaign, repertoire, and display.
That last element, the WUNC display (worthiness, unity, numbers, commitment), I found most thoughtful; it seems like too often members of a movement fail to be thoughtful of how individual appearance and action affects public perception of the group, either for good or ill. I am curious to see if this concept applies usefully outside of activism as well -- for instance, can subcultures be measured by their displays of worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment?
Not all in the book I agreed with, however. For one, I disagree with his statements on page 131 that increased internationalization is making difficult the growth of current social movements by taking power away from the necessary local and national levels. I believe just the opposite: if the goal of a social movement is, ultimately, internationalism, then modern international technology -- that is, the internet -- makes it easy to begin immediately at the international level, bypassing the lower levels needed in the past due to slower communication technology.
Though a bit of a slow read, the book, in all, contained much good information, undoubtedly useful to the activist and, in my opinion, worth considering outside that setting into other fields.
That last element, the WUNC display (worthiness, unity, numbers, commitment), I found most thoughtful; it seems like too often members of a movement fail to be thoughtful of how individual appearance and action affects public perception of the group, either for good or ill. I am curious to see if this concept applies usefully outside of activism as well -- for instance, can subcultures be measured by their displays of worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment?
Not all in the book I agreed with, however. For one, I disagree with his statements on page 131 that increased internationalization is making difficult the growth of current social movements by taking power away from the necessary local and national levels. I believe just the opposite: if the goal of a social movement is, ultimately, internationalism, then modern international technology -- that is, the internet -- makes it easy to begin immediately at the international level, bypassing the lower levels needed in the past due to slower communication technology.
Though a bit of a slow read, the book, in all, contained much good information, undoubtedly useful to the activist and, in my opinion, worth considering outside that setting into other fields.
Friday, April 11, 2008
The RIAA.
The Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, represents over 1,600 record labels in the United States, including the "Big 4": EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. It was originally founded in 1952 to create a standard of equalization in recordings. Today it is known as one of the major opponents of music piracy. Funding for the group is attained through member record labels.
The RIAA website has a fairly simple layout, with most information available on or near the home page. Featured sections include a mission statement, several pages of statistics, a press release feed, a monthly newsletter, and, interestingly, pages specifically for students, parents, and educators. The site gives a feel of being more of a press release than a source of active information; the lack of any sort of blog implies that the RIAA feels no need to keep visitors up to date on any happenings, and the newsletter seems to be more concerned with new albums and sales certifications (gold albums, etc.)
In addition, the RIAA does not seem to be concerned with hearing from visitors, either: I could find no email address mentioned at all, for either questions or feedback. Even the "Become a Member" section supplied only a mailbox address.
In concluding, the RIAA website was a bit disappointing, especially considering their reputation of policing online music downloads. The site seemed more like a PR release than a good information source, and what information was given seemed both condescending and biased. Although the group is a major figure in the debate over music piracy, it is clear that their focus is on legal action rather than digital action, or to put it another way, action upon the internet rather than through it.
The RIAA website has a fairly simple layout, with most information available on or near the home page. Featured sections include a mission statement, several pages of statistics, a press release feed, a monthly newsletter, and, interestingly, pages specifically for students, parents, and educators. The site gives a feel of being more of a press release than a source of active information; the lack of any sort of blog implies that the RIAA feels no need to keep visitors up to date on any happenings, and the newsletter seems to be more concerned with new albums and sales certifications (gold albums, etc.)
In addition, the RIAA does not seem to be concerned with hearing from visitors, either: I could find no email address mentioned at all, for either questions or feedback. Even the "Become a Member" section supplied only a mailbox address.
In concluding, the RIAA website was a bit disappointing, especially considering their reputation of policing online music downloads. The site seemed more like a PR release than a good information source, and what information was given seemed both condescending and biased. Although the group is a major figure in the debate over music piracy, it is clear that their focus is on legal action rather than digital action, or to put it another way, action upon the internet rather than through it.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
On radio.
Yesterday in class the topic of radio was touched upon, discussing where the medium is going (if anywhere). Regarding that, I thought I'd share this blog post I found this morning. It approaches the issue from more a business viewpoint than a strictly scholarly point, but I found it nonetheless illuminating.
Music Think Tank - Music Industry Trends have a Lesson for Radio
The graphs, in particular, warrant great attention. While graphs for radio aren't shown, I can imagine very similar rises and falls (or, rather, shifts) occurring with radio formats -- AM radio having peaked and fallen long ago, FM entering now into its decline. What next, then?
The only two real paths right now for radio are internet radio and satellite radio. The former was mentioned in class and in the book, and falls subject to the many of the same struggles as music downloads and sampling -- that is, copyright law and fair use. While not major issues for a professional radio organization (i.e. satellite radio) these threats of legal action cripple those who could give the most to internet radio: part-time internet DJs simply doing it for fun. This medium I can see best suiting underground radio.
The other major movement in internet radio is personalized radio stations via music networking sites, such as Last.fm and Pandora. This is something that interests me greatly, and I'll wait to comment on that until I have more time to explore the topic fully.
As for what will end up replacing* FM radio in the mainstream, I can only see satellite radio as a real contender, though I might be biased since that's my personal radio choice. Unlike internet radio, it is specifically suited to listening to in the car, by far the most common time for radio listening. I only worry that the global reach of satellite radio will lose some community sense brought by local radio.
In other news, Nine Inch Nails' new album Ghosts I-IV appeared in physical copies in stores today, though it has been available for purchase online in digital form for over a month now. I'll wait a week to comment on that, as I'd like to see how it sells in physical form compared to digital. I will say this, though: I waited a month, personally, to get the CD in person, although I doubt that I'm in the majority.
Now, to go listen to it. 'Til later,
-Kramer
*I'm using "replace" in the same sense that FM "replaced" AM, or that downloads are "replacing" CDs. While shift is inevitable, I do not doubt that older formats will still be not only present in the future, but even preferred by some.
Music Think Tank - Music Industry Trends have a Lesson for Radio
The graphs, in particular, warrant great attention. While graphs for radio aren't shown, I can imagine very similar rises and falls (or, rather, shifts) occurring with radio formats -- AM radio having peaked and fallen long ago, FM entering now into its decline. What next, then?
The only two real paths right now for radio are internet radio and satellite radio. The former was mentioned in class and in the book, and falls subject to the many of the same struggles as music downloads and sampling -- that is, copyright law and fair use. While not major issues for a professional radio organization (i.e. satellite radio) these threats of legal action cripple those who could give the most to internet radio: part-time internet DJs simply doing it for fun. This medium I can see best suiting underground radio.
The other major movement in internet radio is personalized radio stations via music networking sites, such as Last.fm and Pandora. This is something that interests me greatly, and I'll wait to comment on that until I have more time to explore the topic fully.
As for what will end up replacing* FM radio in the mainstream, I can only see satellite radio as a real contender, though I might be biased since that's my personal radio choice. Unlike internet radio, it is specifically suited to listening to in the car, by far the most common time for radio listening. I only worry that the global reach of satellite radio will lose some community sense brought by local radio.
In other news, Nine Inch Nails' new album Ghosts I-IV appeared in physical copies in stores today, though it has been available for purchase online in digital form for over a month now. I'll wait a week to comment on that, as I'd like to see how it sells in physical form compared to digital. I will say this, though: I waited a month, personally, to get the CD in person, although I doubt that I'm in the majority.
Now, to go listen to it. 'Til later,
-Kramer
*I'm using "replace" in the same sense that FM "replaced" AM, or that downloads are "replacing" CDs. While shift is inevitable, I do not doubt that older formats will still be not only present in the future, but even preferred by some.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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