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.
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