Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #45

Note: Sorry for the delay in getting these Show Notes online…but better late than never…and Go Phillies!

In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, we share some interesting news, web sites and online resources we have come across recently, including enhancements to TiVo, the Tekzilla podcast, the Netflix set-top box developed by Roku, and a Picasa Web Album update. Plus, we’ll discuss an RIAA setback and some digital music royalty decisions involving Pandora and iTunes. In addition, we discuss John’s recently stolen car…and more! Hosts: Brian Kelley and John LeMasney. File size: 16 MB. Time: 34 min., 45 sec.

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Related Links:

• FriendFeed.com/lemasney – John LeMasney’s FriendFeed profile.
• lemasney.com – John LeMasney’s Web site.
• FriendFeed.com/bktandem – Brian Kelley’s FriendFeed profile.
• Tandem With the Random – Brian Kelley’s blog

Here are some things John talked about:

• Educause – Educause 2008, a conference dedicated to the use of information technology in higher education, will take place in Orlando, Florida, Oct. 28-31, 2008.
• Presidium – An IT help desk solution that John checked out during a recent business trip to Kentucky.
• Bella Vista Beverage – John visited this South Philly beer and soda distributor to help celebrate its grand reopening on Sunday, Oct. 5…
• …and then John had his car stolen while he was there. If anyone sees a 2005 silver Toyota Sienna minivan — possibly still with the New Jersey plates on it — in the South Philly area, please contact us at technology.arts@gmail.com.
• T-Mobile G1 – John talked more about this Google Android-powered phone from T-Mobile.
• Garmin Nuvi – John had a good experience with this GPS device while on his trip to Kentucky.
• The Aleuminati – The “not-so secret” society of beer drinkers.
• Budweiser American Ale – John recently reviewed this latest offering from Budweiser…and he doesn’t think it’s all that bad.
• Avery Brewing – At the other end of the beer spectrum from Bud’s American Ale are Avery’s The Maharaja and Salvation.
• TiVo – John discusses a recent update to this fantastic technology.
• Tekzilla – A Revision3 podcast hosted by Patrick Norton and Veronica Belmont.
• Netflix Player by Roku – John talks about this set-top box that streams Netflix movies directly to your television.
• Picasa 3 – Google has updated its Picasa Web Album and John likes the new features.
• Neat Company – Simple, efficient paper scanning solutions.

Here are some things Brian talked about:

• Philadelphia Phillies – Brian is completely preoccupied by his favorite sports team’s playoff run to the National League Championship Series.
• Christian Beach – Brian plugs some upcoming shows by his friend Christian…October 23 at Triumph Brew Pub in Princeton, N.J.; October 29 at Triumph in Philadelphia, Pa.; and December 5 at Fergie’s Pub in Philly.
• RIAA suffers legal setback – A federal judge in Minnesota threw out a $222,000 verdict against single mother Jammie Thomas, who had convicted of illegally sharing songs on a peer-to-peer file sharing service. The judge ordered a new trial. (Source: Information Week)
• Congress passes webcasting bill – Both houses of Congress passed legislation that will help webcasters like Pandora and Live365 reach a deal on reasonable royalty rates with SoundExchange, the organization charged with collecting royalties from digital music. Read more here and here. (Sources: Pandora, AP via Google)
• Royalty rate unchanged for iTunes, other download services – After Apple threatened to shut down the iTunes Music Store if royalty rates were increased, the Copyright Royalty Board decided to keep mechanical royalty rates (for songwriters and publishers) at 9.1¢ per download. There was speculation that the rate could increase to around 15¢ per download. (Source: Ars Technica)

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Pandora on verge of “pull-the-plug kind of decision”

Save Net Radio!

I guess the battle to save Internet radio being waged in Washington, D.C., proves that common sense — for the most part — doesn’t really exist within the infamous beltway.

Apparently, the efforts by our friends at Pandora and other music webcasters to come to an agreement on lower royalty rates other than those proposed by SoundExchange and approved by the Copyright Royalty Board last year have gone absolutely nowhere.

And it looks as if the end of webcasting is approaching, according to these articles:

Giant of Internet radio nears its ‘last stand’ – Washington Post

Pandora Internet Radio to Go Silent? – I4U News

Web radio is toast – The Inquirer

This basically stinks.

For more about the battle to save Internet radio, visit SaveNetRadio.org.

Pandora Presents at the Urban Saloon

At the risk of repeating myself, Brian and I had a lot of fun on Wednesday night at the Urban Saloon in Philadelphia talking with Pandora users at the Pandora Presents get together.

Pandora, ( http://pandora.com ) for those of you who might not know, is an online music service that allows you to log in and create ‘radio stations’ that you program to your own tastes.

In Pandora, in each station, you start with a song, and as a song finishes, another song starts. You thumbs-up songs that you like, and you thumbs-down songs that you don’t.  Each vote shapes the musical taste in your radio station. By voting, you also inform the Music Genome Project about someone who likes songs a, b, and f, but not g, j, or t.

The more users who vote, the more likely that the music that Pandora suggests for you to listen to (tuned by you and influenced by others who tune their stations in similar ways) is enjoyable, interesting, and surprising.

They also allow people to advertise their stations to others, and create multiple stations, so I might have a lemasney approved jazz station, a rock based holiday songs station, and a drum and bass club mix. Or, I could just find others’ existing shared stations that meet those needs.

They also just recently added classical music to the stations, so the music is becoming more and more diverse, just the way we like it.
It’s a fun way to listen to music, a great way to find new sounds that you are likely to enjoy, and a great form of social collective work that influences on both an individual and a group level.

Special thanks to Kevin Seal, the host of the evening, and Chris McGrew, for stopping by to converse with Technology and the Arts. Go, Griddle!

(T+A #21) Technology and the Arts: 10/18/2007

(T+A #21) Technology and the Arts: 10/18/2007

In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, we will discuss some interesting news, web sites and online resources we have come across recently, including the top 100 open-source applications for Macs and recent developments regarding the RIAA. Plus, we’ll remember two people who have recently passed away: John’s friend Chris Hill and Rider University professor of political science and noted political analyst David Rebovich. Hosts: Brian Kelley, John LeMasney. File size: 15 MB. Time: 31 min., 14 sec.

(T+A #16) Technology and the Arts: 8/1/2007

(T+A #16) Technology and the Arts: 8/1/2007

In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, topics of discussion include a Wired How-to wiki on “How to Explain DRM to Your Dad,” a guide to photographer’s rights, 10 ways to become a self-taught master through autodidacticism, an IT professional who wrote a book on his cell phone during his daily commute, and WXPN’s upcoming countdown of the 885 Most Memorable Musical Moments…plus more. Hosts: Brian Kelley, John LeMasney. File size: 10 MB. Time: 21 min., 20 sec.

Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #16

NOTE: I apologize for being a day late with this…we tried yet another way to record our conversation — this time using Apple’s iChat. Thankfully, I saved a copy of the GarageBand file because I had to refer to that file more than once to rebuild some recordings that I had inadvertently lost during the editing process. So between editing delays and not being around an Internet connection last night, I didn’t have much of a chance to get this online. – Brian

In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, topics of discussion include a Wired How-to wiki on “How to Explain DRM to Your Dad,” a guide to photographer’s rights, 10 ways to become a self-taught master through autodidacticism, an IT professional who wrote a book on his cell phone during his daily commute, and WXPN’s upcoming countdown of the 885 Most Memorable Musical Moments…plus more. Hosts: Brian Kelley, John LeMasney. File size: 10 MB. Time: 21 min., 20 sec.

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Featured Links

• Wired How-to wiki on “How to Explain DRM to Your Dad.”
• The Photographer’s Right is a downloadable guide that is loosely based on the Bust Card and the Know Your Rights pamphlet that used to be available on the ACLU website. It may be downloaded and printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may make copies and carry them your wallet, pocket, or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography.
• A recent study found obesity may be socially contagious. While this may have nothing to do with Technology and the Arts, it does have something to do with the hosts.
• DumbLittleMan.com shows you 10 ways to become a self-taught master through autodidacticism.
• An IT professional in Italy wrote a 384-page science fiction novel…during his daily commute…on his cell phone! And published it at Lulu.com.
• Want free content? Try your local library…and it’s legal!
• Congress is blaming P2P file sharing for national security leaks…why are national secrets on computers that can be accessed by P2P file sharing services?
• Philly’s 88.5 FM WXPN will be counting down its list of 885 Most Memorable Musical Moments in October. Visit the link to submit your moment…or read about Brian’s MMMM.

(T+A #15) Technology and the Arts: 7/18/2007

(T+A #15) Technology and the Arts: 7/18/2007

Guest Tim Westergren, founder of the Pandora online music service, makes his second appearance on the Technology and the Arts podcast to provide an update on the fight to save Internet radio. Other topics of discussion include the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network, StereoGum.com’s tribute to Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” InviteShare.com, The Hype Machine and more. Hosts: Brian Kelley, John LeMasney. File size: 14.5 MB. Time: 31 min., 30 sec.

Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #15

Guest Tim Westergren, founder of the Pandora online music service, makes his second appearance on the Technology and the Arts podcast to provide an update on the fight to save Internet radio. Other topics of discussion include the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network, StereoGum.com’s tribute to Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” InviteShare.com, The Hype Machine and more. Hosts: Brian Kelley, John LeMasney. File size: 14.5 MB. Time: 31 min., 30 sec.

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Featured Links

• Pandora.com – The online music service founded by guest Tim Westergren
• SaveNetRadio.org – The Web site formed by a coalition of webcasting industry leaders. Go here to find out how you can join the fight to save Internet radio.
• Internet Radio Equality Act (PDF) – Read the actual legislation that may save the webcasting industry.

Other links related to this episode:

• For this podcast, John and Brian talked at Panera Bread at Nassau Park Pavilion in West Windsor, N.J. Yeah, for free WiFi!
• Brian again talks about his return to the stage as a keyboardist for good friend, Christian Beach, for a July 13 show at The Saint in Asbury Park, N.J. UPDATE: See video of Brian playing organ on Christian Beach’s “Great Ideas” below!
• Find out more about the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network.
• Did you ever wonder how the exclamation point came into existence? Well, now you can find out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• If you are in the city, you may get lucky and stumble onto a “sidewalk stencil” Choose-Your-Own-Adventure.
• John talks about a blog that features covers of songs from Radiohead’s classic “OK Computer,” in honor of the album’s 10th anniversary.
• Want to take part in Web 2.0 beta tests, but don’t have any invites? Well, check out InviteShare.com.
• Do you have huge files you would just like to share with a few people or maybe just one person? Well, Pownce.com may be the answer…except it’s in beta right now so you might want to visit InviteShare.com first.
• A recent blog post on FranticIndustries.com discusses the five best online storage solutions.
• Do you love music blogs? Check out The Hype Machine.
• And a shout-out to my new friend Chad, whose tumble log pointed me in the direction of The Hype Machine and Pownce.com – BK

“Great Ideas” – Christian Beach (Live at The Saint, 7/13/07)

“Great Ideas” © 2007 C.J. Beach

Pandora’s Tim Westergren discusses Internet radio on “Technology and the Arts” podcast

Tim Westergren, founder of the Pandora online music service and a guest on the February 21, 2007, edition of the “Technology and the Arts” podcast, called in to provide an update on the fight to save Internet radio from royalty rate increases threatening the webcasting industry. Listen to the interview when the podcast is posted at approximately 9 p.m. ET tonight.

Webcasters to protest new royalty rates with silence June 26

Several large and small webcasters will go silent Tuesday, June 26, in protest of the new royalty rates scheduled to go into effect next month unless legislative efforts on Capitol Hill to reverse the rate hikes are successful.

Yahoo!, Pandora, Real Networks’ Rhapsody, MTV Online, Live 365 and Radio Paradise are just some of the webcasters taking part in the National Day of Silence. Even terrestrial radio stations, such as Philadelphia’s WXPN and Santa Monica, Calif.-based KCRW, that have strong webcasting components will take down their streams in protest of the royalty rate schedule announced by the Copyright Royalty Board back in March.

SaveNetRadio.org has a partial list of protest participants in this PDF document.

UPDATE: According to this Philly.com item, WXPN will also observe two minutes of on-air silence on their terrestrial broadcast frequency of 88.5 FM at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Also, XPN’s Bruce Warren sent out this e-mail to station listeners this afternoon…

Dear XPN Listener:

On Tuesday, June 26^th, you will hear something very different on the XPN web streams. Silence. WXPN will join other Internet radio providers in a “Day of Silence” to protest higher royalty rates expected to go into effect on or after July 15^th.

Silence is what Internet radio may sound like after that date because of a royalty rate hike scheduled to go into effect. The new rates could cost WXPN more than $100,000 annually; several times the annual funds raised by business support on the Internet streams. The new rates will also be retroactive for 17 months.

XPN will silence the station’s four streams – XPN, Y-Rock On XPN, XPoNential Radio and Folk Alley. A message will be played asking you to sign an online petition to protest this increase. We’re hoping to receive 5,000 signatures. You can add yours here.

What this all means for you is that your listening\nchoices will be reduced if these fees go through. XPN will be forced to at least reduce the number of listeners who can access us online at any given time.

We realize that many of our streaming listeners are Members of XPN and have done their part to support online music. This is not only about XPN.

These rates would not only affect us, but many, many\nother online broadcasters who might not recover. And this will reduce exposure for the artists who need it most.

Thank you for taking time to learn more by clicking here. Please sign our petition.

Sincerely,

Bruce Warren
XPN, Assistant GM for Programming