No SOPA for you (What I Learned This Week)

• Wednesday's internet blackout and "protests" succeeded in stopping SOPA/PIPA. For now. 

• Despite what looks like a very aggressive EULA, Apple's new (and free) iBook Author has a lot of potential for portfolios, case studies, annual reports and other kinds of publications beyond textbooks. 

• Twitter bought Summify, a very useful service I use that summarizes your twitter stream. I am concerned that the purchase will de-evolve the service in the same way that the fantastic Twettie app became the current Twitter app without any of the great features remaining. 

Your Storytelling Brain

Cognitive Neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga, a pioneer in the study of hemispheric (left vs. right brain) specialization describes "the Interpreter" - a left hemisphere function that organizes our memories into plausible stories. Less romantic, perhaps, than Gone With the Wind, the Interpreter may help to explain our species' profound relationship with storytelling. 

via bigthink.com

A Brief History of Media by Dan Gillmor

Dan Gillmor presents, A Brief History of Media, at Ignite NewsFoo 2011

via OreillyMedia YouTube Channel

Dan Gillmor presents, A Brief History of Media, at Ignite NewsFoo 2011

PBS Arts: Off Book - Episode 13: The Evolution of Music Online

Subscribe to the new Off Book channel at http://www.youtube.com/pbsoffbook As the 90s came to a close, the business of music began to change profoundly. New technology allowed artists to record and produce their own music and music videos, and the internet became a free-for-all distribution platform for musicians to promote themselves to audiences across the world.

PBS Arts: Off Book is a web-based series that explores cutting edge art and the people that make it. The 13 episode series focuses on the process, motivation and meaning of a new generation of artists.

Previous installments: 

As the 90s came to a close, the business of music began to change profoundly. New technology allowed artists to record and produce their own music and music videos, and the internet became a free-for-all distribution platform for musicians to promote themselves to audiences across the world. The result was an influx of artists onto the cultural scene, and audiences were left wondering how to sort through them all. In this episode we discuss these massive changes, and reveal how music blogs and websites have arisen as the new arbiters of quality. 

Featuring:

Jon Cohen, Co-Founder, FADER Label
Ryan Dombal, Senior Editor, Pitchfork
Blake Whitman, VP of Creative Development, Vimeo
Anthony Volodkin, Founder, Hype Machine

Previously:

Episode 1: Light Painting
Episode 2: Typography
Episode 3: Visual Culture Online
Episode 4: Steampunk
Episode 5: Hacking Art & Culture with F.A.T. Lab
Episode 6: Street Art
Episode 7: Etsy Art & Culture
Episode 8: Video Games
Episode 9: Fashion of Artists
Episode 10: Generative Art - Computers, Data & Humanity
Episode 11: Product Design
Episode 12: Book Art

Fight For The Future: SOPA & PIPA Break The Internet

Tell Congress not to censor the internet NOW! - http://www.fightforthefuture.org/pipa PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting "creativity". The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites-- they just have to convince a judge that the site is "dedicated to copyright infringement." The government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. Under this bill, sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it, or what sites like Youtube and Twitter do, would be considered illegal behavior according to this bill. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that's for a fix that won't work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.

The video above discusses the Senate version of the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In the Senate the bill is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). SOPA has gotten more attention than PIPA because it was moving faster in the legislative process. But PIPA is just as dangerous, and now it is moving faster.

PIPA would give the government new powers to block Americans' access to websites that corporations don't like. The bill lets corporations and the US government censor entire websites and cut sites off from advertising, payments and donations.

This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

The bill is scheduled for a test vote in the Senate on Jan. 24th: We need to act now to let our lawmakers know just how terrible it is. Will you fill out the form above to ask your lawmakers to oppose the legislation and support a filibuster?

via fightforthefuture.org