In a piece on NewTeeVee, they announce that VoloMedia has been awarded a patent on podcasting. I’m not a lawyer, and I haven’t read the patent, but the information in the NewTeeVee piece they list key points, and it looks like most podcasts are covered. It’s not at all obvious what this will do to the world of podcasting, though VoloMedia says they won’t be going after individual podcasters. Just who will they be going after, then? I suppose we’ll all have to wait until a newer episode to find out…

Categories: Consumer, General computing, Publications
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It’s not often that you get to watch a company miss the point so completely, but AP has decided that the web doesn’t matter. Their president is quoted in a New York Times article as saying that a basic link is “unpaid use” that they’ll crack down on. I first found out about this from Glenn Reynolds’ Instapundit, and it seems almost too stupid to be true. Next up, I’m sure, is a legal attack on any television or radio talking head who mentions that the AP is covering a story without shipping them a check, as well. (In truth, I suspect that almost anyone with access to a broadcast mic or camera is working for an organization with an agreement in place to use AP stories, but the point remains.)

I agree that repackaging stories wholesale is bad, and should be punished. It’s also already against the law. The idea that someone driving traffic your way should pay for the privilege is so wrong-headed as to be mind-boggling. I know that publishers are rather desperately casting about for new revenue streams, but we’ve seen that rampant stupidity didn’t serve them well through the 90s and early years of this decade — it seems unlikely that idiocy will turn out to be a winning strategy now.

For the record, if you’d like to quote from any of my posts in order to link back to this site, feel free. Let me know if I can make it easier. At least I understand how the web works — unlike some of the highly-paid executives in my industry.

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Categories: Media, Publications
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The great thing (and the terrible thing) about the iPhone is that it gives me the chance to play with a bunch of new applications. I’ve got to admit that most of the ones I’ve been using are for putting information up on the web — iBlogger (from the same people who wrote Ecto, the tool I use to blog from my desktop), Pixelpipe (for sending photos from my iPhone to Flickr), Facebook (yeah), and TweetDeck (the same platform I use for Tweeting from my desktop). With these, I can do much of my daily work from the phone if I can’t put my hands on my laptop to make things happen.

I’ve also grabbed a couple of things that help me keep information moving between the iPhone and the Macbook Pro. Evernote is a wonderful cloud application for keeping notes and information available regardless of where you are, and Bento is a super little database that I use for information that’s a bit more structured — my health info and notes on tutoring sessions, for example.

All in all, I’m really pleased with the iPhone — it’s one of the few tech purchases of the last few years that hasn’t carried some regret with it. Now, if I can start keeping up with my Microsoft Office docs on the phone, I’ll be set…

Categories: Consumer Technology, General computing
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A month — wow. How the time does fly. I’ve been busy, but it’s time to get back to regular posting here.

Last week, I had the opportunity to see my town with fresh eyes. We participated in the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk 2009 here in Gainesville, Florida. Carol and I each took a bunch of photos, and have been working with them in order to get the pool down to the two we’ll submit for possible prizes. The rest of mine are available on Flickr, as are Carol’s It was really great meeting new people and getting together after the walk for pizza — it’s amazing how few people we really know here after a dozen years of residence.

What kind of photos did I take? Here are two or three of my favorites…

I love the “art” aspect of the sign in the window. Simple, but fun.

I “popped” the color a bit on this, but really enjoyed the depth of the greens in the shot. Finally…

This shot just worked for me…nice color, and good light-to-dark contrast.

Hundreds of photographers took thousands of photos around the world — check out some of the groups at the web site, or on Flickr!

Categories: Consumer, Outdoors
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