Internet

Introducing MagCloud and the Future of Magazine Publishing

In Books, Internet, Magazines, Publishing, Technology on 16 June 2008 with 25 comments

Short attention span version: For the last year, I’ve been working with HP Labs on a very cool new project. It’s called MagCloud, and it’s the future of magazine publishing. Go see.
Longer attention span version: If you know me at all, you know I’m obsessed with publishing. My mom tells a story about me, in [...]

It’s 2008. I can’t believe we haven’t figured this out.

In Copyright, Geek, Internet on 13 June 2008 with Comments Off

If you read this site via RSS, you may notice that now you can only read the first couple lines instead of the whole post. That’s because apparently, amazingly, we still have not figured out how to use RSS and still abide by copyright law on the web. (You can read the rest of this post at powazek.com.)

An Update to a Savvy Approach to Copyright Messaging

In Copyright, Geek, Internet, Photography on 23 January 2008 with 13 comments

In my original post, I suggested adding a copyright message to a photo and use CSS to crop its view. This accomplishes the goal of adding robust copyright information without defacing your own work. I got a lot of responses to this idea, and wanted to update the post with a few responses to the [...]

A Savvy Approach to Copyright Messaging

In Copyright, Geek, Internet, Photography on 12 January 2008 with 32 comments

I’m a photographer. I’m also a web geek. And those two sides of my brain sometimes fight with each other.
As a photographer, I’m outraged when people grab photos off the web and use them without consideration of copyright. I’ve been fighting this “It’s on the internet, so it must be free!” ignorance for more [...]

Rule 1 for Collaborative Media: Ask First

In Business, Community, Creativity, Crowdsourcing, Internet, Justice, Photography, Technology on 17 December 2007 with 27 comments

Here’s what happened, as far as I can tell.
Lane Hartwell is a fantastic photographer. She recently went full-time with her photography career.
A few weeks ago, an acapella group called the Richter Scales did a parody of Billy Joel’s song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” with new lyrics about the internet. They made a music [...]

A Geeky Take on the WGA Strike

In Business, Geek, Internet, Politics, WGA Strike, Writers on 9 November 2007 with 15 comments

So if you’re missing your Jon Stewart, you probably know that the WGA is on strike. That means, unless this gets worked out soon, your television is about to get a lot more boring. And that sucks for everyone.
I’m an author. I actually wrote a book that I theoretically get royalties on. I say “theoretically” [...]

NaBloPoMo Q&A 4: The Web Biz

In Business, Geek, How to, Internet, Interviews, NaBloPoMo, Q&A on 6 November 2007 with 3 comments

Zazzy asked:
I’m studying web development. Do you have any tips for crossing that hump between moderately-talented-amateur to professional (or you know, semi-almost-professional)?
I’ve worked in the web biz since 1995. Back then, there were no courses in web stuff. No degrees. So the people who got hired were the ones with “killer homepages” (to use the [...]

Google Now in Vaporware Business?

In Business, Geek, Google, Internet on 5 November 2007 with 15 comments

First Google announced Open Social, which is going to solve all the problems you didn’t know you had with social networking sites, and now they’ve announced the Open Handset Alliance, which is going to solve all the problems you didn’t know you had with your cellphone.
Each time we get a pretty illustration, a new [...]

Like Chess?

In Fun, Geek, Internet, Links, Technology on 1 November 2007 with 3 comments

Personally, I was raised in a backgammon family. But Wikipedia says that millions of people like the chess. And if you’re one of them, you should check out Chesspark. It’s one of the most amazing web-based collaborative gaming environments I’ve seen. It makes me really wish I liked chess. Stupid backgammon upbringing!

No Spectators

In Business, Community, Crowdsourcing, Geek, Internet, Technology on 19 October 2007 with 3 comments

It’s difficult to remember now, but there was a time when companies looked at the internet and made a ponderous decision about whether or not they wanted to participate. I remember having a serious debate with a museum in Santa Cruz in 1995 about why they should have a website. They ultimately decided to go [...]