January 2012
16 posts
The Audience You Didn’t Know You Had →
contentsmagazine.com
An eye-opening piece by Angela Colter in Content Magazine. (Emphasis mine.):
People with low literacy skills have always been part of our audience. … Most of us just didn’t know it. But now we do.
Another common question, “Won’t dumbing down the content make it unpleasant for everyone else?” … You’re not “dumbing down” anything, you’re simplifying it. … In fact, crafting your content to accommodate this audience has the added benefit of making information easier for everyone to read, understand, and use. Everybody appreciates clarity.
The entire article is worth a thorough read. And a re-read. And an action plan.
“Make good stuff, then make it easy for people to buy it. There’s your anti-piracy plan.”
—Jonathan Coulton, a guy who knows a little about making money in the music business, talking about MegaUpload and piracy.
Do People Really Want Participatory Government? →
schedule.sxsw.com
Good question. Come tell Michelle Chronister and me what you think at SXSW!
I do, but then I’m weird. How about you?
“The way I see it, there’s a lack of need for any legislation at all. As a publisher, I have a very deep experience here, and the fact is that piracy is not a significant problem. Yes, there are people who are pirating my books, there are people who are sharing links to places where they can be downloaded. But the vast majority of customers are willing to pay if the product is widely available and the price is fair.”
—Tim O’Reilly, Why I’m fighting SOPA
Six GOP Co-Sponsors of PIPA Ask Reid to Cancel Vote →
opencongress.org
As an amazing validation of the grassroots response to SOPA, led by groups like Fight for the Future, EFF, Public Knowledge, and Demand Progress, they write, “Since the mark-up, we have increasingly heard from a large number of constituents and other stakeholders with vocal concerns about possible unintended consequences of the proposed legislation, including breaches in cybersecurity, damaging the integrity of the Internet, costly and burdensome litigation, and dilution of First Amendment rights.”
Wonderful news. Hopefully this will start turning the tide against SOPA as well.
The new X PRIZE: Tricorders! →
instapom.tumblr.com
Yesterday, my friends (and former colleagues) at the X PRIZE Foundation rolled out their newest incentive prize: the $10,000,000 Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE. Teams from around the world will compete to build “a portable, wireless device in the palm of your hand that monitors and diagnoses your health conditions.” This is truly a Star Trek idea being made real.
So awesome. I can’t wait to see what comes out of this.
CNNMoney Tech Tumblr: Startup You →
cnnmoneytech.tumblr.com
Fake Grimlock, via cnnmoneytech:
YOU READY. PEEL AWAY FAIL PAINT, STRAP AWESOME ENGINE TO BACK, GRAB WIN CAPACITORS AND ROCKET INTO SKY ON STACK OF WIN.
ONLY THING THAT STOP YOU IS YOU. GET OUT OF OWN WAY, SET COURSE TO AWESOME.
There’s more. Read the whole thing, then set a course to awesome.
“Fortunately, it appears there’s still a thriving community of fans who understand that the best way to support the artists they love is by handing them money.”
—
Cheaper than Free « Bandcamp Blog
tldr: People looking for free (aka pirated) copies of music end up paying the artist when Bandcamp offers them a way to do so easily.
<3 this effect so very much.
“We have more processing power, affordable tools, and combined intelligence right this very minute than at any point in the history of design. We are using it to build shit. It’s time to aim higher. Let’s find problems to solve that actually improve people’s lives.”
—
from 10 New Year’s resolutions for designers
I usually don’t care for lists, but this one is so very well written. I’m taking all these to heart.
