Who's afraid of the big bad blog?

Adam has a post on Dan Shaughnessy's (Globe sports columnist) column from yesterday, which was a mock on Curt Schilling's personal blog - basically Shaughnessy was making fun of Schilling's blog and the fans who post to it and basically just the whole concept of a sports star communicating with the fans. I think it was suppose to be funny, but it wasn't. And I felt it barely concealed "old media" angst about blogs. Read it for yourself and judge.

Blog highlights

On the blogging front, Adam has making good use of You Tube on Every Game is a Superbowl, Dinah writes about her audition on the reality show "So You Think You Can Dance" Rose has posted some pics from Puerto Rico, and from Em's blog I found out that Vanilla Ice (ugh!) is actually performing in Copley Square tomorrow to promote Dunkin Donuts! (free iced coffee on Wed. if you can bear to stand in the line at Schillman Hall)

Speaking of copyright

... which we talked about last class, Viacom is now suing You Tube for "massive copyright infringment" - mainly for all the clips of Viacom shows like the Daily Show, which are available on You Tube. This is the first major legal challenge to Google and portends to be a big clash between old media and new media.

Blog assignment

Blog your break. So I want everyone to write a "what I did over my break post." If you have some photos - this would be a great place to post one or two. Please write the post by Friday the 16th. So here's mine:

My break was spent in the library for the most part - I'm trying to finish two papers for conference deadlines. I've put the book to the side for a few weeks while I work on that. But I also got away for two nights to NYC. I didn't bring any work/computer, etc. It was great. Stayed at Bryant Park Hotel in midtown. Usually we stay in Tribeca, but decided to be different this trip. Went to MOMA on Friday night - it's free during that time. Saw an exhibit of Jeff Wall's photography and also checked out a few of the stand-bys - Picasso, Van Gogh, etc. But it started to get really crowded. Here's one of the Jeff Wall pics that I liked here. That night we headed down to the lower East Side to hang out - went to the Backroom and also ate at this great tiny Asian tapas place called Kuma Inn - I highly rec. it. The next day was lots of walking and a visit to the Neue Gallerie - mainly because I wanted to see this recent acquisition of a Gustav Klimt. We saw it, but most of the museum was closed because they are setting up for a new exhibit - but it meant free admission! Long walk through Central Park. That night we headed over to Brooklyn for dinner at Superfine - we'be been there a few times, because every year we come down to see the Wooster Group - a theater group that performs at St. Anne's Warehouse in this part of Brooklyn. After dinner we went to see them perform a very different "Hamlet"- they incorporate a lot of multimedia - usually video into their performaces. It was long - almost three hours! - but excellent. The next day we head to back to pick up Zoe at my parents and celebrate my brother's birthday. All around great little respite! Now back to work!

Blog highlights

Just some highlights from your blogs - although most people slowed down on the blogging over the spring break, there were still a few people busy out there. Glenn is actually blogging on Boston.com this week as his band Cassavettes tours in Texas. Click on that link to help drive up the traffic to his blog, because news Websites track that stuff! On Boston Heath and Fitness, Ami had an interesting post of a new energy drink that was actually called 'Cocaine' - talk about extreme branding - the name has caused the drink to pulled off the shelves of some convenience stores. Adam weighs in on the recent suspension of long-time Globe sports columnist Ron Borges for plagarism. Jeff weighs in on the death of Captain America - for all you comic book fans. Welcome back!

Copyright

Here are some links we are going to be talking about in class.
10 Big Myths About Copyright Explainedhttp://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
Creative Commonshttp://creativecommons.org/
There was news last week about the Recording Industry Assocation of America (RIAA) targeting college students (once again) who are downloading music.

More audio slide show examples

Here is a New York Times example, "Climb Like a Girl" where there are multiple people interviewed.

Here is one where the reporter does the narration - it's on high-end Indian restaurants in London.