Wikipedia Loves Art

“Wikipedia Loves Art” is a really cool campaign marrying Wikipedia with Art Museums.  In short, this month-long event is a scavenger hunt and free content photography contest among museums and cultural institutions worldwide, and aimed at illustrating Wikipedia articles.

You can add your photographs, to the online Flickr group. Goal lists for LACMA and other museums across the country are listed on the Flickr group page (as well as on Wikipedia, but the Flickr page is easier to read). And each participating museum or cultural institution is giving away cool prizes too!

Wikipedia has become such a trusted resource over the past few years, and the opportunities to contribute to it are endless.  Why not do it through something fun like a photographic scavenger hunt?

Here’s one of my photos that I took at the 2007 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade that made it into Sarah Brightman’s Wikipedia entry (just simply by posting it on Flickr):

I REALLY wish I had the time to do the scavenger hunt!  What a great way to promote art while harnessing the power of crowd-sourcing and providing a cultured venue for a very personal, real-life collaboration.

Expand this post for more on rules and participating museums.

Officially a Blogger

Does this make me a bona fide blogger?  A ping-back from Washington Post about my link to their op-ed:

A good way to find fellow bloggers with similar interests who may not be widely recognized on the blogosphere (like me).

My Op-Ed on Stories About Twitter, Etc.

I just read this fun op-ed from the Washington Post by Jeanne McManus.

It comedically devalues life in a Twitter world:

Which comes first? The Twitter or life itself? Are we writing about what we’re doing or are we writing about what we’re going to do or are we doing it because we need something to write about?

I enjoyed her short musing.  But now, I can’t find a link to follow her tweets anywhere on the entire op-ed page!  Nor have i been able to locate her through Twitter’s “Find People” tool. I’m bummed, as she sounds really interesting, whether these are her real tweets or not:

Jeanne has measured out her life with coffee spoons. Huh?

So I write my own public request to Ms. McManus… and to any other editor, writer, reporter who covers new and social media seriously or comically – on TV, in print or online: please share how we can follow you or become a fan on these new tools which you write about.

NPR’s Science Friday does a great job of this.  While driving from Annapolis to D.C. several weeks ago, @Padrepablo and I listened to Ira Flatow (@scifri) interviewing Tim O’Reilly (@timoreilly).  Ira repeatedly mentioned how we could follow them.  And caller Jeff Levy (@levyj413) – the EPA’s web manager – who talked about government and social media also shared how listeners could follow him. I’ve since learned a lot from following Mr. Levy.  I’d like to easily do the same from others.

Of course, privacy is a concern, so I understand if you don’t easily share your Twitter name with your article… but then could you consider separate public and private personas? When used correctly, I can only see sharing Twitter accounts as a great learning and conversation tool.

Taking my own advice, you can follow me @sherrymain.

Reporting and Marketing 2.0: Interactivites + Mashups

The New York Times and Washington Post probably do the best interactive graphics and stories. If more newspapers did original “interactivities,” I think their online readership could be sustained, or even grow.

Here’s a snapshot of Twitter Chat During the Super Bowl from the New York Times today. Click on the image to see the interactive map, and navigate the different categories in the left menu as you play the Game Timeline up top:

The Washington Post has done mash-ups of tweets, videos and photos on Google Maps, which is really, really easy to do. Here is the official Washington Post announcement that describes what they did for the 2008 Presidential Elections.

Perhaps there’s an advertisement opportunity here for papers to highlight particular buzz in unique colors for products (or brands) that are willing to pay the papers. (Of course, the anti-conglomerate, free-press side of me hopes this won’t ever happen. But the business degree side of me tells me it’s probably already in the works.)

On the flip side, another opportunity here is for market researchers to take a tweet-grid such as these and geo-locate where their products/brands are most or least popular. We’re definitely at the dawn of a new era of reporting and micro-marketing…

Salade Niçoise

One of my favorite meals to enjoy out on the patio is the niçoise salad. I like it best with a few slices of seared ahi, but grilled salmon is just as great. The warm of the Santa Ana’s of last week left me craving a cold niçoise.

This recipe yields 4 servings:

• Mixed Greens
• 8 oz. Sushi-Grade Ahi Steak
• 4 Roma Tomatoes, quartered
• 4 Red Potatoes
• 20 French Green Beans
• 8 Deviled eggs (4 whole eggs)
• 12 Greek Olives
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp. Chopped Parsley (or 2 tsp. dried parsley)
• Champagne Vinaigrette

Salads are pretty self-explanatory, but here are some tips:

1. Boil red potatoes in lightly salted water until fork tender.  Mash roughly with a dash of salt, pepper and parsley.
2. Wash greens and dry thoroughly. Toss lightly with vinaigrette.
3. Season ahi with salt and white pepper on both sides. Sear on high heat for one minute on each side. Depending on the thickness of the steak, you will have to adjust searing time. Be careful not to cook completely through.
4. Cut Ahi into slices. If using salmon, I lay it whole.
5. Serve immediately after plating.

Note: If you use salmon, be sure to cook it completely through. I’ve had salmon a bit undercooked and suffered scromboid poisoning!