[Unfortunately, this isn't a well thought out post, and completely un-researched. I write this blog-post-turned-essay as a way to spark constructive discussion about the Web and the way it is transforming lives.]
Happy 40th birthday Internet.
The first test that led to the operation of the Internet happened on September 2, 1969. Many other things happened that summer, including the Apollo 11 lunar landing and Woodstock. All three events changed the course of history in then unimaginable ways. None, however, has affected individual lives as much as the Internet.
The Internet made the Web possible. (By comparison, the Web is only half the age of the Internet.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Web has changed so much about our society, culture and habits. Many are embracing it, while others will continue to shun it. Regardless of which side you’re on, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Web is here to stay.
Read moreCurious to revisit Wikimedia and see what photos of mine have been used or remixed under the CC-NC-SA license. There are a few new ones since last year, and others that aren’t listed on Wikimedia, but linked through Flickr’s own analytics tools:
I got an e-mail a short while back to use one of the black lab photo below for a travel magazine highlighting pet-friendly destinations in Orange County too.
The top Google Images Searches that yield traffic to my photos might be telling me that I missed some calling around red and white weddings (???):
The all-time best, but completely wrong use of one of my photos still goes to “Bride dies of heart disease on her wedding day“, which uses a photo of a good friend on her wedding day in Laguna Beach, CA.
Here the catalogue of remixed photos, as referenced in Wikimedia Commons to date:
“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.
Read moreI’m really fascinated by tag clouds. I’m always on the look out for them, and I’m glad they are being used by the media more. According to Wikipedia, tag clouds were spun originally from Flickr.
Tag clouds are the best way to find out in real-time what’s being talked about most, and how frequently. Popular terms appear in a cloud, and the most popular appear in large, bolded font. What makes tag clouds interesting – particularly when taking a snapshot of one document, such as Obama’s inauguration speech – is that you get a “sense” or “mood” for the tone of the speech, website or other collective of words and tags.
TweetDeck has an application called TwitScoop which lets me know what’s abuzz in the Tweetdom. This is great for finding out about the latest news, like the recent USAir incident.
Above is a tag cloud from Obama’s inaugural speech today (via the LA Times). To see comparison tag clouds from Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, and Lincoln, visit Read, Write, Web (@rww).
And here are a few cool tag-cloud generating tools around the web:
Talk about lightening speed… or as quickly as you can think and type in 140 character bursts.
Just minutes ago a USAir flight in NY crashed into the Hudson. Twitter is abuzz. Within seconds, I had about 50 tweets appear on TweetDeck.
And just seconds ago, a post from @scobelizer via dbarefoot regarding a photo on Flickr, viewed some 1,000 times already in the last 5 minutes.
Search Hudson or Plane on Twitter search and you get all the latest…
Hope everyone is OK.
UPDATE: Reportedly everyone is OK. And this iPhone picture from Janis Krums (@jkrums) is citizen journalism at it’s best!
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