First up: The New York Times finally catches up with David Byrne, three years later:
Recently, I've been concerned about the "other" Digital Divide, the one concerned with access to employment, funding, etc. for minority techies. The Black Web 2.0 folks are apparently doing something about it:By JOSEPH PLAMBECK
Published: May 9, 2010
...To many expert ears, compressed music files produce a crackly, tinnier and thinner sound than music on CDs and certainly on vinyl. And to compete with other songs, tracks are engineered to be much louder as well.
In one way, the music business has been the victim of its own technological success: the ease of loading songs onto a computer or an iPod has meant that a generation of fans has happily traded fidelity for portability and convenience... [emphasis added]
Quoting a Reuters story on Byrne's presentation at SXSW 2007, in which he discusses music sharing, the death of the CD, etc.:
"It's kind of sad," Byrne said, "but I think of it as a boost for live music. As long as it doesn't get to be too horrible -- the sound quality -- they'll go for convenience and accessibility. He added, "It doesn't have to sound good to move people."
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Next, something I'll try, but it will still feel like succumbing to the dark side of the Force:
By ASHLEE VANCE
Published: May 11, 2010
Microsoft has created a chimera in its new Office 2010 software, part desktop software and part Web app.
This latest version of Office, which includes applications like Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, is Microsoft’s long-awaited effort to modernize one of its most lucrative products and to thwart rivals like Google that are nipping at its heels with free Web software.
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New Media Entrepreneurship Conference
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Someday, this won't be news:
By JULIET MACUR
Published: May 9, 2010
WASHINGTON — When Natalie Randolph was named the head coach of Calvin Coolidge Senior High School’s football team in March, her players wasted no time in testing her...
Yet Randolph, one of a few women to lead a varsity high school football team in the United States, was not hired at this school in northwest Washington because she had proven herself on the football field.
Members of the hiring committee said she won the job over more than 15 other applicants — including two former N.F.L. players, several Pop Warner coaches and a retired Army brigadier general — because she emphasized one thing that those men did not: helping the players in the classroom....
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