Category Archives: Culture

I woke up this morning to an NPR article on an artist in Paris. David Hockney, a 73-year old, has just opened a new gallery exhibition called Fresh Flowers. He means really fresh … all of the art was created on iPads and/or iPhones using an app called Brushes.  He occasionally emails new paintings or updates to the displayed images. Once the exhibition is over, the paintings will be gone for good. Like real fresh flowers, digital art is apparently only temporary.

Image: "Untitled, 10 July 2010" by David Hockney via NPR

So that came to mind when I received a press release about Art Rage, a new app available for the iPad. I haven’t downloaded it yet, but I’m told it lets you become a mobile digital artist, “painting digitally on an iPad canvas with oil paints that smear and blend, and watercolors that flow together to create soft, wet gradations, just as they would in a traditional art studio.”  ArtRage sponsored “Future Canvas,” in San Francisco a few days ago – an art event dedicated to iPad art.

ArtRage for iPad: Nelson's StarWars Boy

Features of Art Rage include

• Printing support: Print your images via AirPrint (assuming you have one of the few printers with which AirPrint works).
• User definable canvas sizing: Create new files at any size up to 1440 x 1440.
• Quick Access Color Sampling: Access color sampling via simple toggle switch.
• Zoom Level: Precise zoom level is indicated while you zoom.
• User Interface Enhancements: Includes current preset highlights and other visual feedback.

Coming in at $6.99, ArtRage is also less expensive than I would have thought, considering I often end up paying $9.99 for an iPad app.  Additionally, there are desktop versions for both Mac & PC that have more features, but really … the idea of creating great art with my fingertips – like fingerpainting – is way more exciting than using my PC.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

This morning was an eye-opener for me. For the first time I really stuck it to my boss publicly without losing my job.

After attending the AppNation Conference this week, former editor-in-chief at CNET and my current boss at NetShelter Patrick Houston, made the statement that“everything is an app” and that all publishers are software developers.

Clearly he’s dead wrong. And today, in blog battle format, I responded on Netshelter’s company site. It was liberating.

This exercise was refreshing –not just because I’m the clear victor — but because there’s a chance here for me to contribute as an individual rather than as a cog in a machine. Everybody talks about company-wide engagement, employee influence and enacting open leadership, but how many executives are comfortable with getting publicly bested for the transparency and exposure of the company?

Embracing the Truth: Good and Bad

We can talk about all the warm and squishy things social media and blogs can do for us, but when Pat decides to let me taunt him in my own voice, or guys like Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh leave the employee Twitter page up after laying off 8% of his staff –that is open leadership.

Decent leaders aren’t threatened by an employee’s version of the truth. They let them express themselves and look for ways to improve an organization from all levels of the organization.

The best thing about social media is that it cuts through hierarchy and gives everyone from the wage slave to the CEO a chance to creatively decompress. Embracing open discussion, extracting lessons, and finding recommendations create a healthy culture — one where I’m not scouring Linkedin or job boards.

My recommendation to Pat: Keep doing what you’re doing.
His probable recommendation to me: Good job kiddo, but try not to be so smug.

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Dana Oshiro is the Senior Media Analyst and Publishing Strategist for NetShelter Technology Media – a company that works with more than 180+ mobile, IT and consumer electronics publishers including VentureBeat, IntoMobile and MacRumors. She is also a contributor to ReadWriteWeb’s Startup Channel and she updates her personal blog Villagers With Pitchforks regularly. You can reach her by pinging @suzyperplexus or emailing her at dana@netshelter.net.

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President Obama has warned against the distracting dangers of consumer electronics, implying that there may actually be too much going on in the digital world. Calling it a threat to our democracy, President Obama thinks that the obsession with things like the Apple iPad and Twitter may be taking things too far. Funny, coming from a man with a powerful team that utilized modern technology and social networking to his advantage during the presidential elections. Which makes us wonder–does Obama’s point have any merit?

In a commencement speech to graduates at Hampton University in Virginia yesterday, President Obama said that “information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation,” reports the New York Post. All of those tweets, Facebook status updates, location-aware check-ins and “liking” is apparently taking the American people in the wrong direction.

In many ways, I’m inclined to agree with President Obama–the very landscape of social media and its use of technology has changed in the short years since his presidential election. That’s not to say that it was right or wrong for him to use social media to his advantage, then warn against its perils. Obama is merely stating that we need to find a better balance between our digital activity and what’s going on in the world. As the virtual and physical realms become more intertwined, there’s no telling what the “real” world is anymore, but social media’s ability to constantly update the world has given us an overload of information that really can become a distraction.

With a constant flow of new information, buzzing conversations about that information across multiple social media platforms, it’s easy to sensationalize the tiniest detail of a developing story, and share that with the world. It’s easy to be pressured into constantly checking your phone or computer for the latest and greatest, even if it’s merely a new album uploaded from your best friend’s cousin’s niece’s birthday party.

Combine that with the current trend towards innovative consumer electronics, their growing ability to communicate with each other (or at least a web-based service of some sort) through mobile and social platforms such as Android and Facebook, and you’ve got quite a digital revolution on your hands. It can seem overwhelming–just look at the number of new smart phone devices that have been manufactured and released in the past three weeks. Even my cell phone, which is just over six months old, is too ancient to run the latest official Twitter app. Go figure.

From new game consoles to 3D televisions, there is certainly an emphasis on entertainment, which President Obama feels is a huge drawback to the American democracy. He also stated that the obsession with consumer electronics is putting unnecessary pressure on the American people, and taking away from some of the more important things in lie (and for our country).

That seems to be a rather bold statement, but I think that the potential for the consumer electronics trend to come full circle is there. While used primarily for entertainment purposes, a great deal of conveniences will be incorporated into electronics in the future, from education to the decline in paper waste every year. It seems totally cliche, but in the end, it really is all about finding a balance between your digital representation and your physical existence. How will you decide to run it?

With the days getting longer, you’ll be out of the house, enjoying some alcohol-filled events (sans snow or cold weather) late into the evening. So I wanted to talk to you a little about cabs. Even if you don’t live in a big city like San Francisco or New York, your city has cabs and I bet they serve more than just your airport. Here’s a way to find them before you need them.

From Flickr user Chris Isherwood via CC

If you’ve got a smartphone, be it an Android, Blackberry, or iPhone (or anything else), there is most likely a taxi app for your phone. No kidding. Go to the iTunes store and search for “taxi.” It’s ridiculous the number of apps that are available.

On my Android-powered phone, I really like Cab4Me, which I’ve used in various cities (also now available for iPhone). Cab4Me uses your GPS or cell signal to figure out where you are, and then shows you a list of local cab companies. If you’re traveling, this is a godsend. After all, you might find yourself standing on a street corner in the Mission District of San Francisco, with a sick friend, wondering where in the world all the cabs have gone. If that happens, it’s handy to have an app that will tell you not only what the nearest cab companies are, but where the nearest taxi stand is located.

According to the Cab4Me web site:

If a cab company is found in our database, you can get additional information like available car types or payment methods. If we do not have a cab company for your area, a local web search is performed. You will always get a result. In the Favorites tab you can quickly access your favorite companies and the recent tab shows companies you recently called.

Isn’t that great? You’ll even be able to request a minivan so that you and all of your slightly tipsy friends can pile into the same cab.

Local to Cincinnati, we have a service called FETCH that makes calling a cab a lot easier. All you need to dial is 513-35-FETCH and you get immediate access to over 8 different cab companies without holding or busy signals. You’re put through to the first available cab company and tell them where you are and to please come get you now.

Cincinnati can not be the only city with this one-number cab dialing. Google your city and see if they have something similar.

Regardless of how you find a cab, just make sure you find one. It’s okay to enjoy yourself, and enjoy yourself a lot – just be safe about it.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]write-tech[dot]com, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.

It is hard to explain to my friends what exactly is going on with the TV industry, or why the jobs aren’t as available or rightfully paying as they once were. I have written several posts about the future of media and the content overload, cloud chaos amongst us. Here is a video that describes one of the many threats to come:

The question is… will you trust a cartoon animation? We spend billions of dollars watching them on movies and such. Family Guy and The Simpsons are some of the most popular shows on television, although they aren’t computer generated.  Frankly, I prefer the good old-fashioned human approach. We are more unpredictable. Besides, people (like my awesome mom) watch Bill O’Reilly for Bill O’Reilly — What is he going to say? What is he going to do?  I think, and would hope, most people don’t watch O’Reilly for the absolute latest, most accurate and objective information possible. The O’Reilly Factor is insight, opinion, commentary, all of which are things many people crave.

My conclusion is this: If you want the truth, watch a computer. If you want an experience, watch a human. Besides, predictable is boring. Most of the television I watch is just to see what other people are doing, wearing, and saying. I get most of my inspiration and ideas from observing other people, that is what life is about. I am not sure how much of that an algorithm can do.

What happened to the post offices, music industry, travel industry and now television, will happen to pretty much every other industry as well… it is cost effective, and frankly probably more accurate and error proof. This digital revolution is just getting started. Each industry will adapt, and make adjustments as we continue to become a leaner, faster, more competitive global economy. What I often wonder is… when computers start replacing our positions, where are all these people going to go? I guess the government could always do their role and create jobs. (ahem!)

My dad is a Facebook newbie and really growing keen on all this digital stuff, I told him tonight that I think he is in one of the safest industries out there. His company, Atlas Machine & Supply (www.atlasmachine.com) specializes in industrial machinery and services. They help industrial plants run more effectively and more smoothly. Luckily, everything you look at is either grown, mined or made. Those needs are not going anywhere. I think he is safe…. for the time being. When the algorithms figure out how to properly repair custom machinery that weigh two tons, then we will really have something to worry about.

Emily Gimmel is a TV personality, media producer, and journalist with a decade of media experience. Visit www.EmilyGimmel.com for more of her thoughts and discoveries. You can also follow the self-proclaimed “Sexiness Advocate” on Twitter at @emilygimmel.