Culture and Society

Additional wireless access in Manhattan parks: downtown business improvement district is planning to establish free high-speed wireless Internet access in six parks and public spaces in Lower Manhattan next month, significantly expanding the availability downtown of wireless connections to the Internet. Officials of the Alliance for Downtown New York, the …

The RIAA is doing itself a grave disservice by calling public attention to its battle against file sharing: by employing increasingly aggressive tactics against sharers they run the risk of inflaming the public at large against them, which may force politicians – heretofore largely in the industry’s pocket – to …

New tentative deal between RIAA and webcasting reps (Digital Media Association) on webcasting royalties: SUMMARY OF DiMA-SOUNDEXCHANGE PROPOSAL FOR INTERNET RADIO ROYALTY RATES & TERMS Scope: Covers digital audio transmissions of sound recordings by commercial webcasters (“eligible nonsubscription transmission services”) and subscription services (“new subscription services”), subject to the statutory …

Tori Amos is looking for help making her music video for her single “Taxi Ride“: Epic Records, in partnership with Apple QuickTime and RollingStone.com, is pleased to announce the creation of “Tori’s Taxivision”, a new on-line contest in which fans get the opportunity to create a music video for Tori …

An interesting take on the “music as utility” model from Greg Blonder: In the late 1800s, when a tenant sought to warm a cold apartment, she had to buy her own coal from passing coal wagons and then haul it in coal buckets up to her fourth-floor kitchen. This apparently …

Cynthia Webb has an excellent column in the Washington Post today listing the many and various military websites providing direct access to info on the war: The Internet offers users worldwide an unprecedented amount of news and commentary about the war in Iraq. But unlike the last war in the …

Hey, I’m all excited, squirming around in my chair, two big events today: our electronic duo Elliptical performs tonight in Cleveland (check out Elliptical tunes on Blogcritics Radio here), AND my new blog/column, “Cleve-Blog,” went up on Cleveland.com today. Cleve-Blog is an excellent complement to Blogcritics because my focus there …

Jewel, who was hanging in the audience on American Idol last night, has a new direction. She swings to an edgy hip-hop beat on her new single “Intuition,” which you can check out for free on her website here. She’s just “a simple girl, in a high-tech digital world.” Word. …

Our good bud at Forbes Arik Hesseldahl continues his Best of the Blogs tour with celebrity bloggers: You might think that movie stars and pop musicians would jump at the chance to communicate directly with their fans. And indeed, many have tried keeping personal Web logs, or blogs. Unfortunately most …

At least the RIAA hasn’t tried to press criminal charges against university administrators yet for file sharing: THE British record industry is to prosecute universities that allow students to copy music over the internet through their computer networks. Heads of universities will face criminal sanctions if they collude in the …