schmoozd

Happy Birthday, Wolfenstein 3-D!

James Conrad — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:03:43 +0000

Wolfenstein 3-D, released in 1992, is the game that set the absolute standard for first person shooter games. It was inspired by the classic computer game Castle Wolfenstein, first released in 1981 and ported to the Atari 8-bit family, MS-DOS and the Commodore 64.

Set during World War II, Wolfenstein 3-D centers on William “B.J.” Blazkowicz, who is imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein by the Nazis. As you help him escape, you must arm yourself and fend off attack dogs, Nazi guards and mutant soldiers and subsist on food and medical kits to keep your health from running out as you navigate a three dimensional maze from his point of view.

In honor of Wolfenstein 3-D‘s 20^th anniversary, Bethesda Software has provided a browser version that can be played here. In addition, the company announced that it would drop the price on its iOS version, available through the iTunes store.

Are We Facing Another Video Game Crash?

James Conrad — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:00:04 +0000

As technology evolves in terms of efficacy and on other fronts, certain media formats become outdated and become discontinued, just as can be seen in the evolution of carbon-based organisms, particularly in the case of the dinosaurs. Indeed, video games are no exception. Ever since the cathode ray amusement device, which featured a primitive missile simulation game and tic tac toe, was patented on December 14, 1948, the evolution of video games has been steady at the very least and has become increasingly rapid since Magnavox unveiled the Odyssey in 1972. While the evolution of technology often provides us with machinery capable of amazing things, evolution itself is a capricious thing. That being said, it has been slightly kinder to the video game system than it has to carbon based life. Whereas 98% of all species on earth has become extinct, only about 78% of all video game systems ever released have been discontinued.

As with the rendering of various media in digital formats since before the dawn of the new millenium, the sudden widespread availability of new technology often makes controlling the means of production a challenge. Another question that presents itself is if an idea for a popular game is very basic and ordinary, who can claim ownership?

The popularity of Pong, a table tennis simulator developed by Atari, aroused the ire of Magnavox, who claimed that the game infringed upon their concept of a table tennis game for the Odyssey, the video game console they introduced in 1972. Oddly enough, both games are predated by Tennis For Two, a primitive simulator that was introduced in 1958! In 1974, Magnavox sued Atari, and the case was settled out of court in June 1976 with stipulations that Atari would become a licensee of Magnavox for $700,000 and that Magnavox would have rights to Atari products developed until 1977, which halted the release of any new Atari games. During this time, Atari representatives were instructed to stay tight-lipped about any new projects when attorneys representing Magnavox visited Atari’s headquarters.

But by 1977, there was a plethora of Pong clones on the home and arcade market because their manufacturers sold their products at clearance prices. This caused the video game market to crash, and by the end of the year, the only consoles remaining on the market were the Atari Video Computer System (later renamed the 2600) and Magnavox’s Odyssey². Fortunately, the home console market was revived in 1978 when Taito introduced Space Invaders, a shooting game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado that many believe ushered in the golden age of arcade video games.

For the next five years, there was tremendous prolificity and creativity in the video game industry, and a rapid-fire rate of technological achievements resulted in games with richer graphics and more sophisticated controls. However, by 1982 the market was flooded with games and consoles, and some of the games that began to appear on the market were notoriously terrible. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was made for the Atari 2600 was criticized for its gameplay and graphics, and said system’s version of Pac Man was widely considered to be of particularly abysmal quality. Further difficulties in the industry ensued in the form of conflict and in some cases, litigation between video game company executives and video game designers. Advertising was starting to take an underhanded turn, as Commodore targeted video game users in its ads specifically to draw customers away from Atari. Of course, Commodore’s advantage was that the display on its computers was more elaborate than could be managed by the 2600. Computers also had an additional edge on video game systems in that the media they used at that time – the 5.25-inch floppy disk – was cheap to make, did not cost much to buy, and was easily copied. As a result, not only were console manufacturers undercut by the computer companies, but the video game companies took a huge loss as a result of mass piracy.

As a result, there was a second and more protracted video game crash in 1983. For the next two years, the future looked grim for the video game industry. Arcades closed down, game companies folded, and toy merchants who thought that video games were a passing phase began to stop stocking their shelves with them. It was not until the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 (known as the FamiCom in Japan) that the market began to recover. Although the newfangled eight-bit device was exceptionally popular, Nintendo’s marketing strategy was shrewd. “Atari collapsed because they gave too much freedom to third-party developers and the market was swamped with rubbish games,” remarked Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was then president of Nintendo. This piece of historical evidence was instrumental in Nintendo’s decision to limit the number of titles that third-party developers could release for their new system. The marketers also used a goodly amount of euphemistic language when demonstrating the NES to toy store management. Instead of a console, it was rebranded as an “entertainment system,” and its cartridges were referred to as Game Paks.

Since the birth of the NES, the business has been steady for the video game industry. However, since 2009, after the economy took a sharp nose-dive, the returns for the video game industry have been steadily diminishing by about a billion or so dollars a year. Many video game company executives put the blame on retail outlets such as GameStop, which specialize in selling pre-owned games. However, a 2010 blog post by Chris Kohler entitled “GameStop The Scapegoat” mentioned that although video game companies do not make money when their games are sold secondhand, the money generated when GameStop buys used games often goes into the purchases of new ones. This definitely has been happening perhaps since the beginning of the secondhand video game store itself. I remember when I was in junior high school in the 1990s and my friends and I would talk about what games we were planning on trading in and what games we would subsequently buy as though we were on Wall Street playing the stock market.

The truth is, there are other factors that abound in the declining profits for the video game industry. As with the Crash of ’83, when low quality games flooded the market, shoddy product will easily corrode the bottom out of any industry’s profits both in the short term and in the long term. On a worrisome note, many who blame lousy video games on the declining market point to the negative reaction to the latest two installments in the Final Fantasy franchise and such notorious turkeys as Vampire Rain and Bomberman: Act Zero. Compounding this danger is the fact that because video game design budgets have skyrocketed over the two decades or so, many console-based games cost as much as $60 these days. A high retail price for a poor quality product will only have a detrimental effect on the bottom line.

Recently, many gamers have turned toward mobile games, many of which cost anywhere from just one to eight dollars. Because these popular games such as Honey Badger Don’t Care and Angry Birds have simple premises with gameplay to match, this ups the addictiveness, an additional factor in the fast sales of these games. Because the budgets used to make these games are generally more on the trim side, the profit margins are greater. “There’s no intrinsic value to a $50 million game,” remarks Mark Cerny, who created the arcade classic Marble Madness. Cerny believes that the priority of the video game industry is to focus more on the overall quality of the video games themselves, rather than hiding behind turgid design budgets, which he thinks should be rolled back to the levels of those in 2005 in the interest of maintaining sustainability for the industry. “We can take time now to learn our craft,” said Cerny. “To learn what is important to spend money on, and what isn’t.”

Indeed, a major factor in both video game crashes was an overabundance of supply and steadily decreasing demand. The Crash of ’83 was hastened in particular by an overabundance of lousy games. Perhaps if a third crash happens soon, games made for mobile platforms may still do solid business, but only if a concern for quality is made a top priority for developers and designers. That being said, perhaps it’s time for the console game design teams to scale back their costs. If the focus can be kept on making a quality game for less money, the profit margins will only be greater and perhaps a crash may be avoided.

Spot On or Not On Number 8: The Return of Spot On or Not On

James Conrad — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:47:49 +0000

The threat is real.

Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators: “You’re A Lie” This bouncing rocker is full of bouncing power chords and angry lyrics giving an impassioned kiss-off to a betrayer. Although I wish that this song sounded just a leeeeeeetle bit heavier, it still is pleasantly melodic, and Slash, with old age and treachery on his side, delivers the goods with another typically searing solo on his beat-up Gibson Les Paul.

In case you didn’t know, this is what rock and roll is SUPPOSED to sound like. SPOT ON!

Silversun Pickups: “Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)” This song begins with a hypnotic synth intro and has a lush orchestral sound, complete with subtle backing vocals throughout. Although the guitar is a little too low in the mix, this track, with slight shades of Joy Division, is nothing short of a well-crafted song. Isn’t it nice that we have bands like Silversun Pickups in the midst of all the wretched music that dominates the sonic landscape and taints our collective unconscious? Spot On!

Linkin Park: “Burn It Down” I have never thought that Linkin Park’s music was all that innovative, having already witnessed the groundbreaking collaborations between Aerosmith and Run D.M.C. and between Public Enemy and Anthrax, which happened some twenty or more years ago. Moreover, I do not think much of Linkin Park as a live band, having seen them at Ozzfest 2001 – not that great – and hearing the blatant results of ProTools in their overplayed radio singles. This song, however, is a new low for Linkin Park on account of the fact that hard rock and electronic dance music don’t belong anywhere near each other. And as if that’s not bad enough, the lazily-written chorus lyrics – “We’re building it up/ To break it back down/ We’re building this up/To burn it down”are TOTAL CRAP. Not On!

Carrie Underwood: “Good Girl” Right from the beginning of the by-the-numbers power chords that open this song, you already know how utterly contrived this track is, and when you ponder that Carrie, grating voice and all, is an American Idol champ, you see the conspiracy to destroy good music in action. And now a public service message from Spot On or Not On: WAKE UP, PEOPLE! YOU DON’T NEED SOUL-DEAD A&R EXECS, CRUMMY TELEVISON SHOWS AND MEDIOCRE VIDEO AND DISC JOCKEYS TO TELL YOU WHERE THE QUALITY IS!

And by the way, yeah, this track is obviously Not On!

Gotye featuring Kimbra: “Somebody That I Used To Know” This track simmers with eerie melancholic tension, and the way it builds up to the impassioned chorus is nothing short of brilliant. The point/counterpoint style duet gives this a delightfully theatric feel, and bonus points must be given for the simple but literary lyrics – “I told myself that you were right for me/But felt so lonely in your company.” Who cannot relate? Spot On!

Paul McCartney: “My Valentine” I admit that I have said some unpleasant things about Sir Paul recently (see Spot On or Not On #3), but this track is probably the best I have heard from him in a while. The gentle acoustic guitar and piano are nice, and the vibe is decidedly Beatlesque as this sounds like “Michelle” taken at a slower tempo. Spot On!

Kanye West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz: “Mercy” Granted, when it comes to hooks in popular songs, there is a fine line between hypnotic and boring. I must confess that I have my biases against Kanye West, particularly because he is such a blowhard that this overshadows his talent. Sadly, the three-note riff that anchors this song is nothing to write home about, and Kanye’s puns on the word “a–”are not clever. Of course, I knewthat I would not dig this song right from the moment that the shrill mantra chanted in an ersatz Jamaican accent begins it. Not On!

The Saturdays: “30 Days” I just heard a preview of this track, which will be released as a single on May 14, and all I have to say is AAAAAARGH! When is this going to end?! When is it going to go away?! When are we going to stop having these crummy, generic dance pop songs with their crummy generic dance rhythms?! What’s the problem?! The Spice Girls weren’t cheesy enough?! Jesus wept! Not On!

Anthrax: “I’m Alive” The gently strummed chords at the beginning giving way to an angular palm-muted metallic rhythm raise the bar for sophisticated blending of light and shade in the realm of heavy metal. The fact that Joey Belladonna is back as lead singer is just a basic indication that this song sounds just as good as anything from Among The Living or The Persistence of Time. Best of all, it swings! Spot On!

Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull: “Dance Again” The passages sung by Jennifer Lopez are all right, but that’s really a small part of this track that has any redeeming value. As is the case with specimens of the dance pop (GAWD I hate that term) genre, the instrumentation is crap, and from the moment you hear the beat coupled with the lyric “Dance, yes, love, next.” You pretty much know what to expect. Moreover, the presence of Pitbull ups the obnoxious factor beyond measure. Not On!

Margarita Time!

James Conrad — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:22:44 +0000

Tomorrow is Cinco De Mayo, and this year will mark the 150^th anniversary of the Mexican Army’s victory at the Battle of Puebla despite being outnumbered two to one by French forces.

A popular drink for this celebration of Mexican heritage and pride is the margarita, which is said to have been invented by Mexican bartender Don Carlos Orozco, who named his drink after Margarita Henkel, the daughter of a German ambassador who was the first person to try his new concoction.

Although there are numerous variations on the recipe, a margarita is generally made by placing salt in a shallow dish, moistening the rim of a glass with a damp paper towel and dipping the rim into the salt. Next, fill the glass with ice, and add three parts blanco tequila, one part freshly squeezed lemon juice, one part freshly squeezed lime juice, one part Cointreau or Grand Marnier, a splash of orange juice, if desired, and garnish with a wedge of lemon and/or lime. ¡Disfruten!

And Now For Something Completely Different — Monty Python On The Cloud

James Conrad — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:03:20 +0000

The surviving members of Monty Python, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Michael Palin collectively embraced the digital age when they launched their own YouTube channel in 2008, which featured such classic sketches as “Dead Parrot,” “Spam,” and “Upper Class Twit Of The Year” as well as reflections from the surviving members and responses to YouTube user comments by Eric Idle and John Cleese. The following year, all five Monty Python films and all forty-five episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus were made available for download on I-Tunes, along with the compilation Graham Chapman’s Personal Best, a compilation that pays tribute to founding member Chapman, who died of cancer in 1989; and the 1977 movie Jabberwocky, which featured Michael Palin.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, there has been a brace of Monty Python themed applications available for the I-Pad.

Cow Tossing

In this game, reminiscent of Angry Birds and replete with Terry Gilliam’s eccentric cut and paste artwork that was a hallmark of the Flying Circus, you play as an immature French barbarian occupying a castle that is under siege by King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Using a catapult, you must launch a variety of projectiles – chickens, cows, African and European swallows to name a few – before the cart carrying King Arthur and his forces reaches your castle. The more carts you destroy, the more your arrogance meter goes up. Fetchez la vache!

Monty Python: The Holy Book Of Days

This app is a must-have for any self-confessed Monty Python geek who can quote every line from every sketch and every movie with the proper accent. Described by CNet blogger Rick Broida as a coffee-table book come to life, this application serves as a wonderful companion to the legendary 1974 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail, complete with outtakes, photos, audio clips, quotes from the Pythons themselves, diary entries from Michael Palin, and so many more things to take a Monty Python fan through the arduous month-long process of filming Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

Python Bytes

This app is little more than an anthology of twenty-two of the best sketches from the first season of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with a commentary option and a feature that allows for you to build your own playlist. When you first run the program, it arbitrarily chooses a sketch to play, and if you give your device a little shake, a different sketch is chosen at random. Although most if not all of the sketches from Monty Python’s Flying Circus are available for free online viewing at YouTube, this app is useful in that it provides a comprehensive beginner’s introduction to the comic gold that is Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Let It Be — The Movie Every Beatles Fan Must Download And Watch

James Conrad — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:17:21 +0000

As the Beatles’ back catalog has generally sold well – and still does – no matter how its releases have been packaged, it is mystifying that the film Let It Be, filmed at recording sessions at Twickenham and Abbey Road Studios as 1969 gave way to 1970, has been out of print since the mid-1980s. Although it lacks the lighthearted spirit of A Hard Day’s Night, Help, Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine, this film is a particularly important one of theirs, in that it captures the Beatles at their most candid to date, and also because it for all intents and purposes documents the last gasps of one of rock music’s most influential ensembles. Inevitably, it has been widely bootlegged, and decent copies can be found on the internet.

George Harrison and Ringo Starr doing a run-through of "Octopus's Garden."

Although more restrained and less melodramatic than the Metallica documentary Some Kind Of Monster, Let It Be is by default a depressing movie to watch, despite providing an overall richer experience than the accompanying album, which despite its gems, is less cohesive than the White Album and in some respects, even patchier. The tone of the film is not entirely funereal, but despite the moments of easygoing cameraderie during jam sessions, a sense of weariness among the Fab Four is palpable. At some points, to the naked eye, it seems as though the Beatles could have kept going, particularly at the moment when Ringo Starr and George Harrison have tremendous fun jamming on a rough version of “Octopus’s Garden;” and the stabilizing influence brought by soul organist Billy Preston, who was almost asked to join the band as a full-fledged member.

Paul McCartney discusses playing live again with a very disinterested John Lennon.

The real truth, though was that the professional relationship between John Lennon (the angry young man) and Paul McCartney (the eternal optimist) was fragile to begin with. By the end of the 1960s it had pretty much completely broken down, and both George Harrison and Ringo Starr were tired of the bickering. John Lennon, having felt trapped by his fame, began to develop an interest in avant-garde music and art through the influence of his Japanese wife Yoko Ono, which catalyzed his growing feeling of disinterest in the group he helped to found. In addition, heroin had begun to work its way into his routine around the time the band recorded their eponymous White Album, and not only did this further alienate him from the band, but there are several scenes in Let It Be where Lennon seems lethargic, unfocused and half-asleep. Perhaps one of the most symbolic moments in this film is the scene where George Harrison is rehearsing his composition “I Me Mine” with Ringo and Paul while John waltzes with Yoko, with whom he would share a turbulent relationship marked by eating disorders, drug addiction, infidelity, antagonism and physical abuse until his murder in 1980.

McCartney and Harrison have a spat during rehearsals.

Much of the joyful spirit within the film owes to McCartney, and although he shows a talent for leading rehearsals, the others find him overpowering at times, causing the cracks within the organization to surface on celluloid. Early in the film, a sequence shot in January 1970, four days before George Harrison temporarily quit the band, we see him and McCartney argue over the way a guitar part in “Two Of Us” should be played. In another sequence, Paul very enthusiastically discusses the idea of not only getting back on the road (the last formally booked Beatles concert was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California in 1966), but also making another feature film. “I know George said no more Hard Day’s Nights, and I agree,” gushes Paul. Meanwhile, the look in John’s eyes alternates between total disinterest and discomfort. As he ponders the thought of seeing another stage, it begins to appear as though he would chew his arm off to get away from that particular conversation.

The film culminates with footage of the Beatles final public performance on the roof of Abbey Road Studios, which naturally results in what would be known today as a flash mob. For the most part, the people that crowd the sidewalk like what they hear. One woman describes the performance as “livening up the office hours.” An elderly man observes that, “The Beatles have a score of their own… good quality, they sing well… you can’t beat ‘em!” However, a bespectacled, suit-clad businessman says, “This type of music is all right in its place, and it’s quite enjoyable. But I think it’s a bit of an imposition to actually disrupt all the business in this area.” Before long the police were summoned, and the Beatles were ordered off after playing “Get Back” one last time, with Paul ad-libbing “Get back! You’ve been out too long, Loretta! You’ve been playing on the roofs again, and that’s no good! ‘Cause you know your Mommy doesn’t like that! Oh, she gets angry! She’s gonna have you arrested!” before the concert comes to a graceful halt and John Lennon tells the crowd, “I’d like to thank everybody on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition!”

It is said that director Michael Lindsay-Hogg has been negotiating a DVD release for 2013, and I am sure this edition will make use of all the best technology available to sharpen the sound and the visual. It definitely is something worth hoping for. That being said, in the meantime it can be pulled up on Veoh and downloaded with Mozilla Firefox and is also available through bit torrent sites such as ThePirateBay.Com. Whatever the case may be, to watch Let It Be is to experience a part of history, and as such this film should be widely viewed.

Mint Juleps For Derby Day

James Conrad — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:03:21 +0000

The Kentucky Derby, a world famous race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses held in Louisville at Churchill Downs, is less than a week away, and the drink that has long been associated with this event is the popular Southern cocktail known as the mint julep.

The term “julep,” meaning “sweet drink” derives from the Persian term golâb (گلاب), which literally means “rose water.” Although the origin of the mint julep is said to date back some two hundred years, this particular drink has been linked with the “Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” since 1938. Every Derby weekend, nearly 120,000 mint juleps get served at Churchill Downs, almost always in collectible commemorative glasses.

To make a mint julep, first make a simple syrup consisting of two teaspoons of powdered sugar and one teaspoon of water, add some pieces of spearmint leaf, and bruise the mixture lightly in a Collins glass with a muddler to release the essence. Top off with crushed ice, add bourbon, garnish with a sprig of mint, and serve with a straw.

Rethinking The Idea Of Networking

James Conrad — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:46:19 +0000

Running a successful startup without a doubt requires thinking outside of the box. As time moves forward, technology changes, public opinion changes, and ideas change. As such, an entrepreneur constantly needs to keep an ear and an eye out for new ideas, and re-think old ones.

One idea in particular that needs reevaluation is the concept of networking. The realms of fundraising and entrepreneurship, particularly in the world of startups have long been incredibly connection-driven. In other words, offers for jobs and other opportunities end up being afforded to people based not so much on what their talents are, but to whom they are connected. In other words, the exploitative practice of leveraging a person’s professional and business has become de rigeur, and this phenomenon is really just an exponent of the human tendency toward approaching interpersonal relationships in an insecure manner. Because it has long been believed that familiarity breeds contempt, we have often been advised to draw a sharp, clear line between business and personal relationships. However, all this really does is create a false barrier that inhibits personal connections.

The truth of the matter, though, is that friends made in the workplace can be some of the best friends a person can hope to have because we spend about a third of our day in close quarters with these people, often in the process of solving challenging problems. Therefore, to place them off limits as friends is as needless as it is counter-intuitive. No interpersonal relationship of any kind – particularly in the business arena – should be created for the sole purpose of leverage. In his recent article, “Let’s End Networking Now, Please,” entrepreneur Allen Gannet poses the question, “If someone is not good enough to be friends with, then why do business with them?” Moreover, Gannet observes that, “Our connections with people, even in our work life, should be based on relationships of genuine humanity, not shallow tit-for-tat interactions.”

Indeed, if successful professional relationships are meant to be based on trust, then more opportunities to build trust and communication should be created. As such, constructing mental dividers that differentiate whether or not someone is a friend or simply a business associate would only inhibit the growth of meaningful relationships within the professional realm.

Startup Mix & Mingle – April 26, 2012

John Diep — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 04:50:37 +0000

Thank you everyone for coming to the Startup Mix & Mingle last night at the WOKCANO, Santa Monica.

On behalf of Schmoozd I would like to THANK the following sponsors for sponsoring our event:

TriNet offers a set of Strategic Services that match companies at every point in their lifecycle, including such offerings as Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, and Employee Development.

Factual is an open data platform for application developers that leverages large-scale data aggregation and community exchange.

The NDMS Startup Payments Program includes everything needed to enable payments on a website or mobile app.

(mt) Media Temple is a web hosting and cloud services provider headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Thank you WOKCANO Santa Monica for hosting our event – you’re the BEST!

The Fine Line Between Fair Use And Copyright Infringement, And How It Affects Startup Bloggers

James Conrad — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:03 +0000

Before the widespread use of the internet, most people thought that to copyright intellectual property, one had to register their work with their local Copyright Office, or if they were on a budget, mail copy of their work to themselves and leave it unopened; a method known as the poor man’s copyright. Of course, the truth is that work is copyrighted as soon as it is created, whether or not the creator decided to put a copyright symbol (©) in tiny letters somewhere within the work, register their work with the Copyright Office, or make use of the poor man’s copyright.

The widespread use of the internet has certainly become a game changer when it comes to copyright issues. Because our movements online are tracked from site to site and from practically from second to second, there is more hard evidence as to who created what, particularly since blog articles often show what date and time they were posted. Moreover, if an author sends a copy of his manuscript to an agent or a publisher via email from an account of which he or she can prove ownership, accurate records of when the correspondence took place are automatically recorded, and thus provide supporting evidence that the manuscript is the author’s original work.

Copyright law does not just seek to protect against the theft of ideas. It also is implemented in the interest of controlling the means of production of a piece of art in such a way that the artist is fairly compensated for his or her work reaching people.

Some artists use innovative measures to prevent the illicit circulation of their work altogether. Jorgen Angel, a Danish photographer known for his striking and often candid photographs of such legendary rock performers as AC/DC, Deep Purple and T. Rex, sells prints of his photographs on his website, www.angel.dk. To ensure that he is able to keep his business from being undercut by piracy, a copyright symbol is displayed upon the full-sized image that appears when a visitor clicks on the thumbnail, which thwarts those who might want to download the picture for free. On the other hand, Irish illustrator and photographer Jim Fitzpatrick, known for designing numerous album covers for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy and the iconic silkscreen of Che Guevara (which, ironically, Jim Fitzpatrick copied from a famous photograph) displays intact images of his work, particularly that for Thin Lizzy at appreciable size and resolution, allowing a visitor complete access. It could be inferred that Fitzpatrick is more concerned with maintaining his level of visibility, as he sells original pieces through his website, www.jimfitzpatrick.ie.

The doctrine of Fair Use allows for the limited unauthorized use of copyrighted material for certain purposes including, but not necessarily limited to, “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.” In other words, in the case of articles, portions of somebody’s work may be used, but by no means is it permissible for a blog article to be republished intact and in its entirety by somebody other than the author. But paragraphs may be quoted, particularly in the interest of using the words of a like-minded blogger to uphold a thesis statement, or to make a rebuttal against a blog post with which one disagrees. Also providing links to the article in question is not only completely kosher, but in most cases encouraged by the author of the article itself.

The regulations surrounding the use of images are a little bit more lenient. For example, an album being sold on Amazon will have its entire front cover displayed at a lower than normal resolution. This enables buyers to identify the product, but also inhibits the unauthorized use of the image. Wikipedia maintains a similar practice. Often when photographs are viewed on this site, below the picture the words “No higher resolution available will appear.”

Nonetheless, because information is very easily transmitted these days owing to the presence of the internet, copyright holders would run themselves out of time and money trying to chase down every blogger who engages in some form of unauthorized use and/or distribution of their work. That being said, if and when you decide to use somebody else’s words or pictures to enhance your blog post, there is an honor system to follow. Fair use does not allow for overuse, and with that in mind, try to imagine that the audience you want to reach would want to be more interested in what you have to say. When using pictures, keep them at a resolution of about two hundred to three hundred pixels. Not only will you run less of a risk of inflaming copyright holders, but the compacted size as a result of the resolution will make assembling the layout easier and will keep your blog post from looking cluttered and asymmetrical. To further protect against litigation, it also would be a good idea to name check the creator of the image and/or provide a link to the image’s website of origin.

Our first Tech and Startup Job Fair event – Sept 22