Life

Crowdsourcing the Grammys--Media, awards, and crowd culture

More and more frequently, familiar "work" terms (like open source, collaboration, or crowdsourcing) jump out at me from television, movies, books, or the radio. Few corners of the world are unaffected by the culture shift towards collaboration. But sometimes, the subject matter makes you stop a second. How about this one: the Grammys and American Idol.   » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 9 Mar 2010 by bascha (Red Hat)

Acceleration for open source cars?

We could be closer to consumer options for open source cars than ever before. Which begs the question, could the recent floor mat entrapment and pedal recalls from Toyota be solved in a more open way? Or better yet, could they have been prevented if they were designed and built the open source way?
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4 CommentsPosted 1 Mar 2010 by Jason Hibbets (Red Hat)

Open Thread Thursday: Will Netflix kill cable?

Netflix shook up the video rental industry. Now your movies can be delivered to your mailbox or streamed instantly online. The company has used elements of the open source way--a subscription-based model, support, and a thriving community that rates movies and make recommendations. Does your cable company do that? Probably not.

Is it these elements of the open source way that keeps you hooked? Will it lead you to cut off the cable for Netflix and similar on-demand options backed by communities?

3 CommentsPosted 25 Feb 2010 by adrienne (Red Hat)

What does information really want?

Cory Doctorow says "information wants to be free" slogan is "lazy, stupid shorthand."

(See discussions at Shareable.net and Utne Reader)

When celebrated science fiction writer, blogger, and copyright activist Cory Doctorow tweets, 40,000 followers glance at their phones. » Read more

2 CommentsPosted 24 Feb 2010 by Colin Dodd (Red Hat)

Interview: Greg Stolze on Kickstarter, ransoming, and writing

We've posted here before about the Kickstarter process. So we thought we'd talk with one of its artists about going from traditional publishing to ransoming. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 22 Feb 2010 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Open Thread Thursday: Google Living Stories

Yesterday The Guardian reported on Living Stories, a Google Labs project tested over the last few months with the help of the New York Times and the Washington Post. Now they're turning it over to the open source community.

We've all heard that the face of journalism is changing. We've seen it with the massive losses of small-town papers and struggles of even larger publications. And so everyone in the industry has their eyes on what's next. » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 17 Feb 2010 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Open music: is it viable?

"Open source is a good idea, but no one uses it in the real world." "We can't risk our business on open source--where are the major players?" "We need to know it can work." If you've worked in the IT industry for the past ten years or so, you can remember similar quotes. » Read more

5 CommentsPosted 17 Feb 2010 by Travis Kepley (Red Hat)

Five sites for open source healthcare

If you're browsing the web looking for sites about open source healthcare, here are five I found interesting. There are a ton of sites out there, and I tried to stay away from those that talked strictly about software--instead focusing on those that tackled the issues in open source ways beyond technology.

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3 CommentsPosted 14 Feb 2010 by Jason Hibbets (Red Hat)

Open Thread Thursday: Patients like me

Check out patientslikeme.com. It's an online community that encourages you to share your healthcare experiences. And rather than a privacy policy, like most sites have, they have an "Openness Philosophy" page instead. You can view user comments on specific drugs or treatments that patients used for a variety of symptoms, illnesses and diseases. Communities exist for specific illnesses, like HIV/AIDs and Multiple Sclerosis. » Read more

4 CommentsPosted 11 Feb 2010 by adrienne (Red Hat)

OPEN Forum now connected to LinkedIn

It looks like OPEN Forum, American Express’ small business community recently got a little more...open. AMEX has removed the restriction to just card members and allows LinkedIn logins [to comment]. LinkedIn is a site where you can host your professional network of trusted contacts. We told you about OPEN forum in a previous post.

“With the LinkedIn API, millions of entrepreneurs and other business professionals on LinkedIn will now be able to actively participate in discussions on OPEN Forum by using their LinkedIn credentials – regardless of whether they are card members or not.”

» Read more

0 CommentsPosted 10 Feb 2010 by Jason Hibbets (Red Hat)