Cultural Research

Hip Hop Research: Towards an Annotated Bibliography

Greg Dimitriadis: Performing Identity/Performing Culture [Revised Edition]

In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm kind of an idea guy with way too many ideas. But I am getting better at maintaining core projects while keeping a small array of secondary projects in the long term mix.

CR: Library Innovation Blog is intended to be a core project but I haven't dig as dee[;u as I had hoped to by now. Still, I'm enjoying what I'm doing and it's off to a good start. A related project that's been moved to the secondary back burner for the moment is Hip Hop Research: Towards an Annotated Bibliography, a blog with a special focus on academic monographs featuring hip hop as a central theme.

Marc Lamont Hill - Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life

I launched Hip Hop Research as the first step towards an annotated bibliography to be developed as a reference work for academic libraries. I recently made contact with a library publisher via a woman who requested that folks send initial ideas prior to a book proposal. We'll see where that goes but, no matter the validity of the topic, hip hop content often seems to throw a wrench in people's perceptions, especially if their knowledge is limited to what they see in mass media.

To be honest, now that I'm reviving my search for a library position (at the worst possible time, of course!), I launched the project as much to validate my own work in hip hop media as to help validate the work of hip hop researchers in academic settings. I really do worry about what people think when they find out I've been a web publisher focused on hip hop for the last ten years, full time for the last five.

Given the response I've gotten from folks I've known who are from similar demographics as those doing the hiring in most of the situations for which I apply, I really have to wonder what potential employers think when they see the words, "hip hop."

Yvonne Bynoe - Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip-Hop Culture

It's funny, I've learned so much doing hip hop related projects that I would never take any of that back, but I do wonder how it looks to people I don't know, inundated with too many applications and looking for easy ways to pare down the list.

But, hey, as a 50 year old white man with a long history of activism and interest in African American culture, I feel like I'm so much more connected to the living reality of black people now than I ever was when I was trying to connect as a left/lib activist and artist. I have real friends now who are black and who I know through shared interests rather than African American connections who I've cultivated as part of a larger agenda, though I say that meaning no disrespect to folks finding other ways to connect.

To be perfectly frank, if getting a job meant giving up the one thing that has helped me more than any other to understand black culture in contemporary America, then I'll keep forging an independent path. But I'd love to bring what I know into an academic setting as a reference librarian since that may well be the best venue for my wide ranging interests and love of knowledge. Wish me luck!

The Web Isn't Killing Old-Timey Media, They're Committing Suicide

Though some of my recent customer service posts might lead you to think otherwise, dear reader, I do not intend to become a web curmudgeon. There's way too many of those already!

That said, I found this TIME magazine article about Facebook incredibly weak and silly:

Facebook's Doppelgänger Week Is Viral Groupthink

I was going to comment on the site but TIME requires some kind of log-in and I'm pretty tired of registering for sites I don't normally visit just to comment. I started to use one of the options that now allow one to log-in via one's Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, etc. accounts but they all involve information sharing between systems and I'm just not comfortable with that, in part, because I don't really know how much sharing goes on.

That said, the commenters are tearing the writer to shreds and I doubt I'd have anything interesting to add.

So, if you want to watch a bunch of smart people show a TIME columnist just how clueless he is, enjoy!

If not, I applaud you for taking the higher ground!

PS - I greatly enjoyed Doppelganger Week. I already had one picked out that I'd used elsewhere and it was fun to see all the different choices people made when picking out a celebrity. Mine was a cartoon character named Jin, which didn't exactly follow the presumed guidelines, but nobody seemed to mind.

We were all having a wee bit of fun with our friends without hurting anybody at all. And what's so bad about that?

Statement from Reading Is Fundamental's Carol H. Rasco Regarding Federal Budget Cuts Defunding RIF

I love Obama but right now he's breaking my heart.

Press Release:

President Obama Eliminates Funding for Reading Is Fundamental's Book Distribution Program Serving 4.4 Million Children Nationwide

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO, of Reading Is Fundamental:

"On February 1, President Obama released his proposed FY2011 budget which eliminates the funding for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and its nationwide services. Without this federal funding, over 4.4 million children and families will not receive free books or reading encouragement from RIF programs at nearly 17,000 locations throughout the U.S.

"Unless Congress reinstates $25 million in funding for this program, RIF will not be able to distribute 15 million books annually to the nation's children at greatest risk for academic failure. RIF programs in schools, community centers, hospitals, military bases, and other locations serving children from low-income families, children with disabilities, homeless children, and children without adequate access to libraries. The Inexpensive Book Distribution program is authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (SEC.5451 Inexpensive Book Distribution Program for Reading Motivation) and is not funded through earmarks. It has been funded by Congress and six Administrations without interruption since 1975.

"Since its founding in 1966, RIF has played a critical role in improving literacy in this country by providing new, free books for children to keep and build home libraries. Access to books and the power of choice ignite children's hunger for knowledge and a passion for learning. In addition, research has shown that children who have more access to books not only perform better academically, but also become productive individuals whose contributions help create strong communities. On behalf of RIF and its network of over 400,000 volunteers nationwide, I urge all Americans to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to reinstate funding for this vital program."

Act Now: RIF.org/saverif

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF's highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provided 4.4 million children with 15 million new, free books and literacy resources last year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at www.rif.org.

Discover the Joy!

Source: Reading Is Fundamental

CONTACT: Mitchell Schmale, Mitchell@MaroonPR.com, +1-410-336-8571, for
Reading Is Fundamental; or Alishia Frey of Reading Is Fundamental,
AFrey@RIF.org

Web Site: http://www.rif.org/

On Vacation

Must shovel snow.

@Appmakr: More Customer Support Madness [Update: Thanks for Responding Guys!]

Final Update: Just wanted to let folks know they did get back to me.  It was a bit later than they and I hoped but I do understand that they're slammed with work due to a huge uptake by folks wanting their services.  The fact that they, unlike the folks at Diigo, came through with direct communication and responded to my most pressing need tells me that they aren't just fronting, i.e. putting up a false front.

I'll be sure to announce my iPhone App here as well once I sort through all the stuff you really need to learn to do right even with such a great tool as that provided by Appmakr.  Thanks again!

Original Post Follows:

Now I'm having trouble with Appmakr's customer support.  They have trouble tickets and I have an account but everytime I try to login it treats me like I'm trying to register.  Just had to try to get at them through Twitter forcing me to send a Tweet out to thousands of subscribers to one of my other sites.

I guess I'll just have to get on Twitter but because of my pop media projects that kind of thing leads to all sorts of people trying to interact in a place where I don't have time to interact with them.

I'd rather be blogging but I'm spending all my time dealing with broken customer support systems.

Update: I may have to take a break from the web.  It looks like I'm going to have create a Twitter account just to get basic customer support from these companies and I have so much work to do.  It's hard enough just trying to figure out the best design for an iPhone app and then to have customer service be so pathetic.

This is so ridiculous and I bet they think they're so cool.

Update 2: It's been two hours since the comment below from Appmakr was posted as well as a nice show of support on their Twitter account and I still don't have a direct way of communicating with these guys.  I have a confirmation that I left a customer service request but I can't sign in and check my ticket because every time i try to log in it says that I'm already registered even though I'm not even on the registration page.

Will they break down and email me direct?  I'm sympathetic to overworked people cause I'm overworked, in fact, I've canceled all sorts of things tonight on which others depend for their publicity and for their entertainment because I've just hit the wall.  We'll see if they actually step up or just focus on looking good to other people.

Sorry to use this site for such things but I've always found that when people are dropping the ball, one of the few ways to get their attention is to go public.  As someone with little money or power, that's the only equalizer I have.  What a sad state of affairs.

Update 3: I just reread the comment from the Appmakr guy and it's clear he didn't read my original post all the way through cause he's talking about a problem I don't yet have.  Guess that's something more to look forward to.

That's fairly typical for customer service people across the board.  You have to explain everything in the first two sentences or they're just not going to get what you're talking about.  You also must only present one specific problem at a time because they won't read far enough to see that there are more than one, when that's the case.

I'll let you know if they ever respond to my actual concerns but I think I'm going to take tomorrow off, disappoint a bunch of people at some of my other sites and go shovel snow at my parent's house so they don't fall down when they get back from out of town!

Diigo Update: Finally Solved Problem Despite Lack of Customer Service

Hate to give more ammo to those who mistrust web services but I finally figured out my blog posting problem from Diigo's bookmarking service to Typepad despite their deeply unresponsive customer service.

It's incredible that at this point in history Web 2.0 is still not up to the challenge of professional use.  I know there are a lot of challenges online but customer service should not be one of them.

Apple Unveils iPad, All Wars End, Human Evolution Skips a Step, Other Great News to Follow!!!

Apple Launches iPad (PRNewsFoto/Apple)

With every other web pundit acting like the long awaited tablet computer from Apple, the iPad, is as significant to the future of man as every last savior imagined by humans returning all at once to usher in an age of paradise, I figured you deserved the word straight from Apple's PR department with fresh quotes from CEO Steve "Godhead" Jobs Himself.

So here is the official press release:

Apple Launches iPad

A Magical & Revolutionary Device at an Unbelievable Price

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple® today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. iPad's responsive high-resolution Multi-Touch(TM) display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds-- thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March starting at the breakthrough price of just $499.

"iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

iPad features 12 next-generation Multi-Touch applications. Every app works in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction. The precise Multi-Touch interface makes surfing the web on iPad an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer. Reading and sending email is fun and easy on iPad's large screen and almost full-size "soft" keyboard. Import photos from a Mac®, PC or digital camera, see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad's elegant slideshows. Watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD or flip through pages of an e-book you downloaded from Apple's new iBookstore while listening to your music collection.

iPad runs almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. The iTunes® Store gives you access to the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 8,000 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video. Apple also announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple's new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers.

Apple also introduced a new version of iWork® for iPad, the first desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for Multi-Touch. With Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® you can create beautifully formatted documents, stunning presentations with animations and transitions, and spreadsheets with charts, functions and formulas. The three apps will be available separately through the App Store for $9.99 each.

iPad syncs with iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod touch, using the standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable, so you can sync all of your contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications and more from your Mac or PC. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

iPad's brilliant 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display features IPS technology to deliver crisp, clear images and consistent color with an ultra-wide 178 degree viewing angle. The highly precise, capacitive Multi-Touch display is amazingly accurate and responsive whether scrolling web pages or playing games. The intelligent soft keyboard pioneered on iPhone takes advantage of iPad's larger display to offer an almost full-size soft keyboard. iPad also connects to the new iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-size traditional keyboard.

iPad is powered by A4, Apple's next-generation system-on-a-chip. Designed by Apple, the new A4 chip provides exceptional processor and graphics performance along with long battery life of up to 10 hours.* Apple's advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology deliver up to 1,000 charge cycles without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five year lifespan.**

iPad comes in two versions--one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions support speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks. Apple and AT&T announced breakthrough 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with easy, on-device activation and management.

Continuing Apple's dedication to designing and creating environmentally responsible products, each iPad enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy-efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iPad contains no brominated flame retardants and is completely PVC-free.

Apple today released a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for iPad, so developers can create amazing new applications designed to take advantage of iPad's capabilities. The SDK includes a simulator that lets developers test and debug their iPad apps on a Mac, and also lets developers create Universal Applications that run on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Pricing & Availability

iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. International pricing and worldwide availability will be announced at a later date. iBookstore will be available in the US at launch.

*Apple tested wireless battery life by browsing web pages and receiving email over an AirPort® network, never letting the system go to sleep during the test, and keeping the display at half brightness. This is a typical scenario of use on the go, resulting in a battery performance number that is very relevant to mobile users.

**A properly maintained iPad battery is designed to retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity during a lifespan of up to 1,000 recharge cycles. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

© 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPhone, iPod touch, iTunes, iWork, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Apple Store and AirPort are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100127/SF44883
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN6
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: Apple

CONTACT: Colin Smith, +1-408-862-1171, colins@apple.com, or Bill Evans, +1-408-974-0610, bevans@apple.com, both of Apple

Related Cultural Research Coverage:
Beyond Ereaders: Future/Past Tablets & User Interfaces
Mag+ by Bonnier & the Future of Digital Readers

Diigo Web Bookmarking Service Follows Same Downward Path as Delicious & Publish2

I generally don't want to use this blog to vent my frustrations so let's think of this post as a form of constructive criticism directed towards web bookmarking services that aren't following through on providing the services they claim to provide and aren't responding to customer service requests.

This topic is important and relevant to library innovation because, in my limited experience working in libraries, I've encountered a real fixation on desktop-based applications that often keeps librarians from improving their services for patrons by utilizing web-based services. I'll come back to this topic again with some specific examples that, I believe, illustrate the point that the problem isn't with incompetence, the problem is with shifting one's whole mindset to a different way of thinking about providing information services.

And I'm not one to throw around terms like "paradigm shift" in a glib manner. There really is a big difference in these two ways of thinking.

That said, I started using Diigo for both personal and professional bookmarking because of my disappointments with Publish2 which I began using because of my disappointments with Delicious, most of which are the exact same disappointments!

Generally speaking, social bookmarking web services provide a way to store links to sites and online content as an alternative to simply using one's browser to save such links. Using such services frees the user from a specific desktop and/or browser, allowing access from virtually any web connected computer or mobile device with the option of making those links public and interacting with other folks using the service.

Though I keep my bookmarks private and take my social networking activities elsewhere, I love the concept, the options, the possibilities. In addition to bookmarking, each of the above mentioned services also supposedly allows one to publish links to one's blog or other public platform which can streamline the process of sharing such links. Usually one can choose between posting directly to one's blog or setting up an automatic posting schedule that will send the links to one's chosen spot on the web as a published post or ready-to-go draft post.

I first tried this out with Delicious. It made my life a lot easier because I do a variety of projects for which I'm gathering multiple links on a daily basis. That is, until it stopped working and they wouldn't say why and they wouldn't respond to customer service emails. Because they were early movers and innovators back before Yahoo bought them, the breakdown of services and lack of communication was discussed widely on the web. I think they tried to do something at some point but it was a big FAIL.

So I tried Publish2, which is championing what they call "link journalism", an attempt to turn what everybody on the web's been doing into a professional practice and that's all I'll say on that topic. In any case, I started using their post to blog option which eventually stopped working. Some of my links were disappearing as well. My attempts at receiving customer service was a big FAIL so I moved on.

To Diigo, which seemed to do everything perfectly for me both personally and professionally, yadda, yadda.

I was using their send to blog system quite a bit last year to explore different blog topics and also keep some blog sites going to which I wanted to return but didn't have time to spend otherwise maintaining them. I took a break to evaluate my whole operation towards the end of the year and recently decided to begin again with a focus on blogs such as this one where I'm regularly posting content but would love to add some link posts as well to expand my coverage a bit.

Guess what? Diigo's send to blog isn't working. I can't find info online about that problem. Their customer service isn't responding to requests left via their online form.

But guess what else? They're offering customer service via Twitter, which is kind of cool except that it forces one to use Twitter to get help thus serving only a small portion of web users. Plus, you can't really tell what problem they're addressing because the questions don't show up with the answers. You can link through to the account of the person asking the questions but you have to then browse to find the question and if the person asking is active on Twitter, that's kind of tough.

My feeling is, yeah, be cool but make sure you're handling basics well. Diigo is not handling basics well. And the arrogance of this approach to customer service makes Diigo less accessible to the folks that I want to help bring into the age of web-based services. This kind of approach to customer service is exactly the sort of thing that justifies the oppositional attitudes of folks who are a bit dubious about such services.

Diigo, thanks for the FAIL. You're now undermining not only my web publishing projects but my attempts to advocate for the use of web services by librarians. And aren't those the kind of folks you're supposed to be serving?

Looks like Diigo's ubercool approach is pushing them into the FAIL category along with Delicious and Publish2.

And that makes me very sad. As well as angry. But people are more sympathetic to sadness so let's focus on that, shall we?

Update:
Diigo Update: Finally Solved Problem Despite Lack of Customer Service

Note to CR: Library Innovation Blog Twitter Subscribers

I've been using a feature of my blog host, Typepad, to add new posts to my Twitter feed but, because it requires me to remember to check the little box, I keep forgetting to do it so you're often getting links days late which is kind of ridiculous.

I've been using Twitterfeed to add links to Twitter so I'll set that up for this blog as well. Probably should have done that from the beginning but I wanted to see if the Typepad option would meet my needs. I think it would work well for folks with one blog who only want certain posts publicized on Twitter but I'm doing something else.

By the way, if you're really into the real-time web, the Typepad post to Twitter option gets the link up immediately thus bypassing the typical delay of RSS updates and services like Twitterfeed.  So it definitely has its pluses.  Probably works well with Facebook too but I haven't tried that yet.

Note: In my next post I criticize Diigo for only providing customer service through Twitter. I can use Twitter but I've chosen not to and do not believe that Twitter alone is an adequate method for customer service. As I also note in the post, Diigo does have an online form for customer service, they simply aren't responding to my contact via that form.

Embarassing update: I don't have any Twitter subscribers for this blog yet!

Talk about a FAIL!

Please forgive me for acting like I've got all these Twitter followers for this blog.  In my own defense, let me say that my combined Twitter followers for my commercial blogs such as Hip Hop Press: Releases recently passed 10,000 and climbing.  But I'm minor in this field and have no illusions about that fact!

Cormac McCarthy and The End of The Road

Cormac McCarthy - The Road

I finished reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road a couple of days ago and, man, that was an intense book. Just one of those acts of perfection one is lucky enough to encounter in life every now and then. It's my first novel by McCarthy and I look forward to reading more.

I'm a lifetime fan of post-apocalyptic science fiction going back to my youth and my love of books like Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson are closely related. I wouldn't call this science fiction though I think it would be interesting to think through the implications of considering The Road a work of science fiction.

In any case, this is some sparse, stark writing that dropped me into a very bleak world that really made me question why the characters were choosing to continue to live. Though I've seen some hard times, obviously nothing as severe as the characters in The Road, I've never seriously questioned my will to live. In The Road, such a desire became almost inexplicable.

I did not think that there was a believable ending that could redeem this tale in a manner that reaffirmed the characters' will to live until I read it. I had some thoughts in mind but it was all Hollywood junk. I still can't believe McCarthy pulled it off so organically and believably. However, I've read other reviews by disappointed readers so, maybe I'm just weird!

Nevertheless, I was grateful for that ending. And for this marvelous book.

Thank you, Cormac McCarthy.