Why 243,734 Graphic Design Portfolios Reside at Carbonmade - Alexis Rodich, Washington Post

To date my exploration of technology and creativity has been primarily around music, but technology impacts art and artists of all kinds. My own path into the world of tech startups was rooted in my use of technology as a dancer--for marketing, networking and training purposes.One of my favorite online sources of creative inspiration is browsing through portfolios on Carbonmade Carbonmade is a site for artists of all kinds--from make-up and fine art to digital design and tattoo--to display portfolios online. One of the things I absolutely love is that the art is prominently displayed at the forefront. While there is space for an "about" section, it is almost unnecessary because the work speaks http://spencerfry.com/ for itself.

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And Google Begat...

The search giant's former employees are seeding tech startups—and shaping another wave of innovation During the holidays last year, Aydin Senkut and Elad Gil gathered 50 of their friends at a health-food restaurant in Palo Alto. Over turkey burgers and tofu wraps, they talked about tech trends and how to get rich. Or, more precisely, how to get richer. Senkut, Gil, and their dining circle are alumni of Google (GOOG), one of the greatest engines of wealth creation the U.S. has ever known. Since going public six years ago, Google has generated more than $170 billion for its employees and investors. Many of the millionaires the company has produced are young, wired into the latest developments in tech, and at ease with risk. Which explains why so many Google alums—including many of those at Senkut and Gil's gatherings—are active angel investors, attempting to add another zero to their bank accounts and another innovative company to their list of accomplishments. "I feel like we have such a strong network, it's almost like we've recreated Google outside of the Google walls," says Andrea Zurek, a 39-year-old backer of 26 startups.

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The 4Cs Social Media Framework

Over the last year, I have had to explain how social media works to diplomats, defense officials, and academics and students focused on fields as diverse as international affairs, management and sociology. I have found that first-timer find social media confusing because of two reasons. The first reason is the excessive focus on specific social media tools. Many first-timers are introduced to social media via specific tools. Many ’social media experts’ who are practitioners rather than thinkers also focus on specific tools. Since social media encompasses many different types of tools, and each tool has specific characteristics and a steep learning curve, a toolkit approach can quickly become overwhelming. Blogging (Wordpress), microblogging (Twitter), video-sharing (YouTube), photo-sharing (Flickr), podcasting (Blog Talk Radio), mapping (Google Maps), social networking (Facebook), social voting (Digg), social bookmarking (Delicious), lifestreaming (Friendfeed), wikis (Wikipedia), and virtual worlds (Second Life) are all quite different from each other and new and hybrid tools are being introduced almost everyday. Mastering each tool individually seems like a lot of work and a lot of people give up even before they begin. The second reason is a clear definition of what social media is, even within the social media community. Different thinkers and practitioners use different terms to describe similar tools and practices.

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The Myth of Crowdsourcing - Crowds don't innovate--individuals do

The recent coverage of the $1 million Netflix prize was rightly heralded as a victory for crowdsourcing. The competition was designed to create a better algorithm for recommending films. But in the popular press, and in the minds of millions of people, the word crowdsourcing has created an illusion that there is a crowd that solves problems better than individuals. For the past 10 years, the buzz around open source has created a similar false impression. The notion of crowds creating solutions appeals to our desire to believe that working together we can do anything, but in terms of innovation it is just ridiculous.

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Web 2.0 Literacy Tools Master List

Here is a comprehensive list of the latest web2.0 literacy tools compiled by Naomi Harm, an Innovative Educator 2.0  It offers links to everything web 2.0 - bookmarking, capture and snag-it, free digital photo sites, free digital editing and conversation files, flash and share presentations, interactive whiteboards, free music and sound editing, sharing sites, timeline creators, url shortens and much more. Could keep a web2.0 nerd active for many hours and could solve your urgent web2.0 need for a presentation very quickly.