Lynne d Johnson

Summer Hiatus

Between speaking engagements, writing projects, some consulting, trying to enjoy the summer, and working on a brand spanking new site, I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Most likely, I'll be putting blogging here on hold until the new design and new architecture of this site comes forth, but I'll be ramping up my blogging over at FastCompany.com on Digital Media Diva in the meantime. (And of course, I'll pop in on BlackWeb2.0 from time-to-time).

Hope you'll still be around when I come back.

As an aside, I'm all over the Web though, microblogging, sharing stories, listening to music, watching and creating videos, and commenting on blogs, etc. Here's some of the places you can find me:

Lijit Search

I <3 New Supra Vaiders

It was just February when I got my Black Suede/Croc Supra Skytops, after trying hard to get the Floral. Raafi has those. But being the kicks collector that I am, I'm thinking about giving the new Vaider styles a chance, because they've gone a completely different route with the skytops now.

Here's what I'm considerng:

But then it's really a toss between the Supra Vaider Silver and the Creative Recreation dicoco metallic silver:

What's your kick's obsession?

My last.fm 3-month listening habit wordle

My last.fm 3-month listening habit wordle, originally uploaded by lynneluvah.

following jason and cecily, i decided to make a last.fm wordle. make your own here. this is a word graph of my listening habits from last.fm as scrobbled from itunes and my ipod.

My friendfeed w/tabs via feedalizr

My friendfeed w/tabs, originally uploaded by lynneluvah.

If you've followed me for a while, you may know that I like trying out new apps and webservices. I often try out things until I find the one thing that works for me. Usually, a tool that works for me brings everything together in a method that makes sense in the way that i do work.

I've been using friendfeed for a while now, especially since twitter became so unreliable. For twitter, I was already using Mac dashboard widgets, browser plugins like twitbin, desktop clients like Twitterific, and smartphone apps like CeTwit on my WinMo phone and twibble on my n95. On the phone, I could have been using SMS or the mobile web, but it just wasn't the right experience for me. I needed tools that acted more like the web services themselves.

So that brings me to friendfeed, and what I've done with it lately. (It took a while to catch on for me because I was using alertthingy as an app instead of logging in on the Web. The problem with alertthingy though, was that everything ran together as one stream and it just seemed like a bunch of noise (some complain that happens anyway when you've subsribed to all a-list bloggers). It just didn't work for me, and I couldn't figure out how to make it work for me, so I started trying to get into friendfeed directly from the web.

Once Duncan Riley wrote these Greasemonkey Scripts that add tabs to your friendfeed, I found an even better reason to use the service. The tabs helped me turn friendfeed into a startpage by adding direct links into facebook, techmeme, twitter, readburner, and google reader.

Still on the friendfeed side of things, I often found myself trying to learn how to filter by hiding things so that I could get to the meat of what I really wanted to see in my overall feed. I still wasn't always happy, and still found myself weeding out a lot of noise. But now I found a tool that makes all of that easy for me. It's called Feedalizr. In fact, I was able to upload the above photo to flickr using feedalizr.

But here's what makes feedalizr hot.

1. You can add Twitter
2. You can add Friendfeed
3. You can add flickr
4. You can add jaiku
5. You can directly upload video through feedalizr

What else?

You can select filters. Either by types of content, such as blogs, youtube, twitter, pownce, of you can filter by person - the people you are subscribed to. Finally friendfeed makes sense and has a lot less noise.

Here's a video about Why I love feedalizr. It shows you how I'm using it and the benefits of the client.

Black In America @ Brooklyn Public Library

Tonight I had the pleasure of being invited by CNN to "The State of Black America: A Panel Discussion," with Soledad O'Brien. Panelists included Janks Morton, Dr. Steve Perry, Andre Leon Talley, and Dr. Cornel West.

This is part of a series of discussions that O'Brien has been hosting in conjunction with "CNN Presents: Black In America." There'll be a special VIP screening at the Essence Music Festival, and if you're a journalist or blogger who will be down there, I can send you name forward to get on the list. Just submit your request on my contact form, and I'll send your name to CNN.

With just my Tmobile Wing, it was impossible to shoot the entire event, or even to shoot it that well, but I did get two clips of the discussion. I mainly spent the rest of my time listening in, and eventually adding commentary to the discussion -- to inform them of who currently owns BlackPlanet, as well as to engage Dr. Perry to better understand his position.

Video: Andre Leon Talley asks Soledad O'Brien about the media's fascination with Tim Russert

The only problem I had is that the conversation, as so many conversations about race in America do, focused on the black male and his responsibility. Perhaps because there were four men on the panel, the conversation veered in this direction. A woman, Tara Wall, a conservative columnist and deputy editorial page editor for The Washington Times was supposed to attend but she had a family emergency.

It seems, we spend so much time, as a community, worrying about saving our young black males, that we often forget about the young black females. Many of them are just as angry as the young black males that everyone is focusing on. And many of them are being impacted -- greatly -- by the anger of young black males.

I was glad though that West pointed out that we could not, and possibly never will, be sure if all the steps we make will ever seriously have an impact or effect on the total devastation caused by American racism. I was also glad that he brought up that personal responsibility was just as important as community responsibility. Yet, I didn't wholeheartedly buy into most of the panelists belief that their generation left the next generation with a mess, or even that their generation grew up in a more collective effort and networking environment than the next generation. There's always all this talk about what's supposed to be Gen X, being the me generation, the most commodotized generation, and the most apathetic.

I'm often disheartened when I hear a lot of that generational talk, because I sit in a crossfire right dab smack in the middle of two generations. A lot of what the older folks are saying doesn't resonate with me, and then a lot of what the younger folks are saying doesn't necessarily resonate either.

One thing I do know, we can't let how far Obama has gotten fool us into believing that we have entered some transracial era in American history. If that's where we are in our thinking, it's time to remove the blindfold. We can't ignore that Obama is seen as a magical negro , and not an angry black man, as West also pointed out in tonight's discussion.

And though I didn't fully see eye-to-eye with Dr. Perry, author of Man Up!, I heard him loud and clear when he responded to a young man in the audience who said he was extremely angry after the Sean Bell verdict. He first asked the young man why this death meant so much more than any death that happens every day in the hood. He told him to ask himself that question first. And then told him to think about what he was doing as an individual in his community. That point rang clear and true to the young man, who shook is head, earnestly, in agreement. West added, that we are a blues people and that it's alright to sit back for a moment and think -- to turn on Luther, Aretha, James Clevland, and bring it all back together again.

As I hadn't intended on reporting this event, I didn't take notes, and most of what I've written here comes directly from my recollection. Hopefully, some publication out there is getting it right and telling the truth, in full.

Video: Dr. Cornel West on the Obama era

Elizabeth & John Edwards PDF 2008

On Monday, I attended Personal Democracy Forum 2008 to moderate a panel, "Data Geeks Unite!" I came away with a lot more information about the future of politics and the impact that the Web has had on politics than I even thought possible.

Here are two clips from an interview that Andrew Rasiej conducted with Elizabeth Edwards via skype. John Edwards was coming home, just as the interview was being conducted and joined in.

(Note: This was shot on a Tmobile Wing and not a Video Cam or multimedia phone. Please keep this in mind while viewing. The shots and audio may be a little rough.)

Video: Elizabeth Edwards - PDF 2008

Video: John Edwards - PDF 2008

Sing Along / 7 Songs Meme

jbrotherlove tagged me for this meme.

“List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.”

Kid Cudi

Electro + Jazz version

Kid Cudi - Day 'N' Nite (Crooker's Remix) kidcudi.com
MSTRKRFT - Bounce (feat. Nore) myspace.com/mstrkrft
N.E.R.D. - Yeah You n-e-r-d.com
Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Calvin Harris Remix) myspace.com/cutcopy
The Bloody Beetroots - Detroit (Ghetto Edit) myspace.com/thebloodybeetroots
Jamie Cullum - Frontin' (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge) jamiecullum.com
Esperanza Spalding - Body & Soul esperanzaspalding.com

Bonus Track
Santogold - Your Voice myspace.com/santogold

This playlist somewhat reflects my last.fm profile, as well as my muxtape.

I tag:

QOTD: Usher Says...

Have you seen the new cover story of Vibe, where Usher says:

“It can never be bad to have a foundation as a man—a black man—in a time when women are dying for men,” he says. “Women have started to become lovers of each other as a result of not having enough men. Are you not studying the stories? Wake up! Black love is a good thing.”

I haven't read the entire story, but only the excerpt online so I can't fully judge. But in reading the excerpt, I wasn't quite sure what the quote had to do with the overall subject. It looks like the piece is about his love with his wife, maintaining his brand, and where his career stands with his new album.

So, I wasn't quite sure where the quote fit in, other than it was a good pull out quote that would stir up some controversy for Vibe. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the article goes deeper into why he says that, but the way the excerpt is set up online -- it goes nowhere. So ok, the setup is that he stood up as a black man to take care of his responsibility and build a foundation, and to be a representative of black love (because it is real and does exist). But I'm still a little unsure of how the quote really fits into the piece. I don't know, call me crazy.

Publishing Takes A Page From Radiohead, NIN, and Saul Williams

We've talked about these things before. Radiohead's digital download distribution experiment. Saul Williams follow up to the experiment. Trent Reznor's take on the Saul Williams experiment.

We've even talked about the future of print and even, piracy and the future of the music biz. So when I was over at Chris Brogan's site today, and read that my boy Matt Mason, author of The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Reinvented Capitalism was giving away free digital downloads of the book, I wasn't that surprised. Happy. But not surprised.

The model, much like Radiohead's, leaves the price of the download entirely up to the consumer. The only thing Mason asks for is your email contact info. And he promises not to spam you. And Matt taps into something in they why he's doing this that I tried to present in my "Is Print Dead?" unkeynote back in portland a few weeks ago. Yes, it's been a common trend that perhaps only 20% of the books released each year end up being hits. Mason brings the present-day numbers down even lower when he reports that "The average American is reading just one book a year." But there's of course the long tail that comes into play here, especially with books -- books always have longer shelf life than music. In that I mean, the Times Bestseller list doesn't work in quite the same way as the Billboard charts. Furthermore, books that were hot 20 years ago, are often still hot today. Not always so true with music.

Of course, the electronic book, in and of itself isn't new. But the way Mason has chosen to distribute it is. He's taken the power of the piracy into his on hands. He's offering you a freemium, and if you like his product, he can upsell you at any time by offering you premium content related to the book. Perhaps you'll pay for the audiobook. Or behind-the-scenes info about the making of the book. Whatever his overall business model is here, I'm sure the e-copy is more than just a marketing tool as a hook into selling more books. One thing that's for sure, the next time he writes a book, you're going to remember him and you'll be more likely to purchase his content.

There's an interview with him over at FastCompany.com that you might want to check out: Steal This Idea, in which Mason discusses why and how pirating can be a good thing.

Stacey Dash on Celebrity Circus

Video: Stacey Dash & Trainer

NBC has launched yet another reality show called Celebrity Circus. This one features celebrities attempting circus acts, like trapeze and other Cirque du Soleil feats. One of the celebrities (seen in the video above) is 44-year-old Stacey Dash. You may remember her from her Playboy spread (pun intended) or that timeless teen classic Clueless. Though I'm sure I'm somewhere in the target demographic for watching this show, I seriously doubt that I will be. I was just more interested in (and inspired by) how good Dash still looks and the fact that she's able to perform some of these really difficult circus stunts.

Esperanza Spalding Is (So) Dope

Video: Esparenza Spalding on David Letterman June 4

She's now been on both David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel. Ever since I heard about her, I've been rotating her tunes. She reminds me of some of my favorite jazz vocalists like Nnenna Freelon and Vanessa Rubin, but at the same time she has an updated young, hip sound -- and besides, she can play the upright bass (a double one even). And she entered Berklee College of Music, at a very young age.

This is what Berklee wrote about her in 2004:

"Esperanza Spalding was 15 years old when she entered the world of the working musician at a Portland, Oregon, blues club, armed with a single bass line."

"With all those gigs and a full-time job, going to Berklee was the last thing on her mind. Esperanza never much liked school, anyway. She was home-schooled for most of her childhood. Then at 14, she earned a scholarship to a prestigious high school."

Her music has revived my interest in jazz music and jazz musicians. I haven't been this impressed with an artist in quite some time. Her voice is simply mellifluous, and her jazz musicianship is well beyond her years.

Esperanza Spalding on MySpace

WTF: Michelle Obama = Obama's Baby's Mama?

Video: Fox News - Outraged Liberals: Stop Picking on Obama's Baby Mama!

If you haven't seen this video already, it's a clear example at the media taking missteps to come off sounding with it and ending up sounding racist. WTF is all I can say on this one. Fox News may go for the sensational, but this time, it's over and beyond. It appears that yesterday on Fox News, a segment that featured conservative blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin discussing the GOP taking aim at Michelle Obama, a description ran across the screen that said: "Outraged Liberals: Stop Picking on Obama's Baby Mama!"

In this case I'm hoping that Fox News was trying to be cute.

This is what they need to know though:

1. This is a derogatory term (though Kimora uses "My Baby's Daddy" all the time when referring to Russell Simmons, even when they were together legally)
3. The term is descriptive of someone you are not legally married to
4. The term is descriptive of someone you only have a relationship with because you had a child with them -- not because you love them or have been building a family with them

It's not cute!

It's not clever!

It's not hip!

Alex Koppelman over at Salon seems to have broken this news yesterday.

On The Agenda

Where I'll Be Next...

June 23 -24, 2008
"Data Geeks Unite! Building the new tools for getting out the vote, getting out the corruption, and going hyper-local" Moderator
Personal Democracy Forum 2008 | New York, NY

July 14-15, 2008
"Totally Wired Hip Hop: Reaching Urban Youth" Moderator
2008 Ypulse National Mashup | San Francisco, CA

September 23-26, 2008
"New media - new business" Keynote
Web Directions South | Sydney, Australia

Where Are The Black Tech Bloggers Podcast

It's finally here, after several months of waiting. The SXSW Where Are The Black Tech Bloggers Podcast. Hear what the panel was really about.

Audio: Where Are The Black Tech Bloggers? (Podcast)

Participants
Angela Benton - BlackWeb2.0
N'Gai Croal - Level Up
Ronald Lewis - 24/7 with Ronald Lewis
Lena West - Social Media 360 and TechForward
Tiffany B. Brown - Tiffany B. Brown
Cheryl Coward - Cheryl Coward

I moderated the panel.

And on that all-encompassing list of Black Tech Bloggers, I've added a few since any of these previous posts and I plan to make an OPML file (for download) of the entire group so that anyone can add it to whichever RSS reader they use.

[HT/ BlackWeb2.0 for finding the podcast available and posting it first]

Is The Web Dead?

About a week ago, I wrote about my unkeynote, Is Print Dead? from WebVisions in Portland. While most of the presentations have been uploaded to slideshare at this point -- here -- I wanted to take the time to highlight one that somewhat dove tailed my presentation.

Roger Black, who does major work in design for content-based media gave an interesting talk, Is The Web Dead? His talk in fact encouraged me to download Silverlight on my work Mac with the Times Reader to check out the experience of reading the NYT like a newspaper on my desktop instead of on the Web.

While he talked about UGC and Web 2.0, as well as how differently users perceive the Web in Mexico (where they actually enjoy flash presentations as openers to content), I wish he would have gotten into what content will be designed like for the semantic Web.

Anyway, here's his slideshow.

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