You’re invited to join our client The Alluring Fluteman “Darryl Evan Jones” in his debut performance @ BLUES ALLEY the nation’s oldest continuing jazz supper club. Come out and experience the instrumental soul vibe and flirtatious sounds of the fluteman. His sexy and dreamy performance will be the perfect beginning to a Pre Valentine’s Day celebration!

February 6, 2012 8:00pm & 10:00pm(2 shows)
1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC 20007
Tickets $20.00 available in advance
www.bluesalley.com or 202.337.4141

The Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which has been called the Stop Online Piracy Act’s (SOPA) sister legislation, aimed to prevent US companies from assistance to foreign websites that hosted pirated content, with assistance including funding, advertising and links, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Both bills have undergone a number of changes following widespread criticism, and today at least 13 senators announced their opposition to the PIPA bill today, with five previously sponsors of the bill, Ars Technica reported.

Eleven of the senators were Republican, with two Democratic, Ars Technica said.

Republican senator from Florida Marco Rubio, previously a sponsor, said there were legitimate concerns about the impact of the bill on access to the Internet, and about the “potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government’s power to impact the Internet,” Ars Technica reported

Forbes reported that Mr Rubio had written on his Facebook page that congress should listen to these concerns and avoid rushing through a bill which could have “many unintended consequences.”

In withdrawing his support, he encouraged Senator Harry Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the senate floor.

“Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet.”

OPEN Act
Speaking of new legislation, representative and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa , along with 24 co-sponsors, introduced the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) act to the House of Representatives, PC World reported.

A Senate version of the act was introduced in December, it said.

Mr Issa, said earlier in the week that the hearing for the SOPA bill, scheduled for Wednesday, had been postponed, and that the Leader of the House of Representatives Eric Cantor had assured him that “we will continue to work to address outstanding concerns and work to build consensus prior to any anti-piracy legislation coming before the House for a vote.”

The OPEN Act would allow copyright owners to file complaints about infringement on foreign websites with the United States International Trade Commission, PC World said.

“By contrast, SOPA would allow the U.S. Department of Justice and copyright holders to seek court orders requiring payment processors and ad networks to stop doing business with foreign websites accused by the plaintiffs of copyright infringement.”

Mr Issa said the Internet blackout had underscored the flawed approach taken by SOPA and PIPA to the problem of IP infringement.

“OPEN is a smarter way to protect taxpayers’ rights while protecting the Internet.”

Lead sponsor of SOPA Representative Lamar Smith said the OPEN Act did not to enough to stop the loss of billions due to online piracy and that it made the Internet even more open to “foreign thieves that steal America’s technology and intellectual property without protecting US businesses and consumers,” PC World reported.

“The proposal amounts to a safe harbor for foreign criminals who steal American technology, products and intellectual property,” Mr Smith said.

Courtesy of The National Business Review
by Alex Wells

UPDATE: Congress shelves SOPA – but InternetNZ warns threats remain

I’d like to see the NZ government work within accepted diplomatic boundaries to at least express concerns at two US laws in the making- SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act before the House of Representatives) and PIPA or the PROTECT IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act before the Senate).

Not that expressing our concerns are going to make much of a difference. These two Acts are typical examples of the corruption destroying the United States’ democratic foundations that Lawrence Lessig spoke about at last year’s NetHui. He was referring to laws written by powerful corporates and expeditiously passed into law word-for-word.

With New Zealand being the least corrupt country in the world, we have the moral right to do so. We need to stand up against the export of corrupt US politics to democracies around the world. Lawrence Lessig put it even more strongly- we have the duty to do so. Further, as I’ll explain later in this post, our vital national interests are under threat.

SOPA and PROTECT IP
These Acts are broadly similar, aimed at “rogue” non-US websites providing material violating copyright and counterfeit goods. That’s right, they are US domestic laws targeting websites hosted in New Zealand and other countries.

The Acts would enable the US government and intellectual property holders to force US ISPs to block “rogue” websites; stop services to them (advertising, and payment processing); and prevent search providers (like Google) displaying links to them.

As currently written, SOPA requires court orders while PROTECT IP doesn’t. Both focus on Internet intermediaries based in the USA to target and block non-US websites.

Much of the criticism about these Acts are around the low barriers to shut down websites without due process based on allegations alone; the disproportionate response; and the way “rogue” websites are blocked. Also, the inflated and made-up Intellectual Property losses due to the Internet trotted out by Hollywood and others that we are familiar with in New Zealand and around the world.

Example of an NZ website
Take the example of a New Zealand website selling Kiwi handicrafts, both domestically and internationally. The first Google search result is KiwiArtz Store so let’s take them as our case study.

One fine day they find that they are no longer on the major search engines, rendering them invisible to much of the world. Much of their online advertising has been blocked. They find they can no longer accept credit card payments online. Customer complaints are flooding in. People going direct to their website from the US are re-directed to an Intellectual Property violation page.

There was no warning and they are worried as business is badly down. On investigation they find that all of this was due to an aggrieved US company taking action under the new law (whether or not the US company is right or not or indeed whether it even has a valid grievance in the first place is all irrelevant).

KiwiArtz Store now has some difficult choices to make. Should they put in the money, time and effort to fight the US company in a US court of law? Should they close down and perhaps re-open under a new name? Should they block US visitors to the website and negotiate with the US company directly? Should they give up online sales entirely and focus on in-person customers only?

And, if KiwiArtz Store had a .com domain name with a US registrar, things would have been worse. Their domain name would be gone.

Breaking the Internet
Both SOPA and PIPA have been criticised on many grounds. Some, including many US tech giants, have supported the end goal (cracking down on “rogue” foreign websites) while condemning the means. Others are critical of both the goals and the means.

There are two angles that I want to further detail. They are the ways that the Acts will be implemented which undermine New Zealand’s national interest of having an open and strong Internet.

First, the way websites will be blocked is by breaking the DNS (Domain Name System) and thereby the Internet itself. This is one of the major grounds why the White House opposes the two laws (the others are that the Acts “reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet.”).

All the global efforts to strengthen the DNS, including in New Zealand, such as DNSSEC, won’t work anymore. DNSSEC is a great way to ensure that when you, for example, type www.ird.govt.nz into your browser, you actually go to the Inland Revenue website and not some malicious website trying to steal your money or personal information.

Second, Intellectual Property and prescription medicines are only the tip of the iceberg- industries that are trying to break the Internet for their own narrow gains. These areas are first up due to the incredible lobbying power and money of Hollywood and the big pharma companies. Watch this excellent presentation by Cory Doctorow to understand how the areas demanding protection will only increase as a part of the coming war on general computing.

To that extent, even if you have zero interest or sympathy for Intellectual Property issues, it is only a matter of time before the war comes to your doorsteps. And it could be from any number of countries who follow, or are pressurised to follow, the US lead.

Time to draw a line
These two Acts may well be postponed, modified, vetoed by the US President, or challenged in the US courts. But we can’t sit around and be a silent spectator.

The good guys won the first round (ACTA) with the help of the European Union. The second round (3 strikes legislation) was probably a tie while corporate greed is ahead in round three (Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations). SOPA and PIPA are the next round. The hydra-headed war between corporate greed and an open Internet goes on.

The time’s come to draw a line and for the New Zealand government to go in to bat for our national interests. We have both a moral right and duty to do so.

Courtesy of The National Business Review
by Vikram Kumar

While many of the tactile skills needed for our new generation of PC-based web design and development are radically different, a critical eye for detail is as relevant as ever. In fact, because of the lower cost of entry and increasing commoditization of design, that eye for detail is not only necessary for staying afloat in the profession, but a requirement for success.

The functional details are different than the ones with which our forefathers wrestled. Most of us do not own goggles to prevent spray adhesive from getting in our eyes or loupes to gauge dot gain at a press check. We do, however, have to deal with the endearing idiosyncrasies of browsers; we all run into the same double margin bug and inconsistent JavaScript support. These are quantitative, documented issues. Good website builders like you and I avoid these altogether simply by writing better code. But the details that can kill a project faster than a fly against a windshield are more subversive: the ones that, in hindsight, should have been blindingly obvious.

It’s never just about design

Only the luckiest website builders actually build websites all day. Most of us are also part-time proofers, project managers, usability experts, design critics, navigational architects, therapists for copywriters, and general go-to experts on all thing interweb. We are responsible for not only testing in different browsers, but for knowing which browsers our audience will use, and why. We have to sit in on conference calls and listen to people criticize our work and ask the same question nine times. We are responsible for checking the consistency of link treatment. Button design. Form functionality. Whether little decorative flourish A matches little decorative flourish B. We have to pay attention to a lot of stuff, and a lot of it falls well outside the sphere of design.

After working in numerous design departments and managing of a diverse creative team, I’ve learned that the best employees have distinct habits. These employees:

• re-read the project brief before clarifying outstanding questions with the project manager or client,
• communicate with project stakeholders to catch any mid-project scope changes—and, more importantly, understand why these changes are happening,
• challenge changes they don’t agree with, and defend their positions objectively and pragmatically,
• pass work to colleagues for a peer gut-check before a formal review,
• spell check, then reads everything again to catch the errors spell cheque doughs knot,
• read everything again for language nuances, such as consistent point of view, active voice, and parallel structure,
• study relevant market trends and understand the competition,
• suggest details that improve the piece, from adding clearer alt text to switching out images, to altering the grid in ways that allow content to breathe,
• know which battles to fight and which to avoid, and
• recognize and work on the details that help them get better at their jobs…and then go on to get better at their jobs.

Invest for the long run

When design deliverables go wrong, it often leads to Old Testament, end-of-the-world stuff—fire and brimstone, rivers and seas boiling, cats and dogs living together. Every finger lands squarely in the face the designer. And why not? It is every designer’s responsibility to ensure the 100% satisfaction of the client, and that means delivering work in which every detail is thought through: top to bottom, inside and out.

In practice, though, there are two types of people when it comes to paying attention to detail: those who say they reviewed their work, and those who actually reviewed their work.

Website designers and developers who consistently fall short of expectations, who let little details slip through, ultimately develop a bad reputation. For the corporate employee, choice projects go to others and promotions are few; for the freelancer, client referrals dwindle. Perhaps most deflating, however, is that colleagues no longer take you seriously in peer design reviews. When people expect you to miss the details, the road to redemption is long.

The black comedy of it all is that few people celebrate designers when they get it right. We are, after all, expected to nail it perfectly every time. We juggle all of the tiny pieces of the great project puzzle, and after it goes live on the web, then it’s on to the next project. There is little short-term glory in being perfect, but there are long-term rewards for being consistently great, and good managers look for that consistency across the careers of their employees.

The little things lead to success

When designers and developers think about the details of the project, they must think critically and analytically. The best solutions come from both sides of the brain, built from both the how and the why.

To be truly great, we have to understand the motivation of our clients, maintain constant two-way communication with shockingly uncreative people, get a firm handle on copywriting and how that craft exists symbiotically with the visual element, and foresee how the finished whole will be greater than the sum of the bits and pieces we spent hours obsessing over. All of these factors cascade into the final product.

Creative professionals who can see all angles of a project are the ones who ultimately succeed in the industry. They win awards, get promoted, and make money, but most importantly they develop a reputation for caring about detail, for putting a personal and deliberate effort into making sure all of the tiny things are in place to make the final product perfect.

Courtesy of A List Apart
by Kevin Potts

Thousands of Georgians go hungry every day.

But now there’s a card that you can pick up that can help feed those that are hungry.  A card that’s about the size of a credit card, like the kind that you might use to pay for your dinner.

Now you can use this card to pick up the tab for someone who otherwise might not be able to sit at the table next to you.

It’s a typical lunchtime in Albany.  At restaurants like B.J.’s Country Buffet, the plates are piled high, waiting for the customers to pile it on themselves.  At least some of that food, however, will wind up in the trash can.  Too much of it in fact.

B.J. Fletcher, an Albany Restaurateur said, ”they’ll fix them a couple of plates, eat what they want and leave the equivalence of a whole plate on the table.”

That’s in stark contrast to the food story for some families around South Georgia.

“There’s people who are struggling to put the three meals a day on their plates,” said Fletcher.

So, Fletcher decided to do something about the problem.  The result?  The Albany Food Challenge.  It has three parts.  The first is up to you when you go out.

Fletcher said, “if you give me that waste – stop that waste – I can feed hundreds of people free.”

Then there’s another way to help while you’re out.  You can buy cards that serve as vouchers and either give them away or leave them to help someone get a meal.  But Fletcher realized that some people don’t go out to eat, so she figured out a way to reach them as well.

Tonya Wright of Wright Touch Designs said, ”BJ came to me and she said we want to get a web site up and allow folks to give money and contribute to the cause. We want to get sponsors.”

For Wright, the chance to ease the hunger that some people feel was too good to pass up.

“I have five kids of my own, and sometimes you try to figure out how to feed them and take care of them, especially with the economy the way that it is,” she said.

Even if South Georgians can’t eliminate it completely, they can help fill the stomachs of people who don’t have enough. And that’s some real food for thought.

The address for the web site is www.albanyfoodchallenge.com and it will be activated on Monday of next week.  We’ll have a link to that site when it is up and running

Courtesy of WALB
by Jay Polk

Creating a graphic design masterpiece that will instantly stir-up interest and curiosity of purposeful as well as accidental website users and researchers is achieved by following an easy and efficient graphic design process. Basically, starting a graphic design project is a team effort between the website owner/s and graphic designer/s.

Here are easy and efficient steps to achieve great benefits in doing the graphic design process:

Meeting
Begin your GDP job by setting up a meeting (live chat through Adobe Connect, Skype, or Yahoo Messenger) to discuss the scope and concepts of the project. Get the detailed requirements of the client and information about the business or product to be able to develop the content, design and goal of the project.

You can also ask for the client’s sample of favorite work that you can use as model for your new project. For your part, you can show the portfolio of your projects and request the client which designs he would like to pattern his project. Then, you can discuss the color schemes, type of images, animations and target audience of the project. You should also discuss the pricing, specifications and the delivery date of the project.

Researching
Successful business have strong research base. Before jumping right into graphic design process, save yourself time and energy by researching about:

- the client’s business and/or products,
- fresh ideas,
- latest trends,
- innovations,
- suitable images and
- competitors of the client’s business or products.

Conceptualizing
Conceptualizing in graphic design process is an approach of putting ideas and information you have gathered and researched into graphical or illustrated forms. You will creatively organize and translate these ideas into graphics and pictures so that a new design about the business or product is developed.

Once the concept of the project is agreed upon by you and the client, you can now start to translate the concepts into a hardcopy.

Layout & Design
You can save so much time and energy by starting with simple layout or quick sketches of logo concepts, line drawings showing where elements will be placed on the page or even a quick handmade version of a package design. Then present the concepts to your client and ask for any changes. For web design, wireframes are a great way to start with your page layouts.

It’s always a good idea to present your client with at least two or more versions of design. This gives the client some options and allows you to combine their favorite elements from each. You can encourage your client to do “mixing and matching” of the designs you provide.

After you have both agreed on the designs, you can now proceed to implement the concepts and designs ready for presentation.

Presentation & Revising
Once your proposed work is done, be able to make a formal presentation and defend why you came up with such concepts and designs. From their suggestions you can present a second round of designs. Since you’re the designer and the one in authority, don’t be afraid to give your opinion on what looks best. After this second round, it isn’t uncommon to have a couple more rounds of changes before reaching a final design.

Approval & Finalizing
Once, the final design is approved you can now proceed adding the final touches of your work and getting ready for final submission.

Graphic designers work with drawn, painted, photographed, or computer-generated images (pictures), but they also design the letterforms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines, and menus; and even on computer screens. Designers create, choose, and organize these elements-typography, images, and the so-called “white space” around them-to communicate a message. Graphic design is a part of your daily life. From humble things like gum wrappers to huge things like billboards to the T-shirt you’re wearing, graphic design informs, persuades, organizes, stimulates, locates, identifies, attracts attention and provides pleasure.

Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. The main tools are image and typography.

Image-based design
Designers develop images to represent the ideas their clients want to communicate. Images can be incredibly powerful and compelling tools of communication, conveying not only information but also moods and emotions. People respond to images instinctively based on their personalities, associations, and previous experience. For example, you know that a chili pepper is hot, and this knowledge in combination with the image creates a visual pun.

In the case of image-based design, the images must carry the entire message; there are few if any words to help. These images may be photographic, painted, drawn, or graphically rendered in many different ways. Image-based design is employed when the designer determines that, in a particular case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

Type-based design
In some cases, designers rely on words to convey a message, but they use words differently from the ways writers do. To designers, what the words look like is as important as their meaning. The visual forms, whether typography (communication designed by means of the printed word) or handmade lettering, perform many communication functions. They can arrest your attention on a poster, identify the product name on a package or a truck, and present running text as the typography in a book does. Designers are experts at presenting information in a visual form in print or on film, packaging, or signs.

When you look at an “ordinary” printed page of running text, what is involved in designing such a seemingly simple page? Think about what you would do if you were asked to redesign the page. Would you change the typeface or type size? Would you divide the text into two narrower columns? What about the margins and the spacing between the paragraphs and lines? Would you indent the paragraphs or begin them with decorative lettering? What other kinds of treatment might you give the page number? Would you change the boldface terms, perhaps using italic or underlining? What other changes might you consider, and how would they affect the way the reader reacts to the content? Designers evaluate the message and the audience for type-based design in order to make these kinds of decisions.

Image and type
Designers often combine images and typography to communicate a client’s message to an audience. They explore the creative possibilities presented by words (typography) and images (photography, illustration, and fine art). It is up to the designer not only to find or create appropriate letterforms and images but also to establish the best balance between them.

Designers are the link between the client and the audience. On the one hand, a client is often too close to the message to understand various ways in which it can be presented. The audience, on the other hand, is often too broad to have any direct impact on how a communication is presented. What’s more, it is usually difficult to make the audience a part of the creative process. Unlike client and audience, graphic designers learn how to construct a message and how to present it successfully. They work with the client to understand the content and the purpose of the message. They often collaborate with market researchers and other specialists to understand the nature of the audience. Once a design concept is chosen, the designers work with illustrators and photographers as well as with typesetters and printers or other production specialists to create the final design product.

Symbols, logos and logotypes
Symbols and logos are special, highly condensed information forms or identifiers. Symbols are abstract representation of a particular idea or identity. The CBS “eye” and the active “television” are symbolic forms, which we learn to recognize as representing a particular concept or company. Logotypes are corporate identifications based on a special typographical word treatment. Some identifiers are hybrid, or combinations of symbol and logotype. In order to create these identifiers, the designer must have a clear vision of the corporation or idea to be represented and of the audience to which the message is directed.

Courtesy of AIGA
Graphic Design: A Career Guide and Education Directory
Edited by Sharon Helmer Poggenpohl
Copyright 1993
The American Institute of Graphic Arts

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