In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, we discuss the Qtrax debacle and Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo! Plus, we’ll take a look at whiteboard application Skrbl.com, instant messaging site Meebo.com, and Library of Congress images on Flickr. Hosts: Brian Kelley and John LeMasney. File size: 13 MB. Time: 26 min., 20 sec.

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Related Links:

• This podcast was recorded at Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton, N.J. Thanks, Triumph!
• crumb.tumblr.com – John LeMasney’s tumble log.
• bktandem.tumblr.com – Brian Kelley’s tumble log.
• John promotes some future talks he has coming up: Brookdale Computer Users Group talk on open source software (especially GIMP, Inkscape and Scribus) and server technologies in March, Trenton Computer Festival in April, and Princeton Public Library Tuesday Tech Talk on using technology to lose weight.
• Brian talks about his return to the stage as he played organ and — believe it or not — accordion for his friend Christian Beach on Feb. 2, 2008, at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como (formerly South Belmar), NJ. Watch the video at the very bottom of these show notes to see Brian playing tambourine and organ (far left…I show up every now and then) during Christian’s performance of “Poet of the Great Plains” at Saturday’s show.
• After something was misstated in the last podcast about timeline Web site Viygo.com, John and I are hoping to talk to viygo.com’s Matt Collins and Duncan Meech for an interview to appear in a future podcast.
• Microsoft has officially made a bid for Yahoo! John and Brian are among the many who are not happy about this.
• John loves these Vibe Body Sound Headphones.
• Periodic Table Printmaking Project – another topic discussed by John and the reason for the image above.
• Martin Sargent of TechTV fame has a new show…Internet Superstar.
• John discusses a few applications he has implemented on his blog at lemasney.com: whiteboard application Skrbl.com and instant messaging site Meebo.com.
• WWI: Experiences of an English Soldier – This blog features letters written by a World War I soldier that are posted online exactly 90 years after they were written, according to the dates on the original letters.
• The Library of Congress is putting 3,000 public-domain/copyright-free images on Flickr (let’s just hope Microsoft doesn’t screw that up if it gets its hands on the Yahoo-owned photo-sharing site).
• BBC Worldwide has opened up its MySpace and YouTube videos to the entire world…Brian has already posted a “Doctor Who” video on his MySpace profile.
• The similarly named “Technology in the Arts” blog writes about JotYou.com, an SMS service that takes geography and time into account.
• Finally, read all about one of the legendary tech-related disasters of all time…Qtrax! This P2P file-sharing service spent $1 million to announce it had struck deals with all four major record labels to distribute free DRM-encrypted tracks through an ad-supported service. Hours after the announcement, it became apparent that Qtrax had deals with NONE of the major labels. The Globe and Mail’s Matthew Ingram called Qtrax “one of the most bungled launches in Web 2.0 history.” Meanwhile, Ken Fisher of Ars Technica writes: “I can’t recall a launch this hyped that failed so miserably in recent years. None of the key pieces are there—the licenses, playable music, well-tested client code, the web site itself—yet they opened it to the public.” And GizmoRepublic.com referenced a famous Monty Python sketch by saying this about Qtrax: “It‘s like opening the doors to your new cheese shop, without stocking any actual cheese.”
• Check out the Technology and the Arts Events page.

And, as promised, here is the YouTube video I found of Christian Beach peforming “Poet of the Great Plains” at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como, NJ, on Feb. 2, 2008. I enter the frame every now and then playing tambourine and organ. Enjoy!

“Poet of the Great Plains” © 2007 C.J. Beach