A Few Quickies

I’m still far from home though (literally) out of the woods, having conceeded to the rain at Acadia Nat’l Park, but not quite ready to return to a life of blogging just yet. I figure I’ve slept in 12 places in the last 26 nights, and though I’ve been having a FABULOUS time, somehow the intellectual part of my brain is just not very interested in generating new content right now. Vacation, or something. Go figure.

But here are a couple of things that might interest you … two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending Mesh (“Canada’s Web Conference”) where I participated in a panel on online privacy in which I apparently horrified a few people by pointing out that you don’t get to control what people say about you on the internet and, alas, people do have the right to say things about you that you might not like. You can catch a free little video of me saying something to this effect along with a smart thought or two from another tattooed professor, Mark Kingwell, if you go to the iTunes Music Store and search for mDialog’s Mesh podcast. There are other excellent video clips there, including several from Warner Bros. Records Chief Tech Officer Ethan Kaplan’s keynote about the music industry, which is nicely written up by Mike “What He Said” Masnick, my favorite tech blogger, who, I might add, is also really nice and interesting (well, we knew he was interesting, but the nice part was a pleasant treat). Kaplan’s keynote was alright — it’s great to hear a record company person who understands that the “value” isn’t in the artifact but in the fan experience, even if, as Masnick points out, he’s representing a corporation that doesn’t get it. I was interested to hear Kaplan talk about his sense that the future of the music industry is subscribing to a band — pay an annual fee and get a continuous experience of new songs, new videos, blogs, other content. Forget the windowing of album releases, subscribe to a continuous dribble of new content.

For those wondering whether my trek to Denmark to see my favorite band, Madrugada, perform was worth it: yes, yes, a million times yes.

For those seeking a great botanical garden: Montreal!

For those seeking vacation pictures: Ta-dum! Sneak preview (both sides of the Atlantic!)

Acadia

Vieux Quebec

Rosenborg

Aarhus Denmark

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