It’s fun to listen to how the team leaders respond. Some you’d expect for a weekend of web development (“we need Drupal developers”). But some show what sets GiveCamp apart. Last night? “Everyone’s been so helpful.” “We’ve got a team of rockstars.”

For me the team leader meeting is a great summary of the weekend as a whole. It shows how eager everyone is to make sure everyone’s project is completed in time. And it shows how a devoted group of passionate people can accomplish amazing work in a very short period of time.

There’s an energy from the first hours at GiveCamp that lasts through the end of the weekend. Seeing people coding at 2:00 a.m. Watching a non-profit representative smile as they see their project being built before their eyes. It’s those moments – and those team meetings – that make this an unforgettable weekend.

It’s painful to listen to the “Retraction” episode. Daisey’s long silences before responding to questions from TAL host Ira Glass serve as a uncomfortable confirmation that he was willing to ignore the journalistic standards of This American Life to draw attention to himself and his own show. But just as unfortunate was the fact that Glass and his TAL team didn’t successfully fact-check the story before airing it. I’d say that the latter is the more important takeaway from the episode, but I’m afraid that it will be the less reported of the two.

Throughout the episode, Glass painted a story of This American Life as victim. He asked Daisey again and again why he lied to the show’s producers and to Glass himself. He assured listeners throughout the show that public radio programs had high standards and that they follow thorough processes for fact-checking.

But they didn’t work. And other than calling the airing a “screwup” and saying that they never should’ve aired the show, Glass didn’t apologize.

Was it wrong for Daisey to air his story on a show like This American Life? Definitely, and I agree with Glass’s “worldview” that Daisey’s performances should be marked as fictional. But for a host of reasons, sometimes sources lie. It’s a journalist’s job to find out what is true and what is not – and when there’s doubt about part of a story, it should be labelled as such (especially when the source in question sells a series entitled “All Stories Are Fiction”). The responsibility for the retracted episode is in Glass’s hands, not Daisey’s.

Why didn’t TAL producers corroborate the story with others who had visited the factories in question? Why didn’t they talk to Marketplace’s Rob Schmitz, a public radio reporter featured in the retraction episode who “heard the story and had questions about it”, before running the original monologue? Schmitz had been to numerous Chinese factories and had talked with some of the Apple supplier workers who were mentioned in the story.

The tragedy of the original story is that all stories about Apple supplier factories will now be tainted with uncertainty and doubt. That could’ve been prevented if the story never ran at all.

The retraction attempts to place the responsibilities of journalism on the subject of the story, not on the journalist. That’s the real tragedy.

• Announce a stock dividend. This seems to be the most popular guess. But Apple, above all else, is stubborn, and their stock has been doing remarkably well. I don’t think they’d see a dividend as beneficial, and I think some people may take it as a sign of weakness. (For the record, I own a single share of Apple stock. I bought at $367.24.)
• Buy back stock. I’ll be honest: I don’t know much about stock repurchases. From what I’ve read, it seems like it’d make a lot of sense for Apple, and the fact that only serious investor-types know what the heck it is would explain the late notice and the early schedule. There’s a part of me that thinks Apple really doesn’t care that much, though, and would want to keep the reserve for investment down the line.
• Buy Twitter (or such-and-such tech company). Some have said that it’d be a good idea to buy Twitter, noting how integrated it’s become into iOS. It certainly makes sense; Apple has a notorious reputation for controlling everything within their ecosystem. I’m not sure the Twitter guys want to be bought – and I think they might ask more than Apple’s willing to spend. Then again, Apple’s never been strong in the social space (see: Ping), so if they want some heavy-hitters in that area, Twitter might be their ticket. (See also: A Brief History of Apple Not Buying Things by Harry McCracken)
• Buy a phone company. There have long been a few calls for Apple to buy Sprint, AT&T’s wireless division, or the American portion of T-Mobile. This, too, speaks to Apple’s desire to control everything. In this case, though, I think they may run into regulatory problems – and I don’t know if Apple wants to deal with the hassle of wireless infrastructure.
• Buy a component supplier. Buying suppliers is right in line with Apple’s way of thinking, but I can’t remember a time in the past where they’ve announced such an acquisition on a conference call. They might if it were big enough, but the likely player in that scenario (Samsung) could trigger some antitrust issues.
• Invest in Chinese factories. With all the press about their suppliers, Apple could decide to put a few billion to improve conditions in their Chinese supply chain. Frankly, though, I don’t think they’d want to attract additional attention to the issue so close to the This American Life controversy, and if they did, I think they’d do a bigger announcement than an early morning conference call. (But if they disregarded public opinion, as they have in the past, it would definitely be a good investment.)
• Invest in non-Chinese factories. Many people want Apple to invest in American (or non-Chinese) factories. Tim Cook is a ruthless operations guy, though, and the logistics don’t pan out at scale (for details, start listening to this week’s This American Life at 42:40). If they did anything, it’d probably be mostly symbolic… but Apple hasn’t done much like that in the past. But again, I think they’d want a bigger event than a conference call for this kind of announcement.
• Announce a component purchase. Apple likes to pre-buy components to save money, so a huge memory/display/battery reservation would seem in line. Not sure they’d announce this publicly either, though.
• Announce a research and development program, or an incubation program for startup companies. It’s a noble thought, but I don’t think they’re at that place right now. It’s not completely out of character (remember the iFund?), but I think they’d want to use a bigger venue than a conference call for that kind of announcement (especially one at 6:00 a.m. Pacific).
• Do nothing. If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the option to do nothing. My guess? Tim Cook says something along the lines of, “We want to keep a reserve available so that we can continue to lead the industry and protect the products we’ve invested billions to develop.” but it’s a bit suspect that they’d announce this right as trading opens on a Monday.

My top guesses, in order: do nothing, buy back stock, and invest in Chinese factories.

Whatever the case, this proves that there’s no such thing as a minor announcement when Apple is involved.

• Boeing Boeing at Penobscot Theatre
• Brewer Winterfest kickoff fireworks over the Penobscot River
• Eastern Maine Class B basketball quarterfinals at the Bangor Auditorium
• Husson Eagles basketball vs. Johnson State at Husson University
• UMaine hockey vs. Massachusetts at the Alfond Arena
• Avenue Q by the UMaine School of Performing Arts at Hauck Auditorium

If you don’t think there’s anything to do around Bangor, you’re not looking.

This supporter versus critic situation reminds me a lot of the Live Music Archive. The LMA is an amazing resource to find bootlegged audio from concerts, and before the days of YouTube is was a great site to visit if you wanted to find out if you’d still like your favorite band after you heard them live. The LMA faced a similar permission issue, and they solved it by requiring (and publishing) a confirmation from the artist (or their management) that taping and sharing was OK.

Does Pinterest need this kind of registration system? I think it’s way too much of a hassle, and frankly I don’t think it’s practical.

Over the weekend I found that Pinterest has an option to put a Pin It button on your website (scroll down on the page to “‘Pin It’ Button for Websites”), similar to the buttons for Facebook and Twitter sharing. I quickly added it over on both the blog and store at Pine Tree Photography, and it’s an awesome fit. The website button benefits site owners in two ways; it reminds people to share their content if they like it, and it gives a stamp of approval from the artist saying that he wants his content shared.

If Pinterest continues to grow and thrive, I’m convinced that it will face permission issues from artists. The Pin It button for sites is a perfect solution for both site owners and Pinterest users, and we should encourage every social-friendly artist we know to add them. Let’s make those buttons the standard way to tell if an artist says, “I’m OK with being pinned.”

Pinterest’s growth creates challenges, though. They need to make sure the site is beneficial both for users of the site who want to share and for artists who create work worth sharing.

Pinterest’s problem

Sharing images on social networks is nothing new, but Pinterest takes a different (and more troubling) approach. On sites like Facebook and Twitter, there’s often a reasonable assumption that someone will click through an image or link to find more information about a photo that’s been shared by friends. When you click on a shared link on those networks, you’re taken to the image’s original source.¹ That’s great for content creators, as it brings new people to their site and gives the creator the chance to show new visitors their work.

Pinterest is different. When you add a new pin, you’re asked for the address of a web page; the site loads the page, pulls a prominent image from the page, and shows it within Pinterest. While you’re viewing your friends’ pins, there’s no direct way to visit the original source; a source link is only available on the pin detail popup. (Clicking the full-size image or the inconspicuous source link above the image sends you to the source site.) These popups show images at full size, so there’s very little motivation for normal users² to visit the original author’s site; the Pinterest user can view everything from his friends without ever leaving the site.

It’s worth noting that it’s possible to separate pins into two categories: those that encourage a user to visit the original source (recipes, products, craft tutorials, etc.) and those that don’t (photographs, style, and design). I see Pinterest as an amazing opportunity for the first group; a user would see a photo of a great recipe, for example, and would take the time to head to the source site to find ingredients and steps. Pins from the second group don’t fare so well for the original author; for a pretty sunset photo, it would be much easier for a normal user to comment right within Pinterest and move onto the next pin than it would be to visit the source site to view more from the original artist. That’s a lost opportunity for a photographer, artist, or designer.

I’ve heard some people respond by saying that Pinterest won’t hurt artists; the increased exposure could benefit them, and even if it doesn’t, it wouldn’t cause them to lose any business they would’ve otherwise had. I think that’s true in most cases, but it doesn’t mean that it won’t cause problems for Pinterest – or that there aren’t better ways to approach it.

A likely scenario

Given how popular Pinterest has become, it’s only a matter of time until some artists, designers, and photographers decide that they want to control how (or if) their content appears on Pinterest. It’s happened with Napster, it’s happened with YouTube, and eventually it will happen with Pinterest. There are two ways they could do this within the current system.

Some will likely send DMCA-backed cease and desist notices to Pinterest on the grounds of copyright infringement. This will probably cause Pinterest to develop some sort of system to blacklist certain sites from being pinned (say, hypothetically, pins of pages from cnn.com wouldn’t be allowed on the site). It’s an inconvenience for users – and probably not the best option for content creators, either – but the legal road is quick and effective.

A more creative (though, I’d argue, even more annoying) solution would be for artists to add prominent watermarks to all the images they post. It’s one way for an artist to maintain the exposure via Pinterest while still branding the images from her site. Again, though, it’s not an ideal solution for either the artist or the viewer; watermarks have a tendency to wreck the aesthetics of an otherwise beautiful image.

Needless to say, I don’t like either of those options. But what’s the alternative?

A branded solution

I want Pinterest to succeed. I really do. I think it’s a great concept, and I think in the end it helps content creators more than it may hurt them. There’s also an amazing opportunity waiting to happen for artists if Pinterest decides to offer it.

I’d love to see Pinterest offer a way for content creators to claim their source sites within Pinterest. An artist could verify that he owns certain sites (for example, justinrussell.com and pinetreephotography.com), and any pins from that site would have the generic gray box underneath each pin replaced with a small, branded panel customized by the site owner. YouTube does something similar with their Partner program; popular uploaders can customize the channel name area that appears above each video. (Head over to Lauren’s channel to see an example.)

What then? Well, with a source program in place, Pinterest could offer the opportunity for users to follow artists or brands. If you like one post by a particular artist or designer, how about having the chance to see whenever anything new is posted from that person?

My guidelines

I’m going to start using Pinterest a lot more, but I want to be sure I’m supporting the artists and content creators behind the images I find there. Here are my personal ground rules:

1. For pins from one of those categories that don’t encourage a click-through, I’ll always credit the photographer and source in the caption for the pin.
2. I’ll never write a caption that discourages people to visit the source site (for example, explaining the steps of how to make a craft).
3. I may use watermarks on some of the photos on my sites, but I’ll never make them obtrusive. I’ll try my hardest to preserve the integrity of the photo.

I want to use Pinterest for the same reasons I use other social networks: finding great stuff and sharing it with the people I know – all while supporting the awesome people who make the stuff I love.

___

¹ This has changed a bit recently on Facebook as people have started to download images to their computer and then upload them as “Wall Photos”, but you still can’t enter an image URL on Facebook to have it shared without attribution. The difference here is that Facebook and Twitter draw out this process and put the burden on the user to download and re-upload a photo. On Pinterest, the default “Add a Pin” behavior is to grab images from another site via a URL.

² The term “normal users” is tricky. I think there’s a small segment of the site users who will investigate original sources anyway: most likely other artists, photographers, etc. I think the behavior of a typical user would be to stay within the at-a-glance, self-contained system of Pinterest, though, without investigating further. I’d love to see stats from Pinterest that show click-through rates to sources.

“We regard the decisions of the Supreme Court in the school cases as a clear abuse of judicial power. It climaxes a trend in the Federal Judiciary undertaking to legislate, in derogation of the authority of Congress, and to encroach upon the reserved rights of the States and the people.” – Southern Manfesto re: Brown vs. Board, 1956

“[Integration] will destroy our race eventually… In one northern city, a pastor friend of mine tells me that a couple of opposite race live next door to his church as man and wife.” – Rev. Jerry Falwell, 1958

Many loyalty programs have expiration dates for points or miles at the end of the year. If you don’t plan on using them – or if you don’t have enough to redeem for any awards – see if they have an option to donate your points to charity. You may not have enough saved for a gift card at your favorite restaurant or store, but some programs let you donate in smaller increments to a good cause.

Sure, the $5 donation I made to the Red Cross with my expiring points isn’t a huge amount. But it’s a lot better than letting the points disappear!

I was rather late to the Mac owners’ guild, at least by my friends’ standards; I started with one of the Luxo Jr.-style iMac G4s with the round base and the flat panel in April 2002, during my first year of college. Now of course I’d used Macs before I’d entered college; some of my first experiences with computers were on Apple IIe boxes in my elementary school’s computer lab, playing really basic games in green pixels on a black screen with nothing but a 5 1/4″ floppy drive. Through middle and high school I worked on a bunch of computers through my school’s technology clubs and programs, and for my junior and senior year in high school, I took some time in an independent study to refurbish Power Macintoshes with a goal of supplying each classroom in the building with a computer with OS 7.6. Through this love of tinkering, I entered college thinking computer science was a natural choice. I still use the concepts I learned in those first C++ classes every day.

The big shift

But after I set that iMac on my dorm room’s desk, something happened. I started looking at more than just the code. I studied how things looked and worked. If it didn’t make sense, I wasn’t happy with it. It wasn’t enough for me to go from point A to point B in a program – you had to get there well. You had to get there and enjoy the experience. Now of course, this kind of thing didn’t make sense to a lot of the computer people around me at the time; computers are supposed to help us get something done, so who cares how it works as long as it works?

Eventually I switched to new media to investigate some of these other facets of technology, and I ended up graduating with a degree in new media and minors in computer science and psychology.

I never noticed it until a few days ago, but there’s a strange correlation between the time I’ve used Macs and the time I studied design, usability, and how technology feels. And though I’m still technically a coder both by title and occupation, my true love has really grown into this analysis of how things work, how they’re used, and in a similar vein, how we can use technology to do things we’d never imagined possible.

Time travel

I have no real interest in time travel. I doesn’t really care to see what life was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I don’t really want to see how life will be two hundred or a thousand years from now. I like living where I am and seeing where it goes on its own. But if there’s one journey I’d make, I’d take my iPad back to around 1950. I’d like to show those people what we can do: the power we hold in our hands with a magical web that connects all of us, and this device I hold in my hands. I’d show them that this machine, lighter than most books, can access an almost infinite amount of information as well as being used for drawing, used for reading, used to hear and see entertainment, used to see a friend’s face in real time from across the country or the world. I’d like to see their reaction, and I’d want them to guess the time from which I came. I think a lot of them might expect the 2300s or 2400s. I’d love to see what they would say when I told them we’d have all this power, all this possibility, in our hands in less than a century.

Now of course, Steve Jobs isn’t solely responsibly for my shift to design and usability, and he’s not solely responsible for the technology we hold in our hands that would baffle and mystify those living just a few decades ago. But more than any other single person, Steve showed us that it’s good to push the expectations of what is necessary and possible.

I respected a lot about Steve. I respected his taste, his refinement, his eye for a good idea. I loved the way he thought through a product and wasn’t satisfied with anything less than the best.

I’m just glad I was alive to see everything that’s happened over the last decade, and I’m excited to see where we go next. Above all, it’s safe to say that if there’s one person in my lifetime I see as an inspiration, it’s Steve. Thanks for all you did, both for the world and for me.

A bunch of people always ask why I spend so much time taking photos of the dance shows here. The simple answer: I love it. I’ll take as much time as I possibly can spare to watch dances, plays, and concerts. I love the passion, the creativity, and, in the case of dance, the athleticism and artistry.

But there’s a larger reason, too. We’re at a great time for the arts for central Maine. There’s a core, devoted group of people who are trying to do everything possible to create a vibrant arts community in the area. Ten years ago, nobody would think that we’d be able to bring top-tier acts to the Bangor area. This year, we have Lady Antebellum, B.B. King, and many more visiting the Bangor waterfront. The Folk Festival brings 100,000 people each August to appreciate music from all around the country. Bangor area theatres are packed for amazing productions.

The dancers down the hall are doing their part. Over the past few years, I’ve met many of them in one way or another, and they all love to perform and love to push the envelope of what they can do. They’ve brought the dance program forward, and they’ve brought dance outside the auditorium to the stages of UMaine and beyond.

I bring my camera not only because there are hundreds — if not thousands — of beautiful shots within each performance, but also because I want to capture all of this as it happens. I want to embrace the creativity and innovation that’s happening every day around me in any way I can.

Maine — and the world — is changing, and I want to be there. I may not be one of the dancers down the hall, but like each of them, I can’t stand still.

The answer: we don’t live in the 20th century anymore. A decade ago, Maine decided to embark in a one-to-one learning environment with the state’s seventh and eighth grade students by giving each an iBook. Since then, the program’s been extended to high schoolers.

Kindergarten isn’t the same as seventh and eighth grade. But then again, the iPad’s not the same kind of device as a laptop.

Try this: find a family with young children (under five years old) and an iPad. Ask which person in their household uses the iPad the most. Don’t be surprised if they name a child. I know at least four families with kids under five, and not only can the children understand how to use the iPad, they enjoy it and use it often. Some have even joked (or not) that they need a second iPad as a result.

The major criticism of Auburn’s plan (other than the expense) seems to be that kids shouldn’t need iPads to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, or that they shouldn’t rely on technology to learn new material. It’s important that iPads and other educational technology are used as part of a rich experience for children, particularly in younger years. Students need time to play, interact in groups, and use tactile objects to learn. iPad time shouldn’t take away recess, just as a video or book shouldn’t take away nap time.

But if you’ve used an iPad, you know the experience is nowhere near the stereotype of a workstation computer from the 1970s. Technology can supplement traditional methods of teaching and learning by offering a rich, engaging, and memorable environment that helps children learn and retain material faster and more completely. Forward-looking educators know this. The George Lucas Educational Foundation showed this brilliantly in a seven-minute video they produced from a visit to Portland’s King Middle School. Apple produced a video about fourth graders using iPod touches for improving literacy.

Maine students can’t be left behind as the rest of the world adopts technology. Is one-to-one learning the best approach at a young age? Maybe, maybe not. But I commend the Auburn School District for introducing new and modern ways of learning and helping Maine to stay on track in an ever-changing world.

I bet people would buy it.

Yummy whoopie pie photo by Joy.

next:maine is a new place to collect stories about how people are moving Maine forward. Sometimes it seems pretty tough to spot the new and exciting things that people are doing every day in Maine among the day’s headlines, and I want next:maine to be a place that solely focuses on the great work people are doing in Maine to help create the future.

You may notice that the design of the site looks a little reminiscent of Another New World. That’s not a coincidence. I want to take what I’ve learned from ANW and apply it to Maine innovation – but I don’t want to stop there. I’m eager to build next:maine in new ways over time, but I thought this was a great place to start.

I’ve lived in Maine my whole life. I love this place, and I really want to see Maine lead the way to new technology and innovation. Hopefully next:maine can allow people to realize how individuals and businesses are making Maine work and grow.

I’d love to hear what you think. Please let me know what you’d love to see on next:maine, or send a link my way if you know of a story that would fit well. You can subscribe to next:maine with RSS or via email, and you can, of course, follow next:maine on Twitter.

So when I looked at last year’s candidates, I was struck by the difference in opinion of how things should be done. One side seems to stress the potential of Maine that’s usually used in tourism materials: a beautiful, open, free state with lots of possibilities for recreation and for a great way of life. The other side seems to think that the solution for the state’s problems is near-completly business-centric, in that if we make it easy for business to come and stay here, the state will end up back on track.

I love Maine businesses, and I’m quite happy to say that we have more than a few really successful businesses in our state. But the problem with encouraging business unconditionally is that it impedes on the characteristics of Maine that make it special and unique. Over the first few weeks of LePage’s administration, I’ve realized that I was on track with my thoughts last year; while I honestly believe that LePage wants what is best for the state of Maine, I see his approach as misguided and short-sighted.

My biggest fear of the LePage administration is that they believe the ideal state of Maine is the political equivalent of Marden’s. They’d stress that a philosophy like that would make it easy and inexpensive to do business. Don’t get me wrong – I love Marden’s. But if you were planning a week’s vacation, would you want to spend it at Marden’s? I want to be sure that the promise of Maine as a unique state that offers attractions that nobody else can isn’t lost in a quest for rock-bottom prices and the ideal business climate. There’s plenty of space to build a landfill on Old Orchard Beach, but nobody likes to sunbathe on trash.

Maine can be a state that moves forward and embraces the future, or we can go back and try to live in the past. I want my rugged coastline. I want my trails through the woods. I want my neighbors to be free and equal and lead the life they should have the privilege to lead. I want my Maine to be an example to the rest of the world. I want my Maine to move forward instead of sliding back.

(I’d also recommend reading this article by Perry B. Newman in The Forecaster.)

A week or two ago I decided to try to map a rough schedule of my tentative projects. I’ve found that it’s been extremely helpful as I decide where to focus; instead of doing bits and pieces of all of the projects, I’ve set aside time to really concentrate on each individually. It’s going very well so far.

“The Track,” as I call it, shows the names (well, code names) of each of my nine projects, separated into my three major interest categories: development, photography, and writing. (You can click on the image of The Track to see a full-size version.) I’ll be referring to these projects by their names on The Track until they’re ready to be released:

• Operator
• Statler
• Seaglass
• Pine Cone
• Entrée
• Katahdin
• Reprint
• Exposure

Each project shows a rough estimate of when I’ll be planning the project, developing it, releasing it in a pre-launch/beta form, and then turning it live. Another New World, for example, is already live, so it jumps straight into the live mode on the schedule. Some won’t even start the planning period until 2012.

It may seem like overkill, but the schedule has really helped me concentrate on projects over the last couple of weeks. It’s great to have a representation of what I plan to do on paper in addition to everything that’s been on my mind.

The flaw with the parking lot state of mind is that I always build upon a collection of ideas. It’s tough for me to focus. I’m impatient about what I want to do, and I have more-than-a-handful of projects that I want to do right now. Problem is, instead of actually doing enough work on any one project to make something, none of them ever reach a point of “doneness.”

One of my overall goals for 2011 is to move my mind from the clouds to the track. Right now I have eight projects I really want to do; two and a half of them you know (Sephone, Pine Tree Photography, and Another New World), and five and a half of them you don’t (yet). This year, instead of racing back and forth between them all in my mind, I’m going to try a schedule. I’m going to try to work for a while on one, and hopefully its progress or completion will make it easier for me to work on another. I’m going to resist the temptation to do them all right now and try my hardest to focus.

Along the way, I’ll probably write a bit here about what I’m doing to keep my mind on track instead of in the clouds for these projects. Hopefully it will help to make 2011 a great year for the projects I want to do.

Much of the controversy that erupted after the shooting stemmed from a post by Sarah Palin last March in which Giffords was one of twenty senators quite literally put in the crosshairs of a fundraising map; Palin also encouraged supporters to “reload” on Twitter that same day.

There are really two separate issues in play here. Most criticism seems to be focus on whether Palin’s map contributed to the motives of the shooter and whether Palin should be accountable for his actions. Just as important, I’d argue, was whether the map was a good idea in the first place.

Many people (including a number of Palin supporters) have argued over the last 24 hours that the shooter was clearly unstable and, even if he cites Palin’s map as a motivation for carrying out the act, couldn’t possibly have interpreted the map as it was intended by Palin. It’s a good point; no sane person would ever gun down a representative in a crowd and kill innocent people, among whom were a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl. Was the shooting the fault of Palin or other politically-charged figures, like Giffords’s opponent last year who felt it was a good idea to hold a campaign event to “target” Giffords in which supporters could shoot an M16? No. They can’t be held accountable for the actions of crazy individuals.

But was the map a good idea in the first place? As Giffords herself said in March, there are “consequences” to energized and polarizing speech. Was it really necessary, and does it help advance political discourse in this country? Conservatives have no shortage of material to use when appealing to those who disagree with the liberal agenda. Escalating partisanship to its current levels will inevitably lead to an increase in violence; as Paul Krugman writes, “violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate.”

Palin’s team conceded, in essence, that the map was in poor taste when they removed the page with the map from its original location shortly after the shooting yesterday. The question we face is whether this tragedy will cause us to reconsider how candidates appeal to their supporters; will it encourage them to be civil and respectful about those who hold elected office, or will we continue down the path to turbulent black-and-white politics?

Music is a huge part of my life. I carry my iPod with me everywhere I go, and it seems as though I always have some kind of track playing in the background when I work. My taste is a bit eclectic, but I thought it’d be interesting to go through my top music for 2010. (And yes, I know some of these tunes were released before last year, but I discovered or purchased all of these within the last twelve months.) Preview almost all of the songs listed below with the AmazonMP3 player to the right (the tracks in there and the album links below are affiliate links).

Beat the Horse, Pomplamoose
If you’re not sick of hearing me talk about Pomplamoose yet, I don’t know where you’ve been. The star YouTube duo films every instrument and vocal track they use for a tune and then stitches them all together into a video that’s as well-produced as the song itself. “Beat the Horse,” one of their earlier works, is hands-down my favorite song – and this is the first time I’ve ever been able to say that about any single track. It’s a catchy tune with great instrumentation by Jack, some killer vocals by Nataly, and a great video. They do covers, too; if you’re new to the duo, I’d recommend listening to their own arrangements of “Telephone” and “Makin’ Out.”

Rio, Hey Marseilles
I saw Hey Marseilles at the KahBang opener at the Brick Church in August. It was a great venue for their high-energy performance, and it turned out to be one of my favorite memories of the summer. The song manages to include a bunch of my favorite instruments, and I can’t help but beat my hand against something when that drum sounds.

Far Away, Ingrid Michaelson
I’d seen the name “Ingrid Michaelson” appear more than once on Pandora stations, and I finally decided to give her music a serious listen in the early part of the year. I soon realized that a bunch of my friends were also Ingrid fans, and I was able to see her perform at L.L. Bean in Freeport in August. She even gets bonus points (not that she needs them) for spending a bunch of time in Maine and writing “Far Away” about a second life she’d like to live off the coast of the Pine Tree State. Girls and Boys as a whole is a great listen.

Far From Home, The Gabe Dixon Band
The piano is my favorite instrument, and The Gabe Dixon Band rivals Ben Folds as my favorite piano rock artist. After the band’s name kept appearing on my Pandora stations, I thought I should give their self-titled album a try. I’m really glad I did; when I need to rock out, I press play on “Find My Way” or “Till You’re Gone.” The album is now one of my favorites.

16 Military Wives, The Decemberists
I’m a sucker for brass. Take a good beat, add some politically-charged lyrics, and stick a great horn section near the end of the song. I didn’t have a chance. I’m not as much of a Decemberist fanatic as some people I know, but this song is in constant rotation on my five-star iPod playlist. (The video for the song is really fun, too, if you haven’t already seen it.)

Ain’t Nothing Wrong with That, Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Apple and Amazon should really thank the dancers at UMaine for encouraging me to spend money on music over the last few years. I caved in and bought “Ain’t Nothing Wrong with That” after a bunch of awesome people pulled off a little stunt in the Memorial Union in Orono. It joins a growing list of songs by Hellogoodbye, Of Montreal, and others that make me remember some great creativity on campus.

Work It Out, RJD2
Guess what? It’s another find thanks to YouTube. RJD2 paired with artist/dancer Bill Shannon for a pretty creative expression of “Work It Out”; after I saw the video, I had to check out his other music. I love it all. I’d call RJD2′s music mature electronica; it’s music that’s very rhythmic, infused with a host of genres (blues, hip-hop, and more), and keeps you hooked from the moment you start listening.

Maybe True Stories, Lauren O’Connell
Lauren’s another YouTube discovery. She’s a great east-coast-turned-west-coast singer-songwriter who manages to write sometimes fun, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes poignant, but always real lyrics. Her studio albums are terrific (buy The Shakes. really.), and her YouTube versions, created a la Pomplamoose and often with some creative instrument choices, are always a lot of fun. “Maybe True Stories” is my favorite of hers. Lauren’s currently planning to record a new album and has some unique incentives available if you’d like to support her. (For more Lauren check out My Terrible Friend, a duo project with Nataly of Pomplamoose.)

Mr. Blue Sky, The Sing-Off
Amid an over-commercialized sea of American Idol and Glee musical programming, The Sing-Off offered some hope. The show gathered a handful of amazing a capella groups and created some true gems. An ensemble performance of ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” rivaled the SoCals’ Journey medley and the Beelzebubs’ The Who medley as my favorites from the first seasons. A capella is truly amazing when done well.

We Used to Wait, Arcade Fire
As a geek I was inspired by Arcade Fire’s super-innovative “We Used to Wait” web “video” released partially as a showcase of the possibilities within HTML5. The tech is great, but the song is even more impressive. It’s fun to crank as I, uh, go the speed limit while driving down I-95.

White Knuckles, Ok Go
I’d known about Ok Go long before 2010, of course, but I became a true fan after hearing that they’d be in Bangor for the KahBang festival in August. The concert was amazing (and included a great view of Damian), and Oh No has been cycling through my ears regularly ever since. When “White Knuckles” hit YouTube in September, amazing got even amazinger.

Overture, Daft Punk
I haven’t seen the new Tron, but after hearing from about 90% of my friends that Daft Punk’s soundtrack to the film was in-freakin-credible, I decided to seize the opportunity of an AmazonMP3 sale and buy it sound unheard. I love film music, and I love Daft Punk (“Robot Rock” is another new favorite of 2010, for completely different reasons). The Tron Legacy soundtrack is what you’d expect to happen if Discovery or Human After All had a lovechild with John Williams and somehow managed to mix in a bit of Danny Elfman. Yeah. Buy the album.

Here’s a chronology of what has happened since I placed my order on November 14.

• November 14: Placed an order on JCPenney.com for seven items. Six were available and one, a fleece jacket, was specified as on backorder with an approximate shipping date of November 29. (I would have ordered eight items, but the site said on the final page of the checkout that one of the items was not available even though the product page had allowed me to add it to the cart.)
• November 23: Visited the Bangor JCPenney store and picked up five of the items. At this time I was informed that there was a warehouse shortage on the sixth item after the order had been placed and that I would not receive it. I was credited for that item.
• November 25: Emailed JCPenney customer support about the inventory problems I’d had with my order.
• November 27: Received a response back explaining the site’s inventory system (based on region).
• November 30: Wrote back asking about the status of the fleece jacket after logging into the site and noticing that the jacket had been changed from “Backorder” to “Not Available” on my order.
• December 3, 1:30 PM: Received a response saying the jacket was not available and asking if I wanted to reorder the item since it had once again become available.
• December 3, 11:30 PM: Wrote back with the following: “Would I be able to receive the Columbia jacket for the $23.99 price at which I originally ordered it? If that is possible, I would like to reorder the item, shipped to the Bangor, ME store as I had specified on the order. If the jacket is only available at the $29.99 price that is currently displayed on the site, then I am not interested. Please let me know which is possible.”
• December 10, 10:30 AM: Received a response: “Yes, if the jacket is available, we are able to reorder for you at the
  same pricing you were originally charged.  Please advise us how you wish to proceed.”
• December 10, 5:30 PM: Wrote back: “Please reorder the jacket at $23.99 and have it shipped to the Bangor, ME store. Thank you!”
• December 18, 1:00 PM: Received a response: “At this time the jacket is back ordered till 1/13/11.  Do you still want
  us to place the order to be shipped to your local catalog desk?”
• December 18, 4:45 PM: Wrote back telling them to cancel the order.

I strongly believe that if you complain about something, you should provide suggestions on the situation could be improved. In JCPenney’s case, there are a few changes that could be done to alleviate some of the problems.

1. Hire enough customer support representatives for the holidays. It should not take eight days to respond to a support request. At the very least, update the customer service page on your site to provide a reasonable expectation for response time. (The JCPenney site says that normal response time for email requests is 1-2 business days.)
2. Put an escalation system in place for follow-up support requests. Assign priority to follow-up requests. If someone is trying to reach you again, chances are they’re getting frustrated.
3. Don’t use boilerplate text in responses. Every response I received from customer service included the following text: “Customers like you are our most valuable resource for creating the optimal shopping experience. Thanks again for your email. We look forward to serving you in the future.” Don’t patronize customers with text like that, especially when you know they’re frustrated. Do it if you have to on the first request, but after that, be human.
4. Use an online shopping system that reads inventory appropriately. I experienced a host of inventory problems with my order. First, the site allowed me to add an item to my cart but only specified it was unavailable on the very last page of the checkout (it wasn’t available in my region, apparently). After the order was placed, one of the items I ordered was cancelled due to an inventory shortage. And the status of the fleece jacket I originally ordered, due largely to the delays in responses from customer service, changed back and forth from “backordered” to “not available” at least three times in the process. If this does happen, provide clear communication with the customer about why the change happened and how it will be resolved.

I won’t be shopping at JCPenney again after my experience with this order. I hope other merchants can learn from JCP’s mistakes in order to better serve their customers.

But what if it’s not? As an exercise in complete absurdity, here’s some wild speculation about what could (theoretically) happen tomorrow at 10 Eastern:

• Live, streaming concert of a major band (let’s face it, it’d be U2)
• Steve Jobs chats on FaceTime with caller #52 to a super-secret Apple number
• A complete archive of every major TV show and movie ever
• An MP3 option for iTunes downloads
• A free MobileMe account with cloud syncing for every iTunes user
• A Hulu competitor¹ (iAd-supported streaming TV shows)
• Steve Jobs announces a new product or service via live video from his office
• iTunes for Android and/or WP7
• A new super-simple way for independent musicians to submit songs
• Steve Jobs goes Oprah: free iPod nanos for everyone!

I realize that half of the list above will never, ever, ever happen. Complete and utter absurdity, remember?

¹ I’d say a Netflix competitor, too, but Apple seems to be pretty buddy-buddy with Netflix lately.