telescreen.org

He even lies about cheese.

A fantastic Doonesbury strip.

Collard Greens and Bad Checks, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

Also at the state farmer's market.

Restaurant Pig, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

B. and I are on vacation in North Carolina (I'm showing her where I come from.) We had lunch the other day at the restaurant at the state farmer's market.

Mmmmm, bacon. Biscuits. Molasses. And lots of other heart-stopping delicacies.

Ever wondered how they convert arenas from a hockey rink into a basketball court...in two hours?  Check out this cool time-lapse video.

Celebrities Yawning.

So the other day I got the following e-mail:

Hi Vidiot,

I am writing to let you know that six of your photos with a
creative commons license have been short-listed for
inclusion in our Schmap New York Guide, to be published
late March 2006.

Clicking this link (redacted -- Ed.) will take you to a page where you can:
i) See which of your photos have been short-listed
ii) Submit or withdraw your photos from our final selection
phase
iii) Learn how we credit photos in our Schmap Guides
iv) Download and preview a sample Schmap Guide.

This is flattering -- it's always exciting when someone notices something you've created, and wants to use it.  But looking at their terms of service and learning more about the site made my antennae go up.  Schmap is not proposing, as best as I can tell, to use my photos under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license (under which terms I've made all my photos available to the public.)  And, if they were using that CC license, they actually wouldn't need to contact me at all; I've already given blanket permission for noncommercial use, providing that they attribute the source of my images and that derivative works made from my images be distributed under the same CC license.

Rather, Schmap is proposing to use my photos in a commercial context:  the city guides that they're distributing are free, but will be ad-supported.  And Schmap is presumably a for-profit company.  They indicate that, should I give them permission to use the photos the way they want to, that they'll credit the photos, link back to their original pages on Flickr, and link to the CC license page that I've put on these photos as well.  As attribution goes, this is fine.

So what does the Creative Commons license have to do with Schmap's proposed use?  None, that I can see -- unless they're looking for photographers on Flickr who are amenable to unconventional licensing, or who haven't thought that clearly about their rights.  Because, as Joe Gratz points out, they're basically looking for a pool of free images that they can then repurpose and make money from:

This strikes me as an exceedingly smart way to develop a pool of free urban photography. Rather than plunging forward and planning to brush off infringement claims from small-time Creative Commons licensors, they decided to ask permission, trusting that photographers’ egos will lead them to grant it.

They're using Creative Commons licenses as a search tool, not as licenses to use copyrighted content.

(Incidentally, if you follow that link above, Gratz has copied the "Terms of Submission" that Schmap asks you to agree to before they use your images.)  A commenter on that post, Adam Fields, charges that Schmap is "taking advantage of the commons", and a pretty good discussion has ensued there.  (It's also being discussed at FlickrCentral.)

Schmap realizes that this is not a proposed use of my photos that falls under the Creative Commons license, which is why they're asking my permission.  (And, I'm glad that they are.  It's really no fun to have to chase down people who aren't willing to abide by licenses or who are infringing my rights.)  But they've also gotta realize that for some photographers, asking to use their photos outside the terms of their Creative Commons licenses, for no consideration, is going to be a tough sell.

So, in that light, I've written back to the Managing Editor of Schmap's guides, letting them know that I'm not comfortable to let my copyrighted images be used in a commercial context for free, and asking what compensation they think is fair.  I'm also asking them exactly what rights they'd be interested in licensing (non-exclusive/exclusive, worldwide/territorial, print/online, credit/attribution, et cetera.)  Hopefully they'll get back to me soon.

ADDENDUM:  I figured I might as well show you which images Schmap is proposing to use:

UPDATE:  I heard back from Alexandra Moss, the Managing Editor of Schmap's guides.  She writes:

The question of 'commercial' or 'non-commercial' seems to be not so well defined, which is why we have asked individual photographers to submit or withdraw their photos, based on an understanding of our usage.

Some consider usage to be primarily non-commercial if the resulting product/service is free to its end-users, while other short-listed photographers consider our usage 'commercial', but decide to submit their photos nevertheless.

A small number of short-listed photographers (around 5% to date) have decided to withdraw their photos, though not always because they consider our usage commercial (some, for instance, withdraw because they are not pleased themselves with the particular photos we have short-listed, or because our Schmap Player is not yet Mac compatible).

Your photos are great-- I'd love to use them, but I'm unfortunately unable to negotiate non-standard terms with specific short-listed photographers.

So there it ends; I wrote back and said that since Schmap isn't interested in licensing my photos (i.e., compensating me for their use of something that is of evident value to them), I'm withdrawing them from consideration of being included in their guides.  I reminded Schmap that I reserve all rights to my photos, other than the rights specifically granted by the Creative Commons license, and that I consider Schmap's proposed use of the photos to be a commercial use...and thus outside the scope of the CC license.

I do want to say that this generally doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth -- Ms. Moss was professional, cordial, and not defensive when I questioned their use of the photos.  And kudos to her for engaging in the FlickrCentral thread discussing Schmap's efforts.

One observation, though:  I think Schmap is being ever-so-slightly disingenuous in implying that the definition of "commercial" vs. "non-commercial" is up in the air.  I would much rather that Schmap said up front, "we're a commercial enterprise, we're publishing these guides as a for-profit, money-making venture, and we request permission to use your copyrighted images."  It seems to me that Schmap is trying to capitalize on confusion (or even create it) regarding the scope of Creative Commons licenses, and use that confusion to acquire content without having to pay for it. 

As I noted above, Schmap's proposed use doesn't qualify as a legit use under the Creative Commons license I've chosen.  Despite Schmap's saying that the question of commerciality is undefined, this strikes me as a wholly commercial use.  And, Schmap is not going to distribute its guides under a Creative Commons license, thereby not following the terms of the ShareAlike license.

Garrison Keillor has a proposal to improve both the military and the quality of candidates for high office.  I don't agree with it 100%, but it's an interesting idea.

From the AP:

In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

This was before the storm hit, remember.  Before the guitar-strumming and the shoe-shopping, before the sleeves-rolled-up photo ops and the expressions of faux concern.  Before the helicopter flyovers and the talk of rebuilding Trent Lott's porch and "heck of a job."  Before too many people died.

But they were mostly poor people, right?  And mostly black people, too.  I guess they don't count for much in George Bush's America.  Unless you're a defense contractor or a campaign donor or both, I don't think you'll get the time of day -- or, for that matter, anything more than cynical lip service -- from the likes of him.

I'm too angry to write anything more.  But I'll just repeat the title of this post:  Bastards.

I'm reminded (by The Bemusement Park) just how good Dan Neil's columns are.  I remember greatly enjoying his columns in the Raleigh News & Observer, which later fired him...mostly because he wasn't a whore for the automakers.  He works for the LA Times now, and is the only automotive journalist ever to win a Pulitzer, which he richly deserved:

Guidebooks call this part of northern Chile "lunar" or "Martian," and during the day it's understandable because the cracked lifelessness stretches to the ashy horizon. Water seems like folklore. But at night, well, night is different. Northern Chile has dark and transparent air — silver-lidded observatories eye the heavens from nearby mountaintops — and the sky is whitewashed with stars. You will never feel more Earthbound. Here you can appreciate your significance in the universe, and the news is not good.

And so I'm driving, which is what I do and, in a bit of existential irony, who I am. I'm a driver. I'd rather be known for pioneering gene therapy or inventing the politician who doesn't lie. Instead, my identity is tangled up with this simple-minded and sensual act, piloting these wonderful, awful machines. It started when I was 8 years old and stole my mother's Mercury Comet. Three-million driving miles later, I'm here, endlessly falling into the well of my headlights. . .

In the end, I'll drive more than 4,500 miles in 16 days, over every kind of road — from rock-thorned cart path to polished superhighway — and it will turn out to be more of an adventure than I ever bargained for. I'll make new friends and alienate an old one, feel the warm embrace of Chilean hospitality and the back of its thieving hand, pull a truck out of a ditch and unlock another with a coat hanger. I will kill an armadillo and Death will whisper in my ear half a dozen times. And still, I'll drive, because that's what I do and who I am.

Anyway: Go check him out.  (The excerpts above are from this story, by the way.)