Monday, January 31, 2005

New Feature: Tag-o-Rama

Hi everyone... I've just added a new feature to the site called Tag-o-rama, and you can find it in the navigation column on the right side of the homepage, near the bottom of the column.

The idea behind the tag-o-rama is to promote the use of certain keywords, or "tags," related to the Christo Central Park project. Several popular Web tools, including Technorati (the blog search engine), del.icio.us (a public bookmarks organizer) and Flickr (a free photo blogging tool), incorporate tags into their design so that users of these tools can tag their blog entries, favorite websites and photos with relevant keywords.

The cool thing about tags is that you can use these online tools to see who else is employing the same tags. For example, if you look at the technorati tag for 'art' you'll see a list of all the blog entries from around the world that have been tagged with that word. Similarly, the del.icio.us tag for 'Christo' and the Flickr tag for 'central park' will display everyone's favorite URLs related to Christo and photos related to Central Park, respectively.

Why am I linking to these tags? Well, it's for two reasons. First, while I hope there will be lots of contributors to this blog, there will probably lots of people who don't contribute, but still end up using these online tools to tag their Gates-related content. This way, I can point site visitors to those tags and give them the opportunity to see how other people are covering The Gates in different ways. Second, I'm hoping that users of this blog who also happen to be users of Technorati, del.icio.us and Flickr will begin to use these same tags when they post content related to the event. That way, we'll be able to develop a meta-catalog of blogs, websites and photos from The Gates.

So when you get a chance, take a look at the Tag-o-rama and check out some of tags. And if you happen to be a user of Technorati, del.icio.us or Flickr, please tag your Gates-related content. Thanks! -andy

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Demo & Instructions for Mobile Phone Users

this is an audio post - click to play
This is a voicemail I posted from my mobile phone. As you can see, it worked just fine. Everyone who visits The Gates in Central Park is invited to post their own audio blog, or "podcast," from their mobile phone. It's easy:

    1. Dial 1 - 661- 716 - BLOG (2564)

    2. Enter the telephone login 212-555-1212

    3. Enter the PIN code 2005, then the # key

    4. Record your message, then hit the # key when your done

    5. Press "1" to post your recording to the website

It's that easy! All voicemails posted to the site will be labeled as coming from "A Central Park Podcaster," so if you would like to identify yourself, please feel free to say your name and where you're from when you record your voicemail.

thanks,
andy

Friday, January 28, 2005

How to Post Your Comments and Photos to the Site

If you would like to post your thoughts about the Christo Central Park exhibit to the website, please send an email with your comments to this address:
yes-christo.gates @ blogger.com

(You'll have to remove the blank spaces before and after the "@" symbol. This is to discourage spam.)
Please put the title of your comments in the "subject" field of the email, and then your comments in the body of the email. Feel free to sign your email or post anonymously, whichever is more comfortable for you. Spam and off-topic posts will be removed immediately from the site.

You can also use these email addresses to post a photo to the website; simply attach a photo to your email, then put the title in the subject line and a description and photo credit in the message body. Please only send your own photos; do not send copyrighted material or other people's photos without their express permission. If you would like others to be able to use your photo, please feel free to make a note of it in the body of your email message. Thanks! -andy

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Welcome to The Gates @ Central Park

Hi everyone,

This website is an experment in community art criticism. When Christo's The Gates opens in New York's Central Park in mid-February, the public will be invited to post their comments on the exhibit to this website. You'll be able to post your own blog entries via email as well as by phone. I'll post more information on the idea in the coming weeks.... -andy