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FDM announces first in-depth report

Fast Draw Media (FDM) has focused on a variety of topics since it went online in June 2011. This site started out as a project for publishing assignments and materials for the New Media Journalism Master of Arts program at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla. The goal has been to provide stories that interest residents of the Northeast Texas region and bringing local news in an online format.

Next week, FDM will publish the final product of the first in-depth project for the site. You may click the link “Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children leads research of juvenile arthritis” above or here to preview the project. Follow us on Twitter (@fastdrawmedia) and Facebook for updates throughout the week for announcements leading up to final publication.

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Posted on May 20, 2012 by , Comments off

Help Dollar General help locals in need

The Dollar General store in Edgewood is assisting with a local effort to help those in in need of food assistance.

The company’s website, General Mills is a co-sponsor of food drive.

According to Wanda Bristow, manager of the local store, from now through May 27, customers can assist the store by purchasing and donating non-perishable food items in the store, donating money or even make purchases elsewhere and bring them in for the food drive.

“We have over 10,000 stores and every store is taking part,” she said. “Each store picks the local cause, food bank or church to donate food to in the community.”

Bristow said the store has chosen House of Grace Church of Edgewood to receive the benefit of their efforts.

“We have a lady who works here whose dad attends that church,” she said. “We held a drive last year and donated the food to them. We wanted to give the food to them again this year.”

Bristow added that if you choose to donate cash and let the store use the money to make purchases, the store keeps track of what is collected and spends on food and turns that in to the district manager and that all money is accounted for to someone higher in the company.

If you would like to make a non-perishable food donation, go by the store, located at 855 E. Pine St. (US Hwy. 80 E. across from the Edgewood schools), make a purchase and leave it in the marked box for donations. Remember, you may also donate cash and let the store staff make purchases or you can leave items you have purchased elsewhere in the marked box.

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Posted on May 1, 2012 by , Comments off

Google™ Apps: Are they right for your enterprise?

Update: Following publication of this story, Tom Mills, Global Director of Enterprise Edu for Google, responded to Fast Draw Media’s inquiry into the Google Apps product. The following is his response.

“We give Google Apps for Education to schools and districts for free because we believe in the importance of education and the benefits of incorporating technology into that education.  I’m continuously amazed by how teachers and students are using Google Apps in new, innovative ways to enhance learning.

“Google Apps for Education fosters real-time collaboration in and out of the classroom – a student at home can write an essay in a Google Doc and share it with her classmates for peer editing; teachers can set up a Google group for their class to send students updates about lesson plans and assignments. There’s no limit to how these tools can be used to promote learning, and we love hearing examples from the more than 16 million faculty, staff, and students using Google Apps for Education worldwide.”

For more information, visit Google Apps for Education website.

File sharing, online collaboration and cloud computing are terms heard or read about almost daily as various electronic tools permeate the workplace. While emailing a file might be a way to get it to your coworker or client, what happens when the receiver doesn’t have the correct program or version to open the file?

Additionally, in this era of budget-conscious businesses and government organizations, companies and agencies are looking for ways in which to limit as much overhead and labor costs as possible.

Quinlan Independent School District (QISD) in Quinlan, Texas, began a transition to using Google Apps two years ago by first migrating to Gmail™. The district has continued to add Google products made available to faculty and staff since then, allowing for expanded collaboration among teachers and students and allowed for a more versatile work environment for staff by giving them access to materials wherever they have an Internet connection, including mobile devices.

Mike Roberts, QISD Director of Technology, said the district initially looked at Gmail for the cost savings it provided the district over running its own email server and Google Apps was something that has been added on for the additional benefits it has offered the district.

He said the migration has saved the district money on a variety of fronts.

“Before we had always run our own email server,” he said, “but every few years, you have to look at upgrading.”

He said the cost savings to the district in terms of hardware and software upgrades, user licenses and labor costs have been significant for the district, but he did not have an exact dollar figure available. He added the labor costs and the overall hassle of running an email server has been greatly relieved.

“One benefit has been, with Google, we have redundancy of server space, whereas before we had one point of failure because we had only one server,” he said. “Google has multiple servers in multiple locations and, unless we have a fiber (optic wire) cut, we have access, not just here, but anywhere we are.”

Roberts said initially there was some hesitancy and resistance on the part of the staff with the change, but that the staff and students have adapted pretty well. The district has recently purchased Google Chromebooks ™ with grant money and the science and English departments at the middle and high schools are using them in a pilot program.

Besides cost savings and ease of access, Google Apps makes it easier to collaborate through sharing resources and even mimicking other well-known and often-used software products in an online environment, further reducing the cost of software licensing for businesses, charities and other users.

Google has a variety of products that can be easily integrated into a business of almost any size. The Google name has almost become synonymous with the Internet itself with many people using the company name as a verb meaning to do a web search.

If you are an entity looking for a low-cost IT solution, Google probably has a plan that will fit your budget. Check them out and see if they have a solution that’s right for you.

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Posted on April 4, 2012 by , Comments off

Photographer looks to share, maintain his investment

Photography Rights Protections.001

Photographers and videographers need to maintain their rights to their work and protect it against unfair use through some form of copyright. Their images are their livelihoods and a part of their toolbox as much as their equipment. (Gregory Rowe/Fast Draw Media)

Looking at his images, one can see a high level of dedication to the art and craft of photography. Often presented in a subdued manner, the people and events in his photographs don’t seem like flat still images, but rather moments of emotion and movement frozen for all time.

David Cheney, who owns a photography business bearing his name in Greenville, Texas, has been in the business for four years and wants to protect the images he works so hard to produce.

In talking to his legal representation, Cheney understands the photographer maintains rights to his images both in a digital format and for printing purposes from the time the image is created. He uses a copyright notice on his website, but he said he has not registered his site with the U.S. Copyright Office, nor registered any individual images up to this point.

In showing his work to potential clients on his website, Cheney said he uses “a Flash website to help control random downloads” while maintaining the quality of his work for people to see. He said he also uses metadata tags in his images that help him control how photos are downloaded off the site.

“I also have a password-protected proofing area on my website for clients to look at to keep the access limited,” he said.

“I have been surprised at how well professional photo printers, even Wal-Mart, helps photographers protect their work,” he said.

Cheney said he had one client, in the early days of his business when he basically turned all of the images over to the client for a set fee, which attempted to make prints at Wal-Mart.

“They called me and wanted my verbal permission before they would make the prints,” he said.

For this reason, Cheney said he began releasing certain specified rights to photos he takes. He said he includes the printing and use rights for up to 15 images he takes in the photo and portrait packages he offers clients, but retains the right to use the photos for marketing and display purposes. The release form he uses includes both an agreement for the client’s use of the 15 images, as well as a release clause for his future use of the images.

Cheney said he does want to protect his work, but also sees a need to balance client goodwill and marketing of his product with the need to copyright his work.

“Most of what I do with portraits and weddings is pretty personal,” he said. “In four years, I haven’t had any trouble with people downloading and using random images off my site.”

He did say he began offering a print package of the released images for clients to maintain quality control over his work after he noticed an early client print photos on standard copy paper with a bad color ink cartridge. He said he didn’t want to have is name associated with poor quality printing, which he sees as being as big a deal as protecting his investment in his work through copyright and fair use agreements.

Cheney admits that as his business grows, he will need to seek the advice of a legal professional in maintaining control over the distribution and use of his work.

And, judging from the images on his site, he may need to do that sooner than later.

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Posted on March 19, 2012 by , Comments off
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