Using copyrighted music in videos can get you in legal trouble. You may think, because you are using the music for an educational or non-commercial purpose, that you are not violating the copyright of a piece of music licensed as "All Rights Reserved," but you probably are.

You can simplify the tangled web of copyright infringement by using music (and other works) licensed as "Some Rights Reserved" under a Creative Commons license. Creative Commons licenses allow creators to be clear about how their works can be used without permission.

If you are looking for music to add to a video, you can find royalty-free, Creative-Commons licensed music in a number of places.

I like to use Jamendo.

Most of the tracks on Jamendo can be used however you would like as long as you include attribution of the song and artist, use it non-commercially and share whatever you create with the music under a Creative-Commons license.

Other sources for royalty-free, Creative-Commons licensed music are ccMixter, and the Internet Archive.

It's a little easier to search for and find music on Jamendo than on the two sites mentioned above, but all three are great resources.

If you have questions about these services or about Creative Commons licensing, please let me know.

Bob Bertsch, 701-231-7381

Users of Ag CMS had asked for a couple of changes in the way information was displayed for folders and collections. The “Blog View” has changed slightly and a new “Ag CMS Summary View” has been added to address those requests.

Changes to the “Blog View” allow for better display of images for Articles and also now allows images to be displayed for Pages and News Items. “Blog View” displays text and images much the same way they look on their individual pages.

The new “Ag CMS Summary View” is a variation of the “Summary View” that adds the ability to display images for Pages and News Items. Only images associated with News Items are displayed in the older “Summary View.” To display images for all the page types, you will need to choose the new “Ag CMS Summary View” instead.

More information and some screenshots showing the changes can be found at the Ag Comm Web Services blog.

Bob Bertsch, (701) 231-7381
Julie Kuehl, (701) 231-6403

Since Google+, Google's new social networking space, opened to the public, there has been a big increase in Google+ traffic. Recent changes in Facebook have also driven some users to Google+.

Despite the growth in Google+, there's no guarantee that it will be the next big thing in social networking, but considering the recent growth and the fact that this is Google we are talking about, you may want to give it a try.

Before you get going, you may want to view this slideshow, "Google+ Start-Up Guide v2." It's really well done.

To sign up for Google+, go to http://plus.google.com.

Bob Bertsch, (701) 231-7381

We've had quite a few questions lately about "the cloud." What does it mean to be "in the cloud?"

Being “in the cloud” means storing your information and files and with an online service rather than on your computer’s hard drive. There are many reasons this can be a good idea, and a few why maybe it’s not.

You can learn more from our recent blog post, "In the Cloud? What Cloud?" Check it out and then give us a call to learn more about "cloud" tools that you can use.

Bob Bertsch, (701) 231-7381
Julie Kuehl, (701) 231-6403

Recently, Facebook has made some changes to the way it handles privacy and sharing settings. Up until now, the settings for who can see your status updates, personal information, pictures, etc. have all been kept on one obscure page. Taking cues from the market (Google+) and the legal system (lawsuits by European governments), Facebook has now given users much more say in how their information is shared.

The biggest change at the current time is that the privacy settings are now attached to the affected information. Each status update can be shared with either Friends or the Public (a change from the word "Everyone"). And you can change your mind about this after you've posted the update. (You could never change anything about your updates previously.)

Another feature that will soon be implemented is the idea of groups. Facebook currently has a Groups feature, but it is so inconvenient to use, even the most die-hard users don’t take advantage of it. This is going to change in the future and look much more like Google+'s Circles feature. It will give you more control to determine the relationship you have with others rather than lumping everyone under the term "Friends."

You will also have the ability to approve or reject tags on photos, including on photos others post. If a tag has your name on it, you will be able to review it first before it goes "Public." You will also be able to control if, how, and when you share your location as well. Currently, you can only do this with the Facebook Places feature in smartphone apps, and only while you’re at that location. Soon, you’ll be able to identify your location after you’ve made the post. So once you’ve returned home, for instance, you can go back through your status updates and photos and mark the locations you were when you made them. You will also be able to identify locations you will be at in the future in case you want to crowdsource some traveling tips.

Bottom line, Facebook has made it much easier for you to know what’s going on with your information and given you much more control over who sees it. And unlike previous changes to such policies, Facebook gave advance notice of these changes and you’ll see some notices when they become active for you. Take a minute or two and check out the changes and know what’s going on with your information. That’s common sense whether online or off.

(See Facebook's full announcement.)

Julie Kuehl, (701) 231-6403

The Ag Content Management System (Ag CMS) will be upgraded this fall. Agriculture Communication provides the Ag CMS platform for the creation of Web content related to NDSU Agriculture and University Extension. It is built on the open source Plone system. September's upgrade will change the foundation of Ag CMS from Plone 3.3 to Plone 4.0.

This upgrade will have a minimal effect on the way content is created and displayed in the Ag CMS. Most of the changes deal with the internal structure and performance of Plone.

The upgrade to Plone 4 should result in the faster performance of the Ag CMS. Plone 4 is estimated to be twice as fast as Plone 3. This means Web content will be delivered more quickly to the end users and Ag CMS content creators will be able to edit, save and publish content more quickly.

Plone 4 also will bring improvements in the handling of large files. Storage of large files is something we have struggled with in Ag CMS. This upgrade will help us to quickly deliver large files to the end user and to use fewer server resources in the storage of these files.

The Plone 4 upgrade's most visible change will be to the visual editor. Ag CMS content creators use the visual editor to create and format Web content on their sites. The Plone 4 upgrade includes a new visual editor that promises to be more intuitive and boasts additional features (like more robust table editing) that are not a part of our current visual editor.

Ag Communication Web Services staff are testing Plone 4 for compatibility with our current Ag CMS products and content. We will begin the upgrade of the entire Ag CMS in September and hope to have it complete by early October.

If you're still creating pages in DreamWeaver or a similar program and FTPing them, contact one of us to transition your website to the Ag CMS.

Bob Bertsch, (701) 231-7381; Julie Kuehl, (701) 231-6403; Roger Egeberg, (701) 231-7382

Here's a short list of what Ag Comm Web Services has been working on over the last couple of month. If you'd like more detail, check out the Ag Comm Web Services blog.

Please let us know what we could be doing better to serve you. Leave feedback on our blog, on our Facebook page or email anytime.

If you edit websites in the Ag content management system (CMS), you will want to avoid Internet Explorer 9 (IE9). It is incompatible with Ag CMS in editing mode. You will be able to view pages but not edit them as the visual editor blocks are rendered useless. IE8 does not have this problem.

Firefox has always been, and still is, the recommended browser for use with Ag CMS. If you need help installing Firefox, please contact Bob Bertsch or Julie Kuehl for assistance.

NDSU ITS has great step-by-step directions to help you configure your smartphone or tablet to send and receive your NDSU Outlook email.

To setup email on your smartphone ( Android, Blackberry, iPhone or Windows) or Tablet (Android or iPad), go to http://www.ndsu.edu/its/help/index/e_mail/ndsu_outlook/.

I have had very good luck with the instructions on the site. If the configuration instructions aren't working for you, contact the NDSU Help Desk, 701.231.8685 Option 1.

- Bob Bertsch, robert.bertsch@ndsu.edu