ow's this for a new trio - Placido Domingo, Chuck D., and David Bowie? Those aren't exactly artists you'd expect to see occupying the same stage - or the same sentence, for that matter. But all three have embraced the Internet to promote their music. Call them the Three Techies, if you will.
Bowie and Chuck D., along with pop acts like the Beastie Boys, were quick to realize the potential of digital music distribution, but classical artists have been slower to jump on line. Granted, all of the infamous Three Tenors have their own ''official Web sites,'' but the Mexican-born Domingo is the first international opera star to sign an exlusive agreement with an on-line music company. This week, he became a board member and ''family artist'' at Global Music Network (www. gmn. com), a portal specializing in jazz, classical, and opera. Domingo will produce recordings exclusively for the site.
The Domingo recordings won't be on line until next year, but right now the site features a small coterie of artists. And it was recently ranked one of the top five music sites by the British music magazine Heat. ''We were the only classical site,'' says Global Music CEO Mike Lubin, ''and we were sandwiched in right between the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy.'' And who thought the Net was just for Gen X, Y, and Z?
Lord knows there's enough pork flying around Capitol Hill, but late last week the subject wasn't ham, it was spam, unwanted e-mail. And the distinguished senators and representatives weren't exactly eating it up.
A new staffer in the office of Representative Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) sent out a message hawking diet pills. The aide, Cher Castillo, says she meant to send the missive (''Lose weight permanently!'') to five friends, but somehow managed to send it to every e-mail address on the Hill. Whoops.
Steve Maviglio, chief of staff for Representative Bush Holt (D-N.J.), was particularly irate. He first reported the offense to House Information Services. Then he responded to the diet pill mail with a treatise about the evils of spam and hit ''Reply All.'' He says he saw only about 40 names on the reply list, but he actually sent the e-mail to more than 10,000 addresses on the Hill. The system flooded, in-boxes clogged, and tempers flared.
Holt's office just happens to be sponsoring a bill called the Can Spam Act, and Maviglio was bombarded with complaints about his anti-spam spam. ''Some people thought it was an elaborate plot to promote the bill, but I'm not nearly that creative,'' says Maviglio. And some people blamed Maviglio for the original diet pill e-mail.
''I look like a complete idiot, but if that's what it takes to move the bill forward, I'll take it,'' Maviglio says.
As for the original spammer, Castillo is not supposed to talk about the incident. Reached at her office, she sheepishly admitted that she did, in fact, send the errant e-mail. Was it an accident? Yes. Was she reprimanded? Yes. Can she elaborate? Well, no. ''I'm not allowed to answer any questions from the press,'' she explains. Her title? ''I'm the press secretary.''
Artists ranging from Bono and Bowie to Sheryl Crow and the Counting Crows will take the stage tomorrow in London, Geneva, and the Meadowlands, N.J., to promote a Web site that advocates social activism. Sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme, the site (www.NetAid.org) aims to provide a one-stop resource center for global activism. The NetAid concerts will be Webcast live on the site from noon to 11 p.m. (The concerts will also be televised on MTV and VH1.)
Meanwhile, far from the spotlight, a computer programmer in Bloomington, Ind., has found a way for ordinary folks to fight world hunger without leaving their desks. Thehungersite.com is an innovation developed by John Breen, a Boston native and Harvard graduate. Here's how it works: You press a button to ''donate'' food for the hungry. The names of several corporate sponsors appear on the screen; the sponsors agree to donate half a cent to the United Nations World Hunger Program every time the donation button is pushed. Users can click the donation button only once a day, but many return day after day to do their part.
Launched in June, the site has raised more than $100,000 and is pulling in about $15,000 in donations a week. ''It's a very unique way to raise funds,'' says Francis Mwanza, spokesman for the World Hunger Program in Rome. ''We feed about 75 million people in 80 countries worldwide, and at every moment, we need all the help we can get.''
