But the Mary Beth Albright award for best use of fundamental technology by a venerable organization goes to the Beard Foundation itself for its new kitchen cam.

Hundreds of miles away from my home in Washington, D.C., one of the nation’s finest chefs is on the horn in New York negotiating a discount for last-minute ingredients, arguing “It’s the James Beard House,” as two cooks scurry in the background. Rockwell’s “(I Always Feel Like) Somebody’s Watching Me” hums along on the radio. The song is almost sitcom coincidental, because the whole scene is open to anyone around the globe with a computer to live stream it.

On March 31, three cameras went live in the kitchen of the James Beard House, which