Ponderance

Quick notes for tonights at 'Understanding Cross Platform and New Media' at FTI...

Rocketboom: NYT: 200,000 daily viewers; $US40,000 1-week RBoomed Advertising [TRM] ; Made by 2 + Sml Team; Edited with iMovie; on CSI; Rocketboom with Ad Example. From Rocketboom's About:

We differ from a regular TV program in many important ways. Instead of costing millions of dollars to produce, Rocketboom is created with a consumer-level video camera, a laptop, two lights and a map with no additional overhead or costs. Also, Rocketboom is distributed online, all around the world and on demand, and thus has a much larger potential audience than any TV broadcast. However, we spend $0 on promotion, relying entirely on word-of-mouth, and close to $0 on distribution because bandwidth costs and space are so inexpensive. While TV programs have traditionally been uni-directional, Rocketboom engages its international audience in a wide range of topical discussions.

On TiVO;


Battlestar Galactica: Ronald D. Moore: Blog; Podcasts (Ep Commentaries +); Season I Finale LEGALLY Online; Official Website.
Fans: Battlestar Wiki; CIC Fan Podcast; Unofficial BSG Blog.
(Flipside: most downloaded tv show ever!)

(Other examples: The Signal and Serenity/Firefly; Kong Is King with PJ's video diaries; Lost online presence ...)

iLounge reports that Griffin have finally got around to an iTalk equivalent for the 5G iPods which can take advantage of the CD quality recording potential built into the newer iPods. Details of the iTalkPro from iLounge:

Substantially redesigned from the company’s earlier, popular iTalks for 3G and 4G iPods, the glossy black iTalkPro now boasts twin internal microphones for recording in CD-quality stereo, taking advantage of the 5G iPod’s superior stereo and monaural sampling modes, and a bold red recording light around its one-touch recording button. It also features a unique on-screen gain adjustment menu and a bottom-mounted port for an external microphone of your choice. Predictably, the new iTalk connects to the 5G iPod’s bottom Dock Connector, and is not compatible with earlier iPods. A release date and pricing have yet to be announced.

According to Griffin, iTalkPro will be able to record for 3.5 continuous hours on a fully-charged 60GB fifth-generation iPod, or 1.5 hours on a 30GB model before the battery runs out, a limitation based largely on the 5G iPod’s need to spin its hard drive all the time during recording. These recording times also assume that the iPod has sufficient hard drive space for recording; Apple’s firmware saves files in high-bitrate WAV format rather than in compressed MP3 or AAC.

The iTalkPro joins the much-hyped XtremeMac MicroMemo...

... and Belkin's TuneTalk ...

... all set to enter the market in the near future (release dates range from a vague "late spring" [which would be late Autumn for those of us in Australia) to no date at all, but you can pretty much guarentee they'll all appear in quick succession).

Given the far greater audio recording quality inherent to the 5G iPod Video models (44.1khz stereo), the owners of the latest iPods are (finally) about the become (potentially, at least) the creators of high-quality podcasts (and numerous other digital audio products)! At a higher education level (and, indeed, a K-12 level, too), this means that buying iPods can simply be supplemented with a microphone plugin to turn them into a high quality recording device and separate devices won't be necessary for a wide range of audio recording tasks.

Bring on the student-created podcasts!

Update 22 Aug 06: The first of the iPod Video microphones has finally arrived!

[Cross-posted from my eLearning blog.]

[Tags: podcast | microphone | apple | ipod | ipodvideo | 5g | italkpro | tunetalk]

This Thursday (30th March), I'm participating in a panel and seminar at Fremantle's Film and Television Institute (92 Adelaide Street, Fremantle) so any local readers of this blog who might be interested, please come along (it costs $18/ $9 FTI Members ... worth being a member for, methinks!). The outline:

Understanding Cross Platform and New Media

Want to find out about the latest trends in new media and cross platform development? Want to gain a greater understanding of how the use of broadband internet is already changing the way documentaries, television and films are being created, developed and distributed?

Don't miss this exciting seminar at FTI on Thursday 30th March at 7pm. Our panel of presenters will discover, discuss and debate what the world of the filmmaker of tomorrow will be like.

Guest speakers include Tama Leaver from UWA, Arron Kennedy from the award winning innovative animation company Raging Pixel and Alison Wright from the ABC.

To find out more contact FTI on 9431 6700 or email ftitraining@fti.asn.au

Anyone who knows my thoughts on cross platform media will be unsurprised to hear that in my bit I'm rather likely to mention both Battlestar Galactica (especially their use of blogs, podcasts, etc.) and RocketBoom (vlog extraordinaire!).

[Tags: battlestargalactica | rocketboom | vlog | podcast | blog | convergence | fti | fremantle]

According to Podcasting News, podcasts are rapidly hitting the mainstream in the UK:

The British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) reports that a quarter of all adult internet users will listen to a podcast in the next 6 months.

“The findings suggest that up to 7.9 million adults could be downloading podcasts in the next 6 months, which represents a massive opportunity for advertisers and media owners alike,” said BMRB marketing director Steve Cooke.

The report is based on a national (UK) survey of 1,000 adults in February 2006.

Among adult internet users, 17% have downloaded a podcast in the last 6 months (rising to 28% among 16-24 year olds) and 24% are likely to download a podcast in the next 6 months, according to BMRB. Those owning an MP3 player are more likely to have downloaded a podcast (28%) with up to 38% likely to download a podcast in the next 6 months.

The BMRB found that podcasting is more likely to be a male activity, with male internet users almost twice as likely (22%) as females (12%) to have downloaded a podcast.

Read more...

[Tags: podcasting | uk | audience]

First Monday has an very interesting (and rather disheartening) article by ANU law lecturer Matthew Rimmer called "Robbery under arms: Copyright law and the Australia-United States Free Trade Ageeement" which examines the Free Trade Agreement in terms of Australia's copyright laws and how they'll mutate under the agreement. The abstract:

This article considers the radical, sweeping changes to Australian copyright law wrought by the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement 2004 (AUSFTA). It contends that the agreement will result in a "piracy of the public domain". Under this new regime, copyright owners will be able to obtain greater monopoly profits at the expense of Australian consumers, libraries and research institutions, as well as intermediaries, such as Internet service providers. Part One observes that the copyright term extension in Australia to life of the author plus 70 years for works will have a negative economic and cultural impact - with Australia's net royalty payments estimated to be up to $88 million higher per year. Part Two argues that the adoption of stronger protection of technological protection measures modelled upon the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 (U.S.) will override domestic policy-making processes, such as the Phillips Fox Digital Agenda Review, and judicial pronouncements such as the Stevens v Sony litigation. Part Three questions whether the new safe harbours protection for Internet service providers will adversely affect the sale of Telstra. This article concludes that there is a need for judicial restraint in interpreting the AUSFTA. There is an urgent call for the Federal Government to pass ameliorating reforms - such as an open-ended defence of fair use and a mechanism for orphan works. There is a need for caution in negotiating future bilateral trade agreements - lest the multinational system for the protection of copyright law be undermined.

Read the article...

[Tags: australia | usa | freetradeagreement | publicdomain | copyright | law]

William Gibson: "Just back from V FOR VENDETTA. More thumbs up than a Chernobyl pianist. Superb. Splendid. Heartening. Go see."

Now that's a recommendation I'm taking to heart. Can't wait. (Opens Thursday, 30 March 2006 in Australia).

[Tags: vforvendetta | williamgibson]

Check out GetUp's new political mashup about the AWB and the Australian Government.

(Although, after 10 years, I guess some cynicism is justified...)

[Tags: australia | politics | johnhoward | awb | bribes | culturejamming | mashup]

There has been a great deal of debate in the past months about the applicability of terra nullius as the term which captures the colonial position on indigenous land rights (ie none) which was overturned by the Mabo decision. Henry Reynolds' work fundamentally underpinned that judgement, but has recently been attacked by conservative historians, most notably Michael Connor's work which argues Reynolds was completely inaccurate in sing terra nullius as a term, or representative term, of the colonial position. However, Andrew Fitzmaurice in The Australian today makes a powerful counter-argument, reinforcing the political utility of both Reynolds' work, and the Mabo decision:

The judgment sits in a 500-year tradition of the negative use of natural law arguments to defend indigenous rights. Rather than overturning the "doctrine of terra nullius", the judgment was keeping alive a tradition of using the tools of natural law and, in this instance, terra nullius, to argue against dispossession. By arguing that Australia had not been terra nullius at the time of colonial occupation the judges were acknowledging the natural law argument that Aboriginal property rights existed and continued to exist where a relationship to the land was maintained. This continuing relationship between Aboriginal people and land means that the history of colonial occupation is not simply a fait accompli, as historian John Hirst has recently argued, but a part of the present. Mabo is not good history, but it is clearly continuous with a Western judicial tradition that attempted to rescue liberty (or in this case liberal democracy) from the threat posed by the dispossession of colonised peoples.

This is what makes the attack on the Mabo judgment by several commentators on the Right particularly misguided. Out of an ignorance of the complex history of Western political thought, these opinion writers are in effect attacking the liberal tradition that they valorise.

[Tags: henryreynolds | terranullius | MichaelConnor | australia | history | historywars]

So very close to true...

[SOurce] [Via]

[Tags: caffeine | coffee | humour | graph | silly]

The Oscars are done for another year. Of the nineteen I took a stab at predicting, 12 paid off. I'm surprised Crash took best film when Ang Lee took best director, but haven't actually seen Crash so it'll definitely be on the To See list now! Other than Crash's Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, no major shocks this year. I've not actually watched the show yet, just seen the results online, and I'm still really looking forward to seeing Jon Stewart at the helm tonite!

My predictions, and the actual winners where I got it wrong:

[x] Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain [Winner: Crash]
[1] Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote.
[x] Actress: Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice. (Winner: Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line)
[2] Supporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana( or Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain).
[3] Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener.
[4] Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain.
[5] Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain.
[x] Original Screenplay: George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck. (Winner: Crash - Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco)
[x] Animated Feature Film: Howl's Moving Castle. (Winner: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit )
[x] Art Direction: King Kong. (Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) - John Myhre, Gretchen Rau)
[x] Cinematography: Brokeback Mountain. (Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha - Dion Beebe)
[6] Sound Mixing: King Kong.
[7] Sound Editing: King Kong.
[8] Original Score: Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla (I guess ... I really didn't think it was a brilliant year for film scores.)
[x] Original Song: Travelin' Thru from Transamerica, Dolly Parton. (Winner: Hustle & Flow (2005) - Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard("It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp")
[9] Costume: Memoirs of a Geisha.
[10] Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins.
[11] Makeup: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
[12] Visual Effects: King Kong (interesting to see Episode III didn't even get a nomination in this category!)

Update (11.40am, Tuesday 7 Feb 06): The production of this year's Oscars has to be one of the worst ever. Crap editing, poor camerawork, very poor sound. Jon Stewart made a pretty valient attempt to keep things interesting, but his wit didn't necessarily hit home in the Kodak Theatre (although worked well for me as a viewer). However, the blatant in-your-face "go to the cinema; don't just buy the DVD message" of the Academy President and others (including a very awkward looking Jake Gyllenhal) really, really annoyed me. And the montages ... bloody hell ... could you say "we lack faith in this year's films to draw and audience so hear are some you might remember" more loudly and with worse edits? *sigh*

[Tags: oscars | academyawards | predictions | results | winners]

Sometimes battles won in the past can get lost in the future ...

The BBC reports that South Dakota has decided women shouldn't have control over their bodies:

The South Dakota law - approved by the governor on Monday - makes it a crime for doctors to perform terminations. Exceptions will be made if a woman's life is at risk, but not in cases of rape or incest. Many believe new appointments to the Supreme Court may have tipped the balance in favour of anti-abortionists.

Disheartening to think that as feminism slips further and further from the mainstream media radar, moves like this are more and more likely to get through conservative councils and governments.

[Tags: abortion | choice | southdakota | conservatives | rights | womensrights]

I used to love The Transformers, so you can imagine how impressed I am by Steampunk Transformer designs ...



Shockwave!


Megatron!


And apparently new Transformers comics are coming, too:


[Via BoingBoing]

[Tags: steampunk | transformers | morethanmeetstheeye | 80s]

The Australian Copyright Agency seems to be determined to make sure students don't get a decent education by trying to charge schools to use the internet:

Schools have warned they will have to turn off the internet if a move by the nation's copyright collection society forces them to pay a fee every time a teacher instructs students to browse a website. Teachers said students in rural areas would bear the brunt of cuts if the Copyright Agency was successful in adding internet browsing charges to the $31 million in photocopying fees it rakes in from schools. [...] Negotiations between the Ministerial Council on Education Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, representing the schools, and the agency have broken down over plans to change the scheme to include a question in the survey on whether teachers direct students to use the internet. "If it turned out we'd have to pay them, we'd turn the internet off in schools," the council's national copyright director Delia Browne said. "We couldn't afford it; it would not be sustainable. How on earth are we going to deliver education in the 21st century? How are taxpayers going to afford this."

Cory Doctorow's take:

This is a way to transfer Australia's tax dollars from its education system to its copyright sector.

My take: Leave the schools alone!!!

[Cross-posted from my Edublog]

[Tags: copyright | australia | schools | fairuse | ]