YouTube’s news and politics editor Steve Grove asks Phil de Vellis questions about the “Vote Different” ad and the future of online video.

PoliticsTV.com has the first interview the 1984 Mash Up Creator, Phil de Vellis. Lots of interesting things about the future of politics in here. 🙂 [Via Jill]

An interesting Stop Cyberbullying Day Flickr photo post bySherri Jackson/Lasadh, whose Flickr photo was plagiarised and used as as the template for one of the images Kathy Sierra uses to illustrate the threats made against her.

One of Google’s better April Fools hoaxes: GMail Paper … your Gmail printed for free, with targeted, printed ads.

“… a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.”

A list of all the April Fools hijinx from across the interwebs…

Nifty tool for adding all sorts of effects (from slideshows to frames, etc.) to Flickr photos and sets.

Yes, yes, Justin.tv is all Justin, all the time. One man and a bloody camera attached somewere to his person, streaming video 24/7. Supposedly nothing edited out. Reality tv online … just what we needed.

Yes, older people like videogames, too. (Is this really news?)

The Lonelygirl15 Youtube/videblogging sensation has entered the world of product placement, starting with Hershey’s gum.

Jib Jab return with a funny little animation which – all too accurately – maps the demise of ‘The News’ in the US (and is easily extrapolatable elsewhere…).

Watch politics through the eyes of participatory culture and collective creativity …

Georgia Tech, Professor Jim Foleyhas been testing whether students listening to face to face lectures, or reviewing lectures on laptops/iPods learn better. Using class test results, the laptop/iPod group seem to perform 10% better.

Death (and other) threats made against blogger Kathy Sierra are just revolting and cruel. (Nor do they appear random, but rather concerted and deliberate, which is all the more disturbing.)

Ross Mayfield responds to the threats against Kathy Sierra soberly, sharing the concern many of us feel, but also pointing out this isn’t an argument against free speech and anonymity per se.

Scoble: “I’m physically ill after reading what happened to Kathy Sierra. Maryam and several others here at PodTech asked me about it and are concerned since the same sites that are attacking Kathy also mentioned me and Maryam.”

danah boyd talks about the threats and hate spech against Kathy Sierra and calls a spade very much a spade. she also (bravely) recounts similar experiences from her past.

BBC News picks up on the threats: “Prominent blogger Kathy Sierra has called on the blogosphere to combat the culture of abuse online. It follows a series of death threats which have forced her to cancel a public appearance and suspend her blog.”

Frank Paynter’s apology to Kathy Sierra for his part in MeanKids (and Kathy’s responses).

Doc Searls tries to take a snapshot of the threats against Kathy Sierra, the causes, the people and offers a few words as to why their take anarchy isn’t so useful.

Google starts to integrate … everything! It’s totally Epic!

An excellent three-part essay on comic books and the changing shape of the superhero genre(s).

“Doctors can greatly improve their stethoscope skills and therefore their ability to diagnose heart problems by listening repeatedly to heartbeats on their iPods.” (Drs accuracy doubles after 5 minutes with iPod recordings! Hmmm.)

“The arch of an eyebrow or the curve of a lip tells chimps a lot about each other, in a finding that may give scientists new understanding about the evolution of human communication, researchers report.” (Donna Haraway will be pleased!)

I know Ask A Ninja and OKGo … the rest are new to me. No stats on how many votes, though!

UK man Kevin Whitrick logged into a chatroom, stated he was going to hang himself, turned on a webcam – was egged on by some, a few tried to talk him out of it – and then he hanged himself with a live webcam showing the whole thing.

“You’ve heard of iPod – now welcome to iGod. High-tech vicar Reverend Clay Nelson is taking his sermons virtual. The Auckland vicar has been releasing weekly addresses from St Matthew-in-the-city through the internet for almost a year.”

The Children of Húrin will be released worldwide on 17 April, with Tolkien’s son completing the unfinished work begun by his father more than half a century ago.

Rubel notes a new report that suggests 74% of blogspot blogs are spam. That’s pretty huge. I guess Google will have to do something, but as someone who has several inactive blogs I don’t want deleted, I hope it’s a measured response!

The Daily Show’s take on the ViaCom lawsuit against YouTube. Rather silly, but quite funny.

If nothing else the research papers on Second Life have great titles! 🙂

Want to test out real-time voice in Second Life? You can!

Hear Will Wright talking about his new game (in development), SPORE, as well as its inspirations including particular models of teaching and learning!

Jimmy Wales talks the Wikipedia on Australia’s Radio National. Available as streaming audio or a direct download. [MP3 Link]

Get Firefox and IE seach bar plugins for the University of Western Australia (UWA) library.

OurMedia turns two. Happy Birthday! The growth of this social media website and community has been slow but steady. In the long run, using the Internet Archive as its repository will no doubt ensure its longevity.

Mark Glaser asks about the future of audio podcasting in the face of video podcasting’s meteoric rise in popularity. Lots of good questions, but he aruges there will always be a substantial place for the audio-only versions.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has purchased an island in Second Life and is developing it as part of their new online innovations.

“Turmoil in Zimbabwe this week refocused the world’s attention on the 27-year rule of President Robert Mugabe. The world of blogging was no exception as the BBC News website discovered.”

The Chronicle joins most media reporting on a Journal of Experimental Psychology report that suggest Grand Theft Auto players are more aggressive drivers. Thankfully, it also wonders if aggressive drivers are just attracted to the game!

danah boyd’s web3.0: “I believe that geographic-dependent context will be the next key shift. GPS, mesh networks, articulated presence, etc. People want to go mobile and they want to use technology to help them engage in the mobile world…”

Y’know … to search … Twitter.

Lawrence Lessig write a short, pithy, accessible and entirely convincing argument about why the US Supreme Court should not be deciding the Viacom Vs YouTube case … but nevertheless will, costing jobs and extending uncertainty in its wake.

Close to realtime mashp of Google Maps and Twitter, showing the latest Twitter comment on a (moving) Google map … the Twitterati are spread far and wide!