16Aug/08
Interesting links for August 15th 2008:
- Ancient Free Gardeners - flying the CC banner [Creative Commons Australia] - "... Ancient Free Gardeners, a Melbourne-based indie band who use CC licences to distribute their music. We're very pleased to announce that AFG have released their new single, Innards Out, under a CC BY-NC-SA licence, which allows it to be freely distributed and even remixed. And they're getting quite a bit of attention from it."
- Internet becomes Iraq's new matchmaker [The Age] - "Young Iraqis in Baghdad are surfing the internet to search for partners to tie the knot as violence and sectarian tensions take their toll on more traditional forms of socialising. Dating has fallen victim to the insecurity that has reduced the capital to a sullen network of rival neighbourhoods, leaving little space for men and women to meet other than in cyber chat rooms. "I think the Iraqis are looking for love on the internet because there are no other places for them to meet," said Mustafa Kazem, a 20-year-old engineering student who found his soulmate on a university chat forum."
- Brands line up for Bond sequel [Variety] - "James Bond is bringing back some familiar brands in "Quantum of Solace." Sequel to "Casino Royale" will again be backed by Ford Motor Co., Heineken beer, Smirnoff vodka, Omega watches, Virgin Atlantic, Sony Ericsson cell phones and other Sony electronics. These brands all have products placed in the film and each will shell out tens of millions of dollars as a promotional partner of the pic. Sony Pictures, which is distribbing the movie, declined to disclose how much the brands are ponying up, but returning partners spent up to $100 million worldwide on ad efforts around "Casino Royale," industryites estimate. The same is expected this time around." [Via The Frodo Franchise]
- Italy blocks The Pirate Bay [The Age] - "An Italian judge has ordered the country's internet service providers to block access to The Pirate Bay, a Swedish file-sharing website, as part of a probe into copyright law violation, officials said on Thursday. Since last week, Italy's anti-fraud police have been informing providers they must heed the order of a judge in the northern city of Bergamo, police Col. Alessandro Nencini said." (Apparently the impact of this 'ban' has been to increase Italian traffic to The Pirate Bay!
19Jun/08
Interesting links for June 17th 2008 through June 19th 2008:
- Study: 82 Percent of Consumers Accept In-Game Ads [Life from Wired.com] - "... according to a recent study crafted as a joint venture between the Nielsen company and in-game ad entrepreneurs IGA Worldwide. "82 percent felt games were just as enjoyable with ads as without," the study reveals..."
- NSFW: A Beginners Guide To Sporn [Rock, Paper, Shotgun] - (Contains Images Only Intended for Adults!) "You give humanity a creative tool, the first thing a human will do is - well - make a tool with it. Since the Spore demo?s release, it?s become a bukkake wave sweeping the web: comedy pornographic images via Spore. Spornography - aka "Sporn"."
- This is Sparta! ? Facebook prank or political statement?[ Examiner.com] - When 30,000 students taking a literature exam all write "This Is Sparta!" somewhere during the test and cross it out again, examiners discover there's a Facebook meme at work, 300 style.
- Mum pleads not guity in web suicide case [PerthNow] - "A US woman who prosecutors say drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide with a cruel MySpace hoax has pleaded not guilty. Lori Drew of Missouri, who is accused of creating the fake MySpace persona of a 16-year-old boy..."
- Hollywood relying more on franchises [The Hollywood Reporter] - June 16, 2008: Hollywood is using more and more existing franchises and 'superbrands' in an effort to capitalise on existing consumer demand rather than risking new material in an era when promotion is harder and harder.
17Apr/08
Interesting links for April 17th 2008:
- TV takes the online challenge [The Age] - '"The reason people are illegally using P2P [peer-to-peer] networks is simply because content isn't available elsewhere," says Ten's general manager, Digital Media, Damian Smith.' (So give me a legal way to download Battlestar Galactica today and I will!)
- Exploring Fantasy Life and Finding a $4 Billion Franchise [New York Times] - "... Electronic Arts, the Sims?s publisher, plans to announce that the series has sold more than 100 million copies (including expansion packs) in 22 languages and 60 countries since its introduction in 2000. All told, the franchise has generated about
- Australia's YouTube stars to get paid [Australian IT] - The YouTube Partner Program provides money to YouTube content creators in exchange for displaying banner ads on their videos, has been launched in Australia today.
- Parents angry at violent school bully game [The Age] - From Rockstar Games, the people behind Grand Theft Auto, comes the hugely provocative Bully: Scholarship Edition in which you play a rebellious school kid, and runs the risk of (purposefully?) provoking cyberbulllying to normalising school-yard shootings.
- ABC's digital push for channels, radio [The Age] - "The ABC wants to triple its number of television channels and radio services over the next 12 years as it seeks to increase Australian content levels and cement its place in the digital media age, its managing director, Mark Scott, has flagged"
