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Digital Culture Links: May 11th through May 21st

Links for May 11th through May 21st:

Digital Culture Links: March 30th

Links for March 26th through March 30th:

  • The Dark Knight Rises Trailer 2: IN LEGO [YouTube] – Beautifully put together Lego version of the new Dark Knight trailer. “LEGO Dark Knight Rises Movie Trailer By ParanickFilmz. http://paranickfilmz.co.nr/ Thanks to Adviceversas for the mouth animation and JediMasterSoda for the CGI. Movie (2012) HD.”
  • CBS Blocks Use of Unused ‘Star Trek’ Script by Spinrad [NYTimes.com] – “For “Star Trek” fans it was like finding a lost Shakespeare play — only to have it snatched away by the playwright’s heirs.Last fall an unused script for the cult 1960s television show turned up after being forgotten for years. Its author, the science-fiction writer Norman Spinrad, announced that it would become an episode of a popular Web series, “Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II,” which features amateur actors in the classic roles of Capt. James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and other crew members of the starship Enterprise. But then another player stepped in: CBS, which said it owned the script and blocked a planned Web production of it. Trekkies were appalled. “These executives should be phasered on heavy stun,” said Harmon Fields of Manhattan, who called himself “a ‘Star Trek’ fan of galactic proportions.” … By all indications CBS is within its rights. In the entertainment industry the paid writer of a teleplay generally cedes the rights to the material, even if it remains unproduced.”
  • Shitter: Social Media has never been so disposable – Online service that prints a twitter feed onto toilet paper. I suppose such a thing was inevitable.
  • Pay TV piracy hits News [AFR] – A detailed investigative report accuses NewsCorp of actively promoting and facilitating the piracy of competitors pay TV network content: ” A secret unit within Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation promoted a wave of high-tech piracy in Australia that damaged Austar, Optus and Foxtel at a time when News was moving to take control of the Australian pay TV industry.” These are hugely important accusations both in terms of NewsCorp but also in terms of how piracy is framed and understood.
  • What book publishers should learn from Harry Potter — Tech News and Analysis – Useful post detailing the DRM-free release of the Harry Potter ebooks and audio books for sale on J K Rowling’s Pottermore website. The lesson here is that DRM really isn’t necessary, and you’re more likely to reach a wider audience without it. Admittedly Rowling has unprecedented clout in managing her own books in electronic form, and has already made so much money off these books there’s no real risk involved, but the strategy is an important one nevertheless.
  • Angry Birds Space gets 10m downloads in three days [BBC] – The latest version of the Angry Birds game notched up 10 million download in its first three days of release, says its developer Rovio. Angry Birds Space only came out on 22 March, but in a tweet on Monday Rovio announced the game’s swift success. … The new Angry Birds instalment features 60 initial levels and six new characters and has what Rovio calls a “unique twist in a variable gravity environment”. As well as Google Android and Apple iOS devices, last week also saw the game released simultaneously on PC and Mac. Nasa was also involved in promoting the game, posting a video showing an astronaut on the International Space Station explaining the laws of physics using Angry Bird characters.
    The space agency called it “an exciting way to get people engaged with Nasa’s missions of exploration and discover”.
  • Google ordered to suspend autocomplete function over cyber-harassment [The Japan Times Online] – “The Tokyo District Court approved a petition demanding that Google Inc. suspend its autocomplete search feature for Internet browsers after a man alleged that it breached his privacy and got him fired, his lawyer said Sunday. Google is refusing to suspend the feature, saying that its headquarters in the United States will not be regulated by Japanese law and that the case does not warrant deleting the autocomplete suggestions related to the petition under its in-house privacy policy, lawyer Hiroyuki Tomita said. The case, which was adjudicated on March 19, is believed to be the first to order the suspension of the Web search feature, which attempts to instantly anticipate and list the words or phrases a person will type into a browser’s search box, Tomita said. [..] The man discovered that when people type his name into Google’s search engine, words suggesting criminal acts, which he is unfamiliar with, appear.”
  • Facebook Asserts Trademark on Word ‘Book’ in New User Agreement [Threat Level | Wired.com] – “Facebook is trying to expand its trademark rights over the word “book” by adding the claim to a newly revised version of its “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities,” the agreement all users implicitly consent to by using or accessing Facebook.”

Digital Culture Links: March 8th

Links for March 4th through March 8th:

  • Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium [Off Book | PBS – YouTube] – Nifty little video looking at the history of the GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) image, from the 1987 creation (pre-web) through tothe Under Construction GIFs the were prevalent on the early web, the disappearance of GIFS, and their resurgence as an art-form (cinemagraphs) and a memey means of expression (Tumblr!).
  • Tweet a Link, Save a Link [Delicious Blog] – Delicious adds a native Twitter connector, with which you can save tweets, links in tweets, and filter by a specific hashtag.
  • Coles Twitter campaign goes down, down gurgler [WA Today] – “A social media experiment has backfired for Coles, exposing the supermarket to a flood of negative comments on Twitter. The supermarket is the latest company to have a social media marketing exercise go terribly wrong, following blunders from Qantas and Coca-Cola. The official Coles account last night urged followers to complete the sentence “in my house it’s a crime not to buy…..” But the PR exercise quickly fizzled as Twitter users inundated the supermarket’s account with negative comments. User @Pollytics wrote, “Food from markets while Coles exploits mental illness via pokies.” Other users raised concerns about the supermarket not giving farmers a fair price for their produce. @TaraMacca wrote, “In my house, its a crime not to buy LOCALLY- and I don’t mean from a @coles supermarket.” “In my house it’s a crime not to buy…BREAD AND MILK AT PRICES THAT ALLOW PRIMARY PRODUCERS TO SURVIVE,” said @downesy.”
  • Apple passes 25bn iPhone and iPad app downloads milestone [Technology | guardian.co.uk] – “Apple’s App Store has passed 25 billion downloads, with Disney’s iOS game Where’s My Water? Free nudging it past the milestone. Apple had been running a counter on its website and store, so the 25bn mark was actually reached over the weekend. The company has now revealed which app was the 25 billionth, as well as the name of the downloader: Chunli Fu in Qingdao, China. Late chief executive Steve Jobs would surely have approved of both. He was Disney’s largest shareholder in his later years, after it acquired his Pixar Animation Studios. Meanwhile, China has been an important growth market for Apple in the last year, as the iPhone went on sale there. […] As a comparison, Google recently announced that its Android Market store is generating 1bn monthly app downloads.”
  • Lego blondes [thinking with my fingers] – Torill Mortensen looks at the differences between normal Lego figure (minifigs) and the new ‘for girls’ Lego. The fact that ‘girl’ lego figures are incompatible with the ‘normal’ accessories and parts is telling. 🙁
  • Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral [TED – YouTube] – Seven minute TED talk by Kevin Allocca explaining why he (on behalf of YouTube) thinks videos ‘go viral’.

Lego: Dads don’t play with toddlers?

Let me start be saying I love Lego and our 2-year old loves his Duplo (the bigger Lego blocks aimed at toddlers).  I was excited to hear Lego had created and released an online Duplo space, with games and interactions. Sounds like a perfect safe space to share with Mr2. However, I was incredibly disappointed when I turned up, only to discover that someone at Lego seems to have entirely forgotten that Dad’s exist …

DuploWorld

“Hello Moms!” really? This is very disappointing for a dad. And for equality in general. 

Lego, please lift your game: I want to be able to enjoy this space with my son, and enjoying many, many hours of Lego and Duplo together.

The Day the Cupcake Stood Still

[Look Behind You! Run, Run for your Life! Nom, Nom, Nom all CC BY]

I turned 32 on the weekend, but with a 9-week old in the house we’re much more in tune with our inner children, too, so I was just blown away when Em made me these amazing Alien Invader cupcakes! There were lots of other highlights – a great lunch with family, some brilliant presents, watching my son giggle away, and an early Christmas party dinner with good friends – but I just had to share the cupcake pictures! 🙂

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