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29Jan/10

Digital Culture Links: January 29th 2010

Links for January 29th 2010:

[Source]
iPad DRM endangers our rights [DefectiveByDesign.org] - The petition against Apple's iPad (and other) DRM: "DRM will give Apple and their corporate partners the power to disable features, block competing products (especially free software) censor news, and even delete books, videos, or news stories from users' computers without notice-- using the device's "always on" network connection. This past year, we have seen how human rights and democracy protestors can have the technology they use turned against them. By making a computer where every application is under total, centralized control, Apple is endangering freedom to increase profits. Apple can say they will not abuse this power, but their record of App Store rejections and removals gives us no reason to trust them. The iPad's unprecedented use of DRM to control all capabilities of a general purpose computer is a dangerous step backward for computing and for media distribution. We demand that Apple remove all DRM from its devices."
Hitler responds to the iPad [YouTube] - Yes, it was inevitable that the iPad would attract the Downfall meme!
12 Key Features Apple iPad lacks [SMH] - It's 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9 which will stop me buying the first release iPad (I suspect much of this will be fixed by iPad 2.0!):
"1. iBooks is initially US-only
2. No built-in camera
3. No USB ports
4. No memory card read
5. Keyboard dock sold separately
6. No multi-tasking
7. No Adobe Flash support
8. Can only run Apple-sanctioned apps
9. Can only access iTunes videos and music
10. Lacks HDMI port
11. Screen is 4:3 aspect ratio, not 16:9 widescreen
12. No full GPS support"
New page in publishing turns on Apple's offering [The Australian] - eBooks, eBooks, eBooks, OI, OI, OI: "The use of e-book readers is in its infancy in Australia but Apple's iPad will be the harbinger of a change in the way Australians read books, says the nation's largest independent publisher. Allen & Unwin's digital publishing director, Elizabeth Weiss, said: "There is a buzz around. We think iPad will further stimulate interest in e-books." E-book sales - either via a PC or readers such as Amazon's Kindle - are statistically insignificant in the $2.5 billion book market in Australia, but the industry is expecting a similar pattern to the US where, in less than two years, and during a deep recession, digital books have captured about 5 per cent of the market. "You'll see a rapid take-up over the next six months," said Australian Booksellers Association chief executive Malcolm Neil. But he said that could result in some smaller booksellers losing market share and being forced to close."
Microsoft Releases a Study on Data Privacy Day [Microsoft Privacy & Safety] - More evidence that your web presence doesn't ever just stay on the web: "Our study found 70% of surveyed HR professionals in U.S. (41% in the UK) have rejected a candidate based on online reputation information. Reputation can also have a positive effect as in the United States, 86% of HR professionals (and at least two thirds of those in the U.K. and Germany) stated that a positive online reputation influences the candidate’s application to some extent; almost half stated that it does so to a great extent. What we hope people take away from this research is that an online reputation is not something to be scared of; it’s something to be proactively managed. That means not just removing (or not posting) negatives, but also building the online reputation that you would want an employer (or friend or client) to find."
Google Routes Around App Store On The iPhone... Others Can Too [Techdirt] - Apps want to be free, too: "I was just recently suggesting that the massive focus on "apps" and "app stores" may be a red herring, as eventually many of those apps can be built via the web (especially as HTML 5 moves forward), without having to go through any kind of app store approval process. So it's worth noting that, in fact, Google has done exactly that with its Google Voice app for the iPhone (doing so because of problems getting a client-side app approved by Apple)."

Tagged as: apple, apps, australia, convergence, downfall, drm, ebooks, Google, hitler, humour, identity, ipad, iphone, meme, privacy, protest, reputation, socialmedia, web101, webpresence No Comments

8Oct/09

Digital Culture Links: October 8th 2009

Links for October 4th 2009 through October 8th 2009:

Angry Outbursts on Twitter Prompt Lengthy Legal Discussions [NYTimes.com] - "Times are tough for the “tweet before you think” crowd. Courtney Love was sued by a fashion designer after she posted a series of inflammatory tweets, one calling the designer a liar and a thief. A landlord in Chicago sued a tenant for $50,000 after she tweeted about her moldy apartment. And Demi Moore slapped back at Perez Hilton over a revealing photograph of the actress’s daughter. A growing number of people have begun lashing out at their Twitter critics, challenging the not-quite rules of etiquette on a service where insults are lobbed in brief bursts, too short to include the social niceties. Some offended parties are suing." (Yes, as with all social media, if you think things you post or tweet will ever go away ... they won't.)
Hotmail users advised to change passwords following information theft [Technology | guardian.co.uk] - "Hotmail users are being advised to change their passwords, after thousands of account details were posted online. A list containing more than 10,000 apparently genuine account names and passwords was posted to a website last week, where it remained until being spotted over the weekend by Microsoft security researchers. The list, which has been seen by the Guardian, appears to be genuine. It only contains usernames beginning with the letters A and B, but covers accounts ending in @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com - three services owned by Microsoft which have more than 280m users worldwide. Although the stolen details have since been taken offline, copies of the list are already available elsewhere on the web - meaning that the details are potentially in the hands of criminals." (Putting the HOT back into hotmail ...)
Not a Nobel Headline [The Content Makers] - "What on earth is this shit? Australia gets its first female Nobel prize-winning scientist, and The Age runs with the following headline on the front page of its print edition: What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing with a Nobel Prize? Perhaps its meant to be all very po-mo and “oh look we’re so not sexist that we can actually pretend we are sexist in an ironical kind of way, ho ho”. And it is written off the first para, which says that this was what Elizabeth Blackburn was once asked by a family friend. But as a front page splash, it demeans the story to the level of cute human interest, rather than serious breakthrough. It leaves me thinking: What Are Nice Boys Like You Doing With a Newspaper?" (I couldn't agree more!)
The life cycle of social networking sites. [Democratic Underground] - Amusing visualisation of the life-cycle of social networking sites, from the 'New & Cool' through to the inevitable 'Cash Grabbing' phase. Facebook is probably between steps three and four!
Google Wave’s unproductive email metaphors [Scoblizer] - Robert Scoble on why Google Wave isn't really like email at all (which is good, apparently, because email isn't that productive!).

Tagged as: digitalliteracy, email, hotmail, identity, journalism, legal, microsoft, net303, news, nobelprize, security, sexism, socialmedia, socialnetworking, theage, visualisation No Comments

4Oct/09

Digital Culture Links: October 4th 2009

Links for October 1st 2009 through October 4th 2009:

Margaret Pomeranz on R18+ [Byteside] - Film critic and arts commentator Margaret Pomeranz discussed why an R18+ rating for video games is all too due for Australia! (Posted on: October 1, 2009)
You're banned for life: MasterChef's George in 'sell out' Twitter spat [The Age] - Journalist and food writer Winsor Dobbin got more than he bargained for after a quick tweet deriding MasterChef's George Calombaris for pimping Coles. Calombaris phoned him personally to complain, call Dobbin a moron, and ban the food critic for all fo Colambaris' five restaurants. Seems Calombaris needs to stop reading Twitter. (Or maybe he's just annoyed that the premiere of Celebrity Masterchef got caned on Twitter in favour of the Hey, Hey Reunion?)
The Social Media Guru [YouTube] - Biting satire about the world of social media gurus, who charge the world to tell you about Twitter ... by explaining the point is to learn about it yourself. "It's social media, baby." (Oh, BTW: Some very colourful language!)
The Wikipedia Knowledge Dump - Interesting blog flagging and archiving Wikipedia content that has been marked for possible deletion.

Tagged as: coles, georgecalombaris, masterchef, oflc, parody, pr, r18+, ratings, satire, socialmedia, web101, wikipedia No Comments

1Oct/09

Digital Culture Links: October 1st 2009

Links for September 28th 2009 through October 1st 2009:

Google Wave Overview [YouTube] - A nice and short (8 minute) explanation of Google Wave: it's a hosted conversation, encouraging collaboration!
MPs warned to avoid hasty blogs [BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics] - The next generation of [UK] Labour MPs have been warned to be careful about what they write on blogs and websites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube - as comments made in haste remain on the internet forever. At a packed fringe meeting hosted by Google at the Labour conference, activists, prospective and current MPs were told of the benefits of social networking sites - where politicians can get their message out without civil servants and special advisers getting in the way. Labour's newly crowned "Twitter tsar", MP Kerry McCarthy, made a bid to win over the sceptics by saying it did not have to be a burden [...] But in a word of warning Adewale Oshineye, a Google engineer, advised prospective MPs to bear in mind they were publishing something that could be dug out years later. "When you are saying something amusing as a prospective parliamentary candidate, in four or five years' time when you are a cabinet minister and someone digs that up...""
Online advertising 'overtakes TV' [BBC NEWS | Business] - "Online advertising spending in the UK has overtaken television expenditure for the first time, a report has said. Outlay grew 4.6% to £1.752bn between January and July, according to the study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The recession saw overall advertising slide by 16% in the period, according to the study. E-mail campaigns, classified adverts, display ads and search marketing are all classed as online advertising. The body representing UK commercial television broadcasters said that the comparison was unfair." (Unfair ... or harder to pitch against?)
Aussies call an end to just phoning on mobiles [The Age] - "Using mobiles for just calls and texting is a thing of the past, as a third of Australians now check emails on their handsets and more than 70 per cent access mobile entertainment and information services. In spite of the global financial crisis, the use of mobile phone services has continued to grow in the past year as more Australians buy internet-enabled smartphones, the 2009 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index reveals. Released today by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, the exhaustive survey of 3710 respondents found 36% used email on their mobiles in the past 12 months, and, of those, almost half used email daily - a growth rate of 80 per cent over the previous year. In last year's survey, just 7 per cent of respondents accessed social networking sites from their handsets, but this figure has jumped this year to 32 per cent, with half of those accessing the sites daily."
Sarah Brown becomes Britain's highest-profile Twitter user [Politics | guardian.co.uk] - "Sarah Brown [wife of UK PM] has overtaken Stephen Fry as Britain's highest profile Twitter user, it emerged today. "SarahBrown10" has gained more than 775,000 followers since joining the social networking service in March, outstripping Fry's 768,000. The number of fans keeping up with Brown's tweets amounts to almost five times the entire Labour party membership. The prime minister's wife steers clear of political controversy in her messages, instead giving followers glimpses into her day-to-day life and publicising her favourite charities. ... Since joining Twitter, Brown has sent out 1,162 messages, each limited to 140 characters. Ross Furlong, an online public relations expert, said Brown's tweets could help Labour despite the fact that she does not use them for campaigning purposes. "Although the content is deliberately not party political, she is effectively pressing voter flesh online, as she did in person at the Glenrothes byelection to great effect," Furlong said ."

Tagged as: internet, mobile, mobilephone, socialmedia, stats, UK, wave, web101, webpresence No Comments

28Sep/09

Digital Culture Links: September 28th 2009

Links for September 22nd 2009 through September 28th 2009:

Creators' Corner [YouTube] - YouTube have just announced 'Creative Corner', a series of resources to help aspiring digital video creators learn better techniques, add special effects, and make the most of getting views on YouTube. Seems like a useful resource.
Online Aussies: ‘We won’t pay for news’ [mUmBRELLA] - "A large majority of Australians say they would not pay for online news, a survey suggests. According to a poll of more than 18,000 Australians released today by Pure Profile, only 5% said they would be willing to pay for “high quality articles”. A further 7% said they would be willing to pay if there was no advertising. 10% said they would not pay because the quality of online news was unimportant to them, while the vast majority – 78% – said they would simply refuse to pay for online news."
An Infusion of Another $100 Million Is Seen for Twitter [NYTimes.com] - "...the start-up appears to have chalked up another achievement. Twitter, which has no discernible revenue, is set to raise about $100 million of new funding that would value the company at around $1 billion, a person briefed on the company’s plans said Thursday. ... But Twitter’s cash infusion and exospheric valuation are not easily reduced to the level of the blind bets of past dot-com bubbles. In its three and a half years, Twitter has become a magnet for media attention, and its Web site now attracts 54 million visitors a month, according to comScore, the tracking firm. Along with Facebook, it is helping to remake the Web as a forum for the perpetual sharing of even the most trivial bits of information about people’s lives." (A billion dollars ... seems a lot to me.)
'Nigel the Crazy Noonga' Website Shut Down | Racism Outrage - "A website set up by a Perth student about a fictional Aboriginal character has been shut down and is being investigated by police amid racism claims. The website, which Radio 6PR reports was created by a 19-year-old Curtin University student, features audio excerpts of a character called "Nigel the crazy Noonga", who prank calls businesses and fast-food outlets with a fake Aboriginal accent. The portrayal of negative Aboriginal stereotypes has sparked outrage from the Aboriginal community. Craig Somerville, lecturer at the Curtin University Centre for Aboriginal Studies, told 6PR he believed the material on the website had crossed the line between humour and racism. "This is very nasty, rude and bad material," he said. "It's not only bad humour; it perpetuates a wrong judgment about Aboriginal people." Mr Somerville expressed his disappointment at claims the student who set up the website was from his university."
Ubiquitous Media, Rare Earths [sean cubitt's blog] - "... we act as if computing and network resources were unbounded. But materials, manufacture, use and recycling put boundaries round the materiality of internet and convergent media. The squalor and penury associated with extracting metals, building computers and recycling mobiles, TVs and digital devices are one half of a story which includes toxic waste, toxic working conditions, human waste from the maquilladoras, atnospheric and water pollution in the recycling villages of Africa and China, species and habitat loss . . . Like any other form of organisation, maintaining the negentropy of the internet requires vast amounts of energy, physical and human. It also requires materials that are becoming more strategic and costly by the minute. "
US proposes net neutrality rules [BBC NEWS | Technology] - The US has proposed new rules that would require internet firms to respect the principle of "network neutrality". The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that "all web traffic should be treated equally". The new rules are intended to prevent firms throttling bandwidth-sapping web traffic such as streaming video. ... [The FCC] proposed two new rules to guide the FCC's approach to network neutrality. The first would prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating against bandwidth-intensive web-content and applications by slowing or blocking it. ... The second would mean that ISPs would have to be more transparent about how they manage network traffic. The two new rules join four previous guiding principles of the FCC, which state that all consumers must be able to access "lawful" content, applications, and services, and attach non-harmful devices to the network." (Network Neutrality FTW!)
In Facebook Fracas, Beauty School Goes After Student for Online Comments [The Wired Campus] - "A beauty school in Illinois is suing a student for his "defamatory" comments on a Facebook site that encouraged students to vent about their instructors. The Salon Professional Academy of Elgin, Ill., says Nicholas Blacconiere created a site called Tspa RobinHood that looked similar to TSPA Elgin's Facebook page because it used the academy's logo. The suit, filed in July, also says that he posted libelous comments about school officials on the site. Print-outs of the Facebook page included in the suit show several posts by "Tspa RobinHood." The site says it gives "the students a voice, because what happens when we need to be heard? Nobody gives a s___." It encourages students to send messages to the site, which it says will then be posted anonymously." (Reputation management: it's a game everyone can play!)

Tagged as: digitalmedia, digitalvideo, ecology, ethics, fcc, howto, internet, isp, monetize, net303, netneutrality, news, newspapers, paidcontent, racism, reputation, socialmedia, socialnetworking, sustainability, usa, webpresence No Comments

21Sep/09

Digital Culture Links: September 21st 2009

Links for September 18th 2009 through September 21st 2009:

RIP Facebook Beacon [Mashable] - "Facebook launched its ad platform “Beacon” in Nov 2007, hoping to revolutionize advertising by posting updates to your Facebook profile when you interacted with its partner sites. This week Facebook said that it has settled a class-action lawsuit against the product, agreed to shut it down completely, and will establish a $9.5 million “settlement fund” to fund initiatives related to online privacy. ... Facebook Beacon was a system that posted your activity on third-party websites – Blockbuster, Gamefly, Overstock.com and more – back to your Facebook profile. Privacy advocates rallied against it, however, arguing that data was being sent without the users’ explicit permission. The situation worsened after a report claimed that Beacon was collecting data from partner sites regardless of whether users were Facebook members ..." (Beacon remains one of those most teachable examples of Facebook's privacy woes, but I'm delighted with the idea of money being spent privacy initiatives.)
Nigeria 'offended' by sci-fi film [BBC NEWS | Africa] - "Nigeria's government is asking cinemas to stop showing a science fiction film, District Nine, that it says denigrates the country's image. Information Minister Dora Akunyili told the BBC's Network Africa programme that she had asked the makers of the film, Sony, for an apology. She says the film portrays Nigerians as cannibals, criminals and prostitutes. An actor from the film said that it was not just Nigerians who were portrayed as villains. ... But Mr Khumbanyiwa said Nigerians in the cast did not seem worried by the portrayal of their country. He suggested that the film, which depicts people wanting to eat aliens to gain the superhuman powers, should not be taken too literally. "It's a story, you know," he said. "It's not like Nigerians do eat aliens. Aliens don't even exist in the first place."" (Well said, Mr Khumbanyiwa, well said.)
Welcome to the (anonymous) rabbit hole [Unleashed] - Mark Pesce's playful take on the largely unsuccessful attempts by Anonymous to take down the ACMA and Australian Prime Minster's websites on 09/09/09/
VICTORY: FCC to Mandate Net Neutrality for the Web [Mashable] - "The Federal Communications Commission has been in the middle of it, as it has outlined loose net neutrality guidelines in the past. But according to The Wall Street Journal, the FCC is about to propose definitive rules that could have major repercussions for the entire web. The new rules, expected to be announced Monday by Julius Genachowski, the FCC Chairman, will outline requirements for ISPs to treat all traffic on the Internet equally. This means that Comcast can’t decide that Google gets less bandwidth and Microsoft/Bing (Bing) gets more for any reason (i.e. one pays for preferential treatment). It’s also expected that the net neutrality rules will apply to wireless services, meaning they would be in effect for Internet data via your phone and 3G networks. The impact of this cannot be understated, especially as iPhones and other smart phones make the mobile web a major part of our lives." (Excellent!)
Google slams Murdoch plan to charge for online news [The Age] - "Publishers of general news would find it hard to charge for their content online because too much free content is available, the chief executive of Google said. Speaking to a group of British broadcasting executives via video link, Eric Schmidt said he could, however, imagine niche providers of content such as business news succeeding in this area. Schmidt was responding to an announcement by News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch that he could start charging for content online. "In general these models have not worked for general public consumption because there are enough free sources that the marginal value of paying is not justified based on the incremental value of quantity," he said. "So my guess is for niche and specialist markets ... it will be possible to do it but I think it is unlikely that you will be able to do it for all news.""
Meme Analysis: Kanye Interrupts, the Internet (and Obama) Listens [NewTeeVee] - Everything you ever wanted to know about the Kayne West interrrupts Taylor Swift meme ...

Tagged as: 4chan, anonymous, beacon, censorship, ddos, district9, fcc, hackers, internet, kaynewest, lawsuit, markpesce, meme, murdoch, net303, netneutrality, news, newscorp, newspapers, racism, socialmedia, socialnetworking, socialsoftware, taylorswift, technology, usa No Comments

17Sep/09

Digital Culture Links: September 17th 2009

Links for September 11th 2009 through September 17th 2009:

50 Cent: Piracy Is A Part Of The Marketing [Techdirt] - "...rapper 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) was apparently on CNBC recently talking about his "business acumen." I have to admit that having three different people all trying to interview him at once is rather annoying -- as they almost never let him complete a thought. However, when they ask him about piracy, and whether or not it makes him angry (around 2 minutes), he responds that: he sees it as a part of the marketing of a musician, because "the people who didn't purchase the material, they end up at the concert." He says that people can fall in love with the music either way, and then they'll go to concerts. He notes that you can't stop piracy either way, so why try to fight it? He also talks about other business opportunities for musicians." (Can't say I'm a fan of his music, but his perspective on piracy, fans and the business futures for music are spot on!)
Why the White House is Hiring a Social Media Archivist [Mashable] - The US White House is seeking to archive all of their social media presence and conversation. While their motivations are legal (they're required to archive all correspondence of any sort) this is still an important archiving process of important historical value. It would be nice to see all national governments following a similar procedure for their national records (hello Mr Rudd).
Hands-On: iPod Nano vs. Flip SD [NewTeeVee] - The new iPod Nano with video-recording offers a direct challenge to the Flip market. Testing a new Nano versus a Flip HD, the results: "Overall — the Flip offered a MUCH better picture both indoor and out, providing way more detail in the image. The Flip microphone was also a little more discerning in our test, able to distinguish our subject’s voice in a crowded room much better than the Nano.
Wikipedia’s Rapid Reaction to Outburst During Obama Speech [The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com] - "If journalism is the first draft of history, what is a Wikipedia entry when it is updated within minutes of an event to reflect changes in a person’s biography? This is the very live issue that cropped up in a heated argument on the discussion page that accompanies Wikipedia’s entry on Representative Joe Wilson Wednesday night, just 30 minutes after the Republican from South Carolina interrupted President Barack Obama’s speech by shouting “You lie!”"

Tagged as: 50cent, apple, archive, business, flip, howto, monetize, mp3, music, nano, piracy, socialmedia, socialnetworking, usa, video, web101, whitehouse, wikipedia No Comments

9Sep/09

Digital Culture Links: September 9th 2009

Links for September 9th 2009:

Food marketing, blogging, and how not to respond to reviews [unwakeable] - Lisa Dempster explains how the over-the-top response of the owners of Melbourne restaurant Lord of the Fries to a fairly harmless review in her blog illustrates how business, restaurants and anyone else should spend a little more time understanding how their customers use and converse using social media. Short version: don't Twitter angry and then delete critical comments on your own Facebook fan pages!
When's the Best Time to Tweet? [Flickr - Photo Sharing!] - Nice infographic showing the average uses of Twitter (if there were only 100 Twitter users). Useful for lecture slides.
The Hierarchy Of Digital Distractions [Information Is Beautiful] - Visualisation of distraction in the digital age. All far too true!
Warcraft and Twilight Fans Make Wikia Profitable [RW Web] - "According to this year's Comscore stats, consumer publishing platform Wikia has surpassed DIY social network competitor Ning for monthly unique visitors. Since July 2008 the company's traffic has more than doubled from 2.8 million to 6.5 million unique US visitors per month. Despite abandoning Wikia search in early March, it seems Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has built another great company. As of this evening, Wikia's CEO Gil Penchina is announcing the company's profitability due to its custom sponsorships program. ... Best known for its "enthusiast" wikis, Wikia hosts more than 50,000 fan sites including the Star Wars Wookieepedia, Harry Potter Wiki, Twilight Saga Wiki and World of Warcraft WoWWiki."

Tagged as: conversation, foodblog, humour, socialmedia, visualisation, visualization, wikia No Comments

8Sep/09

Digital Culture Links: September 8th 2009

Links for September 4th 2009 through September 8th 2009:

Paul McCartney, Elton John Oppose Music Piracy Plan [WA Today] - "Some of the biggest names in the music business, including Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney, have slammed the record labels' plans to disconnect from the internet people who are caught repeatedly downloading music illegally. The artists label the plans backward, illogical, expensive and "extraordinarily negative". The movie and music industries have been pushing ISPs to implement this "three-strikes" scheme voluntarily for years but talks have stalled. In Australia, the film industry is now suing iiNet in an attempt to have the courts force ISPs to do more to prevent illegal downloading over their networks. Behind the scenes, the content owners have been pressuring the Government to step in and resolve the impasse through legislation." (Good to see the big-name musicians explaining to the record companies that taking legal action against their fans doesn't engender goodwill or increase sales!)
Online advertising overtakes traditional media [SmartCompany] - "Small and medium businesses in the US are now more likely to advertise online than in traditional media, shows a new study from the US. Research from The Kelsey Group and Constat and reported on Digital Media shows that for the first time online advertising has overtaken traditional media. About 77% of US SMEs used online for advertising in August 2009 compared with just 69% that used traditional media. A year before 73% advertised online while 74% used traditional media. Steve Marshall, director of research at The Kelsey Group, says the milestone of digital/online surpassing traditional media among SMEs is an indicator of the broad shift to online platforms." (All that targeted demographic stuff is starting to make a difference!)
STATS: Young People Are Flocking to Twitter [Mashable] - "One of the most actively discussed topics in the Twitter universe over the past couple months has been the idea that teens don’t tweet – at least not as much as older demographics, and certainly not as actively as teens who use other popular social networking sites. Now, it appears that this story may be shifting. According to new data from comScore, younger users – specifically those in the 12-17 and 18-24 year-old demographics – are Twitter’s fastest growing audience segment." (So ... teens do tweet. Is this the mashable equivalent of a retraction, then? )

Tagged as: demographics, legal, mp3, music, socialmedia, stats, youth No Comments

4Sep/09

Digital Culture Links: September 3rd 2009

Links for September 2nd 2009 through September 3rd 2009:

Copyright protection without the court action [Blogs - Twisted Wire - ZDNet Australia] - An excellent little podcast looking at the challenges challenges to copyright in the digital age, but more importantly exploring alternative distribution models which could circumvent many of the current big media strategy of litigation against a few file-sharers. Comments from Nic Suzor (Australia's Electronic Frontiers Australia), Peter Coroneos (Internet Industry Association (IIA)) and Mike O'Donnell, (CEO of iCopyright in the US). Amazingly, the idea of having better, quicker, more efficient ways to buy movies over the web was one of the main ideas put forward! (See also the previous week's show & podcast where AFACT argued with Suzor and Coroneos about the role of ISPs in policing the content viewed by Australian internet users.)
Web2.0 tools for Gov2.0 beginners: a practical guide [Centre for Policy Development] - A useful beginner's guide looking at web 2.0 tools and social media in relation to campaigning and building links and conversation between government and citizenry in particular ways. Gives a solid sense of the benefits and potential barriers with each platform mentioned. Written by Barry Saunders.
YouTube Said to Be in Talks on Pay Movies [NYTimes.com] - "YouTube, the largest video site, is in negotiations with major Hollywood studios for a deal that would let its visitors pay to watch full-length movies, according to two people briefed on the negotiations. If an agreement is reached, it would be a major change for YouTube, which has built a huge audience by offering an eclectic collection of free video clips and earns most of its revenue from advertising. It would also put YouTube, which is owned by Google, in direct competition with services from Netflix, Amazon and Apple, which allow users to buy or rent movies online." (YouTube's creep away from a primary focus on supporting user-generated content continues ...)
Media favours Coalition, study finds [ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)] - "Newspapers are left wing, television is right wing, and the media as a whole tends to favour the Coalition. And surprisingly, according to researchers from the Australian National University, the ABC Television news is the most pro-Coalition of them all. Former Liberal prime minister John Howard railed against the alleged left-wing bias of the ABC, but the researchers found Aunty was more likely to favour his side. Researchers pored over news stories from 1996 to 2007 to establish if the media was biased. The results, released today, point to the media being generally middle-of-the-road, with the coalition tending to win out."
Conroy urged to 'end net censorship farce' [The Age] - "The Federal Government's internet censorship trials have been repeatedly delayed over the past nine months, leading to claims from the Opposition that the Government is deliberately withholding the results to avoid embarrassment. The Opposition's communications spokesman, Nick Minchin, today called on the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, to "end this farce and produce his long overdue trial results for independent assessment". Live trials of the filtering policy, which is intended to block "prohibited content" for all Australians as determined by a secret Government blacklist, were initially slated to begin in December last year and take about six weeks. They were then pushed back until July, then September and, today, the Government is still unable to put a date on when it will release the results to the public."
TV facing 'iTunes moment' warns Microsoft's Ashley Highfield [Media | guardian.co.uk] - "The TV industry has as little as two years to create viable digital businesses or face a version of the "iTunes moment" that saw the music business cede the online future to Apple, according to Ashley Highfield. Highfield, the the managing director of consumer and online at Microsoft UK, said he believed the reluctance advertisers feel to advertise on sites such as Facebook will soon be a "non-issue", putting more pressure on broadcasters' advertising revenues. "Once this happens the shift of spending from TV to web will accelerate even more," he said, giving the Futureview address at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival today. "So realistically I think the industry has about two to three years to adapt or face its iTunes moment. And it will take at least that long for media brands to build credible, truly digital brands. But, importantly, I do believe TV does have a small two to three year window in which to respond.""