Media Studies @ North Devon College

4 June 2007

DRM

Make sure you have a good understanding of DRM. Use the following links as a starting point:

What is DRM? Wisegeek
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-drm.htm

Q&A: What is DRM?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6337781.stm

Apple seeks online music shake-up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6337275.stm

EMI takes locks off music tracks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6516189.stm

Digital lock's rights and wrongs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6457369.stm

Why Is DRM-Free Music Tagged With Name and E-Mail? Apple Keeps Mum
http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/06/no_explanation_.html

22 May 2007

Even the goverment has got in on the act! Read up on how civil servants are using iPods - an example of how they are filtering into many areas of society.

Home Office gives officials iPods
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6679429.stm

And going back to February - a look at how using MP3s may soon incur fines in New York!

NY seeks ban on iPod shuffle
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6343353.stm

21 May 2007

Gaming & Internet: Second Life

If you're focusing on video gaming its probably worth also looking at internet gaming, in particularly Second Life and World of Warcraft. Similarly, if you are studying the Internet then it could be useful exploring this area too.

Second Life has had a lot of press coverage and there has been much speculation on the amount of people who are actually signed up to the game. As with many areas of NMT, there will always be positives and negatives and, as you read through the below links you will see evidence of some shocking misuse of technology that raises a number of questions.

Second hype or second life?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6137424.stm

Today Second Life, tomorrow the world
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2081663,00.html

Europe takes lead in Second Life users
http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/09/europe-takes-lead-in-second-life-users/

Second Life Users Top 1.3 Million in March
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625769

'Second Life' User Numbers Don't Quite Add Up
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269690,00.html

'Second Life': Don't worry, we can scale
http://news.com.com/Second+Life+Dont+worry,+we+can+scale/2100-1043_3-6080186.html

Unrest in Cyberspace
http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18667/

A story too good to check
http://valleywag.com/tech/second-life/a-story-too-good-to-check-221252.php

Virtual Rape Is Traumatic, but Is It a Crime?
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/05/sexdrive_0504

Second Life 'child abuse' claim
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6638331.stm

Teenage clicks in Second Life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6209616.stm

Finally... The Sims Online could be seen as the original Second Life, and this report from 2003 suggests that already then there were concerns about the potential abuse of this type of 'game'.

The dark side of digital utopia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3334923.stm

18 May 2007

Internet/Web 2.0

Some of the latest Internet related news:

Young women dominate UK net scene
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6662469.stm

Podcasts appeal to older generation
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2082126,00.html

Most teens are MySpacers
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2081126,00.html

Mobile Phones

Here's some of the latest info I've come across on mobile phones. There are examples of increased convergence, this time exploring the notion of your phone as a debit card! Worth considering who this is benefiting, how, why and what are the risks? Spare a thought also for the ways mobile phones are used - for instance the video camera function. Consider how this is used positively or negatively: what about the happy slapping craze? - or gang rape being filmed by teenagers? - is this use of mobile technology distancing users from reality? These things are happening around us, we can't ignore it. But we can question the role that new media technology plays, and discuss whether it is having as big an impact (both positively and negatively) as many like to make out.

Cash on call: it’s the mobile phone wallet
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article1782107.ece

'Gang rape' filmed on mobile phone
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1614404.ece

The next steps for mobile media
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6277965.stm

Dial M for entertainment, the mobile revolution
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2079866,00.html

Are mobile phones and Wi-Fi to blame for the world's ills?http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile/article/0,,2065183,00.html

Rise in street crime blamed on mobile phone thefts
http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile/article/0,,2066577,00.html

Mobile TV predicted to be a hit
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6639249.stm

14 May 2007

Latest

I've put together links to some of the latest news stories regarding various new media technologies. There's promise of further convergence on MP3 players and also take a look at the video on gaming using your brain! Good thing or bad thing?!

INTERNET/WEB 2.0
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6645895.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6623267.stm

VIDEO GAMING
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6640000/newsid_6645400/6645429.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm (video)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3485918.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6599019.stm

MP3 PLAYERS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6642039.stm

10 May 2007

Student Blogs

Please send me links to your blogs ASAP so I can get them up on here.

4 May 2007

CGI

If you're studying CGI here are some links that may be useful.

Articles:

Inside Industrial Light and Magic
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6571491.stm

CGI Timeline
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_CGI_in_films

Milestones in Visual/Special Effects and CGI
http://www.filmsite.org/visualeffects.html

File serving aids CGI film development
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1055311148;fp;4194304;fpid;1

Sex, drugs and violence... all part of the CGI animated movie that's not for the kiddies
http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2006/story/0,,1768357,00.html

300 Changes the CGI Game
http://www.film.com/story/300changesthecgigame/13813411

Journals/Other:

A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation
http://accad.osu.edu/~waynec/history/lessons.html

Augmented CGI Films http://vrlab.epfl.ch/Publications/pdf/Gutierrez_Thalmann_Vexo_Medianet_04.pdf

General Websites:

CG Explorer
http://www.cgexplorer.com/

Nick Loizides (CGI Artist)
http://nickloz.com/cg/cg.html

2 May 2007

We might find it difficult to get our head around some new technologies but what about back in the day before all these whizzy gadgets existed?

Just a bit of midweek silliness!

If you're having difficulties viewing through this blog, here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

26 April 2007

General Links

Here are some sites that you can use to research your topics. They will be more useful than simply searching Google, etc as they are directly related to media, technology or newmedia.

Websites
http://www.wired.com/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/
http://slashdot.org/
http://www.engadget.com/
http://arstechnica.com/index.ars
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/
http://www.magportal.com/c/comp
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/template/newmedia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/

Podcasts & Online Video
http://www.mediauk.com/content/podcasts.muk
http://media.guardian.co.uk/podcasts
http://www.podtech.net/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online - top right for Click

Note on Wikipedia: be cautious when using Wikipedia to research topics as content is user-generated and can be edited by nearly anyone. If you find something useful there, back up its validity by checking out other sources.

Synergy

Synergy is another of the concepts you should get to know.

Definition:

Synergy is the process by which a media institution tries to use its various products to sell one another (e.g. film and soundtrack and video game). For example, the Spider-Man films had toys of webshooters and figures of the characters made as well as posters and games, these products can help advertise the film itself and thus help to increase the films sales.

http://www.answers.com/topic/synergy

Links to related articles/journals:

Media synergy: The next frontier in a multimedia marketplace
http://www.theidm.com/download/pdf/papers_Media_synergy.pdf

This is an journal that goes into more depth than you will probably need or want to read, but nevertheless has some interesting information that relates to media synergy and the way that audiences consume various types of media simultaneously.

Case Study: A cross-media campaign for Five
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:FzY0g_6KYb8J:uk.download.yahoo.com/ads/fu/casestudyfive170706.pdf+media+synergy+filetype:pdf&hl=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=uk

Click on the link, - then choose to download the .pdf file (at the top of the page)

P&G signs historic ad deal
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1363206.stm

24 April 2007

The Internet

Has the dotcom boom returned?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6036337.stm

How the internet transformed business
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5235332.stm

How the web went world wide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5242252.stm

Fifteen years of the web
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5243862.stm

Stop the press: the internet is now the first draft of history
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2062690,00.html

Google is the world's top brand
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2062226,00.html

The world according to Google * with good video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4598090.stm

Big Brother, meet The Sims
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2058342,00.html

Is Britain falling behind with broadband?
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2058975,00.html

Digital Rights Management (DRM)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management

Convergence

One of the concepts you should be fully switched on to is convergence.

Definition:
Media convergence is a theory in communications where every mass medium eventually merges to the point where they become one medium due to the advent of new communication technologies.

According to the theory of media convergence, very soon, there will be no more need for having a television and a computer separate from each other, since both would be able to do the job of the other, ultimately making both extinct and creating a new medium from the synthesis.

As a communication theory, media convergence aims to bring together all forms of media into one single device.

Media convergence really refers to the merging of capabilities of each individual media channel. Technology is aiding the deletion of individual devices, but this is not what is referred to here. Media convergence is the ability for an increasingly diverse range of content to be delivered through a range of media channels. Unlike the tradditional delivery of TV programs through TV, we can now receive TV programs on both a TV but also a mobile phone, a computer, an Ipod etc. Convergence is not the reduction of devices but the expansion of channels to content combinations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_convergence

*remember to be cautious of wikipedia entries!