News Topic - YouTube
Articles 81 - 90 of most recent articles
UNT's is latest annual to go in apparent trend
By JOHN AUSTIN For better than a century, the yearbook has been as much a staple of campus culture as beer and bad dorm food. But as of this year, the University of North Texas’ Aerie is history. Purdue and Mississippi State universities are also closing the books on annuals, while at schools that still have yearbooks, advisers tend to talk somewhat soberly about the future. "It’s probably a convergence of a lot of factors," said Tom Rufer, director of the UNT student union, which plans to distribute the final-edition 2008 Aerie in August. "To some degree, social networking is replacing that. Students are using Facebook to chronicle the college experience."Rich Stoebe, communications director for publisher Jostens Inc., headquartered in Minneapolis, downplayed the influence of social networking sites."MySpace, YouTube, Twitter are a different category," Stoebe said. "High school students are just as involved in MySpace, and it hasn’t had an impact. Virtually every high school produces a yearbook."But if the virtual world isn’t hurting yearbooks, rising costs, the loss of a key adviser and student indifference can lead administrators to shelve yearbook publication, Rufer said. The fact that students at many schools are pulled in the direction of off-campus jobs, semesters abroad and off-campus living also means they don’t share a common focus on traditional college life they might once have. The fact that the University of Texas at Arlington doesn’t offer a yearbook didn’t bother Jason McDonald. "It’s not high school, where everybody’s so centralized," said McDonald, 19, who will transfer to the University of Texas at Austin this fall. As for UT, McDonald said he might get a copy of the Cactus as a senior. Advisers say first-year students and seniors are usually the biggest buyers. Campus newspapers capture some of a college’s culture. But yearbook fans say a paper can’t put an academic year into a single volume students can pull off the shelves, leaf through and laugh at for the rest of their lives. "It really does give you a sense of what it was like to be on campus in years past," UNT archivist Michelle Mears said.At Kansas State University, the annuals are the most requested items in the university archives, the KSU yearbook adviser said. "They’re losing the only written history of the year prepared by the students who lived it," Cactus adviser Kathy Lawrence said.Downward trendStoebe estimates that 1,100 of the nation’s approximately 2,500 four-year colleges produce all-school yearbooks. But at UT, the latest Cactus sold only 2,000 copies on a campus of about 50,000, Lawrence said. UT-Arlington has not had an annual for years. Texas State University’s book was discontinued in 2004 after its 100th edition. Texas Wesleyan University’s book ceased publication six years ago."There are very few yearbooks that have not experienced declines in the past few years," said Richard Lytle, director of Student Media at Southern Methodist University. "We have not come up with the exact reason."At this point we are still in the black, but if we continue to drop in sales, that becomes questionable," Lytle said, adding that most income for SMU’s $55 yearbook derives from sales to students, with ad revenue secondary.
Star-Telegram.com – Jul 21, 2008 04:25 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth
By JOHN AUSTIN For better than a century, the yearbook has been as much a staple of campus culture as beer and bad dorm food. But as of this year, the University of North Texas’ Aerie is history. Purdue and Mississippi State universities are also closing the books on annuals, while at schools that still have yearbooks, advisers tend to talk somewhat soberly about the future. "It’s probably a convergence of a lot of factors," said Tom Rufer, director of the UNT student union, which plans to distribute the final-edition 2008 Aerie in August. "To some degree, social networking is replacing that. Students are using Facebook to chronicle the college experience."Rich Stoebe, communications director for publisher Jostens Inc., headquartered in Minneapolis, downplayed the influence of social networking sites."MySpace, YouTube, Twitter are a different category," Stoebe said. "High school students are just as involved in MySpace, and it hasn’t had an impact. Virtually every high school produces a yearbook."But if the virtual world isn’t hurting yearbooks, rising costs, the loss of a key adviser and student indifference can lead administrators to shelve yearbook publication, Rufer said. The fact that students at many schools are pulled in the direction of off-campus jobs, semesters abroad and off-campus living also means they don’t share a common focus on traditional college life they might once have. The fact that the University of Texas at Arlington doesn’t offer a yearbook didn’t bother Jason McDonald. "It’s not high school, where everybody’s so centralized," said McDonald, 19, who will transfer to the University of Texas at Austin this fall. As for UT, McDonald said he might get a copy of the Cactus as a senior. Advisers say first-year students and seniors are usually the biggest buyers. Campus newspapers capture some of a college’s culture. But yearbook fans say a paper can’t put an academic year into a single volume students can pull off the shelves, leaf through and laugh at for the rest of their lives. "It really does give you a sense of what it was like to be on campus in years past," UNT archivist Michelle Mears said.At Kansas State University, the annuals are the most requested items in the university archives, the KSU yearbook adviser said. "They’re losing the only written history of the year prepared by the students who lived it," Cactus adviser Kathy Lawrence said.Downward trendStoebe estimates that 1,100 of the nation’s approximately 2,500 four-year colleges produce all-school yearbooks. But at UT, the latest Cactus sold only 2,000 copies on a campus of about 50,000, Lawrence said. UT-Arlington has not had an annual for years. Texas State University’s book was discontinued in 2004 after its 100th edition. Texas Wesleyan University’s book ceased publication six years ago."There are very few yearbooks that have not experienced declines in the past few years," said Richard Lytle, director of Student Media at Southern Methodist University. "We have not come up with the exact reason."At this point we are still in the black, but if we continue to drop in sales, that becomes questionable," Lytle said, adding that most income for SMU’s $55 yearbook derives from sales to students, with ad revenue secondary.
Star-Telegram.com – Jul 21, 2008 04:25 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth
Angry Youth
On the morning of April 15th, a short video entitled “2008 China Stand Up!” appeared on Sina, a Chinese Web site. The video’s origin was a mystery: unlike the usual YouTube-style clips, it had no host, no narrator, and no signature except the initials “CTGZ.” It was a homespun . . .
The New Yorker – Jul 21, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: New York: New York
On the morning of April 15th, a short video entitled “2008 China Stand Up!” appeared on Sina, a Chinese Web site. The video’s origin was a mystery: unlike the usual YouTube-style clips, it had no host, no narrator, and no signature except the initials “CTGZ.” It was a homespun . . .
The New Yorker – Jul 21, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: New York: New York
Orlando-area Cybercops Troll Web For Clues, Criminals
Prostitutes in Orlando solicit sex on Craigslist. Three DeLand teens were arrested after writing on MySpace about a massacre plot at their middle school. And a couple of Merritt Island teenagers posted a mean-spirited prank on YouTube that led prosecutors to file criminal charges against them.
OrlandoSentinel.com – Jul 21, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Florida: Orlando
Prostitutes in Orlando solicit sex on Craigslist. Three DeLand teens were arrested after writing on MySpace about a massacre plot at their middle school. And a couple of Merritt Island teenagers posted a mean-spirited prank on YouTube that led prosecutors to file criminal charges against them.
OrlandoSentinel.com – Jul 21, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Florida: Orlando
Best Star Wars Remakes
: We can safely stop calling Star Wars a movie and recognize it for what it really is: a virulent media infection.It's a great movie to be sure, but there are many superior movies, and none of them have inspired, say, thousands of people to dress up as faceless, nameless secondary characters. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a great movie, but you don't see 200 sanitarium orderlies marching in the Rose Parade.Nowhere can you witness Star Wars' contagious qualities more clearly than in the realm of fan-made videos that, to one extent or another, retell the story of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the movie formerly known simply as Star Wars. Here are some of the best.Left:Star Wars SwededModern computing gives the average middle-class American a level of graphical processing power that would have made a '70s-era special effects engineer pant continuously. But that's no fun! Why render lifelike X-wing starfighters when you can build one out of cardboard and run around the park?Lightsabers portrayed by: Red and blue wrapping paper: Star Wars RemakeBalanced precariously on the line between impressive and ridiculous, this silent, late-'70s remake stars a micro-encephalic Darth Vader and a 10-year-old Han Solo. While not as self-consciously goofy as "Star Wars Sweded," cardboard is still vitally important to the oeuvre. They managed to recruit an impressive Mark Hamill "Luke-alike," though. Yes, I just made that pun right in front of you.Lightsabers portrayed by: Transparent plastic dealies: Hardware WarsTake the do-it-yourself sensibility of the previous two Star Wars tributes, add some hand puppets and jokes, and what do you get? The best Star Wars parody of all time, and yes I've seen Spaceballs. Toasters! Vacuum cleaners! Awesome. (Warning: brief fuzzy nudity at the end of the second part.)Lightsabers portrayed by: Flashlights: Lego Star WarsThe Lego Star Wars games are a couple of the best co-op games out there, especially to play with younger children or friends who aren't really into videogames. As an added bonus, they're chock-full of amusing cut scenes portrayed with the sort of mute humor that only plastic bricks can provide. Even with the actual game parts removed, the resulting video is still fun to watch.Lightsabers portrayed by: Legos, duh.: Star Wars in Three Minutes With Action FiguresI'm sure I'm not the only one who thought of trying to play out the entire Star Wars movie using the little action figures with the uncomfortable-looking embedded lightsabers as a kid. So I find it satisfying that at least one person has made an all-figure reinterpretation of the movie. Plus, it's brief.Lightsabers portrayed by: Glowing, computer-generated lines. That's actually kind of disappointing.: Star Wars ShortenedThe George Lucas Appreciation Society -- I'm not sure if the fact that there are only three people in the society is supposed to be a backhanded slam -- covers all three original movies in just less than 10 minutes. Twice. Using one stage, some impressive vocal imitations, poetry, puppetry and interesting headgear.Lightsabers portrayed by: Mime: Star Wars in Thirty Seconds With BunniesYou can't really argue with the fact that bunnies make things good. For instance, any given piece of chocolate can be improved by being melted down and formed into a bunny shape. So it's natural that Star Wars with bunnies (or, in some cases, aliens with bunny-ear implants) is head-devouringly amusing. Although Princess Leia's tied-up little bunny ears look painful.Lightsabers portrayed by: Flash animation: Star Wars Movie MistakesWhat better way to appreciate a classic film than by going through it bit by bit, nit-picking all the small errors? If you're the sort of person who always notices when a movie character's cigarette keeps changing length from shot to shot, you'll enjoy this. You'll also enjoy it if you like seeing widescreen movies squashed into YouTube dimensions.Lightsabers portrayed by: A remote control and some digital effects: Store WarsIf you prefer your comedy served up with a side dish of heavy-handed social moralizing, this is the film for you. All the characters are portrayed by veggies and other edibles fighting over the concept of organic food. However, seeing R2-D2 portrayed as a block of tofu is worth being lectured by an Italian dessert.Lightsabers portrayed by: Little lightsabers. Come on people! Ever heard of carrot sticks?: Thumb WarsThis little tribute combines comedy and nostalgia with intensely disturbing creepiness. All the characters, most of the spaceships and many of the props are thumbs, but what makes this particularly notable are the little faces the filmmakers digitally superimpose on the thumbs. The faces combine the eeriness of upside-down chin puppets with staring wide-eyed marionettes, creating creatures that would claw at the dream centers of my brain if they weren't, you know, thumbs.Lightsabers portrayed by: You know, thumbs.: Star Wars According to a 3 Year OldThis isn't the shortest summary of Star Wars in this list, but it may capture the essence of the film better than anything else. I think the sublime apex of the Star Wars experience lies in her description of what the nerdiest among us call The Battle of Yavin: "The big thing that blowed up stuff, we blowed it up together." Yes, little girl, yes we did.Lightsabers portrayed by: The phrase "little light-up sword."
Wired News – Jul 21, 2008 01:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
: We can safely stop calling Star Wars a movie and recognize it for what it really is: a virulent media infection.It's a great movie to be sure, but there are many superior movies, and none of them have inspired, say, thousands of people to dress up as faceless, nameless secondary characters. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a great movie, but you don't see 200 sanitarium orderlies marching in the Rose Parade.Nowhere can you witness Star Wars' contagious qualities more clearly than in the realm of fan-made videos that, to one extent or another, retell the story of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the movie formerly known simply as Star Wars. Here are some of the best.Left:Star Wars SwededModern computing gives the average middle-class American a level of graphical processing power that would have made a '70s-era special effects engineer pant continuously. But that's no fun! Why render lifelike X-wing starfighters when you can build one out of cardboard and run around the park?Lightsabers portrayed by: Red and blue wrapping paper: Star Wars RemakeBalanced precariously on the line between impressive and ridiculous, this silent, late-'70s remake stars a micro-encephalic Darth Vader and a 10-year-old Han Solo. While not as self-consciously goofy as "Star Wars Sweded," cardboard is still vitally important to the oeuvre. They managed to recruit an impressive Mark Hamill "Luke-alike," though. Yes, I just made that pun right in front of you.Lightsabers portrayed by: Transparent plastic dealies: Hardware WarsTake the do-it-yourself sensibility of the previous two Star Wars tributes, add some hand puppets and jokes, and what do you get? The best Star Wars parody of all time, and yes I've seen Spaceballs. Toasters! Vacuum cleaners! Awesome. (Warning: brief fuzzy nudity at the end of the second part.)Lightsabers portrayed by: Flashlights: Lego Star WarsThe Lego Star Wars games are a couple of the best co-op games out there, especially to play with younger children or friends who aren't really into videogames. As an added bonus, they're chock-full of amusing cut scenes portrayed with the sort of mute humor that only plastic bricks can provide. Even with the actual game parts removed, the resulting video is still fun to watch.Lightsabers portrayed by: Legos, duh.: Star Wars in Three Minutes With Action FiguresI'm sure I'm not the only one who thought of trying to play out the entire Star Wars movie using the little action figures with the uncomfortable-looking embedded lightsabers as a kid. So I find it satisfying that at least one person has made an all-figure reinterpretation of the movie. Plus, it's brief.Lightsabers portrayed by: Glowing, computer-generated lines. That's actually kind of disappointing.: Star Wars ShortenedThe George Lucas Appreciation Society -- I'm not sure if the fact that there are only three people in the society is supposed to be a backhanded slam -- covers all three original movies in just less than 10 minutes. Twice. Using one stage, some impressive vocal imitations, poetry, puppetry and interesting headgear.Lightsabers portrayed by: Mime: Star Wars in Thirty Seconds With BunniesYou can't really argue with the fact that bunnies make things good. For instance, any given piece of chocolate can be improved by being melted down and formed into a bunny shape. So it's natural that Star Wars with bunnies (or, in some cases, aliens with bunny-ear implants) is head-devouringly amusing. Although Princess Leia's tied-up little bunny ears look painful.Lightsabers portrayed by: Flash animation: Star Wars Movie MistakesWhat better way to appreciate a classic film than by going through it bit by bit, nit-picking all the small errors? If you're the sort of person who always notices when a movie character's cigarette keeps changing length from shot to shot, you'll enjoy this. You'll also enjoy it if you like seeing widescreen movies squashed into YouTube dimensions.Lightsabers portrayed by: A remote control and some digital effects: Store WarsIf you prefer your comedy served up with a side dish of heavy-handed social moralizing, this is the film for you. All the characters are portrayed by veggies and other edibles fighting over the concept of organic food. However, seeing R2-D2 portrayed as a block of tofu is worth being lectured by an Italian dessert.Lightsabers portrayed by: Little lightsabers. Come on people! Ever heard of carrot sticks?: Thumb WarsThis little tribute combines comedy and nostalgia with intensely disturbing creepiness. All the characters, most of the spaceships and many of the props are thumbs, but what makes this particularly notable are the little faces the filmmakers digitally superimpose on the thumbs. The faces combine the eeriness of upside-down chin puppets with staring wide-eyed marionettes, creating creatures that would claw at the dream centers of my brain if they weren't, you know, thumbs.Lightsabers portrayed by: You know, thumbs.: Star Wars According to a 3 Year OldThis isn't the shortest summary of Star Wars in this list, but it may capture the essence of the film better than anything else. I think the sublime apex of the Star Wars experience lies in her description of what the nerdiest among us call The Battle of Yavin: "The big thing that blowed up stuff, we blowed it up together." Yes, little girl, yes we did.Lightsabers portrayed by: The phrase "little light-up sword."
Wired News – Jul 21, 2008 01:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
Google knocks Microsoft off top of Britain's biggest brands
The internet search engine Google has been named as Britain's top "superbrand", after it beat Microsoft for the premier spot, according to a YouGov survey published today. The search engine, which came third in the same consumer poll last year, took pole position in a list of 500 brands available in the UK, beating Mercedes-Benz, the BBC, British Airways and Royal Doulton. Since Google was founded in 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then students at Stanford University, it has become one of Britain's most familiar names, launching Google Earth and acquiring YouTube, the popular video sharing site, in 2006. According to Hitwise, which compiles a list of the top four leading UK search engines by volume of searches, Google.co.uk had a 73% share of users in May, significantly ahead of its rival Yahoo! which made it to number 75 in the YouGov poll. Microsoft, despite its fall to second place, still looms over rival Apple, which despite its high-profile launch of the iPod and iPhone, narrowly missed a place in the top 10. In the poll Sony took 10th place, beaten by BMW at seven, Bosch at eight, and Nike at nine. Surprising omissions from the top 100 include Tesco, which only managed 300th position, showing a fall of 230 places from last year, and Sainsbury's, which fell 194 places to 232nd position. Fastfood retailers such as McDonald's and Burger King also showed significant falls on last year.Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Council, a brand valuation consultancy that commissioned the poll, said: "Lifestyle brands, particularly those in the technology sector, have considerably more sway with the public than everyday staples such as the supermarkets, which now seem further than ever from the affections of the British people. "As the spectre of rising food costs continues, they are likely to come under further scrutiny. "The results are a further sign that Google is continuing its dominance. It is clear Google is the brand that people value at work and in their personal lives." Marks & Spencer, which has experienced a rollercoaster ride, recently issuing a serious profits warning that sent shares plummeting to their lowest level in seven years, still holds sway with the public and makes the top 20, at number 17. The Royal Albert Hall, at number 26, tops the list of cultural destinations, followed by the Tate galleries at number 46. The Eden Project in Cornwall is at number 50. The Guardian and Observer appear on the list of superbrands at number 229, 184 places ahead of the Independent and 60 ahead of the Daily Telegraph, but behind the Times/Sunday Times titles which are placed at 122nd. An alternative list of "coolest brands", to be published in Dazed & Confused magazine in September, lists five fashion brands in the top eight, including Levi's.
The Guardian – Jul 20, 2008 11:04 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
The internet search engine Google has been named as Britain's top "superbrand", after it beat Microsoft for the premier spot, according to a YouGov survey published today. The search engine, which came third in the same consumer poll last year, took pole position in a list of 500 brands available in the UK, beating Mercedes-Benz, the BBC, British Airways and Royal Doulton. Since Google was founded in 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then students at Stanford University, it has become one of Britain's most familiar names, launching Google Earth and acquiring YouTube, the popular video sharing site, in 2006. According to Hitwise, which compiles a list of the top four leading UK search engines by volume of searches, Google.co.uk had a 73% share of users in May, significantly ahead of its rival Yahoo! which made it to number 75 in the YouGov poll. Microsoft, despite its fall to second place, still looms over rival Apple, which despite its high-profile launch of the iPod and iPhone, narrowly missed a place in the top 10. In the poll Sony took 10th place, beaten by BMW at seven, Bosch at eight, and Nike at nine. Surprising omissions from the top 100 include Tesco, which only managed 300th position, showing a fall of 230 places from last year, and Sainsbury's, which fell 194 places to 232nd position. Fastfood retailers such as McDonald's and Burger King also showed significant falls on last year.Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Council, a brand valuation consultancy that commissioned the poll, said: "Lifestyle brands, particularly those in the technology sector, have considerably more sway with the public than everyday staples such as the supermarkets, which now seem further than ever from the affections of the British people. "As the spectre of rising food costs continues, they are likely to come under further scrutiny. "The results are a further sign that Google is continuing its dominance. It is clear Google is the brand that people value at work and in their personal lives." Marks & Spencer, which has experienced a rollercoaster ride, recently issuing a serious profits warning that sent shares plummeting to their lowest level in seven years, still holds sway with the public and makes the top 20, at number 17. The Royal Albert Hall, at number 26, tops the list of cultural destinations, followed by the Tate galleries at number 46. The Eden Project in Cornwall is at number 50. The Guardian and Observer appear on the list of superbrands at number 229, 184 places ahead of the Independent and 60 ahead of the Daily Telegraph, but behind the Times/Sunday Times titles which are placed at 122nd. An alternative list of "coolest brands", to be published in Dazed & Confused magazine in September, lists five fashion brands in the top eight, including Levi's.
The Guardian – Jul 20, 2008 11:04 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
Online POKER marketing could spell the NAKED end of VIAGRA journalism as we LOHAN know it
Miley Cyrus, Angelina, Israel vs Palestine, iPhone, 9/11 conspiracy, Facebook, MySpace, and Britney Spears nude. And not forgetting Second Life, Paris Hilton, YouTube, Lindsay Lohan, World of Warcraft, The Dark Knight, Radiohead and Barack Obama. Oh, and great big naked tits. In 3D. Let me explain. Last week, I wrote a piece on 9/11 conspiracy theories which virtually broke the Guardian website as thousands of "truthers" (painfully earnest online types who sincerely believe 9/11 was an inside job) poured through the walls to unfurl their two pence worth. Some outlined alternative "theories". Some mistakenly equated dismissing the conspiracy theories with endorsing the Bush administration. Some simply wailed, occasionally in CAPITALS. Others, correctly, identified me as a paid-off establishment shill acting under instructions from the CIA. Now to sit here and painstakingly rebut everything the truthers said would take three months and several hundred pages, and would be a massive waste of the world's time, because ultimately I'm right and they're wrong - well-meaning, but wrong. What's more, I've woken up with an alarming fever and am sweating like a miner as I type these words. On the cusp of hallucinating. Consequently my brain isn't working properly; it feels like it's been marinaded in petrol, then wrapped in a warm towel. So I'm hardly at my sharpest. Actually, sod it: you win, truthers. I give up. You're 100% correct. Inside job, clearly. Whatever. Now pass the paracetamol. Anyway, because it contained the words "9/11 conspiracy", the article generated loads of traffic for the Guardian site, which in turn means loads of advertising revenue. And in this day and age, what with the credit crunch and the death of print journalism and everything, the use of attention-grabbing keywords is becoming standard practice. "Search engine optimisation", it's known as, and it's the journalistic equivalent of a classified ad that starts with the word "SEX!" in large lettering, and "Now that we've got your attention . . ." printed below it in smaller type. For instance, according to the latest Private Eye, journalists writing articles for the Telegraph website are being actively encouraged to include oft-searched-for phrases in their copy. So an article about shoe sales among young women would open: "Young women - such as Britney Spears - are buying more shoes than ever." On the one hand, you could argue this is nothing new; after all, for years newspapers have routinely jazzed up dull print articles with photographs of attractive female stars (you know the sort of thing: a giant snap of Keira Knightley doing her Atonement wet-T-shirt routine to illustrate a report about the state of Britain's fountain manufacturers). But at least in those instances the actual text of the article itself survived unscathed. There's something uniquely demented about slotting specific words and phrases into a piece simply to con people into reading it. Why bother writing a news article at all? Why not just scan in a few naked photos and have done with it? And if you do persevere with search-engine-optimised news reports, where do you draw the line? Next time a bomb goes off, are we going to read "Terror outrage: BRITNEY, ANGELINA and OBAMA all unaffected as hundreds die in SEXY agony"? And wait, it gets worse. These phrases don't just get lobbed in willy-nilly. No. A lot of care and attention goes into their placement. Apparently the average reader quickly scans each page in an "F-pattern": reading along the top first, then glancing halfway along the line below, before skimming their eye downward along the left-hand side. If there's nothing of interest within that golden "F" zone, he or she will quickly clear off elsewhere. Which means your modern journalist is expected not only to shoehorn all manner of hot phraseology into their copy, but to try and position it all in precisely the right place. That's an alarming quantity of unnecessary shit to hold in your head while trying to write a piece about the unions. Sorry, SEXUAL unions. Mainly, though, it's just plain undignified: turning the journalist into the equivalent of a reality TV wannabe who turns up to the auditions in a gaudy fluorescent thong in a desperate bid to be noticed. And for the consumer, it's just one more layer of distracting crud - the bane of the 21st century. Distracting crud comes in countless forms - from the onscreen clutter of 24-hour news stations to the winking, blinking ads on every other web page. These days, each separate square inch of everything is simultaneously vying for your attention, and the overall effect is to leave you feeling bewildered, distanced, feverish and slightly insane. Or maybe that's just me, today. Actually, it's definitely just me. Like I say, I'm ill, my brain's not working. Which is why opening this piece with a slew of hot search terms probably wasn't a brilliant wheeze. Perhaps if I close with a selection of the LEAST searched-for terms ever, I can redress the balance. Worth a shot. Um . . . JOHN SELWYN GUMMER . . . PATRICK KIELTY NUDE . . . UNDERWHELMING KNITTING PATTERNS . . . FULLY CLOTHED BABES. Yup. That should do it. · This week Charlie somehow managed to get this column finished: "Despite mistyping every other word and having to break off every five minutes to lie on his bed clutching his brow, whimpering. He will almost certainly have died by the time you read it."Related StoriesExplainer: Keeping an eye on city livesBluetooth is watching: secret study gives Bath a flavour of Big BrotherEditorial: High waterEmily Bell: If Google should falter, how many others will follow?Solve IT: How can I chat to people with different Instant Messenger applications?
The Guardian – Jul 20, 2008 11:03 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
Miley Cyrus, Angelina, Israel vs Palestine, iPhone, 9/11 conspiracy, Facebook, MySpace, and Britney Spears nude. And not forgetting Second Life, Paris Hilton, YouTube, Lindsay Lohan, World of Warcraft, The Dark Knight, Radiohead and Barack Obama. Oh, and great big naked tits. In 3D. Let me explain. Last week, I wrote a piece on 9/11 conspiracy theories which virtually broke the Guardian website as thousands of "truthers" (painfully earnest online types who sincerely believe 9/11 was an inside job) poured through the walls to unfurl their two pence worth. Some outlined alternative "theories". Some mistakenly equated dismissing the conspiracy theories with endorsing the Bush administration. Some simply wailed, occasionally in CAPITALS. Others, correctly, identified me as a paid-off establishment shill acting under instructions from the CIA. Now to sit here and painstakingly rebut everything the truthers said would take three months and several hundred pages, and would be a massive waste of the world's time, because ultimately I'm right and they're wrong - well-meaning, but wrong. What's more, I've woken up with an alarming fever and am sweating like a miner as I type these words. On the cusp of hallucinating. Consequently my brain isn't working properly; it feels like it's been marinaded in petrol, then wrapped in a warm towel. So I'm hardly at my sharpest. Actually, sod it: you win, truthers. I give up. You're 100% correct. Inside job, clearly. Whatever. Now pass the paracetamol. Anyway, because it contained the words "9/11 conspiracy", the article generated loads of traffic for the Guardian site, which in turn means loads of advertising revenue. And in this day and age, what with the credit crunch and the death of print journalism and everything, the use of attention-grabbing keywords is becoming standard practice. "Search engine optimisation", it's known as, and it's the journalistic equivalent of a classified ad that starts with the word "SEX!" in large lettering, and "Now that we've got your attention . . ." printed below it in smaller type. For instance, according to the latest Private Eye, journalists writing articles for the Telegraph website are being actively encouraged to include oft-searched-for phrases in their copy. So an article about shoe sales among young women would open: "Young women - such as Britney Spears - are buying more shoes than ever." On the one hand, you could argue this is nothing new; after all, for years newspapers have routinely jazzed up dull print articles with photographs of attractive female stars (you know the sort of thing: a giant snap of Keira Knightley doing her Atonement wet-T-shirt routine to illustrate a report about the state of Britain's fountain manufacturers). But at least in those instances the actual text of the article itself survived unscathed. There's something uniquely demented about slotting specific words and phrases into a piece simply to con people into reading it. Why bother writing a news article at all? Why not just scan in a few naked photos and have done with it? And if you do persevere with search-engine-optimised news reports, where do you draw the line? Next time a bomb goes off, are we going to read "Terror outrage: BRITNEY, ANGELINA and OBAMA all unaffected as hundreds die in SEXY agony"? And wait, it gets worse. These phrases don't just get lobbed in willy-nilly. No. A lot of care and attention goes into their placement. Apparently the average reader quickly scans each page in an "F-pattern": reading along the top first, then glancing halfway along the line below, before skimming their eye downward along the left-hand side. If there's nothing of interest within that golden "F" zone, he or she will quickly clear off elsewhere. Which means your modern journalist is expected not only to shoehorn all manner of hot phraseology into their copy, but to try and position it all in precisely the right place. That's an alarming quantity of unnecessary shit to hold in your head while trying to write a piece about the unions. Sorry, SEXUAL unions. Mainly, though, it's just plain undignified: turning the journalist into the equivalent of a reality TV wannabe who turns up to the auditions in a gaudy fluorescent thong in a desperate bid to be noticed. And for the consumer, it's just one more layer of distracting crud - the bane of the 21st century. Distracting crud comes in countless forms - from the onscreen clutter of 24-hour news stations to the winking, blinking ads on every other web page. These days, each separate square inch of everything is simultaneously vying for your attention, and the overall effect is to leave you feeling bewildered, distanced, feverish and slightly insane. Or maybe that's just me, today. Actually, it's definitely just me. Like I say, I'm ill, my brain's not working. Which is why opening this piece with a slew of hot search terms probably wasn't a brilliant wheeze. Perhaps if I close with a selection of the LEAST searched-for terms ever, I can redress the balance. Worth a shot. Um . . . JOHN SELWYN GUMMER . . . PATRICK KIELTY NUDE . . . UNDERWHELMING KNITTING PATTERNS . . . FULLY CLOTHED BABES. Yup. That should do it. · This week Charlie somehow managed to get this column finished: "Despite mistyping every other word and having to break off every five minutes to lie on his bed clutching his brow, whimpering. He will almost certainly have died by the time you read it."Related StoriesExplainer: Keeping an eye on city livesBluetooth is watching: secret study gives Bath a flavour of Big BrotherEditorial: High waterEmily Bell: If Google should falter, how many others will follow?Solve IT: How can I chat to people with different Instant Messenger applications?
The Guardian – Jul 20, 2008 11:03 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
Soulcalibur IV Breaks Street Part II: Gameplay Video
Youtube user yourysavior writes: "My friend and I bought Soul Calibur IV today. Watch us play. We have a sweet match with Yoda against Ivy."
N4G.com – Jul 20, 2008 3:34 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology: Video Games
Youtube user yourysavior writes: "My friend and I bought Soul Calibur IV today. Watch us play. We have a sweet match with Yoda against Ivy."
N4G.com – Jul 20, 2008 3:34 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology: Video Games
Web Slinger
Western Spaghetti YouTube.com/PESfilm Stop-motion master PES (a k a Adam Pesapane) delivers another tour de force with this utterly inventive depiction of a home-cooked meal. Ingredients include candy corn, Post-It notes, dollar bills and wooden...
New York Post – Jul 20, 2008 07:32 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Entertainment
Western Spaghetti YouTube.com/PESfilm Stop-motion master PES (a k a Adam Pesapane) delivers another tour de force with this utterly inventive depiction of a home-cooked meal. Ingredients include candy corn, Post-It notes, dollar bills and wooden...
New York Post – Jul 20, 2008 07:32 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Entertainment
New Parody Writer and Performer Gives Serious Competition to Throne
New name, Nixon Lee, is aiming to taking throne away one song at a time. His song, Piece of Meat, which is a funny take on Britney Spears "Piece of Me," is garnering 1000s of views on youtube as we speak. Learn why he could be the next Parody Writing King. [PR.com - July 20, 2008]
PR.com – Jul 20, 2008 07:07 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Top Stories: Press Releases
New name, Nixon Lee, is aiming to taking throne away one song at a time. His song, Piece of Meat, which is a funny take on Britney Spears "Piece of Me," is garnering 1000s of views on youtube as we speak. Learn why he could be the next Parody Writing King. [PR.com - July 20, 2008]
PR.com – Jul 20, 2008 07:07 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Top Stories: Press Releases
John Naughton, The Networker: Big Google is watching you. Ready for your close-up?
If, while walking your dog, you see a black Opel Vectra with a top-heavy pole sticking out of its roof, do not be alarmed. It is not a UFO or a van checking for TV licence-fee dodgers, but a Googlecam. As it proceeds, the eight cameras mounted on the top of the pole take an endless succession of digital pictures of the road and its environs. Each image is tagged with its precise location using GPS. When the car returns to base, all the images and their GPS data are uploaded to Google, which then overlays them on Google Maps. The idea is that you type in a location and - Bingo! - you can see what you'd see if you were driving in that neighbourhood. In fact I've just taken a virtual drive round Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, something of a holy place for us ageing hippies. Welcome to Google's Street View, which is currently available in some US cities and probably due in a lot more soon. The prospect that it might be coming to Britain has got the Daily Mail into a lather. This sinister technology, it raves, 'could be a privacy-invading nightmare'. Google's cars 'will photograph EVERY door in Britain'. The service 'will allow anyone in the world to type in a UK address or post code and instantly see a 360-degree picture of the street. It will include close-ups of buildings, cars and people. Critics say the site is a 'burglar's charter' that makes it easy for criminals to check out potential victims.' Given that the Mail has been gung-ho about Britain's addiction to CCTV cameras, its newfound worry about privacy is laudable, but the grounds for its concern are puzzling. After all, Google Maps and Google Earth already provide invaluable information for burglars; they show who has swimming pools and unprotected back gardens, for example. So it's difficult to see what the larcenous value-added is from Street View, other than it may reveal which houses have burglar alarms and which do not. The multiple sightings of the Googlecam in the UK - which have been cleverly overlaid on Google Maps by the online journal, The Register (see tinyurl.com/6lag7m) - suggest that the company has embarked on a large-scale UK trial of the technology. But it's not clear that the service would be legal here, or indeed in Europe generally, because our data-protection and privacy rules are more stringent those than those in America. In Europe, litigation could be triggered by, say, images of an ageing rock star entering a rehab clinic, or by even more 'sensitive' pictures: the chap who's 'off sick' out shopping or the adulterer tending her lover's roses. And it doesn't matter that the pictures were taken in a public place. 'If you are caught on camera and complain to Google,' says Struan Robertson of lawyers Pinsent Masons, 'Google will remove the pics. But that may not be enough for Europe's courts. Our data protection regime lets us take holiday snaps, even of strangers, provided we're doing so for private purposes. But if we're taking snaps for commercial use, where individuals are identifiable, there is no such exemption. We need to notify the subjects, and that's hard for Google to do. Even a loudspeaker on top of the camera cars ["Hi, it's Google here, say cheese everybody!"] might not suffice.' Quite. But in a way the issue is not whether this Google innovation is permitted or not, but the general direction we're headed and the role Google might play in our collective future. Last week I wrote about the legal ruling which compelled Google to hand over to Viacom its computer logs of every single viewing of a YouTube video, including those by UK residents. The privacy implications of that ruling have since been mitigated by agreement that the data can be 'anonymised' by Google before handover. But, again, the direction is towards a world in which everything we do is monitored and logged - mostly by one company. Google's mission, according to its corporate website, is 'to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful'. What we perhaps haven't fully realised is that these guys really mean it. Their ambition is at least as megalomaniacal as Bill Gates's vision of a computer on every desk running Microsoft software. So it's time we started thinking about what a world dominated by Google would be like. As it happens, some people have - and they've been publishing the results on YouTube. Then pour yourself a stiff drink. john.naughton@observer.co.uk
The Guardian – Jul 19, 2008 11:01 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
If, while walking your dog, you see a black Opel Vectra with a top-heavy pole sticking out of its roof, do not be alarmed. It is not a UFO or a van checking for TV licence-fee dodgers, but a Googlecam. As it proceeds, the eight cameras mounted on the top of the pole take an endless succession of digital pictures of the road and its environs. Each image is tagged with its precise location using GPS. When the car returns to base, all the images and their GPS data are uploaded to Google, which then overlays them on Google Maps. The idea is that you type in a location and - Bingo! - you can see what you'd see if you were driving in that neighbourhood. In fact I've just taken a virtual drive round Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, something of a holy place for us ageing hippies. Welcome to Google's Street View, which is currently available in some US cities and probably due in a lot more soon. The prospect that it might be coming to Britain has got the Daily Mail into a lather. This sinister technology, it raves, 'could be a privacy-invading nightmare'. Google's cars 'will photograph EVERY door in Britain'. The service 'will allow anyone in the world to type in a UK address or post code and instantly see a 360-degree picture of the street. It will include close-ups of buildings, cars and people. Critics say the site is a 'burglar's charter' that makes it easy for criminals to check out potential victims.' Given that the Mail has been gung-ho about Britain's addiction to CCTV cameras, its newfound worry about privacy is laudable, but the grounds for its concern are puzzling. After all, Google Maps and Google Earth already provide invaluable information for burglars; they show who has swimming pools and unprotected back gardens, for example. So it's difficult to see what the larcenous value-added is from Street View, other than it may reveal which houses have burglar alarms and which do not. The multiple sightings of the Googlecam in the UK - which have been cleverly overlaid on Google Maps by the online journal, The Register (see tinyurl.com/6lag7m) - suggest that the company has embarked on a large-scale UK trial of the technology. But it's not clear that the service would be legal here, or indeed in Europe generally, because our data-protection and privacy rules are more stringent those than those in America. In Europe, litigation could be triggered by, say, images of an ageing rock star entering a rehab clinic, or by even more 'sensitive' pictures: the chap who's 'off sick' out shopping or the adulterer tending her lover's roses. And it doesn't matter that the pictures were taken in a public place. 'If you are caught on camera and complain to Google,' says Struan Robertson of lawyers Pinsent Masons, 'Google will remove the pics. But that may not be enough for Europe's courts. Our data protection regime lets us take holiday snaps, even of strangers, provided we're doing so for private purposes. But if we're taking snaps for commercial use, where individuals are identifiable, there is no such exemption. We need to notify the subjects, and that's hard for Google to do. Even a loudspeaker on top of the camera cars ["Hi, it's Google here, say cheese everybody!"] might not suffice.' Quite. But in a way the issue is not whether this Google innovation is permitted or not, but the general direction we're headed and the role Google might play in our collective future. Last week I wrote about the legal ruling which compelled Google to hand over to Viacom its computer logs of every single viewing of a YouTube video, including those by UK residents. The privacy implications of that ruling have since been mitigated by agreement that the data can be 'anonymised' by Google before handover. But, again, the direction is towards a world in which everything we do is monitored and logged - mostly by one company. Google's mission, according to its corporate website, is 'to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful'. What we perhaps haven't fully realised is that these guys really mean it. Their ambition is at least as megalomaniacal as Bill Gates's vision of a computer on every desk running Microsoft software. So it's time we started thinking about what a world dominated by Google would be like. As it happens, some people have - and they've been publishing the results on YouTube. Then pour yourself a stiff drink. john.naughton@observer.co.uk
The Guardian – Jul 19, 2008 11:01 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology