Category: media

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advertisements films media popular culture sociology

The turning (film) and good ads

The turning

This film sounds unique and intriguing – the adaptation of Tim Winton’s wonderful book of interconnected stories, set across 3 decades. Produced by Robert Connolly; 17 directors from diverse disciplines present each story in the book. Each director has told the story in a different way – including a sand animation; a triptych film and a dance piece. It includes the directorial debuts of David Wenham and Mia Wasikowska and also includes pieces by video artist Shaun Gladwell, Bangarra choreographer Stephen Page and indigenous director Warwick Thornton.

Stars Hugo Weaving, Rose Byrne, Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh. Opens 26 Sept as a 3 hour film with an interval – it may run for just 2 weeks. Seems to be a very special Australian film.

Trailer and chapter synopses: http://www.theturningmovie.com.au/

Review: http://www.theguardian.com/film/australia-culture-blog/2013/aug/05/the-turning-tim-winton-review

Some resources about advertising for media, social science, popular culture, business studies classes….

TED: Ads worth spreading

In February you may have seen these 10 winning ads chosen by TED and recognized for their innovation, ingenuity and intelligence. Love “Follow the frog” and “Find your understanding” is just gorgeous.

Winners 2013: http://www.ted.com/initiatives/aws

Report – analysis of the winners & what makes good ads:  http://storage.ted.com/aws/TED-Ads-Worth-Spreading-Report.pdf

Winners 2012: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/teds-2012-ads-worth-spreading-winners-longer-ads-rule-again-138608

Dumb ways to die

Melbourne folk are no doubt familiar with this catchy, quirky 3 minute animated jingle – part of the safety campaign for Metro Trains. The Gruen Transfer (18 Sept) had a great discussion of the ad, which has won more awards than any other ad in the history of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Oscars of the ad world. Over 55 million views on YouTube with heaps of parodies; games app also available. The success of the campaign has caused “Dumb ways to….” to become a phrasal template or snowclone (as in “X is the new Y”).

http://www.brw.com.au/p/marketing/dumb_ways_cannes_die_leads_stellar_HzkQAnw4uaZopV1iMshILO

http://www.news.com.au/business/dumb-ways-to-die-ad-for-train-safety-wins-big-at-cannes/story-e6frfm1i-1226665413224

http://dumbwaystodie.com/

The world’s best commercials 2012-2013: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

See the 21 winning ads from the June festival.

http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/worlds-best-commercials-2012-13-150657?js=1&view_name=news_gallery&view_display_id=node_content_1&view_args=150657&view_path=node%2F150657&view_base_path=node%2F150657&view_dom_id=1&pager_element=0#metro-trains-dumb-ways-to-die-1

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Apple cloud storage coding ed tech Google media mobile phones music newspapers websites

ICT news and ACARA: technologies

State of the web report by Mary Meeker (from Internet Trends D11 conference- 28 May 2013)
Each year Meeker analyses the web and makes a detailed report. Fascinating info includes: Facebook leads social media, but YouTube, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, Instagram are rising fast. Mobile traffic is growing sharply. Smartphone users reach for their phone 150 times per day. 17% of Australians say they share “everything” or “most things” online (world av. 24%). We are heading for a new computing cycle, following the rise of smartphones & tablets – wearable, drivable, flyable, scannable technology.
7 interesting graphs: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/internet-facts_n_3361077.html
Full report (117 slides!):  http://au.businessinsider.com/mary-meekers-latest-masterful-presentation-on-the-state-of-the-web-2013-5#meeker-preso042-42
 
7 things you need to know about Apple iOS7
From this week’s Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. Tim Cook says it’s the biggest change to iOS since the iPhone. Cleaner icons & fonts; true multitasking; new camera app with filtering; male or female Siri (Siri soon to be integrated into cars); autodownloads of App Store updates; iTunes radio.
http://www.crn.com.au/News/346248,7-things-you-need-to-know-about-apple-ios7.aspx

Apple iTunes Radio
Announced this week and available later in the year in Aust. You can browse by popular tunes, by mood, feel or genre. Choose a  station or set up your own. Also works with Apple TV.

Music streaming services in Australia
Excellent overview of all the music streaming choices in Aust. – from free Pandora (awesome) to Spotify, JB Hi-Fi Now, Samsung Music Hub, Songl, Rdio and more. Using these services is just like tuning in to a radio station – but one that you can program by artist, genre or mood. With free Pandora, you may never need to buy songs again!
http://www.cnet.com.au/australian-music-streaming-services-compared-339331668.htm

ACARA: technologies
Computer coding is a feature of the Draft Foundation to Year 10: Technologies curriculum. “The Draft Australian Curriculum: Technologies draws together the distinct but related subjects of Design and Technologies and Digital Technologies. It will ensure that all students benefit from learning about and working with traditional, contemporary and emerging technologies that shape the world in which we live. In creating solutions, as well as responding to the designed world, students will contribute to sustainable patterns of living for themselves and others.”
http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/technologies.html

Why programming is the core skill of the 21st century
It’s never been easier, more accessible or more essential to learn coding skills.
http://readwrite.com/2013/05/31/programming-core-skill-21st-century?utm_source=ReadWrite+Newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6cba04fb0a-RWWDailyNewsletter&utm_term=0_9fbeb5d667-6cba04fb0a-201316605

Learn computerese as a second language
http://theconversation.com/learn-computerese-as-a-second-language-thats-code-for-code-14989

Codecademy
Online interactive platform that offers free coding classes in programming languages. Users get badges and scores for exercises.
http://www.codecademy.com/

Code.org
Supports and promotes the learning of coding. Testimonials from Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, will.i.am, Ashton Kutcher…
http://www.code.org/

Flickr
Yahoo, owner of Flickr, recently announced some updates. “Photos are now arranged in an attractive lattice design that is less cluttered with text and comments, and it has two killer features: photos can be stored as high-resolution images and are not cropped, and Flickr will offer one terabyte of free storage to every user: enough for more than 500,000 photos each, depending on resolution”.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/personal-tech/yahoo-and-google-roll-out-new-features-amid-internet-battle/story-e6frgazf-1226648603388
 
 Adobe CS6 last version before cloud and pay per user
Goodbye to Creative Suite (Photoshop etc) – it is now Creative Cloud and will involve buying monthly subscriptions. Not sure how this will work in schools.
http://gizmodo.com/say-goodbye-to-creative-suite-adobe-rebrands-cs-as-cre-493155052

Apple Maps improves
Improvements have been added steadily with regular updates on iOS6. Apple Maps is nearly 5 times more data-efficient than Google Maps because it uses vector graphics, where no new data needs to be downloaded to zoom in on a map (1.3mb to download a Google map but only 300kb for an Apple map).
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/apple-maps-back-on-track-20130529-2na51.html

Gmail tabs
Gmail is the world’s most popular email service. Google is cutting the clutter from Gmail inboxes with a new design that incorporates tabs. Important emails will go in the Primary tab – other tabs could include Social (Facebook notifications etc), Promotions (ads), Updates (bills, confirmations etc), Forums (messages from online groups). The use of the tabs is optional and you can choose which ones you want.
http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57586732-285/getting-started-with-the-new-gmail-tabs/#!

SMH and The Age paywalls
From 2 July, Fairfax Media will introduce a paywall and digital subscriptions for these 2 papers. Online readers will be allowed 30 free articles using web or mobile, before being asked to pay for a subscription. For tablets, some sections will be free and others will be for paying readers. So in July, all major Aust. papers will be charging for web, mobile & app access. “Digital subscribers will also have access to new features including research tool Zoom, specialist eBook collection Shortbooks and rewards program, My Benefits”.
http://www.bandt.com.au/news/media/fairfax-to-erect-paywall-in-july

Categories
ed tech media popular culture websites

Webby Awards announced

Some good resources for media, art, photography, graphic design, popular culture, business studies, social sciences….

The 17th annual Webby Awards
The Oscars of the online world were announced on Tuesday. Awards are chosen by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. Categories include web, online film & video, interactive advertising & media, mobile & apps and social. Look through previous winners, back to 1997, and see how the online world has changed!
http://winners.webbyawards.com/

Dumb ways to die
An Aussie success – catchy, quirky, amiable animated characters – with an important message. Melbourne’s Metro Trains’ rail safety public service campaign has won 7 Webby Awards, including –  Best Viral Online Film & Video (over 45 million YouTube views); Best Animation Film & Video; Best Viral Marketing Interactive Advertising & Media; Best Public Service & Activism (Social Content & Marketing). HEAPS of online parodies. Karaoke version also available.
Original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw
Interview: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/melbourne-rail-safety-message-wins-webby-20130501-2isyl.html

Some Webby winners….and there are LOTS more..….
Special Achievement: Jerry Seinfeld, including his 10 episode web series Comedians in cars getting coffee – Seinfeld hanging out with his comedian friends.
Activism: Change.org – the world’s petition platform.
Best Practices: TEDEd: lessons worth sharing.
Best Use of Photography: Humans of New York.
Education: TEDEd.
Games: Angry Birds Star Wars.
Green: TERRA: the nature of our world.
Health: WebMD.
Movie & Film: Hunger Games: Capitol tour.
Music: VEVO.
Web Services: Dropbox.
Weird: One tiny hand.
Technology: The Engadget Show.
Variety: TED.
Augmented Reality: Band-Aid Magic Vision….wow…cool Band-Aids!
Online commercials: Hashtag Killer (aims to eradicate the #FirstWorldProblems meme).
Experimental & Innovation: The Silent History: a new kind of novel.

Categories
media popular culture websites

The Webby Awards

“Hailed as the ‘Internet’s highest honor’ by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Awards are given to Websites, Interactive Advertising & Media, Online Film & Video, Mobile & Apps, and Social.  This year’s Webby Awards received more than 11,000 entries from over 65 countries. The shortlist has now been announced.

Winners will be announced on 22 May in New York where they will deliver five-word speeches in the tradition of past victors like Al Gore (“Please don’t recount this vote.”), Jimmy Fallon (“Thank God Conan got promoted”) and Anna Wintour (“Sometimes, Geeks Can Be Chic”).

While Academy members like Arianna Huffington, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom and musician David Bowie select the Webby winners, people can also vote in The Webby People’s Voice Awards. Many of this year’s nominees reflect the ever-growing role social experiences play in helping consumers discover new content, videos, communities and brands. Others succeed by confirming the significant effect of mobile and tablet devices”.

http://www.webbyawards.com/

Info and nominees: http://www.webbyawards.com/press/press-release.php?id=238

Nominees for Best Education and Discovery

·         TED

·         National Geographic Education

·         NASA Curiosity Mars Rover

·         Medium

·         New York Public Library

The Gallery & Archive is an interesting snapshot of how the web has changed since 1996 – good for graphic design, IT, sociology, media…

http://winners.webbyawards.com/

 

 

Categories
media news newspapers websites

Quality journalism

The Conversation online Australian news source is a valuable resource for many curriculum areas, with high quality articles in many fields – science, tech, politics, society, environment, health, business..…

 

The Conversation turns 2 on 24 March and is now the largest Aust. independent news and commentary website. It has a “commitment to high-quality, intelligent, and independent analysis, comment and research, penned by academics with real expertise”. Founding partners include several Aust. universities and CSIRO. It is viewed by 669,000 readers each month. Editors work with more than 4,600 registered academics and researchers from 280 institutions.

http://theconversation.edu.au/

 

Michelle Grattan joins The Conversation (and the Uni of Canberra): http://is.gd/an4I3o

 

 

Interesting article from The Conversation re the acidic island in the film Life of Pi. And what an amazing film it is – a wonderful adaptation of the book.

Life of Pi’s acidic island a warning for our warming world – Thomas Faunce: http://is.gd/eDvCxD

Interesting comments on quality journalism from Andrew Jaspan (co-founder of The Conversation). 2013 will be another transformative year for Australian media. http://is.gd/LRW4OF

 

·         The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age will go tabloid and merge, though with some regional differences.

·         They will offer more mid-market fare – fast news, sport, showbiz, gossip.

·         The Guardian will launch a new Aust. digital edition – and this may help “fill the niche for high quality content vacated by Fairfax & News Limited.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-16/guardian-launching-australian-online-edition/4466636

·         The Conversation is “committed to publishing everything under Creative Commons licence, so it is free for anyone to read and republish, unlike the rest of the media who retain copyright.” Many websites every day republish material from The Conversation. A “Republish” button accompanies every article. Their Creative Commons licence: http://is.gd/5Wohtn

Categories
ed tech media news newspapers websites

Interesting news sites

Here are some interesting sites that present or aggregate news – useful for senior students, global relations & journalism classes and for news items in many curriculum areas.

 

News360

Informative multisource news in a user friendly format. Different news sources and different media are provided for news items – select and compare them. Read news in categories – science, politics etc; add your own categories; save items to read later; share stories; choose local news. A good resource to compare world perspectives on a particular news item.

News items are ranked for credibility & personalised (with accounts). Mobile apps available. http://news360app.com/technology.html

http://news360.com/

 

Hubii

Discover what’s happening around the world. Displays headlines on one side and a Google Map on the other which shows various news publishers of that headline. Zoom in and see who is publishing or search a location and see what’s happening there. Use the Mapfilter to search for specific kinds of news eg. tech news. Use the Search Cloud to see what the world is reading & writing about. Add your own sources. Includes a language filter.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/search-browse-international-news-based-location-hubii/

www.hubii.com

 

BBC Live World Map

Worldwide – most popular stories now. Use left-hand menu to read news from world regions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/live_stats/html/map.stm

 

Newsy

Multisource video news from around the world. 2 to 3 minute video clips of news items are read, amalgamating information from various global sources. The source of the information is credited as the item is read. Sources include Xinhua, Al Jazeera, New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, Human Rights Watch….Mobile apps available.

http://www.newsy.com/

 

Newseum

Museum of news and journalism in Washington, DC. Choose a location and read the headlines of selected newspapers from that country or region.

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp

 

Longform

Collects outstanding new and classic non fiction articles of substantial length – proving that internet users do have the patience & attention spans to read in-depth materials. The site can also be browsed by categories eg. science, war, politics, arts & culture, editor’s picks etc Search the archive for topics, authors, time periods, publishers, tags. iPad app available.

http://longform.org/

 

Longreads: “the best long-form stories on the web”

Explore topics; new articles posted daily.

http://longreads.com/

 

100 articles that every journalist should read about journalism

A useful resource for those interested in journalism; a 2011 project by students of La Trobe Uni. with global contributions.

http://www.upstart.net.au/2011/10/13/100-articles/

 

Summly app for iPhones

Provides summaries of news stories & other text; swipe to see full article. 17 year old British developer Nick D’Aloisio: “We can really become the de-facto format for news on mobile. People are not scrolling through 1,000-word articles – they want snack-sized information.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20181537

 

ABC News

Great resources on Aust’s own portal.

Easy to select news stories – choose a tab for text, video, audio or photos.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/

News in 90 seconds – video: http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/news-in-90-seconds/

Top stories of the day – audio: http://www.abc.net.au/news/audio/

ABC NewsRadio – listen live: http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/audio/streaming.htm?layout=popup

Links to other ABC news programs – Big Ideas, 7.30, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners etc

Links to other parts of the ABC website – Environment, Science, Health, Technology…

 

Australia Network

Part of ABC International, broadcasting to 46 countries across Asia & the Pacific.

Aust. Network News: National and global.   http://www.abc.net.au/news/australianetworknews/

Includes Newsline, Australia Network’s flagship current affairs program – videos of news items range from 4 mins to 10 mins. http://www.abc.net.au/news/australianetworknews/newsline/

Also available: Learning English video programs for a range of levels – includes Passport to English, English Bites, Living English…   http://australianetwork.com/learningenglish/

 

ABC Radio Australia

Radio programs from the ABC broadcast locally and to Asia/Pacific; news items; videos.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/

ABC Radio Australia: Learn English online

Learn topical Aust. English in context. Courses are offered with narration in Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Khmer; download audio and text lessons for free.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/learn-english

 

Categories
censorship films Google media popular culture

Google, censorship and Assange

Interesting issues to discuss with senior students – censorship, freedom of speech, power, control, governments, corporations, global relations, ethics, religious animosity, tolerance…..

 

The controversial video The innocence of Muslims will stay on YouTube but Google has restricted access to it in 5 countries – India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Libya, Egypt. Google says this is consistent with its principles. Google operates in over 100 countries and handles the majority of search queries worldwide. 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Does Google have too much power to influence the course of world events?

 

What Google isn’t telling us about the video it banned in 5 countries – Bianca Bosker

“Censoring a video that doesn’t break local laws or violate YouTube’s terms of use marks an extraordinary, highly unusual move on Google’s part that underscores the responsibility tech companies are now shouldering, by virtue of their outsized reach, to arbitrate free speech, shape international affairs and export values from their home nations.”

Some interesting points are raised:

“Would the video have been removed if it was an article?
Would the video have been removed if it had sparked violence by pro-democracy protesters?
Does banning the video reward violence? Is this a lesson that controversial content can be snuffed out if enough people are injured, enough buildings are burned and government officials ask nicely enough?
When does Google listen to violence, and when does it ignore it? Is all violence created equal? Does Google get to decide when other countries are “ready” for free speech?”

 

Eva Galperin: Google’s move sets a dangerous precedent. “While their goal of trying to tamp down violence may have been sincere, the decision was misguided and opens the door for more censorship in the future.”

Jillian York: “By placing itself in the role of arbiter, Google is now vulnerable to demands from a variety of parties and will have to explain why it sees censorship as the right solution in some cases but not in others.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bianca-bosker/google-youtube-innocence-of-muslims_b_1893623.html

Will Russia ban YouTube?

Innocence of Muslims film could get the whole site blacklisted under a new law.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/18/russia-youtube-ban-innocence-of-muslims_n_1894479.html?utm_hp_ref=technology#comments

 

Another interesting resource for discussing censorship – should appeal to high school students:

 

Underground: the Julian Assange story (90 minute telemovie; Channel 10; October)

The previews look great (great promo song) and the reviews are excellent. It has been invited to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Robert Connolly (Balibo). Stars Alex Williams, Rachel Griffiths and Anthony LaPaglia. The intriguing backstory of Assange’s early life – his gypsy lifestyle and mistrust of authority during his teenage days as a hacker. Assange is portayed as a flawed hero, railing against the establishment.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2012/09/underground-the-julian-assange-story.html

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117948298/

 

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ed tech Facebook Google iPads media newspapers popular culture TV websites YouTube

Horizon Report 2012 & 10 mega-trends for learning

Some people asked for the websites on my Mod Day presentation – What’s new in ICT, Media & Popular Culture? Here is the link to the Powerpoint. I hope the info is useful.

http://dckclib.wikispaces.com/Technology%2C+media+%26+popular+culture+updates

 Corning Glass released their first video in Feb 2011 about the future of glass technologies in ICT, education, work & life and how glass will help shape our world. It’s had over 18 million views:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

 A day made of glass 2 (Feb 2012)

5 min. video of Corning Glass’ expanded vision for the future of glass technologies in ICT, education, work & life and how glass will help shape our world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkHpNnXLB0

Info about the glass technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-GXO_urMow

 Horizon Reports

The Horizon Reports are issued annually by the New Media Consortium. They identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on global education. 

10 mega-trends impacting learning: Horizon Project 10th Anniversary Report (coming soon)
1. The world of work is increasingly global & increasingly collaborative.
2. People expect to work, learn, socialize & play whenever and wherever they want to.
3. The internet is becoming a global mobile network.

4. The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based & delivered over utility networks, facilitating the rapid growth of online videos & rich media.
5. Openness – concepts such as open content, open data & open resources, along with notions of transparency & easy access to data & information – is moving from a trend to a value for much of the world.
6. Legal notions of ownership & privacy lag behind the practices common in society.
7. Real challenges of access, efficiency & scale are redefining what we mean by quality & success.
8. The internet is constantly challenging us to rethink learning & education, while refining our notion of literacy.
9. There is a rise in informal learning as individual needs are redefining schools, universities & training.
10. Business models across the education ecosystem are changing.
http://www.nmc.org/ & Judy O’Connell

Just released: The Horizon Report 2012 – Higher Education

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/2012HorizonReport/246056

The K-12 edition will be available later in the year.  

Key trends:
1. People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.
2. The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralized.
3. The world of work is increasingly collaborative, driving changes in the way student projects are structured.
4. The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.
5. Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models.
6. There is a new emphasis in the classroom on more challenge-based and active learning.

The areas of emerging technology to watch :
Time to adoption: One Year or Less

Mobile Apps
Tablet Computing

Time to adoption: Two to Three Years

Game-based Learning
Learning Analytics

Time to adoption: Four to Five Years

Gesture-based Computing
Internet of Things (all kinds of devices will be connected to the internet to receive/generate info)

Categories
books films media popular culture TV

Books, films and TV

25 October 2010
Steve Jobs’ biography
The authorised biography written by Pulitzer Prize nominee Walter Isaacson was released 24 Oct. Seems to be an honest portrayal written after 40 interviews with Jobs and over 100 interviews with others. Some surprising facts here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/steve-jobs-surprising-facts-from-new-biography_n_1028580.html

And the Jobs biopic?
Rights to the Steve Jobs biography have been sold to Sony. The film should be just as intriguing as The Social Network and may indeed be written by that film’s screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Who will play Jobs??http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/steve-jobs-movie-sony-biopic

First Australian newspaper to charge for digital content
The Australian will be the first general Aust. newspaper to launch subscriptions for digital content in 3 months time ($2.95 pw for online, iPad, mobile). It will follow the “freemium” model, with some content free but charging for premium content. Other daily papers will follow next year, though probably not the Fairfax news websites. Will readers want to pay for information they previously got for free?http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/the-australian-enters-the-new-age-of-paid-content/story-e6frg996-1226174541122

The 7pm Project becomes The Project
The Channel 10 infotainment show that draws its content and comedy from recent news stories will be extended to one hour from 31 October. It will replace George Negus at 6.30 and run till 7.30 & is the top weeknight news service for 16-39 year olds. Hosted by Carrie Bickmore & Charlie Pickering, it’s informative and fun and the format appeals to high school students – useful for current affairs, popular culture, media & journalism. Our Media class were part of the audience a few months ago and loved it.http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/new-name-and-timeslot-for-the-7pm-project-20111019-1m789.html

The bridge by Jane Higgins
Winner of the Text Prize for young adult and children’s writing 2010; has been described as the Tomorrow series meets Hunger Games. In post-apocalyptic 2199, the city is divided by the bridge. Cityside must be kept safe from the hostiles of Southside. Nik’s school is bombed by hostiles and he goes on the run with Fyffe, with the security corporation after them. When they cross the bridge they start to ask questions no one else will ask and find out how difficult it is to tell right from wrong, and fact from fiction and propaganda – especially in the face of war.http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/the-bridge/

Contagion
Thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh. Stars Kate Winslet & Matt Damon. A deadly disease breaks out and an international team of doctors is contracted to deal with the outbreak. The film portrays a very realistic public health & scientific response to a pandemic & examines personal motives, professional conduct, crowd psychology, loss of social order and the benefits of collaboration. 4 stars from Margaret and 4 and a half from David! http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s3325806.htm

Frozen planet
The new David Attenborough 7 part series examines the Arctic & Antarctic ecosystems; the final episode looks at the threat of global warming and its devastating effects. Begins 30 Sept WIN TV. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/oct/21/david-attenborough-frozen-planet-climate-change?newsfeed=true

To be or not to be
Anonymous opens 3 Nov, directed by Roland Emmerich; starring Vanessa Redgrave as Elizabeth I and Rafe Spall as Shakespeare. Was Shakespeare an illiterate fraud? The citizens of Stratford-upon-Avon are protesting!
http://www.anonymousmovie.com.au/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-15440882

Categories
books Facebook films media mobile phones popular culture TV

Books, films & ICT news

    

 

 

Happy 30th birthday to mobile phone calls in Australia – 9/8/11

The Telecom call was made in Melbourne in 1981 on an in-car phone that weighed 14kg & was 45cm long & cost $5000. The network covered the greater Melb. area….now we are heading for the  Telstra 4G network with higher data speeds & better video quality. Trials have started.

http://www.itwire.com/your-it-news/mobility/49034-30-years-ago-today-australias-first-mobile-call

 

Facebook to have an executive in Aust. this week

Mia Garlick, a senior bureaucrat from Stephen Conroy’s Dept of Broadband, Communications & the Digital Economy, will have responsibility for Aust. operations & will hopefully be able to act quickly on complaints about Facebook postings & cyberbullying.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/facebook-hires-conroy-staffer-in-bid-to-repair-relations/story-e6frgakx-1226111961208

 

The PricewaterhouseCoopers Aust. Entertainment & Media Outlook 2011-2015

The report on Australia’s media & entertainment industry was issued 1/8/11. The fastest moving sector is the gamer market (9.5% growth by 2015), with gamers using consoles, phones, tablets & social media. Australians will own 5.5 million tablet devices by 2015. Empowered consumers often expect content for free – what incentives can be offered to encourage consumers to pay? Subscription TV revenue will grow by 5.1%. Films will grow by 4%. The internet as an industry will see a slowing of growth (7.4% by 2015). Newspapers will remain stagnant (0.1% growth). Consumer magazines & recorded music will be the only sectors to shrink. Live entertainment will see growth. And as for the book industry…..despite the closure of many A&R stores & Borders, the report predicts the industry will recover with annualised growth of 2.5% over the next 5 years.

http://www.pwcoutlook.com.au/outlook11.nsf/Pages/Press+Materials

 

Plagiarism!

Andrew Denton’s company Zapruder’s Other Films is looking at legal action over a pilot British TV program with the same format as The Gruen Transfer. Meanwhile, the BBC has aired a satirical series about preparations for the London Olympics, that is very similar to John Clarke’s The Games. The concept had been pitched to the BBC by Clarke in 2008.

 

Scarecrow and the army of thieves – Matthew Reilly

Available in October; the 4th book in the series starring Scarecrow, the heroic guy who was introduced in Ice station.

http://www.matthewreilly.com/

 

Inheritance – Christopher Paolini

Available 8/11/11. Book 4 & the conclusion to the series that began with Eragon. Can Eragon & his dragon topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaesia?

http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Kids/Default/Page/General/Section/inheritance/

http://www.alagaesia.com/

 

Jane Eyre

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2058367,00.html

Yay for Canberra’s Mia Wasikowska in the new film directed by Cary Fukunaga, based on the book by Charlotte Bronte. Also starring Michael Fassbender as Rochester. Some say she is the best Jane ever J Opens 11 August.

 

Batavia by Peter FitzSimons: the miniseries.

Screentime (makers of Underbelly & Cloudstreet) will make the 6 part series based on the 1629 Dutch shipwreck & the battle of good vs evil. FitzSimons describes the tale as an “adults-only version of Lord of the flies meets Nightmare on Elm Street”.

http://if.com.au/2011/08/03/article/Screentime-acquires-rights-to-Peter-FitzSimons-Batavia/XJPPIHGXEN.html

 

The white mouse – directed by Bruce Beresford

New bio-pic about the life of war heroine Nancy Wake, the highest decorated woman of WW2. Begins filming end of 2012.

http://www.encoremagazine.com.au/beresford-directs-nancy-wake-story-9830