Noted tech-maverick and Wired-editor Kevin Kelly has an interesting article in this week's New York Times magazine titled 'Scan this book!' about the implications of the digitization of the world's libraries' collections - an extract:
"This is a very big library. But because of digital technology, you'll be able to reach inside it from almost any device that sports a screen. From the days of Sumerian clay tablets till now, humans have "published" at least 32 million books, 750 million articles and essays, 25 million songs, 500 million images, 500,000 movies, 3 million videos, TV shows and short films and 100 billion public Web pages. All this material is currently contained in all the libraries and archives of the world. When fully digitized, the whole lot could be compressed (at current technological rates) onto 50 petabyte hard disks. Today you need a building about the size of a small-town library to house 50 petabytes. With tomorrow's technology, it will all fit onto your iPod. When that happens, the library of all libraries will ride in your purse or wallet — if it doesn't plug directly into your brain with thin white cords. Some people alive today are surely hoping that they die before such things happen, and others, mostly the young, want to know what's taking so long. (Could we get it up and running by next week? They have a history project due.)'
Well worth a read...
Monday, May 15, 2006
RFID Resources
A highly useful set of online resources on RFID - papers, presentations, and links, shared by Joe McCarthy via the interrelativity site. Thanks!
Also - if you want to watch a video scenario of a shopping mall in which RFID tags are used for real-time surveillance, then check out Chris Oakley's film, "The Catalogue", via his site.
Also - if you want to watch a video scenario of a shopping mall in which RFID tags are used for real-time surveillance, then check out Chris Oakley's film, "The Catalogue", via his site.
Carnival of the Mobilists # 27
The latest Carnival of the Mobilists - a collection of this week's best writing about mobile from around the web - is hosted by Steve Jones' 3G Portal.
Check out the latest writings...
Check out the latest writings...
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Shape-shifting car will brace for impact
In a recent NewScientistTech post titled 'Shape-shifting car will brace for impact' a new type of shape-shifting car is discussed:
'A car that can anticipate a side-on impact and subtly alter its body shape to absorb the force of the crash is being developed by researchers in Germany.
The car will use hood-mounted cameras and radar to spot a vehicle on course for a side-on collision. Once it realizes an impact is imminent, it will activate a shape-shifting metal in the door. This reinforces the bond between door and frame, which is normally a weak spot, and distributes the force of the blow more safely...
...The experimental vehicles have radar sensors installed at the front and rear and stereo cameras in the back window. These feed information to an on-board computer that calculates the chances of an impact. "It can recognise if something is going to hit the car, identify where it will hit and its velocity," Tandler says.'
'A car that can anticipate a side-on impact and subtly alter its body shape to absorb the force of the crash is being developed by researchers in Germany.
The car will use hood-mounted cameras and radar to spot a vehicle on course for a side-on collision. Once it realizes an impact is imminent, it will activate a shape-shifting metal in the door. This reinforces the bond between door and frame, which is normally a weak spot, and distributes the force of the blow more safely...
...The experimental vehicles have radar sensors installed at the front and rear and stereo cameras in the back window. These feed information to an on-board computer that calculates the chances of an impact. "It can recognise if something is going to hit the car, identify where it will hit and its velocity," Tandler says.'
BBC hires a virtual island for online virtual concerts!
Well - does this mean that virtual worlds have finally gained acceptance if the BBC has moved into the space? The BBC have now rented an island in the virtual world of Second Life to showcase concerts and as yet unsigned bands.
According to the BBC article 'BBC starts to rock online world':
'The BBC has staked a claim to a virtual tropical island where it can stage online music festivals and throw exclusive celebrity parties.
The rented island exists in online game Second Life and will hold its first event this weekend with bands including Muse, Razorlight and Gnarls Barkley.
The virtual party will mirror BBC Radio 1's real-world, One Big Weekend event, being held in Dundee from 12 May.
Radio 1 plans to use the island to debut new bands over the next year.
"What we'd like to do is use it as a place for people to put on public music events," said Daniel Heaf, interactive editor at Radio 1.
"We'd really like to use it for unsigned musicians. [But] we're open to invitations as to who wants to use it and how they want to use it."'
Well - kudos to the BBC!
According to the BBC article 'BBC starts to rock online world':
'The BBC has staked a claim to a virtual tropical island where it can stage online music festivals and throw exclusive celebrity parties.
The rented island exists in online game Second Life and will hold its first event this weekend with bands including Muse, Razorlight and Gnarls Barkley.
The virtual party will mirror BBC Radio 1's real-world, One Big Weekend event, being held in Dundee from 12 May.
Radio 1 plans to use the island to debut new bands over the next year.
"What we'd like to do is use it as a place for people to put on public music events," said Daniel Heaf, interactive editor at Radio 1.
"We'd really like to use it for unsigned musicians. [But] we're open to invitations as to who wants to use it and how they want to use it."'
Well - kudos to the BBC!
New maps for a new world?
I've posted recently on digital mapping, so here's some interesting news on digital mapping being researched by cartographers Danny Dorling and Anna Barford of the University of Sheffield, UK at their Worldmapper project.
Worldmapper is a series of dramatically distorted multi-colored maps that show the world according to statistical data, largely obtained from obscure UN reports that glean little attention.
Via Worldchanging:
'Cartographers Danny Dorling and Anna Barford of the University of Sheffield, UK, have created almost one hundred maps so far, which display information on population, migration, births, freight, imports and exports, and more. As they say in the New Scientist,
No one wants to look at those figures, and it would be hard to provoke any excitement by confronting someone with spreadsheets filled with numbers. But you just can't help looking at these pictures. After all, a new view of the world, rather like the famous Earthrise photo taken by Apollo astronauts, is a compelling sight.
The map here shows the global proportion of refugees and internally displaced persons living there.
The internal movement of people explains why territories experiencing recent instability can simultaneously be a major destination of displaced people, for example Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2003 there were an estimated 15 million refugees and internally displaced persons. The Middle East and South America are the regions that provide sanctuary to most people seeking it; Pakistan, Iran and Germany are the territories that provide asylum to most people from outside their borders.'
Great stuff...
Worldmapper is a series of dramatically distorted multi-colored maps that show the world according to statistical data, largely obtained from obscure UN reports that glean little attention.
Via Worldchanging:
'Cartographers Danny Dorling and Anna Barford of the University of Sheffield, UK, have created almost one hundred maps so far, which display information on population, migration, births, freight, imports and exports, and more. As they say in the New Scientist,
No one wants to look at those figures, and it would be hard to provoke any excitement by confronting someone with spreadsheets filled with numbers. But you just can't help looking at these pictures. After all, a new view of the world, rather like the famous Earthrise photo taken by Apollo astronauts, is a compelling sight.
The map here shows the global proportion of refugees and internally displaced persons living there.
The internal movement of people explains why territories experiencing recent instability can simultaneously be a major destination of displaced people, for example Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2003 there were an estimated 15 million refugees and internally displaced persons. The Middle East and South America are the regions that provide sanctuary to most people seeking it; Pakistan, Iran and Germany are the territories that provide asylum to most people from outside their borders.'
Great stuff...
Friday, May 12, 2006
Real-Time Maps Could Help Make Cities More Livable
In a MIT TechReview post titled 'Real-Time Maps Could Help Make Cities More Livable', it discusses projects to map real-time city/urban information onto digital maps to help towards such things as urban planning + design, friend/restaurant locationing, traffic monitoring, and disaster emergency:
'Imagine you have a real-time situation of movement of traffic in the city. If everybody knew about that they could optimize their movement through the city based on overall conditions. For example, we've been invited to do a project for the Venice Biennale, probably the largest exhibition on architecture and urban studies in the world. It happens every other year in Venice, and this year it will be about cities. Our project is called Rome in Real-Time. We will be trying to overlay on the city map all the real-time information we can get today, starting from cell-phone information, but also including the position of buses and taxis, and overlay all of them on the map.'
'Imagine you have a real-time situation of movement of traffic in the city. If everybody knew about that they could optimize their movement through the city based on overall conditions. For example, we've been invited to do a project for the Venice Biennale, probably the largest exhibition on architecture and urban studies in the world. It happens every other year in Venice, and this year it will be about cities. Our project is called Rome in Real-Time. We will be trying to overlay on the city map all the real-time information we can get today, starting from cell-phone information, but also including the position of buses and taxis, and overlay all of them on the map.'
Aerial Imaging
In a recent MIT TechReview article titled 'Aerial Imaging Is Becoming an Indispensable Tool' it discusses how multi-angle, low-flying image-taking, once used mainly by government officials, is about to become available to everyone:
'Tens of millions of the static digital pictures will become widely accessible online this summer through Microsoft Corp.'s new map site, and analysts believe Pictometry's technology -- and the high degree of resolution in its images -- translates into a distinct competitive edge.
''Think of this as a long path to a kind of telepresence, the ability to go to places without actually leaving your office or your home,'' said Rob Enderle, a technology analyst in California. ''The higher the quality of the shot, the more valuable the service is going to be.''
So far, the 6-year-old company has mapped most of the nation's big cities and 140 counties where 30 percent of Americans live. The company says urban and rural zones encompassing 80 percent of the population will be shot by the end of next year, as well as big chunks of Canada, Latin America, Europe and beyond.'
'Tens of millions of the static digital pictures will become widely accessible online this summer through Microsoft Corp.'s new map site, and analysts believe Pictometry's technology -- and the high degree of resolution in its images -- translates into a distinct competitive edge.
''Think of this as a long path to a kind of telepresence, the ability to go to places without actually leaving your office or your home,'' said Rob Enderle, a technology analyst in California. ''The higher the quality of the shot, the more valuable the service is going to be.''
So far, the 6-year-old company has mapped most of the nation's big cities and 140 counties where 30 percent of Americans live. The company says urban and rural zones encompassing 80 percent of the population will be shot by the end of next year, as well as big chunks of Canada, Latin America, Europe and beyond.'
Galactic Mobility
Virgin Galactic have just announced their New Mexico Spaceport Agreement. According to the Virgin Galactic site:
'At press conferences in London and New Mexico, officials from Virgin Galactic and from the State of New Mexico announced that they had reached an historic agreement which will see the building of a $200m spaceport in the southern part of the state on a 27 square mile area of state land.
Virgin Galactic has agreed to locate its world's headquarters and Mission Control in New Mexico and strongly believes that the new spaceport will offer fledgling astronauts an experience that will be truly out of this world.
"New Mexico has worked hard to bring us to their exciting new spaceport facility," stated Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic. "The State has several factors that make it an ideal operations base: climate, free airspace, low population density, high altitude, and stunning scenery. Our team was highly impressed by the professionalism and the competitive pitch the state and its advisors developed. We look forward to working together to make the "Final Frontier" a reality for tens of thousands of pioneering space tourists. Our activities will prove the commercial viability and excellent safety technology behind private personal spaceflight and give birth to a new industry in New Mexico."'
Mission control - is this the future of travel opportunities... literally out of this world?
'At press conferences in London and New Mexico, officials from Virgin Galactic and from the State of New Mexico announced that they had reached an historic agreement which will see the building of a $200m spaceport in the southern part of the state on a 27 square mile area of state land.
Virgin Galactic has agreed to locate its world's headquarters and Mission Control in New Mexico and strongly believes that the new spaceport will offer fledgling astronauts an experience that will be truly out of this world.
"New Mexico has worked hard to bring us to their exciting new spaceport facility," stated Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic. "The State has several factors that make it an ideal operations base: climate, free airspace, low population density, high altitude, and stunning scenery. Our team was highly impressed by the professionalism and the competitive pitch the state and its advisors developed. We look forward to working together to make the "Final Frontier" a reality for tens of thousands of pioneering space tourists. Our activities will prove the commercial viability and excellent safety technology behind private personal spaceflight and give birth to a new industry in New Mexico."'
Mission control - is this the future of travel opportunities... literally out of this world?
Mash it up
Another contribution to the mash-up debate comes from an article in the New ScientistTech called ''Mashup' websites are a hacker's dream come true'- here the article discusses the security flaws and privacy implications of th growing number of mash-ups:
'The worry is that mashups could be an accident waiting to happen, according to some delegates at the Computer-Human Interaction conference in Montreal, Canada, last month. Hart Rossman, chief security technologist for Science Applications International of Vienna, Virginia, and adviser to the US Department of Defense, warned that developers of these websites are not taking issues such as data integrity, system security and privacy seriously enough. That matters because many millions of dollars are already being invested in some mashup sites, particularly those related to the travel market, and people are beginning to depend on these sites for everyday tasks such as avoiding traffic queues on the way to work.'
'The worry is that mashups could be an accident waiting to happen, according to some delegates at the Computer-Human Interaction conference in Montreal, Canada, last month. Hart Rossman, chief security technologist for Science Applications International of Vienna, Virginia, and adviser to the US Department of Defense, warned that developers of these websites are not taking issues such as data integrity, system security and privacy seriously enough. That matters because many millions of dollars are already being invested in some mashup sites, particularly those related to the travel market, and people are beginning to depend on these sites for everyday tasks such as avoiding traffic queues on the way to work.'
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Civilising the Net
There has been much talk about the Chinese Great Firewall, yet less about the e-police that monitor online activity covertly. Now there are moves for netizens in Chine to help with the self-monitoring of netiquette.
As a post on Smartmobs recently pointed out:
"This IHT article says "to her fellow students,Hu Yingying appears to be a typical undergraduate,plain of dress, quick with a smile and perhaps possessed of a little extra spring in her step, but otherwise decidedly ordinary.And for Hu,in her second year at Shanghai Normal University,coming across as ordinary is just fine, given the parallel life she leads".Further,"part traffic cop, part informer,part discussion moderator,and all done without the knowledge of her fellow students,Hu is a small part of a huge effort in mainland China to sanitize the Internet.For years,China has had its Internet police,reportedly including as many as 50,000 state agents who are online,blocking Web sites,erasing commentary and arresting people for what is deemed anti-Party,or anti-social,speech.But Hu,one of 500 students at her university's newly bolstered,student-run Internet monitoring group,is a cog in a different kind of machine,an ostensibly voluntary one that the Chinese government is mobilizing to help it manage the monumental task of censoring the Web.In April,that effort was named "Let the Winds of a Civilized Internet Blow,"and is itself part of a broader "socialist morality" campaign started by the Chinese leadership to reinforce social and political control,known as the Eight Honors and Disgraces.Under the Civilized Internet initiative,service providers and other companies have been urged to purge their servers of offensive content,ranging from pornography to anything that smacks of overt political criticism or dissent.The Chinese authorities say that more than two million supposedly "unhealthy" images have already been deleted under this campaign by various mainland Internet service providers,and more than six hundred supposedly "unhealthy" Internet forums were shut down.These deletions are presented as voluntary acts of corporate civic virtue, but have a coercive aspect to them,because no company would likely risk being singled out as a laggard.Having started its own ambitious Internet censorship efforts, or "harmful information defense system,"long before the latest government campaign,Shanghai Normal University,where Hu monitors her fellow students,is promoting itself within the education establishment as a pioneer".
As a post on Smartmobs recently pointed out:
"This IHT article says "to her fellow students,Hu Yingying appears to be a typical undergraduate,plain of dress, quick with a smile and perhaps possessed of a little extra spring in her step, but otherwise decidedly ordinary.And for Hu,in her second year at Shanghai Normal University,coming across as ordinary is just fine, given the parallel life she leads".Further,"part traffic cop, part informer,part discussion moderator,and all done without the knowledge of her fellow students,Hu is a small part of a huge effort in mainland China to sanitize the Internet.For years,China has had its Internet police,reportedly including as many as 50,000 state agents who are online,blocking Web sites,erasing commentary and arresting people for what is deemed anti-Party,or anti-social,speech.But Hu,one of 500 students at her university's newly bolstered,student-run Internet monitoring group,is a cog in a different kind of machine,an ostensibly voluntary one that the Chinese government is mobilizing to help it manage the monumental task of censoring the Web.In April,that effort was named "Let the Winds of a Civilized Internet Blow,"and is itself part of a broader "socialist morality" campaign started by the Chinese leadership to reinforce social and political control,known as the Eight Honors and Disgraces.Under the Civilized Internet initiative,service providers and other companies have been urged to purge their servers of offensive content,ranging from pornography to anything that smacks of overt political criticism or dissent.The Chinese authorities say that more than two million supposedly "unhealthy" images have already been deleted under this campaign by various mainland Internet service providers,and more than six hundred supposedly "unhealthy" Internet forums were shut down.These deletions are presented as voluntary acts of corporate civic virtue, but have a coercive aspect to them,because no company would likely risk being singled out as a laggard.Having started its own ambitious Internet censorship efforts, or "harmful information defense system,"long before the latest government campaign,Shanghai Normal University,where Hu monitors her fellow students,is promoting itself within the education establishment as a pioneer".
Crime levels in each street go on internet
A recent post on the Times Online titled 'Crime levels in each street go on internet' discusses how people will be able to check their local street crime as part of a new kind of digital neighbourhood watch:
"HOUSEHOLDERS will be able to go online and check crime levels in the streets around their homes using data issued yesterday.
Eventually an annual “Domesday Book” of crime across England and Wales will be available through the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics. Figures for recorded crime from 13 forces were issued in the first test of the plan.
The figures are based on a calculation known as “middle layer super output areas”, which represent groupings of about 7,000 inhabitants, worked out using postcodes, the census and police records."
"HOUSEHOLDERS will be able to go online and check crime levels in the streets around their homes using data issued yesterday.
Eventually an annual “Domesday Book” of crime across England and Wales will be available through the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics. Figures for recorded crime from 13 forces were issued in the first test of the plan.
The figures are based on a calculation known as “middle layer super output areas”, which represent groupings of about 7,000 inhabitants, worked out using postcodes, the census and police records."
Mobilities and materialities
Some very interesting papers have appeared in a new journal issue:
Environment and Planning 2006 NO 2
Theme issue: Mobilities and materialities
Guest editors: Mimi Sheller, John Urry
The new mobilities paradigm - Mimi Sheller, John Urry
Disaster in agriculture: or foot and mouth mobilities - John Law
Tending to mobility: intensities of staying at the petrol station - Daniel Normark
The impact of new transport technologies on intraurban mobility: a view from the past - Colin Pooley, Jean Turnbull, Mags Adams
Pioneering mobilities: new patterns of movement and motility in a mobile world - Sven Kesselring
Vision in motion - Monika Büscher
Aeromobility and work - Claus Lassen
Metabolisms of obecity: flows of fat through bodies, cities, and sewers - Simon Marvin, Will Medd
When there are no pagodas on Pagoda Street: language, mapping and navigating ambiguities in colonial Singapore - Yoke Sum Wong
Mobility/stability: British Asian cultures of 'landscape and Englishness' - Divya P Tolia-Kelly
Unpacking corporeal mobilities: the global voyages of labour and leisure - Nupur Gogia
'Watch us wander': mobile surveillance and the surveillance of mobility - Jennie Germann Molz
Mobility and war: the cosmic view of US 'air power' - Caren Kaplan
Environment and Planning 2006 NO 2
Theme issue: Mobilities and materialities
Guest editors: Mimi Sheller, John Urry
The new mobilities paradigm - Mimi Sheller, John Urry
Disaster in agriculture: or foot and mouth mobilities - John Law
Tending to mobility: intensities of staying at the petrol station - Daniel Normark
The impact of new transport technologies on intraurban mobility: a view from the past - Colin Pooley, Jean Turnbull, Mags Adams
Pioneering mobilities: new patterns of movement and motility in a mobile world - Sven Kesselring
Vision in motion - Monika Büscher
Aeromobility and work - Claus Lassen
Metabolisms of obecity: flows of fat through bodies, cities, and sewers - Simon Marvin, Will Medd
When there are no pagodas on Pagoda Street: language, mapping and navigating ambiguities in colonial Singapore - Yoke Sum Wong
Mobility/stability: British Asian cultures of 'landscape and Englishness' - Divya P Tolia-Kelly
Unpacking corporeal mobilities: the global voyages of labour and leisure - Nupur Gogia
'Watch us wander': mobile surveillance and the surveillance of mobility - Jennie Germann Molz
Mobility and war: the cosmic view of US 'air power' - Caren Kaplan
Monday, May 08, 2006
Microsoft's Plan to Map the World in Real Time
MIT Technology Review have one of the early reviews on the new Microsoft mapping software in their article 'Microsoft's Plan to Map the World in Real Time':
"Researchers at Microsoft are working on technology that they hope will someday enable people to browse online maps for up-to-the-minute information about local gas prices, traffic flows, restaurant wait times, and more. Eventually, says Suman Nath, a Microsoft researcher who works on the project, which is called SenseWeb, they would like to incorporate the technology into Windows Live Local (formerly Microsoft Virtual Earth), the company's online mapping platform.
By tracking real-life conditions, which are supplied directly by people or automated sensor equipment, and correlating that data with a searchable map, people could have a better idea of the activities going on in their local areas, says Nath, and make more informed decisions about, for instance, what driving route to take."
Mapping & Mobilities - the topology of future trends??
"Researchers at Microsoft are working on technology that they hope will someday enable people to browse online maps for up-to-the-minute information about local gas prices, traffic flows, restaurant wait times, and more. Eventually, says Suman Nath, a Microsoft researcher who works on the project, which is called SenseWeb, they would like to incorporate the technology into Windows Live Local (formerly Microsoft Virtual Earth), the company's online mapping platform.
By tracking real-life conditions, which are supplied directly by people or automated sensor equipment, and correlating that data with a searchable map, people could have a better idea of the activities going on in their local areas, says Nath, and make more informed decisions about, for instance, what driving route to take."
Mapping & Mobilities - the topology of future trends??
The RFID Hacking Underground
In this article titled 'The RFID Hacking Underground', the author looks at the uses and abuses of RFID. In particular, the way it can be used in daylight robbery!:
""I just need to bump into James and get my hand within a few inches of him," Westhues says. We're shivering in the early spring air outside the offices of Sandstorm, the Internet security company Van Bokkelen runs north of Boston. As Van Bokkelen approaches from the parking lot, Westhues brushes past him. A coil of copper wire flashes briefly in Westhues' palm, then disappears. ..
...RFID chips are everywhere - companies and labs use them as access keys, Prius owners use them to start their cars, and retail giants like Wal-Mart have deployed them as inventory tracking devices. Drug manufacturers like Pfizer rely on chips to track pharmaceuticals. The tags are also about to get a lot more personal: Next-gen US passports and credit cards will contain RFIDs, and the medical industry is exploring the use of implantable chips to manage patients. According to the RFID market analysis firm IDTechEx, the push for digital inventory tracking and personal ID systems will expand the current annual market for RFIDs from $2.7 billion to as much as $26 billion by 2016.
The tags work by broadcasting a few bits of information to specialized electronic readers. Most commercial RFID chips are passive emitters, which means they have no onboard battery: They send a signal only when a reader powers them with a squirt of electrons. Once juiced, these chips broadcast their signal indiscriminately within a certain range, usually a few inches to a few feet. Active emitter chips with internal power can send signals hundreds of feet; these are used in the automatic toll-paying devices (with names like FasTrak and E-ZPass) that sit on car dashboards, pinging tollgates as autos whiz through."
""I just need to bump into James and get my hand within a few inches of him," Westhues says. We're shivering in the early spring air outside the offices of Sandstorm, the Internet security company Van Bokkelen runs north of Boston. As Van Bokkelen approaches from the parking lot, Westhues brushes past him. A coil of copper wire flashes briefly in Westhues' palm, then disappears. ..
...RFID chips are everywhere - companies and labs use them as access keys, Prius owners use them to start their cars, and retail giants like Wal-Mart have deployed them as inventory tracking devices. Drug manufacturers like Pfizer rely on chips to track pharmaceuticals. The tags are also about to get a lot more personal: Next-gen US passports and credit cards will contain RFIDs, and the medical industry is exploring the use of implantable chips to manage patients. According to the RFID market analysis firm IDTechEx, the push for digital inventory tracking and personal ID systems will expand the current annual market for RFIDs from $2.7 billion to as much as $26 billion by 2016.
The tags work by broadcasting a few bits of information to specialized electronic readers. Most commercial RFID chips are passive emitters, which means they have no onboard battery: They send a signal only when a reader powers them with a squirt of electrons. Once juiced, these chips broadcast their signal indiscriminately within a certain range, usually a few inches to a few feet. Active emitter chips with internal power can send signals hundreds of feet; these are used in the automatic toll-paying devices (with names like FasTrak and E-ZPass) that sit on car dashboards, pinging tollgates as autos whiz through."
A TV series comes to the mobile
In an article in the Times Online today titled 'Now a TV series only on your mobile' it discusses the first reality series to come to mobile phones:
"THE demise of traditional broadcasting will move a step closer when the man behind Big Brother introduces the first British interactive reality series made exclusively for mobile phones.
Get Close To . . . , which begins on Friday, is a daily show starring and filmed by the pop group Sugababes. The five-week series will be available only to mobile phone users who pay 50p for each instalment.
The female trio will film a backstage video diary using their own phones, giving fans an insight into their lives as they join Robbie Williams on his world tour.
Fans will interact with the band, setting challenges that the group must complete and posting their own mobile-shot films in response to competitions set by the group. Fans will be invited to send films of dance routines that the Sugababes will incorporate into their stage act.
The series is the brainchild of Peter Bazalgette, the head of Endemol, the producer of Big Brother. A partnership between O2, Universal Music and Endemol, the series is seen as an experiment for the future delivery of music entertainment."
Since it will be filmed by the 'Sugarbabes' we don't have to be assured of its success! How sugary, urghh...
"THE demise of traditional broadcasting will move a step closer when the man behind Big Brother introduces the first British interactive reality series made exclusively for mobile phones.
Get Close To . . . , which begins on Friday, is a daily show starring and filmed by the pop group Sugababes. The five-week series will be available only to mobile phone users who pay 50p for each instalment.
The female trio will film a backstage video diary using their own phones, giving fans an insight into their lives as they join Robbie Williams on his world tour.
Fans will interact with the band, setting challenges that the group must complete and posting their own mobile-shot films in response to competitions set by the group. Fans will be invited to send films of dance routines that the Sugababes will incorporate into their stage act.
The series is the brainchild of Peter Bazalgette, the head of Endemol, the producer of Big Brother. A partnership between O2, Universal Music and Endemol, the series is seen as an experiment for the future delivery of music entertainment."
Since it will be filmed by the 'Sugarbabes' we don't have to be assured of its success! How sugary, urghh...
Blogging in China
According to a report in China View called 'Chinese bloggers to reach 100 million in 2007: report':
"China expects 100 million bloggers to be writing about their life, love, angst and inspirations on the country's cyberspace by 2007, according to a recent report.
The report, dubbed a "Blue Paper on Media Industry," was written by the research center of media management under Qinghua University, one of China's most prestigious universities.
The paper said there will be more than 60 million bloggers in China by the end of this year.
The word "blog" was one of the most searched words on the Internet in China last year, the report said. A survey by Baidu.com, a major Chinese search engine, shows that there are 36.82 million blog sites in China that are kept currently by 16 million people.
Zhang Xiaorong, strategy development director of "Bokee", one of the first blog service suppliers in China, said his company adds about 100,000 blogs a day.
"The expected 60 million bloggers would account for more than half of China's 110 million netizens," said Zhang."
China indeed is a blogging country - despite of (or because of?) the Great Firewall?
Thanks to Smartmobs for the link
"China expects 100 million bloggers to be writing about their life, love, angst and inspirations on the country's cyberspace by 2007, according to a recent report.
The report, dubbed a "Blue Paper on Media Industry," was written by the research center of media management under Qinghua University, one of China's most prestigious universities.
The paper said there will be more than 60 million bloggers in China by the end of this year.
The word "blog" was one of the most searched words on the Internet in China last year, the report said. A survey by Baidu.com, a major Chinese search engine, shows that there are 36.82 million blog sites in China that are kept currently by 16 million people.
Zhang Xiaorong, strategy development director of "Bokee", one of the first blog service suppliers in China, said his company adds about 100,000 blogs a day.
"The expected 60 million bloggers would account for more than half of China's 110 million netizens," said Zhang."
China indeed is a blogging country - despite of (or because of?) the Great Firewall?
Thanks to Smartmobs for the link
Thinglink
One of the creators of Thinglink - Jyri Engeström - is a PhD student at Lancaster University, as well as being involved in numerous well-received social software programs. The latest is 'Thinglink' which is basically a product code, but serves as the conduit of meaning between things and people rather than things and corporations.
Here is a post about the concept behind Thinglink:
A thinglink is a free unique identifier that anybody can use for making the finding and recommendation of particular things easier in the Internet.
A thinglink identifier is based on the idea that many of the things we use in our daily life are quite particular. Perhaps we know their origin (who has made them, when and how) and something about their history or previous use (like with furniture and cars). Some things have more meaning to us than others.
Sounds great Jyri!
Here is a post about the concept behind Thinglink:
A thinglink is a free unique identifier that anybody can use for making the finding and recommendation of particular things easier in the Internet.
A thinglink identifier is based on the idea that many of the things we use in our daily life are quite particular. Perhaps we know their origin (who has made them, when and how) and something about their history or previous use (like with furniture and cars). Some things have more meaning to us than others.
Sounds great Jyri!
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Robotic planes to track pollution
ZDNet has an interesting post on the development of robotic planes that will help to monitor and track pollution - part of the sensor-ing of the globe....?
"These days, drones are often associated with military surveillance missions. But autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) can also be used for more peaceful tasks, such as tracking pollution in South Asia. With funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Californian researchers have deployed teams of AUAVs near the Maldives, an island chain nation south of India. These drones act as teams, with three robotic planes flying behind, inside and above clouds simultaneously. Based on the success of this mission, it's possible that in five years, hundreds of lightweight AUAVs will be tracking pollution everywhere on Earth."
Read full post
"These days, drones are often associated with military surveillance missions. But autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) can also be used for more peaceful tasks, such as tracking pollution in South Asia. With funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Californian researchers have deployed teams of AUAVs near the Maldives, an island chain nation south of India. These drones act as teams, with three robotic planes flying behind, inside and above clouds simultaneously. Based on the success of this mission, it's possible that in five years, hundreds of lightweight AUAVs will be tracking pollution everywhere on Earth."
Read full post
Monday, May 01, 2006
Mapping the Planet
I've posted on mapping a few times now - with the previous post disucssing the 3D Second Life virtual world. With social networks, mash-ups, and environmental maps/sensors, there is a trend towards converging global information flows with visual representations.
In a post from Worldchanging:
"The new converging tools are bound to be powerful, transforming the ways we see and work in the physical world just as much as the mutate the ways we interact online.
They're also much needed. As global pressures mount, and we begin to have to take more seriously the work of managing the planet, being able to imagine the implications of both the challenges we face and the better futures we're working towards creating will prove vital."
This post refers to the Metaverse Roadmap Project - worth a look...
In a post from Worldchanging:
"The new converging tools are bound to be powerful, transforming the ways we see and work in the physical world just as much as the mutate the ways we interact online.
They're also much needed. As global pressures mount, and we begin to have to take more seriously the work of managing the planet, being able to imagine the implications of both the challenges we face and the better futures we're working towards creating will prove vital."
This post refers to the Metaverse Roadmap Project - worth a look...
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