July-August Digital Media News

August 2008


Music:
An article on some of the forgotten pioneers of electronic music (29th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/29/electronicmusic See also (20th Sept): http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/sep/20/bbc.doctorwho


Internet:
In an interesting example of cross-media fertilisation and old-new media relationships, the creator of West Wing is planning a film about Facebook (29th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/aug/29/facebook


Internet:
Photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls will now go online in a five year project (28th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/28/archaeology.israelandthepalestinians


Advertising:
Online advertising is predicted to grow again this year to overtake radio as the 3rd largest market (behind TV and newspapers/magazines) (28th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/28/advertising.mediabusiness


Security:
An article about Captcha – Completely Automated Public Turing Tests – those squiggly numbers and letters you have to type to prove you are human rather than an automated machine. Experts now say that they have been broken by spammers (28th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/28/internet.captcha


Music:
A new website will offer music fans the chance to invest in artists in £10 increments up to a pre-ordained level when it will fund the recording of an album. Investors will then get a copy of the album and a percentage of profits plus other perks (27th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/27/musicindustry.investing


Censorship:
A Turkish court lifts the ban on Youtube imposed since May after videos were posted deemed insulting to the modern state’s founder (26th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/26/turkey.youtube


Censorship/Control:
iTunes users in China are blocked from downloading music after an album calling for greater rights for Tibetans was placed on the site (22nd Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/22/olympicsandthemedia.apple


Future Technology:
An article about the idea of intelligent swarms of autonomous robots for military information gathering and reconnaissance (21st Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/21/robots.researchanddevelopment


Internet:
An article about changes to Ebay’s business model (20th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/20/ebay.efinance See also (10th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/10/ebay.efinance


Video-Games/Crime:
A British woman is ordered to pay a US games company £16000 after illegally sharing its files over the internet (19th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/19/piracy.games


Mobile Phones:
Vodafone raises its charges in an attempt to claw back revenues lost through increased regulation (19th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/19/vodafonegroup.telecoms


Internet:
An article on a new cable linking east Africa to the net (18th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/18/east.africa.internet


Internet:
An article on Google (17th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/17/googlethemedia.google


Economics:
Google ‘pipped’ by Apple, as their market-share overtakes their hi-tech rival’s, a success attributed in part to the new iPhone (15th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/15/apple.apple


Television:
A story about fundamental changes in television viewing in the digital, post-broadcasting ecology (14th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/14/ofcom.digitaltvradio


Crime:
Blogs are increasingly a target for site hackers (14th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/14/blogging.hacking


Privacy:
Local councils, health authorities and hundreds of other public bodies are to be given the power to access details of everyone’s personal texts, emails and internet use under Home Office proposals (13th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/13/privacy.civilliberties


Mobile Phones:
A poolside row between two of Britain’s Olympic swimmers affected their final performance and prevented them winning a medal. The row was because one of the two divers took exception to the other receiving a mobile phone call from their mother as they were preparing for their sixth dive (12th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/12/olympics2008.tomdaley


Mobile Phones:
Watchdog urges mobile companies to improve their age filtering for phone content (12th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/12/telecoms.internetphonesbroadband


Mobile Phones:
3’s sale of over 100 000 Skype phones highlights the growing attraction of free internet-based telephony, but there are problems here for the economics of the industry (11th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/11/telecoms.telecoms


Mobile Phones:
Ikea launches a ready-made mobile phone service through T-Mobile (9th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/09/internetphonesbroadband.consumeraffairs See also (4th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/04/telecoms.ikea


Old Media:
ITV down £1.5bn as falling advertising revenue begins to bite. The problems of old media with changes in advertising placement (7th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/07/itv.advertising


Internet:
On life after death – user profiles of dead people on social networking sites (7th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/07/socialnetworking.myspace


Crime:
A Spanish hacker is jailed for two years for sending out the private emails of their ex-manager (6th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/06/hacking.email


Video Games:
Sales of Grand Theft Auto are halted in Thailand after a teenager allegedly killed a taxi driver to re-enact scenes from the video game, to find out if robbery was as easy as it was depicted (5th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/05/games.thailand


Internet:
Coverage of the Facebook-organised water fight ‘splash-mob’ at Kensington Gardens that ended with violence and arrests (4th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/aug/04/facebook.socialnetworking The Daily Mail has a picture of the violence: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1040056/Pictured-The-moment-man-punched-girl-feet-Facebook-water-fight.html


Networks:
Proof that there are 6.6 degrees of separation between people (3rd Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/03/internet.email

Internet
British broadband suppliers are hit by the housing crisis and falling demand (1st Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/01/internetphonesbroadband.internet



July 2008


Future Technology:
An article on mechanical creatures and our relationships with them (31st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/robots.artificialintelligence


Privacy:
Google’s ‘street view’ service cameras can be used in the UK after a privacy watchdog said it had no complaints about the service (31st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/google.civilliberties


Internet:
UK MPs tell internet firms to police the ‘dark side’ of the web (31st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/internet.youtube


Crime:
British hacker who broke into the Pentagon loses their battle against extradition to the US (31st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/hacking.hitechcrime plus their appeal a month later (28th Aug): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/28/hacking.security


Internet:
The government has set a target to cut film and music filesharing by 80% by 2011 (25th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/25/downloads.digitalmedia


Internet:
A man is ordered to pay £22000 in damages after setting up a fake Facebook profile to spread lies about an ex-friend (25th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/25/law.facebook


Mobile Phones:
A leading cancer expert tells his staff to limit their mobile phone use (25th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/25/mobilephones.health


Interfaces:
An article on the rise of the touch-screen and its limits (24th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/24/news.computing


Music:
Sky sets up rival to iTunes with a deal with Universal music for a new subscription music service (23rd July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/23/bskyb.musicindustry


Internet:
A wife’s rant on Youtube about her husband that attracted 4m viewers was used by him in his divorce claim. The judge agreed with his claims of ‘spousal abuse’ (23rd July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/23/usa.youtube


Video:
A human rights-group praises video as a new weapon against the Israeli army after footage of a soldier firing baton rounds at a blindfolded and cuffed Palestinian detainee emerged (22nd July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/22/israelandthepalestinians.humanrights


Music:
A story about how the music industry is adapting to the new digital times (21st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/21/marketingandpr.mediabusiness


Privacy/Surveillance:
A secret study in Bath tracks tens of thousands of people without their consent using scanners to capture Bluetooth radio signals from phones, laptops and cameras (21st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/civilliberties.privacy


Internet:
A story about the hit website 4chan and its comedy viral ‘memes’ (20th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/20/internet.google


Pathologies:
Hi-tech is turning us all into distracted time-wasters psychologists warn (20th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/20/psychology.mobilephones


Internet/Ecommerce:
A story about how HMV is able to offer cheaper products online due to its use of Jersey to avoid the 17.5% British VAT and how it is installing kiosks in its physical stores for customers to order online in-store (19th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/19/hmvgroupbusiness.retail


Mobile Phones:
The European Commission threatens enforcement action against hundreds of European websites conning young people into taking out expensive mobile phone contracts (18th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/18/telecoms.eu


Security:
A computer technician is charged with launching a cyber-coup against the city of San Francisco (18th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/18/hitechcrime.internet


Internet/Ecommerce:
Online sales are booming as consumers switch from traditional shops (18th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/18/retail.internet


Video Games:
A changing economic climate means that more video games are being cancelled due to development costs (17th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/17/it.games


Crime:
A teenage hacker in New Zealand who pleaded guilty to hacking into computers around the world and accused of stealing millions of pounds has been discharged without a conviction (16th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/16/hacking.security


Privacy/Surveillance:
The UK information commissioner warns about a Home Office project to create a ‘super-database’ tracking all phone, email, text and internet usage (16th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/16/telecoms.privacy


Internet:
BT aims for faster broadband and higher margins with a new £1.5bn fibre-optic network (16th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/16/bt.digitalmedia


Mobile Phones:
The EC puts forward proposals to cut the cost of ‘roaming’ texts by 66% (16th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/16/mobilephones.telecoms


Internet:
A story about the hit Youtube amateur instruction videos (14th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/14/digitalmedia.youtube


Internet:
Bloggers spot that Iranian photos of a missile launch have been photoshopped to add a missile that failed to launch (11th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/11/iran.israelandthepalestinians


Security:
An internet flaw leads to the biggest security fix in web history (10th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/10/hacking.internet


Control:
An agreement about intellectual property rights to be ratified by the G8 heads highlights conflicts between ownership and privacy (10th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/10/intellectualproperty.law


Social Networking:
A soldier who bragged on Facebook that he’d served with the SAS and killed over 100 people has resigned from the army after being exposed as a fantasist by genuine soldiers (9th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/09/military.facebook


Economics:
The Microsoft-Yahoo takeover continues as Microsoft says it will talk to yahoo if it replaces its board (8th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/08/microsoft.yahoo


Mobile Phones:
O2 and T-Mobile double the minimum connection charge for many prepay customers following Vodaphone’s similar rise last month. Coinciding with plans by the EC to cut the cost of connection charges, networks are trying to claw back lost revenue (5th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/05/telecoms.mobilephones


Internet:
Google is asked to hand over the personal details of every person who has ever watched a video on Youtube to Viacom. Civil liberties groups are unhappy at the court ruling (4th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/04/youtube.google


Economics/Mobile Phones:
Vodaphone buys a 70% stake in Ghana Telecommunications for £452m (3rd July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/03/vodafonegroup
(see also 4th July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/04/vodafonegroup.telecoms


Future Technology:
A critique of claims that the internet’s processing power might rival that of the human brain (3rd July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/03/internet.processor.brain


Television:
Ambitious plans by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 for project ‘Kangaroo’, an online video service offering more than 10 000 hours of classic TV shows, are hit by a decision to refer them to the Competition Commission (1st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/01/televisionindustry


Internet/Crime:
Ebay ordered by a French court to pay a 38.6m Euro fine in damages to the luxury goods group LVMH for allowing the sale of fake goods (1st July): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/01/ebay.hitechcrime

Future Technology:
A story about how robots – intelligent armed vehicles using GPS, laser and heat-recognition technology – are close to being deployed (25th June): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/26/robots.weaponstechnology