Saturday 21 February 2009

Digital Media News December 2008-January 2009

January 2009


Internet:
A personal account of a marriage collapsing after one partner’s relationships on Facebook (31st Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/31/facebook-sex-divorce


Internet:
An article about the success of Lauren Luke on Youtube, a single mother from Tyneside whose video make-up tips have been watched more than 31m times (31st Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/30/lauren-luke-youtube-makeup


Digital Britain:
Lord Carter publishes his interim Digital Britain report (30th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/30/digital-britain-report-stephen-carter


Satellite Imagery:
An article on the positive uses of satellite imagery, such as disaster relief (29th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/28/satellite-photography-privacy


Computing:
Google plans to make PCs history – launching a service that would enable a user to access their personal computing from any internet connection. The ‘GDrive’ would store the user’s personal files and operating system on Google’s own servers. Privacy campaigners are obviously warning of the loss of control of user data and wider security issues (25th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/25/google-drive-gdrive-internet


Archives:
The head of the British Library warns of a ‘black hole’ of lost digital material unless urgent action is taken to preserve websites and other digital records (25th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/25/preserving-digital-archive


Ecommerce:
The European Commission is investigating complaints about the tax advantages enjoyed by many leading online CD and DVD retailers in the UK who use a tax-dodge operating through the Channel islands (24th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/24/business-off-shore-tax


Economics:
Both Samsung and Sony report losses (23rd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/23/samsung-first-quarterly-loss


Internet:
A woman is murdered by her estranged husband after she changes her marital status on her Facebook profile to ‘single’ (23rd Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/7845946.stm


Internet:
The Pope launches his own Youtube channel (23rd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/23/pope-youtube-channel A few days earlier newspapers report one convent in Spain has overcome its recruitment crisis by advertising on Youtube (17th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/16/nuns-turn-to-youtube-for-recruits


Television:
An article on the attempt to develop 3-D television (22nd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/22/3d-television


Music:
A survey of the state of the digital music market, discussing the success of streamed, cloud-based listening sites (22nd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/22/digitalmusic-drm


Cyborg Technology:
A student tells how he took minutes to adapt to his new i-Limb prosthetic hand (19th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/19/bionic-hand-amputation-accident


‘Internet Generation’:
Children are spending increasing amounts of their lives in front of televisions, computers and game consoles, according to new research (19th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/19/internet-generation-parents


Music:
According to a new IFPI report 95% of internet music downloads are illegal (17th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jan/17/music-piracy


Internet:
Police in Oakland, California arrest an ex-police officer over the killing of an unarmed man on New year’s Day. Videos taken by train passengers and uploaded onto Youtube showed the man sitting calmly on the platform shortly before a scuffle that saw him held down and shot in the back. The police officer refused to speak to investigators and resigned (15th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/15/usa-youtube


Internet:
An Oxford scientists has harnessed the power of the net in a ‘citizen science’ project in which the public helps to classify photographs of 1m galaxies (15th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/15/internet-astronomy


Internet:
Google extend their Google Earth imagery with access to high-definition scanned images from the Prado museum (14th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jan/14/museums-internet-google-earth-prado


Surveillance:
The Director of Public Prosecutions says Government plans for a ‘superdatabase’ tracking all phone and internet communications are ‘legitimate’ (10th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/09/dpp-keir-starmer-superdatabase


Music:
Apple drops DRM protection from its iTunes stores, so songs bought from the store will no longer be tied to ipods and users will be able to transfer their songs freely (7th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/06/apple-drops-itunes-copy-protection


Censorship:
China launches a crackdown on ‘vulgar’ websites (6th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/06/china-internet-censorship


Technology:
An article on the possible development of ‘wireless power’, broadcasting electricity through the air to power laptops etc. (4th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/04/wireless-power-technology-witricity


Mobile Phones:
An article about how Africa’s farmers are using mobile phones to help them find the best price for their crops (4th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/jan/04/katine-uganda-africa-mobile-phones


Internet:
The president of Guyana condemns a fake Facebook profile of himself (2nd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/02/facebook-guyana-president-bharrat-jagdeo


December 2008


Video Games:
How a new generation of video games is being influenced by the success of social networking (29th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/29/social-networking-games-playfish-facebook


Advertising:
Online video technology form Blinkx has developed an integrated advertising system it hopes will generate revenues from he use of video online (29th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/29/blinkx-internet-video-advertising


Mobile Phones:
Thousands of British jobs in the mobile phone industry are expected to be lost as the networks look to cut costs in the face of fierce competition and the worsening economic condition (27th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/27/vodafonegroup-mobile-phones


Newspapers:
The internet overtakes newspapers for the first time as the major source of news in the US, according to a new survey (27th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/27/us-media-internet-newspapers-television


Internet/Music:
Warner Music Group falls out with Youtube over royalties and says it will pull hundreds of thousands of videos from the service after the renegotiation of a content-sharing deal fails (22nd Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/dec/22/warner-music-youtube


Internet:
A Chinese man bullied online for infidelity after his wife’s suicide has won the country’s first case against internet bullying (20th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/15/facebook-transplant-donor-campaign


Internet:
Online shopping surges in the run up to Christmas as department store sales slump to a record low (19th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/19/christmas-shopping-internet-retail


Television:
Sky unveils plans to launch a 3-D TV service within two years (19th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/19/sky-3d-television


Internet:
Internet and phone traffic between Europe, Asia and the Middle east are disrupted after a severed cable 130km off Sicily (19th Dec): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7792688.stm


Interfaces:
An article on attempts to integrate the 3D spaces of virtual worlds into the web for a seamless experience (18th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/3d-web


Privacy:
Yahoo announces it will cut the length of time it retains information about what its users are doing online from 13 months to 90 days before anonymising the data (18th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/18/yahoo-google-privacy-user-information


Internet:
A court in Australia has approved the use of Facebook as a means of notifying a couple they have lost their hoe after defaulting on a loan (17th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/17/facebook-australia-court-loan-default


Mobile Phones:
North Korea launches a restricted mobile phone service – an unusual move in a country where state controls of communication are so strong (16th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/18/yahoo-google-privacy-user-information


Internet:Facebook users are coming to the aid of children who need life-saving transplants (15th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/15/facebook-transplant-donor-campaign


Internet:Virgin unveils its new super-fast (50 Megabits per second) broadband service (15th Dec): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7776139.stm


BBC:
The BBC reveals its controversial plans to share online and digital content (12th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/12/bbc-internet-digital-technology


Virtual Worlds:
A Virtual world for Muslims launches (9th Dec): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7768601.stm See also (11th Dec) http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/11/muxlim-virtual-world-mmorpg


Censorship:
Britain blocks pages on Wikipedia showing an album sleeve by The Scorpions which shows a naked young girl (9th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/09/wikipedia-censorship-scorpions-sleeve


Newspapers:
The US Tribune Company, a ‘media powerhouse’ and owners of titles such as the LA Times and Chicago tribune moves to file for bankruptcy in the latest blow to the US newspaper industry (9th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/09/tribune-company-chicago-media-bankruptcy


Law:
A student who created a Facebook group critical of a teacher sues the school for violation of her free speech rights (9th Dec): http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/us-student-inte.html


Music:
Leona Lewis has the fastest-selling digital track ever with her cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’ (8th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/dec/08/leona-lewis-run


Economics:
An article on how the UHF network that carries analogue national TV will be sold off with the digital switchover and how this will usher in a new generation of super-fast broadband and high-definition TV (7th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/07/uhf-network-television-switchover-digital


Social Networking:
An article on Facebook groups (5th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/05/facebook-groups-social-networking


Surveillance:
The fingerprints and DNA samples of over 857 000 innocent people now have to be wiped from police records after a legal ruling (5th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/05/dna-database-civilliberties


Surveillance:
New requirements that Chinese internet cafes install Chinese-developed operating systems raise new concerns over cyber-snooping (4th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/04/china-privacy-cyber-snooping


Television:
Ambitious plans for ‘Project Kangaroo’, an online video-on-demand service bringing together 10 000 hours of shows from BBC, ITV and C4 suffer a negative report from the Competition Commission which rules that it would reduce competition in the UK (4th Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/04/kangaroo-project-competition-commission-report


Future:
Transhumanism’s dreams of downloading into robot prostheses might be a step nearer… scientists create the illusion of out-of-body experiences, showing that it is easy to trick people into thinking they are inside another body (3rd Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/03/phantom-limb-pain-brain-science


Economics:
The Royal Mail’s letter’s business is being hit by competition from electronic alternatives such as email and messaging (1st Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/01/royal-mail-email-internet