Educasting from Ireland

Reading books by RSS

MOBDEX -- What if you could read JD Lasica's Darknet one chunk at a time through your RSS aggregator? This would resemble the way people read newly released books anyway. Russ Beattie is tweaking a "system where you could choose any one of the public domain eBooks out there and have a small chunk delivered daily via RSS," thinking he could attack a 500 page book by "distributing it, a few pages at a time, via RSS". It could mean reading a book while thumbing through your newsfeeds.

Podcasting Prime Time

DIGITAL-LIFESTYLES -- A lot of mainstream media sites have been producing quality audible feeds for years. To make things even easier for the masses, BBC Radio has spawned some of its radio shows into MP3s. This means you can download a program and listen to it while underway and out of range of a transmitter or well away from a computer. This effectively heralds the rebirth of local radio. It means having a personalcast in your backpack.

Top British Films

On a recent Channel 4 programme, the top 100 British box office films since 1927 were listed. A number of interesting facts arose from the outcome. The genre with the most number of films on the list was science fiction with 16 films. Next on the list with 12 films each, were war and animated films.

Copyright on the web

One of the most misunderstood issues online has to do with copyright, both with e-mail and web site copyright issues. Recently in our media studies class we discussed Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/worldwide/uk/ and how allowing your work to be reused and added to creates a society that learns from one another. The cc mark should not be mistaken for the © mark. Copyright is not just a word added at the bottom of a page, logo, picture or any other form but a legal document which is added on with the backing of the law. Visitors to web sites automatically download the page and all its contents which in a way can be viewed as copyright infringement. This is then added to by using park or all of the contents to your own work and putting it back on the web.

Making of Rip-off Nation

CLONMEL -- We plan to produce a short video that documents the frustration of students with the rising cost of living in Ireland. Deabhaile Shine and Imelda Morton will produce the piece. David O'Sullivan (researcher) works with writers Dave Whelan and Pat Lonergan. Sound is by Steffen Coonan and Mark Hickey. Video production by Ian Burke and Daniel Carroll. Still photography is Debbie Ryan.

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Zoom Quilt

CYPHIC -- The Zoom Quilt continues to impress me year after year because of the wonderful artisitic skills of those who made the work inside.

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The Storied Machine

RTE -- The Irish national Radio One broadcasted Glorianna Davenport's science lecture "The Storied Machine" and placed it online as well. Davenport's fascinating narrative fails to acknowledge that art itself is an interactive experience, with no mediation required by an electronic medium.

US Networks Ban Private Ryan

AP -- Several US affiliate television stations on the ABC network will not air "Saving Private Ryan" as part of their network's coverage of Veterans Day because they believe they will be sanctioned by the Federal Communications Commission. They draw their conclusions from the reaction Bono got when he said "Fuck" on live television. As anyone living in Ireland knows, you use the F-word to authenticate an experience. It's not as shocking as the C-word, which also attracts the ire of the FCC.

Sexiest McDonald Ad

McDONALDS -- Have a look at what could be the sexiest McDonald's advertisement ever. Clicking the image launches a 600kb Windows Media Video. The video, its backing track, hair effect, and yellow leather are sure to strike a lasting reaction with the lads who are cruising for a late-night takeaway option. Things have never looked better in McDonalds.

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Dissecting Foucault

CLONMEL -- We read about the concept of "authorship" in three successive years in the multimedia degree programme. By the third year, this means students come to grips with Foucault's essay on "What is an author?" Some of our guided discussions mean comprehending important points.