星期二, 8月 29, 2006

Are you serious about podcast?

The 2nd Annual Podcast & Portable Media Expo is the only industry event that brings together influential podcasters, media, corporate executives and device makers to cover the complete range of business, marketing and legal issues for audio & video podcasts and portable media.

Place and time-shifting technology is changing the business landscape of media. The Expo is also about the new trend of individuals participating as media companies and producing content at broadcast quality.

Date : 29 & 30 Sept.
City : Ontario, L.A. California

Check out their keynote and conference speakers, you will be amazed that it is indeed happenning, the change of face in personal media and bussiness communication.

星期三, 8月 23, 2006

研Blog歧視贏國際獎 (2006-08-08 05:05:00)

Original news :【明報專訊】陳太、葉太近日齊齊開 Blog(網誌),香港大學有一位學者也來湊熱鬧, click入熱爆網站「Xanga」後,不斷搜尋,終於發現原來全球正有 820人借廣告用Xanga的網誌平台辱罵黑人,內容充滿歧視、仇恨。這位來自港大商學院的年輕助理教授周昭瀧靈機一觸,將這個現象變成研究題目,論文更贏得國際殊榮,只是周博士對寫Blog提不起興趣。

年輕女孩愛在網誌傾訴心事﹔好動男孩在網誌內由打機至運動,天南地北無所不談。學者出身`29歲的周昭瀧最擅長寫文章,卻想不出網誌題材。「我其實也有一個Blog的,只用來跟學生討論功課。」

論文討論黑人被辱罵問題
在港大任教資訊系統 3年,周昭瀧上月拿他那份研究網誌的論文《從博客中尋找及分析仇恨團體》,參加在吉隆坡舉行的資訊界權威會議——第10屆亞太資訊系統會議,擊敗來自 25個國家的學者合共提交的 300篇論文,贏得「最佳論文」大獎。

他的論文題目令人看得一頭霧水﹕什麼是「仇恨團體」﹖「就是指對種族有歧視、仇恨團體。」周昭瀧集中研究網誌上歧視黑人的情,在 Xanga發現800多名美國和歐洲白人,有的無原無故以粗言穢語大 黑人﹔有的聲言﹕「今天回家途中在街上被黑人眼望望,忍不住打了那黑人幾拳。」有的更辱黑人「樣衰」、「低能」等。

「我細心檢查過,沒有香港人在那個網站 黑人。」周昭瀧指出,網誌引發的效應是﹕只要有一個人開始 聲,其他的侮辱言語便會接踵而來,Blog因而成為新一代的口誅筆伐平台, 人也毋須負上任何刑責。

年輕人易受 Blog內容影響

周昭瀧希望用論文揭出網誌的影響力﹕「年輕一輩很容易受Blog的內容影響,但究竟網上你一句、我一句說的有幾真實﹖」他指出,也有人在網誌上嘲笑黃種人的英語口音及文法,但侮辱程度不及 黑人的嚴重。

質疑網誌成具破壞力平台

觸發周昭瀧去年8月選擇網誌作為研究題材的,是他曾看到有恐怖分子利用網站,在全球招兵買馬鞏固勢
力的新聞,於是他想到﹕近日盛行的網誌,可會成為另一個具破壞力的平台?

「互聯網究竟拉近、還是扯遠了人與人之間的關係﹖」曾在美國留學4年的周昭瀧,明白種族之間的歧視難以消除。科技進步的同時,他寄望世人能緊記「尊重別人」這個基本價值的重要。

明報記者 盧曼思
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I totally agree with sidekick's Response :
Blogger Sidekick
Awarded essay 全 文 網 址 : http://www.hku.hk/eroesite/html/PACIS.pdf

DVD for teaching

DVD shop 101

Distributor or art org.:
* Olive Films- good place to find independent and film arts features. You can find lesser know directors but award winning film, esp. documtentary.
* Microcinema Internationaloriginal an arts group, very good responsive online shop. Selection from mainly US famed and popular labels, very little rarities or collectors items. They have education liscence on some titles.
* INDEX DVD- Austria label focus on experimental film, video art, mainly european artists. Pay via paypal- not really user friendly.
* Argos Belgium's very good distribution of artist video and film for screening and education. some good example for video and performance.
*Palm Pictures-famous for relating to MTV channel, selection is not totally for MTV generations.



Festival organisers :
* Onedotzero Festival DVD : yearly selection of short video, ad, motion graphics and MTV from UK.
* resfest Festival DVD : US yearly selection of short video, ad, motion graphics and MTV.

DVD magazine/ publisher for fans and industry workers'reference- good entertaining stuff, some of them are publishers too.
* Stash anmiation- selection of 3D and motion graphics animation
* Shift Factoryonline magazine store from Japan, a good source for Japan artists and designers
* You work for them- some selection from Japan artists, VJ, MTV and designers film.

New media art :
* ASPECT magazine- US west coast new media festival selection.Documentary on artists' sculptural and installation works. Useful commentary from well- known art critics and curators, good for teaching and self entertainment.

為Blogger.com加上分類功能

Blogger.com跟時下流行的BSP比較起來真的算是蠻簡陋,既不支援Trackback也沒有提供分類的功能,前者可以靠HaloScan解決,後者就必須靠使用者自己土法煉鋼了。早先我曾經試過將文章加入del.icio.us之後,再利用RSS Digest將del.icio.us的RSS轉成JavaScript,但後來發現RSS Digest的服務似乎跟Blogger.com不太相容,分類常無法正常顯示。之後發現Furl有提供輸出JavaScipt的功能之後,便改採Furl的解決方案,試用至今都還蠻順利的。

以下是詳細的步驟:(繼續閱讀......)

1. 先到Furl申請一個帳號,Furl免費提供服務,本質上Furl是一個相當優秀的網路書籤服務。
2. 帳號啟用完成之後,請選擇"My Tools" -> "Install Furl",你可以選擇將"Furl It"這一個Bookmarklet加入你的書籤或是我的最愛,也可以安裝"Fult Tools"到你的右鍵選單中。
3. 安裝完成後,回到你的Blog中將文章加入Furl中。最重要的步驟有二,首先是檢查網址是否為該篇文章的"靜態連結",第二是選擇Category,這將會作為將來分類的依據,在Furl中你可以單篇文章加入單數或複數分類中。
4. 將 文章加入完成之後,選擇"My Tools" -> "Add Furl to My Site",下方的"Customize Your Source Code"中,"Number of items"填入你希望將來顯示在Blog中的文章數目,"Include items from"則是選擇你希望顯示哪一個Category中的文章,基本上完成這兩項設定即可,當然你也可以利用"Advanced settings"做更進一步的設定。
5. 全選並複製程式碼之後,將這段程式碼貼到Blogger.com裡, Blogger.com此時會出現錯 誤訊息,不用在意,勾選" Stop showing errors for this post"即可。你可以將文章發表日期調回Blog剛建立的時間,達到"置底"的效果,避免這篇文章出現在Blog的首頁上面。

以上便是大概的步驟。這個方法最大的缺點是日後你需要手動將每一篇文章加入Furl中,不過在Blogger.com沒有提供解決方案前,大概也只能這樣土法煉鋼了......。

可以參考一下這篇文章的作法 :)
http://alicekey.blogspot.com/2005/03/blogger_12.html

星期日, 8月 20, 2006

An intelligent search engine on this blog


A new serach engine is born in Hong Kong that claimed itself to be more community directed. You can use my search engine build by swicki to search for new media art and other cultural experiments in technological world. Simply copy and paste link in your blog.
I am refining the search by using it or guiding it so you can also join.

星期六, 8月 19, 2006

Locating online resources for campus TV


There is a need for Campus TV teacher to serach teaching materials and examples for student. I reckon it would not be easy if you just search by keyword on any search engine.It will be time consuming and would not hit the right link for you. The smart way is to make use of some smart web 2.0 social tagging technology. Try this del.icio.us. It is now a yahoo free service that was originally developed by art people, or creative art people that know IT well. In this social bookmarking service, members contribute their bookmark publicly. Most of them will have very specific interest or POV bookmarking. So if you want education, you will be linked to many relevant but widely diverse bookmark. You can also check who is tagging the bookmark, how they comment on it and what are the other bookmark on the same tag, so if you find someone that has a tagging habit near you (i.e. looking at similar things), you can simply tag this person. You can search for what you need in the tag search but also from people search and their link. You can check how popular a tag is which means this serves as an index to how useful it is. I can open a collective account (give out password to all) so that we can share it in class. Or open your own and send us your account name so that I can link them up. Check out who is tagging http://www.ubu.com/, you will find interesting people and link. from this bookmarking.

星期三, 8月 09, 2006

ISEA Day 2

Well, day 1 is exciting, too exciting to list down the thing. Picture speaks a thousand words. The black mark is I left the signal processing workshop very early on. Sonia took all of us to a sound walk and back for some DIY microphone making. I think attending other engagement is important. During the sound walk, I know that I am sorry that I did not chose wet lab. See we-make-money-not-art to know more.
I am also going to the Pacific Rim New Media Summit. More friends and unidentified persons, RAQs media collective is doing a english literature to mythsified the Pacific Rim, geography, history, network technology, at the end they summarize by suggesting Pacific Rim becomes a submarine "isolation like the container, inability to distinguish outside and inside" Very different to the other but also avoiding conflicts and direct confrontation to issues.
I will be going to HK show next.

星期日, 8月 06, 2006

Direct from San Jose - Zero One San Jose


Zero One San Jose and ISEA (International Symposium on Electronic Arts) will be held today till 13- Aug 7 days of interconnectivity. Up to 2000 attendees are expected to participate in the ISEA2006 and 70,000 members of the general public to attend a public lecture, exhibition, performance, concert or otherwise participate in the festival. Commentary Photos
Programs that I am going to but a lot are clashed :

6 Aug : LEA (Leonardo Electronic Almanac, a MIT journal )cocktail party

7 Aug : Container Culture show opens- HK's Annie Wan add oil!!
Signal Process workshop- soundscape and more
Ryojii Ikeda- a Concert and a film, a minimalist data mine

8 Aug : Pacific Rim New Media Summit (clash again)
Interactive Film Workshop- San Jose Remix

9 Aug : ISEA 2006 - long awaiting hardwork research by Mirjam Struppek
From Crisis to Bliss Workshop by UK Crumb
Artist presentation -including Peter d'Agostino, Jill Scott (clash again again)
Bill Viola Lecture- about his new work on game
Night Culture- sonic play

10 Aug : Dance and New Technology workshop- Dissecting "Isodora" the software every performer is talking about
Tech Museum- Artist presentations - renowned artists like George Legardy, Randell Packer
Latest award winning film from Morten Schjodt

11 Aug : ISEA 2006 -Pacific Rim New Media Summit. I hope Hung Keong is the Hung Keung that HK knows.
Lynn Hershman's critical documentary based on Critical Art Ensemblem member, Steve Kurtz who was charged by FBI as bio-terrorist. With cast like Tilda Swinton, Peter Coyote, and original score by the Residents!!
The Builders Association +dbox = performance+ technologies+ architecture
Survival Rescue Lab- secret explosive performance/happening

12 Aug : ISEA- Community Domain- hosted by my friend, Alice Jim. She must have freak out for this.

Torika Ranch's 16 [R]evolution= Dance/ theatre/ media

I will miss Mike Figgis 4 projections film on Hollywood lesbian. Michael Lew's Junkyard (who want the ticket? email me), Wetware and other interesting workshops...

I won't want to miss - Shu Lea Cheang 2005 work and other art exhibits at City Hall Rotonda

then fly back to HK right from the spot.

The World's Worst Internet Laws Sneaking Through the US Senate

[Update: The Cybercrime Treaty was ratified by the Senatelate on 3rd Aug. The U.S. will now have to comply to requests for assistance from fifteen countries, and growing.]

The Convention on Cybercrime is a sweeping treaty that has been waiting in the wings of the Senate for nearly three years. Now the administration is putting pressure on the Senate to ratify it in the next two days. If it does, it would mean the U.S. would enforce not just our own, but the rest of the world's bad Net laws. Call your Senator now, and ask them to hold its ratification.

The treaty requires that the U.S. government help enforce other countries' "cybercrime" laws - even if the act being prosecuted is not illegal in the United States. That means that countries that have laws limiting free speech on the Net could oblige the F.B.I. to uncover the identities of anonymous U.S. critics, or monitor their communications on behalf of foreign governments. American ISPs would be obliged to obey other jurisdiction's requests to log their users’ behavior without due process, or compensation.

The treaty came into force last year on the international front, but not in the US, where it needs to be ratified by Congress first. So far, ratification has been blocked thanks to a "hold" placed by conservative lawmakers. But Republican senators this week are now being heavily pressured by the administration to drop their objections, and let it fly.

Ratifying the Cybercrime treaty would introduce not just one bad Internet law into America's lawbooks, but invite the enforcement of all the world's worst Internet laws. Call your senators now, and tell them to hold this invasive treaty at bay.

Two Moon

Isn't it romantic. Here comes Mars.

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August.
It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will culminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth.

Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am.

It will look like the earth has 2 moons.

The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.