Category: media

Video Games, Schmideo Games

“Apologists for computer games always trot out the argument that it helps to develop amazing hand-eye co-ordination. This may be so and great if you are a brain surgeon, but my suspicion is that the average gamer will use his hard-won skill to text his mates while smoking and driving in the fast lane.”

Full Speed Ahead For Microsoft’s Live Book Search

“Microsoft’s strategic shift into Google territory took another step forward today with the announcement that the software giant has signed a digitisation agreement with a digital scanning specialist, Kirtas Technologies. The deal … will enable Microsoft to forge ahead with its Live Book Search portal…. Its Live Book Search portal, to be launched early next year, will make available two strands of material: out-of-copyright scholarly material from educational establishments, and in-copyright books that are sent to Microsoft by publishers or authors and which are scanned by the company free of charge.”

TV: Where U.S. Cultural Diplomacy Stands A Chance

“In the parliaments and pubs of Europe, the United States may wallow in least-favored-nation status. But on European television, American shows have been enjoying a popularity not seen since the 1980’s heyday of ‘Dallas,’ ‘Dynasty’ and ‘The Dukes of Hazzard.’ … Nick Thorogood, controller of Five US,” a new television channel devoted to American programming, “said British viewers set aside any anti-American sentiments when they settle down on the sofa. ‘We are seeing bright, intelligent and beautifully made drama coming out of America,’ he said. ‘In the U.K., many people abhor the politics of the U.S. but eagerly embrace the culture.’ “

Hollywood’s Latino Problem

“Although major studios are eager to court Latinos — a group that sees more English-language movies than any other ethnic or racial group — they have been hard-pressed to find Latino executives who can spearhead their efforts. An equally rare commodity: screenwriters, directors and producers who are successful at pitching movies about Latinos.”

XM – Back To Top 40

XM satellite radio recreates the old-style Top 40 format. “Weaving together tape-recorded snippets found in listeners’ attics, on eBay or in the possession of the nation’s obsessive subculture of radio-jingle collectors, Young captures the sound and spirit of the AM stations that once dominated American popular culture as hardly any phenomenon has in the four decades since.”

The Virtual Star

New software tranfers the expressions of an actor’s performance into a computer-generated avatar. “The Image Metrics software lets a computer map an actor’s performance onto any character virtual or human, living or dead.” Will this mean the end of live faces on our movie screens?

Are Movie Studios Being Squeezed Out?

Movie investors are increasingly bypassing Hollywood studios and dealing directly with producers. “The reason is a simple desire for more control. Wall Street financiers want a greater say over what movies they finance and who makes them; producers want more artistic independence and a larger share of the profits. The studios themselves are nudging the trend along, too, since they are making fewer movies.”