New blog for the media

This looks like a great idea. The PBS people have started up a shiny new blog dedicated solely to the creation of a new kind of media, in particular, news media. MediaShift Idea Lab exists to generate ideas regarding the best ways to pursue the most innovative and creative use for new media. Often experienced individuals in the media community are reluctant, if not sometimes downright refusing, to embrace newer kinds of content creation, so it's reassuring that the established PBS conglomerate is willing to help underscore the rise of new media.
"MediaShift Idea Lab is a group weblog by innovators who are reinventing community news for the Digital Age. Each author won a grant in the Knight News Challenge to help fund a start up idea or to blog on a topic related to reshaping community news. The authors will use Idea Lab to explain their projects, share intelligence and interact with the new-media community online," the blog's About page reads.
That's not to say that the old guys don't have a point... the saying goes you get what you pay for, and if journalists are giving it away for free... perhaps the fee scale will push them into extinction. At least that's what the Newsosaur says.
Let the games begin.

Just for fun...

Oh yeah, the folks over at Fail Blog have been poking fun at the media for awhile now on their Probably Bad News blog. At some point, we all make mistakes, but hopefully not like these.
At least there's a blog out there to laugh at and  poke fun at other "failures in communication" and at the very least to help you know what to watch for when you get out there professionally. But, you can always blame it on deadlines. :)

Media Usage vs. Academics?

This is a bit of a pet topic of mine. I for one, happen to love all things electronic. I love to read and the internet is the perfect fix for an information junkie, and especially for people who are interested in participating in the online media community at large. On the other hand, there are new studies showing the repercussions of spending too much time in front of screens--televisions, computers, iPads and iPods--as our culture becomes increasingly passive about its consumption of electronic media. Despite my affection for being connected to the electronic umbilical cord, I also had the pleasure of growning up in the state of Idaho. Most of my free time was spent outdoors, in fields, playgrounds, parks, forests and occasionally on tree limbs. Reading Richard Louv's book made me realize that there is a generation of kids growing up in a completely new way--sans mother nature. It may be of interest to Mass Comm students that a lack of time outdoors has a direct impact on their academic performance. There are a number of studies being conducted in this particular vein, and it is something to be aware of when you elect to become a part of the media culture. We love the net, the news and the feeling of connection, but there may be a cost. One of the best articles on the subject can be found at this nifty blog post.

Happy debating...

TV watching and life span

A new research conducted in Australia found a strong connection between TV watching hours and death from cardiovascular disease, according to LA time report.

People who watched more than four hours a day showed an 80% greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 46% higher risk of all causes of death compared with those who watched fewer than two hours a day

The lead researcher of the study, Dr. David Dunstan said "What we showed was that irrespective of a person's exercise level, sitting for four or more hours watching television was linked to a significant increase in risk of death compared to watching lower amounts of TV."

Try to find how they found the causal relationship between TV hours and the increase in risk of death.

It is kind of scary to realize that TV would kill us eventually.

What do you think of this result?

Internet-Addicted Teens Face Higher Depression Risk

via Harvard Business Review "The Daily Stat"

The risk of becoming depressed is 2.5 times higher for teenagers who are addicted to internet use than for those who aren't, according to a study led by Lawrence T. Lam of the School of Medicine, Sydney, in Australia. Some 6.2% of the participants — Chinese teens aged 13 to 18 — were found to be "pathological" internet users, says a report in Bloomberg Businessweek.

So, anyone here "addicted" to the internet? The article seems to be focused on the effects on teens, so should teens be restricted from the internet like the restrictions on alcohol and tobacco?

A lot of the videos and articles on internet addiction use the same language and buzz words as discussions about other addictions. I am on the internet all the time, but I don't go through withdrawals if I miss my email, etc. for a couple days. I also don't get a "high" from getting on the internet again, like so many mention in their English papers and video assignments.

Here's a video about internet addiction in China. Do they have a more noticed problem because of their population, or is it because they're "not us" over here but they're "over there", so they're safe to talk about?

Future of Screen Technology

Pretty cool tech.

Via The Astonishing Tribe -

Capacitive screens has now become a commodity for touch screen devices. Screen technology is now taking the next leap and the coming years imagination is the only thing stopping us. We will soon have dual screens, malleable screens, screens built into wifi connected mirrors, desks or backside of gadgets clothed with e-ink screens, tactile feedback, color screens with great contrast in sunlight, holographics/stereoscopic screens, color e-ink touch screens, or screens actually knowing where they are in relation to other screens thanks to ultrasonic emitters and microphones.
We want to show some of these things in an "experience video", that shows a normal day in a couple of years when all these technologies are affordable enough to be used everywhere. This video is the result of our experiment with open innovation, read more about our experiment here. Big thanks to all the people from TAT and around the world who helped out and sometimes shared their ideas and sometimes gave us homework on our own ideas.

How we view information is constantly changing.
Even our current technology is modified to change the way we view media. The Syte Shirt is a shirt with a see-through pocket for your iPad.

Then if the iPad isn't your thing, there's the WeTab. Applications have support for native, Java, Linux, Adobe Flash, Adobe AIR® and Android Apps. You can actually use an SD card for extended memory.
The options are never ending!

Real ID requirement in the digital age?

Do you know that you have to show your real ID to purchase mobile phones in China. The government made the regulation last week, Sept. 1, applying to everyone in China, including foreigners on even short visits.

The regulation was "the latest campaign by the government to curb the global scourge of spam, pornographic messages and fraud on cellular phones,"

But many people are concerned about the greater potentials that the government would use the new regulation to monitor citizens and to control the new communication technology.

Such a real ID policy was initiated in South Korea in 2007. The Korean government designed the real-name system on the Internet to prevent cyber crimes such as libel and privacy infringement. According to the Law on Internet Address Management, online users are required to provide their personal information such as real names and resident registration numbers (like SSN in the US) when they try to post comments or upload any content. Since then, there have been hot debates over freedom of expression on cyberspace.

In April 2009, Korean government required Google's Korea unit to comply to the real-name system. However, the Google refused to do so in the a statement titled "Freedom of Expression on the Internet":

Google thinks the freedom of expression is most important value to uphold on the internet. We concluded in the end that it is impossible to provide benefits to internet users while observing this country’s law because the law does not fall in line with Google’s principles.

If you have to reveal your real identity to upload a video on youbute.com or put a comment on nytimes,com, would you like to do so?