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  1. Parental Guidance advised

    December 27, 2008 · 4 Comments As per the UK Government's somewhat bizarre suggestion that websites could be given ratings for content, I thought I'd pre-empt the idea. Seriously, how can this even work? The minister seems to think that he can implement this through negotiation with the incoming US Administration? Hmm! So, anyway, I'm awarding my s... [Source: http://andypiper.wordpress.com]

    Added Dec 28, 2008. Blog this Email this

    Comments-show 6 comments in conversation. Last comment found 11 hours ago.

    Last 5 comments:

    1. andrewferrier // December 28, 2008 at 12:19

      I tend to agree that it can't work; there's plenty of English content (and content where the language doesn't matter - you know what I mean out there in nations that are going to flaunt this law mercilessly.

      Of course, the next step is for someone in Government to advocate a 'Great Firewall of Great Britain' to keep out non-rated content

    2. Maria // December 28, 2008 at 13:46

      Sadly, I think I might have to rate my blog "R," if I closely follow the rating scheme set up by the movie industry. When I start ranting, I occasionally drop the F-bomb. Twice in a single movie gives it an R rating.

      But I do agree that a rating system can't work. If parents are worried about what their kids are seeing on the 'Net, they should control or supervise what they're seeing. Parents have the responsibility - not the government or the content creators.

    3. heidi // December 28, 2008 at 23:14

      A very interesting dispute, I would be interested in seeing just how much involvement there will be from the US government… I'm thinking it's not very likely, but maybe I'm being too optimistic.

      I would also like to point out that, at least in the US, the movie rating system is not a legal system, it is a suggested rating. Of course most movie theatres and retailers usually abide by the rating system, not because they're legally obliged to, more because they don't to deal with complaints and boycotts if they don't. However, many libraries will not abide by the movie rating system (some do by offering limited library cards to children, but many libraries do not go this far). Many libraries feel that labeling and rating systems are censorship and they limit access to materials. I personally worked in a library that did limit access to R rated movies to children, so there is clearly no legal ramifications if a movie rating system is overlooked in this country.

      Before I go on and write an entire book about this topic, because I certainly could… I think most of us realize that this is technologically impossible, but I think that it does go to show that there are many people making important decisions that still do not understand the global nature of the internet, and how this stuff even works… to me that's the scariest part.

    4. Colin // December 30, 2008 at 20:56

      What age is PG suitable for??

    5. Andy Piper // December 31, 2008 at 10:03

      "All ages admitted, but parents are advised that certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 13″ (from Wikipedia)

  2. "People" Search Engines - Spock

    Did you know that 1/3 of all online searches are "people-oriented?" I certainly lookup people everyday, using Google, Yahoo! and Live Search as well. I'm added Spock to my list , a people search engine that's indexed 300 million unique people and has 18 million users. Searching on my name, which is fairly uncommon, it found several other Ted Demopo... [Source: http://www.bloggingforbusinessbook.com]

    Added Dec 22, 2008. Blog this Email this

    Comments-show 1 comment in conversation. Last comment found December 22, 2008.

    Last comment:

    1. I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

      Ruth

      http://www.infrared-sauna-spot.info

      Posted by: Ruth | 21 December 2008 at 11:48 PM

  3. Did I grow up digital, or did I evolve digital?

    December 18, 2008 · 2 Comments The advice in today's blog entry is that there are three things you should do. Watch this short video: If you liked that, listen to this podcast. And if you liked that, go buy the book. Seriously. Don Tapscott really gets this stuff, and I love these interviews. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated) At WST... [Source: http://andypiper.wordpress.com]

    Added Dec 18, 2008. Blog this Email this

    Comments-show 3 comments in conversation. Last comment found December 19, 2008.

    Last 3 comments:

    1. Laurisa Rodriguez // December 18, 2008 at 21:11

      Thanks for sharing. I've been trying to explain these generational and cultural shifts to friends and family and this sums it up nicely. I'm going to buy the book now!

    2. heidi // December 18, 2008 at 22:25

      You know how I feel about Wikinomics, it tops the list of all time favorite books… I think I definitely need to add Grown Up Digital to the reading list!

      Very interesting question to ponder though. I'm not sure I necessarily "grew up" digital. I was on computers at a young age because they were there and I liked to play with them, but it's not something that was normal then among my peers, it wasn't like "air" as Tapscott said in the interview. I think I "evolved" digital in way, but it was an evolution that was happening as I was growing up because of who I was, not because of how the culture was.

      That's sort of the big difference between me then and the people who are really growing up this way. I learned to be digital when it wasn't the cultural norm. I think in many ways it's more fun to be experiencing this cultural shift from a little older perspective… I also feel I can participate and observe the shift in a way that people growing up digital won't be able to do, because they haven't known any other way of being.

    3. Andy Piper // December 19, 2008 at 10:37

      With the content I've linked to here I've tried to provide an "on-ramp" to the subject for people - so you can start with the short (~3 min) video, move on to the longer (~50 min) audio interview (some of the same soundbites, but also a lot of new and very interesting analysis) and then finally look at the book itself, which I presume will take longer to read!

      I think those of us in "the gap" above the native digital generation can still have a lot of the same characteristics as the new Grown Up Digital folks - this is what I allude to in my Online DNA presentation - it is as if we share behavioural traits with the new generation. That's exactly why I titled this post the way I did - I've evolved.

  4. One photo, eight views

    December 11, 2008 · 3 Comments Although the iPhone camera is not the best by a long shot (although the recent addition of the Clarifi has helped, in the case of close-ups anyway), it is still possible to do some interesting things with it. The App Store helps a lot here. There are one or two really handy applications for playing around with images ... [Source: http://andypiper.wordpress.com]

    Added Dec 11, 2008. Blog this Email this

    Comments-show 4 comments in conversation. Last comment found 10 hours ago.

    Last 4 comments:

    1. skink74 // December 11, 2008 at 20:38

      Now, this is antagonistic, but all this shows me is that the iPhone camera is "not the best by a long shot ". No matter what some tweaks do, there's not enough clarity and contrast in the original image to give you much to work with in post.

      I mean, sure it's better than my 6310i, but what isn't? IMO - the limit here is the original lens/sensor combo and for anything other than impulse snapshots I'd want a camera not a phone. No amount of post is going to make up for that…

    2. Andy Piper // December 11, 2008 at 22:00

      That's a fair comment. I completely agree that the iPhone camera is rubbish - it's a real shame they didn't take the opportunity to update it for the 3G model. It is fixed focus and poor. The only thing the apps do really is make it a little more "fun" to use. And there's no way I can carry my DSLR everywhere I go for a quick snapshot, so this has to do.

    3. heidi // December 11, 2008 at 23:58

      Sure the iPhone camera could be better, but I'm honestly ok with it. I really enjoy using Photogene, and I actually like some of those shots Andy got with the CameraBag app.

      For a quick camera this works for me, and most of the time I'm just sending pics to TwitPic or Tumblr. The iPhone camera is a million times better than the camera on my old phone anyway… at least I can make out what I'm taking a picture of when I'm done with it.

      The apps do make taking pictures on the phone more fun, even if they're not perfect, I think that makes it worth it

    4. Dave // January 2, 2009 at 11:56

      I agree. The iPhone camera is poor in quality but better than some phone cameras of the same era. Camerabag has given my iPhone camera a new lease of life for out-of-the-pocket shots. I use a Canon 5D D-SLR plus extra battery pack so its the size of an elephant (but not a white one). Horses for courses huh? I wouldn't take prized shots with the iPhone camera and I wouldn't/couldn't keep the 5D on me all the time.

  5. WP.com branding with blavatars

    December 3, 2008 · 3 Comments I just noticed that WordPress.com now enables you to add a little more customisation and branding using "blavatars" or blog avatars (I guess this is built out of Automattic's acquisition of the Gravatar service). If you go to the Dashboard -> Settings -> Blog Image you can upload an image which will act as your blog's ... [Source: http://andypiper.wordpress.com]

    Added Dec 03, 2008. Blog this Email this

    Comments-show 4 comments in conversation. Last comment found December 15, 2008.

    Last 4 comments:

    1. heidi // December 3, 2008 at 17:45

      I'm sorry, but isn't that called a favicon? Why is WordPress changing terminology on stuff?

    2. Andy Piper // December 3, 2008 at 18:00

      It's wider than that - the icon isn't just a favicon, it's used more widely as branding. You upload an image, they create multiple sizes, and then it can be used in various places (such as the iPhone home screen, as shown).

    3. heidi // December 3, 2008 at 19:02

      Ok, fair enough, I guess the use in the URL bar was a bit confusing because most people can already do that on their sites. The iPhone branding is pretty cool though.

    4. Aaron // December 12, 2008 at 6:28

      Thanks Andy for another useful tip.

  6. Video production - my way (and a bit about YouTube)

    December 3, 2008 · No Comments One of the stories I caught last week was the fact that YouTube is moving to providing a widescreen, HD player. It's an interesting move and the speculation is that this will enable YouTube to start to host more movie content. Aside from that, it has also affected the way I'm capturing, editing and uploading video on ... [Source: http://andypiper.wordpress.com]

    Added Dec 03, 2008. Blog this Email this

    Comments-show 2 comments in conversation. Last comment found 12 hours ago.

    Last 2 comments:

    1. heidi // December 3, 2008 at 18:54

      A couple of great blog posts Andy I've been messing around with some of this myself, but on the Windows side, of course.

      I like the changes with the YouTube player, although I wish there was an option to always play my silly home movies in high quality. After I get done taking them off the camera, editing them in Windows Movie Maker, and then exporting them, they've already degraded from a not so great quality video, and the high quality version does make a difference.

      Where the widescreen options would really make a difference for me is with screencasts, since my computer screen resolution is widescreen.

      Some of the cool video tools make me itchy to buy a nice digital camcorder, but I think my silly home movies probably don't need widescreen HD quality format either It's just fun to play.

    2. Louise // January 3, 2009 at 16:11

      We love the widescreen player with high qual option. Lets face it, very few people are using hardware which is slow or has a square screen.

      Ossian Productions

  7. W(h)ither social networks? On the end of Pownce

    December 2, 2008 · 1 Comment This morning, I woke up to an email from Pownce that stated: We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15, 2008. In the rush of excitement around microblogs that followed Twitter and Jaiku, I signed up for an account on Pownce as well. I never really used it much, and that was because my network ne... [Source: http://andypiper.wordpress.com]

    Added Dec 02, 2008. Blog this Email this

    Comments-show 8 comments in conversation. Last comment found 11 hours ago.

    Last 5 comments:

    1. heidi // December 3, 2008 at 12:56

      I think I agree with Andy C, identi.ca is open source, is it not? I have to imagine that it will have some sort of community following to keep it going. It's probably not burdened by a lot of the problems Twitter is, or might be in the future.

      Here's something else to consider Andy… you might pay for Twitter, but what if most of your network decides it's not worth it? The strength of Twitter is in the network, and if your network is moving to another service (or on to the next great thing), would Twitter still be worth it for you? I may see it a little more abstractly, but I really think Twitter is in a delicate position right now. They have to monetize to survive, that's pretty obvious, but the service is so incredibly simple, what do you monetize and how? The service is also hugely popular so they also have to consider the impact on their users. I think Twitter users have been fairly forgiving up until now, but in large part that is because the service is free…

    2. heligal // December 3, 2008 at 13:04

      Agreed that the strength of a social network service IS in its network. Twitter is extremely strong and I have many friends there. Pownce was like a ghost town. But no matter how much I like Twitter - and I have over 8,000 tweets to prove I use it often - I probably would NOT pay to use it. Social networks are addictive. Paying to maintain an addiction is self-destructive.

    3. Addiction, and choosing the right networks « The lost outpost // December 4, 2008 at 16:33

      [...] give them a week or two and build up a network if you can (this is somewhat ironic given how I was called out about my use of identi.ca a couple of days [...]

    4. Andy C // December 4, 2008 at 17:52

      Sorry Andy if that came over a bit harsh. In fact, I am guilty of exactly that. Posting superficial, trite reviews of Web 2.0 services from just a days use.

      I used to evangelise about identi.ca and try to convert the whole world which is odd because I am really not an OpenSource type.

      Now I realise it's not that important. People will love what they love. Each service (Twitter, rejaw, Pownce, Tumblr, identica etc will all have their advocates.

      However, I do think identica is different for two reasons:

      1) OpenSource - if they ever die, sell-out or choose to charge a subscription, I am perfectly free to install my own Laconica instance (and in fact have done).

      2) the committment to Open Micro Blogging.

      I don't want a Twhirl client to cross-post to Twitter/identica. I want to be able to post and consume micro-blogging content from any service from the comfort of my blog dashboard. OMB potentially makes that possible. Twitter's recent decision not to embrace OMB worries me.

      Heidi nails it though: 'The strength of Twitter is in the network'. That, coupled with its pure simplicity.

      In fact, the biggest threat to Twitter is probably not even an alternative micro-blogging service but arrogance and complacency.

    5. December 2008 Links // January 4, 2009 at 15:39

      [...] W(h)ither social networks? On the end of Pownce - Some thoughts on social networking and microblogging. On The lost outpost. [...]