NILE 2008

Now, if you can't make it to Amsterdam as mentioned below, perhaps you'd like to join up for NILE 2008? I'm not really sure if I'm going yet - if I do I'd like to present some of the stuff we are doing - but as NILE stands for Narrative in Interactive Learning Environments I belive it touches upon the same ground we're working on at the moment. And with things like "Creative Learning by Designing Digital Board Games: Practicing deep-reading skills through game creation process" or "Learning through the Construction and Use of Intelligent Image Narratives" on the agenda, it might just be a bit interesting as well.

Edinburgh, early August (the time of the Edinburgh festival as well, so if the conference doesn't live up to your expectations, you can just go out for a beer or twelve instead :)

Out for a PICNIC?

If you're interested in cross media, in the latest findings and projects and in meeting company and research people from all over the world, you could do worse than attending PICNIC in Amsterdam in September. Topics include: The Global Mind, The Tupperware Economy, Almost Real (3D Cinema etc), Future Urban Spaces (How can we develop sustainable cities?) and Creative Leadership.

Lots of speakers as well. Should be a good thing! Perhaps we'll meet in Amsterdam later on!

Been a while

since i last updated this blog. Better start updating now agin, methinks.

Toyday, if you're going to read something, read this (in Swedish though!). A very comprehensive listing of the injustices the people behind The Pirate Bay have experienced in the hands of the Swedish juridical system. Quite appalling, if you think about it.

On another note, has there ever been a less exciting Champions League final than this one? ManU - Chelsea... Scum vs Arrogant Divas. Plah. I'll still watch it, though - hope both lose! :)

Now there is work to be done, so - until tomorrow!

Easter bunny came to visit

...and brought a lot of FLU!!

I do not like being ill. Not only does it sap all my strength and make me pretty miserable to live with, it also interferes with all plans made up by me and mine.

On the other hand, today was a beautiful winters day - a bit cold, but hey, better that way!

happy easter everyone, and have lots of chocolate eggs!

Woo

Skating on the sea is infinitely more fun than skating anywhere else. This kind of clear ice is a bit rare - wasn't the greatest though, more like 7½ out of 10, since it was fairly uneven sometimes.

I like to have the wind in the back as well, otherwise it'd been torture :)

Time to get going

Have you got an excellent idea for an iPTV concept? Well, then, you could do worse than entering Deutsche Telekoms iPTV competition with 1 million euros in prize money.

iPTV is gearing up, but I believe we should be looking at what can be done with iPTV that will set it apart from other means of television - regular, mobile or what have you.

Best of luck, and see you at the awards ceremony later on ;)

BTW - Deutsche Telekom, if anyone of you are reading this - the starter kit looks really really technologically heavy. Now, I know that it's important to know what ratios are possible to include, and that JPGs work but PNGs don't and suchlike. But please - do NOT scare away the creative minds too much! What you want are GOOD IDEAS! You do NOT want things that look good and fit all the technological requirements but are lacking in content!

If you need some consultation regarding this, you know where to find me :)

Hmmm, winter? spring? what's up Mother Nature?

This is the kind of weather we should be having 1½ MONTHS from now. Mid February should be the time of the year when we're all complaining about how cold it is, and when is spring coming along, and why do we live in this country.

I mean, look at this:





Honestly - melting snow and ice? a warm and nice sun? That's NOT Finland in February! Someone correct this AT ONCE!

Att utveckla det svenska språket

KLYSCH-HANGER (subst)

- En avart av den s.k. "cliffhangern", ofta använd inom film- och tv-industrin. Den kännetecknas av att den är så snarlik en oerhörd mängd tidigare cliffhangers att alla som ser den vet EXAKT vad som kommer att hända härnäst.

A truth

...one of many...

Most people sped most of their time doing things they wouldn't want to do, in order to be able to spend a little time doing things they want to do.

I'd like to spend a little time doing things I wouldn't really want to do, and a lot of time doing things I want to do.

Now, how to accomplish that?

Facebook, what evil lurks?

Well, having read through a lot of stuff about Facebook and their tracking system Beacon - which basically follows what you do on the Internet (not only what you do on Facebook!) and reports it back to Facebook, the disenchantment with Facebook is gathering pace rapidly over in this corner. I like the idea behind Facebook, and I think it has its uses - notably for finding friends you haven't talked to in ages... but at the same time, as a magazine here in Finland stated - "we've already trivialized love - now with Facebook, we're trivializing friendship."

Fortunately it's pretty easy to block Beacon - just follow this easy guide and you'll be safe. For now.

Skating on the sea...

... sorry for the quality of this clip, but as the only recording equipment I had on me was a Nokia 6630 with a 1.3 Mpix camera, this was the best I could do. Skating on the sea outside of Vasa, ice thickness about 5 cm. Windy but nice!

DVB-H or not DVB-H?

How much should a governmental body regulate the businessworld? That's a question lots of people - and governments and businesses alike - have been asking themselves throughout the ages. With regards to mobile tv, that question is being asked again, as the EU now puts its full (and considerable) weight behind the DVB-H standard for mobile tv broadcast.

This means that all 27 member states of the EU are required to support DVB-H and encourage the standard for mobile television. As can be imagined, the competition is less than excited - Korean standard DMB being one, Qualcomms Mediaflo another.

Still, rumours have it that not everyone is particularly happy with this resolution. BSkyB, for instance, are said to be eager to go with Mediaflo, despite EUs suggestions. So, there we are again - a world of competing standards. Don't you just love it? No, me neither.

To sell a format

Now, the television business is not an easy one. Lots of money moving around, for sure. But to break into that flow of money is more of a challenge.

When selling a television format, most buyers would like to see an episode, or even better, a whole series. They also like ratings and reviews - ratings (if high enough) a lot more than reviews, as a matter of fact.

That's why I lift my hat when reading todays news that Armoza Formats of Israel have sold their format "Revenge of the Geeks" to the US, UK, Holland, Poland and several other territorier, although the series have still to premiere in Israel (which it will do in November). Well done lads - you must've had a great format, and a helluva pitch :)

Now I just have to do that as well... :)

Miro challenging Joost, Babelgum et al

New kid on the block, Miro, is trying to challenge Joost, Babelgum and the rest of the bunch with its slightly different take on things. See. Miro is first of all an Open Source internet television app, formerly known by the much-less-savvy name "Democracy Player" (I mean, that's NOT a selling name, Miro ftw!). It also has some other nifty features, and a whole different look to it.

It's campaining with the actual tagline "Better than Joost" - pointing out that they have 2.500 unrestricted channels, loadsa HD material and are open source. Valid points, all of them.

The thing that makes Miro stand out in a positive (albeit probably fairly illegal) way from the rest of the pack is the possibility to subscribe to RSS-feeds of favourite tv shows. Just grab the RSS feed from somewhere, set up a channel on Miro and the app will take care of the rest, providing you with a new episode every time one is available. For a users guide, check out this CNet article.

My 2 cents would be that Miro will work as a good partner to Joost. It can get to stuff that Joost can't, and it can do it with a minimum of hassle. To just watch something - without really knowing what to be looking for, just killing time - Joost is still better. Also Miro crashed a couple of times on my laptop, whereas Joost has been running faultlessly for the past year - might just be me, but the feeling I get is a little bit unsteady.

Miro - try it out! Just don't get caught :)

This is where you would've seen a picture of a show on Miro, but alas! you only get to see the app itself. Oh joy, oh rapture.

CSI:NY vs Second Life - how did it go?

Well, being situated in Finland I had a bit of a problem catching the CSI:NY program itself, so haven't seen that one. I did, however, log on to Second Life to have a look around, and yes, in that end Electric Sheep made it all work pretty darn well.

Judging by the response from some other people blogging about this, the television version was still mostly a muck-up when it came to the whole cross media shebang - or rather, the fact that 99% of all that is shown on television is fake. So too with regards to what was included about Second Life in yesterdays episode. For a better review from someone who actually watched the show, read this.

What would be good would for the television end of the production chain to start listening to the internet (or in this case, Second Life) end of the chain a little bit more. It is not possible to create a good all-encompassing experience that gives both worlds justice unless you let both parts influence each other to a great enough extent.

For an interview with Anthony Zuiker, creator of the CSI brand and the guy with the idea of going into SL from the start, check this out.

As for viewer ratings, I haven't seen any yet, nor any figures for how many people signed up as Second Lifers yesterday. Will post as soon as I have them.

Well - to sum it up, a nice enough effort. As well, it will continue with new mysteries every month, so hopefully no end to it but a continuing presence in SL. Just get the tv part to work together with it a bit better, please?

Yup, that's a faceless CSI-corpse on the floor, alright.

Ehhehh. Heh.

Sorry, but got to post this. If you have to make an ad for a tv channel about crime, you could do worse than this. And it's a really catchy song as well! :)

Cross media and television, match made in heaven

Tonight on CBS there'll be something pretty nice to look forward to, for all the viewers in the US and all Second Life players worldwide. See, what they're doing is basically widening the CSI:NY brand into Second Life, which at first glance has the definite ability to be awesome. Although there are some who think it really doesn't :)

Tonights episode will feature in and moreover continue in Second Life. Wonder what that'll be like :) . As a first, I have great hopes for this - lets just hope it doesn't run out of steam like, say, The Lost Experience or something suchlike.

This is what I'd like to be doing with my tv projects as well. Anyone got a couple of millions of €€ to give away?


Preview of tonights CSI:NY Second Life extravaganza. Looks nice!

Just to contradict myself a bit - the Bugatti Veyron... mmm...

Heh, saw this in Berlin the other week. And I must admit I'd like to have one. Or two. Or a dozen. Perhaps if they made them run on biogas I could get my conscience to shut up as well? ...or I could just take this version - "Studie" I guess means that it's just a nice model.







Beauty in motion - even when it's not in motion.

The times they are a-changing

Just plugged in my 4Gb smartdrive USB stick, and realized that not so long ago, 4Gb was what you'd be REALLY lucky to fit into a bloody livingroom.


One gigabyte then, one gigabyte now. Old one - MUCH cooler...

I just wish, really really wish, that all the energy spent on not so important things - like updating your Facebook page (yes, you!) and trying to fit more gigas onto smaller space - would be spent on trying to save this bloody planet.

Was in the woods with the kids a couple of days ago - the loud smattering that could be heard were the elk flies hitting our jackets, caps, hair, legs, everywhere. Never seen such an amount of them evil buggers. Four hours later I plucked the last one as it was crawling on my cheek. Now - there were no elk flies here when I was a kid, just the mosquitos. Global warming has brought them to my porch, and I don't like it one bit. Time to do something - I won't take the car ANYWHERE for the rest of this week, and that's that.

Hear, hear! The latest word on Joost.

It's always nice, and a bit annoying, when someone else articulates your own feelings in words in a much better way than you yourself have been able to do. So, it's with a mixture of both that I just read William Coopers article on the new developments over at Joost on his Informitv-pages - read it here - and find that the feeling in the back of my head I've had every time I've opened Joost (or Babelgum for that matter), and the probable reason why I check it out once a week - tops - nowadays, was just exactly what William stated at the end of the article.

As he points out, Joost and its rivals represent a breakthrough when it comes to technical matters, programming, how to use the Net and so on. What they don't represent is a better way of consuming media - at least not a more appealing way. As William says -

"At the moment, [Joost and Babelgum] seem rather sterile. Unlike television, which is constantly appealing to its sense of immediacy through a continuous flow of programming and promotion, these video-on-demand environments are less dynamic. As with many other on-demand systems, there is a sense that the same material will still be there tomorrow, in which case why watch it now?"

Quite so.