Media 4Non Journalists

Great that Apple have created a free app that enables anyone to publish an interactive e-book but not so great that if you publish a book that it can only be sold on the iBookstore... and if they don't like it they can refuse to distribute it and you are not allowed to take it to another e-book publishing space...
http://www.apple.com/education/ibooks-textbooks/

Say no to the veto 

Ken Freedman, general manager of freeform public radio station WFMU, is creating his own conference.

Together with public radio personality Benjamen Walker, Freedman is launching Radiovision — a festival, not a conference — which aims to emphasize the more practical aspects of the craft. Radiovision will latch on to its larger and more famous big brother, the WFMU Record Fair, on Oct. 28.

“...We want to get past the idea of convincing radio stations that they should be engaging in the Internet. We want to find out how successful people are doing it.”

Successful people are booked, including Ira Glass, Joe Frank (who is said to be Glass’s greatest influence.

“Each one of them was more or less told, when they started off their respective radio shows and podcasts, that it was a terrible idea, that they would never succeed,” Freedman said. “And each one of them persevered, and now each one of them is really super successful…and they’ve done it completely on their own terms.”

One day of the festival is a hack day — the first I know of just for radio — bringing together storytellers and coders to develop innovative, original projects in a short time frame. The participants will get their hands on three new APIs: from Cambridge startup Zeega, whose HTML5 platform is designed for interactive storytelling; from The Echo Nest, whose Pandora-like algorithms power iHeartRadio and KCRW’s Music Mine app; and from WFMU for its Free Music Archive.

In a panel called “Virtual Communities,” Tim Hwang (ROFLCon) and Kenyatta Cheese (Know Your Meme) discuss the ethics and social values of online communities as disparate as Facebook and 4chan. A panel about business models invites people from Kickstarter and The Awesome Foundation to discuss new ways of monetizing content.

For more...


http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/10/wfmu-wants-to-shake-up-radio-storytelling-with-a-conference/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NiemanJournalismLab+%28Nieman+Journalism+Lab%29

... wouldn't you just love to be able to fly... if they could invent a helicopter/ car... how much more useful that would be... but hey, this is pretty cool...

I think Misha Glenny has a good point when he suggests that we should hire a hacker... let me know what you think.

Have you ever wished you could combine your favourite activities? How about boating and flying... believe it or not it is possible in this machine... check out the Polaris, an invention of the Malingri Family. Called the FIB or flying RIB, it was patented by Polaris Motor SRL, the first Italian producer of hand gliders and ultralights. In 1986, in collaboration with the well known RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat ) manufacturer, Lomac Nautica, the Malingris with their experience and knowledge of the sea, designed a safe and seaworthy ultralight with very simple maintenance, and ease of use from beaches.

For thousands of years humans have loved and learned through stories...from Celtic myths to greek legends, humans have learned via images and stories.... What if you could apply the same technique to teaching maths? What if maths was taught in a way that was full of suspense, action, drama. What if it engaged students in solving their own problems...

Take a look at Dan Meyer's approach to the teaching of Maths... I think you will enjoy his approach...

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." Benjamin Franklin... time to get your creative juices flowing... why not write a short story and get it published right here! Email your entries by Aug 31st... winner to receive personal coaching to the value of €200 euros. The story needs to be a maximum of 2000 words and typed in 12pt Arial double spaced. Please send your entries to me at claire@media4nonjournalists.com

Google and Stonewall have made great use of new technology to create a better world for LGBT people

Sir Ken Robinson... makes a pitch for changing education

Art as you have never seen it before.... see the detail... of course, nothing will replace actually being in the presence of great art and looking at it up close and personal but this project comes a very close second... are Google going too far?... I mentioned the project to an artist friend of mine and she said this is for the Phillistine... I wholeheartedly disagree I believe it is Mind-blowingly Brilliant? What do you think?...