BACKSTAGE WITH THE BBC
The BBC's latest project Backstage.bbc.co.uk is aimed at giving people who create computer programs, applications or graphics the chance to put their stamp on BBC digital content by offering a collection of feeds, and plans to offer APIs, and other tools for remixing and re-purposing the BBC's offerings in more flexible ways.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4538111.stm
MPAA IS DOWN ON TV DOWNLOADS
Continuing its war on Internet file-swapping sites, the Motion Picture Association of America claims that it has filed lawsuits against a half-dozen hubs for TV show trading. The trade association said that piracy of TV programming is growing quickly online, and that shows are as important to protect as big-budget films. This is the first legal action from the group that has focused most heavily on TV content. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5705142.html
RINGTONES FOR REMIXING
The new CD single 'Baby' from rapper Fabolous allows U.K. consumers to choose which part of the song they want to use as a mobile phone ringtone. Until now, the 30-second ringtone clips packaged with singles have been pre-determined by record companies. The Fabolous single from Warner's Atlantic Records includes built-in software that lets listeners isolate any part of the song and load it onto their phones. http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/audiotech/Ringtone-audio-remix-20050517
FEEDING FRENZY
If you're interested in a couple of very well designed and non Geeker-friendly (ie: easy enough for me and your mum to use) Newsreaders and RSS Feed Aggregators, may I recommend two that I've been using quite a bit lately.. especially to gather some of the articles you've been reading in our Newsletter. Feedmarker is a fast, funky and free Web based RSS/ATOM aggregator and bookmarks manager: http://feedmarker.com/index.php
Rojo goes the extra mile by not only giving readers the ability to flag stories they find important or interesting, but also by enabling them to draw on the insights of friends, family, colleagues, and others in their social networks, as well as its own in-house Online Community: http://rojo.com
POETIC SEMANTIC WEB QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"All the goods of the Information Age - All of the expressions once contained in books or film strips or records or newsletters - will exist either as pure thought or something very much like thought: voltage conditions darting around the Net at the speed of light, in conditions that one might behold in effect, as glowing pixels or transmitted sounds, but never touch or claim to 'own' in the old sense of the word." - John Perry Barlow