The Future of the World Wide Web... Dum, Dum, Dummmm

This is the testimony of Sir Timothy Berners-Lee.
He appeared in front of the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce to discuss the future of the World Wide Web. He was a leader of the effort which gave rise to the Web in the mid-90s and has watched it grow into a public resource which people depend on.

The rest is in his own words..

The special care we extend to the World Wide Web comes from a long tradition that democracies have of protecting their vital communications channels. We nurture and protect our information networks because they stand at the core of our economies, our democracies, and our cultural and personal lives. Of course, the imperative to assure the free flow of information has only grown given the global nature of the Internet and Web. The success of the World Wide Web, itself built on the open Internet, has depended on three critical factors:
1) unlimited links from any part of the Web to any other;
2) open technical standards as the basis for continued growth of innovation applications; and
3) separation of network layers, enabling independent innovation for network transport, routing and information applications.

From a technical perspective, the Web is a large collection of Web pages (written in the standard HTML format), linked to other pages (with the linked documents named using the URI standard), and accessed over the Internet (using the HTTP network protocol). In simple terms, the Web has grown because it's easy to write a Web page and easy to link to other pages. A current example of the low barriers to reading, writing and linking on the Web is the world of blogs. Blogs hardly existed five years ago, but have become an enormously popular means of expression for everything from politics to local news, to art and science. The low barriers to publishing pages and abundance of linking ability have come together, most recently with blogs, to create an open platform for expression and exchange of all kinds.

The Web, and everything which happens on it, rest on two things: technological protocols, and social conventions. The technological protocols, like HTTP and HTML, determine how computers interact. Social conventions, such as the incentive to make links to valuable resources, or the rules of engagement in a social networking web site, are about how people like to, and are allowed to, interact.

So how do we plan for a better future, better for society?

We ensure that that both technological protocols and social conventions respect basic values. That Web remains a universal platform: independent of any specific hardware device, software platform, language, culture, or disability. That the Web does not become controlled by a single company -- or a single country. By adherence to these principles we can ensure that Web technology, like the Internet, continues to serve as a foundation for bigger things to come.

My Response

I think that Sir Timothy Berners-Lee makes some great and very thoughtful points here and it is brilliant to be able to listen to one of the first pioneers of the World Wide Web and hear his views on how he thinks it has changed over the years. Blogs are mentioned in the extract and makes very interesting reading as it relates to our generation and is important. I was also interested to hear what his thoughts were on how the Internet is changing and expanding. I agree with a lot of the stuff he is saying here and think it vital that people should read this even if they don't take media as one way or another it will relate to them.

Thanks :)

Strike Watch: Part Two

So the WGA strike is still going on and it doesn't look like its going to stop anytime soon. There have already been causalities in the form of The Da Vinci Code sequel 'Angels and Demons', as well as Johnny Depp's newest film 'Shantaram'. One of the biggest losses though is the US remake of 'State of Play' which was due to star Brad Pitt and his Fight Club co-star Edward Norton. Pitt unfortunately pulled out of the project as he felt the script wasn't ready and needed another rewrite but the studio wanted to start filming with or without him.
Major films are being shelved or given the go ahead with rough scripts, which is bound to affect the quality of the films. But it was announced this week that the WGA are due to have talks soon to hopefully resolve the strike and get what they deserve. The WGA feel that they are getting no money or praise for "new media" like internet downloads, mobile programming and video on demand on cable and satellite television.

UnitedHollywood.com
This blog is an amazing find that tells you everything you need to know about the blog as well as Speechless videos with some of todays leading actors and actresses.
Ive posted one below starring the cast of Ugly Betty.

Its War!!

Record labels are predicting that this month's launch of three new mobile phone music services will usher a return of rising sales after years of decline. Apple's music-playing iPhone grabbed the headlines with its arrival in Britain last week. But music executives are just as excited about the new unlimited downloads service launched on Vodafone. At the same time Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, has opened a digital music store here.

The world's biggest music company, Universal, is backing the MusicStation, the Vodafone service. Rob Wells, head of digital at Universal's international division, predicts the £1.99-a-week subscription service will have mass market appeal. "We are at a turning point in the UK," he says, predicting digital music sales here could offset falling CD sales within a year. Global sales have been falling since 2000, down another 5% to $19.6bn (£9.4bn) last year, according to industry group IFPI. Although digital sales are rising fast, at a tenth of the total market, they have yet to make up for tumbling CD sales.

IFPI director of technology Richard Gooch sees lessons for other music markets. He says: "There are cultural differences, and there are network differences at play so it's not simply the fact of having a mobile music service but in those countries where they have moved towards the holy grail it's generally been on the back of mobile. There are already indications that mobile music sales are picking up in the UK. The Orange UK network says its music sales jumped 70% over the past six months and it expects them to double by the end of 2007.

They expect the UK mobile music market to almost double from a predicted $83m this year to $156m in 2011. UK industry association BPI also cites support from new business models such as subscription schemes and enhanced handsets - four out of 10 UK mobiles can now play music.

There are hopes handsets will improve further from a music-playing perspective thanks to the iPhone. At £269 with an 18-month O2 contract, Apple's handset is not seen by the record labels as a big driver of revenues but it has been credited with raising the bar for phone manufacturers.

Questions

1. Why are more and more companies releasing phones that can store music?

2. Who is the audience likely to buy the new range of phones?

3. Is it for a resonable cost?

4. Will you be buying one of the new super phones?

WGA Strike

So its not really anything to do with NMT, but it is important.

This week after months of anticipation, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have gone on strike due to low pay and not enough recomendation in the film and television buisness. Many writers feel that they are not being recognised for their talents and being underpayed for their efforts.

It is believed that the strike could last till mid-2008 halting a lot of popular TV shows such as Lost and Heroes. Films are also affected but not as much because most scripts were rushed so that they would be ready in time before the strike. But without rewrites of films this could affect the qaulity of films and make them feel and look rushed.

A strike like this happened once before, but the advantage being that many script writers not part of the WGA 13,000 members were given a chance to write their own scripts and were given a chance to see their scripts being turned into film and tv programmes.

Hopefully, the entertainment buisness can realise their mistakes and give the scripters more money and just thank them a bit more.

What exactly is NMT?

NMT stands for New Media Technology and is basically exactly what the name says it is. Its the technology that is new in media. Simple eh?

So, think back on all the media related items you have purchased in the last..say five years.
What was the reason behind buying this items?
Was it because it was advertised as the "must have item of the century!"
Did it look fascinatingly amazing when compared to the brick in your hand?
Could it make calls, text message, play music, take pictures, play games, make videos and access the internet?
YES?!
Wait so you have a mobilephone/cdplayer/camera/gamesconsole/videocamera/computer?
WOW that must be hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Whadda mean it can fit in your pocket?!
Anyway lets move on from the bad humour and move onto the more important stuff.

Over the years the media have evolved hugely. From wax records to Ipods and MP4s.
We have been here to witness this change and its still evolving today and will probably never stop. Mr. White has this brilliant theory that in the near future all appliances in the household will be controlled by computer technology and we won't need to move off of our sofas to make a cuppa! I think thats pretty amazing, but is it needed?

Everyday without realising it, the media is making us question ourselves. Walk around London town at anytime and everywhere you look is gorgeous slender models plastered all over the place. They're posing above motorways, clinging onto buses or resting at bus stops. They are everywhere. You walk past a poster and immediately think to yourself "Why are my legs like two pounds heavier than hers?" or "How is he surrounded by so many hot women?" We question our lives simply because the answers that the media put out there to provoke us into becoming some carbon copy perfect humanoid.

As i go now, im gonna leave you all with a couple of questions that will gurantee to make you think.

Do we make decisions, or do the media make them for us?
Is digital the way to go?
Do we have more choice in the digital age?
Is knowledge power?

Welcome!

Hullo, and thank you for taking the time to visit my blog.
I just want to welcome everyone to my first blog and beg you not to leave!
This first post is more about me getting the hang of posting more than anything else but my next post will be choc-a-bloc full of media related greatness.
So don't leave!
Thanks once again