Category: media-and-expression

Found via Zeropaid, Lily Allen: Sell Bootlegs of My CDs, Don’t Share for Free.

UK recording artist, and vocal anti-file-sharing critic, remarks that she’s fine with people selling bootleg copies of her CDs rather than sharing it for free with others since the person selling it is at least placing “some kind of value on” her music.

“If someone comes up with a burnt copy of my CD and offers it to you for £4, I haven’t a problem with that as long as the person buying it places some kind do of value on my music,” she recently told UK radio station Key 103.

Enter Dan Bull, a musician labeled “one of Britain’s best young songwriters” by Is This Music? Magazine. He’s precisely one of the emerging artists that seems to be using the Internet and the art of the free album giveaway as a means to promote his work and gain fans.

He wrote a melodic rebuttal to Lily Allen’s rantings called “Dear Lily [an Open Letter to Lily Allen],” and posted it as a part of a video on YouTube.

The song really cuts to the heart of the matter and sums up just how short-sighted and naive Allen really is.

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Everyone seemed to hate Revolver, and honestly I can understand why. On the surface its nothing like any of the other films Guy Ritchie has done. It also takes its self far too seriously. But what people missed is the sharp plot and cool one liners. The person to look out for is André Benjamin as Avi, he brings a certain element of smoothness to the whole plot, which I have to agree is complex and not easy to explain.

After spending seven years in solitary confinement and having his sister-in-law murdered, confidence trickster Jake Green (Jason Statham) is out to get revenge on Dorothy Macha (Ray Liotta).

Jake Green is a hotshot con artist who has acquired a specific strategy (referred to as “the Formula”), that is supposed to lead its user to win every game, during his seven-year stint imprisoned in solitary confinement. The Formula itself was discovered by two unnamed men in adjacent cells either side of Jake’s own. During the first five years of his seven-year sentence, the three men communicated their thoughts on confidence tricks and chess moves via messages hidden inside provisional books, such as ‘The Mathematics of Quantum Mechanics’. They plan to leave their cells simultaneously, but end up leaving Jake behind, who ends up serving the remaining two years. He finds that all of his possessions and money have been taken by the two men with whom he had shared everything but, having the two men’s Formula, he went about making a lot of money at various casinos. Two years later, Jake has garnered a reputation that leads many casinos to fear his freakishly good ‘luck’. The Formula is seen to apply to any game, and is often exemplified by his apparent mastery of chess. The story revolves around Jake’s epiphanic awakening, as he learns how to apply the Formula to the ‘game’ of life.

I think the reception says it all about the film…

The film was generally panned by critics: for example, it has been criticised on grounds of pretension and having an over-complicated plot by critics such as Mark Kermode. Reviews were so poor in the UK that The Guardian ran a story on how the distributor was able to attribute a quote to The Sun saying that the director was “back to his best”. The quotation came from a section of the Sun Online website created by a PR agency on behalf of the film’s distributors.

There were, however, some positive reviews as well. Mark R. Leeper conceded that it was “a film for a narrow audience”, but said that he personally rather “liked it” and gave it a score of 7/10. According to Brian Orndorf, Revolver “is the perfect movie for those who like to crack things open and dig around the innards”, saying that it “reminded [him] quite a bit of Richard Kelly’s film, Donnie Darko”. He goes on to explain that “both films have a taste for the deliberately confusing, sharing scripts that take the viewer on a ride that requires much more than one simple viewing.”

So there you go a film for a niche audience who like there films with complex story arcs and twisted concepts. What more do I need to say?

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Love this one, not so loved but good and worth also mentioning is 28 Days Later, in One Minute, in One Take, Forrest Gump in One Minute, in One Take and Star Wars in One Minute, in One Take.

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I got to say I like the Talk to Frank anti-drugs adverts (although there more about drugs education that anti drugs, which is maybe part of there success). They've been on UK tv for a while but because I don't watch much live TV, I tend to miss clever advertising like this one. But whats more interesting is the meme its created on the web. There's some amazing remixes which work in a similar way to the Pablo advert. For example here's the best one, Perdo the Drug Dealer Cat because cats are too smart to be drug mules according to the comments. There's also other Pablo videos including Cocaine bag tries to seduce Pablo the dead drugs mule and Ben's Banknote. All good stuff.

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I already admitted to watching a lot of films, and had a lot of people saying some nice things about me highlighting some of the films worth watching which you may have missed. So I thought I'd run through a few more which have had me stuck to the screen. If you find the list useful, do say.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel – I've already covered this one in a post here. But generally its about 3 guys who find a time travel conundrum in the middle of a British pub. Smart, clever and original is all things I could say about this film which is billed as Shaun of the dead crossed with Dr Who.

Bad Guys – This heist movie starts very well and ends pretty poorly. The film starts with 4 guys in a warehouse, 3 guys and a woman. Shes got blood over her shirt and holding a gun at one of the guys who can't help but wind her up with everything he says. You later find out that the 2nd guy is a crooked cop and the 3rd guy is some chemist who has designed a new kind of drug which has the kick of ecstasy but without the downside. They just got back from some deal which went wrong when the 1st guy decided to shoot the top boss. The tension at the start is something else, but as the story line slowly unfolds so does the plot. Its a modern Reservoir Dogs at the start but ends up somewhere else by the end. Worth catching if you can, there's some great lines including the title of this blog post.

Next day air – A overnight delivery company mess up a package drop by giving it to the neighbours. The package turns out to be drugs and the neighbours some of the most daft criminals you'll ever met. Unfortunately for all parties involved the sender is a proper dealer before long, things are being sorted out. To me its like an american version of lock stock and two smoking barrels but less clever, stylish and well lock stock. Its still enjoyable and the mixup comes to some clarity at the end.

Blood and Bone – Do you remember when you were young and use to watch trashy beat-em-up films like American ninja? The plot was simple, beat everyone up and then beat up the boss. Yep you don't see many of those anymore. But Blood and Bone is simply that, a revenge movie to beat everyone up. Nothing more, nothing less. If you thought Redbelt or Kill Bill were not ass kicking enough, try this.

Chéri – Michelle Pfeiffer plays a courtesan who earns a good wage from what she does. But she falls in love with a client whos a lot younger that herself. The style is 1920's and amazing to watch on the screen. This isn't Moulin Rouge but you get the feel it could be, style wise. The story line is very easy to follow and moves along at a medium pace. Its fluffy and the journey is more important than the ending which is obvious from the very start.

Whatever Works – This film reminds me of a Might Aphrodite but with a crazy cup of reality from Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm). The funny thing is that its actually directed and written by Woody Allen. Its clever, witty and if you like Woody Allen, you will enjoy this one for its undertones of darkness crossed with beams of lightness. I did think the ending was a little plain but its a likeable movie through out.

The Cooler – The cooler is a person who puts players off there winning streaks in casinos. This cooler is the best in las vegas but when he falls in love, things start going in reverse. The lack of cooling eats into the profits of the casino and of course before long the casino try to split up the relationship. The rest is a romantic film of love and sacrifice. One for the sofa with a bottle of wine and loved one.

Chaos Theory – A surprisingly interesting romantic comedy which you can watch at home with someone else or by yourself and not feel like you lost 90mins of your life. As the title suggests its like Sliding doors but much more fun and looser. For some reason I didn't even see this one at all in the cinemas, which is surprising looking at the talent on board.

Nothing But the Truth – This is truly a Excellent film. A reporter faces jail for outing a CIA agent and not revealing her source. The whole film is tied together perfectly and the characters are very believable alongside the strong acting from the whole crew. I can't say much about the film without spoiling it but I do wish Hollywood would create more smart films like this one.

Crossing Over – I'm a sucker for these multi-character canvas drama films. This one is very close to the award winning Crash and Traffik but this one is centred around the different people trying to be legally American after crossing the border into LA. Its pretty gripping and although not quite the same league as the other two mentioned, its not far off.

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Thirdly, aside from the voting-with-your-feet side of things, it is just a really nice book to own in print. It is really well made, looks stunning and feels great to curl up with in a coffee shop or on the couch.

So in the last post about Jono Bacon's ebook he wrote a part about why people should still buy the book version. The last part was the quote above. This provided the perfect start for me to talk about the Sony Ebook reader I bought almost a month ago.

I love my ereader it operates very well and hasn't let me down not even once since I got it. Pull it out, switch it on and there you have it. Is this as fast as opening a book to the right page? Maybe not but its not far off. Reading in low light and sunlight is as good as a book and does it pass the coffee shop test. I was in starbucks waiting for someone and was engrossed in the pirates dilemma that I finised chapter 4 in the time it took to finish my slighly bitter grande americano. Anyway the point of this post isnt' to compare the two. Its more a look at the book industry and ebooks.

My friend Miles shot me a troubling smile when he first saw my Ereader. Then he accused me of supporting a unsustainable business model. The problem with ebooks is that they generally cost the same amount as the paper books themselves. This isn't right and I agree. Imagine if digital downloads cost the same as there physical versions. Buy a Film for 7 pounds as a DVD and also download the same for 7 pounds, it doesn't seem right does it. I mean come on it should be cheaper simply because there's no or low manufacturing, packaging or delivery. Worst still is the lack freedom attached to ebooks. So you pay more and can do less. This is a scandal, why would anyone get involved in this?

Well I'm not! Theres a serious problem with Ereaders or Ebook readers if you prefer. Since the Amazon kindle came out its boost the awareness of Ereaders but on the other hand everyone seems to think its the only kind/approach. The Sony Ereader is arguably a very different beast and moves in different circles. You can get involved in the Ebook scandal if you choose but you don't have to. There's plenty of ebooks available without adding to the unsustainable business model. So when is it going to change? Honestly I don't know but my thoughts is that it won't get any better paradoxically till more people buy Ereaders and reject the ebook stores. Like most things the black market will fill the demand till the book publishers get a clue or get the message. The Paradox is even stranger because there's little benefit to most people with ebooks. Yes size and weight but really most people don't care. Look at Ebooks on smartphones like the iphone, android, windows mobile, etc. Its all available now but no ones really going for it. This may change, in the same way music collection balloned over time and people started using there phones. But for most people even the most perfect density or size won't make any difference. Our relationship with books is radically different from other media. I don't quite know why but the scenario of curling up with a ebook still seems quite distant for most people including I'm somewhat sad to say myself.

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Good on Jono and Oreilly for making his new book available under a creative commons licence. My Sony Ereader is now happy. Although I got to finish The Pirates Dilemma first… Jono writes,

When I started work on The Art of Community I was really keen that it should be a body of work that all communities have access to. My passion behind the book was to provide a solid guide to building, energizing and enabling pro-active, productive and enjoyable communities. I wanted to write a book that covered the major areas of community leadership, distilling a set of best practices and experiences, and illustrated by countless stories, anecdotes and tales.

But to give this book real value, I was keen to ensure the book could be freely accessed and shared. I wanted to not only break down the financial barrier to the information, but also enable communities to share it to have the content be as useful as possible in the scenarios, opportunities and problems that face them. To make this happen O’Reilly needed to be on board to allow the book to be freely copied and shared, in an era in which these very freedoms threaten the publishing world.

But they came through. Thanks to the incredible support of Andy Oram, my founding editor for the book, O’Reilly were hugely supportive of the project and our desire to break down these barriers.

I also found Jono's reasons to still buy the book interesting…

Firstly, buying a copy sends a tremendous message to O’Reilly that they should continue to publish books (a) about community and (b) under a Creative Commons license.

Secondly, it will encourage O’Reilly to invest in a second edition of the book down the line, which will in turn mean that communities around the world will have a refreshed and updated edition that is available to them.

Thirdly, aside from the voting-with-your-feet side of things, it is just a really nice book to own in print. It is really well made, looks stunning and feels great to curl up with in a coffee shop or on the couch.

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Heroes Season4, FlashForward, Dexter Season4, The Big Bang Theory Season3, Curb your Enthusiasm Season8, Dollhouse Season2 and Peep Show Season6Cougar town, which is what it sounds like. Desperate Housewives crossed with Scrubs. Courteney Cox doesn't look bad in it as a successful career woman still on the prowl… but come on beyond one episode, give it a wide miss.

Heroes has started well with a interesting plot twist and new characters with new abilities such skin ink and the ability to see sound in colour. Dexter was leaked a while back but also has a interesting plot twist, with Dexter now a commited family man its harder to kill people when you got to get home and tuck your children in for bed. Cleverly crafted and uniquely smart, Dexter is certainly one to look out for. Talking of which Dollhouse also is exploring the premise of knowing your mind isn't really yours and having to live with it. The dolls are only the tip of a interested iceberg. The big new show for this year is FlashForward which I believe is less that 5 days behind on Channel5. Almost everyone sees a glimpse of there future at exactly the same time on the same day. What does it mean, is the future set or is it changeable? All these questions make up a new sci-fi drama which kind of reminds me of a mix between Jerico and Daybreak. Too early to tell if its going to be like lost or more like CSI and 24.

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Another one of those films which didn't very well in the Cinema. This time its the bold titled Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, which also has a respectable IMDB rating of 7.5. The plot is very simple

The film follows three social outcasts; two geeks and a cynic, as they attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum in the middle of a British pub. Faris plays a girl from the future who sets the adventure in motion.

The plot on this film is solid and smart, they delve into the ideas, theories and paradoxs of time travel. The dialogue is sharp and witty like watching Shaun of the dead, And even better is the use of the location along side the plot. Basiclly the whole thing unfolds and compacts within just the pub, no where else. The only down side is the very start could have been cut or changed. I can also imagine some people would find it hard to follow the time travelling parts as its more Donnie Darko that Back to the Future. There's at least 3 levels of time overlap.They do explain as they go which should make things a lot easier.

If you get the chance to see this movie, grab it you won't be disappointed. It should have been a british hit, I wonder what happened? Check out the trailer below.

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I highly recommend listening to the first part of this with your headphones and eyes closed. The concept of making a rainstorm with the hands is fantastic and sounds excellent. Oh the singing isn't bad either.

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Its shocking, how bad and low they went with this sequel. I have no more words to describe how sad this is.

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So above is the CNN version and here's the full thing. Watching the video its about the same as most British Public service messages but the press in the states seem to think its too graphic and scary. I say get a grip, welcome to reality. Its meant to shock, although I can't imagine anyone over here saying its too shocking. I've seen worst things in Hollyoaks for goodness sake.

There is a point to be made about how effective shock techniques are now, for example the NHS (National Health Service) for about a decade have been going for more tactical and persuasive public service messages. Who could forget the fat dripping from the fag? Yuk!

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I love remixes like this. I know its silly but the internet is full of fun stuff like this.

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So I had the pleasure of being on Jon Udell's Interviews with Innovators series on IT Conversations. I'm talking about the data and feeds used on BBC Backstage and example of mashups using that data. Its about a hour long and we cover quite a lot of ground in that time. Jon Udell did cut quite a lot of the ramble which was actually a good thing. Anyway you can judge for yourself.

BBC Backstage is the umbrella term for an evolving set of feeds and APIs that the BBC has been offering since 2005. In this conversation, Ian Forrester updates Jon Udell on what progress has been made, and what obstacles remain, as the BBC navigates toward its digital future.

Thanks to Jon Udell for having me on the show.

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Ok so I was a little harsh in the last blog post, it seems some people are still catching on. So here's another graph I found which sums up the opportunity I've been spelling out across my blog for years.

Internet file sharers swapping music, movies and TV shows over peer-to-peer networks are killing media and technology companies, right?

Wrong.

According to a study conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates published in AdAge, “the P2P user attends 34% more movies in theaters, purchases 34% more DVDs and rents 24% more movies than the average Internet user.”

In almost every single one of those categories, I personally spend more money that most of my friends who don't use P2P or even on-demand services. I have own a HDTV for 2 years now, yes my screen is well over 20inches (40inch) but I didn't pay anywhere near 2000 dollars for it. Yes I do own a next gen game console (xbox360, and I use to own a Wii). Had a home cinema system for 14+ years now, but just recently upgraded it to 7.1. Wouldn't even consider buying anything but a smartphone since about 2001. No Bluray player, but yes to the Media centre PC (XBMC). Plus I would add that I spend more time in the cinema and buy more films that my non P2P friends. The Ad people should be gunning for people like myself, but instead they lump us in with dvd/cd street/market copiers and demonize us all collectively at the start of films as mass pirates.

Of course it gets worst because now the UK Government wants to choke P2P file sharers (bearing in mind P2P isn't against the law, it just depends on what you share). As pointed out by the open rights group, the market is coming back in to balance (even I end up buying 10+ songs a month from Audiojelly) and the government have overstepped the mark with this latest proposal.

Fact is that you can never stop such things, and calling all out war on piracy is not even funny, its actually childish and headline grabbing. Even Obama has stopped using the word war on terror, because they know how stupid the whole notion of a war on anything is. Britain needs people like myself (early adopters) who do slide in the grey areas of media because we inform whats possible for the masses in the near future. We spend more money, time, attention on media that the average person and we even share our experiences openly for all to learn from. The positive up shot of all this will go away quickly if such regulations come into play.

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