Al Murray on the Twitter joke trial: ‘Problem is, the law don’t do funny’ | Law | The Guardian
This bit comes from a Stuart Jeffries-written postscript to the Al Murray article. Read both!
For Linehan such cases highlight official ignorance about social media. “We are at a stage in society where one level understands social networking and then there are people who control the gears of society who don’t get it. All the laws on this are from a pre-internet world.”
via Al Murray on the Twitter joke trial: ‘Problem is, the law don’t do funny’ | Law | The Guardian.
Famous for Fifteen People – Stanford Law Review
You know those annoying Facebook ads, which feature YOUR FACE, and tell the WHOLE WORLD that you LIKED something? (More fool you, for clicking the LIKE button, by the way…):
The plaintiffs’ assertion that they were famous to their friends raises interesting issues not only in terms of the allegations necessary to state a claim for violation of the right of publicity but also for the defense to that claim for the publication of “newsworthy” matters. In a motion to dismiss, Facebook argued that its Stories were newsworthy because “(1) Plaintiffs are ‘public figures’ to their friends, and (2) ‘expressions of consumer opinion’ are generally newsworthy.” The court agreed, stating that “Plaintiffs’ assertion of their status as local ‘celebrities’ within their own Facebook social networks likewise makes them subjects of public interest among the same audience.”
Size-zero Botticellis: Anna Utopia Giordano Photoshops Venus Renaissance masterpieces by Titian – Telegraph
Well this is just excellent: classical nudes photoshopped to meet modern standards of beauty.
(They do look better)
BBC Trust – Trust’s service review of BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
The BBC Trust has just published its service review of Radio 5 Live and 5 live Sports Extra. The general conclusion seems to be that it’s doing quite well, but needs to focus more on news. There seems to be too much emphasis on sports, and (in terms of sports coverage) not enough emphasis on so-called minority interest sports.
It’s wall-to-wall football, sure enough, even in the summer when there’s supposed to be a break.
As to the news coverage, says the report, there’s probably too much in the way of fluff, and the Trust has asked the BBC to raise public awareness of 5 Live’s news.
I was thinking about this driving home the other day. Richard Bacon’s afternoon show (which replaced Simon Mayo’s excellent show a while ago) is indeed wall-to-wall fluff. He seems to interview a series of standup comedians in heavy rotation, and spends a lot of time promoting himself. During the show that was on the other day, there came a trailer for the station’s news coverage, which consisted of a series of supposedly exciting clips about “breaking” news.
The overall impression I got from the trailer was of news coverage which is constantly interrupted, where nobody gets to finish a sentence or form a coherent thought, and which jumps around from story to story without giving any real depth.
Not the best advertisement I’ve ever heard, but then I’ve long thought that the BBC employs idiots in its marketing and public relations departments.
We recognise one of the station’s strengths is the balance between coverage of lighter and heavier items, and while we believe 5 live should cover a broad range of news and topical items, we would like the station to ensure that all of its news programmes demonstrate a clear sense of journalistic ambition and originality. We have set out a number of conclusions and actions to ensure that 5 live maximises its considerable strengths in news.
You can read a summary of the report by following the link below, and there’s a link on the summary page to the full report.
via BBC Trust – Trust’s service review of BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra.
BBC News – Job hunt ‘affected by social media profile’, BBC study shows
Mr Jones was forced to change his digital footprint by taking down his web page and changing what he posted on Twitter.
“Changing my digital footprint was the only way I could get in front of people to show I had the experience and the ability to do the job,” he explained.
And, just a month after changing his online profile, Mr Jones started getting interviews and eventually landed a job as marketing manager at global training company On Track International.
via BBC News – Job hunt ‘affected by social media profile’, BBC study shows.
The Curse of Cow Clicker: How a Cheeky Satire Became a Videogame Hit | Magazine
So it’s ironic that Bogost’s breakout hit—the game that has made him a celebrity within his industry, attracted tens of thousands of players, and even earned him a bit of money—is a cynical trifle he whipped up in a matter of days. It’s a Facebook game called Cow Clicker, and it’s unlike anything Bogost ever made before, a borderline-evil piece of work that was intended to embody the worst aspects of the modern gaming industry. He meant Cow Clicker to be a satire with a short shelf life. Instead, it enslaved him and many of its players for much of the past 18 months. Even Bogost can’t decide whether it represents his greatest success—or his most colossal failure.
The Curse of Cow Clicker: How a Cheeky Satire Became a Videogame Hit | Magazine.
via BoingBoing
Turned on, tuned in: the rise and rise of radio | Television & radio | The Guardian
With an audience of around a million in the London area, LBC remains small compared with the national BBC and commercial stations. This week’s quarterly figures, which showed a small drop-off overall from the previous quarter, but still more than 700,000 more radio listeners than at the same time two years ago, again showcased radio’s remarkable resilience, a story that has become familiar over the past few years. Nine out of 10 of us listen to radio every week, with the three biggest BBC stations (1, 2 and 4) holding on to audiences above 10 million.
via Turned on, tuned in: the rise and rise of radio | Television & radio | The Guardian.
In Brief: 5-year-old Analyzes Logos – Brand New
I almost didn’t watch this, but I’m glad I did. Via Daring Fireball. It’s a 5-year-old (a retarded/adorable 5-year old, depending on your level of cynicism) “recognising” brands based on their logos. It really is instructive which ones are correctly identified and which ones are, “Baby toys! That looks like baby toys!” etc.
130 million Tweets everyday are not worth reading, researchers find – Telegraph
I particularly like the way the Telegraph has got two articles out of this one report. Means twice as many page impressions and twice as many adverts served. Ker-ching!
Around 25 per cent were deemed not even worth looking at in the first place and the rest were described as ‘so so’, in that it didn’t matter if they were read or not.
The researchers said it underlined that a content filter could provide users with a much more relevant service.
The researchers reported: “A well received tweet is not all that common.”
via 130 million Tweets everyday are not worth reading, researchers find – Telegraph.
The nine golden rules of Twitter – Telegraph
American researchers have released that the majority of Tweets go unread or irritate people. Here are their tips to make sure your message gets noticed:
