Ok, this is not so new anymore, but I still love it. Erik Kastner has done some magic with PHP and Javascript and has built a nice little web app whereby you can enter a text string and it will pull a random flickr photo for each letter. Nice! I’m trying to remember who said that re-using other people’s work isn’t creative. Go play with “spell with flickr“.
Soon everyone in Singapore will know what IDM stands for… Interactive and Digital Media. Singapore’s multi-million-dollar IDM initiative aims to grow the industry in Singapore and turn the country into a digital media hub in the region, and perhaps… the world. An ambitious goal indeed, given that Singapore is not exactly known for its strengths in this sector. However, based on what I’ve seen and heard in my few months in Singapore there is the will and there is talent, so I’m hopeful that things will happen.
Singapore Media Fusion is a portal to all that is IDM in Singapore. Neat site, original design and concept. I could watch these bubbles for hours! Eventually of course the whole initiative will be judged on results, not on web design.
Recently the MDA (Singapore’s Media Development Authority) organized a premier business event titled New Media @ Arts House, which I helped prepare but sadly missed as I didn’t make it in time for my connecting flight in London, on my way back from the iSummit (thanks a lot BA)! Impressions from the event can be found on the iJAM blog. The Arts House looks very fancy (photo copied from the iJAM blog), though I’m wondering how one could follow the entire event without getting a stiff neck from having to look sideways all the time towards the panelists! Of course this seating would be ideal for discussion among participants, so I guess this was the intention.
Based on what I hear my feeling is that the event didn’t entirely live up to the admittedly very high expectations of the organizers. But hey, it was a start. There will be much more to come and it’s exciting times for all of us who are passionate about this field.
So, recently EMI made what is probably a historic decision. The ENTIRE EMI CATALOG will henceforth be available on the iTunes music store in two versions: One with DRM, as usual, and one DRM-free, with a higher bitrate and with a higher price tag. The decision is historic as it is not every day that a major label decides to drop DRM (or at least experiment with wide distribution of non-DRM’d music). It will be interesting to see where that takes them and whether more labels will follow in their footsteps. BoingBoing among others reported on the story.
From a related cnet article:
“Higher-quality music files, which will play on any computer and any digital-audio player, will not replace the copy-protected EMI music currently sold through iTunes. Rather, they will complement the standard 99-cent iTunes downloads and will be sold at a premium: $1.29 per song.
Consumers who have already purchased EMI tracks containing Apple’s FairPlay copy protection will be able to upgrade them to the premium version for 30 cents, EMI said. Full albums in DRM-free form can be bought at the same price as standard iTunes albums.”
Well, not all is bright and rosy on iTunes. Apparently Universal is considering moving out of the iTunes store! More on this (though not much more, as the reasons behind this move are not so clear) also from BoingBoing. Also, Warner is apparently known to be pro-DRM and are not happy with Steve Jobs’ recent calls for DRM-free music.
One thing’s for sure… the shakeup of the music industry we’ve been witnessing in the past few years is far from over. As a consumer I’m personally hoping for more EMI-like announcements, though labels will certainly weigh the pros and cons very carefully.
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