UPIU - A social media platform project of United Press International

A program by United Press International, Inc. (UPI), UPIU is a social
media platform that aims to bring together the voices of journalists,
academics, human rights reporters, public education professionals, and
bloggers.

http://www.upiu.com/
http://espanol.upiu.com/

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/UPIUcom/85736340946

Aspiring and Professional Journalists

http://www.upiu.com/contents/about_upiu
[excerpt]

A program by United Press International, Inc. (UPI), UPIU is a social
media platform that aims to bring together the voices of journalists,
academics, human rights reporters, public education professionals, and
bloggers. We want to see and hear your stories, and we want to share them
with the world. Your work can live beyond a professor's desk. Your expert
opinion can reach a mass audience beyond your peers. Coupled with citizen
journalism submissions, your story will include those parts of the story
that mainstream media misses.

More than just another social network, UPIU wants to harness the powers of
both traditional and emerging new media to bring the stories that matter
to the world's attention, beyond just the internet. Our editors constantly
review your submissions, seeking the stories that deserve global
attention. UPI will publish these stories, channeling your images, text,
and videos through print, radio, TV and other multimedia outlets
throughout the world.

Catapult your journalistic career. When you post your content, you can get
ratings and feedback to help you improve your writing. With the ability to
respond to content with your own content, you can both contribute and gain
insight. With an audience from all over the world, each member is an
opportunity to build your international professional network. And when UPI
publishes your work, you'll get the byline; you'll keep the copyright.

An Opportunity for Faculty

UPIU strives to help journalism, communications, and otherwise specialized
programs advance their students' and staffs' careers. We are constantly
seeking to feature quality university content, and if you seek increased
exposure and wish to promote your institution's profile, we look forward
to the opportunity to collaborate with you. Please contact the following
representatives to inquire about collaborating with UPIU:

* International, North America: Sonja Eberly, seberly@upi.com
* Asia/Oceania: Harumi Gondo, hgondo@upi.com
* Europe/Africa: Ted Iliff, tiliff@upi.com
* Latin America: Pablo Aguirre, paguirre@upi.com
* North America, Spanish Language: Juan Mata, jmata@upi.com

- - - -

UPI Stylebook

http://www.upiu.com/stylebook

- - - - -

Survey regarding the Preservation of Photo Metadata by Social Media Websites

"...The real and present danger is that by having your attribution
information removed (such as the creator/author field which indicates who
took the photograph, or the copyright notice field, or provider), the
service is creating potential "orphan works" of your property...."

The Controlled Vocabulary Survey regarding the Preservation of Photo
Metadata by Social Media Websites

Visit
http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/socialmedia/
for survey and other links not embeded in this e-mail

Overview
Do the social media websites or other image sharing services you use
preserve your embedded photo metadata after upload? The answer to that
question isn't clear, so we are conducting a survey of various services to
find out.

Digital images, saved in the JPEG format support the embedding of photo
metadata, and most social media sites support the uploading of JPEG
images. However, many of these social media services do not preserve this
information that you have taken the time to embed in your image files. In
some instances this information is removed on upload; in other cases, it
may preserved in the original uploaded file, but any images derived from
the original may no longer retain that same information.

As a result, anyone downloading an image of yours for reference may not
know where that image came from or who to contact, without at least some
basic information stored within the image file. Based on preliminary
survey data, the amount and type of embedded photo metadata preserved in
an image online varies. Much seems to depends on the type of server side
software they use and the type of image processing they are performing
when resizing, or creating thumbnails.

Some may claim they remove this information to decrease download time for
those viewing the images. Indeed, some social media services automatically
resize your uploaded images to a smaller size, as their primary concern is
to have your images take up less disk space. Since most do not charge any
membership fees, and the service is basically free, many users don't
complain, even if they are aware.This downsizing may make sense for the
service, but not for users of their service that are interested in
protecting their intellectual property. While your images may take up
fractionally less space on their servers by intentionally removing the
embedded photo metadata and/or ICC profile, the space savings is not
justifiable if the pixel dimensions remain the same.

The real and present danger is that by having your attribution information
removed (such as the creator/author field which indicates who took the
photograph, or the copyright notice field, or provider), the service is
creating potential "orphan works" of your property. In some instances the
service may only preserve the older "legacy" form of IPTC metadata, and
thus detailed contact information will be missing in any file that may be
downloaded for later reference.

New Tool for Online comment

Journalists and news outlets are accustomed to offering comments and criticisms about others, but they're not as used to being the subject of public comment themselves. In the online world, where technology can and does upend established relationships, journalists and online news outlets are joining the ranks of the commented-upon.

The shift has taken place due to the increased presence of commenting and feedback features on news websites, and partly thanks to the use of comment-friendly platforms such as WordPress. In these contexts, the news outlets have chosen to accept user comments, and they retain a certain amount of control over which ones appear on their site. Now, a new technology, Google's Sidewiki annotation tool, is poised to present a challenge to website owners, including news outlets, that attempt to control the interface between their site and end users. Suddenly, they won't have as much control over comments related to their content.

And that change in control might lead to some legal tussles down the road.

in reference to: MediaShift . Will Google Sidewiki Shift Control of Online Comments? | PBS (view on Google Sidewiki)

* BT boss has only broadband home *

* BT boss has only broadband home *

[excerpt]

British Telecom (BT) has admitted its chairman is the only person in a
village on the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire border with broadband.

Other people in Hambleden were told they could not have broadband because
of the distance to the exchange.

BT said Sir Michael Rake's connection was part of a trial of new
technology, and no company could afford to provide broadband to the area.

One local resident said it was not fair and that Sir Michael should resign.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/8386224.stm

IPI Fact-Finding Mission Reports on Ethiopian Press Freedom

-----------------------------------------
PRESS FREEDOM MISSIONS

5. ETHIOPIA: STATE INTERFERENCE IN MEDIA CONTENT; SHIFT IN MEDIA LAW

http://bit.ly/8nohL5

Despite some positive changes in media law, Ethiopian journalists operating
within state media have no editorial independence, says the International
Press Institute (IPI) after a recent fact-finding mission to Ethiopia.

After meetings with local media and the head of the Office of Government
Communication Affairs (OGCA), IPI learned that the OGCA involvement with
state media reinforces government influence. A document published in 2008
"invites the media to focus on developmental journalism and informs
journalists that they should focus on success stories." Some say the
document is an effort to curb media efforts to hold the government
accountable, reports IPI.

IPI expressed concern about an ongoing legal case in which several media
owners are trying to secure publishing licenses for political newspapers
shut down in 2005. According to IPI, the head of the OGCA said he was not
willing to award the licenses on the basis of supporting a pluralistic
media environment.

However, there have been positive developments. There has been support for
freedom of information laws as well as the removal of the authorities'
power to hold journalists in jail while pursuing an investigation.

IPI has made several recommendations. The government should: ensure the
proper development of public service media; recognise dissenting, plural
voices; resist the temptation to adopt practices of other countries without
first considering if they are in accordance with the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. IPI also urges the media to establish best practices for
its own credibility.

More on the web:
- IPI fact-finding mission reports on Ethiopian press freedom:
http://www.freemedia.at/startpage/singleview/ipi-fact-finding-mission-reports-on-ethiopian-press-freedom/164e15fb41/
--------------------------------------------------------

Amy Goodman grilled at Canada border crossing

U.S. journalist grilled at Canada border crossing
Officials demanded to know what she would say publicly about 2010 Olympics..
U.S. journalist Amy Goodman said she was stopped at a Canadian border crossing south of Vancouver on Wednesday and questioned for 90 minutes by authorities concerned she was coming to Canada to speak against the Olympics.

Goodman says Canadian Border Services Agency officials ultimately allowed her to enter Canada but returned her passport with a document demanding she leave the country within 48 hours.

Goodman, 52, known for her views opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, told CBC News on Thursday that Canadian border agents asked her repeatedly what subjects she would cover at scheduled speaking engagements in Vancouver and Victoria.

in reference to:

"grilled at Canada border crossing"
- CBC News - British Columbia - U.S. journalist grilled at Canada border crossing (view on Google Sidewiki)

IFEX members call for protection for women journalists and activists to mark day against violence

IFEX members call for protection for women journalists and activists to
mark day against violence

http://www.ifex.org/international/2009/11/25/women_journalists/

[excerpt]

The massacre and rape of at least four women journalists in the
Philippines this week is emblematic of the additional risks women
journalists face. That is why 40 IFEX members are marking the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women today, 25
November, with a joint call for action.

Spearheaded by the IFEX Gender Working Group, which is chaired by the
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the joint action calls
attention to the many women journalists who are targeted because of their
gender. They face a range of violations, including death threats,
abduction, physical attacks, including assaults, flogging and killings, as
well as sexual, verbal and judicial harassment.

This year, several women have been murdered or threatened with death for
speaking out against corruption and violations of human rights.

[...]

BBC braced for return to 'pre-digital' age as technology fails, MACs available for backup

Major phone and computer problems could cause havoc to BBC's breakfast
programmes

John Plunkett

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 November 2009 18.58 GMT

The BBC has been hit by a major technological breakdown affecting its
phone and computer networks that could cause chaos for the corporation's
news output and leave it marooned in a "pre-digital age".

Serious technical issues have caused problems across the corporation
today. One BBC insider described the situation as "absolutely chaotic" and
said there had been "major phone and computing problems over the past 72
hours or so".

[...]

In an email seen by MediaGuardian.co.uk, one BBC News editor told staff:
"Don't assume you'll have a normal start to the day. Either the network is
in a happy state, or you're walking into a pre-digital world.

"In a best-case scenario we will lose all outside connectivity - ie agency
feeds, lines, internet access etc.

[...]

The email said there would be "two Macs" in the BBC's Television Centre
newsroom in west London that had webmail and internet access via wi-fi in
case the computer system went down overnight.

[...]

Your Brain on Books

Your Brain on Books

Neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene explains his quest to understand how the
mind makes sense of written language By Stanislas Dehaene
Scientific American
November 17, 2009

[excerpt]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=your-brain-on-books

Stanislas Dehaene holds the chair of Experimental Cognitive Psychology at
the Collège de France, and he is also the director of the INSERM-CEA
Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit at NeuroSpin, France's most advanced
neuroimaging research center. He is best known for his research into the
brain basis of numbers, popularized in his book, "The Number Sense." In
his new book, "Reading in the Brain," he describes his quest to understand
an astounding feat that most of us take for granted: translating marks on
a page (or a screen) into language.
He answered questions recently from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook.

Ubuntu Studio. A multimedia creation flavor of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Studio. A multimedia creation flavor of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Studio is aimed at the GNU/Linux audio, video and graphic
enthusiast as well as professional.

We provide a suite of the best open-source applications available for
multimedia creation. Completely free to use, modify and redistribute. Your
only limitation is your imagination.

http://ubuntustudio.org/

Video editing with open source tools

Video editing with open source tools

http://www.digitalartistshandbook.org/node/35

"Mapping CCTV around Whitehall", 2008

"Mapping CCTV around Whitehall", 2008, is, as its name implies, a
performance of mapping Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) security cameras
around the UK's parliament in London and a video record of that
performance by Ambient.tv's Manu Luksch.

Starting with a HAL 9000-like image of a CCTV lens, the video of "Mapping
CCTV In Whitehall" has a glitchy techno aesthetic of sound and images with
a post-MTV-Style Guide reportage feel. The first half consists of a
recording of the police stop-and-search interviewing Luksch under
anti-terrorism legislation, with a map of the area superimposed. The
second half consists of CCTV views of the range of Camera number 40 being
taped out, and of the people caught within those bounds. Words flash on
the screen to identify the subjects of CCTV (....Artists! Sexy Arses!).
This redeployment of the language of mass media visual persuasion opens up
what we see rather than closing it down, making it a very effective
encapsulation of the project's ideas and aesthetics.

http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=366

UNESCO Guidelines for broadcasting regulation

These Guidelines seek to set out the main principles that underlie the
regulation of broadcasting and the aspects of broadcasting that can be
regulated. The book is aimed at governments and regulators and sets out
'best practice' as informed by an international analysis of what currently
is done.

(Source:UNESCO,2009)

PDF

http://zunia.org/index.php?id=11728&tx_dgcontent_pi1[tt_news]=292586&cHash=622040631d

or

http://bit.ly/NkKvi

Direct download URL
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183285e.pdf

The Role of New Media in the 2009 Iranian Elections

The Role of New Media in the 2009 Iranian Elections

This report discusses presentations and panel discussion in Washington,
DC, United States, on July 7 2009, in which new media practitioners, Iran
specialists, and interested observers attempted to clarify the role of new
media in the Iranian elections and the implications of these technologies
for future democratic movements. The report is the result of a Center for
International Media Assistance (CIMA) workshop in which approximately 150
people came together to discuss the impact of new communications
technologies in Iran...

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/304006/2754

Human Rights Reporting Handbooks for Journalists

Human Rights Reporting Handbooks for Journalists
This handbook collection was written to move forward the goal of the
organisation Journalists for Human Rights (jhr), which is to make everyone
in the world fully aware of their rights. "Creating rights awareness is
the first and most necessary step to ending rights abuses. By mobilizing
the media to spread human rights awareness, jhr informs people about human
rights, empowering marginalized communities to stand up, speak out and
protect themselves." jhr programmes promote Rights Media - the process of
writing, collecting, editing, producing, and distributing media that
create societal dialogue on human rights issues...
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/297008/2754

Twitter urges Murdoch to be open

Twitter urges Murdoch to be open
By Jonathan Fildes
Technology reporter, BBC News

[excerpt]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8368750.stm

Newspapers should become "radically open" if they want to make money in
the online world, the co-founder of social networking site Twitter has
said.

Biz Stone said that he would "love to see what happens" if newspaper mogul
Rupert Murdoch went ahead with plans to block Google from his websites.

"The future is in openness not [being] closed," he told the BBC.

Mr Murdoch recently said that search engines could not legally use
material such as headlines in search results.

Earlier this year, he said his News Corp business would start charging
customers for access to its websites.

News Corp owns the Times and Sun newspapers in the UK and the New York
Post and Wall Street Journal in the US.

Mr Stone said he should be allowed to "fail fast" with the proposal.

"They should be looking at this as an opportunity to try something
radically different and find out a way to make a ton of money from being
radically open rather than some money from being ridiculously closed," he
told an event organised by the National Endowment for Science, Technology
and the Arts (Nesta) in London.

Free Syllabics fonts Downloads (MAC & PC) plus keyboards

Free Syllabics fonts Downloads (MAC & PC)

Canadian Syllabics & Latin Scripts

Euphemia covers most languages which use the Canadian Syllabic script
including various Cree orthographies, Inuktitut and the historical
Carrier/Dakelh script (dulkw'ahke). Three fonts are available with free
end-user licences in TrueType-OpenType format (.ttf).

Pigiarniq, Uqammaq and the Inuktitut Keyboard Driver

Macintosh keyboards for Inuktitut are available with Mac OSX 10.3 or
later. They are compatible with both the version of Euphemia available
here as well as the version of Euphemia that comes with OSX, as well as
any other Unicode-encoded Inuktitut fonts or UCAS fonts. If you wish to
have the latest version, and/or a version of Euphemia that has the extra
features (smallcaps, old-style figures etc.) you can download the version
from this site.

http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/index.html

--
GEORGE LESSARD

Information & Media Specialist
6402135 Canada Inc.

451 Norseman Drive
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
X1A 2J1, Canada

Yellowknife Land Line # (867) 873-2662
Yellowknife Cell # (867) 445-9193

Online Business Card:
http://lessardcard.notlong.com

Home e-mail media@web.net
Alternate e-mail: mediamentor@gmail.com

Home Pages http://mediamentor.ca
Online Activities: http://www.web.ca/~media/index.html
Photos: http://photosbygeorge.notlong.com
My Public Bookmarks: http://del.icio.us/themediamentor

Member:
Canadian Association of Journalists http://www.caj.ca
Canadian Artists Representation / le Front des artistes canadiennes
http://www.carfac.ca/
Canadian Artists Representation Copyright Collective http://www.carcc.ca/

Flarf, the poetry of Googled search terms - thestar.com

Flarf, the poetry of Googled search terms - thestar.com

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/726499--flarf-the-poetry-of-googled-search-terms

Riddles; is curry an acid or a base; are dreads sexy; the difference
between a sea and an ocean; fish that clean other fish; the life and times
of Scrooge McDuck; what's my zip code; where does the money go? -By Kate
Dawson and Ori Barbut, from 'Searchbar History Vol. 1'

Worldwide Earthquake Notification Service

Worldwide Earthquake Notification Service

https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/

This system provides automated free email and email-based SMS text message
notification for worldwide earthquakes.

The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program Earthquake
Notification Service (ENS) is a customizable system provided free to
everyone. You can receive earthquake notifications for any earthquakes
located by the ANSS/NEIC (Advanced National Seismic System/National
Earthquake Information Center) in the U.S. and around the World.
Information for earthquakes in the U.S. is generally available within 5
minutes; information for earthquakes elsewhere in the World is generally
available within 30 minutes.

Customizable Options:

* Functional in English and Spanish
* Specify your local time zone
* Specify affiliation
* Aftershock exclusion option
* Update Notifications option
* Defer Notifications option
* Add, remove, or change multiple email addresses (up to 15)
* Define multiple notification profiles
* Activate/Deactivate each profile individually
* Set notification magnitude thresholds for night and day hours
* Receive emails in 3 formats: long, short (for pagers and cell
phones), and raw CUBE format messages.
* Create a notification profile region from a list of predefined regions
* Create a rectangular profile region from four specified lat/lon points
* Specify a circular profile region from a center point and radius, or
pick it on a map
* Make a custom polygon profile region by picking points on a map, or
uploading XML
* Select seismic networks to receive events from (scientists only;
default is to receive from all networks)
* Remove profiles
* Manage/Delete account

NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians

NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians - To enroll as a
virtual Martian citizen and start exploring, visit

http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/welcome

This site was created under a Memorandum of Understanding between
NASA/JPL-Caltech and Microsoft.