"It's All About Steam"

What do you mean, it's all about steam ? was what I thought to myself when considering how to write this post. So let's STEAM on to the post itself.

But before we do, here's a cracking live version of a related song by Peter Gabriel et al to set the scene (sorry, I'm a Muso by trade):-




Yesterday, about 35 invited guests spent a most enjoyable afternoon on the Maid Of The Loch, Loch Lomond’s Paddle Steamer. Many of us (McDawg included) incorrectly assumed that we would be setting sail on her, but alas, whilst she's in the water, she ain't sailing at the moment. But there are plans well underway to change that. Read on.



(Photo c/o The Maid's website)

The Maid Of The Loch website can be found here. This page on Wikipedia is also quite informative.

Before alighting The Maid, guests were welcomed by a very special guest "Wedgie" who was parked up just next to The Maid:-



This event was a triple birthday celebration. "Wedgie" has just turned 50 and it's owners, both 70. See this related previous McBlawg post.

As per the invitation, all attendees were aware that aside from all the celebtrations, there was a fundraising for a good cause aspect to the days proceedings, and they gave generously, I am reliably informed.



After a rather superb lunch, McDawg nipped off to explore all three decks of The Maid, taking photos suitable for both private and public viewing. My favourite for public viewing is this shot of The Queen's Restaurant on the lower deck:-



Prior to everyone leaving The Maid, I caught up and introduced myself to Marie, who was our tip-top catering assistant for the afternoon. I explained that I was a blogger and would blogging about The Maid and tagging the post to highlight her (The Maid, not Marie - LOL) in the blogosphere. "Every little helps", as we discussed. The Maid whilst aquired by Dumbarton District Council in 1992, is very much in the hands of "a charitable organisation, the Loch Lomond Steamship Company (LLSC), to take over ownership and carry on restoration".

From this page, "Directors and volunteers are unpaid and LLSC has no staff. Yet this dedicated group have turned the Maid from a hulk in danger of sinking at the pier in 1992, into a successful business by 2001. Fortunately the Maid is in fresh water, so her hull is sound. Her steam machinery is also in good condition, and with further work can be made to operate for another 50 years. The original boiler was in a very poor condition, and had to be removed. Her wooden promenade and upper decks were so badly rotten they were replaced in 1996/7 with steel and aluminium respectively".



Oh yeah, the STEAM bit.

Just prior to departure from the car park, McDawg's Uncle Robbie (let's call him McRobbie) spotted something McDawg hadn't seen the last time he was here. (A drum-roll please - this is usually appropriate) The Balloch Steam Slipway Winchhouse !!


From here:- "Come and see us! You will be amazed at the engineering. The Winchhouse has not ever been opened to the public before, and our display panels will tell you everything you need to know. Parking is just 100 metres away and is also free".

McDawg & McRobbie entered the building JUST after it was due to close for the day. Whilst the machinery had just been powered down for the day, man it was rather hot in there.





"The rebuilding of the Balloch Steam Slipway is a major success for LLSC. Firstly, the project was completed to budget (at £620,000, and LLSC has no staff – we are all volunteers). Secondly, we were honoured to have a Royal visit; and thirdly it means that we can now seriously plan for the Maid to be overhauled ready for being brought back into sailing condition again. Without the slipway, this would not have been possible as any survey must include inspection to the hull, paddles, etc".

Whilst I didn't realise it at the time, the following shot (taken from the upper deck of The Maid) captures the steamhouse and slipway rather nicely even though I had zoomed in on the foreground activities.




All in all, a smashing day out and I think it's rather fitting to end on this note (from here):-

Maid To Sail Again!

"2008 was our best year so far: We secured MCA approval for the maid to sail again. An independent economic study demonstrated that an operational Maid would be viable; and we put two new aluminium masts on the ship. We also completed the renovation of the engine room with new lighting, and the complete refurbishment of the lower bar. Photos of both achievments are on the ‘Restoration’ page.

This year’s targets include concluding our plans for a public appeal for funds to get the Maid sailing again, adaptation of the Balloch Steam Slipway to take private boats out of the water for overhaul, renovation of the ship’s old crew accomodation, and painting the hull from bow to stern".

++Just spotted++. This is a superb piece of computer generated animation/graphics uploaded by Maxmodeller in Jan 2008

"The Maid of the Loch is currently undergoing a complete renovation and this sequence was produced as an educational aid whilst the engine is rebuilt". Maxmodeller, Jan. 2008.

"There's Something About Sarah"

"The advert was deemed to distressed to be broadcast"


There's Something About Sarah - Chapter One

So there I was. Stepped off the train from my daily commute to and from Queens Park and Glasgow Central Station, albeit at the weekend, working overtime.

Since the train was lengthier than normal (due to a certain Take That gig at Hampden Park that evening), one alighted the train at a part of the platform I rarely have navigated before.

And that’s where and when it struck me and prompted this post. 15.27 pm, Saturday 20th June 2009 to be precise.



Hang on a minute. I actually know the person featured on this poster. Blimey. How did that happen – what’s the story?

A billboard that normally is posted with adverts for fizzy drinks and all sorts of various advertising shite-ola.

My journey home (2 min walk) continued as usual, but I was understandably most perplexed. So I did what I would normally do, and logged onto the web for informationz.

The person in question was none other than Ms. Sarah Ezekiel, an individual I have had contact with via PatientsLikeMe, Facebook, and now, email.

But just who is Ms. Sarah Ezekiel readers of this post may ask. Previous post on McBlawg here.

Sarah is an extremely active individual who other than looking after her two children (Eric now 9 and Aviva, 12 years old) campaigns tirelessly in terms of raising awareness about Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Chapter Two

When I got into my flat and logged onto the web, and specifially, PatientsLikeMe - ALS, a theme was clearly already well under construction.



"Have to post this photo taken by my carer in Tottenham Court Road tube station! The irony is that I may never see it because London Transport isn't very accessible for wheelchair users..." Sarah Ezekiel - Jun 13, 2009 04:26PM

Chapter Three

"Our Sarah's Story awareness campaign is being promoted on national billboard space for two weeks, thanks to the generous support of CBS Outdoor media.

The poster campaign aims to raise awareness of MND and encourage visitors to www.sarahsstory.org.uk

The campaign will run for two weeks from 15 June. This means that the second week coincides with our MND Awareness Week (20 – 28 June).

There will be 48 sheet posters on 18 London Underground poster sites in zone one and over 80 mainline railway station sites right across England, Wales and Scotland.

This is the first time that the MND Association and MND Scotland have developed a joint awareness campaign".

LATEST: Some posters will remain at stations. View the Sarah's Story mainline poster sites beyond 28 June (13 kb) London Underground poster sites beyond 28 June (9 kb)

Chapter Four

In January, I placed a link to the video, Sarah's Story on FriendFeed. On 23rd June, I updated that entry to alert people to the fact that I was writing another blog post about it and asked people to consider leaving a comment. Follows the interesting discussion that took place.



Here is the poster in question (click to enlarge):-



As displayed in the above FriendFeed thread, the poster, the media and over the internet, the video has evoked wide ranging reactions.

Sarah has now created her own website and blog (coming soon).

Finally, I would like to publicly thank Sarah for her assitance in composing this post and for her continued role as an active patient advocate in the field of MND.

MEAK UK - Three Peak Challenge

Raising money for
Medical And Educational Aid To Kenya
Charity Registration No. 1093115

"MEAK provide medical and educational supplies to Kenya as well as carrying out open heart surgery in Nairobi on sick children using a team of medics recruited from Guys and St Thomas' Hospital, who all provide their services free of charge. It also runs eye camps in remote areas of Kenya".





Welcome to the MEAK Three Peak Challenge 2009.

MEAK made history, on the 19th of May by carrying out a rare and complicated open heart procedure on a 6-month old boy, the first operation of its kind to take place in all of East Africa. Some of the money raised from this page went towards that Heart Mission.

"We are now home and safe after our successful attempt at the Three Peaks. It was a fantastic experience with many challenges, one of which was the travelling for hours in a mini bus with a sat nav directing us the long way around the country. the lack of sleep for over 24 hours but the hardest and most scary part was hiking up Scarfell Pike in the driving rain, high winds and in the dark. We only had head torches to see where we were going. We must have been crazy"!


Thank you from the challenge team, MEAK and of course the children.

Please keep giving - we need more money.

We are attempting the National (UK) Three Peak Challenge on June 11th-13th 2009 in aid of MEAK. ++UPDATE - THEY'VE DONE IT++

Medical and Educational Aid to Kenya was founded 14 years ago by a dynamic British couple, Mike and Dee Belliere, after they fell in love with Kenya and its people. Their mission and passion is to establish and execute medical and educational based programs across Kenya and bring a positive awareness about this extraordinary country. New Yorker Jess Atkins discovered MEAK on the web and after one Mission found that she had to help MEAK and joined the team. Their renowned international medical teams lend their time and expertise, without charge, to save Kenyan lives, and provide a better quality of life for thousands, with an additional focus on sharing knowledge and training with the local staffs. MEAK donates large quantities of medical consumables to our many affiliate partners in Kenya.

MEAK HEART MISSION SEEKS to work in tandem with the local medics, share knowledge and training, and execute free screening clinics for children with pediatric heart conditions. They then operate on those patients that are in a critical condition.
It is said that MEAK is now responsible for about 25% of all of East Africa’s annual pediatric heart operations. To date, MEAK has completed 10 heart missions, screened 1,741 patients, and performed 196 operations. The charity also carries out eye missions to remote parts of Kenya.

The MEAK Three Peak Challenge team as been organised by Graham Sewell, Trevor Harrison-Phipps and Serge Janssens.

The people involved and who are looking for sponsorship as a joint event are as follows:

1

Alistair Sinclair

Hiker

2

Andy Woodard

Hiker

3

Bill Tebbitts


Team Leader

4

Carl Dalton

Hiker

5

Chris Christopher

Hiker

6

Christopher Nichols

Hiker

7

Damien Sainte-Cluque

Hiker

8

Darren Smith

Hiker

9

Gary Roberts

Hiker

10

Graham Sewell

Organiser / Driver

11

Ian Rhodes

Hiker

12

John Rogers

Hiker

13

Joyce Sewell

Catering

14

Lee McCready

Hiker

15

Michael Dunbar

Hiker

16

Michael Sewell

Backup Driver

17

Mike Fels

Charity Ambassador / Driver

18

Neil Newing

Driver

19

Richard Knight

Hiker

20

Ryan Duane

Hiker

21

Sam Young

Hiker

22

Serge Janssens

Project Manager / Hiker

23

Tony Blyth

Team Leader

24

Trevor Harrison-Phipps


Filmmaker / Hiker

25


Yogi Foottit


Hiker

We are aiming to walk up Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike in one day to then rest over night before attempting Snowdon on the second day. We are not attempting this challenge over 24 hours because of safety issues, the money we raise is for MEAK not for Mountain helicopter rescue. This challenge will be of endurance, hardship and probably quite a bit of pain but if we can fund a heart mission then it will be well worth it.

Thanks for visiting our fundraising page.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Medical And Educational Aid To Kenya gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

Please be as generous as you can because for 20,000 pounds sterling we could fund a heart mission to Kenya and save childrens lives, please sponsor us now!

Trevor Harrison-Phipps will be filming the challenge as he is currently making a documentary about MEAK. For more information about MEAK please visit : www.meak.org

Thank you in advance.

The MEAK Three Peak Challenge.

"I am a Librarian"

And thank you muchly to @pfanderon for sharing this gem, spotted here on FriendFeed.

"There's Evian, then there's tap water"

"I've always felt that personal use (ie among you, your family and friends) should be totally unrestricted". Thomas Dolby 2007

--

Some interesting recent discussions about "Fair Use" in the blogosphere.





Also see this post on the i9606 blog and Paper Chase by Craig Powell over at Nature Network.

These and other similar discussions will continue. The stark reality however with regards to p2p file sharing in terms of PDF's is that this has been happening for years and in my own experience, 90% of Authors that I contact seeking a copy of a PDF results in the file being shared. IMHO, services such as Mendeley provide a means to an end to do this (as in sharing PDF's) in a much more structed manner.



--



One of McDawg's musical hero's, Thomas Dolby thoughts about "Fair Use" in terms of music can be found here on his blog:-

Posted 2/15/2007
Q: Thomas,
The ubiquitous mix tape (well, the mix CD now.) It's a staple of fledgling romances all over the planet. People mix up music from their collections, make a compilation, and send it off as a token of love, affection, or misguided passion... I know you, like many musicians, have strong feelings about the illegal reproduction of your music. But what do you say to those folks who want to zap off their emotions in a happy jumble of songs? Is the mix CD evil? Or should it be seen as a way to expand an artist's audience (while helping some hapless romantic express himself?)
-Nancy

A: I've always felt that personal use (ie among you, your family and friends) should be totally unrestricted. That's the best way to share music, and to discover it. But there's clearly a huge moral difference between personal use, and wholesale mass pirating, duplication and distribution, to anonymous millions of Internet users. The challenge is, how to fairly use technology or legislation to allow the one and prevent the other? It's almost impossible to draw the line. And historically, the lobbyists, litigators, and politicians have been way behind the curve.

It takes decades for copyright law to catch up with technology, by which time technology has moved on. This struggle has been going on since the printing press--not to mention audio recording, broadcasting, piano rolls, jukeboxes, cable TV and cassette tapes. While I have always fought against people who disregard the copyright notice on my records and go ahead and rip my music for the purpose of sharing it via illegal P2P networks, I am the first to admit that a certain proportion of music should be and always has been free.

As musicians we need to give out free samples, to get the audience hooked so they will come back for more. It's the drug dealer model! To that end, we produce music at our own expense and give it to radio stations who make money of the advertising revenue; we produce videos that we give to MTV so they can sell ads to Nike and American Express; we do this to get wide exposure so new fans can discover our music. Without that there will be no demand for any kind of for-sale product. And the Internet is the most effective method yet of getting that exposure. So clearly we need to embrace it. This is a tough time because we're still at a cusp.

In the end I believe it will all settle down--music will be cheap and easy enough to buy, that the convenience of obtaining music legally will outweigh the few cents you save by pirating it. There's Evian, then there's tap water :)

Classic Car to Reach the Arctic Circle

When asking someone where they will be spending their summer holidays, you probably would not expect the Arctic Circle to be their answer. Right?


View Larger Map

But for one couple, that’s exactly where they will be heading – and to make it an even more incredible journey, they will be making their way there in a 50-year-old Morris Minor known as ‘Wedgie’.


(Photo c/o Alison McCallum, Eastwood Extra)

But the convertible's adventurous owners, John and Sheena Steel, have no qualms about making the trip.

John and Sheena who both celebrate their 70th birthdays this year, will embark on the three-week trip through Denmark, Sweden and Norway in memory of a friend who died in March last year.

"I've always wanted to visit Norway and the trip, which is a special one for us, is in aid of Strathcarron Hospice where a close family friend was cared for" said Sheena.

The trip is the latest in a tradition for the couple who have enjoyed holidays in the 1960s convertible:-

2004 to Austria included Belgium, France, Germany, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. Total distance 3,400 miles.



2005 to Spain and Portugal included the Pilgrims Route (Comino) from Pamplona to Santiago-de-Compostela. Also Lisbon and Northern Spain including the Picos Mountains. Total distance 4,553 miles.

2006 to Croatia included Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Total distance 4,000 miles.



But this latest outing differs from past adventures with caution thrown to the wind, the top rolled down on Wedgie and the intrepid travellers driving off with nothing more than ferry crossings confirmed.

John said: "These aren't holidays, they're adventures. The car was bought as a second car in 1971 and it never really went anywhere. The car has only done 85,000 (miles), which is nothing for how old it is.”

"We just choose a country, book the ferry, pack the car and head off. It saves all sorts of hanging around in airports."

For this and future adventures, McDawg can exclusively reveal that Wedgie is now equipped with a robust on-board Sat Nav system which IMHO makes Wedgie the first Morris Minor that I am aware of to have such technology added to it’s dashboard.



"I've always wanted to visit Norway and the trip, which is a special one for us, is in aid of Strathcarron Hospice where a close family friend was cared for."

But first, the cream-coloured Wedgie must undergo (and pass) its latest MoT – and it did.

John explained: "This isn't a vintage car, it's used like our other car — a Peugeot 307."

Wedgie's only once let them down on their travels, in Bosnia, and even then plodded on to Germany before having to be towed to the ferry at Zeebrugge.

Other travellers' tales with Wedgie include the time John and Sheena were mistakenly ushered into a vintage car show as participants in Slovenia but ended up helping another Morris owner find spare parts.

Impressively Sheena says: "We went right over The Alps in it, up the Grossglockner Pass among glaciers at two and a half kilometres above sea level.





"There were cars steaming up and breaking down at the roadside — we just zipped up no problem. Bikers at the top couldn't believe we made it."

Sheena added: "We've no reason to worry; it's proven capable in the past. It's so comfortable and people always stop to admire it."

The well-travelled pair then decided they would use this opportunity to give back to Strathcarron Hospice in Denny, which had taken care of their close friend in his final days.



Sheena said: “Our friend died in the hospice a year ago in March so we thought it would be nice to give them something back.”


John added: “A lot of money goes to cancer research but people who get cancer still need help. The hospice is all funded by donations and help from the public and they really looked after our friend.”

The couple have been embarking on some fundraising activities before they set on their Arctic adventure.

To support the fundraising and make a donation go to www.strathcarronhospice.org or call +44 1324 826222

--

Above story adapted/given a 2.0 semantic make-over from here.

--

Declaration - John is my Father and Sheena is my Step-Mother

Open Scholarship - 2008 talk by Melissa Hagemann of the Open Society Institute (OSI)

About OSI

--



via Michael Geist then via Open Access News

Wine Flu

Can one imagine my contesting bewilderment when this UK Government Leaflet came through my letterbox earlier today......



A) I don't drink much wine
B) I/We do however have a communal cellar
C) Thanks for the advice anyway, UK Gov - I/we are well prepared for an outbreak of wine flu.

I can haz this.....

Open Source Science - Podcast

The following is (with a light mash-up) from the award winning A World of Possibilities website.

Open Source Science



(image source)

The outbreak of potential pandemics has driven home the urgent need for more rapid responses to public health threats. In order to respond more effectively, we need to create a more open system for the exchange of vital health information. Medical and scientific research pioneers are laying the foundation for a global health commons to accelerate the pace and effectiveness of crucial discoveries.

Guests:
Marty Tenenbaum, Chairman and Chief Scientist, CollabRx



Joint Interview with Gavin Yamey, Senior Editor PLoS Medicine, Public Library of Science




and Peter Jerram, Chief Executive Officer, Public Library of Science






(Click on a guest's name to listen to their full unedited interview.)

Credits:
Host: Mark Sommer
Senior Producer: Gregg McVicar
Associate Producers: Naihma Deady, Matt Fidler
Production Engineer: Michael Schwartz
Remote Engineers: Scott Cutty, Craig Sherod
Music in this program: Open - "Afterglow" - Aaron Parks - Blue Note; "A United Earth I" - Alan Stivell and Youssou N'Dour - Putumayo World Music; "Weird Science" - Oingo Boingo - MCA; "Them Bones" - Eddie Kirk - Rhino Atlantic; "She Blinded Me With Science" - Thomas Dolby - Capitol.

This program was funded by listeners like you.

Duration: 55:00 minutes

Take Action: For more information on this topic and to learn more about how to get involved click here.

Click to Listen


RT @BoraZ

Auto tune the news: Making the news sing

One week ago, YouTube went offline for a minute or so.



Moments later, it re-appeared and thanks to the short intermission, this nugget was flagged up on Twitter by Dave Munger to celebrate normal service being resumed.



McDawg loves creative remixes and the use of vocoder in particular on this one is rather impressive, IMO.

For more background info., check this TIME piece.

Pull-quote:- "Of course, Auto-Tune doesn't work on everyone. Hillary Clinton still sounds like a robot".

Lyrics:
RM: This was a pretty remarkable week on the gay marriage front
First of all, to have a state like Iowa
MG: Whatchoo tryna say about Iowa
RM: Not the east coast state
MG: East coast
RM: Not the left coast state
MG: Left coast
RM: In a decision written by a republican appointee
MG: shawty, now you sounding so fine
Give me your number, we can bump and grind
Talkin about politics all night
Leavin the club in the mornin light
If we get carred away
We might get gay-married today
KC: We just heard from some of our viewers who strongly support legalizing marijuana
MG: Shawty, 5 of those calls was from me
KC: Do you think we should legalize pot alone or all drugs, including heroine, cocaine, and meth?
MG: My brain says no, but my body says yes!
AG: I’m an angry gorilla. I heard you needed me (ooh ooh ah ah)
SH: Now that Captain Phillips has been successfully rescued
The president has decided to step in front of the spotlight
AG: Ooh, I’m angry! You can’t see it, but my forehead’s veiny
SH: And even take some credit for the rescue
AG: Well, don’t you worry, baby boo
You’ll always have an angry gorilla to be angry with you
That’s what I do. Just ask Donkey Kong. He’s in my crew
KC: At the North Pole, new satellite photos show arctic ice is melting so fast
AG: Oh snap, how fast?
KC: Many scientists now believe it will be gone within 30 years
AG: Surely you jest! I’m under cardiac arrest, shawty
KC: Some researchers think it could disappear in just six
AG: Shit!
KC: Without it there could be a snowball effect
AG: Oh
KC: With temperatures rising even faster
If we all don’t take bold action and take it fast
AG: Yeah,
Both: We will find ourselves on very thin ice
MG: Tell em, Hillary, pirates on very thin ice
HC: These pirates are criminals
They are armed gangs on the sea
MG: That means the ocean
HC: The United States does not make concessions
Or ransom payments to pirates
…
MG: Hello, shawty, we can meet up at the mall
Browse around at the bookstore
Mentally ball until we fall

Source

'The Force' Needs You

Q: Just how many Jedi's are there here in the United Kingdom?

A: The 2001 survey said:- "390,000 Jedis There Are".

Background information to the above can be accessed here via Directgov - the official government website for citizens

"Seven people in every thousand in England and Wales gave their religion as 'Jedi' in the 2001 Census".

"The Census form's question on religion - the only question where a response was not compulsory - offered a series of tick-boxes for the major religions in the UK (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh); a tick-box for 'none'; and a free space to write in 'any other religion'. This was the first time a religion question was included in a Census".

Whilst I was and remain a Padawan (a Jedi apprentice), I was tipped off about this, and opted for "Jedi". No-one had any idea at the time of course as to how many Jedi Knights and Padawan's there were in the UK.

2009

A number of interesting reports in the news media (here) and blogosphere (here) over the last week have homed in on "Glasgow's Finest", aka Strathclyde Police for some reason !!







Jedi Knight PC Fleming from Glasgow was the first (of at least 8) within "The Force" of Strathclyde Police to reveal their identity in public over the last 24 hours.





Stealing some blurb from one such report today:-

Meet PC Pam Fleming, the first serving police officer to come forward and admit being a Jedi copper.

PC Fleming, who has patrolled the streets of Glasgow for the past 23 years, emerged – lightsaber in hand – to say: 'I'm a Jedi and I'm proud.'

She even admitted to using Jedi mind tricks during interviews with suspects in 'an effort to achieve the truth', although she tells industry magazine Police Review that she does not use 'The Force' to influence what suspects say or do.

Jedi mind tricks are used in the Star Wars movies by Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Sir Alec Guinness, to 'influence the minds of weak-minded sentient beings'.

PC Fleming, one of ten workers at Strathclyde Police who have listed their religion as Jedi, said her faith helped her 'fight crime and disorder on Glasgow's streets'.

'Being a Jedi is a way of life,' said the 45-year-old. 'For me, it is not a joke. I love the Star Wars films and the concept of being a Jedi.

--

Side Salad...., quoting from Google News:-

According to Britain's Office for National Statistics, a total of 390,000 people in England and Wales listed their religion as Jedi in the most recent census in 2001. Scotland has a reported 14,000 followers.


But it noted that this may have been largely due to an Internet campaign launched in the run-up to the census. Jedi followers are grouped under atheist.

--

Unrelated-ish



Flickr source


If you would like to join The (Strathclyde Police) Force, please do check oot the Recruitment Section of the Strathclyde Police Website. They are recruiting right now.

Quote

As Scotland's largest police force – covering 5,371 miles with a population of approximately 2.2 million people - we're constantly looking to match our resources with the needs of our communities.

That's why we're currently in the middle of a major recruitment drive for both special and regular police officers. We will recruit over 800 new officers during this financial year together with a large number of special constables. If you're interested in joining us on the frontline, check out our police officers and special constables sections.

Prometeus - "The Media Revolution" inc. 'Me the Media'

H/T straight away to Gerd Leonhard for flagging this up 5th June 2008.

--

April 4th 2009, Gerd left a Tweet which showed up on FriendFeed.

That was my introduction to this most stimulating free download e-book "Me the Media" written by Jaap Bloem, Menno van Doorn and Sander Duivestein which I'm skimming through at the moment. McDawg is a slow reader.



If you want buy a physical copy of the book for about 20 bucks, go here.

OK. So shooting forward towards the end of the book, I wanted to flag up the following section.

If you would rather watch this fraction, rather than read, there are two YouTube videos.

PART ONE

PART TWO

----------

The main reason for writing this post was to quote the following and possibly, obtain some thoughts/comments from teh blogosphere.

ENDS

---------

The Prometeus scenario is undeniably science fiction. At the same time, it contains the following elements that are more than plausible.


--

All started with the Media Revolution, with Internet, at the end of the last century. Everything related to the old media vanished: Gutenberg, the copyright, the radio, the television, the publicity.

--

The old world reacts: more restrictions for the copyright, new laws against non
authorized copies. Napster, the music peer to peer company is sued.
At the same time, free Internet radio appears; TIVO, the Internet television, allows
to avoid publicity; the Wall Street Journal goes on line; Google launches
Google news.

--

Millions of people read daily the biggest on line newspaper. OhmyNews written by
thousands of journalists; Flickr becomes the biggest repository in the history of
photos, YouTube for movies. The power of the masses.

--

A new figure emerges: the prosumer, a producer and a consumer of information.
Anyone can be a prosumer.

--

The news channels become available on Internet. The blogs become more influential
than the old media. The newspapers are released for free. Wikipedia is the most
complete encyclopedia ever.

--

In 2007 Life magazine closes. The NYT sells its television and declares that the future is digital. BBC follows.

--

In the main cities of the world people are connected for free. At the corners of the
streets totems print pages from blogs and digital magazines. The Virtual Worlds
are common places on the Internet for millions of people.

--

A person can have multiple on line identities. Second Life launches the vocal avatar.
The old media fight back.

--

A tax is added on any screen; newspapers, radios and televisions are financed by
the State; illegal download from the Web is punished with years of jail.

--

Around 2011 the tipping point is reached: the publicity investments are done on the Net. The electronic paper is a mass product: anyone can read anything on plastic paper.

--

In 2015 newspapers and broadcasting television disappear, digital terrestrial is abandoned, the radio goes on the Internet.

--

The media arena is less and less populated. Only the Tyrannosaurus Rex survives.
The Net includes and unifies all the content. Google buys Microsoft. Amazon
buys Yahoo! and become the world universal content leaders with BBC, CNN
and CCTV.

--

The concept of static information—books, articles, images—changes and is transformed into knowledge flow.

--

The publicity is chosen by the content creators, by the authors and becomes information, comparison, experience.

--

In 2020 Lawrence Lessig, the author of Free Culture, is the new U.S. Secretary of Justice and declares that copyright is illegal.

--

Devices that replicate the five senses are available in the Virtual Worlds. The reality could be replicated in Second Life.

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Any one has an Agav (agent-avatar) that finds information, people, places in the
Virtual Worlds. In 2022 Google launches Prometeus, the Agav standard interface.

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Amazon creates Place, a company that replicates reality. You can be on Mars, at the
battle of Waterloo, at the Super Bowl as a person. It’s real.

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In 2027 Second Life evolves into Spirit. People become who they want. And share the memory. The experiences. The feelings. Memory selling becomes a normal trading.

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In 2050 Prometeus buys Place and Spirit. Virtual life is the biggest market on the planet. Prometeus finances all the space missions to find new worlds for its customers: the terrestrial avatar. Experience is the new reality.