OhmyNews publish report, found by Google News

OhmyNews have accepted my report on Animated Exeter, written from a definite point of view moaning about the lack of space for things digital.

OhmyNews is a site for 'citizen reporting'. Anyone can contribute. In Korea there are tens of thousands of citizen reporters so they get a range of views on any event. So far there not so many reporters for the English language version. So it would be good if more people sent in their own take on animation events.

I will probably try to do a story around Assembly in the summer and Sundown in the autumn. Much better if other people did one or two. My knowledge of the demoscene is pretty limited.

I will also try to imagine an Animated Exeter in 2007 or later with more integration regarding digital content and methods. The Phoenix did have wifi last week for example but not much use was made of it.

Ogg Vorbis, more guidance

Responding to an earlier problem, Ben Green from Bristol Wireless has sent some help

"Can't really give you guide other that download winamp from winamp.com,
which now does ogg out of the box. It's not open source but it is okay.

It is fine to remove DivX when you install the k-lite codec pack, as it
does re-install another handler, another version of DivX. It will also
install Xvid which will do just fine for DivX too.

There is also VLC from videolan.org, though this is more advanced and
trickier to use."

In my own case an earlier attempt seems to be working ok. I can listen to Ogg streams with Media Player. The only problem now is that I was misinformed as to what sort of music happens on a Wednesday at the Chelsea. Not really jazz, more a singer / songwriter night. You can do 'covers' but original songs seem to be better thought of. I am trying to interest people at the Globe in Exeter. Maybe more will tune in next week.

Games as learning

Found this blog through a blog link from Epic thinking. Epic send out a lot of email but it has a lot of content.

Brigadoon is a use of a game to encourage learning in groups.

So games are a lot more than just 'text' for the purposes of study.

Maybe I am in the wrong blog. Something continues at "learning with ISO 9000" - learn9log.

Very soon there will almost certainly be another real life site for Life Bytes. There is a phone number 01392 214214. with a bit more conversation there could be some integration and clarity.

help please - how to listen to Ogg Vorbis?

This blog is mostly about animation but the music video form has resulted in a crossover dialogical space and anyway Vibraphonic has already started. As we all know the radio is on the web

http://icecast.commedia.org.uk:8000/vibraphonic.mp3.m3u

This could be useful in 'wi-fi Exeter' but is really not much different to a portable radio. Maybe we need to benchmark on Bristol Wireless to work out what else to do.

According to the Radio Vague website there should be some jazz tonight from the Chelsea in Bristol.

http://live1.radiovague.com:8000/chelsea.ogg

Now that "ogg" is a bit different to "mp3" and so you may need slightly different software.

There needs to be a wide discussion about Open Source. This is great in many ways and some people insist on it for good reasons. However it can be mysterious. If you are one of those people like me who use windows and has a copy of Windows Media Player then according to the Radio Vague website you need to download the K-Lite Codec Pack 2.27 Full.Several links later it turns out that the version abvailable is 2.49. When I try to load this it tells me that it also copes with DivX and suggests uninstalling current DivX software. Not sure about this, I am really getting into areas where I'm not sure why some stuff works some of the time.

Would somebody write a simple guide based on a recent test as to how to listen to a .OGG stream starting from Windows?

Radio Vague hosts a stream from Resonance FM that can be tested

http://live1.radiovague.com:8000/resonancefm.ogg

Not that Resonance is just a test site, simply that it would be good to have the software sorted before the jazz broadcast from the Chelsea.

If you do get this to work and live in Exeter, there could be an informal meeting soonn at the Globe. In theory wi-fi and streaming media have potential but there need to be some credible reports of case studies before there will be much investment in technology.

Photos from Games Day

http://www.acrobat-services.co.uk/animation/gd.html

photos

I have bought a season ticket for Japanese films so there may not be much posted till Wednesday.

Games Day

Welcome developments during the Games Day

Games are now "an emergent artform" . More later on talk by Emma Westecott from the International Film School of Wales.

During the day, IT Games linked a PS2 to the projector and got a big screen effect with Shadow of the Colossus. No copis left in the shop on North Street but there be some more by Tuesday.

They also suggest a previous game called ICO

http://www.icothegame.com/en_GB/index.htm

http://www.shadowofthecolossus.com/

IT Games 01392 410291 17, North St Exeter
Devon EX4 3QS

draft article - expanded diagram

I have done a draft article on Animated Exeter and digital fringe for OhmyNews.

General impression is that analogue is still most of what is going on.
Digital fringe may come later when Life Bytes opens on Sidwell Street.

Please add anything as a comment. Quotes or suggestions.
Probably to be sent off around Tuesday.

There is now an updated diagram linking content and bandwidth. there
is enough content to validate wifi in Exeter, but it could be anywhere
anytime so something may happen later.

http://www.inxpress.co.uk/castle/diagfeb.html

Touch - new music video and critique

Two welcome events
Paul Gillard has put up a Flash version of a recent

music video

intended as a Podcast. I did try out iTunes but it did not work so well. Maybe it was just me.

The track is Touch by PublicSymphony

Ruairi Fullam has done a critique on this, comparing it with the demoscene. Ruairi organised the Sundown event in Budleigh last year. There will probably be another in October.

Critique:

"Paul's choice of palettes and effects can't be faulted, however to the
seasoned cgi / demoscene enthusiast a lack of synchronization and effect
re-use would be a primary criticism. Despite this, the production makes
up for itself by being an enjoyable and intriguing watch with some
smooth soft neon coffee-swirl effects topped with an excellent chill-out
soundtrack by up and coming Public Symphony. The production also
features some tasteful plasma effects, Poser-esque CGI figures, and
delicately tuned movements and zooms at varying speeds that fit well
without feeling disorientating at all. A recommended production, only
improved possibly with a keener eye on synchronization which could
really add some beautiful abstract symbolism, in the same vein as Tesla
by Sunflower (http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=33). Recommended."

Testing dates

This is a check of how far back dates can go. The Animated Exeter official events go back about five years, I think. Internet Express was about ten years ago and the web had animated GIFs fairly early.

-------------------

oh dear, I'm sure an earlier version allowed you to edit the date.
As a QA auditor I am very impressed. However there is a mess of old web sites that could have been sorted out with a bit of time travel.

Demoscene TV

This site is till working fine

http://www.demoscene.tv/

Usually stuff from scene.org has a limited audience as the zip files have to be downloaded and then maybe some dll moved around. Then maybe there is an extra plugin required. next a message appears that hardware is not quite as expected.

Demoscene TV may need one or to extras but seems to work fine each time. Suggest trying it anyway. Latest stuff requires a meg or more but there is an 'old school' channel that works fine on half a meg.

Dial-up screens will have to stay with zip files from scene.org.