The UK Soundmap project: mapping Britain's sonic environment
"The SoundMap is a partnership project of the British Library and the Noise Futures Network. It uses widely available mobile technology in a novel way to capture and aggregate research-quality audio samples. Your recordings will be studied by experts from the Noise Futures Network and we shall post an overview of the research results once sufficient data has been collected and analysed.
Britain's sonic environment is ever changing. Urbanisation, transport developments, climate change and even everyday lifestyles all affect our built and natural soundscapes. The sounds around us have an impact on our well being. Some sounds have a positive or calming influence. Others can be intrusive and disturbing or even affect our health. By capturing sounds of today and contributing to the British Library's digital collections you can help build a permanent researchable resource."
(The British Library Board)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Pioneering colour photography showing everyday Russian life
"Three young women offer berries to visitors to their izba, a traditional wooden house, in a rural area along the Sheksna River, near the town of Kirillov."
(Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA)
[The photograph was created by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in 1909 as part of his survey of the Russian Empire. The image was created using an early 3-colour technique and was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II.]
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Most video on the web is published using the H.264 format
"Adobe has repeatedly said that Apple mobile devices cannot access 'the full web' because 75% of video on the web is in Flash. What they don't say is that almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads. YouTube, with an estimated 40% of the web's video, shines in an app bundled on all Apple mobile devices, with the iPad offering perhaps the best YouTube discovery and viewing experience ever. Add to this video from Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many, many others."
(Steve Jobs, April 2010)
Fig.1 video of iPhone mugging attempt on Steven Levy's phone.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
70 Billion Pixels Budapest: 360 degree panorama image
"The observation tower of János-hegy [the Elizabeth Lookout on János Hill is], the highest vantage point of Budapest with a 360 degree panorama, was an obvious location. It also allowed us to take on previous world records in both the 'highest definition image' and the 'largest spherical panorama' category. When contacted, the Council of District XII informed us on the upcoming anniversary of the tower. We agreed to cooperate in commemorating the September 2010 event by setting up new world records-give them our best shot if you please. ."
(360systems Ltd., 360world.eu)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Posterous: CMS for simple web publishing via email
"Posterous is the easy way to get content online using e-mail. You can e-mail content of just about any type (such as rich text, photos, music, video, Word/Powerpoint/Excel/PDF documents, and zip archives) to us. We will post it online in the most web-friendly format, then reply with a public URL that can be forwarded or shared with friends. Account creation is never required, but if a user does create an account, posts from your various e-mail addresses (work, home, and mobile phone) can all be integrated into one blog."
(Posterous, Inc.)
Fig.1 Susie Blackmon's Posterous weblog [available at: http://susieblackmon.com/].
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
