I've been busy searching through some of my favourite photographs from the past three and a half years and here's the result.
www.paulhurstphotography.com features some of my most popular work along with some of my personal favourites. Let me know what you think, and if you have your own photoblog or photowebsite then why not post a link here for other visitors to check out too.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back onto the internet. Paul Hurst strikes with yet ANOTHER blog!
Mediawatchblog.tv is my latest pet project which is pretty self explanatory. For those who may need a bit more info, its a blog dedicated to cataloguing and commenting stories from the media perspective.
The blog may sit uncomfortably close to mediawatchblog.com however I thing that I'm offering something quite different than my fellow bloggers and hope they don't mind their new Tuvaluan neighbour too much!
You can check out the new blog at www.mediawatchblog.tv and please let me know what you think and throw me the odd-link or two if your a fellow blogger. I'd be very grateful.
They may sell millions of burgers every hour and they may even believe their food can be healthy as part of a balanced diet but it seems that someone has been busy programming an online game which won't be flavour of the month in the McDonalds boardroom.
The tutorial section of this new online game seems to include some rather unusual dialogue which probably isn't quite what the fast food chain would like to see on their menu.
Here's some of the text which will be making the marketing boys sick:
Agricultural sector:
If we had to rear all the cattle we need in our part of the world, our cities would drown in an ocean of cow shit. Pastures and soy culture need a lot of land and South America is one of the best places for it. Obviously you have to conquer your land as our forefathers did. Remember the old saying: \under every forest there is a lawn".
Soy culture:
You can increase terrain productivity using genetically modified plants. GMOs allow us to use more aggressive pesticides to minimize insect damage.
Feed lot:
Every good American wants a fat and greasy burger. Unfortunately, the cows coming from the pastures are slim and won't yield fat meat. So we must keep them here for some months and overindulge them with hyperchaloric soy-based fodder. Make sure there is sufficient fodder for all the cows and avoid the epidemics.
Hormones:
You can fill the cows with hormones to make them fatten more quickly. This could have some risks to consumer health, but make no mistake: in love and war everything is licit.
Fast Food:
People live fast and want to eat quickly. Fast food restaurants are the cathedrals of our age and everything must be efficient and optimized. Avoid customer queues by supplying hamburger for the kitchen and making human resources prompt and motivated.
Managing the crew is an art: to keep your employees motivated you can reward them with an "employee of the week" badge or reproach them. For the most ungrateful the best solution is firing. Eliminate the weak links!
The website closely mirrors the McDonalds style on their worldwide site and the McDonalds logo also seems to make an appearance, unlicensed I suspect?
I can't imagine this website will be around for too long as it stands, not without the McLawyers getting involved so be sure to check it out while you can!
I'm Lovin' it!
I'm still on the lookout for posters over at www.guestblogger.net
I do have some posts on the way and things are starting to take off for the new site but I'm always on the lookout for interesting posts from interesting people.
If you'd like a go, why not email me (pthurst@gmail.com) and we can sort something out.
You don't have to register and I'm happy to post a biog at the end of each post so you can link to your own blog if you are an established blogger and if your new to all of this or just blogless then what better way to dip your toe in the water?
If you have any questions or are interested then give me a shout.
Paul
Looking for some social software thats just a bit different than the rest? Citypixel will probably be right up your street.
The format is based around an 80's 'pixel art' isometric city. You sign up and create your virtual citizen which can wander round the 'sim-city-esque' streets and nip into the odd building here or there.
You'll pass lots of other mini citizens along the way, and if they have a green line underneath, they're online.
Now just before your mind conjers up thoughts of animated isometric characters smoothly walking around your web browser, I must point out that your journey is done via clicks and as such, contains no movement at all (the gridlocked cars are fully animated in that regard).
So the main reason this site exists, as far as I can tell, is to dress up the rather tired idea of social software into new clothes and as such, I did find myself wondering why I was clicking around a very poorly designed navigation section just to reach user generated biogs etc. That was until I stumbled across a really, really neat feature.
Anyone who's played the 'sims' will be familiar with the house design element of the game. Well its here on this website! The tedium of statically navigating around the clumsy city was broken immediately as soon as I realised that its possible to claim your own 'virtual apartment' and even a 'virtual office' too. Your little avatar moves in and can drag, drop and arrange your furniture to your hearts content. Not only that, you can even create your very own website to allow visitors to peek through your keyhole.
My 'apartment'
'The office'
This kind of customisation really breathes promise into the Citypixel idea. You can visit anyone's apartment and rate them and you can even watch their YouTube videos if they have installed the little 'plasma screens' on their walls, I was impressed by what I saw here.
I suppose you could sum up Citypixel as a web-browser version of Second Life it has a cut-down feel of this kind of persistent world social software. I'm really hoping that the day will come when these incredibly cute (and detailed) pixel art characters and buildings become animated but until then, the customisable nature of my Citypixel home, will keep me popping back. Even if its just a holiday home away from Myspace or Second Life itself.
The reason why the launch didn't garner much attention to anyone outside of the BBC's 'Gateway' intranet site, is probably due to the fact that the college cannot be accessed by us mere mortals in the outside world. Its a bit like Hogwarts...
The new online facility aims to ensure that the standards are kept high (for BBC staff only) and this is reinforced by a physical facility too, (for the 'muggles' perhaps?) apparently over an Italian deli in London.
On a serious note. I find it interesting that in this age of mass-media and rolling news, the BBC are still interested in not only keeping a presence in what's becoming a fairly busy marketplace, but the Corporation clearly intends to reinforce the strong journalistic principles on which the NCA department was built. As such, I think this is licence fee money relitively well spent (easy on the deli takeouts though please).
As part of my teaching in schools. I have been asking the media students "what makes a good news channel on TV?" It's amazing how many get caught up with the bells and whistles before even considering the framework from which the actual content is gathered.
I am worried that the new Al Jazeera news channel, may fall under this banner. Yup they may be gearing up for HD broadcasting. And its pretty impressive to see a wall of reporters and correspondents waiting to 'bring us up to date' immediately, but I'm slightly concerned that there's an anti-Israel bias that has already crept in. Maybe its not in how the news has been reported as much as the stories that they are missing out.
In this day and age. The media is playing an ever increasing role in how we perceive or world and indirectly how politicians deal with things on our behalf. I hope the BBC's college is quick to remind its students of the ethical responsibilities which accompany their reputation as one of the most trusted news providers on the planet.
(You may read a more detailed mandate on this blog post from the CoJo Editor. should you wish. Or check out biased BBC. Maybe they could assess some of the coursework?)
In my last post, I mentioned that I'd been thinking about the future of this blog. I am unsure as to who reads it and why and I was thinking, do I blog for my own benefit or do I actually want people to read this?
I've decided that the answer lies somewhere in-between, and that got me thinking some more...
Here's the outcome. I've decided that this blog will not change. I will continue to write as I please, regardless as to who (if anyone reads...) my blog is primarily personal and its main reason for existing is merely to allow me an excuse to write. So nothing will change, well, almost nothing...
I can now reveal that I have set up a new blog over at www.guestblogger.net. This blog will not be written by myself (although I may post). Rather I will invite people to write posts for it. This way the content will vary and it may make an interesting read, something which personal blogs sometimes do not.
You can visit the site at www.guestblogger.net and although anyone may leave a comment. The posts are by invite only so you must forgive me for having a bare site at the moment.
In closing, I'd like to encourage you to keep reading this blog (should you so wish) and also to pop along to the new one and 'leave comments'!
***EDIT: If you'd be interested in posting then email invites@guestblogger.net***
Web 2.0 is revolutionising the way in which we think about and use the internet and I'm always on the lookout for great 2.0 sites and services. Let me introduce you to MyBlogLog.
To sum up this site quickly, its a bit like a 'Myspace for Bloggers'. Its a site which allows you to make contact with other bloggers from all around the world, add them to your contacts portfolio and obviously view their blogs.
The service is free to use and so far, I have found it to be a great utility for finding new blogs about any given topic and also making some kind of meaningful contact with its author beyond firing off an email into the invisible 'ether', posibly never to be seen by human eyes again.
The blogging community is growing daily and with over 55 million blogs to choose from, anything which helps an audience to find their blog-based information promptly is a bonus. Couple this with the fact that it allows bloggers to attract a larger audience too and you really do have a recipe for success.
If your a blogger, register for the sake of your wider audience of fellow bloggers and if you are looking for some specific topic based blog, then you'll do far worse than to make this your first port of call.
I've been at it again! Chris Gaskell, a mate, performer and x-factor STAR! (honestly!) is now blogging... And I'm to blame...
Feel free to check out his new blog or the website.
The great thing about blogs is that you don't have to be (too) geeky to be good at it and it could actually earn you some cash if people like what they see. It won't be long before Chris gets some bookings directly as a result of his new blog.
Another feature that I'm keen to push is web 2.0 integration. Web 1.0 was personal homepages but 2.0 is blogs with Youtube embedded movies. Its NEVER been easier for people to share their experiences online and reach out to a wider audience.
May I formally wish Chris all the best for his blog and his gigs and I couldn't finish this post without including a youtube interview with the man himself.
My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?
