NDM #24

Flappy bird may return to app stores

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/12/flappy-bird-may-return-to-app-stores

The popular Flappy Bird game which was removed over the creator receiving threats and hate mail may return. Some users did assume it was taken down due to  copyright issues as it has a similar background and pipe design to super mario.

Since its absence from smartphone app stores, a cottage industry in Flappy Bird clones has grown up, with dozens of games sporting titles like Hoppy Frog and Splashy Fish dominating the charts. There are also versions that run on PC and Mac, including one massively multiplayer take on the recipe. So whatever happens with the original title, we are assured of many flappy returns.

NDM #23

Daily Mail and Guardian digital 'minnows', says News UK chief

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/05/daily-mail-guardian-digital-minnows-news-uk-mike-darcey4

This article talks about the issue of whether advertising or paywalls are better in generating revenues. Mike Darcey believes that the Daily Mail and the Guardian as "digital minnows" Because, they focus on advertising to generate revenue which could lead to problems in the future and is a dangerous strategy. As a result, Darcey favours paywalls as free online "undermines the incentive for people to pay for print editions". Relying on adverting revenue is putting themselves in competition with global conglomerates such as Google and Facebook which may put them at a disadvantage. Significantly, he states: "If this is your only revenue source, then you need to think about the fact that you are head-to-head with the global internet titans". 

NDM #22

 China blocks the Guardian, censorship-tracking website says

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/08/china-blocks-guardian-website

China in the past have blocked several sites such as bloomberg and Wall Street Journal. China tends to block sites that cause a threat to it but the Guardian doesn't believe to have posted anything to harm the relationship between China and the Guardian. "The reasons for the Guardian block are unclear – no China-related stories published by the Guardian in the past two days would obviously be perceived as dangerous by the country's leadership. One article, published on 6 January, explores tensions in China’s ethnically-divided north-western region Xinjiang, but the Guardian has covered the subject before without any noticeable fallout."

NDM #21

Pirate Bay ban lifted in Netherlands as blocking torrent sites ruled ‘ineffective’

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/29/pirate-bay-ban-lifted-in-netherlands-as-blocking-torrent-sites-ruled-ineffective

Earlier on in my research of articles I spoke about the new pirate bay browser and well in the Netherlands the Dutch court states that the ban should be lifted on pirate bay after two dutch internet providers, Ziggo and XS4All too this to court which led to the reversing of the blocking order. Niels Huijbregts, spokesman for XS4All stated that the free internet was victorious and that they are "pleased that the court ruled in favour of the freedom of information, protecting a fundamental right of all Dutch citizens." The judges believe that blocking the pirate bay at ISP level didn't stop users from using the BitTorrent network and illegal downloading, it actually did the opposite and increased piracy.

NDM #20

Yes, I sometimes Google my patients. Is this surprising?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/08/google-patients-gp-rapport-pitfalls

This article states that thanks to the rise of the internet and technology many GPs apparently google their patients to find out more about them. They believe that doctors and GPs are very sociable people and are a people persons so if someone claims to have some sort of fame then it attracts the doctors to finding out more about the person. Sometimes researching a person can also be quiet useful as some of their hobbies etc that they may not have the need to state may have some relation to their visit to the doctors. But they don't do this on a regular basis. They of course do use records that are kept by the NHS of people who have records since they were born and this helps build a better understanding and can be quiet revealing than google can be. Googling patients isn't always reliable though, sometimes when googling celebrities not all the information released is true.

NDM #19

New and digital media article 8: Does technology pose a threat to our private life?

Google's Eric Schmidt believes that we need to create new identities to hide from our embarrassing online past. This article states that with the rise of technology we are becoming more open on social networking sites. things that were usually private and only known to those closest to us. e.g. relationship status, party events, what you ate this morning and where you went etc. we now share all this online freely and it may come back to haunt us.


nothing is challenging our notion of privacy more than social networking, with 26 million of us using Facebook to share the minutiae of our lives every month in the UK alone.

Facebook has seen astonishing growth, from a Harvard dorm project in 2003 to a global phenomenon that had 500 million monthly users by July in 2010. That's already one in 13 people on Earth.

Globalisation Questions

1) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? What examples can you think of?
Yes, our news is influenced by American cultural imperialism. For example, CNN had 24 hour news available and Sky copied them and now have 24 hour news. Also, the layout is the same as CNN's.

2) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience? How? Why?
Yes, the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience, as they are able to view live footage of news for example the bombings in Syria. It allows them to view live footage and experience it. However, the news is less likely to make it local. Audiences have a great amount of choice, they can choose from a range of news channels, and watch the news any time and anywhere. 

3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions? How? Why?
I think globalisation has benefited and damaged major news institutions. It has benefited them as they don't have to have a separate journalist in every country, which is cheaper for them. But also, they have citizen journalists sending in stories, pictures and videos about different news. However it has damaged major news institutions, as it is harder for a news companies to stand out in global institutions, for example the Ealing Gazette. It is hard for them to stand out with the other major newspapers out, such as The Sun.