Topic: Entertainment
(Tech Nation with Moira Gunn; audio from IT Conversations) Moira speaks with Jim Rygiel, the special effects supervisor for "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. They'll look at the technology of Hobbits, and they'll also talk about how the technology of digital effects has changed over its six years of production.
IT Conversations audio from Pop!Tech 2004 (Happiness): Ze Frank
IT Conversations audio from Pop!Tech 2004 (Global Creativity): Jim Rygiel has brought us breakthroughs in digital effects from The Last Starfighter (1984) to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. [An audio presentation from IT Conversations. Jim's presentation contains many film clips, but if you've seen any of the Lord of The Rings films, we think the audio alone still makes for a compelling presentation.]
Audio from "The Importance of the Law and IT" series on IT Conversations: Games aren't just for gamers any more. The legal issues surrounding intellectual property in virtual worlds has implications beyond GameBoys and PlayStations. What's the relationship between real and virtual-world economies? What can these virtual worlds teach us about democracy? Will regulation leak into (or out of) virtual worlds? Who owns avatars avatars and game scenarios in Internet-based games?
These are among the topics discussed at The State of Play, an annual conference sponsored by the Institute for Law & Policy at New York Law School and the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. Ernest Miller interviews two of the conference's organizers.
The extended Gang dives deep into podcasting this week with Dave Winer, Adam Curry and three of the four members of the Firesign Theatre: David Ossman, Philip Proctor and Peter Bergman. Adam and Dave give the history (all eight weeks of it) and the raison d'etre of podcasting, and Steve suggests it's similar to the early days of pirate radio. Is podcasting just a flash in the pan, or a major challenge to big-business radio? Will the impact be similar to that of blogs or something altogether different? What are the implications of Howard Stern moving to satellite, and will legislation like the INDUCE Act inhibit freedom of speech in the exploding podcasting phenomenon? By the end of the show, the Firesign guests not only get it, they're guzzling the Cool-Aid.
Doug Kaye interviews Adam Curry: His first gig was on a Dutch in-hospital radio station, then as John Holden a motorcycle-riding African-American pirate-radio DJ. Most of us met Adam as an early MTV host, but he actually got his start as a budding geek. In this interview with IT Conversations' host Doug Kaye, you'll hear a very personal side of Adam's life: how he discovered the Internet and the web, registering the mtv.com domain, then being sued over it. He founded OnRamp, an early web-development company that grew through M&A to a $230 million public company. Adam has started many other ventures, not all successful. He's been to Iraq and even produced a reality-TV show about his own family. Doug and Adam also discuss audio on the 'net. Here's your chance to hear the Behind the Mic side of the creator of iPodder and one of podcastings leading evangelists.
Voices in Your Head, a new IT Conversations series hosted by Dave Slusher: Author James Patrick Kelly is known for his award-winning and powerful short fiction, including such works as "Think Like a Dinosaur, Mr. Boy" and "Undone". He is the long-time columnist on internet issues for Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. In this interview, Dave and Jim discuss the birth of cyberpunk as a sub-genre, how science fiction can help us face the future, the value of using the internet to distribute fiction, and much more.
Wil Wheaton from Gnomedex 4.0 on IT Conversations: You may know him for his portrayal of Cadet Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but inside the skin of an actor is a geek trying (successfully) to get out. He's the author of the weblog, WilWheaton.net, and two books: Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek. In this presentation recorded at Gnomedex 4.0, Wil reads original unexpurgated excerpts from his books, takes questions, and sits down for an interview with IT Conversations. It was one of the highlights of the weekend. Guaranteed to entertain, whether you're a Star Trek fan or not. (Part 1 of 2)
Wil Wheaton from Gnomedex 4.0 on IT Conversations: You may know him for his portrayal of Cadet Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but inside the skin of an actor is a geek trying (successfully) to get out. He's the author of the weblog, WilWheaton.net, and two books: Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek. In this presentation recorded at Gnomedex 4.0, Wil reads original unexpurgated excerpts from his books, takes questions, and sits down for an interview with IT Conversations. It was one of the highlights of the weekend. Guaranteed to entertain, whether you're a Star Trek fan or not. (Part 2 of 2)
