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February
1, 2004 - Vol 3, No. 03. Up Front Sunday Morning: Did you sleep well last night? If you did you may fell full of creative energy today. German scientists at the University of Lübeck's Institute of Neuroendocrinology have concluded a study that presents the first hard evidence that creativity and problem solving appear to be directly linked to adequate sleep. According to an Associated Press article our sleeping brains continue to work on problems that baffle us during the day. The answer may be only a good nights rest from being discovered.
Just as sports fans love to wager on who will win today's Super Bowl game, others like to bet on the most popular commercials. Betting on Pepsi, Bud or Charmin by CNN/Money Senior Writer Chris Isidore, is worth a read. Super Bowl ads are often very creative and worth watching for their production techniques. If you want to see some of the classic Super Bowl commercials check out AOL's Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials.The site includes the classic Apple Macintosh commercial from 1984. A related article, "Apple's 1984: The Introduction of the Macintosh in the Cultural History of Personal Computers" by Ted Friedman, provides a unique perspective as to the impact that commercial had on the sale of computers and why it almost wasn't used. A commercial you won't see is one that won the MoveOn.org Bush in 30 Seconds political advertising contest.The 30 second advert has gained media attention with CBS television's decision not to broadcast advocacy commercials.If you'd like to see what all the controversy is about, you can accessed the Child's Play commercial on the MoveOn web site. Readers interested in independent film might check out PBS Television's Independent Lens. Each program serves the purpose of introducing new films by independent producers who are "taking creative risks, calling their own shots and finding untold stories in unexpected places." The program series include full-length documentaries, hour long dramas, short comedy, and experimental films. Some of the producers have won awards and others are just becoming known for their work. Collectively, they all "share the gift of storytelling, a compelling sense of purpose and unrivalled access to often-closed communities and little-known worlds" Pictures of Longing - Pictures of Terror was the theme of this year's UNICEF photo competition. The winner, American photographer Don Bartletti, was presented an award by UNICEF Patron, Christina Rau, in Berlin. His photo shows a boy from Honduras on his way to the USA - as a stowaway on the roof of a freight train. This is the fourth time UNICEF has presented an award for photos of a high artistic standard which vividly portray the living conditions of children and their personalities. Bartletti is also a 2003 Pulitzer Prize Winner for photography. Each February, the Portland International Film festival premiers nearly 100 films from over 30 countries, offering new works by masters of the art as well as emerging voices. This Northwest Film Center festival runs February 12-28 in Portland, Oregon. Meanwhile the Reel Music Festival continues at the Northwest Film Center. This festival is a celebration of music on film, treats music lovers to some of music's most intriguing artists (both celebrated and little known) offering a filmic take on sounds, roots and personalities from bossa nova to indie rock. MIT is providing web pages for all of its 2,000 courses.The Open Course Ware project makes accessible lecture notes, course assignments, syllabi, and other materials. These are not distant education courses nor do you register or receive credit.Read more about this unique offering in the Chronicle of Higher Education's article "MIT's Open Window". MIT is home to the innovative Media Lab which researches new media technologies and software. "Self-Theorizing Media," is a timely new essay by Nick Rombes that presents a "searing indictment" of the current state of digital filmmaking. The article is located at Braintrustdv a web site that presents an ongoing attempt to understand electronic cinema on its own terms as well as through the prism of the twentieth-century art form from which it derives. An informative online publication devoted to cinema is Bright Lights Film Journal. This publication includes many articles, book reviews, and lists of film festivals. You will want to return often to rich resource of film related topics. Technical readers interested in motion capture might want to explore Michael Meredith's web site at the University of Sheffield in the UK.The site provides an opportunity to learn about capture technology which is the focus of Meredith's postgraduate PhD studies. Here are two resources of interest for job seekers. The Oregonian has a free document that covers 6 steps to a successful online job search. The guide to "Working the Web" is worth taking a look (download as a PDF). A valuable resource for those interested in web design careers is the Job Tips for Web Designers online site by Web Monkey. The series of articles "...gives you a rundown on what kinds of Web jobs are out there, then shows you the best way to pick, choose, and get the right kind of work for you." A new book by Dave Moursund, Planning, Forecasting, and Inventing Your Computers-in-Education Future, is available free for downloading. The book is designed for preservice and inservice teachers. It assumes only a modest understanding of and experience in using computers. A bit of entertainment this morning sends readers to the Optical Illusions web page where you can strain your brain - and perhaps your eyes - trying to figure out 45 optical illusions. This is a commercial site, but fun to explore. Check out the face on Mars - a natural illusion created by the angle of the sun.
MAIL BAG: It is always good to hear from readers. Reader Keith Legg writes, "We have all heard of subliminal advertising, how about subliminal reporting?" He sends along two links to show how through the eye of the photographer many of government officials appear to have taken on an angelic quality: http://www.freepressinternational.com/halo.html and http://www.rense.com/general47/mandate.htm. Enjoy.
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Directory: The Proscenia Newsletter offers a listing of services by subscribers. If you would like to include your web site please contact the editor at newsletter@proscenia.net. Anthrotechnics.com, Eugene. Human-oriented interface design, web development, and interactive mixed media performance solutions. Ben Beekman and Micky Hulse, Designers. ATGpro.Com, Eugene. Aaron Thomas Graham, Media Developer. Mr. Graham is currently a Graphic Designer with Monaco Coach company. Australian Sound Design Project. A sound design and arts site with access to hundreds of published sound designs, articles, papers, bibliographical searches, and funding links and free shareware. The ASDP publishes an informative newsletter on sound issues BeekMedia. Eugene. Ben Beekman is a graduate of the UO Multimedia program currently doing contract work in a variety of media including DVD and web design. Chris Gates: Creative Graphic Communication for Electronic and Print Media. Portland. Chris Gates is a web and multimedia specialist and medical illustrator. Clandestino Productions. Eugene. Gabriel Guzman, and Michael L. Wilson. A progressive new media design house that specializes in analog and digital creative solutions for commercial, non-profit and private interests. Clandestino specializes in assisting progressive businesses, organizations and individuals that support global and cultural enrichment and preservation Cory Davidson. Eugene. Ms. Davidson is currently a web designer with Monaco Motor Coach company. Creative Imagery. Gresham. Don Strike is an instructional designer and trainer providing course development for business and industry. Ideascape, Inc. Portland. Doug Freeman is an award-winning scriptwriter and producer for video, broadcast, film and multimedia. He works with government, commercial and non-profit clients nationwide on technical and non-technical productions. Equilibrium Designs. Portland. Manuel Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez is a professional web designer with clients in the Eugene area. He is also completing a degree in animation at the Portland Art Institute. Notaphaze.com. Eugene. Josh Taylor provides web design, animation, audio, digital art, illustration, photography and video services. Timothy Finlayson. Porland. Tim Finlayson is a recent University of Oregon graduate in multimedia design with an English minor. This is his portfolio site which will be periodically updated. Troy
McFarland.com. Seattle. Mr. McFarland Specializes in 3D and
motion graphic services for the film, video, and multimedia industry.
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QuickTime is a file format used for the delivery of audio, video, animation, text, graphics and even 360 degree panoramas over the Internet. It is a cross-platform product that can be used on both PC and Macintosh computers. The principle advantage of QuickTime is the ability to efficiently compress sound and video for use on web pages. The following is a set of links to various QuickTime Tutorials. They range from a basic introduction to implementing more comprehensive applications. See the June 15, 2003 Proscenia Newsletter discussion section for an extensive overview of QuickTime Virtual Reality (VR). Comprehensive: Apple Computer Quicktime Tutorials. The mother of QuickTime sites provides a set of comprehensive tutorials that let you harness this application's power. The site is divided into three sections — basic, interactive and delivery. QuickTime Tutorial This Case Western Reserve University site covers: Basic Commands • Basic Movie Editing • Separating Audio and Video Tracks • Merging Audio and Video Tracks • Adding Text Tracks and Still Images. The site is well designed and informative. cbtcafe: Computer Based Training.This is an informative site with five well written tutorials including: Picture In Picture Effect that informs you on how to insert a smaller movie into the main, larger movie. Hiding Your Movies provides instruction on how to have sound only. Slide Show helps you create slide shows of still images in QuickTime. Display your QT Movie Controller Correctly - facilitates the correct display of your Quicktime controller on an HTML page. And, Disabling "Save As Movie" helps you protect your online movies by disabling the "Save As Movie" feature. QuickTime Developer This is Apple's developer technical support section. The site includes tutorials on: Asynchronous Movie, Fast-Start Progressive Downloads,Streaming Components, Graphic Importer / Exporter Components, Movie Data Exchange Components, The Sequence Grabber, Video Output Components, QuickTime Atom, Containers,Sprites, Effects, Cross Platform Development, Developer Resources,Sample Code and other topics. Interactive: Article: Interactive Presentations with QuickTime by Kevin Fraser with Web Monkey. "With a little preparation and a dash of creativity, you can create compelling full-screen video presentations that make use of your varied multimedia powers while entertaining your audience, however slow a person's connection to the Internet may be." Integrating Flash and QuickTime for Dynamic Media Delivery. "Flash and QuickTime can be an incredible combination to visually enhance your streaming video presentation and provide more immediate interaction for your audience." Barb Roeder walks you through the steps of creating some dynamic media of your own. Wired QuickTime Examples. Proscenia's Ken Loge has provided this informative introduction with examples. "A wired movie is a QuickTime movie that has smarts. It may know how to locate the URL of a web page, or it may be a game or slide show. A wired movie can be almost anything that can be concocted with LiveStage Pro by TotallyHip Software. Working with LiveStage Pro is like talking directly to QuickTime and all of it's components and capabilities, but with a slick user interface and an easy to learn programming language called "QScript," which is integrated into the LiveStage environment." Random Links provides an opportunity to share online web resources. Listed sites may focus around a specific topic or be truly random. If you have a collection of hot links you'd like to share please let us know (newsletter@proscenia.net). Visit the Proscenia Random Links Archive
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From time to time I come across a picture laden web site that seems to take forever to download. One reason, of course, is that the site's author has not properly managed the formatting of scanned image files for web page distribution. It is important to understand three factors involved in preparing accessible images for the web. One, is to select the correct file format for graphics and photographs. Second, is to reduce the image's dimensional size. And third,create the smallest memory file. Although some browsers can read a variety of image formats the most accepted are in a JPG or GIF file format.The JPG format is used for photographic resources. Graphics and illustrations use the GIF format. It is important that a PSD, PICT, TIFF, BMP, or EPS image file be converted to a GIF or JPG using a software program such as Adobe's Photoshop, or Macromedia's Fireworks. The original photograph used in this discussion was scanned at 300 dpi and saved as a PhotoShop PSD file. That file is 1350 x 900 pixels in size and weighs in at 3.4MG! Given that a web page should take 8 seconds to download at 56K, such a large image file would require many minutes to access and its size would dominate the screen when loaded. So, how do you prepare a image for web based delivery? Here are some basic tips. More techniques can be found in books and tutorials related to specific graphic software.
Notes: PSD. This is Photoshop's default file format. It allows one to change color and add or remove layers. Given the extensive use of PSD files many other software programs have included the ability to open and edit PSD files. A GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is the preferred Web format for graphics, charts, line drawings, and flat color illustrations with 256 color or less. Line art saved as a JPG will contain "artifacts’ in areas of solid color. Photographic images look washed out when saved as GIF's. And if possible, never convert a GIF to JPG as image quality will be lost. The JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group - a.k.a. JPG) is the format used for photographs and images that contain more than 256 colors. This file format facilitates compression by selectively discarding data. The more compression the more loss of color. Every time a JPEG is copied it loses quality. A web designer should keep an original PSD or TIFF file and make a new JPG each time it is needed. A relatively new file format is the PNG (Portable Network Graphics). Some of the newer browsers are able to read this format which facilitates compression 10-30% smaller than GIF which the PNG format is designed to replace. Reference: Visit the Proscenia Discussion Feature Archive
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This newsletter has often discussed the importance of story telling in the media design process.The Portland based company Second Story knows the value of story telling and has won hundreds of awards for its work.The studio designs and produces informative and entertaining interactive experiences utilizing multimedia to communicate through sound, image, and motion. Brad Johnson, Creative Director at Second Story notes:
Among Second Story's many clients are Discovery/TLC, National Gallery of Art, National Museum of American History, Experience Music Project,Nike and PBS. |
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NETWORK TOOLS: The following news items are from The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2003.) This publication is distributed on line and is a free subscription service. Palette 1.1 [Quick Time, Windows Operating System, Macintosh Operating System] Palette 1.1 is an easy-to-use painting program that allows users to save their creations, along with the option of exporting and importing pictures saved in a number of popular formats for modification. The website for the program itself contains a helpful cheat sheet allowing novice users to learn how the application works. The site also contains some sample galleries, so visitors have some sense of the capabilities offered by Palette. The application is compatible with all platforms running Windows 95 and above or Mac OS Primedius Total Privacy & Security 5.34 [Windows Operating System] Primedius 5.34 is a application that enables wholly anonymous file-sharing, websurfing, chatting, and online messaging. The program contains an anti-blocking system and also contains a cleaner which removes all history and online traces for complete anonymity. The application also works with and inside corporate networks, firewalls and proxy servers. Finally, the program also comes with unlimited software updates and 24-hour email support, if needed. This version is compatible with all systems running Windows 95 and higher. [KMG] Books2burn [Macintosh Operating System] Developed by Professor Matthew Weinstein of Kent State University, Books2burn translates text files into a series of audio files, which may then subsequently be converted to mp3's or other formats. This program will be a great boon to scholars and the general public alike, as the application allows for the easy transfer and replication of potentially large and problematic files into a number of audio formats. Books2burn is compatible with all systems running Mac OS X. Tunesatwork
0.8 [Macintosh Operating System]. If you have ever gotten tired
of taking your much-loved CD's to work, or worried about what to
listen to when you got there, this program will be of great interest.
TunesAtWork lets you listen to your personal iTunes music collection
while you are busy at work, leaving your music collection safely
on your computer back at your home. The program essentially runs
as a specialized web server that runs on the user's Mac, and serves
web pages that present your music collection for easy replay. TunesAtWork
0.8 is compatible with all systems running Mac OS X.[KMG] IN THE NEWS: The following news items are selected from NewsScanDaily an online publication distributed Monday through Friday. Readers are encouraged to subscribe to this free news summary.To subscribe or unsubscribe to the TEXT version of NewsScan Daily, send an e-mail message to NewsScan@NewsScan.com with 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. To subscribe to the HTML version of NewsScan Daily, send mail to NewsScan-html@NewsScan.com, with the word 'subscribe' as the subject. MYDOOM:
SAME STUPID SONG, SECOND STUPID VERSE. The e-mail worm
Mydoom (also called Novarg or MiMail.r) is back now in a new variant,
Mydoom b -- which like its predecessor is spread through the Kazaa
file-sharing network and is disguised as an e-mail error message.
The message bears a variety of subject lines, text and attachment
names. GLOBAL BATTLE OVER DVD STANDARDS HEATS UP. The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into the activities of the Blu-ray industry group led by Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Philips Electronics, which is challenging another group over next-generation DVD standards. The conflict is shaping up to replay another major format battle, which pitted Betamax proponents against the VHS standard in the early VCR market of the 1970s. In this case, the competing standard -- known as HD DVD -- is being heavily promoted by Toshiba and NEC. The two camps have tried to sort things out through the DVD Forum, an official standards-setting body for DVDs that includes hardware and software companies, and the Justice Department's inquiry focuses on whether the Blu-ray group potentially acted in concert to impede the forum's technical progress. The forum's steering committee voted to endorse the HD DVD standard last November, but the members of the Blu-ray group within the forum abstained from voting, effectively blocking the Toshiba-NEC proposal. Meanwhile, U.S. companies are jumping into the mix, with Hewlett-Packard and Dell siding with the Blu-ray coalition and Microsoft lobbying forum members to endorse using its Windows Media software for storing movies on high-definition DVDs. Critics say prolonged wrangling could cause consumers to postpone buying the next-generation DVD players, which will remain prohibitively expensive until they can be produced in mass quantities. (Wall Street Journal 26 Jan 2004) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107505718085410861,00.html (sub req'd) MANUAL OVERLOAD.Tech gadgets are getting more complex all the time, but what's really driving consumers crazy is the oversized manuals that accompany them. One hapless cell phone buyer found he had to consult his new cell phone's 146-page manual just to find out how to turn the darn thing on. (Hint -- push the red "end" button twice to start it up.) Design guru Jakob Nielsen says the trend toward tome-sized manuals reflects today's tendency toward feature-rich devices. "The more a product could do, the more that could go wrong," says Nielsen, who complains about the 35 buttons on his DVD player's remote control: "The button I use the most -- pause -- is the smallest and in the middle of five other buttons." Sound familiar? The tendency could have dire consequences, according to a Yankee Group study, which indicates about 50% of buyers postpone making a consumer electronics purchase because they think the device will just be too difficult to use. Fixing that perception won't be easy, warns Nielsen. "The simpler it looks, the harder it is to build," he says. (AP 26 Jan 2004) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040126/D80AI1K80.html ..AND TV ADS COME TO THE WEB.Television commercials -- those blaring interruptions that serve as an opportunity to go get another snack -- are moving to the Web as part of a six-week trial that some analysts say could usher in a new era in Internet advertising. Ads for Pepsi, AT&T, Honda, Vonage and Warner Brothers will start showing up on more than a dozen Web sites, including MSN, ESPN, Lycos and iVillage, using technology from Unicast that invisibly loads the commercial while the unwitting surfer reads a Web page, then displays the ad across the entire browser area when the user clicks to move on to a new page. The resulting commercial is identical to television, even for users with slower dialup connections. Unicast says although the technology is immune to pop-up blockers, it does include a box that can be clicked to skip the ad. However, it's hoping that some 50 million to 75 million will choose to view the commercials. Pepsi plans to monitor online viewers' reactions through a tracking study conducted by Dynamic Logic, to see whether it's an avenue they will pursue further. "Yes, it's intrusive. But I think customers will like it, because it will be so far superior to anything they've seen online," says Pepsi digital media and marketing director John Vail. Forrester Research analyst James Nail predicts that users will react well to the ads, because they don't slow Web surfing and users can click away if they so choose. (New York Times 19 Jan 2004) http://partners.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/technology/19ecom.html HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT TO GIVE CYBER ALERTS. The cyber security division of the Department of Homeland Security is creating a new, centralized system for alerting the country to network threats by providing a clearinghouse of information on hacking, viruses, worms and other forms of cyber terrorism. Cyber security director Amit Yoran explains: "We are focused on making the threats and recommended actions easier for all computer users to understand, prioritize and act upon. The vendor community is focused on sales as well as on protecting their clients. Coming from the U.S. government, the focus [of the new centralized system] is solely on the public interest." (Washington Post 28 Jan 2004) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55804-2004Jan28.html WHAT'S IN A NAME? ASK A LAWYER. Your name is Mike Rowe and you think it would be funny to add "soft" to your Web site name so that it becomes MikeRoweSoft.com. A little pun, why not. But pause to reflect: Will Microsoft think it's as funny as you do? Maybe not. In fact, not a chance. The 17-year-old 12th grade student in Victoria, B.C., now says: "I didn't think they would get all their high-priced lawyers to come after me." Wrong. They did. Then he wrote back to Microsoft's lawyers asking to be compensated for giving up his name. The lawyers offered him $10 in U.S. funds. So he asked for $10,000, because he was "sort of mad at them for only offering 10 bucks. It's not their name. It's my name. I just think it's kind of funny that they'd go after a 17-year-old." Now he's got a lawyer. Microsoft says it has been in communication with the young man "in a good faith effort to reach a mutually agreeable resolution. And we remain hopeful we can resolve this issue to everyone's satisfaction." (AP/Washington Post 19 Jan 2004) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28846-2004Jan19.html THE HISPANIC MARKET AND THE WEB. Although there are more Spanish-speaking users of the Internet in the U.S. than in some Spanish-speaking countries, none of the three top online travel agencies (Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity) has Spanish-language capabilities on its U.S. site. Richard Israel, v.p. of Hispanic Solutions for comScore Networks, predicts: "Whoever is first out of the big three has an opportunity to be the dominant player in the Hispanic market. It's a demographic of 12-1/2 million individuals. Why wouldn't they go after it? Honestly, I'm still perplexed why there isn't more activity." (Los Angeles Times 18 Jan 2004 http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-tr-internet18jan18,0,1326926.story?coll NEW
GAMEBOY SEES DOUBLE. Nintendo's newest Gameboy -- the Nintendo
DS -- will feature a double screen, one above the other, so that
players can view their game from two different perspectives, or
see the game action on one screen while checking a map of the game
environment on the other. It's scheduled to launch laterthis year
and analysts predict the device will be enthusiastically received.
"Chances are, knowing Nintendo, the new unit will be very price
competitive and it will be marketed for universal use, so the kids
will love it as well," says a KBC Securities analyst. (Reuters
21 Jan 2004) INDIA: THE NEW FACE OF THE SILICON AGE.An interesting long article in the new Wired magazine gives a good picture of India as it becomes the "new face of the Silicon Age." Journalist Dan Fink writes of Indian engineers doing outsourced programming work: "What begins to seep through their well-tiled arguments about quality, efficiency, and optimization is a view that Americans, who have long celebrated the sweetness of dynamic capitalism, must get used to the concept that it works for non-Americans, too. Programming jobs have delivered a nice upper-middle-class lifestyle to the people in this room. They own apartments. They drive new cars. They surf the Internet and watch American television and sip cappuccinos. Isn't the emergence of a vibrant middle class in an otherwise poor country a spectacular achievement, the very confirmation of the wonders of globalization -- not to mention a new market for American goods and services? And if this transition pinches a little, aren't Americans being a tad hypocritical by whining about it? After all, where is it written that IT jobs somehow belong to Americans -- and that any non-American who does such work is stealing the job from its rightful owner?" (Wired Feb 2000) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/india.html PEER-TO-PEER SOFTWARE THEFT. Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing programs like Kazaa are increasingly being used for software piracy; in fact, William Plante of the security company Symantec thinks that roughly half of the illegal copies of his company's software are made through P2P electronic downloads. The thieves are "truly ghosts on the Internet" who are "virtually untraceable." One approach to curbing software piracy is mandatory online activation, and even though Plante admits those methods can be broken, he says it's "extremely inconvenient to try and use the cracked version." Michael Weiss of StreamCast Networks, which makes the P2P program Morpheus, says the software industry should get an entirely new attitude, which would "embrace the technology, just like the movie studios ended up embracing VCR's. This is not going to go away. Technology always wins out. You would think the software companies would know that more than Hollywood." (New York Times 19 Jan 2004) http://www.partners.com/2004/01/19/technology/19soft.html PROVING
IT'S SERIOUS, RIAA FILES NEW LAWSUITS. The Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA), the music industry trade group, has
filed lawsuits against 532 people it's accusing ofillegally sharing
music downloaded from the Internet. The lawsuits areintended to
show that the recording industry's drive against downloaderswill
continue. RIAA says: "Our campaign against illegal file-sharing
is not missing a beat. We can and will continue to bring lawsuits
against those who illegally distribute copyrighted music on peer-to-peer
networks." (San Jose Mercury News 22 Jan 2004 BIOTECH: SILICON VALLEY'S NEW NEW THING. Silicon Valley is known for its ability to reinvent itself (having shifted from chipmaking to PCs in the 1980s and then to e-commerce in the 1990s); now it's moving with dispatch toward biotech, medical devices, and other tech-driven health industries. A new study by the consulting firm Joint Venture indicates that biotech and medical device start-ups got 24% of Valley venture-capital investments last year (up from less than 7% in 2000). In contrast, information tech services fell from 10% to 4%. (USA Today 19 Jan 2004) http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2004-01-19-valleyecon_x.htm ANTI-SPAM LAW LARGELY IGNORED. The new federal anti-spam law ("Can Spam") doesn't seem to being changing the practices of the largest spammers: most of the largest bulk e-mailers are continuing to send illegal mass mailings for porn, get-rich-quick schemes and miracle drugs. The spam-filtering company Brightmail says that about 58% of e-mail monitored in January has been spam, in defiance of the new law, which took effect at the beginning of this month. The only real impact of the law seems to have been felt by small businesses, many of which have decided to discontinue e-mail marketing. One business, calculating that it would cost $100,000 a year in personnel and technology to make its e-mail system comply with the law, decided to switch its advertising campaigns to Microsoft MSN and Yahoo. (USA Today 20 Jan 2004) http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-01-20-spam_x.htm NEW COMPUTER WORM: BAGLE-A. A new computer worm called Bagle-A carries an expiration date, giving security experts concern that it might be followed by more robust versions of the now-buggy program. Daniel Zatz, security director for Computer Associates Australia, says, "One of our biggest concern is that if we look back a year ago at the Sobig variants, they all had drop-dead dates, and every time one hit that drop dead date a new variant came out; a new and improved variant of it." Bagle-A arrives in e-mail inboxes as a message containing text suggesting the e-mail may be from a system administrator, as well as an executable attachment. PC users should not open the attachment; if they suspect their computers may be infected with the virus, they should look for a file called bbeagle.exe in their Windows System directory. The file disguises itself under the Microsoft calculator icon. (CNet/New York Times 20 Jan 2004) http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-7349_3-5143115.html
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Arts Electric Calendar. A worldwide calendar for new music,electronic music and the media arts.You'll find hundreds of events listed, as well as articles, interviews, and other writings. The BBC has announced the Vision Design Competition that helps talented designers at the start of their careers gain an introduction into the film & television industry. Successful applicants have the opportunity to gain practical experience within their chosen design discipline and are invited to apply for the Vision Design Trainee Scheme. Entry submissions must be received between April 12 - 23,2004. JULY, 2004 Digital Generations: Children, young people and new media 26-29 July 2004 London, England A major international conference organized by The Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media Institute of Education, University of London Computer games, the internet and other new communications media are often seen to pose threats and dangers to young people; but they also provide new opportunities for creativity and self-determination. This international conference will present the most exciting and challenging new research on children, young people and new digital media. E3 2004 The Electronics Entertainment Expo. 12-14 May at the Los Angeles Conference Center. If you are in the business of interactive entertainment, this is the event for you. Workshops, exhibits, leaders in the business of game design, internet entertainment, interactive media design. |
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The multimedia industry offers a diveristy of job opportunities for those interested in graphics, film, video, audio and computer technology. The following resources are recommended for learning more about careers in multimedia production. Art & Design - Career & Employment - Art Jobs Prepared by theDepartment of Art and Design - Northern Michigan University. A very comprehensive guide to job directories, search engines, and specialized firms related to all aspects of graphic and newer media careers. Careers in Informational Technology.This is an extremely comprehensive guide to careers within the field of information technology which includes multimedia design and development. There are 10 chapters in this online document and each chapter is based around a set of professional concerns. The site guides the user from understanding what careers exist through to getting a job.Site created by Prentice-Hall, Inc. Job Guide 2003! provides an in-depth look at a range of occupations, and their education and training pathways. It also gives useful information about how to work out what occupations suit you best, based on your interests and abilities. Some examples: Career Connection.This site outlines some of the many positions available at production studios, post production houses, television stations and others around the country.The site is a commercial site but the descriptions are worth taking a look at. Careers in Multimedia.The Multimedia and New Media industries cover a wide range of activities. This guide looks at the types of job positions and the work environments in which one might be employed. Entertainment Careers has an extensive collection of material related to working in the media industry. Career Advice. Monster.com provides an excellent overview of the following career options and links to possible jobs. -
Cinematographer
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JOB BOARDS. Click and go directly to a listing of jobs - no need for searching. Animation Job Board: Animation World Network. This site provides continuiously updated listings of international jobs in the field of animation. Check it out. Computer Game Design Job Board. This site is provided by Gamasutra.com and lists a wide variety of job opportunities from lead design to 3D artist and programming specialists. Film and Television Job Board: Film, TV, & Commercial Employment Network provides important information and resources for individuals interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry. It's for beginners as well as seasoned professionals. Information and resources are provided for many areas both behind and in front of the camera. Entertainment Careers. Net. Job Board. Entertainment jobs and internships listings at Studios, Networks, Production Companies, Record Companies, Radio Stations, VFX, Animation,Broadcasting EUGENE Administrative Assistant. 20-30 hrs. per wk. Benefits. Starts immediately. Must have MS Word, Excel, Microsoft Photo skills. Own transportation. Mail resumes to: BBD 2683694 The Register Guard, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440, or E-mail resume to:videopipe@comcast.net, or fax to: 541-726-8349. No phone calls Location: OR Date:1/25/2004 Source: Register Guard (Eugene) Advertising Marketing Coordinator.Regional retail company with 3 store locations. Must be proficient using Quark X-Press & Photoshop on MACIntosh computer. Knowledge in broadcast both radio & television helpful. Must be able to develop and work within budget, handle donations & work with a variety of buyers. Office is located in White City, Oregon. Full-time with benefits. Send cover letter, resume & professional referneces to: Advertising Position, P.O. Box 2810, White City, OR 97503. Location: OR Date: 1/29/2004 Source: Register Guard (Eugene) Game Artist. Computer/ KNIFE EDGE Software, Corvallis area game company is seeking: GAME ARTIST Capable 3D artist. Must have experience in Photoshop & 3D Studio Max. *C++ PROGRAMMER C++ developer needed for short-term contract. Game industry experience a plus. Contact Jim 541-745-5329 or email resume jbourke@knifeedge.com . Location: OR Date: 1/31/2004 Source: Register Guard (Eugene) Graduate Admissions Coordinator. University of Oregon Department of Biology Position has flexible FTE, up to 1.0. Responsible for coordinating all aspects of graduate student recruiting and selection. Duties include: developing and implementing effective strategies for recruiting graduate students, minority students, and underrepresented students; organizing and managing recruiting events; overseeing the graduate application and selection process; promoting department and research programs via print and electronic media. Qualifications: Requires a bachelor's degree; highly developed interpersonal communication skills; computer experience, including database software and desktop publishing or web design. Preference for experience in public relations or marketing, and background in natural science. Salary: Annual salary range is $35,000 to $38,000 for 1.0 FTE, based on qualifications and experience, with highly competitive benefits package. Application Procedure: Send letter of application, resume, and names and contact information for three references to Graduate Admissions Coordinator Search, Department of Biology, 1210 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1210. Review of applications will begin February 9, 2004, and continue until the position is filled. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity Published in The Oregonian on 01/25 Graphic Designer-new opening graphic designer with experience. Corel Draw/Photo/Paint/Vector Art. Design & LG Format print. Mail resumes BBP 2687353 The Register Guard, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene OR 97440 Location: OR Date: 1/31/2004 Source: Register Guard (Eugene) Marketing Staff Member Based in Eugene, OR - Project and multi-task management for trade show planning, ad and materials creation, web site and PR required. Strong written and editing skills required. Experience with MS Office, PageMaker, Photoshop, HTML, and Illustrator required. BA and 2+ years experience. Resume and salary requirements to: hr@VersaLogic.com Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Production Artist Experience with graphics software required. Layout and output art for signs, decals etc. Speed and accuracy important. Full time on- site position with salary, benefits and profit sharing. Send resume to Artist, 1015 Arrowsmith St. Eugene, OR 97402 or email to Robert@towersmarketing.com Location: OR Date: 1/29/2004 Source: Register Guard (Eugene) Production Artist Temp to hire. Creating layouts, outputting film onto a digital printer. $9.50. Tiffany 686-0001 Location: OR Date: 1/25/2004 Source: Register Guard (Eugene)TECH ADMINISTRATOR PERL, BSD, JAVA Skills Required Resumenerd@netstores.com Research & Development Technician We are recruiting for a versatile and talented addition to our R&D team. The successful candidate will have experience in: - CAD surface modeling using Rhino - Clay modeling (scale models) - Mold tooling Surface modeling using Rhino 3D CAD software is a prime requirement. Additional computer skills, particularly Internet research, is desired. Any other "hands on" modeling skills and steel fabrication and welding skills are a plus. Country Coach offers competitive wages, excellent benefits including health, life, and dental insurance, 401(k) plan, and paid vacations and holidays. A physical exam and drug test is required after an offer of employment is made. Apply in person at 135 E. 1st Ave., Junction City, Mon.-Thurs. from 8am to 5pm, and Fri. 8am-noon, or email resume to: dbedore@countrycoach.com Check us out at www.countrycoach.com Web Journalist. Public Information Representative, Department of News and Communication Services at Oregon State University. Requires three year's experience with web and desktop publishing, digital photography, interviewing and news writing; preferred qualifications include a bachelor's degree in journalism or related field and experience in the public news media, and demonstrable commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity. Salary is $2441 month, position is full time. To apply or get more information contact Human Resources, OSU, 15th and Jefferson, 122 Kerr Admin. Bldg., Corvallis, OR 97331-2132, or call 541-737-3103; TTY 800-735-1232; Web site:http://oregonstate.edu/jobs Application deadline is 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2004. OSU is an AA/EOE Location: OR Date: 2/1/2004 Source: Register Guard (Eugene) PORTLAND AREA Administrative Assistant. RESER'S FINE FOODS Human Resources Assistant We have a great opportunity for an experienced administrative assistant to support our busy HR team. Selected candidates will have at least 3 years experience creating spreadsheets and graphics, streamlining processes, creating newsletters, organizing department workflow, and answering employee questions. Must be proficient in Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Excellent communication skills and detail oriented. Enjoy working independently with minimum direction. Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred. Send resumes to CorpHR@resers.com or to Reser's Fine Foods, HR, PO Box 8, Beaverton, OR 97075. Fax 503-526-8378. No phone calls please. Equal Opportunity Employer Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Administrative/Project Assistant. KPFF Consulting Engineers is looking for a Project Assistant who is highly motivated, enthusiastic and creative to provide administrative support for Civil Transportation Engineering including scheduling, document processing, specifications, contracts, etc. Applicant should have Associate's Degree or equivalent and 3 to 5 years of general office and/or administrative experience. Must have background in A/E/C industry. Qualified person should have the ability to work independently, manage mutltiple tasks, prioritize responsibilities, outstanding written and verbal communication skills, and strong organizational abilites. The applicant should be skilled in the use and operation of standard office equipment, personal computers and software, including MS Windows, Excel, Word and Outlook. Knowlege of Powerpoint, Pagemaker and/or other graphics software a plus. The firm provides Civil, Structural and Surveying services from 11 offices. KPFF is an equal opportunity employer. Visit our website at kpff.com. Please email, FAX or mail your qualifications to: Neshia Cameron KPFF Consulting Engineers 111 SW 5th Ave., Suite 2500 Portland, OR 97204 FAX 503-274-4681; email nc_kpff@yahoo.com Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Advertising Pring Production /Prepress. Need freelancer or moonlighter for ongoing projects. Must be an experienced Photoshop wizard. Please fax resume & note to 503-224-5839 Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Computer VB Programmer. Friedman Corp offering immed F/T position w/competitive salary & benefits for exp. Visual basic programmers who like challenges and interesting work. Need VB/ADO.Net, Access, MSDE programmer with variety of applications exp. Graphics, Network Admin, Web Design, etc. All a plus. Office location in Vancouver WA. Friedman Corp Sells Mfg and Dealer software worldwide with offices in U.S. and U.K. e-mail resume to:arussell@friedmancorp.com Published in The Oregonian on 01/3 Digital prepress operator. Requires experience w/ InDesign, PageMaker, Photoshop, digial file transfer, web design. Hardware & networking exp helpful. Swingshift. E-mail resumes to jobs@printserve.com or fax to 503-620-9793. Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Graphic Artist for packaging design co. Responsibilities incl: assist Sr Designer & creating line ext mechanicals. Must have creative & technical proficiency in Macintosh desing/production software: Macromedia Freehand, Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. 2-4yrs in packaging desing & production. Fax 201-828-5250 Published in The Oregonian on 01/23 Graphic Artist. Outdoor sports-oriented advertising agency looking for qualified graphic artist with 2-3 years experience in production. Will be working closely w/ creative team producing national print advertising, web, broadcast projects and more. Room for growth for someone with good design skills. Specify graphics software proficiency in resume. Graphic Design or Fine Arts degree. Send resume c/o Oregonian, Dept. 9618-M, Portland OR 97201-3499 Published in The Oregonian on 01/30 Graphic Artist & Artist. FT or PT. Looking for energetic, enthusiastic professional. Experience is a must. E-mail resume to freelanceartdesi@aol.com or send to Freelance Art & Design, 15717 SE McLoughlin, Milwaukie OR 97267 Published in The Oregonian on 01/31 Graphic Designers. Electrical Signage Fluent on Corel Draw and other design platforms. CAD proficiency helpful. Exper in all aspects of signage design preferred. Please send resume and/or web address to Tube Art Signs & Sports Displays, 4243-A SE International Way, Milwaukie, Or 97222. Published in The Oregonian on 01/31 Graphic Designer. Immediate 32 hr wk, bnfts, 2 yrs exp newspaper layout/design. Quark, Photoshop. Fax resume to: 503-285-2900 by 5 pm. Feb 3 Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Graphic Designer DAKINE Hood River seeking graphic designer. Exp'd, progressive. Please send vitae/portfolio to: schmid@gorge.net Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Graphics.Ivey Imaging seeking Project Managers for day & swing shifts. Must be energetic, self motivated, able to work independently or with a team and possess good decision making skills. Responsible for coordinating, organizing & overseeing multiple projects through all phases of production. Min 2-4 yrs exp coordinating client projects in following: Prepress, large format, display, photo. Skilled in Microsoft Office, Quark, Illustrator, & Photoshop. Typing, excellent verbal, written & interpersonal skills a must. Able to work OT & wknds as needed. Rich compensation pkg. Fax resume to Kaci Freeman 503-228-1831 Equal Opportunity Employer Published in The Oregonian on 01/25 Promotions Director and Film Fest jobs Northwest Film Center's The Portland International Film Festival. Temporary jobs are available beginning early February. Please pick up an application and job description at the Film Center 1139 SW 11th Ave., Portland. The festival runs February 13-28.NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Symbol driven flash animation Reply to: job-23327913@craigslist.org Date: 2004-01-28, 5:55PM PST Our company is currently seeking an animation production studio, to produce 15 to 20 minutes of broadcast quality flash animation for a direct-to-video project. We provide: Finished, colored characters, broken down into animatable symbols. Final sound, and sound effects. The project would require attention to detail, and acheiving an almost 'cel' quality using symbols in Flash. E-mail us with a link to samples of your work and your estimated rate for the completion of this project. ( cost per minute or second of completed animation ) Television Director/ TD-Part Time Qualified candidate will have exp. directing/switching live newscasts. Working knowledge of studio equipment including telepromter, robotic studio cameras, Chyron & still-store. At least 2 years prior directing & technical directing exper required. Variable shift, which may include weekends &/or nights. Send resume to: KGW, HR, 1501 SW Jefferson St., Portland, OR 97201. Equal Opportunity Employer Published in The Oregonian on 01/25 Television News Editor - Part Time Candidate should have at least two years previous experience editing video for a news organization. Two years previous exper with tape-to-tape and linear/non-linear editing exp is pref'd. Send resume/tape to: KGW, HR, 1501 SW Jefferson St., Portland, OR 97201. Equal Opportunity Employer. Published in The Oregonian on 01/25 Vieographers.Looking
for experienced DV shooters with an eye for quality for an ongoing
freelance relationship with a production company in the Portland
area. Assignments will include a variety of production types: corporate,
commercials, birth videos and weddings. Duties will include: Video
Editor Looking for an experienced editor with own system
for an ongoing freelance relationship with a production company
in the Portland area. Web Designer.CAESY, a healthcare software development company in Vancouver, WA, seeks enthusiastic graphic/web designer. 3-5 yrs exp, detail-oriented, TML/ Dreamweaver/Flash/Photoshop /Illustrator req. AfterEffects or 3D animation a plus. Send cvr letter/resume/non-returnable portfolio (or website link)/salary requirements: hrdesign@caesy. com or fax: 800-483-3104 Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 Webmaster/Graphics Coord. WA State Investment Board seeks a creatively skilled and flexible candidate for FT website design and graphics mgmt. For details & appl process visit: www.sib.wa.gov or phone 360-956-4615 Published in The Oregonian on 01/25 Writer. Assessment Instructional Designer/Writer. Learning.com is now hiring. Please see job description at www.learning.com Published in The Oregonian on 02/01 NEW YORK CITY Youth Programs Associate - Downtown Community Television Center New York, New York United States Salary: 26,000 - 30,000 Task: to run its award-winning Professional Television Training (Pro-TV) Beginners program, the entry-level section of a three-tiered youth video production program. DCTV is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women of color and minorities are actively encouraged to apply. Start date: February 16th, 2004. Email cover letter, resume and list of three references to:Sandy Spencer, Managing Director, DCTV Sandy@dctvny.org Last day to apply: January 30, 2004 Organization Downtown Community Television Center Children and Youth, Education, Media Location: New York, New York, 10013, United States. SAN FRANSCISO. Conference
Coordinator.(FT, 6 month contract)The Action Coalition
for Media Education (ACME), a national nonprofit promoting media
literacy education, independent media production, and grassroots
political reform of our media system, is seeking a conference coordinator
to plan our July 1-4, 2004 national summit in San Francisco.
The event is co-sponsored by Media Alliance (SF) and the University
of San Francisco’s Media Studies Department. NORTHWEST I'm currently limiting Newsletter job searching to Oregon and South West Washington. However, for those interested in positions elsewhere in the Northwest may I recommend the following: America's Job Bank.Provides a simple search engine that generates a number of NorthWest jobs. Try, for example, typing in Seattle and using as a keyword photoshop, graphics, web design, or video. Be sure to select the Arts, Design, Entertainment, Media category. Sakson and Taylor. Most media jobs in the Seattle area seem to be promoted through Sakson and Taylor a Seattle based employment service that specializes in technical communication. The organization fills positions in animation, graphics, media, instructional design, writing and other areas. This seems to be a central connection to the media production opportunities in the Seattle area. Seattle Times. Seattle area jobs not listed with Sakson and Tayler will be found in the Seattle Times online employment service. Career Click .COM. This online service allows you to search individual, regional, or national Canadian newspapers for job positions. Remember that Canada has tight employment restrictions for non residents. Vancouver Sun . The Vancouver Sun provides an online employment section that lists jobs in that great city of the North. These same jobs can be found on Career Click. Com listed aboved. |
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Millions of dollars are often spent on producing those 30 second
spots for today's Super Bowl and more millions are spent to purchase
air time during the game to broadcast them. It is no surprise that
for some the commercials have become just as important as the game.
A
purposefully designed illusion is the arrow in the FedEx® logo.Can
you find it? Once found, the visual shifting between the arrow and
the text captures and holds one's attention.“The arrow was
indeed intentional as a secondary design element,” says Federal
Express Corp. spokesman Jess Bunn,“If the viewer sees it,
it's a neat, interesting visual bonus. If the viewer doesn't see
it, that's OK. It's still a powerful logo. The arrow is intended
to communicate movement, speed and the dynamic nature of our company,”
he said.(Source: 
