Rowan's blog

'Mad Avenue Blues' - Song parody

I just came across this song parody on advertising, marketing and new media. Hilarious!

IBM's grand plan to save the planet

IBM's CEO Sam Palmisano has outlined a new formula for changing the world: Find problems, throw in billions of dollars in R&D, add consultants and an earnest ad campaign - and watch the profits roll in. Read about it in this CNN article. 

The ad campaign is called Smarter Planet, keep an eye out for it. I'd love to hear what you think.

What Fahrenheit in Athens?

Anyone who's seen Fahrenheit 9/11 will know that our world is a very, very odd place. (Yes, the movie is dramatic and one sided ...much like the US media.)

CNN have insisted their Athens correspondents have been through a hostile environments course before covering the Olympics. I read today that the Greek government has banned Olympic spectators from bringing bombs to events - unsurprising. But wait, there's more...

The list of items NOT to take to Athens includes:

- Skateboards
- Propaganda
- Food
- Small change
- Knives
- Non-copyright Olympic T-shirts
- Banners larger than one square metre
- Motorcycles
- Guns
- Cans of Drink
- Pets
- Bicycles
- Frisbee
- Flags of countries not participating in the Games
- Umbrellas
View source.

Stuart Hughes, (BBC) who has made some personal accounts out of the Iraq war (yes, he's done the hostile environments course), will be at the Olympics and is "giving the behind the scenes skinny you don't get from the news sites", via weblog. See his first behind the scenes videoblog (interview with UK event rider Sarah Cutteridge about the heat) here.

A BBC war correspondant, interviewing a sweltering event rider, to post on his weblog. Is that a sign of the times Mr Moore?

Having been in Athens recently, I can say with confidence that I'm very glad I won't be there in person.

Free Culture?!

Disney Has Blocked the Distribution of My New Film... by Michael Moore

May 5, 2004

Friends,

I would have hoped by now that I would be able to put my work out to the public without having to experience the profound censorship obstacles I often seem to encounter.

Yesterday I was told that Disney, the studio that owns Miramax, has officially decided to prohibit our producer, Miramax, from distributing my new film, "Fahrenheit 911." The reason? According to today's (May 5) New York Times, it might "endanger" millions of dollars of tax breaks Disney receives from the state of Florida because the film will "anger" the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. The story is on page one of the Times and you can read it here (Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush).

The whole story behind this (and other attempts) to kill our movie will be told in more detail as the days and weeks go on. For nearly a year, this struggle has been a lesson in just how difficult it is in this country to create a piece of art that might upset those in charge (well, OK, sorry -- it WILL upset them...big time. Did I mention it's a comedy?). All I can say is, thank God for Harvey Weinstein and Miramax who have stood by me during the entire production of this movie.

There is much more to tell, but right now I am in the lab working on the print to take to the Cannes Film Festival next week (we have been chosen as one of the 18 films in competition). I will tell you this: Some people may be afraid of this movie because of what it will show. But there's nothing they can do about it now because it's done, it's awesome, and if I have anything to say about it, you'll see it this summer -- because, after all, it is a free country.

Yours,

Michael Moore
[email protected]
www.michaelmoore.com

Lawrence Lessig is also on the warpath, "We have no good reason for the kind of regulation we've got right now." Read Lessig's latest article here. I'm looking forward to reading his latest book: Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity.

'Grey Album' goes Gold (in one day)!

The music industry likes to think it's in control. Yet people are proving they have the power, time & time again.

DJ Danger Mouse's Grey Album, a mix compiled from Jay-Z's Black Album and The Beatles' White Album started showing up all over the Net, as well as offline.

EMI quickly shouted 'Cease and Desist!' Outraged by that, DownhillBattle promoted a 'Grey Tuesday' on 24th Feb, encouraging sites to make the album available for one day. It's success floored a lot of people, especially EMI.

"We are certain that the Grey Album was the number one album in the country yesterday (by a lot)," says DHB.

"Danger Mouse' moved more units than Norah Jones and Kanye West, and the Grey Album easily went gold in a day (over 100,000 copies).

Read p2pnet.net article here.

I'm on page 3!

My colleagues and I are on page 3 of the Sydney Morning Herald today. There's a big colour picture of us.

I'm laughing, holding a bottle of champagne. The headline reads: A site for sore ears: how one small office beat the world. Kazaa is the most searched for term on the internet in 2003 according to both Yahoo! and Lycos search engines. View online.

Yahoo!'s other top searches were:
2. Harry Potter
3. American Idol
4. Britney Spears
5. 50 Cent

Kazaa also had some great early Christmas news:
- 19th Dec - The Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Kazaa is not responsible for the potentially infringing actions of its users. This victory sets the precedent about the legality of peer-to-peer technology across the European Union, and around the world.
- 23rd Dec - 35 producers in the world's most prolific film center (Bollywood) have signed a deal to sell their movies using Kazaa.

This is one hellova wave to be riding!