The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued guidelines (pdf) regarding blogging and other user generated media at the 2008 Beijing Olympiad. And while the Olympics may be a celebration of athleticism and global togetherness, they aren’t going to be a celebration of personal expression. The IOC’s guidelines address rules for blogging and other user-generated media […]

The BBC is warning about the rampant new problem of techno addiction – when gadgets get so damn sexy that people become addicted to them. According to the venerable BBC: Techno addiction can become so bad that people wake up several times a night to check their e-mails and text messages; Techno addiction can interfere […]

Good news for Apple: half of all music sold in the US will be digital in 2011. Sales of digitally downloaded music will surpass physical CD sales in 2012, according to a new report by Forrester Research. Digital music sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23 percent over the next five […]

A new version of HandBrake – the free, open-source DVD to MPEG converter – is now available. HandBrake 0.9.2 incorporates many changes, including full support for the AppleTV Take 2 and the latest iPhone/iPod Touch firmware. Download it now. Features for Apple fans: Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC3) sound in MP4 files, for a true DVD […]

Apple today announced that it has slashed prices on the iPod shuffle, now priced at $49, and that it is introducing a new 2GB model of the iPod shuffle for $69. ‚ÄúAt just $49, the iPod shuffle is the most affordable iPod ever,‚Äù said Greg Joswiak, Apple‚Äôs vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. ‚ÄúThe […]

Toshiba Corporation today announced that it is killing off HD DVD. “We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. “While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, […]

At Scripting News, pioneering podcaster Dave Winer is highlighting a service from BlogTalkRadio that makes podcasting a no-brainer: A new service from BlogTalkRadio… Call their special phone number: 646-200-0000. It records the call. When you’re done it creates an RSS 2.0 feed with an enclosure that’s an MP3 of the call. The address of the […]

6th graders talk about what podcasting is and how podcasting builds on English/Language Arts skills, taking students beyond the confines of the textbook. TeacherTube via PodcastingTools.

It looks like Toshiba is giving up on HD DVD, making Blu-Ray the de facto high-definition DVD standard. The format war, often compared to the Betamax-VHS battle in the 1980s, has confused consumers unsure of which DVD or player to buy. The HD DVD standard has suffered crippling blows in the last few months, though, […]

The Yahoo! Video Blog has announced a variety of updates to the Yahoo! Video site. Here‚Äôs what‚Äôs new: Widescreen videos: Yahoo! Video supports a 16:9 cinematastic player that‚Äôs far ahead of what most sites are offering. And the video looks great. More content: Yahoo! Video now aggregates the whole spectrum of video found throughout Yahoo!, […]