But it was only recently that I discovered a new favourite blog – the fabulous photographic witterings that persuade me to look at this fucking hipster. I was always taught that looking smart is about possessing style, not being fashionable (of which I am neither, not fashionable nor stylish, in the conventional sense of the word) and so this website has brought me endless hours of pleasant bemusement and bewilderment. Is it cutting edge style? Victimless fashion? Do people truly have time to look so incredibly hideous?

Simultaneously, as I continue my quest for a more profound and precocious blogging style, it was with some delight that I discovered this story about the success of blogs being turned into books… one of them being my new found and fabulous documentation of hipsterisms. After long analysis of the development of print into hypertext and beyond, the communication of ideas and stories through digital platforms such as blogs, we often circled back to the question – could a blog be produced as a book… and would it work?

The general consensus was that as a book, blog content lacked all the qualities that made it so very intriguing – its ability to be conversational, easily disseminated, accessible, interactive, media rich and transient. But perhaps blogs that are predominantly image-based are different stories (pun intended). As mentioned in the article, we also have blogs such as the famous stuff white people like and the tasty this is why you’re fat being translated to print, perfect for bedtime reading.

It will be interesting to see what else transpires, and whether we might soon have Boing Boing: An Unabridged Directory, or Dlisted: True Tales of Horror. After all (and as the creator of latfh.com pointed out), why wouldn’t people want to buy a book of images they can get online for free??

The possibilities, it seems, are printable. Now please excuse me, I need to go and reserve my copy asap, for the eight copies of this will surely sell out fast.

Elahi decided that the only way to contend with the slightly irritating issue of being an FBI target and the daunting prospect of an all-expenses-paid trip to Guantanamo was to take surveillance matters into his own hands. The result has been the documentation of Elahi’s entire life online, with nearly 20,000 photos of everything that takes place in his life, from the food he ate today to the toilets he has used. Elahi speculates that the swamping of the online space with personal data may one day undermine the abilities of dear big brother, and meanwhile has rendered surveillance upon himself completely useless and valueless by practicing it extremely publicly (and comprehensively) himself.

His statement is both intriguing and inspiring. Dig it. As as for all my babble about lifemapping? it seems it’s already here.

What I did well
I blogged extensively. I explored outside the course and outside the box. I collaborated successfully. I actively listened and learned, both to adrian and to other students (via blogs), and I took this information and let it lead me on new explorations. I have created more than I thought possible. I developed insight into the network and took risks with both practice and material.

What I have done better
I have gained confidence in my blog, in my voice. I have gained a greater understanding (and thus confidence in practicing) writing for the network. I have developed creative research skills, previously non-existent. I have pushed myself outside my comfort zone – i became braver. I have paid more attention too, and learned more, from others work. I drew parallels with the work we were doing and the outside world – I worked out why it was relevant. I developed my tenacity.

What I could have done better
I could have practiced more with different techniques, different tools (mainly video, less audio). I could have explored even more, especially in terms of theory and academia. I could have read more of other peoples blogs.

I’ve found the challenge herculean (to quote the lovely Mr Sherman), and as such, thoroughly invigorating.

Now let’s see if I can manifest it.

But now the death of tv, long predicted by the rising popularity of the internet, may have come a little step closer. Japanese developers have created television technology that will allow viewers to access broadband internet through their television set, working with telecommunications companies to develop a technological standard for televised browsing.

Now, none of this is really new. It has been possible to view the internet on your television for some time, and many people are also more than happy to watch television shows on their computers. But this new technology, available as early as mid march and similar to some sort of inbuilt Tivo, will inevitably change the current media production landscape. As pointed out by Akihiro Utada, an internet analyst from Japan, “when it becomes standard for TVs to be connected to broadband services and for viewers to watch on-demand movies and programs (through the internet), it is inevitable for terrestrial TV stations offering real-time broadcasting to lose their importance.” Even more interesting is that the technology has the power to bring UGC directly to our television screens – anyone could use the internet to broadcast directly to peoples TVs. An interesting concept.

Of course, as media students this is all :yawn: glaringly obvious, but perhaps it is happening faster than we think.

I ain’t no scientist, and tbh I couldn’t give an arse about marketing tactics, but this sounds kind of like a visual technorati (admittedly with slightly more sinister ambitions). By using a visual depiction of blogs, boards and websites, you can identify which ones are the most influential on the web.

They put it a little bit more succinctly:

‘SEER is a software-based marketing intelligence tool for finding and visualizing live networks—web-based or closed—in real time. It aggregates activity from web sites, news groups, bulletin boards and blogs to identify how information spreads and influences brand behavior within a particular ecosystem or network.’

No doubt we will see more and more of this as companies try and harness the business potential of the web. We’ll all be data-mined to death.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

this video is magic. Props to Blu and vimeo.

a call to action?

no such thing as a reflective manifesto…? The manifesto must state our beliefs, it can’t be naive, it has a vision.

The incomplete manifesto.

Meta Questions

Why are we making a manifesto and why is it based on Vernacular Video?

Vernacular Video – how is it related to what we are studying? New technology developing the medium, changing the media landscape and the environment in which media practitioners function….

Why a manifesto? We are creating something we believe in.

Will require as many ‘guidelines’, ‘values’ or ‘ideals’ as are required to achieve the goal….

My personal approach thus far has been to choose elements of Vernacular Video that resonate with me, that I feel moved by, that i believe in. That bit is easy. I am building a goal around these concepts… what I believe in will be the title of my manifesto: Video: Everyone, everywhere, everyday. Consider it my slogan. I’ll stop before I give anything else away, but you can watch my progress here.

I am trying to think up some ideas of declarations while adrian is talking about them, in the hope some of his clarification will seep in here.

Perhaps like this. Everyone – Video is the medium of the people, all people. Video will increasingly be available to all. The technology of video has, and will continue to, increase availability and exposure of recording moving image and sound.

These are elements of a bonza brainstorm i had yesterday. I’ll upload some of my ideas to the blog later today/tomorrow.

Adrian has pointed out that as current media students, we are on the cusp of major changes occurring in the communication and media environment. These changes are driving traditional or ‘old’ media to search for different models to adapt to a new breed of media consumer.

Some 86 percent of respondents believed newsrooms should become more integrated with digital services as two in three believe the most common form of news consumption will be via electronic media such as online or mobiles within a decade.

The prognosis is thus: Innovate, integrate or perish.

It is interesting that this shift is being driven by ‘emerging’ newspaper markets in developing countries, such as South America, Russia, the Middle East and Asia – they are the environments in which these new journalistic practices will be developing.

Also interesting is that 35 percent of the news agency surveyed also wanted to train their journalists in this new media.

So lucky us. We’re already half way there. Until the next upgrade, that is.

Manifestos are thus often referred to in a political context, although the artistic connection is inescapable – artists themselves will hold certain political views and values and tend to align themselves with particular agendas, and these will influence a ‘manifesto’.

They span a number of different contexts, media and industries/practices, and seem to be approached with varying degrees of seriousness and playfulness. I think what is in it and the form it takes is irrelevant, as long as it assumes the intent of the artist/s – conveys what they think it should.

I have come across a few while researching, and these have been both collaborative and solo. Open manifesto is a collaborative project collecting the thoughts and musings of graphic designers, the freestyle art manifesto is a fantastic collective of guidelines that is derived from the values behind hip hop, but could apply to any form of expression, and the splasher manifesto discusses a collective’s desire to vandalize street art. I have even discovered a librarian’s manifesto on youtube.

So this gives me a start, but I have no idea whether I am on the right track. More and more it seems the manifesto could be moulded into any shape that I might want it to be. I’ll keep you updated on further findings.