I have to thank (or should it be blame?) the Las Vegas Sun for igniting a love affair between the original Sin City and myself! So much so that after losing myself in the interactive display produced by the newspaper I had to go home and watch the original Oceans 11 to continue the fantasy just that little bit longer!
This site recreates the history and ’sin’ that once was Las Vegas, mobsters, presidents, rat pack and of course the world renowned ‘Strip’. You can even watch the ‘Strip’s’ development from its gambling roadhouse ‘Pair o’Dice‘ to it roaring glitz and glamour of the 60’s with ‘The Sands‘ and‘Caesar’s Palace‘, right up to today.
While you’re in the area, you may as well check out the Hoover Dam, a little on the Atomic testing that once took place nearby and see if you can spot the world famous 75 ft neon cowboy of the pioneer club (but you have to travel back pre-1995, as they ripped it down then).
Historically, this site doesnt shy away from much. In its 11 part documentary, every decade from the 1900’s up to the 1990’s is explored. Starting at the railroads, through to the development of the first hotels and casinos, gangsters, segregation, entertainment boom, Howard Hughes, Siegried and Roy and a little Fear and Loathing just to spice things up and of course, the occasional King spotting.
The information and multimedia are great, visually attractive and jam packed with photo and news archieves.
I think the only thing that really lets it down is sometimes when checking out an article, you can make your way to the Las Vegas Sun website and away from the special feature.
But if you have time, check out the panoramic neon boneyard and a few well know implosions along the way (my favourite, the Landmark, done with fireworks and resembles a scene from the Thunderbirds).
Narratives that are expressed in an interactive medium, particularly those that encompass a high degree of multimedia, more often than not are viewed as a novelty. Or, I should say, that its not necessarily the content or narrative itself, but the way it is ‘broadcast’ that isn’t seen as an equivalent to the traditional means of journalism.
Interactive Narratives acts as a ‘google’, if you like, pulling together media from various news and entertainment sources worldwide. From contemporary and historical news events to informative learning material.After spending some time searching around the Interactive Narratives website (http://www.interactivenarratives.org), it is hard to miss the diverse range of subject matter that is encompassed in its 320+ pages of stories. Within this broadness of subject matter, there is also a range in production of these interactive pieces. Along with slide shows and short film montages there are also clever uses of flash animations combined with informative audio that generates an interesting learning experience. Two news pieces that illustrate this are Power in Motion by the New York Times and the Associated Press’ Comparing Executive Compensations. These two presentations, although tackling different content matter (the former, dissects tennis player Ana Ivanovic’s power server, the later, top 100 CEO salaries and compensation), convey the information clearly and concisely through text and flash illustration.
It is true that this form of communication isn’t necessarily suited to to all news, particularly breaking stories. However, for creating atmosphere and greater understanding of background information of events in the media, interactive narratives can be largely effective. My two favourites, LIVE HOPE LOVE (a personal account of the wide spreading epidemic of AIDS in Jamaica) and TOGETHER (an insiders account of the violence that erupted after the 2007 Kenyan presidential elections) are a great example of this. Both of these presentations differ in the multimedia used but are beautifully presented through this interactive facility. I think that if they were to be presented as a newspaper or magazine article that the emotion and full severity of the situation would not be felt.
For the first four weeks I have been struggling to locate a blog that can retain my interest on a daily basis. I was aware of some of more obvious options: Andrew Bolt (I am preferable to someone with a post- White Australia Policy mindset), Perez Hilton, (I prefer my trash kept for my bi-monthly hair dressers appointment, after all, there is a time and a place), etc. However finding a happy medium between the two appeared more challenging then first thought.
But, have no fear, nerd fighters are here!
The blog is more of a vlog and is the brainchild of two brothers, Hank and John Green. The vlogging was bore out of a project (Brotherhood 2.0) that was to run for an entire year during 2007. It was a ban on all forms of textual communication between the brothers, and instead, all was to be communicated via video blogs which were initially posted on YouTube and their own website. Now approaching their two year anniversary the Nerdfighters are still going strong. The project Brotherhood 2.0 has ended, however since its run, Nerdfighters have developed a large enough community to have developed a vlogging social networking site, in which anyone can join (only if you are made of awesome and aid in their fight to decrease worldsuck) and began socialising with other nerd fighters.
A lot of the vlogs are really just for the fun of it, but having said that, both Hank and John will not shy away on broadcasting their opinions on current issues, on both an American and global scale. One of the most recent blogs posted by John Green, Sarah Palin: An Introduction (posted August 29th, 2008), outlines his arguments why McCain’s choice of running mate could have a dangerous impact on the future of the environment in America.
These two “internet sensations”, have been praised by parents and teachers alike, for encouraging students to become pro-active and posts their own discussions ranging from world issues to literary texts. Providing an environment that enables social networking on one level but also allows for the fostering of the ‘inner nerd’, or those that like to fight with hearts, brains, calculators and trombones.
In the past six months, I have rediscovered the fine art form that is the printed text and its consumption resulting in the expansion of ones intellect and imagination, or just simply, reading. Yes, I am a self proclaimed bookworm, well not really, considering it takes me several weeks to to get from cover to cover. But aside from the intellectual advantages of my new found habit, it is a great deterrent of freaks on public transport, particular those that tend to appear around 8pm on the Werribee line. Its like having your own guard dog that doesn’t need cleaning, feeding or a leash. Just whip it out of your bag, appear to be remotely interested whilst avoiding eye contact with potential stalkers and you safer that a child proof lid on a bottle of turps.
The book that has attained my interest recently is by American novelist and Internet campaigner Jeff Gomez, titled, Print is Dead-Books in our Digital Age. It is a 203 page argument on the reasons why/why not the printed text industry will/will not die unless it does/does not jump on the way of the future for its industry; digitization of texts.
Some people may be aware of the tremors taking place around 2000 when there was an emergence of a new possibility for portable reading and the buzzword was ebooks. But as Jeff details in his book, it was a short lived phase that seemed to fizzle before it even began as a result of several key factors: the abundance of programs/software/devices and formats which were to become avaliable for ebooks, DRM (Digital rights management) and a head in sand approach from publishing houses. In his argument, it was these issues combined with the confusion of consumers that resulted in a failed market.
Admittedly, Jeff does squeeze in as much reference as humanly possible in this three part report, ranging from Wired magazines and interviews with Apple CEO Steve Jobs to Pop culture examples of Beastie Boys music video collections and lonelygirl15. This can become somewhat tiring as it feels you are continually delving through this never ending collage of information with references continually overlapping each other. At the same time, a concise structure is outlined in the introduction categorising his arguments in to three sections: How Jeff feels that publishing needs to change, aspects of change in other industries that foreshadow the possible future of the printing industry and the possibilities for writers, publishers and readers in a digital world. But one may find his experience as a fictitious writer showing through some of his arguments, which on several occasions can seem a little over the top and this combined with refernce after refernce may result in the readers frustration.
However in saying that, it is a well researched book, which is also supported by its accompanying blog (www.printisdeadblog.com) authored by Jeff with entries dating back to September 2006, illustrating just how involved he is in this matter. Definitely worthy of a read if one is needing enlightenment on the matter, but for pure entertainment, ones best bet is to stick with anything by Hunter.S.
Entries (RSS)