Sims Digital Media

Survey on Phone and Web Apps

2009-06-23T17:55:00.000+01:00

Doing a very short 3 question survey for a friend on potential web and mobile phone training in Northern Ireland.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DcYBpz88jnjz9TC_2fnqyPnw_3d_3d

Talking it up and taking action - searching for a way forward for emerging industries in Northern Ireland

2009-06-22T17:02:00.000+01:00

There have been two notable posts/publications in recent week by people from involved in the NI Tech Industry. Writing in the Belfast Telegraph David Kirk says

“I know from decades of experience in the tech industry in the USA, that without
clear vision and bold leadership, many brilliant opportunities are left
fallow.

In Northern Ireland it is particularly true; it’s not from lack of
talent, ideas or from wanting to succeed. In many cases it is simply because it
is not clear how to progress those opportunities and how to see ambition and
visual success. In the past six months I’ve seen some world-class opportunities
that “just don’t fit” into a standard envelope, requiring cross-functional this,
or cross-organisation that, or didn’t have the right boxes ticked. Northern
Ireland is too small to waste opportunities like this. You know what they say,
when one door closes another bangs shut. I’m tired of hearing slamming doors —
it’s time to jam them open.”

Norman Apsley who heads up the Northern Ireland Science Park wrote in his Blog - also published in the Newsletter

Lots of people want to see Northern Ireland companies grow and succeed. But how
do you translate goodwill into firm actions? If smaller, private
investors/ex-pats wanted to help support local start ups, how do they go about
doing that? How can NI best support the next generation wantrepreneur?

Thesequesti s, and more besides, were part of an email conversation going backwards and forwards this week. Involved in the conversation were some NI-born hi-tech and highly successful entrepreneurs now living abroad, and a few local people
involved in local tech and innovation – here’s a snapshot of what things look
like from their perspective…

These are people of influence who have the good of new and emerging tech industries at the heart of what they do. It is time to talk up what is going on and to follow that with action. But action needs to be co-ordinated and considered. This is a call for visible, measurable movement.

Count me in.

Gaelgames

2009-01-03T10:10:00.000Z

Last week my old (or should that be ancient?) friend Padraig Coyle and I quietly launched the gaelgames.com podcast. It struck me that in such a fan driven range of sports there were quite a few blogs, but no podcasts. So I suggested to Padraig (like me started in Downtown Radio a long time ago) who recently left BBC NI Sport that we should play around with a Gaelic Games podcast.

It is a quiet almost restrained start; but I hope before too long it becomes irreverent, edgy and driven by the passion that supporters of gaelic football and hurling have for their sports. So the first is the "Test Transmission". If sport is your thing, please check it out and let us know what’s on your mind.

Mscapers - the Digital Circel Podcast 13

2008-12-04T17:31:00.001Z

Subscribe to the Podcast (RSS)
Subscribe through iTunes,
Download Directly (MP3)
Duration - 27′.22"

For the first time, HP Labs have moved out of their home in Bristol, to hold their a two day conference on Media Scapes – or Mscapes. Described by one of the speakers as a New Medium, mscapes has been developing since about 2003 and has achieved global interest.

Visiting the two day mscapeFest08 in Belfast’s W5 were producers, developers, designers and educationalists from Canada, USA, Singapore, Taiwan, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands and many other countries.Davy Sims spent 2 and 3 December at W5 at the conference which was opened by Northern Ireland Finance Minister Nigel Dodds

On the podcast:
Jo Reid from HP Labs http://www.hpl.hp.com/bristol/
Brian Lamb from Ulster Mediascapes http://www.ulstermediascapes.com/
John Bustard who produced Armoy Armada http://www.armoyarmada.com/
Bill McCluggage from Dept of Finance.

You can find out more by going to the mscapers.com where you can download the tool kit, browse some 500 mscapes and get involved with the forums and with other people developing the project.

Digital Circle Public Launch

2008-12-01T15:16:00.001Z

To the Green Room at BBC’s Blackstaff studios yesterday evening for the formal launch of the Digital Circle. I’ve been on the steering group for close to two years – the other members longer. We have spent time developing the ideas set out in the The Northern Ireland Digital Content Strategy http://www.digitalcircle.org/2008/11/25/the-northern-ireland-digital-content-strategy/ and bringing the idea of the Digital Circle to a point where we ask the industry to take over.

The idea is simple; everyone who works in the digital content industry in Northern Ireland is the Digital Circle. For the next 12 months, “signed up” membership (rather than “notional” membership) will be free and during that time elections to the steering group will be held.

There will be five members who will elect a Chair. Each of the other members will lead one of the four activities set out in the Strategy; Investment, Skills and Training, Research and Development and Internalisation.

This will not be a Top/Down organisation. The steering group will be accountable to the membership. The steering group will develop the project and agree the rules.

I particularly liked Stephen Mullen’s comment in his speech “If you don’t play the game, you can’t make the rules.” So, this is the time for everyone in the content industry in Northern Ireland to help to make those rules.

The evening is available in three podcasts.

Adrian Lennon's Speech

Stephen Mullen's Speech

Questions and Answers

Digital Circle Podcast; 4IP

Digital Circle Podcast 10 - 4IP

2008-12-01T15:12:00.001Z

Subscribe to the Podcast (RSS)

Subscribe through iTunes

Download Directly (MP3)

Whether it is Internet Protocol, Intellectual Property, Innovation for the Public, it’s the 4 in 4IP which is important.

Ewan McIntosh of Channel 4's 4IP Fund was in Belfast on Thursday (11 November 2008). Ewan is Digital Commissioner for Northern Ireland Scotland and north east England and is planning to make regular visits here for open meeting.

I met him in one of Belfast’s posher venues, hence the opera in the background.

For more information and to contact Ewan go to http://www.4ip.org.uk/ and http://www.38minutes.co.uk/

And a note about Digital Circle. The official launch will be soon. You can sign up for free membership now through the blog – http://www.digitalcircle.org/

Members will be voting for the steering group.

There’ll be a podcast about all that soon and you can follow it all on the Blog.

Digital Circle Podcast 09 - Constant Comedy

2008-10-23T18:11:00.000+01:00

Download the Podcast directly or subscribe to the Digital Circle Podcasts

This is the second in the series about winners of the the Northern Ireland Department of Trade and Investment’s Broadband Content Initiative – one year on.
In this podcast I profile the Constant Comedy Website and talk to Philip Morrow and Kieran Doherty and the competition creator, Paul Robinson.

Digital Cirlce Podcast 08

2008-10-17T11:40:00.001+01:00

Download and listen to the Podcast (25.6 MB - duration 27'57") or subscribe to all the DC podcasts.

Crisis? What Crisis?

The Digital Circle Podcast returns to the studios of One Zero Zero in boomtown Belfast. It’s getting tough out there.

Here are some headlines just from this week:

C4 pulls plug on digital radio plan

Viacom and CBS cut profit forecast

US online advertising blow

Surprise! Web ads aren't immune from the credit crisis

Tanking economy may lead to spear-phishing and social engineering scams

And a confidential Power Point from Sequioa has been distributed on the web with the heart warming title “R.I.P. Good times”

So with that in mind we've brought together this week’s panel.

Also we be finding out with musical combo Escape Act are being Crafty Devils and where you can download tracks.

Michelle Gallen is just back from the Irish Web Awards. Her business is Liquid E-Learning.

Ruairi McNally is Media Director with Bluecube Interactive. And Rich Dale is a member of Escape Act and works with Crafty Devil.

Download tracks from Escape Act here:

Kings Have Fallen: http://mp3hugger.com/2008/09/escape-act-kings-are-fallen.html

Cabin Fever: http://boxsetgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/escape-act-so-good-they-force-change-of.html

Green: http://www.amuze.me/featured/escape-act-green/

Download Central: http://escapeact.bandcamp.mu/

And follow them on Facebook

Digital Circle Podcast 07 - Slugger O'Toole Awards

2008-10-12T08:50:00.001+01:00

The Slugger O’Toole Awards event was held in Belfast’s W5 centre on 7 October 2008.

Download Podcast Here

This is the first glittering and glamorous Slugger Awards and almost all of the politicos, digicenti, blogerati of any note and general hangers-on are gathered for what would have been a Red Carpet Reception. But Red, like Blue, like Green, Orange and even Yellow have political connotations, so the carpet was ignored and we all just had a night on the tiles.

Slugger O’Toole has been following Northern Ireland politics for about six years. It is the oldest political blog in and about Northern Ireland. If it is not the most read, it is certainly among the top titles. And it is read widely. Slugger O’Toole is a place where the Blogosphere and Main Stream Media meet. The web site is read by Journalists, Political Professionals and bloggers alike.

Founder Mick Fealty is no journalist in the traditional sense, but is probably more of a journalist that many news reporters. If it is a journalists role not just to report events, but to seek context and wide comment on events Mick fits that role. There were awards for External Representives (MPs, MEPs and others), Journalism, Local Council of the Year, Local Councillor of the Year, Local Newspaper of the Year, MLA of the Year, Participation and Involvement, Political Blogger, Stormont Committee Chair of the Year, Up-and-coming Politician of the Year and Jobsworth of the Year.

Get more information at the Slugger Awards site.

Other sites mentioned on the podcast include the winner of the Political Blog NALIL, Alan In Belfast and WIMPS (Where Is My Public Servant).

Download and listen to the Podcast or subscribe to the DC podcasts.

Digital Circle Podcast 06 - Sonic Acadamy

2008-10-02T08:40:00.002+01:00

In November 2007 the Sonic Acadamy was announced as one of the winners of the Northern Ireland Department of Trade and Investment’s Broadband Content Initiative. During this series of the DC Podcast I’m planning to look at how some of the winners have progressed since the final six were unveiled.
In this edition, the Sonic Acadamy’s Kevin Traynor and Graham Ginty. But first to the man who had the idea and drove the project, Paul Robinson Project Manager Department Enterprise Trade and Investment.
Download here: http://www.simsdigitalmedia.com/podcasts/

test

2008-09-25T15:30:00.001+01:00

devfvefv

Digital Circle Podcast 05

2008-09-25T14:26:00.003+01:00

10 Square was the venue for the first Digital Island Meet Up event in Belfast organised by the All Island Digital Media Network Project. Network facilitator Anton Mannering has already organised similar events in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick.

Davy Sims spoke to Anton and others at the event including Michelle Gallen of Liquid e-Learning , Diarmaid Lynch of Switch New Media and podcast regular Matt Johnston from Digital Circle .

Digital Circle Podcast 04

2008-09-19T17:46:00.003+01:00

Podcast Duration 20'.20" - File Size 18.6 megs

In this edition Jeff Peel from Quadriga Consulting who has recently published a paper on Web 2.0 and Marketing. Grace Smith runs postscript5.co.uk.

On Twitter Grace describes herself as "Freelance Web & Graphic Designer in love with web standards and social media." Matt Johnston is Digital Circle's co-ordinator. But in his online life is known as Cimota. He's one of the contributers to Infurious - the people behind Murderdrome the digital comic for the iPhone which recently hit the headlines when Apple decided that cartoon gore was just not their thing - Have they never watched the Simpsons?

They join Davy Sims to discuss digital marketing and promotion in Northern Ireland, but more importantly from Northern Ireland to the world.The Digital Circle Podcast is produced by SimsDigitalMedia.com

Digital Circle Podcast 03

2008-09-11T10:53:00.003+01:00

Podcast Duration - 19'38" File Size 17.9megs

It’s the Digital Circle Podcast. About, for and listened to in vast numbers by the Digital Content Industry in Northern Ireland. If you don’t know what the Digital Circle is, you can get a briefing from our first podcast.

Russell Moore the Digital Marketing Director of Fire IMC and Cecilia McAllister Northern Ireland Manager of Skillset join Davy Sims to discuss digital skills and training.

“Scotland should get its own digital television channel.” So says a report published on 8 September by the Scottish Broadcasting Commission. The commission set up just over a year ago by First Minister Alex Salmond said that Scotland needed a publicly funded digital channel on the same lines as the Welsh-language channel S4C. Acting chairman of the NI Screen Rick Hill reflects on whether a Digital Channel for Scotland a realistic idea.

Download Here

Digital Circle Podcast 02

2008-09-07T09:05:00.006+01:00

Davy Sims visits Creative Camp Belfast with interviews with organiser Andy Gray blogger Alan in Belfast and speakers David Braziel , David McDonald , designer Grace Smith, musician Richard Dale.

More Here - http://www.digitalcircel.org/

Digital Circel Podcast 01

2008-09-03T19:42:00.002+01:00

Podcast Duration -20'.20" File size 19megs

What is the Digital Circle, where did it come from and what is the ambition?

Those and more questions are answered by Adrian Lennon of beingonline.co.uk who chairs the DC Steering Group, Ian Graham from Momentum NI (the Northern Ireland ICT Federation), and Matt Johnston the DC's newly appointed co-ordinator discuss plans for the Digital Circle.

Also, Mairin Murry talks about plans for Creative Camp Belfast.

The podcast is presented by Davy Sims

Music by www.soundjay.com
The Digital Circle Podcast is produced by SimsDigitalMedia.com

Send your comments to dcpodcast@simsdigitalmedia.com

Mon, 1 Sept 2008

2008-09-01T09:28:00.002+01:00

BBC postpones move from R&D headquarters Kingswood Warren
The relocation of the BBC's research and development centre at Kingswood Warren has been postponed "for an indeterminate time", the new BBC director of future media and technology told staff late on Friday.
Source: Media Guardian

A New Battle Is Beginning in Branding for the Web
To marketers large and small, the Web is a wide open frontier, an unlimited billboard with boundless branding opportunities.
For the empirical proof, look at the filings with the government for new trademarks that, put simply, are brand names.
Applications surged in the dot-com years, peaking in 2000 and then falling sharply for two years, before rising to a record last year of more than 394,000.
Recently, a new front has opened in the Internet branding wars.
Source: The New York Times

Sat 30 August 2008

2008-08-30T12:56:00.005+01:00

Web-crawling absurdists tipped as the 'future of comedy'
Source: Media Guardian

Google CEO confident Yahoo! deal will go ahead
Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the company's search ad deal with Yahoo! will go ahead by October, according reports.
Source: NMA

Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S.
During the Internet’s first three decades, most traffic flowed through the United States. In many cases, data sent between two locations within a given country also passed through the United States. Engineers who help run the Internet said that it would have been impossible for the United States to maintain its hegemony over the long run because of the very nature of the Internet; it has no central point of control.
And now, the balance of power is shifting. Data is increasingly flowing around the United States, which may have intelligence — and conceivably military — consequences.
Source New York Times

Fri, 29 August 2008

2008-08-29T14:28:00.006+01:00

Podcasts' popularity surges in US
Internet users are increasingly time-shifting their media consumption by downloading podcasts to watch or listen later, according to a US study.
A research group looking into the habits of web users, the Pew Internet and American Life Project, found that 19% of internet users had downloaded podcasts to listen or view at a later date.
Source: Media Guardian

Does Silicon Valley Face an Innovation Crisis?
Judy Estrin, who has built several Silicon Valley companies and was the chief technology officer of Cisco Systems, says Silicon Valley is in trouble. In a new book, “Closing the Innovation Gap,” which will be in bookstores Tuesday, she writes that the valley’s problems are symptomatic of a crisis in innovation facing the country as a whole.
In an interview in her Menlo Park office Thursday, Ms. Estrin said that the United States is stifling innovation by failing to take risks in sectors from academia to government to venture capital. “I’m not generally an alarmist, but I am really, really concerned about this country,” she said.
Source: NYTimes

Web news aggregators rise despite papers woes
Local newspapers may be faced with hard times, but the ability to get news on a mobile device is flourishing, with several outlets providing context that helps explain particular stories' places in the larger universe of world events.
The need for this becomes more apparent when you consider the thousands of newspapers, broadcasters, wires, and blogs around the globe. Until recently, few sites tried to make it easier for you to negotiate through the thicket.
Source: Reuters

More Artists Steer Clear of iTunes
ITunes has been the runaway hit of the music business, selling more than five billion song downloads since it started five years ago. But a growing number of record companies are trying to steer clear of Apple Inc.'s behemoth music store, because they say selling single songs on iTunes in some cases is crimping overall music sales.

Kid Rock's "Rock 'n Roll Jesus" album was kept off iTunes' virtual shelves. It has nonetheless sold 1.7 million copies in the U.S. since its release last year -- a sizable number for the depressed music industry. Sales of the album have increased in 19 of the past 22 weeks, according to Nielsen SoundScan, vaulting it to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 sales chart. After witnessing the album's performance, his label, Warner Music Group Corp.'s Atlantic Records, last week yanked an album by R&B singer Estelle from the iTunes Store, four months after it went on sale there -- and the same week that one of its songs entered the top-10-selling tracks on Apple's download service.
Source: Wall Street Journal

Irish FA Podcast

2008-08-28T11:38:00.009+01:00

The first IFA Podcast is ready and should be available on the IFA Web site in a day or two. But you can preview it here.

Thurs, 28 August 2008

2008-08-28T11:16:00.006+01:00

Violent comic book doesn't meet Apple's standards
Apple recently took an axe to Murderdrome, an electronic comic book in its App Store that the company deemed too violent.
Murderdrome, created by the [Northern Ireland] United Kingdom-based Infuriouscomics, had been created especially for the iPhone. Apple turned down Infuriouscomics' application to put the comic in the App Store
Source: CNET

Yahoo! kicks off major ad offensive across Europe
Source: NMA

Virgin Media plans music portal
Source: NMA

Sport and the media are natural bedfellows
Source: Economist

Matchmaking mobiles ring in weddings in India
Looking for a partner? For millions of Indians, taking the first step towards getting married could be as easy as picking up a cellphone. Online matchmaking services in India have announced tie-ups with telecom service providers, enabling subscribers to view profiles of eligible partners on their mobile phone screens.
Source: Reuters

Man arrested for posting Guns N' Roses songs on Web
Federal officials on Wednesday arrested a man on suspicion of violating copyright laws for placing songs on the Internet from an unreleased album by rock band Guns N' Roses.
Source: Reuters

Tues, 26 August 2008

2008-08-26T08:18:00.005+01:00

Strong radio boosts UTV profits
UTV has reported a revenue rise of 8% in the first half of 2008, with a 4% decline in TV ad income offset by solid growth from radio, led by TalkSport. UTV saw pre-tax profit rise by 12% year on year to £10.4m, with operating profits up 32% year on year to £9.9m.
Source: Media Guardian

More from Belfast Telegraph:
Strong performance by UTV as profits hit £10.4m
UTV Media has posted a 12% increase in pre-tax profits to £10.4m before exceptional items for the six months to the end of June.

TV advertising gloom set to continue

Hopes that TV advertising revenue would bounce back from a dire September are fading, with media buying agency sources predicting that ITV1 could face a second consecutive month of double-digit percentage year-on-year decline in October.
Source: Media Guardian

Facebook cuts off Scrabulous after legal complaint
Already blocked from Facebook users in the United States and Canada, "Scrabulous" — the online imitation of the popular Scrabble board game — has been yanked by Facebook in all other countries except India in response to a copyright tussle over the game.
Source: Mercury News

Mon 25 August 2008

2008-08-25T14:47:00.003+01:00

Olympics prove a winner for NBC ratings
The 209m viewers for an unprecedented 3,600 hours of coverage on seven NBCU channels in the first 15 days of the Beijing Games put it on track to surpass the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as the most watched event in US television history, Jeff Zucker told the Financial Times.
NBCU had seen a healthy return on its $894m investment in exclusive rights to the Games ...
Source: FT

Web Audience for Games Soars for NBC and Yahoo
The ratings for NBC’s television coverage of the Games were record-breaking this month. But the extent to which the Internet served as a supplement to television was unprecedented, and there were two clear winners: NBC’s own Web site and Yahoo’s Olympics section.
Source: New York Times

BBC accused of distorting market
Speaking at the Edinburgh television festival, Alex Graham, chief executive of the programme-maker Wall to Wall and former head of Pact, the independent producers’ association, said the BBC was in danger of incurring “its own little cultural version of sub-prime lending” because of the unfettered activities of its commercial arm.
As an example, he pointed to the rapid growth of BBC Worldwide ...
Source: FT

Poor earning virtual gaming gold
Nearly 500,000 people in developing nations earn a wage making virtual goods in online games to sell to players, a study has found.
Research by Manchester University shows that the practice, known as gold-farming, is growing rapidly.
The industry, about 80% based in China, employs about 400,000 people who earn £77 per month on average.
Source: BBC Technology

Digital accounts for quarter of WPP revenues
WPP has reported that 25% of its revenues are now derived from direct and digital practices.
The advertising group’s half-year results showed billings up 11.8% on last year at £16.87bn, with revenue up 14.3% to £3.34m and profit up 18.4% to £453.4m.
Source: New Media Age

Lively, Google’s virtual world, has been a flop
Millions of people log into virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life every day, but they require special software and their complexity can be daunting to newcomers. So Google’s launch of Lively, in July, seemed to have great potential. But in the weeks since it opened its virtual doors, Lively has remained surprisingly lifeless, hosting a dwindling number of users and prompting a string of negative reviews.
Source: Economist

The Irish FA Podcast

2008-08-23T12:31:00.004+01:00

Working the the Irish Football Association (IFA) I've produced our first podcast. It will not be available until next week. There are a few tweeks to be made to the website. But it can be downloaded from here. It's only 5 minutes long, so the download is fairly fast. Or you can listen streamed on Odeo.

The IFA will be having one podcast per month. And from the beginning of September there will be a weekly podcast for the Digital Circle.

First Project Ends

2008-07-21T08:46:00.002+01:00

The week producing U105's Late Show is now complete. U105 has a modern sophisticated studio using Selector music scheduler as it's main production tool. The studios are kitted out with Studer and Denon kit.

There are twin broadcast studios; A for main output and B for news output.

U105 is owned by the Northern Ireland commercial television franchise holder, UTV.