Ballroom Dancing in Beijing

So you thought China was alll about economic growth ? Early every morning at the beautiful gardens at the Temple of Heaven, these people come to learn and practice ballroom dancing. The wonderful thing is there are actually no class distinctions. One a retired fashion designer, one an ex- factory worker, one an internet entreprenuer, [...]

virtual reality and the human touch. Open Forum

No doubt, virtual reality will change the way behave, as will social networking across the various internet platforms. We will be more connected, more communicated, more informed, more educated and in many ways more aware. This minds of this interactive networked generation will develop far faster than ours did. Thats all good news ? Or [...]

China immigration

I landed in China expecting a long wait at immigration. Surely this must be one of the most security conscious and bureaucratic regimes in the world ? Think again. As the immigration officer stamped my passport, 4 lights came on, asking me to press one. Whether I was completely satisfied , somewhat satisfied, not satisfied [...]

Flying Kites in Tiananmen Square

Beijing is full of surprises. Walking back to Raffles Hotel I pass the walls of the Forbidden City and into Tiananmen Square and look up into the night sky. Maybe a hundred kites. Some so far into the night sky that you could see them only by their twinkling lights. Twinkling lights on a Kite [...]

Blogism

Just wanted to share with a quote from my interview with the 'Australian' that is making the rounds n Australia : AS a director, Shekhar Kapur has become used to working with one of the world's most expansive mediums: cinema. But the filmmaker and activist is pondering how to tell his stories in under five [...]

The New Media

Still at the New Media/Virtual worlds conference in Melbourne. I heard some amazing brains of 'life on the other side' - second life. I spoke about second life, new media etc too, but my talk was more of an exploration of the psychology of living in another - second life. Will write about that, but [...]

Is Web Video a threat to TV

Fear seems to be the key that drives large corporate structures that just cannot handle the democratization of media and entertainment. The great argument the goes on "is there a business model for the new media sites like video blogs and social networking" ? There is a prime fallacy in this argument that is just [...]