Social Networks’ Sway May Be Underestimated

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com When researchers analyzed the patterns of those who managed to quit smoking over the 32-year period, they found that the decision appeared to be highly influenced by whether someone close to them stopped. a growing body of evidence is suggesting that traditional social networks play a surprisingly powerful and underrecognized role in influencing how people behave Christakis and Fowler took advantage of detailed records kept between 1971 and 2003 about 5,124 people who participated in the landmark Framingham Heart Study. Because many of the subjects had ties to the Boston suburb of Framingham, Mass., many of the participants were connected somehow — through spouses, neighbors, friends, co-workers — enabling the researchers to study a network that totaled 12,067 people In a study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, the team found that a person’s decision to kick the habit is strongly affected by whether other people in their social network quit

Explosion of indie games kills “best of” Column

clipped from www.wired.com But in the last two years, things have blown up spectacularly. There are now hundreds and hundreds of superb indie games coming out every year, from creators in the United States, Japan, India, China and all points on the globe. I’m not counting the crap games, by the way. Throw them into the mix and you’re well into the thousands. Two years ago, I wrote my first column celebrating the best indie games: small, offbeat titles, programmed usually by a single auteur and given away for free I think it’s because the videogame industry has hit precisely the same maturation point that movies and music once hit. What’s more, there are now formal distribution avenues to encourage indie games — ranging from the many blogs devoted to them (TIGSource, Indie Games, Jay is Games and many more) to awards events like the Independent Games Festival and Slamdance Games.

YouTomb keeps an eye on Youtube’s graveyard

clipped from blog.wired.com Where do videos go when they “die” or are booted off YouTube for copyright infringement? YouTube –� which has run into controversy for pulling guitar parodies and satirical music videos due to copyright claims –� recently launched a filtering service that identifies possible copyright violations and lets rights-holders decide if they want to flag videos for removal. Alongside a screenshot of each clip deemed in violation, YouTomb lets users see who posted the offending video, how many views it got before being pulled, when it was removed and by whom (for instance at the request of the user, a media company or third-party). YouTomb, which launched about two months ago, is currently monitoring close to a quarter-million videos, and Jansen says the team is eager to expand its scope. Currently, the site only monitors popular YouTube videos, but Jansen hopes to span as many YouTube data sets as possible.

Indie Films, Coming to a Small Screen Near You

clipped from www.nytimes.com Now Mr. Sloss and his New York company, Cinetic Media, are rolling out a new business called Cinetic Rights Management. The executive and his team — he just hired Matt Dentler, the highly regarded director of the South by Southwest film festival — will act as sales agents for filmmakers who have been left on the sidelines. And here is the twist: The goal is not exhibition in theaters but rather distribution via the Internet and other growing delivery routes like cable on-demand services. While no single title is likely to deliver a windfall — unless it breaks through as an unexpected hit — the company is betting that the “long tail” of niche content on the Internet will, in aggregate, produce meaningful income. The two big puzzles nobody seems able to solve are how to have more of these films seen and how to make money doing it. As it is, several thousand films produced each year — ranging in cost from a few thousand dollars to a few million — are just eating capital.

Rock acts ringing up sales via vdeo games – Reuters

clipped from www.reuters.com DENVER (Billboard) – Games like “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero III” have proved their ability to breathe new life into classic rock sales. But can they do the same for new music? Last month, Motley Crue decided to find out. The band placed its new single, the title track from “Saints of Los Angeles,” for sale as a downloadable track on “Rock Band” well in advance of the album’s release date, which has been pushed back to June 24. The only other place to obtain the track was iTunes. clipped from www.reuters.com “The resurgence of rock has happened because of ‘Rock Band’ and ‘Guitar Hero,’” he says. “And the reason is because of the interaction with the audience. The more music marketing people look at interaction with the audience as opposed to only radio or a video, the more lasting the experience will be and the longer the artists’ career will be.”