differences between libel laws

‘In the US, a plaintiff like Tom Cruise (a public figure) would need to prove that the defamatory statement was published with actual malice, which is defined as "knowledge that the statement was false or reckless". Thus the onus is on the plaintiff. This is often a difficult hurdle for a plaintiff.

‘In contrast, in Australia the onus is on the publisher to prove that the material published is true or that another defence is available to it. This is a far greater hurdle to jump than that faced by the plaintiff in the US.'

from the WBN

The "Uncanny Valley"

A topic of some enduring interest. An appealing anomaly, an delightful irony, a conundrum. The closer animation gets to reality the less realistic it seems. The valley showcases the ability of the human mind to fill in the gaps as long as the gabs are big enough to be worth filling. So for example in Animalia the animals are done with greater realism than the humans.

Summer is the season of the short story

… whether its a collection for Christmas or in the daily paper.

food for thought - will e-books go the same way?

"The digital growth in downloaded songs and albums hit record levels in 2007, but it wasn't enough to make up for the loss in physical CD sales. Sales in the U.S. of all albums, digital and physical, dropped 15% to 500.5 million from the 588.2 million sold in 2006. Last year was the seventh consecutive in which music sales have dipped; the last rise was in 2000, when album sales hit 800 million." Variety

novels v movies

"A novel can include a sort of panorama of characters, a little like the Breughel painting with Icarus going down in the lower right-hand corner of the canvas. That's one of the reasons there are novels. That's one of the reasons we need novels and we need movies. A novel can account for randomness and can include a wide range of people whose fates just barely impinge on one another. I can't think of a way to tell a story like that in a movie that I would want to see."
David Cunningham, for more of the article see

Oscars

I wasn't aware but it's apparently true to-line actors choose their films on the basis of a release in time for a peak of Oscar voting.

Maybe it's just that I haven't noticed it in the past, but the advertising for Oscar votes is quite in your face this year. It seems a distortion.