This monthly newsletter discusses emerging media technologies and their impact on education. The April 2009 issue features stories on YouTube allowing overlay ads on videos to benefit charities, the expansion of generic top-level domains, and a reality TV show in Belgium using flash mobs for promotion. It also previews an envisioned interactive, multimedia textbook platform and introduces the newsletter's producers.

1. Our 12th Year
April, 2009 | Vol 12, # 04
Produced by: Harry Sova
Designed by: Lee Graham
MediaToday is a gratis service to the academic community; created to encourage discussion of emerging
media technologies, exploration of trends in popular culture, and consideration of their impact on higher education.
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Read, Consider, Discuss, Enjoy !

2. April, 2009 | Volume 12
Media Headlines Today!
Overlay Ads Benefit Non-Profit Charity:Water
New YouTube program allows ad banner over videos with link
Pilot effort generated $10k in one day from YouTube viewers
The response from the YouTube community was overwhelming … enough to build two brand-new
wells in the Central African Republic and give over 150 people clean drinking water for 20 years!
YouTube Call to Action
More Net TLD’s in Your Future !
Current Top Level Domains to Greatly Expand in 2010
Proposed Application Fee: $185,000
Whatever is open to the imagination can be applied for. It could translate into one of the largest
marketing and branding opportunities in history.
Paul Levins, ICANN vice president of corporate affairs
The Power of the Viral: Looking for Maria
Reality TV talent search uses viral for audience promotion
Flash Mob descends on Antwerp railroad station
Display and/or discussion of any given resource does not constitute endorsement of content nor products/services offered - All marks remain the property of their respective holders.

3. Overlay Ads Benefit Non-Profit Charity:Water
The response from the YouTube community was
overwhelming -- thanks to you, charity:water was
able to raise over $10,000 in one day from the
video. That's enough to build two brand-new wells in
the Central African Republic and give over 150
people clean drinking water for 20 years!
• Program Title: Call to Action
• For non-profit organizations
• Overlay Ad appears on organization’s
YouTube video with link to group’s website
• Apply online h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / n o n p r o f i t s
Feeling inspired? If you're a YouTube nonprofit partner, adding a Call to Action overlay is easy. Just go to quot;Edit Videoquot; and fill
out the fields in the section marked quot;Call to Action overlay.quot; All you have to do is include a short headline, ad text, a destination
url, and upload an optional image, and the overlay will appear whenever someone watches your video.
Ramya Raghavan, YouTube Nonprofits & Activism
Display and/or discussion of any given resource does not constitute endorsement of content nor products/services offered - All marks remain the property of their respective holders.

4. More Net TLD’s in Your Future !
Current Top Level Domains to Greatly Expand in 2010
Proposed Application Fee: $185,000, Plus Annual $25k Continuance Charge
A sea change may be coming to cyberspace with Web addresses ending in anything from .a to .z.
The familiar .com, .net, .org and 18 other suffixes — officially quot;generic top-level domainsquot; — could be joined by a
seemingly endless stream of new ones next year under a landmark change approved last summer by the Internet Corp.
for Assigned Names and Numbers, the entity that oversees the Web's address system.
Tourists might find information about the Liberty Bell, for example, at a site ending in .philly. A rapper might apply for a
Web address ending in .hiphop. Charisse Jones, USA Today
Generic Top Level Domains 1 .biz · .com · .info · .name · .net · .org · .pro
Sponsored Top Level Domains 2 .aero · .asia · .cat · .coop · .edu · .gov · .int · .jobs ·
.mil · .mobi · .museum · .tel · .travel
Whatever is open to the imagination can be applied for. It could translate into one of the largest marketing and branding
Paul Levins, ICANN vice president of corporate affairs
opportunities in history.
.Com was the only choice in the early years of the Internet, so that has been branded in the public's consciousness. If
you're a small businessman and you buy a new extension you've got an uphill fight. ... It's going to be like being invisible
Ron Jackson, editor, Domain Name Journal.
on the Web.
1 2
Display and/or discussion of any given resource does not constitute endorsement of content nor products/services offered - All marks remain the property of their respective holders.

5. The Power of the Viral: Looking for Maria
• Viral to promote reality television series
• Started on BBC-1 in 2006, CBC in 2008
• Now on Belgium’s VTM: April, 2009
• A televised talent contest to find the lead role Maria
for a theatrical revival of The Sound of Music
• VTM used dance company as Flash Mob at the
Antwerp Railroad Station
Looking for Maria
Display and/or discussion of any given resource does not constitute endorsement of content nor products/services offered - All marks remain the property of their respective holders.

6. Short-Takes
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to strip off bonus content from
rental DVDs, but retain on retail Premium versions.
For rental customers, we’re delivering a theatrical experience in the home while promoting upcoming releases;
for retail [or sell-through] customers, we’re offering a premium product that expands the entertainment experience
of that particular property to further enhance ownership
http://www.cinemablend.com/dvdnews/Fox-Strips-Bonus-Materials-From-DVD-Rentals-16120.html
The World’s Fastest Broadband is J:Com of Japan
160 Megabits-per-second for $60 per Month
Here’s how much the company had to invest to upgrade its network to provide that speed: $20 per home passed.
By contrast, Verizon is spending an average of $817 per home passed to wire neighborhoods for its FiOS fiber
optic network and another $716 for equipment and labor in each home that subscribes,
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/the-cost-to-offer-the-worlds-fastest-broadband-20-per-home/
WILB: Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing Makes
Employees 9% More Productive Over Those That Don’t
People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration. Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick
surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days' work,
and as a result, increased productivity.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090402.wgtyoutube0402/BNStory/Technology/
Display and/or discussion of any given resource does not constitute endorsement of content nor products/services offered - All marks remain the property of their respective holders.

7. Committed to developing a media-rich, interactive, publishing
platform for multi-cultural education: accessible, economical,
and serving the unique needs of the user in an ever-changing world.
Imagine a textbook unlike anything you have ever experienced; one that’s interactive,
adapting to your lifestyle, interests and work experience; media-rich with audio, video, and
animated examples, and available 24/7 on any screen, anywhere. Just imagine…
Dr. Harry Sova has worked 40 years in mass media and interactive communication, authored several educational resources and
designed an automated music video complex for an Orlando-based theme park. He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Speech, the
Masters of Arts degree in Radio-Television-Film and the Ph.D. in Mass Communication.
Lee Graham has worked in various roles of the eLearning field over the past five years, specializing in design and development of eLearning
solutions. He has worked with clients such as Tyco Electronics, Discovery Education, National Institute of Health, United Technologies
Corporation and the Abraxas Corporation. He holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Communication.
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