Livia Iacolare

Some days ago I bumped into a video showing a Thailandian elephant that can paint. It was truly something amazing to watch and I was so impressed that I shared it with my friends. The other day, though, I decided to investigate and see whether it was possible to find out how elephants could be taught how to paint.

I searched on YouTube and I found this horrible video about elephant training (read “torture”) in Thailand. I should warn you not to watch it if you are sensitive people, but I believe it’s a duty to check it out.

From the description of the video:

The traditional way in Thailand to train elephants is to break their spirit completely and totally so that they are mortally afraid of humans. The way this is done is with the “phaajaan.”

Baby elephants are captured, put into a pen that does not allow them to move side to side, forward, or sit, and then for 3-7 days everyone in the village takes turns breaking the animal using sticks with nails at the end, ropes and hot irons.

I also posted it on Current and if you want it to air on TV make sure you register to the site and vote for it. I believe we must do whatever we can to raise consciousness about this disgusting crime.

One of the things that make me realize that I’ve spent a lot of time away from home is my toothbrush. I have two and one is always in my suitcase, ready to go. The other day I used the one I have at home and it was very very stiff. Suddenly I realized that I didn’t use it for two weeks. And it felt strange.

There are so many video projects going on and the one I want to mention today is indeed very interesting. I had the pleasure to get to know Ian MacKenzie (also editor of Brave New Traveler) and Sean Aikin, the two Canadian guys who are behind the One Week Job video blog. What’s so special about this project? Well, basically Sean is going to do a different job every week to find his real passion. It’s a sort of Bildungsroman of the Web generation and goes far beyond what you could ever expect.

I really love the concept and the way it has been developed: Sean (the protagonist) is supported by some sponsors and all the income that derives from his work is given to charities. Sean has been featured on mainstream media and his adventures - accurately directed and remixed by Ian - are transforming him into a star. Here is a video introduction to the project:

Drawn behind a business card by Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com

Thanks to Marjolein for the link :)

I had a good time last night at NetTV, the web television produced by Tommaso Tessarolo. The crew at NetTV invited me to join the episode entitled “Women and the Internet“. Despite some technical issues due to the Mogulus platform (which is still in closed beta testing), the show went on and I had the pleasure to meet some interesting women who are very active in the Italian blogosphere.

And how could I ever forget mentioning the amazing Mary Patterson and her book “Networks trade-off: the future of the Internet“? I think it’s the bible of women bloggers and her vision totally changed my idea of the Internet and its future development.

In conclusion, this experience at NetTV made me realize that Italy is very interested in the implementation of online television and this is certainly a market that is going to grow fast and generate a lot of competition. Of course any attempt to import formats from classic TV to web TV will have to be carefully pondered. But I will dedicate a more detailed post to this topic in the next future.