MIPCOM Mobile and TV awards on Second Life

There's nothing like practicing what you preach. MIPCOM has been championing new media for some time now. For the third time the event will host the Mobile and TV Awards for innovative programming in "cross-media" formats. What's new this year is that they are showcasing the event on the online game Second Life.
Categories include:

1. Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet:
Drama
2. Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet:
Comedy
3. Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet:
Lifestyle/Music
4. Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet:
Factual
5. Best Cross Platform & interactive Mobile TV Format
6. Best Made-for-Mobile TV or Film Channel
7. Best Mobile service for Social Community & User-Generated Content
8. Best Short Film originally Created or Repurposed for Mobile
9. Best Film shot on a Mobile Device

The nominees will be announced in September. Check back for details. MIPCOM will be held October 8-12.

Cannes amongst Forbes' "Top 10 Topless Beaches"

Forbes has just published their Top 10 choice of topless beaches, which includes Cannes. As they say themselves, "Call us old-fashioned, but we tend to favor topless beaches rather than nude ones. Nearly all European beaches are topless, and sunbathers there have a blasé attitude towards nudity, which means no gawking or cameras". The fact that they recommend staying during the film festival is not very helpful as 1) there are more cameras per square meter than at a Nikon factory and 2) it's almost impossible to book a hotel. So their suggestion of the Carlton is a bit optimistic. You might want to book now for next May.

Other beaches on the hotlist include Santorini (Greece), Bora Bora (Polypenesia) and St Martin (West Indies). Funnily enough, Cannes is amongst the cheapest of the bunch.

Mobile phones in Cannes: when will prices drop?

Much has been made of the new (lower!) roaming charges that the European Commission has forced operators to apply across Europe. Needless to say, you don't have to be European to benefit from them. I've often recommended buying a local SIM card if you are staying any time in Cannes as lots of calls you will make are made to French numbers. So there are considerable savings to be made.

As lots of people attending Cannes are from European countries, the new charges will benefit anyone with a European number of SIM card.

The European Commission has set up a page to explain about the new tariffs and what we must do to benefit from them. The lists are not 100% up to date (and I'm sure they will change over time), but the site does already explain quite a lot.

Check it here.