Arts / Culture

The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company has arranged a deal with the film school at the University of California-Santa Barbara that recruits students as cheap labor to make Harley ads in the form of "short sponsored videos for online media or for downloading to other digital media platforms such as cell phones, iPods, and PDAs." Under the terms of the "partnership," students submit proposals to Harley-Davidson, describing the type of video they plan to make. If approved, the company pays a stipend of up to $1,200 for each proposal, and a prize of $5,000 to the winner.

Beware the blog that gushes about a product, movie, or anything you might consider purchasing. There's a chance that the blogger is on the payroll of "new marketing middlemen such as PayPerPost Inc. that connect advertisers with mom-and-pop webmasters." PayPerPost alone pays 15,500 bloggers for inserting their clients into blog postings.

Concerned at the implications of Google's attempt to build an online digital library, a splinter group called the Open Content Alliance has launched a not-for-profit effort to scan the collections of major libraries and make them available online. "You are talking about the fruits of our civilization and culture.

Simon Chapman, Ph.D., a global authority on tobacco marketing at the University of Sydney, Australia School of Public Health, has accused cigarette manufacturers of carrying on a below-the-radar advertising campaign by flooding the Internet web site You Tube with thousands of videos showing sexy, smoking teens. Chapman notes that the vast majority of clips show young women partying, talking or assuming seductive poses while smoking.