孟买的圣诞节

We arrived in Bombay early in December, all agog to see the wonders of one of India principal cities and looking ahead to visiting Delhi, Agra and the Taj Mahal, even the Khyber Pass, Afghanistan and Karachi. We accomplished only the first of these. After one night in Bombay we awoke to the news that India and Pakistan were at war.     

Erstad,Ola (2013) Digital learning lives Peter Lang (New York & Bern) isbn 978‐1‐4331‐1163‐1 280 pp € 30.75 (paper and e‐book) http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=78334&cid=448

Digital learning lives aims to describe a set of practices in school education and beyond that are well developed and based on digital technology. With rich examples from our digital lives, the author shows that digital natives should be able to go beyond spaces and places with which they are familiar. People closely interested in broadening the scope of digital learning and creativity should think of buying this. Gi‐Zen Liu     

Philips,Rob et al (2012) Evaluating e‐learning Routledge (New York & London) isbn 978‐0‐415‐88194‐4 207 pp £25.99 http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415881944/

This book seeks to formalise approaches to e‐learning by ensuring that e‐resource design is evaluated and appropriately supported by evidence. The book is aimed at academics who design e‐learning systems and need to devise scholarly evaluation research to assess their success. If this book's likely to relate closely to what you do, I suggest you borrow a copy so you can assess it for yourself. John G Hedberg     

Review and criticism

The network tone of voice

Mass Communication in China, John Howkins (New York: Longman, 1982).

Television and Radio in the United Kingdom, Burton Paulu (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1981).

Mass Media and Social Change, ed. Elihu Katz and Tamas Szecsko (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications Inc., 1981).

Electronic Colonialism: The Future of International Broadcasting and Communication, Thomas L. McPhail (Beverly Hills, CA.: Sage, 1981).

The First Amendment Under Seige: The Politics of Broadcast Regulation, Richard E. Labunski (Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1981).     

Controversial Rap Themes,Gender Portrayals and Skin Tone Distortion: A Content Analysis of Rap Music Videos

A content analysis of rap music videos aired on BET, MTV, and VH1 examined the occurrence of controversial themes, gender differences, and skin tone distortion. The results of this study found that current rap music videos have placed an emphasis on themes of materialism and misogyny. Additionally, men and women in the videos differ in their portrayal of these themes. Specifically, female characters are significantly more likely to appear as objects of sexuality. Men and women also differ in their appearance with more African American females appearing to have Eurocentric features. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The Use of Communication Technology in Thailand's Political Process

Thailand's political landscape has changed dramatically during the past five years. The rapid growth of communication technology in Thailand has been instrumental in generating political participation in the national elections of 2001 and 2005. In this article we provide the results of a benchmark study that assesses the early period of this political transformation. Specifically, we examined the use of television and of the Internet for political information by interviewing 500 urban residents. Our results indicate that likely voters actively gathered political knowledge from television advertisements and political party websites. Although use of television and the Internet for political purposes did not increase direct involvement in political parties, it did promote participation in the 2001 national election. Implications of these findings for future research on the use of communication technology for political communication in Asia are discussed.