This is from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850:
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
May all your wishes ring in true in 2008!
Cybercast credit: YouTube
December 31, 2007
Times Square Lights up a New Ball to Celebrate a New Year
The million or so people who will celebrate New Year's Eve here, and the billions watching it on the real tube - no offense, YouTube - will have a a real treat! The new, 100th birthday Times Square LED ball. Imagine - this is a tradition, that goes back a hundred years. Who would have though? Enough of me blabbing away - here is the star of the ceremonies, introduced to the world pre-hoisting.
This is from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850:
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
May all your wishes ring in true in 2008!
Cybercast credit: YouTube
This is from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850:
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
May all your wishes ring in true in 2008!
Cybercast credit: YouTube
December 28, 2007
Make YOUR Movie Happen in 2008
I goofed off for Christmas, but promise you a treat for the New Year - FilmRiot!
OK. Let's see what this is all about:
FOR FILMMAKERS
They make it their job to free up filmmakers to do what they do best: make movies. If you are one, online tools will help you collect funds from your current contacts, and help you make connections with film lovers internationally who want to help get your films made. They also give you an online store to sell your films via DVD or digital download with no setup fees and no inventory to buy. They even make your films available on Amazon.
There are tools to help you organize the production of your film. There are ways to find and recruit help within your region, ways to communicate with your production team through broadcast emails and private forums. They will be adding features to allow scripts to be broken down and shared, plus many other ways of making sure everybody is on the same frame (so to speak).
FOR FILM LOVERS
FilmRiot lets you get in the thick of filmmaking. Search through their filmmaker's upcoming projects; make comments and suggestions. If you really love a filmmaker and their ideas, you can buy Lots in their film project. All contributors receive a copy of the film when it's finished and share in the proceeds of every sale on the FilmRiot store.
They also provide opportunities for film lovers to network with others of similar interests. Write and read reviews of the latest FilmLot releases. Rank films, filmmakers, other film lovers or comments you find useful (or useless!). You can even find filmmakers in your area who are looking for volunteers! Lights, Camera, Action!
HOW THE FUNDING WORKS
Filmmakers post the details of their upcoming project including the required financing. Film lovers are encouraged to peruse the projects and contribute toward the ones they like. Film lovers buy credits in the form of Lots for $10 US each. Each Lot is fully transferable between projects, provided it is done before the project has reached its target. Lots can also be refunded if the member chooses. Any contribution in a film gives the film lover a credit for the digital download of the film once it is complete. Once the filmmaker's financing goal has been reached the funds are turned over.
And when the funds are on the way to you...that's when the real fun starts!
OK. Let's see what this is all about:
FOR FILMMAKERS
They make it their job to free up filmmakers to do what they do best: make movies. If you are one, online tools will help you collect funds from your current contacts, and help you make connections with film lovers internationally who want to help get your films made. They also give you an online store to sell your films via DVD or digital download with no setup fees and no inventory to buy. They even make your films available on Amazon.
There are tools to help you organize the production of your film. There are ways to find and recruit help within your region, ways to communicate with your production team through broadcast emails and private forums. They will be adding features to allow scripts to be broken down and shared, plus many other ways of making sure everybody is on the same frame (so to speak).
FOR FILM LOVERS
FilmRiot lets you get in the thick of filmmaking. Search through their filmmaker's upcoming projects; make comments and suggestions. If you really love a filmmaker and their ideas, you can buy Lots in their film project. All contributors receive a copy of the film when it's finished and share in the proceeds of every sale on the FilmRiot store.
They also provide opportunities for film lovers to network with others of similar interests. Write and read reviews of the latest FilmLot releases. Rank films, filmmakers, other film lovers or comments you find useful (or useless!). You can even find filmmakers in your area who are looking for volunteers! Lights, Camera, Action!
HOW THE FUNDING WORKS
Filmmakers post the details of their upcoming project including the required financing. Film lovers are encouraged to peruse the projects and contribute toward the ones they like. Film lovers buy credits in the form of Lots for $10 US each. Each Lot is fully transferable between projects, provided it is done before the project has reached its target. Lots can also be refunded if the member chooses. Any contribution in a film gives the film lover a credit for the digital download of the film once it is complete. Once the filmmaker's financing goal has been reached the funds are turned over.
And when the funds are on the way to you...that's when the real fun starts!
December 23, 2007
Happy Holiday Tidings from the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
From the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, Victoria's Secret, their georgeous models, Seal, The Spice Girls, and wil.i.am all wish you the happiest of holidays!
Feast your eyes on this medley of performances from the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion show, even if your wallet is already empty....
Here is to wish you and your close ones a wonderful time this holiday season. May the New Year bring you health, happiness, and success. I do look forward to connect and collaborate with all of you in 2008.
Cybercast credit: CBS via Veoh
Feast your eyes on this medley of performances from the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion show, even if your wallet is already empty....Here is to wish you and your close ones a wonderful time this holiday season. May the New Year bring you health, happiness, and success. I do look forward to connect and collaborate with all of you in 2008.
Cybercast credit: CBS via Veoh
December 20, 2007
Ply Your Trade with PLYMedia
Whether you are a newbie or pro web video producer or publisher, you must know about Plymedia and its services.
Why? Because they promise to:
1. Increase user "stickiness" and engagement.
2. Provide for deeper interactivity and information on your video.
3. Enhance your community and your viewers’ media experience.
These applications expand the single dimension of "traditional" web video into the multi-layered experience of professional editing. I mean adding commentary, multilingual subtitles, hypervideo, in-video advertising, and rich-media. I further mean adding one or more of them right online, in a relatively easy and user-friendly manner.
This technology enables you to transform your standard web videos into interactive, multi-dimensional and personalized user experiences. By adding new layers or "PLYs" of contextual content such as a subtitles, pop-up bubbles, advertisements, and other layered content to your existing web videos, you can create exciting new revenue streams and expand your user base.
I've applied to their partner program and will follow-up with a post as we start working with them.
Why? Because they promise to:1. Increase user "stickiness" and engagement.
2. Provide for deeper interactivity and information on your video.
3. Enhance your community and your viewers’ media experience.
These applications expand the single dimension of "traditional" web video into the multi-layered experience of professional editing. I mean adding commentary, multilingual subtitles, hypervideo, in-video advertising, and rich-media. I further mean adding one or more of them right online, in a relatively easy and user-friendly manner.
This technology enables you to transform your standard web videos into interactive, multi-dimensional and personalized user experiences. By adding new layers or "PLYs" of contextual content such as a subtitles, pop-up bubbles, advertisements, and other layered content to your existing web videos, you can create exciting new revenue streams and expand your user base.
I've applied to their partner program and will follow-up with a post as we start working with them.
December 17, 2007
Jet-man: The Incredible Flying Man
See for yourself the incredible personal flying jet wings of Yves Rossy, as he takes off from a plane and does incredible fly-overs in the Swiss Alps. As he says - and you can see - "This is not a dream!" For five minutes you can become your own plane, slicing through the air at 150 miles/hour, climbing at a rate of 1000 ft/min. And the next version will allow you to take off on your own and fly up to 10 minutes.
I'm sold, ready, and willing - but would feel much warmer doing my aerial debut in Hawaii!
Cybercast credit; YouTube
I'm sold, ready, and willing - but would feel much warmer doing my aerial debut in Hawaii!
Cybercast credit; YouTube
December 14, 2007
Brightcove.tv Retreats into the Cove
The video sharing site, Brightcove.tv, is changing its focus to video distribution for its partners. Unfortunately. it was really late to this game. There are a horde of online video startups with variations on that theme - and I’ve covered most of them. Brightcove, which raised a huge $59 million round last January, stopped allowing users to upload videos on December 17.
You want to see what they carry now? How about the "Sopranos' creator in court” from MSN Video? Was the idea of a Mobbed up family from Jersey stolen from someone else? MSNBC's Susan Filan talks about the case against "Sopranos" creator David Chase.
'Sopranos' creator in court
Brightcove is focusing on being a specialized media platform for media companies, including some of its funders, such as the The New York Times, Hearst, CBS, and others.
Cybercast credit: MSN Video via Brightcove
You want to see what they carry now? How about the "Sopranos' creator in court” from MSN Video? Was the idea of a Mobbed up family from Jersey stolen from someone else? MSNBC's Susan Filan talks about the case against "Sopranos" creator David Chase.
'Sopranos' creator in court
Brightcove is focusing on being a specialized media platform for media companies, including some of its funders, such as the The New York Times, Hearst, CBS, and others.
Cybercast credit: MSN Video via Brightcove
December 11, 2007
Can TokBox’s video chat be a YouTube-sized business?
This browser-based video chat service allows you to chat either live or record your messages. It is set to take the world by storm, according to the New York Times.
Housed by famed venture firm Sequoia Capital in an old YouTube office, the company also announced today that it had accepted a $4 million funding round from Sequoia, alongside investors including Amidzad and execs from Netscape and Paypal — a slightly larger amount than YouTube’s first funding. Alumni from YouTube, as well as Cisco and Google, are advising the fledgling video startup.
The obvious implication is that TokBox will be heir to YouTube’s good fortune. The simple fact that video is involved doesn’t mean that the two companies are similar, though.
The popularity of online video followed from a market created by movies. The internet’s progress from text, to sound and finally to video mirrors similar institutions from previous years: Newspapers, radio and television.
However, video communication has yet to catch on, outside of business. DimDim (free - see my previous post on my main site) and pay services like WebEx already cater to the videoconferencing market.
Then there is video chat offered by Skype or AIM. You can argue that TokBox, by making itself available in a web browser, is a far more attractive offering than those two services, the requirement for a webcam still makes it more complex.
Despite the inclusion of video cameras into most Apple computers, most people still don’t have their own webcam, yours truly included. As long as this remains the case, recording and sending videos will remain a much smaller market than watching them, me thinks.
Housed by famed venture firm Sequoia Capital in an old YouTube office, the company also announced today that it had accepted a $4 million funding round from Sequoia, alongside investors including Amidzad and execs from Netscape and Paypal — a slightly larger amount than YouTube’s first funding. Alumni from YouTube, as well as Cisco and Google, are advising the fledgling video startup.
The obvious implication is that TokBox will be heir to YouTube’s good fortune. The simple fact that video is involved doesn’t mean that the two companies are similar, though.
The popularity of online video followed from a market created by movies. The internet’s progress from text, to sound and finally to video mirrors similar institutions from previous years: Newspapers, radio and television.
However, video communication has yet to catch on, outside of business. DimDim (free - see my previous post on my main site) and pay services like WebEx already cater to the videoconferencing market.
Then there is video chat offered by Skype or AIM. You can argue that TokBox, by making itself available in a web browser, is a far more attractive offering than those two services, the requirement for a webcam still makes it more complex.
Despite the inclusion of video cameras into most Apple computers, most people still don’t have their own webcam, yours truly included. As long as this remains the case, recording and sending videos will remain a much smaller market than watching them, me thinks.
December 8, 2007
BlowTorch! ... YouTorch?... iTorch?
With $50 million in funding, much of http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifwhich is slated to go to the production and marketing of eighteen feature-length movies over the next three years, isn't so much a tech startup. It's more of a Hollywood studio with "Web 2.0" features. And what's that?
It's something akin to what Sony-owned Crackle (see my previous post) is doing: It discovers, produces and features videos from its most talented audience members. A sort of minor league for Hollywood, already resulting in a traffic surge and millions in advertising revenue.
However, Blowtorch is more grandly conceived. It will offer feature-length films, professional-quality short films, a social network and a mobile site too. Movie and show ideas will be proposed by users and voted on by their peers. Users will also be able to vote on casting, music, wardrobes and other aspects of each film.
Their goal is to produce low-budget hits like Napoleon Dynamite, a movie that cost $5 million to make, then brought in $17 million at the box office and $90 million in video rentals and sales, says CEO Kelly Rodriquez. He wants people to say "I helped pick the cast," when they watch a Blowtorch movie.
Live events are another key to their plan. They will host movie nights on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at more than 600 movie theaters across the country, strategically chosen for proximity to and popularity with students at colleges and universities. During these movie nights, users' short films will run before feature films and audiences will be able to vote for their favorites on the company's social network, through the web or mobile devices.
Right now, the company is running a user-generated short-video contest on its site where the best video creators will get paid, go to LA, and get team of pros to re-shoot. It is still working out the details of how users will be paid for their work.
As feature films may not necessarily bubble up from Blowtorch's audiences, it will produce some on its own, or acquire the rights to others. First-off will be a feature film called "You Are Here," which will debut in theaters in spring 2008. The movie is being produced by veteran filmmaker and Blowtorch board member and advisor Paul Schiff. It will be directed by Henry Pincus, and features a cast that includes Bijou Phillips from "Almost Famous," Danny Masterson from "That 70's Show," Michael Biehn of "Grindhouse," and "Terminator," and Patrick Fleuger.
Let's see ... how grand is this?
codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/
flash/swflash.cab#version= 7,0,0,0"
width="487"
height="308"
id="VPlayer">
quality="high"
wmode="transparent"
bgcolor="#96b9d4"
width="487"
height="308"
name="VPlayer"
id="VPlayer"
allowScriptAccess="sameDomain"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"
/>
For the longest video embed code I've EVER seen NOT working, I wouldn't have invested a penny....
Cybercast "credit:" BlowTorch
It's something akin to what Sony-owned Crackle (see my previous post) is doing: It discovers, produces and features videos from its most talented audience members. A sort of minor league for Hollywood, already resulting in a traffic surge and millions in advertising revenue.
However, Blowtorch is more grandly conceived. It will offer feature-length films, professional-quality short films, a social network and a mobile site too. Movie and show ideas will be proposed by users and voted on by their peers. Users will also be able to vote on casting, music, wardrobes and other aspects of each film.
Their goal is to produce low-budget hits like Napoleon Dynamite, a movie that cost $5 million to make, then brought in $17 million at the box office and $90 million in video rentals and sales, says CEO Kelly Rodriquez. He wants people to say "I helped pick the cast," when they watch a Blowtorch movie.
Live events are another key to their plan. They will host movie nights on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at more than 600 movie theaters across the country, strategically chosen for proximity to and popularity with students at colleges and universities. During these movie nights, users' short films will run before feature films and audiences will be able to vote for their favorites on the company's social network, through the web or mobile devices.
Right now, the company is running a user-generated short-video contest on its site where the best video creators will get paid, go to LA, and get team of pros to re-shoot. It is still working out the details of how users will be paid for their work.
As feature films may not necessarily bubble up from Blowtorch's audiences, it will produce some on its own, or acquire the rights to others. First-off will be a feature film called "You Are Here," which will debut in theaters in spring 2008. The movie is being produced by veteran filmmaker and Blowtorch board member and advisor Paul Schiff. It will be directed by Henry Pincus, and features a cast that includes Bijou Phillips from "Almost Famous," Danny Masterson from "That 70's Show," Michael Biehn of "Grindhouse," and "Terminator," and Patrick Fleuger.
Let's see ... how grand is this?
codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/
flash/swflash.cab#version= 7,0,0,0"
width="487"
height="308"
id="VPlayer">
quality="high"
wmode="transparent"
bgcolor="#96b9d4"
width="487"
height="308"
name="VPlayer"
id="VPlayer"
allowScriptAccess="sameDomain"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"
/>
For the longest video embed code I've EVER seen NOT working, I wouldn't have invested a penny....
Cybercast "credit:" BlowTorch
December 5, 2007
YuMe - Another Video-centric Ad Network at Your Service
YuMe is interesting because its technology works across multiple platforms: It can serve ads into downloaded video and video streamed on websites and mobile phones. This is in contrast to companies like Kiptronic, which focuses on downloaded video, or AdMob, which does only mobile.
YuMe’s chief executive and founder, Jayant Kadambi, says his company aims to place ads in videos from the “mid-tail” of online video, which he defines as “anyone that is not an NBC or CBS.” These include customers like Somagirls.tv, JoeCartoon.com, RedOrbit, Vuze and Pando — medium-size, professional producers and distributors. In this market the company already serves between 150-250 million ads a month.
YuMe’s chief executive and founder, Jayant Kadambi, says his company aims to place ads in videos from the “mid-tail” of online video, which he defines as “anyone that is not an NBC or CBS.” These include customers like Somagirls.tv, JoeCartoon.com, RedOrbit, Vuze and Pando — medium-size, professional producers and distributors. In this market the company already serves between 150-250 million ads a month.
December 2, 2007
Be a TubeMogul for Free!
For about a year now TubeMogul’s beta site has empowered online video publishers, advertisers, and the online video industry with its “Universal Upload” video distribution, publishing, and analytical tools.
While we signed up a good while ago, we have been waiting for them to shed the not-so-distinctive beta status before actually using the service. They seem to be getting close, so here is their pitch, in their own words:
There are a growing number of independent content producers like us, looking to build their brands on the path to stardom. Some you may already now: Average Betty, the comedy chef, magician Brian Brushwood, or Charles Trippy, one of the top video bloggers. Perhaps even more than the internet media companies producing content for the Web, we are hurt by the time spent with day-to-day "technology administration," such as file uploading and viewership measurement. Many of us spend up to 20% of our time in these activities, time away from the creative work needed to produce great content.
So what do you get with a free account?
• One-step upload to a growing number of sites: YouTube, Metacafe, Myspace, Yahoo, Revver, AOL Video, DailyMotion, and Brightcove at present.
• Increased reach: With your videos on more sites at no extra effort, your opportunity to gain viewers multiplies. TubeMogul claims that beta users of Universal Upload have witnessed up to 3x more views per video.
• Track Trends & Buzz: Create groups of videos important to you or your industry and track spikes in viewership to identify trends and monitor the pulse of online video viewers.
• Assess Marketing Efforts - assess the effectiveness of your marketing efforts by analyzing spikes and trends in viewership across any range of time.
• Competitive Intelligence - see what's working for your counterparts and competition and compare and contrast viewership trends with your own.
• Share the Intelligence - send and share data and charts with colleagues or friends.
Cybercast credit: TubeMogul and YouTube
While we signed up a good while ago, we have been waiting for them to shed the not-so-distinctive beta status before actually using the service. They seem to be getting close, so here is their pitch, in their own words:
There are a growing number of independent content producers like us, looking to build their brands on the path to stardom. Some you may already now: Average Betty, the comedy chef, magician Brian Brushwood, or Charles Trippy, one of the top video bloggers. Perhaps even more than the internet media companies producing content for the Web, we are hurt by the time spent with day-to-day "technology administration," such as file uploading and viewership measurement. Many of us spend up to 20% of our time in these activities, time away from the creative work needed to produce great content.
So what do you get with a free account?
• One-step upload to a growing number of sites: YouTube, Metacafe, Myspace, Yahoo, Revver, AOL Video, DailyMotion, and Brightcove at present.
• Increased reach: With your videos on more sites at no extra effort, your opportunity to gain viewers multiplies. TubeMogul claims that beta users of Universal Upload have witnessed up to 3x more views per video.
• Track Trends & Buzz: Create groups of videos important to you or your industry and track spikes in viewership to identify trends and monitor the pulse of online video viewers.
• Assess Marketing Efforts - assess the effectiveness of your marketing efforts by analyzing spikes and trends in viewership across any range of time.
• Competitive Intelligence - see what's working for your counterparts and competition and compare and contrast viewership trends with your own.
• Share the Intelligence - send and share data and charts with colleagues or friends.
Cybercast credit: TubeMogul and YouTube
November 29, 2007
Animate Your Video Chat with Fix8
All you need is a web cam. Once online, you can select facial and other accessories to make you look like the real thing, whatever that is. Fix8 can also manipulate your voice and give you other editing tools to really mess around with your…face…avatar…digital persona…virtual self….
Besides video chat, you can also use good old fashioned IM to show off any of your own digital version. A mobile edition is supposed to hit the street "real soon now." In the meantime, you must download a PC application. Windows only. Yuk! Can't recommend you, Fix8 till you go multi-platform!
Several other companies let you record greetings and messages with personalized avatars. While Logitech was one of the earliest players, the most cost-effective business implementation I've found so far is from SitePal.
With Fix8, once you create the video, you can broadcast it on social sites and IM services including AOL, MSN, Skype and Yahoo. The company’s statement says “real-time” in several places, but it really NOT real-time communication via video - you must do the recording first. I couldn't test this yet, but we’re checking.
Fix8 has partnered with the Shanghai Media Group to offer something called “AuditionsTV,” where you can submit fix8 content for insertion into live or taped programming. And, if you think you have yen for it, you can search for TV auditions in your geographical area, served to you automatically - now, THAT'S COOL - and submit yourself.
Besides video chat, you can also use good old fashioned IM to show off any of your own digital version. A mobile edition is supposed to hit the street "real soon now." In the meantime, you must download a PC application. Windows only. Yuk! Can't recommend you, Fix8 till you go multi-platform!
Several other companies let you record greetings and messages with personalized avatars. While Logitech was one of the earliest players, the most cost-effective business implementation I've found so far is from SitePal.
With Fix8, once you create the video, you can broadcast it on social sites and IM services including AOL, MSN, Skype and Yahoo. The company’s statement says “real-time” in several places, but it really NOT real-time communication via video - you must do the recording first. I couldn't test this yet, but we’re checking.
Fix8 has partnered with the Shanghai Media Group to offer something called “AuditionsTV,” where you can submit fix8 content for insertion into live or taped programming. And, if you think you have yen for it, you can search for TV auditions in your geographical area, served to you automatically - now, THAT'S COOL - and submit yourself.
November 26, 2007
Start a Video Blog in 5 Minutes the Magnify.net Way
As we have our iTV 21 channel on Magnify.net, it behooves us to report to you on new developments they are rolling out. It also behooves me to find and add the right content we can all learn from. Here is one about a subject as old as the web is: How to drive traffic to your site...
As my experience in setting up our channel and widget proves, we can expect them to deliver great add-on services.
One of these developments, now in private beta (you can sign up to it at: privatebeta@magnify.net ) is an online tool to build your video blog (vlog, for the technically less challenged amongst us) in a few minutes. All you will need is to connect your webcam after putting up your free blog page, to go live. Magnify.net promises to offer stylish and slick templates to make the graphic design process drag-and-drop simple.
Want to learn the ins-and-outs of about vlogging? Podcamp co-founder and online media guru Chris Brogan will host a daily video blog called “Attention Upgrade” to showcase Magnify's new platform during the private beta. This is a must for everybody interested in video blogging. In return, I ask that you provide feedback at privatebeta@magnify.net. Your input is requested!
The Webcam capture tool will also be available as a free add-on to the Magnify.net video channel creation platform. Thanks Steve Rosenbaum and team for that and all of the other new improvements and add-ons!
Free page design, layout, webcam support, video upload, and even revenue share on advertising inventory make Magnify.net the fastest growing video platform on the web. Already 20,000 publishers, like us, have built dedicated content channels on the Magnify.net platform.
Cybercast credit: iTV21 on Magnify.net and YouTube
As my experience in setting up our channel and widget proves, we can expect them to deliver great add-on services.
One of these developments, now in private beta (you can sign up to it at: privatebeta@magnify.net ) is an online tool to build your video blog (vlog, for the technically less challenged amongst us) in a few minutes. All you will need is to connect your webcam after putting up your free blog page, to go live. Magnify.net promises to offer stylish and slick templates to make the graphic design process drag-and-drop simple.
Want to learn the ins-and-outs of about vlogging? Podcamp co-founder and online media guru Chris Brogan will host a daily video blog called “Attention Upgrade” to showcase Magnify's new platform during the private beta. This is a must for everybody interested in video blogging. In return, I ask that you provide feedback at privatebeta@magnify.net. Your input is requested!
The Webcam capture tool will also be available as a free add-on to the Magnify.net video channel creation platform. Thanks Steve Rosenbaum and team for that and all of the other new improvements and add-ons!
Free page design, layout, webcam support, video upload, and even revenue share on advertising inventory make Magnify.net the fastest growing video platform on the web. Already 20,000 publishers, like us, have built dedicated content channels on the Magnify.net platform.
Cybercast credit: iTV21 on Magnify.net and YouTube
November 23, 2007
Hulu, the anti-YouTube, launches
Hulu, the NBC Universal-News Corp. joint venture designed to compete with video site YouTube, has launched a test version of its site. But it is more of an anti-YouTube than a competitor, because it focuses less on user-generated content.
It comes after months of delay. NBC withdrew its video channel from YouTube last week, and also ditched Apple's iTunes in favor of Amazon's music service. (See my post about Amazon here.)
Hulu will be the exclusive online provider of videos from NBC and News Corp, and it will then syndicate the material to other sites, including AOL, MSN, MySpace, and Yahoo, but apparently not YouTube.
Hulu got $100 million in backing from Providence Equity Partners, and arose because of animosity from NBC and News Corp toward YouTube, in part because that site kept hosting vidoes containing copyrighted videos.
NBC had warmed up to YouTube last year, working with the popular video site to promote its vidoes, until Jeff Zucker took over NBC in February. The company then changed its tune, and filed a lawsuit against YouTube.
It comes after months of delay. NBC withdrew its video channel from YouTube last week, and also ditched Apple's iTunes in favor of Amazon's music service. (See my post about Amazon here.)
Hulu will be the exclusive online provider of videos from NBC and News Corp, and it will then syndicate the material to other sites, including AOL, MSN, MySpace, and Yahoo, but apparently not YouTube.
Hulu got $100 million in backing from Providence Equity Partners, and arose because of animosity from NBC and News Corp toward YouTube, in part because that site kept hosting vidoes containing copyrighted videos.
NBC had warmed up to YouTube last year, working with the popular video site to promote its vidoes, until Jeff Zucker took over NBC in February. The company then changed its tune, and filed a lawsuit against YouTube.
November 20, 2007
Spacecast the Lifenaut Way
The Terasem Movement Foundation has launched Lifenaut.com, a free online networking and personal data storage service that will "preserve one's individual consciousness so that it remains viable for possible uploading with consciousness software into a cellular regenerated or bionanotechnological body by future medicine and technology."
Couldn't embed the video about the site, so here is a link to it.
You can upload up to 7 GB of "mindfiles," including videos, pictures, music, and documents, which can be viewed by other "lifenauts." The Social Connections page allows you to create a sociogram showing connections to people you have met over the course of your life. A chatbot can read the your profile and respond to general-knowledge questions. Now, that I must explore further! An intelligent chatbot/avatar combination is something we could really use on all of our current and upcoming sites....
"In the future, the chatbot will become increasingly knowledgeable about the user's profiles and mindfiles, and infer information from tagged multimedia files," according to Bruce Duncan, Managing Director of Terasem Movement Foundation. Lifenaut.com is also "designed to test the hypothesis that conscious analogs of people can be brought to life based on sufficiently detailed mindfile data," according to a statement on the Terasem Movement Foundation website.
A conscious analog of me? It's hard to manage the real me most of the time!
Cybercast credit: Newmedia Publishing
Couldn't embed the video about the site, so here is a link to it.
You can upload up to 7 GB of "mindfiles," including videos, pictures, music, and documents, which can be viewed by other "lifenauts." The Social Connections page allows you to create a sociogram showing connections to people you have met over the course of your life. A chatbot can read the your profile and respond to general-knowledge questions. Now, that I must explore further! An intelligent chatbot/avatar combination is something we could really use on all of our current and upcoming sites....
"In the future, the chatbot will become increasingly knowledgeable about the user's profiles and mindfiles, and infer information from tagged multimedia files," according to Bruce Duncan, Managing Director of Terasem Movement Foundation. Lifenaut.com is also "designed to test the hypothesis that conscious analogs of people can be brought to life based on sufficiently detailed mindfile data," according to a statement on the Terasem Movement Foundation website.
A conscious analog of me? It's hard to manage the real me most of the time!
Cybercast credit: Newmedia Publishing
November 17, 2007
DimDim's Free Web Video Meeting Service. DimDim???
DimDim is an open-source replacement for WebEx, the leading online meeting and presentation service.
Started by Deb Dutta Ganguly, who sold his company Advanced Internet Management back in 2001 at a tidy profit, DimDim finally launched its free service at DEMOfall. Like other web meeting software, DimDim can be used for broadcasting live video to hundreds or thousands of people simultaneously. However, according to Ganguly, it’s the only one that doesn’t require any sort of installation by the user to run. Also, if you’re in the U.S. having a meeting with someone in China, the transmission lag isn’t notable. The feature list is heavily dependent on what the service’s lead users have so far requested; Ganguly says that open source is all about accepting the innovations of users. And, since DimDim is open source, it will be free for anyone to run.
DimDim wants to make money from clients needing assistance with larger applications — for instance, a university wishing to hold a live meeting for a class of several hundred students. The company will also provide hosting for meetings, starting at about $99 a year for the service, with dynamic scaling provided by Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud. WebEx, by comparison, charges $39 per month.
Going with DimDim sounds like a no-brainer to me....
Started by Deb Dutta Ganguly, who sold his company Advanced Internet Management back in 2001 at a tidy profit, DimDim finally launched its free service at DEMOfall. Like other web meeting software, DimDim can be used for broadcasting live video to hundreds or thousands of people simultaneously. However, according to Ganguly, it’s the only one that doesn’t require any sort of installation by the user to run. Also, if you’re in the U.S. having a meeting with someone in China, the transmission lag isn’t notable. The feature list is heavily dependent on what the service’s lead users have so far requested; Ganguly says that open source is all about accepting the innovations of users. And, since DimDim is open source, it will be free for anyone to run.
DimDim wants to make money from clients needing assistance with larger applications — for instance, a university wishing to hold a live meeting for a class of several hundred students. The company will also provide hosting for meetings, starting at about $99 a year for the service, with dynamic scaling provided by Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud. WebEx, by comparison, charges $39 per month.
Going with DimDim sounds like a no-brainer to me....
November 14, 2007
BlogTV Goes Facebook
BlogTV, a popular video streaming company in Israel, has launched an application on Facebook , like most any other software developer (over 6,000 by now). Big deal, you say? It also plans to enter the U.S. market with a mobile phone version already used in Israel for two years. Now, THAT could be a big deal, in my humble opinion, along with the embeddable LIVE SHOW, like the one below (if it's live now), that you get to create free. Another cool feature is the built-In live chat, letting your fans express themselves just as visually, as long as their vocabulary is up to the task….
I'm tempted to put our ever fledging Love Show by June video blog on it, specifically for cell phones … especially for the iPhone. Anyone has a solution to stretch 24 hours a few hours more?
Cybercast credit: BlogTV
I'm tempted to put our ever fledging Love Show by June video blog on it, specifically for cell phones … especially for the iPhone. Anyone has a solution to stretch 24 hours a few hours more?
Cybercast credit: BlogTV
November 11, 2007
Warning: Video Search Makes Phone a Second Pair of Eyes
Video-equipped cellphones, aka smartphones, could soon offer simple way to find useful information about the surrounding world. See the video demonstration below…
Currently, the best way to use a cell phone to find information about, for example, a product or an ad is by entering an internet search query with the keypad. Soon, however, it may be easier to simply record a video clip of an item of interest and have your REAL smart phone tell you about it instead.
Researchers at Accenture Technology Labs in France have developed technology that makes this possible using any ordinary 3G cell phone equipped with a video camera.
The prototype system, dubbed the Pocket Supercomputer, offers a simple way to seek out useful, hard-to-find information, says Fredrik Linaker who led the system's development at Accenture.
SIFTing objects
If a user records a video clip of, say, a foreign food item, the system can automatically identify ingredients that might cause an allergic reaction. Similarly, when shown a book, it can quickly perform an online price comparison, or find a review.
Live video footage is fed from the handset to a central server, which rapidly matches on-screen objects to images previously entered into a database. The server then sends find relevant information and sends it back to user.
The central server uses an algorithm called the Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) to match objects. The algorithm uses hundreds or thousands of reference points, corresponding to physical features such as edges, corners or lettering, to find a match. The process works no matter how the object is oriented, but objects must first be carefully imaged and entered into the central database.
Creating a database containing 5000 items takes about a day, Linaker says, although it then takes just a few milliseconds to match an object. "Eventually you could imagine having one enormous [general purpose] database."
Cybercast credit: YouTube
Currently, the best way to use a cell phone to find information about, for example, a product or an ad is by entering an internet search query with the keypad. Soon, however, it may be easier to simply record a video clip of an item of interest and have your REAL smart phone tell you about it instead.
Researchers at Accenture Technology Labs in France have developed technology that makes this possible using any ordinary 3G cell phone equipped with a video camera.
The prototype system, dubbed the Pocket Supercomputer, offers a simple way to seek out useful, hard-to-find information, says Fredrik Linaker who led the system's development at Accenture.
SIFTing objects
If a user records a video clip of, say, a foreign food item, the system can automatically identify ingredients that might cause an allergic reaction. Similarly, when shown a book, it can quickly perform an online price comparison, or find a review.
Live video footage is fed from the handset to a central server, which rapidly matches on-screen objects to images previously entered into a database. The server then sends find relevant information and sends it back to user.
The central server uses an algorithm called the Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) to match objects. The algorithm uses hundreds or thousands of reference points, corresponding to physical features such as edges, corners or lettering, to find a match. The process works no matter how the object is oriented, but objects must first be carefully imaged and entered into the central database.
Creating a database containing 5000 items takes about a day, Linaker says, although it then takes just a few milliseconds to match an object. "Eventually you could imagine having one enormous [general purpose] database."
Cybercast credit: YouTube
November 8, 2007
Wake Up to Video Served Fresh Every Day by Divvio
This start-up company is focused on building another "exciting new technology" to help you discover, organize, and share the most relevant video and audio content available on the web. As they say, "Wake up to fresh content served every day!"
Divvio claims that its patent-pending technology will deliver premium, popular, and hard-to-find content, customized exactly for you. It will constantly crawl the web and add a huge number of multimedia links to its index daily.
I did do a quick search for Million Dollar Web TV. It instantly found our web ad on Crackle, aka Grouper in a previous life.
Not bad - except we have that clip on all the other big video sharing sites too.
Divvio was founded in 2006.
Cybercast credit: Crackle
Divvio claims that its patent-pending technology will deliver premium, popular, and hard-to-find content, customized exactly for you. It will constantly crawl the web and add a huge number of multimedia links to its index daily.
I did do a quick search for Million Dollar Web TV. It instantly found our web ad on Crackle, aka Grouper in a previous life.
Not bad - except we have that clip on all the other big video sharing sites too.
Divvio was founded in 2006.
Cybercast credit: Crackle
November 5, 2007
YourTrumanShow Launches Its VideoMap
YourTrumanShow launched a few months ago as a place to upload video diaries. It now offers VideoMap, a fun widget that lets you use video as a means for exploring and expanding your social network. See the screen shot below:
The widget creates a clear and easily navigable map of your social network with you at the center and your friends as nodes. Clicking on one of your friends will extend a map of their friends, and so on. VideoMap scrapes the videos that your friends (and their friends) have uploaded, and when you click on any of these people, you can browse through their videos and play them without leaving the widget.
In an alternative mode, seen in the screenshot above, the videos themselves become the nodes. Again, you start at the center but it’s your uploaded videos that surround you. Now, when you click on a video, the widget displays other VideoMap users that have uploaded the same video. Clicking on these people will let you explore their videos, instead of their friends. It’s an innovative way to find others who share your interests and discover new content at the same time.
The widget creates a clear and easily navigable map of your social network with you at the center and your friends as nodes. Clicking on one of your friends will extend a map of their friends, and so on. VideoMap scrapes the videos that your friends (and their friends) have uploaded, and when you click on any of these people, you can browse through their videos and play them without leaving the widget.
In an alternative mode, seen in the screenshot above, the videos themselves become the nodes. Again, you start at the center but it’s your uploaded videos that surround you. Now, when you click on a video, the widget displays other VideoMap users that have uploaded the same video. Clicking on these people will let you explore their videos, instead of their friends. It’s an innovative way to find others who share your interests and discover new content at the same time.
November 2, 2007
JibJab the Right Way
All right, after getting instructions from JibJab Tech Support, I could actually star in my first funny clip, with my partner, June: Steve & June & Square Dancing
Do I want your vote? Hmmmm….
Cybercast credit: JibJab
Do I want your vote? Hmmmm….
Cybercast credit: JibJab
October 30, 2007
South Park creators get web revenue cut. Sweet!
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have signed a revenue-sharing deal with Viacom-owned Comedy Central, their long-time television network.
This continues a shake-up in the way big-media works, the latest in a trend giving more power to artists and less to the big media companies. Normally, television owners keep revenues, and separately negotiate payment with artists. In their deal, Parker and Stone get a cut of the proceeds from wherever the show appears on the net, mobile platforms or video games.
South Park is popular for skewering celebrities and status quo ideas. It has spread virally over the internet without Viacom getting paid, through free, full-length episodes. The show’s libertarian creators have said they are in favor of free downloads of episodes because it helps more people watch the show, which of course is contradicted by this latest deal.
It is a deal both parties describe as an attempt to become a major player In Hollywood's transition to the Internet. Or, as South Park’s lawyer said, a demonstration to new video-entertainment start-ups (think YouTube et al.) that they’ll have to pay premiums for top content creators.
Parker and Stone originally retained the rights to a percentage of revenue brought in by non-cable distribution channels, the web, mobile devices and video games, due to a subtle clause signed as part of a contract renewal between the parties during the dot-com bust years.
The caustic duo are guaranteed advances from profits on merchandise, DVDs, international sales and methods of syndication. The agreement will also include a talent studio called SouthParkStudios.com. The deal is worth $75 million to the two creators over the next four years, the article says; the show has already made hundreds of millions for Viacom.
Cybercast credit: Comedy Central / Viacom
This continues a shake-up in the way big-media works, the latest in a trend giving more power to artists and less to the big media companies. Normally, television owners keep revenues, and separately negotiate payment with artists. In their deal, Parker and Stone get a cut of the proceeds from wherever the show appears on the net, mobile platforms or video games.
South Park is popular for skewering celebrities and status quo ideas. It has spread virally over the internet without Viacom getting paid, through free, full-length episodes. The show’s libertarian creators have said they are in favor of free downloads of episodes because it helps more people watch the show, which of course is contradicted by this latest deal.
It is a deal both parties describe as an attempt to become a major player In Hollywood's transition to the Internet. Or, as South Park’s lawyer said, a demonstration to new video-entertainment start-ups (think YouTube et al.) that they’ll have to pay premiums for top content creators.
Parker and Stone originally retained the rights to a percentage of revenue brought in by non-cable distribution channels, the web, mobile devices and video games, due to a subtle clause signed as part of a contract renewal between the parties during the dot-com bust years.
The caustic duo are guaranteed advances from profits on merchandise, DVDs, international sales and methods of syndication. The agreement will also include a talent studio called SouthParkStudios.com. The deal is worth $75 million to the two creators over the next four years, the article says; the show has already made hundreds of millions for Viacom.
Cybercast credit: Comedy Central / Viacom
October 27, 2007
Eat Some BRAINS the JibJab Way
Or do one better - clown around in your own JibJab movie. At least, that's the idea, according to their mission: To give you funny jokes, animated videos, cartoons, flash movies, hilarious clips, parody and such, created by YOU. How is it supposed to work?
1. Sign up
2. Go to your page
3. Head over to "Starring You"
4. Click on the "My Heads," "JibJab Heads," or "Public Heads" tab to upload your photo or choose one
5. Don't wait too long if nothing happens…
which is exactly what I experienced three times in a row. So, until they fix things, here is some brains, cooked sometime previously when the chef seems to have been on duty....
Cybercast credit: JibJab
1. Sign up
2. Go to your page
3. Head over to "Starring You"
4. Click on the "My Heads," "JibJab Heads," or "Public Heads" tab to upload your photo or choose one
5. Don't wait too long if nothing happens…
which is exactly what I experienced three times in a row. So, until they fix things, here is some brains, cooked sometime previously when the chef seems to have been on duty....
Cybercast credit: JibJab
October 24, 2007
PaltalkScene Makes a Video Scene
Paltalk, an online chat network, has added video screening rooms for viewing, along with voice and text chatting.
The updated application expands on Paltalk Messenger's existing multimedia capabilities with Screening Rooms--private and public chat spaces of up to 5,000 viewers where users can watch, voice chat, and instant message about uploaded user videos and Paltalk's new shows.
This fall, they will also show several original series that have been produced to fit the updated chat platform, now called PaltalkScene (download here.)
For Joel Smernoff, Paltalk's president and COO, the messenger upgrade and move from mere hosting to active programming hammers in Paltalk's stake in "socialcasting," which can be loosely defined as an interactive online experience that splices social networking attributes with online entertainment. "What that means is allowing multiple users to watch videos and interact with each other and with the guests in real time," Smernoff said in an interview.
As an example, guest Chevy Chase extended his 15-minute interview by a half hour during the Sept. 2 LateNet with Ray Ellin to answer and pose questions to Paltalk's Internet audience, whose contributions were beamed onto the wall of New York City's Gotham Comedy Club, where the show broadcasted.
Paltalk's Web site has the full schedule of shows.
The updated application expands on Paltalk Messenger's existing multimedia capabilities with Screening Rooms--private and public chat spaces of up to 5,000 viewers where users can watch, voice chat, and instant message about uploaded user videos and Paltalk's new shows.
This fall, they will also show several original series that have been produced to fit the updated chat platform, now called PaltalkScene (download here.)
For Joel Smernoff, Paltalk's president and COO, the messenger upgrade and move from mere hosting to active programming hammers in Paltalk's stake in "socialcasting," which can be loosely defined as an interactive online experience that splices social networking attributes with online entertainment. "What that means is allowing multiple users to watch videos and interact with each other and with the guests in real time," Smernoff said in an interview.
As an example, guest Chevy Chase extended his 15-minute interview by a half hour during the Sept. 2 LateNet with Ray Ellin to answer and pose questions to Paltalk's Internet audience, whose contributions were beamed onto the wall of New York City's Gotham Comedy Club, where the show broadcasted.
Paltalk's Web site has the full schedule of shows.
October 21, 2007
In the Blinkx of an Ad
Blinkx's new video ad service is, to say the least, questionable: It lets you place contextually relevant text ads inside videos you embed on your site, even if the videos aren’t yours.
To test it, I pulled the YouTube video about Halloween made by One True Media, above and inserted ads on to it. Now, we could make money on it, if we wanted. See an example (not ours) below.
They even give you the option of showing the ads inside or outside of the video. I’d certainly not insert anything into anyone else’s content, so in this regard you are protected if you go with their “outside the video” ad-serving concept. I think. Your lawyer may disagree.
Cybercast credit: YouTube
To test it, I pulled the YouTube video about Halloween made by One True Media, above and inserted ads on to it. Now, we could make money on it, if we wanted. See an example (not ours) below.
They even give you the option of showing the ads inside or outside of the video. I’d certainly not insert anything into anyone else’s content, so in this regard you are protected if you go with their “outside the video” ad-serving concept. I think. Your lawyer may disagree.
Cybercast credit: YouTube
October 18, 2007
* ALERT * Infectious Online Videos Are Predicted
Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press in his 10/2/07 article says some videos online might already be conduits for malicious code that can infect your computer.
As anti-spam technology improves, hackers are finding new vehicles to deliver their malicious code. And some could be embedded in online video players, according to a report on Internet threats released Tuesday by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center as it holds its annual summit.
The summit is gathering more than 300 scholars and security experts to discuss emerging threats for 2008 — and their countermeasures.
Among their biggest foes are the ever-changing vehicles that hackers use to deliver "malware," which can silently install viruses, probe for confidential info or even hijack a computer.
"Just as we see an evolution in messaging, we also see an evolution in threats," said Chris Rouland, the chief technology officer for IBM Corp.'s Internet Security Systems unit and a member of the group that helped draft the report. "As companies have gotten better blocking e-mails, we see people move to more creative techniques."
With computer users getting wiser to e-mail scams, malicious hackers are looking for sneakier ways to spread the codes. Over the past few years, hackers have moved from sending their spam in text-based messages to more devious means, embedding them in images or disguised as Portable Document Format, or PDF, files.
"The next logical step seems to be the media players," Rouland said.
There have only been a few cases of video-related hacking so far.
One worm discovered in November 2006 launches a corrupt Web site without prompting after a user opens a media file in a player. Another program silently installs spyware when a video file is opened. Attackers have also tried to spread fake video links via postings on YouTube.
That reflects the lowered guard many computer users would have on such popular forums.
"People are accustomed to not clicking on messages from banks, but they all want to see videos from YouTube," Rouland said.
Another soft spot involves social networking sites, blogs and wikis. These community-focused sites, which are driving the next generation of web applications, are also becoming one of the juiciest targets for malicious hackers.
Computers surfing the sites silently communicate with a web application in the background, but hackers sometimes secretly embed malicious code when they edit the open sites, and a Web browser will unknowingly execute the code. These chinks in the armor could let hackers steal private data, hijack web transactions or spy on users.
As anti-spam technology improves, hackers are finding new vehicles to deliver their malicious code. And some could be embedded in online video players, according to a report on Internet threats released Tuesday by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center as it holds its annual summit.
The summit is gathering more than 300 scholars and security experts to discuss emerging threats for 2008 — and their countermeasures.
Among their biggest foes are the ever-changing vehicles that hackers use to deliver "malware," which can silently install viruses, probe for confidential info or even hijack a computer.
"Just as we see an evolution in messaging, we also see an evolution in threats," said Chris Rouland, the chief technology officer for IBM Corp.'s Internet Security Systems unit and a member of the group that helped draft the report. "As companies have gotten better blocking e-mails, we see people move to more creative techniques."
With computer users getting wiser to e-mail scams, malicious hackers are looking for sneakier ways to spread the codes. Over the past few years, hackers have moved from sending their spam in text-based messages to more devious means, embedding them in images or disguised as Portable Document Format, or PDF, files.
"The next logical step seems to be the media players," Rouland said.
There have only been a few cases of video-related hacking so far.
One worm discovered in November 2006 launches a corrupt Web site without prompting after a user opens a media file in a player. Another program silently installs spyware when a video file is opened. Attackers have also tried to spread fake video links via postings on YouTube.
That reflects the lowered guard many computer users would have on such popular forums.
"People are accustomed to not clicking on messages from banks, but they all want to see videos from YouTube," Rouland said.
Another soft spot involves social networking sites, blogs and wikis. These community-focused sites, which are driving the next generation of web applications, are also becoming one of the juiciest targets for malicious hackers.
Computers surfing the sites silently communicate with a web application in the background, but hackers sometimes secretly embed malicious code when they edit the open sites, and a Web browser will unknowingly execute the code. These chinks in the armor could let hackers steal private data, hijack web transactions or spy on users.
October 15, 2007
YouTube from the Moon?
The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. has announced the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a $30 million prize purse.
Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.
"The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration."
Cybercast credit: YouTube
Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.
"The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration."
Cybercast credit: YouTube
October 12, 2007
Knock Them Dead, Knocka.TV!
Knocka.tv will be a new video site from the creators of ICQ, the first successful early instant messenger service. Remember them, anyone? I'm from the pre-first bubble age, so I do.
The site, as yet to launch publicly, boasts a new form of television that is “hyperinteractive” and “democratic,” if the frenetic promotional video on their preview site is an indication of where they are heading.
This ad features tiny clips of user-generated video, spliced together and set to a perpetually shifting soundtrack. Among other things, we see sexy women strip teasing, a man dressed in a lab coat destroying an iPod in a blender, and a brief animated clip of a creature with a cleaver lopping the heads off of cute animals.
At some points, a counter in the lower left corner seems to measure the number of people watching at the moment. In two clips, it says “producer online now,” suggesting that viewers may be able to engage the content's creator as they watch.
The site is in "private" beta. "Private" beta? Even the ancient Greeks and gods must be scratching their heads at that one....
From the looks of it, they want to build a network of producers and make an online TV station that will let viewers interact with the content (and each other) to determine what gets played. The interactive functions they are touting suggest a desire to be a destination site. If this is the case, Knocka will have to be both revolutionary and highly successful to attract and keep content producers.
Will be back with the "public" beta....
The site, as yet to launch publicly, boasts a new form of television that is “hyperinteractive” and “democratic,” if the frenetic promotional video on their preview site is an indication of where they are heading.
This ad features tiny clips of user-generated video, spliced together and set to a perpetually shifting soundtrack. Among other things, we see sexy women strip teasing, a man dressed in a lab coat destroying an iPod in a blender, and a brief animated clip of a creature with a cleaver lopping the heads off of cute animals.
At some points, a counter in the lower left corner seems to measure the number of people watching at the moment. In two clips, it says “producer online now,” suggesting that viewers may be able to engage the content's creator as they watch.
The site is in "private" beta. "Private" beta? Even the ancient Greeks and gods must be scratching their heads at that one....
From the looks of it, they want to build a network of producers and make an online TV station that will let viewers interact with the content (and each other) to determine what gets played. The interactive functions they are touting suggest a desire to be a destination site. If this is the case, Knocka will have to be both revolutionary and highly successful to attract and keep content producers.
Will be back with the "public" beta....
October 9, 2007
Criss Angel Levitates on LiveDigital ... Sort of
Courtesy by A&E as posted by Suzyqnsd
LiveDigital is the “rich media” offshoot of Oversee.net, a technology-driven media company. It enables you to not only host and share content, but also broadcast hundreds of channels of high-quality programmed entertainment. Launched in 2006, it claims to webcast hundreds of thousands of videos daily in over 50 countries.
Interestingly, even a year and half later, the site logo still says “beta….”
Not so interestingly, their embed code sometimes doesn’t work … so that’s what the beta is for!
Here is a direct link, if you still want to see Criss’s stunt. Also, you have to sign up to watch in high-def - now that’s another bummer!
So why is this worth my digital ink?
If you upload your videos and create a channel, you can add ads and select which ones will appear on your channel, as well as specifically where advertisements will be displayed.
With “Ad Picker,” channel programmers (as they call you) are able to select from six different ad placements and several different ad types, including leader boards (728 X 90), squares (300 X 250) and banners (468 X 60). Alternatively, you can opt to allow LiveDigital to automatically choose advertising for each placement. They have partnered with several advertising networks to provide hundreds of advertisements across 27 categories ranging from dating to travel.
The top 25 channels are guaranteed to receive a minimum of $200, with the remaining money split among those channels according to their respective ratings. For example, if a channel receives 80% of all traffic on LiveDigital, you (the channel programmer) would be eligible to receive $16,000.
Cybercast credit: LiveDigital
LiveDigital is the “rich media” offshoot of Oversee.net, a technology-driven media company. It enables you to not only host and share content, but also broadcast hundreds of channels of high-quality programmed entertainment. Launched in 2006, it claims to webcast hundreds of thousands of videos daily in over 50 countries.
Interestingly, even a year and half later, the site logo still says “beta….”
Not so interestingly, their embed code sometimes doesn’t work … so that’s what the beta is for!
Here is a direct link, if you still want to see Criss’s stunt. Also, you have to sign up to watch in high-def - now that’s another bummer!
So why is this worth my digital ink?
If you upload your videos and create a channel, you can add ads and select which ones will appear on your channel, as well as specifically where advertisements will be displayed.
With “Ad Picker,” channel programmers (as they call you) are able to select from six different ad placements and several different ad types, including leader boards (728 X 90), squares (300 X 250) and banners (468 X 60). Alternatively, you can opt to allow LiveDigital to automatically choose advertising for each placement. They have partnered with several advertising networks to provide hundreds of advertisements across 27 categories ranging from dating to travel.
The top 25 channels are guaranteed to receive a minimum of $200, with the remaining money split among those channels according to their respective ratings. For example, if a channel receives 80% of all traffic on LiveDigital, you (the channel programmer) would be eligible to receive $16,000.
Cybercast credit: LiveDigital
October 6, 2007
Woo Me Now - in a Minute Tops!
If you had a minute to speak with someone over a live video connection, could you decide whether you would date them? That’s the question for WooMe, a startup aiming to bring the world of speed dating online.
It has just launched a “test version” a few days ago, but will open for all in a couple of months. Sign up here.
Unlike most other dating sites, you don’t have to answer dozens of questions or fill out an application form. Nor will you be forced to go through the grueling process of reading others’ rambling essays.
Instead, speed dating sessions with up to 16 participants, eight of each sex, will be the way WooMe users gauge their interest. The sessions are intended to run in live audio-video, although only audio can be selected; participants never type to one another, although they can classify the other participants with tags for future reference.
Competition like Match.com, once considered a thriving dating community, lacks hipness. eHarmony, another large player, caters to older individuals. While they are somewhat successful, they have not been able to reach the holy grail: Online dating that everyone uses.
WooMe is dirt cheap. After a conversation, if you are guy and say you like the girl and she says she likes you too, all you pay is $1 to get the girl’s contact details. The date may not be cheap but getting there is!
It has just launched a “test version” a few days ago, but will open for all in a couple of months. Sign up here.
Unlike most other dating sites, you don’t have to answer dozens of questions or fill out an application form. Nor will you be forced to go through the grueling process of reading others’ rambling essays.
Instead, speed dating sessions with up to 16 participants, eight of each sex, will be the way WooMe users gauge their interest. The sessions are intended to run in live audio-video, although only audio can be selected; participants never type to one another, although they can classify the other participants with tags for future reference.
Competition like Match.com, once considered a thriving dating community, lacks hipness. eHarmony, another large player, caters to older individuals. While they are somewhat successful, they have not been able to reach the holy grail: Online dating that everyone uses.
WooMe is dirt cheap. After a conversation, if you are guy and say you like the girl and she says she likes you too, all you pay is $1 to get the girl’s contact details. The date may not be cheap but getting there is!
October 3, 2007
Sick and Sicker
From someone - namely Logan Darrow Clements of FreeStar Media, who we should all listen to and support, comes Sick and Sicker, a feature-length movie that explores the ethics and realities of a government take-over of the medical profession. Not sick yet? Watch the trailer ...
Sick and Sicker, a feature-length movie that explores the ethics and realities of a government take-over the medical profession.
Sick and Sicker investigates whether government intervention in the U.S. medical system is the cause of, or the solution to, our problems and whether Canada is really the health care utopia that politicians tell us it is.
This won't be a dry documentary that will put you to sleep. No, Logan brings abstract concepts to life in dramatic and surprising ways. If he can show how a monkey with darts can beat the investment return of Social Security then you know it will be a movie you won't forget.
CONTACT Logan Darrow Clements, Executive Producer by email and put "Sick and Sicker" in your subject line. Your health needs your support!
Cybercast credit: YouTube
Sick and Sicker, a feature-length movie that explores the ethics and realities of a government take-over the medical profession.
Sick and Sicker investigates whether government intervention in the U.S. medical system is the cause of, or the solution to, our problems and whether Canada is really the health care utopia that politicians tell us it is.
This won't be a dry documentary that will put you to sleep. No, Logan brings abstract concepts to life in dramatic and surprising ways. If he can show how a monkey with darts can beat the investment return of Social Security then you know it will be a movie you won't forget.
CONTACT Logan Darrow Clements, Executive Producer by email and put "Sick and Sicker" in your subject line. Your health needs your support!
Cybercast credit: YouTube
September 30, 2007
UnBox TiVo and Find CreateSpace on Amazon
... continued from my post of Sept. 21:
Can you see the small TiVo logo below?
Yes, Amazon Unbox is now offering downloads to your TiVo box, in addition to your PC and Xbox 360 console. That obviously leaves out Mac and Linux users. We don't count anyway, so that's OK, till Microsoft eats Amazon's lunch....
Equally cool, for those of us cursed with some creativity and production skills is that Amazon UnBox has partnered with
CreateSpace to sell your masterpiece. The quickest and easiest way to submit your content to them is on your authored DVD. They can also use your tape to archive a master-quality file, then encode and author your DVD master.
Now all you have to do is ...
1. Create your blockbuster
2. Market the living daylight out of it
3. Sell it through Amazon UnBox, iTunes, CinemaNow, Netflix, Blockbuster,
etc. Easy ... except maybe the marketing part ....
Can you see the small TiVo logo below?
Yes, Amazon Unbox is now offering downloads to your TiVo box, in addition to your PC and Xbox 360 console. That obviously leaves out Mac and Linux users. We don't count anyway, so that's OK, till Microsoft eats Amazon's lunch....
Equally cool, for those of us cursed with some creativity and production skills is that Amazon UnBox has partnered with
CreateSpace to sell your masterpiece. The quickest and easiest way to submit your content to them is on your authored DVD. They can also use your tape to archive a master-quality file, then encode and author your DVD master.
Now all you have to do is ...
1. Create your blockbuster
2. Market the living daylight out of it
3. Sell it through Amazon UnBox, iTunes, CinemaNow, Netflix, Blockbuster,
etc. Easy ... except maybe the marketing part ....
September 27, 2007
"Daily Show," Other MTV Channels to Get Their Own Sites
Web sites for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and two dozen other brands that fall under the MTV Networks umbrella are being prepared for a first-quarter 2008 launch, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
"The Daily Show" site, for example, which actually launches in the fourth quarter, will contain the entire video history of each show, including headlines, interviews and the "Back in Black" feature. Episodes will be available in their entirety an hour or two after broadcast.
Other shows receiving their own sites include Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program," MTV's "Engaged and Underage" and Nickelodeon's "iCarly." No mention was made of the "The Colbert Report." The company is also launching a game site for teenage girls, a wiki site for video game cheats called Wiki Cheats and niche-oriented sites for everything from hip-hop dance to gay-focused animation.
VH1EyeCandy.com, a pop culture site, will also get a full launch.
MTV's idea is to turn its popular brands into Web destinations by pushing content, games, promotions, TV schedules and forums on their sites for user feedback. Will this long-tail approach work? It seems they want to grow some of the newer content destinations virally, while letting the TV shows' popularity help them along.
Cybercast credit: VH1
"The Daily Show" site, for example, which actually launches in the fourth quarter, will contain the entire video history of each show, including headlines, interviews and the "Back in Black" feature. Episodes will be available in their entirety an hour or two after broadcast.
Other shows receiving their own sites include Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program," MTV's "Engaged and Underage" and Nickelodeon's "iCarly." No mention was made of the "The Colbert Report." The company is also launching a game site for teenage girls, a wiki site for video game cheats called Wiki Cheats and niche-oriented sites for everything from hip-hop dance to gay-focused animation.
VH1EyeCandy.com, a pop culture site, will also get a full launch.
MTV's idea is to turn its popular brands into Web destinations by pushing content, games, promotions, TV schedules and forums on their sites for user feedback. Will this long-tail approach work? It seems they want to grow some of the newer content destinations virally, while letting the TV shows' popularity help them along.
Cybercast credit: VH1
September 24, 2007
Streaming Toward the “Long Trail”
As streaming technology gets faster and resolution gets better (although that’s debatable), I will seek out internet video and web TV content I'm specifically interested in. So will you. Exploiting this demand, online programming will evolve into offering everything, like the Jewish Television Network, independent films by R&B artists, comedy from Penn and Teller, Grandma's Cooking Show and who knows what else....
The phenomenon of catering to very small audiences, called “long trail” distribution, was first observed at, then exploited by Amazon so successfully, it is now one of the mega-stores on the net and a major online retailer worldwide. Amazon Video anyone?
As a result, we may be in the midst of a content explosion as viewers transition from analog cable television to Web-based video technologies.
Streaming technology seems to be the preferred method of video delivery today, because the content doesn’t reside on your computer. As such, it often cannot be replayed after its viewed once. That's a major reason why content owners like streaming video -- it's perfect for embedding ads because users can't fast forward as easily.
The rise of the broadband Internet connection -- some 47% of American households have it now -- coincides with the rise of streaming technology. Even DVD rental services like Netflix are starting to offer streaming on-demand content. Netflix users can now push a "Watch Now" tab and within 30 seconds start streaming up to 3,000 TV shows and movies.
ReelTime, for example, operates in a P2P environment, pulling previously streamed data from other users' computers in addition to delivering content straight from its servers.
I will expand more about Unbox TiVo and CreateSpace on Amazon in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.
The phenomenon of catering to very small audiences, called “long trail” distribution, was first observed at, then exploited by Amazon so successfully, it is now one of the mega-stores on the net and a major online retailer worldwide. Amazon Video anyone?
As a result, we may be in the midst of a content explosion as viewers transition from analog cable television to Web-based video technologies.
Streaming technology seems to be the preferred method of video delivery today, because the content doesn’t reside on your computer. As such, it often cannot be replayed after its viewed once. That's a major reason why content owners like streaming video -- it's perfect for embedding ads because users can't fast forward as easily.
The rise of the broadband Internet connection -- some 47% of American households have it now -- coincides with the rise of streaming technology. Even DVD rental services like Netflix are starting to offer streaming on-demand content. Netflix users can now push a "Watch Now" tab and within 30 seconds start streaming up to 3,000 TV shows and movies.
ReelTime, for example, operates in a P2P environment, pulling previously streamed data from other users' computers in addition to delivering content straight from its servers.
I will expand more about Unbox TiVo and CreateSpace on Amazon in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.
September 21, 2007
The "Juice" Is Flowing in This Video of O.J. Simpson's Latest Arrest
And this is an opinion from wh31966 on YouTube, that I wholeheartedly agree with:
"OJ is dirty, his friends are dirty, the Goldmans are dirty, the Las Vegas Sherrif's Dept. is dirty, the media is dirty, the reporters with the same smirk that OJ had on his face are dirty, Geraldo Rivera is dirty, the racists that have already convicted him are dirty. The Browns are dirty. The money made off of that book is dirty. Anyone that wants him convicted because he is black is dirty. Anyone that doesn't want him convicted because he is black is dirty."
Cybercast credit: YouTube
September 18, 2007
U Stream Your TV on Ustream.tv
Another "platform" that provides live interactive video for everyone. If you have a camera and a broadband Internet connection, you can use Ustream to broadcast to a global audience.
Haven't signed up with them (can't keep up with the ones I already belong to), but their EbolaWorld Live! channel looks lively enough, if this episode is any indication:
Enjoy - if they are not "Currently off air."
Cybercast credit: ustream.tv
Haven't signed up with them (can't keep up with the ones I already belong to), but their EbolaWorld Live! channel looks lively enough, if this episode is any indication:
Enjoy - if they are not "Currently off air."
Cybercast credit: ustream.tv
September 15, 2007
OurStage.com Is Your Stage
OurStage bills itself as the most advanced online competition for emerging filmmakers and musicians. They provide a free and 100% fair platform in which the honest judgment of us, the fans, drives the best content to the top. No more meaningless, cheatable 5-star ratings.
Here are the latest entries in their Wacky and Weird Channel I've found funny:
One flaw I can see is that they don't provide an embed code for their content, thus missing out on viral distribution. What you see here is my way to add this video here.
Content is ranked from #1 on down, based on the opinions of the fans. See and hear new music and film across a wide array of genres and categories, and make judgments to determine who's the best. Top artists win career-launching opportunities, and you win great prizes for participating.
You decide who is the most worthy of their prizes:
* Grand monthly prize of $5,000
* Magazine articles and reviews
* Festival screening and performance spots
You get rewards for discovering and judging new music and film:
* Tickets to film and music festivals like Bonnaroo, Slamdance, and more
* Gift cards, MP3 players, and digital cameras
* OurStage merchandise and many other cool prizes
So go on, be judgmental: register with OurStage.com today. Discover up-and-coming artists, be a fan, launch careers, and win cool stuff. Save the world from mediocre film and music!
P.S. Brian, in his comment explains how to get the embed code. It's really easy, just a bit different from most other sites. I stand corrected. Thanks, Brian!
Here are the latest entries in their Wacky and Weird Channel I've found funny:
One flaw I can see is that they don't provide an embed code for their content, thus missing out on viral distribution. What you see here is my way to add this video here.
Content is ranked from #1 on down, based on the opinions of the fans. See and hear new music and film across a wide array of genres and categories, and make judgments to determine who's the best. Top artists win career-launching opportunities, and you win great prizes for participating.
You decide who is the most worthy of their prizes:
* Grand monthly prize of $5,000
* Magazine articles and reviews
* Festival screening and performance spots
You get rewards for discovering and judging new music and film:
* Tickets to film and music festivals like Bonnaroo, Slamdance, and more
* Gift cards, MP3 players, and digital cameras
* OurStage merchandise and many other cool prizes
So go on, be judgmental: register with OurStage.com today. Discover up-and-coming artists, be a fan, launch careers, and win cool stuff. Save the world from mediocre film and music!
P.S. Brian, in his comment explains how to get the embed code. It's really easy, just a bit different from most other sites. I stand corrected. Thanks, Brian!
September 12, 2007
Man Infringes His Own Copyright, Viacom Says
From the Catch-44 Dept.
Posted by kdawson on Thursday August 30, Slashdot Media.
Chris Knight writes "I ran for school board where I live this past fall and created some TV commercials including one with a "Star Wars" theme.
A few months ago VH1 grabbed the commercial from YouTube and featured it in a segment of its show 'Web Junk 2.0.'
Neither VH1 or its parent company Viacom told me they were doing this or asked my permission to use it, but I didn't mind it if they did. I thought that Aries Spears's commentary about it was pretty hilarious, so I posted a clip of VH1's segment on YouTube so that I could put it on my blog.
I just got an e-mail from YouTube saying that the video has been pulled because Viacom is claiming that I'm violating its copyright. Viacom used my video without permission on their commercial television show, and now says that I am infringing on their copyright for showing the clip of the work that Viacom made in violation of my own copyright!"
Voice your opinion on Slashdot or on Chris's blog!
Cybercast credit: YouTube
Posted by kdawson on Thursday August 30, Slashdot Media.
Chris Knight writes "I ran for school board where I live this past fall and created some TV commercials including one with a "Star Wars" theme.
A few months ago VH1 grabbed the commercial from YouTube and featured it in a segment of its show 'Web Junk 2.0.'
Neither VH1 or its parent company Viacom told me they were doing this or asked my permission to use it, but I didn't mind it if they did. I thought that Aries Spears's commentary about it was pretty hilarious, so I posted a clip of VH1's segment on YouTube so that I could put it on my blog.
I just got an e-mail from YouTube saying that the video has been pulled because Viacom is claiming that I'm violating its copyright. Viacom used my video without permission on their commercial television show, and now says that I am infringing on their copyright for showing the clip of the work that Viacom made in violation of my own copyright!"
Voice your opinion on Slashdot or on Chris's blog!
Cybercast credit: YouTube
September 9, 2007
Our Video Ad on Million Dollar Web TV
What's in it for us, in addition to having our ad always on the front page for 10+ years?
How about:
* Displaying our video for free?
* Expusure to at least 100,000 targeted visitors a month?
* Ability to add new videos and rotate them?
* Sharing in profits in proportion to our investment?
* All this for spending only $1,800?
I made the video ad myself, combining the animated gif camera with the other graphics elements in a 320x240 web page. Voice-over came from a text-to-speech synthesizer, courtesy of BlueGrind. I recorded both running at the same time, using Ambrosia's SnapzPro X, then converted the clip from QuickTime to Flash with Cleaner 6.5. Hardest part was to visualize and design the ad!
Cybercast credit: Million Dollar Web TV
September 6, 2007
A Torrent of Free Video from BitTorrent?
Beginning this month, the San Francisco video and media distribution company (made famous or infamous, as one of the first P2P file download networks) is offering some of its library of television and feature films - which include titles such as “Letters from Iwo Jima” and “24— - for free, supported by advertising.
As a member, you can still upload and distribute your own files; however, they don't offer revenue sharing from tagging advertisement(s) to your clips. This can be good, or bad, depending on your sensibilities and state of your pocketbook.
As a member, you can still upload and distribute your own files; however, they don't offer revenue sharing from tagging advertisement(s) to your clips. This can be good, or bad, depending on your sensibilities and state of your pocketbook.
September 3, 2007
MyDamnChannel Is Damned SLOWWW!!!
This is a new site launched by Rob Barnett, former MTV executive, with the aim to provide a place for PROFESSIONAL content creators to promote their work with their own channel.
Artists on the site seem to have been hand-picked. In this sense they are like a video distributor of sorts, providing a platform for artists distribute and monetize their content.
If you register and are accepted, revenue will be split 50-50 with you. To spread the word and works, your videos can be embedded in other sites, such as MySpace TV, Hi5 and Piczo.
Granted, there is no shortage of similar sites:
Funny or Die
RoofTop Comedy
NOT on MY ROOFTOP, kids, punks, and assorted weirdoos!!!
Black20 News, on the other hand, rocks!
and National Banana, just to mention the ones that are better known at the moment....
Professional???? - how about streaming the title frame for 20 minutes?
Cybercast "credit:" MyDamnChannel
Artists on the site seem to have been hand-picked. In this sense they are like a video distributor of sorts, providing a platform for artists distribute and monetize their content.
If you register and are accepted, revenue will be split 50-50 with you. To spread the word and works, your videos can be embedded in other sites, such as MySpace TV, Hi5 and Piczo.
Granted, there is no shortage of similar sites:
Funny or Die
RoofTop Comedy
NOT on MY ROOFTOP, kids, punks, and assorted weirdoos!!!
Black20 News, on the other hand, rocks!
and National Banana, just to mention the ones that are better known at the moment....
Professional???? - how about streaming the title frame for 20 minutes?
Cybercast "credit:" MyDamnChannel
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