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 ....

"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

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 "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

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

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!

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

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

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.

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