"Television still is the critical missing component that Apple needs to make this product a hit. The product needs both a PVR and especially a PVR that does HDTV. With your only options for TV being DVDs or low res quality video iTunes (which might look ok on a small handheld device but will look horrible on those 43' plasmas that everyone's buying), this product still lags behind Microsoft's Media Center PC.
Of course, throw in an Apple buyout of TiVo and put a high definition TiVo in the box along with Front Row and you'd have the hit of the decade. How does that old song go? Oh yeah, 'You've got the brains, I've got the looks, let's make lots of money.' "
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Apple Closer to HD TV
Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection: Apple Closer to Getting it Right -- Initial Thoughts on Apple's New Mac Mini Announced Today:
My iPod stereo is 5 yrs old
Using Cambridge SoundWorks speakers and a first generation iPod, I've had an iPod stereo system for 5 years.
Soupy Love
Soupy George: The Music Video. Soup on your head!
7 Seconds of Love: Official Site. The Specials meet Adam Sandler
7 seconds of Love on MySpace.
Via [ Abby and Adam ]
Monday, February 27, 2006
MySpace: The Movie
His MySpace odyssey - Los Angeles Times:
David Lehre on MySpace.
MySpace: The Movie on YouTube.
"LIFE'S been moving fast for David Lehre. In the four weeks since the amateur filmmaker first screened 'MySpace: The Movie' at his 21st birthday party, the short film spoofing the MySpace phenomenon has been viewed more than 6 million times through various sites online."David Lehre: Official Site.
David Lehre on MySpace.
MySpace: The Movie on YouTube.
Point and Click Blogging
Logahead - Just blog.:
New blogging solutions are coming out that are better than what has come before.
Will I stop using Blogger and TypePad. Probably not.
I've got the same problem with my bank. That's what they are counting on. It's too much work to change.
But that doesn't mean I can't open another bank account somewhere else, in addition to my old standby.
"A brand new blogging engine with a 'keep it simple' philosophy. Designed from the ground-up to be fully buzzword compliant (AJAX, RSS, Web 2.0 - it's all there), logahead lets you effortlessly do what blogs were invented for:Sam Allis asked me yesterday why I have 32 blogs. It's because of new technology like Logahead.
Put your words on the web. Just blog."
New blogging solutions are coming out that are better than what has come before.
Will I stop using Blogger and TypePad. Probably not.
I've got the same problem with my bank. That's what they are counting on. It's too much work to change.
But that doesn't mean I can't open another bank account somewhere else, in addition to my old standby.
Google, EarthLink FREE Wi-Fi
Google, EarthLink team up to provide Wi-Fi in San Francisco:
"Google Inc. is joining EarthLink Inc. in a bid to build a wireless network in San Francisco that would offer basic Internet access for free and charge about $20 per month to surf the Web at higher speeds."Today's Boston Globe editorial, Wireless for Boston gets it wrong:
The cost for individual consumers should be kept as low as possible. Chaska charges $16.99 a month. In Philadelphia the price is expected to be about $20, with a discount for low-income residents. Boston should follow this model, creating a revenue stream, but one with discounts to increase access.Basic internet service should be FREE. EVERYWHERE.
To break down the digital divide, nonprofit organizations should expand programs that train people and provide them with computers. And the report points to development of a $100 laptop, a goal pursued by MIT professors, as another way to increase Internet access.
Free wireless service is an essential part of the system that should be maintained in public library branches and, Tobin argues, be extended to public schools.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Free Personality Test
PersonalDNA | Your True Self Revealed - Fast Fun Free Personality Tests.
Another Web 2.0 thing that you might like.
I liked it, and the buckets and sliders were fun to play with.
It seems that I am a Benevolent Analyst.
Grey's Anatomy Writer's Blog
The writers of Grey's Anatomy have a blog, Grey Matter. Shonda Rhimes writes:
"I’m getting kind of worried about some of you. Not all of you. Just the really nice some of you who have sweet, kind, idealistic, optimistic, hopeful thoughts about Dylan.Network TV is starting a conversation with us.
Brace yourselves. Ready?
Dylan is dead, y’all.
He’s really dead.
He exploded."
Boston Media Makers: Sunday Feb 26th
The Boston Media Makers met at Sweet Finnish this morning for what was billed as an Amy Carpenter Fan Club meeting. In fact it was gathering of friends.
Sam Allis from the Boston Globe came by and interviewed us all about videoblogging. What is it? When did it start? How many videobloggers are in the Boston area? What do you vlog about? Who watches? Do you make money? Why are there more vloggers in NYC and San Francisco?
Watch for an article about vloggers and vlogging in a future Boston Sunday Globe.
Amy told Sam all about the S.S.D.S. and their plans for world domination. We talked about the power of blogs and sites like MySpace to get the word out and foster a community around things of interest to people. So much is happening in the video blogging space these days. It's exciting to try to keep up.
Steve made sure he got a picture with Amy.
D.C. Dennison talked about how he was really interested in seeing my video from the New Media Munch at WGBH from earlier in the week on my blog. I said it was a perfect example of the long tail and the immediacy of citizen media. I'd taken a video while at a meeting at WGBH and immediately posted it to my blog. This furthered the discussion of the power of vlogging.
Carl got an Amy Carpenter original, autographed by the artist. Lucky Carl.
Abby related how she uses her blog to post info about new things that she finds on the web and was searching different things that we were talking about as we discussed htem. Someone coming into a meeting like this might think it rude to have a computer open while meeting, but in fact it enhances the meeting, where you can look things up that are being discussed and add to the conversation.
Michael Oh was working on setting up the Boston Globe Pulse point during the meeting and some of us were logging on, setting up our user accounts and doing trial posts. Michael says the Pulse Point will be up and running at hte end of the week. I tried uploading a 385MN video file, but Mike suggests reducing hte size of videos to under 100 MB and using H.264 compression. I'll compress a video and bring it in mext week.
We also talked about various hosting options for video ranging from free to paid services.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting is our big one, Sunday March 5th, and will feature a visit by the Four Eyed Monsters.
All the details are on the Boston Media Makers Forum.
Sam Allis from the Boston Globe came by and interviewed us all about videoblogging. What is it? When did it start? How many videobloggers are in the Boston area? What do you vlog about? Who watches? Do you make money? Why are there more vloggers in NYC and San Francisco?
Watch for an article about vloggers and vlogging in a future Boston Sunday Globe.
Amy told Sam all about the S.S.D.S. and their plans for world domination. We talked about the power of blogs and sites like MySpace to get the word out and foster a community around things of interest to people. So much is happening in the video blogging space these days. It's exciting to try to keep up.
Steve made sure he got a picture with Amy.
D.C. Dennison talked about how he was really interested in seeing my video from the New Media Munch at WGBH from earlier in the week on my blog. I said it was a perfect example of the long tail and the immediacy of citizen media. I'd taken a video while at a meeting at WGBH and immediately posted it to my blog. This furthered the discussion of the power of vlogging.
Carl got an Amy Carpenter original, autographed by the artist. Lucky Carl.
Abby related how she uses her blog to post info about new things that she finds on the web and was searching different things that we were talking about as we discussed htem. Someone coming into a meeting like this might think it rude to have a computer open while meeting, but in fact it enhances the meeting, where you can look things up that are being discussed and add to the conversation.
Michael Oh was working on setting up the Boston Globe Pulse point during the meeting and some of us were logging on, setting up our user accounts and doing trial posts. Michael says the Pulse Point will be up and running at hte end of the week. I tried uploading a 385MN video file, but Mike suggests reducing hte size of videos to under 100 MB and using H.264 compression. I'll compress a video and bring it in mext week.
We also talked about various hosting options for video ranging from free to paid services.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting is our big one, Sunday March 5th, and will feature a visit by the Four Eyed Monsters.
All the details are on the Boston Media Makers Forum.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Globe fails to link to Brokeback To The Future
For 'Future,' Emerson students parody until the wee hours - The Boston Globe:
No links to obvious sites ifilm.com, or YouTube.com either.
What is ironic is that in the paper version of today's Globe they tell you to go to http://www.boston.com/yourlife/ to watch parody trailers online, but that link is not on the article's online page, and when you follow that link, guess what? no Brokeback to the Future.
I'd also like to see a followup article addressing the fair use issue that these video parodies bring up.
"For those who haven't seen the fake trailer (which can be viewed at chocolatecakecity.com and other websites), it goes like this: A bright green screen unfolds with the familiar Motion Picture Association of America trademark."One again the Boston Globe's online arm boston.com fails to link to the main topic of the article online. No link to the YouTube hosted version of Brokeback to the Future. It's the #6 most popular video ever on YouTube.
No links to obvious sites ifilm.com, or YouTube.com either.
What is ironic is that in the paper version of today's Globe they tell you to go to http://www.boston.com/yourlife/ to watch parody trailers online, but that link is not on the article's online page, and when you follow that link, guess what? no Brokeback to the Future.
I'd also like to see a followup article addressing the fair use issue that these video parodies bring up.
I pledge allegiance to George W. Bush
Found on Rocketboom: Comment on rb_06_feb_20:
Rocketboom: Monday February 20, 2006
"I've been trying to get this new, shorter version spread around to appease the ever-oppressed Radical Christianist minority in this country (aka the Theocrats):Amen to the pledge?'I pledge allegiance to George W. Bush, Jesus' earthly representative, and to the corporations for which he stands. One nation, divided into the righteous and the damned, under a very specific God, with liberty and justice for those who can afford it. Amen.'"
Rocketboom: Monday February 20, 2006
Thomas Jefferson rewrote the Bible
The Jefferson Bible:
"The Jefferson Bible, or The Life And Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted textually from the Gospels as it is formally titled, was an attempt by Thomas Jefferson to glean the teachings of Jesus from the Christian Gospels. A deist, Jefferson wished to extract the doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been added by the Four Evangelists."Amen to that?
Let me tell you why I like WBOS
I just posted this to the Boston Radio Info message board thread entitled, WBOS Vs. WROR, Is there Really a difference?:
Yay Charles.
WBOS Online.
"Let me tell you why I like WBOS.There's more over there...
In the morning, while reading the paper and having breakfast, I enjoy having the music in the background, without all the DJ talk.
I could listen to my iPod, but BOS gives me a lot of, 'oh yeah moments', where they play songs that I don't have on my iPod, but enjoy hearing.
BOS has Charles Laquidara. I think Charles is the best DJ in Boston right now. Maybe it's because I was always a big fan, but I also think it has to do with BOS allowing him to select the music. "
Yay Charles.
WBOS Online.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Go start a blog right now
Dave Winer explains Blogging for newbies:
It's easy.
If you make one, post it's address in the comments.
If you already have one, let me know and I'll come visit.
"When I encourage people to start a blog here's what I suggest they do."Follow the link to Dave's post and then go start a blog.
It's easy.
If you make one, post it's address in the comments.
If you already have one, let me know and I'll come visit.
Quit the Club
Sweating out New Year's resolutions? Join the club:
Town Sports International's collection agency is still calling me about $42 that they say I owe them. The local club management said that I was all paid up, and credited me my last month when I quit, but I don't have it in writing.
So I requested a bill from Town Sports International's collection agency, in writing. They can't seem to be able to mail me a bill. I don't know why. They won't email me a copy either.
So I've transfered the follow up of this to my collection agency response representative who is calling them on the phone today. Stay tuned.
UPDATE:
The collection agency, NARS, will never be calling me again.
I just got off the phone with them, after having gotten a fax from them that said:
They said that they prefered me to use a check or credit card over the phone.
They said that if I paid over the phone, the calls would stop.
THE CALLS WOULD STOP.
THE HARRASING UNRELENTING CALLS WOULD STOP.
WE ARE HOLDING YOUR PHONE HOSTAGE AND UNLESS YOU PAY US, WE WILL KEEP CALLING YOU ON THE PHONE.
These people are torturers.
OK, they win. I am broken.
I paid by credit card.
Over the phone.
Final words from the collection agency, "You are free to rejoin the club."
There is no way that I will ever in my life join a Town Sports International health club. I will tell anyone who asks that they should not join a Town Sports International Health Club.
They harrased me with a collection agency for years over $42 because they did not trust me. They basically said I was a liar and would not even discuss this debt with me. They gave it to a collection agency instead of writing it off as good will.
I don't understand how $42 can mean so much to them.
"Town Sports International operates 140 clubs in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. He estimates that 400,000 people belong. ''We typically enroll approximately 100 memberships a month. In January, we'll sell close to 200 memberships per club.'"When you end up quitting the club, make sure you get everything in writing.
Town Sports International's collection agency is still calling me about $42 that they say I owe them. The local club management said that I was all paid up, and credited me my last month when I quit, but I don't have it in writing.
So I requested a bill from Town Sports International's collection agency, in writing. They can't seem to be able to mail me a bill. I don't know why. They won't email me a copy either.
So I've transfered the follow up of this to my collection agency response representative who is calling them on the phone today. Stay tuned.
UPDATE:
The collection agency, NARS, will never be calling me again.
I just got off the phone with them, after having gotten a fax from them that said:
We will accept payment by credit card or check by phone.So I called them up and asked if I could pay by check, by mail.
They said that they prefered me to use a check or credit card over the phone.
They said that if I paid over the phone, the calls would stop.
THE CALLS WOULD STOP.
THE HARRASING UNRELENTING CALLS WOULD STOP.
WE ARE HOLDING YOUR PHONE HOSTAGE AND UNLESS YOU PAY US, WE WILL KEEP CALLING YOU ON THE PHONE.
These people are torturers.
OK, they win. I am broken.
I paid by credit card.
Over the phone.
Final words from the collection agency, "You are free to rejoin the club."
There is no way that I will ever in my life join a Town Sports International health club. I will tell anyone who asks that they should not join a Town Sports International Health Club.
They harrased me with a collection agency for years over $42 because they did not trust me. They basically said I was a liar and would not even discuss this debt with me. They gave it to a collection agency instead of writing it off as good will.
I don't understand how $42 can mean so much to them.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Caught in the middle of a civil war
Day one of Iraq's civil war:
"The US plan for the liberation of Iraq has finally entered its final stages.Daily Kos: Iraq FUBAR thread:
As civil war looms almost inevitably, the US plan for Iraq is bearing fruit.
Reuters has reported that at least nine Sunnis were killed in Basra."
Meanwhile, no one seems to care anymore when our soldiers get killed in Iraq. We had four more killed yesterday. The total is now 2,284. That is now more than the War of 1812 (2,260), and closing in on the Spanish-American War (2,456). Hopefully we'll be out before we hit the levels of the American Revolutionary War (4,435).
Shipment of Wine Bill Passes
The delivery of wine bill that Mitt Romney smartly vetoed, HOUSE, NO. 4498, has been passed by both the House and Senate::
"11/23/05 G Governor returned to the House with vetoCan someone please show me how on earth I am supposed to figure out the Mass.gov website to find out who voted Yea and Nay.
11/23/05 H For message, see H4522
11/23/05 H Placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session -HJ 990
02/15/06 H Passed over veto - 124 YEAS to 26 NAYS (See Yea and Nay in Supplement, No. 353) -HJs 1207-1208
02/15/06 S Passed over veto - 26 YEAS to 9 NAYS (see Senate Roll Call, No. 230)"
S.S.D.S. Unmasked
ID Check: Super Secret Dance Society - News - The Phoenix:
"I can’t tell you how I ended up conspiring with the Super Secret Dance Society because, well, it’s a secret. I also can’t tell you how I found out about the SSDS. Nor can I divulge the gripping contents of the orange envelope I was handed by Original Agent Amy Carpenter (civilian avocations: painting and video-blogging at AmyCarpenter.com) and then ordered to destroy after reading."Not so secret anymore.
Greek Orthodox Plate
I just helped my neighbor put this Greek Orthodox Lord's Prayer Plate up for auction on ebay.
Ceramic plate made in the Holy Lands. 10 3/4 inches diameter. Black Greek lettering and design, featuring light blue highlights, dark blue rim. Hole in back for easy hanging.There's also an English version.
Setting up an auction on eBay is pretty easy, but when you have to take the photos, load them into the computer, and reboot a bunch of times because you're running and old PC powered by Windows ME, it takes a while to get an auction online.
How To: Create a Wi-Fi Hot Spot
My buddy David Pogue, of the NY Times, writes about this interesting way to create your own Wi-Fi hot spot in Wi-Fi to Go: The Hot Spot in a Box. [ Free Blog Friendly Link ]
American Idol Boys Are Bad
While watching American Idol last night I could not believe how BAD the boys were. It's too bad they picked the contestants that would make good TV instead of the best singers.
It's actually laughable and painful to watch, except for Ace Young. He has the X factor. If you still have the show on TiVo, replay back Simon's comment that Ace Young has the X factor. You'll hear Randy laugh/cough right after Simon says that. It's because The X Factor is Simon's talent show. Funny stuff.
Vote for the Worst has picked Bobby Bennett with good reason, Bill Murray's lounge singer is more fun to watch. Bucky Covington needs to comb his hair, you don't watch him and think superstar, you think karaoke.
David Radford is out of time and place. If they brought back the Lawrence Welk show, he might be good on there as a backup singer. I agree with Simon, Gedeon McKinney's smile scares me. Isn't his smile twice as wide as it should be?
Sway needs to sing in his own voice, what is up with singing in falsetto? I don't get it. At all. And what were the judges saying abot how great it was that he went back into his own voice. I must have missed it fast forwardign my TiVo.
Kevin Covais can not even get the words out of his mouth cleanly. Painful.
Patrick Hall reminds me of wallpaper paste, I've already forgotten what he sang.
If Will Marker only has his Bobby Brady looks going for him, he's not long for the comptetition. Too bad he doesn't have Peter Brady's singing voice. ;-)
You know who stood out in addition to Ace Young and Taylor Hicks?
Kellie Pickler. She was pretty prominent, front and center in the audience.
Sadly, the only contestants that I care about watching from here on in are local contestant Ayla Brown, Becky O'Donahue, Kathrine McPhee - my pick, Kellie Pickler - Pick Pickler, and Ace Young.
From the Idol on Fox blogs, Linda Sharp writes, Men: Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Have A Top 24 Without 'Em and points us to the O'Donahue twins, Girls of Maxim Online.
It's actually laughable and painful to watch, except for Ace Young. He has the X factor. If you still have the show on TiVo, replay back Simon's comment that Ace Young has the X factor. You'll hear Randy laugh/cough right after Simon says that. It's because The X Factor is Simon's talent show. Funny stuff.Vote for the Worst has picked Bobby Bennett with good reason, Bill Murray's lounge singer is more fun to watch. Bucky Covington needs to comb his hair, you don't watch him and think superstar, you think karaoke.
David Radford is out of time and place. If they brought back the Lawrence Welk show, he might be good on there as a backup singer. I agree with Simon, Gedeon McKinney's smile scares me. Isn't his smile twice as wide as it should be?
Sway needs to sing in his own voice, what is up with singing in falsetto? I don't get it. At all. And what were the judges saying abot how great it was that he went back into his own voice. I must have missed it fast forwardign my TiVo. Kevin Covais can not even get the words out of his mouth cleanly. Painful.
Patrick Hall reminds me of wallpaper paste, I've already forgotten what he sang.
If Will Marker only has his Bobby Brady looks going for him, he's not long for the comptetition. Too bad he doesn't have Peter Brady's singing voice. ;-)
You know who stood out in addition to Ace Young and Taylor Hicks?
Kellie Pickler. She was pretty prominent, front and center in the audience.Sadly, the only contestants that I care about watching from here on in are local contestant Ayla Brown, Becky O'Donahue, Kathrine McPhee - my pick, Kellie Pickler - Pick Pickler, and Ace Young.
From the Idol on Fox blogs, Linda Sharp writes, Men: Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Have A Top 24 Without 'Em and points us to the O'Donahue twins, Girls of Maxim Online.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Podcast Academy
Podcast Academy at Boston University:
"The Podcast Academy will provide guidance on how to create, distribute and use podcasts. The Academy schedule offers basic 'how to' classes for beginners as well as advanced classes for more seasoned professionals."April 28th and 29th. I'll be doing a session on Video Podcasting. ;-)
New Media Munch
Here we are at the New Media Munch at WGBH.
Ravi and I were at WGBH today at their New Media Munch. We did an un-meeting and went through the process of creating a video blog post from beginning to end, while at the same time having a far reaching discussion on lots of vlogging topics including blogging platforms, hosting solutions, creative commons. We also discussed why we vlog and do we make a living at it... Fun stuff.
Is video on the Internet videoblogging?
Does videoblogging mean video on the Internet?
I've been thinking about this a lot recently since I've been teaching some videoblogging classes.
There are a lot of things happening in the video space which are diluting the meaning of the term videoblogging.
Everything seems to be called videoblogging these days including 'video podcasting', 'Google Video', and 'Subscribe to LOST on iTunes'.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION vs MEANING
There is the technical definition, "videoblogging is video on a blog", and the meaning.
In class, we talk about the technical process of getting video onto a blog, but then discuss what it all means. We talk about how by putting video on a blog, you get all the bloggy goodness of permalinks, link love, comments, and discussion.
We also talk about the Yahoo! videoblogging list and the twice weekly video conferences and the Meet the Vloggers physical meet ups.
'Video blogging' is a community of creative people, and that is what makes it more than just video on a blog.
VIDEO AGGREGATION SITES
Some of these video aggregation sites can expand our community by allowing people to find our videos, and if annotated correctly, they can provide a link back to us, where we can bring new people into the community.
GOOGLE VIDEO
Google Video makes it really easy to put video up on the web. It's up to the person to make sure they provide links back to their blog so that all the bloggy goodness isn't lost.
Pomme & Kelly got 11,000 hits on their blog yesterday.
Pomme & Kelly on Google Video singing Britney Spears Toxic.
Google Video has a nice archive, showing more from this user and allowing you to play videos back to back. Google video is great at providing better access to video archives.
The link Pomme & Kelly provides goes back to their main blog and not the
permalink, but you can find the post that relates to the video.
(54) comments on this post.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently since I've been teaching some videoblogging classes.
There are a lot of things happening in the video space which are diluting the meaning of the term videoblogging.
Everything seems to be called videoblogging these days including 'video podcasting', 'Google Video', and 'Subscribe to LOST on iTunes'.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION vs MEANING
There is the technical definition, "videoblogging is video on a blog", and the meaning.In class, we talk about the technical process of getting video onto a blog, but then discuss what it all means. We talk about how by putting video on a blog, you get all the bloggy goodness of permalinks, link love, comments, and discussion.
We also talk about the Yahoo! videoblogging list and the twice weekly video conferences and the Meet the Vloggers physical meet ups.
'Video blogging' is a community of creative people, and that is what makes it more than just video on a blog.
VIDEO AGGREGATION SITES
Some of these video aggregation sites can expand our community by allowing people to find our videos, and if annotated correctly, they can provide a link back to us, where we can bring new people into the community.
GOOGLE VIDEO
Google Video makes it really easy to put video up on the web. It's up to the person to make sure they provide links back to their blog so that all the bloggy goodness isn't lost.
Pomme & Kelly got 11,000 hits on their blog yesterday.
Pomme & Kelly on Google Video singing Britney Spears Toxic.
Google Video has a nice archive, showing more from this user and allowing you to play videos back to back. Google video is great at providing better access to video archives.
The link Pomme & Kelly provides goes back to their main blog and not the
permalink, but you can find the post that relates to the video.
(54) comments on this post.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
I Voted 10 Times
My American Idol, Katharine McPhee.
American Idol must have upgraded their phone system, since it was easy for me to vote for Katharine McPhee ten times in a row.
I've been whitelisted
Blogger support just emailed me:
Hello,Thanks Blogger.
Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and whitelisted so that it will no longer appear as potential spam. If you sign out of Blogger and sign back in again, you should be able to post as normal. Thanks for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.
Sincerely,
Blogger Support
Links for 2006-02-21
- "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki
- A Rocketboom Extra
- Nathan Miller brings us to a Japanese school. It's about 10 minutes long but worth watching.
Blogger: Remove word verification
Blogger Help : Why do I have word verification on my posting form?
Try following this Blogger help page to remove word vericiation form your posting form.
I'm dying here.
Try following this Blogger help page to remove word vericiation form your posting form.
I'm dying here.
Pillow Fight Panorama
Paul Bauer gives us a panoramic videw of hte NYC pillowfight.
More here at newmindspace.
via [ Rocketboom ]
The First Kitty Vlog
MookiTV:
"My name is Mooki and I’m a brown marbled bengal kitten. I live in Minneapolis with 2 humans and 2 auntie kitties.Good boy!
I’m the first kitty in the whole wide world to have my own vlog."
Chuck Olsen, Moookie's daddy, says, "Forget eBay auctions - this is obviously the tipping point for videoblogs."
Monday, February 20, 2006
My Blog Is Not A Spam Blog!
A few posts ago I was complaining about haveing to enter Word Verification on every Blogger post.
It's so painful. Ugh.
I just made a post video Audioblog to this blog and got a warning that I had to visit this URL: http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?blogID=NNNNNNN (replace NNNNNNN with your BLOG ID )
When I got there, I saw this:
Thanks Audioblog for helping me figure out how to turn off Word Verification on Blogger posts. Your Automated error detection more helpful to me that Blogger's Automated suport.
It's so painful. Ugh.
I just made a post video Audioblog to this blog and got a warning that I had to visit this URL: http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?blogID=NNNNNNN (replace NNNNNNN with your BLOG ID )
When I got there, I saw this:
Your blog requires word verificationCool.
Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.
Before we can turn off mandatory word verification on your posts we'll need to have a human review your blog and verify that it is not a spam blog. Please fill out the form below to get a review.
Thanks Audioblog for helping me figure out how to turn off Word Verification on Blogger posts. Your Automated error detection more helpful to me that Blogger's Automated suport.
Lazy Sunday Coffee With Carl
The Boston Media Makers met on Sunday Feb 19th from 10-12 AM at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain.
Brittany and Carl wanted to meet for coffee so we had what I like to call a lazy Sunday morning having Coffee with Carl and other Boston Media Makers.
NEXT BIG MEETING
Our next BIG meeting is March 5th at 10:00 AM.
We also might get together on Feb 26th if people are interested.
Visit the Boston Media Makers Forum to contribute your ideas for our future meetings.
MEETING NOTES
We had a nice group that was able to sit around a few tables and talk media making. Joining Brittany, Carl and myself were Tim and Pat.
BRITTANY
Brittany showed us her new Canon SD400 which she got on ebay for $250. It has a 2GB memory card that she got on Amazon.com for $75. Brittany is thrilled with the ease of use of the camera. She shoots in 640x480 at 30 frames per second which allows her to drop her files into Final Cut Pro, render, and edit easily.
Brittany has a really great idea for a new videoblog based on her roommate. I won't give it away here, but can't wait to see it. She's also going undercover on a secret video assignment. We'll hear more next month.
We talked a lot about web video, including video sharing sites, and NBC's recent decision to ask YouTube to remove Lazy Sunday.
Here we are watching Lazy Sunday on Google Video.
PAT
Pat showed us his new video Sprout Rap. He hosts both his videos and blog on blip.tv.
CARL
Carl told us about his new project, Worcester Diaries and entertained us all, especially me, with his dry sense of humor. Yay Carl!
TIM
Tim told us about a documentary he's making on credit, and how he tried to get an interview with the Save Karyn girl, who now has a book that's been translated in to a number of languages.
STEVE
I told a much to long story about how I got into videoblogging, but people seemed to enjoy hearing it, especially Carl who recorded some of it.
At one point we all professed our love for Amy and decided that what we were actually doing was having the first meeting of the Amy Carpenter Fan Club.
NEXT BIG MEETING
Our next BIG meeting is March 5th at 10:00 AM.
We also might get together on Feb 26th if people are interested.
Visit the Boston Media Makers Forum to contribute your ideas for our future meetings.
Brittany and Carl wanted to meet for coffee so we had what I like to call a lazy Sunday morning having Coffee with Carl and other Boston Media Makers.NEXT BIG MEETING
Our next BIG meeting is March 5th at 10:00 AM.
We also might get together on Feb 26th if people are interested.
Visit the Boston Media Makers Forum to contribute your ideas for our future meetings.
MEETING NOTES
We had a nice group that was able to sit around a few tables and talk media making. Joining Brittany, Carl and myself were Tim and Pat.
BRITTANY
Brittany showed us her new Canon SD400 which she got on ebay for $250. It has a 2GB memory card that she got on Amazon.com for $75. Brittany is thrilled with the ease of use of the camera. She shoots in 640x480 at 30 frames per second which allows her to drop her files into Final Cut Pro, render, and edit easily.
Brittany has a really great idea for a new videoblog based on her roommate. I won't give it away here, but can't wait to see it. She's also going undercover on a secret video assignment. We'll hear more next month.
We talked a lot about web video, including video sharing sites, and NBC's recent decision to ask YouTube to remove Lazy Sunday.
Here we are watching Lazy Sunday on Google Video.
PAT
Pat showed us his new video Sprout Rap. He hosts both his videos and blog on blip.tv.
CARL
Carl told us about his new project, Worcester Diaries and entertained us all, especially me, with his dry sense of humor. Yay Carl!
TIM
Tim told us about a documentary he's making on credit, and how he tried to get an interview with the Save Karyn girl, who now has a book that's been translated in to a number of languages.
STEVE
I told a much to long story about how I got into videoblogging, but people seemed to enjoy hearing it, especially Carl who recorded some of it.At one point we all professed our love for Amy and decided that what we were actually doing was having the first meeting of the Amy Carpenter Fan Club.
NEXT BIG MEETING
Our next BIG meeting is March 5th at 10:00 AM.
We also might get together on Feb 26th if people are interested.
Visit the Boston Media Makers Forum to contribute your ideas for our future meetings.
Slot machine Monopoly for Racetrack Owners?
Scott Helman writes in today's Boston Globe, Slot machine backers eye a Mass. win:
I'm sure there are a lot of companies that would pay a lot of money to acquire a slot machine monopoly in Massachusetts.
Send a letter to every casino operator in Las Vegas and allow them to make bids on a casino licence for the Hynes Convention Center, or the old Filenes.
If we're going to let gambling into Massachusetts, let's do it right, and in an open method and not just hand everything over to racetrack owners.
"A fervent lobbying campaign by area mayors, supportive lawmakers, and racetrack owners hungry for millions of dollars in new money is fueling an especially strong push to bring thousands of slot machines to Massachusetts, giving the legislation perhaps its best shot to date of winning passage on Beacon Hill."Why are we basically handing over a slot machine monopoly to racetrack owners?
I'm sure there are a lot of companies that would pay a lot of money to acquire a slot machine monopoly in Massachusetts.Send a letter to every casino operator in Las Vegas and allow them to make bids on a casino licence for the Hynes Convention Center, or the old Filenes.
If we're going to let gambling into Massachusetts, let's do it right, and in an open method and not just hand everything over to racetrack owners.
Lazy Sunday Take Down
unmediated: NBC sends YouTube Take-Down Notice for SNL Lazy Sunday.
Joshua Kinberg writes a good summary of what's been going on recently with the distribution of the Lazy Sunday video.
Joshua Kinberg writes a good summary of what's been going on recently with the distribution of the Lazy Sunday video.
Inspiration is the greatest teacher
TEACHnow:
"TEACH chronicles the determination and commitment of four young teachers as they fight the real fight: educating our children."I just watched this. It's worth taking the time to watch it.
via [ JD ]
Gadgetiers and kool kids
Lost Remote: 'The end of TV as we know it':
"IBM is heading in the right direction with its new study, 'The end of TV as we know it: A future industry perspective.' IBM breaks down media consumers into 'massive passives' who still enjoy the lean-back experience and active users who want anytime, anywhere content ('gadgetiers' and 'kool kids.')"
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Staples Drop Ships Ink To Your Printer
Staples.com InkDrop:
"When your ink cartridge runs out, drop a new one in your printer and mail us the empty one using a prepaid InkDrop envelope or mailing label. We'll send you a replacement before you run out."My friend Marc just told me about this new program from Staples.
I was out of HP 56 Black Ink for a week before picking up a three pack at BJ's today.
InkDrop would have solved my running out of ink problem. I like it.
Digg for Stocks
StockDigg:
"StockDigg is a financial website that provides investors access to major financial news as well as user-submitted stories (e.g. stock picks and analysis) and individual stock rankings by investors."It's like Digg for stocks.
via [ Mashable.com/weblist ]
Mac Won't Play MySpace Music Videos
Myspace Videos won't play on a Mac:
Sorry, we currently only support Internet Explorer browsers with Windows Media Player 9+I installed Flip4Mac, but the MySpace video player doesn't seem to know that.
Does it work if you don't have Flip4Mac installed?
ccevgse
Exploding the Blog format
Jeff Jarvis syas that it's time to blow up blogs. Squible and DotClear are showing the way.
Daniel Gross of Slate says that it's the Twilight of the Blogs and Dave Winer responds, "To say blogging is dead is as ridiculous as saying email or IM or the telephone are dead". Scoble says, "I’ve been blogging for more than five years now and the “blogging is a fad” meme is one that consistently is reborn every five months."
HOW TO PRESENT ARCHIVED MATERIAL
I've been thinking about the blog format lately and wondering how to get a handle on both presentation of new content and archived material. Blogs are bad at presenting archives. You've got to drill down to much to find hte good stuff. They're also not so great at displaying video content.
Look at what Four Eyed Monters is doing to display their last six video podcasts. I like that and have played with something similar, Broadcast Machine.
JOINING A LARGER COMMUNITY
I've been spending some time over on MySpace recently. I like the community over there. I have 45 friends. [ Warning: Click that link and music plays! ] I normally wouldn't play music when a page loads, it's so 1980. But on MySpace it's kinda fun.
Demitri Martin has 18,541 friends. A few days ago he only had 9,000. That was until his video from The Daily Show went up on Google Video.
Community sites that get your content a bigger audience are interesting. I could just post my content over here on this little blog, or I could also share it else where and gain a larger audience. I like having it live in one place, but also want it to gain a larger audience. Directories help, but are so large that your content can get lost there too.
HUMAN FILTERS
Human filtered, selective directories like TopTenSources are one way of narrowing down the wealth of content in directories. Look what they put together for Boston. Here they choose ten bloggers and consolidate their content via RSS.
My favorite human filter is Adam Gaffin. He picks the best of Boston blog posts over at Universal Hub. I know Adam. I enjoy the posts he picks. I read him daily.
Daniel Gross of Slate says that it's the Twilight of the Blogs and Dave Winer responds, "To say blogging is dead is as ridiculous as saying email or IM or the telephone are dead". Scoble says, "I’ve been blogging for more than five years now and the “blogging is a fad” meme is one that consistently is reborn every five months."
HOW TO PRESENT ARCHIVED MATERIAL
I've been thinking about the blog format lately and wondering how to get a handle on both presentation of new content and archived material. Blogs are bad at presenting archives. You've got to drill down to much to find hte good stuff. They're also not so great at displaying video content.
Look at what Four Eyed Monters is doing to display their last six video podcasts. I like that and have played with something similar, Broadcast Machine.
JOINING A LARGER COMMUNITY
I've been spending some time over on MySpace recently. I like the community over there. I have 45 friends. [ Warning: Click that link and music plays! ] I normally wouldn't play music when a page loads, it's so 1980. But on MySpace it's kinda fun.
Demitri Martin has 18,541 friends. A few days ago he only had 9,000. That was until his video from The Daily Show went up on Google Video.
Community sites that get your content a bigger audience are interesting. I could just post my content over here on this little blog, or I could also share it else where and gain a larger audience. I like having it live in one place, but also want it to gain a larger audience. Directories help, but are so large that your content can get lost there too.
HUMAN FILTERS
Human filtered, selective directories like TopTenSources are one way of narrowing down the wealth of content in directories. Look what they put together for Boston. Here they choose ten bloggers and consolidate their content via RSS.
My favorite human filter is Adam Gaffin. He picks the best of Boston blog posts over at Universal Hub. I know Adam. I enjoy the posts he picks. I read him daily.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Coffee with Carl
Boston Media Makers: Sunday Feb 19th 10-12.
I just got in from having a nice dinner with friends to find an email from Carl asking if there was going to be a meeting tomorrow morning at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain.
It seems that a few people have been emailing Carl for the details...
As far as I can see, Brittany and Carl posted a few messages about interviewing techniques under the thread for Sunday Feb 19th 10-12. And although no formal plans were made for tomorrow it sounds like there is the requisite number of people (2) who want to meet for coffee.
So I'll make it three and post this over on the forum.
Boston Media Makers: Sunday Feb 19th 10-12
Sweet Finnish
Coffee with Carl
I just got in from having a nice dinner with friends to find an email from Carl asking if there was going to be a meeting tomorrow morning at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain.
It seems that a few people have been emailing Carl for the details...
As far as I can see, Brittany and Carl posted a few messages about interviewing techniques under the thread for Sunday Feb 19th 10-12. And although no formal plans were made for tomorrow it sounds like there is the requisite number of people (2) who want to meet for coffee.
So I'll make it three and post this over on the forum.
Boston Media Makers: Sunday Feb 19th 10-12
Sweet Finnish
Coffee with Carl
TurboTax - Error 11002:2,-14
When trying to update TurboTax 2005, I got TurboTax - Error 11002:2,-14 'An error prevented the update from completing'.
You've got to re-install the program to get around the error.
Plus, if you've had trouble updating to new forms, you might as well delete the following files too:
Library/Application Support/TurboTax/2005/FormAvailability.xml
Library/Preferences/TurboTax 2005 Preferences/TurboTax 2005 Preferences
Some guy on the TurboTax message boards suggested it.
You've got to re-install the program to get around the error.
Plus, if you've had trouble updating to new forms, you might as well delete the following files too:
Library/Application Support/TurboTax/2005/FormAvailability.xml
Library/Preferences/TurboTax 2005 Preferences/TurboTax 2005 Preferences
Some guy on the TurboTax message boards suggested it.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Marijuana Fights Cancer?
Cannabinoids As Cancer Hope: "
“Cannabinoids possess … anticancer activity [and may] possibly represent a new class of anti-cancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells.' So concludes a comprehensive review published in the October 2005 issue of the scientific journal Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry."
Bloggers Helping Bloggers
Google Groups : Blogger Help Group:
"Welcome to the Blogger Help group! In this com?munity, you may search or browse for answers, ask questions and assist others with their Blogger blogs. To get the most from this group, please read our welcome message, posted in the How Do I? section. Note: only posts from 'Blogger Employee' are approved by Google."Blogger now has a help group on Google Groups.
Links for 2006-02-17
- Saw that BlogCode thiks this blog is like my blog. Happy to go visit again after a long absence.
- Just signed up. Adding code to my side bar soon.
- Tim worked on Blog Code.
American Idol Contestants Not Talented
Simon says top 24 were selected for personality, not talent:
"Simon Cowell admits that the judges and producers selected people who will make good TV rather than make good records. “When we made the decisions about who was going through, we tried to mix it up as much as possible so that there would be people who the audience would genuinely be interested in,” he said."What do we learn from this statement?
1. Not only Judges, but Producers also decide who goes through to the next round.
2. Contestants are picked based on who makes the best TV.
3. Reality TV is not real.
Turn Off Blogger Word Verification
Blogger just started asking me to WORD VERIFY my posts.
This is so frustrating.
I'm already logged in to Blogger.
This happened before and when I told them about it they shut it off for me. I emailed them but haven't heard back.
What makes it worse, is that after you enter the word verification string, if you just press ENTER on your keyboard, your post is saved as a DRAFT.
The default save state should be PUBLISH POST.
skgehubk
[PUBLISH POST]
Logan Signs: The Bad, The Good
Sadly, I had to go over to Logan International Airport again this morning.
I made a concerted effort to take another look at the signs to Terminal A to figure out why they are so confusing.
I figured it out and have outlined the problems right here in the following diagrams to help future sign planners get it right the next time.
THE BAD
As you can see in this diagram, the arrows lead you to believe that the FIRST right hand lane goes to Terminal A and the SECOND lane goes to Terminal B.
WRONG.
The FIRST and SECOND lanes take you to Terminal A. It's the THIRD lane that takes you to Terminal B.
[ Note: If you make a mistake there is an outlet from A to B ]
THE GOOD
This diagram, which I spent some time designing, shows you what my proposed new sign would look like.
Notice that for TERMINAL A is has TWO ARROWS designating that both LANES ONE and TWO take you to TERMINAL A, and that LANE THREE takes you to TERMINAL B.
Thank you for your support.
I made a concerted effort to take another look at the signs to Terminal A to figure out why they are so confusing.
I figured it out and have outlined the problems right here in the following diagrams to help future sign planners get it right the next time.
THE BAD
As you can see in this diagram, the arrows lead you to believe that the FIRST right hand lane goes to Terminal A and the SECOND lane goes to Terminal B.
WRONG.
The FIRST and SECOND lanes take you to Terminal A. It's the THIRD lane that takes you to Terminal B.
[ Note: If you make a mistake there is an outlet from A to B ]
THE GOOD
This diagram, which I spent some time designing, shows you what my proposed new sign would look like.
Notice that for TERMINAL A is has TWO ARROWS designating that both LANES ONE and TWO take you to TERMINAL A, and that LANE THREE takes you to TERMINAL B.
Thank you for your support.
Demetri Martin has 9,000 Friends
Myspace on The Daily Show - Google Video:
"The Daily Show segment of Trendspotting with Demetri Martin on The Daily Show on social networking sites, particularly Myspace. February 15th, 2006."Now he has 9,001 friends. ;-)
Demitri Martin Official Site.
Demitri Martin on MySpace.
Steve Garfield on MySpace.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
TurboTax Form Updates
TurboTax Support - Federal Personal Forms 2005 Availability Dates.
Me: Get Final FormsEverything will be better tomorrow.
TurboTax: There are no new updates at this time. Your TurboTax is up to date with the latest tax forms.
Me: OK
Me: Back
Me: Continue without updating
TurboTax: Your return contains forms that were not finalized when TurboTax was shipped.
Select Check Forms Availability and we'll see if the final version is ready for you to download.
You cannot file your return until all of your forms are final.
Me: Check Forms Availability
TurboTax: Your Final Forms are ready.
Select Get Final Forms to download them.
Me: I am in a maze of twisty little passages that all look alike.
Get beer.
Freedom Pastries
Newsvine - Iran Renames Danish Pastries.
Iranians love Danish pastries, but when they look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad."
Free the bandwidth: Step outside peanut
Eric Rice :: Saying buh-bye to podcast bandwidth: Audioblog.com offers unmetered bandwidth:
"In the big dance hall of podcasting, there's an elephant. And its name is bandwidth. And he causes problems. Especially if everyone wants to dance with it.
It's time to ask that pachyderm to step outside. ;-) "
RSS Autodiscovery
How to add RSS Autodiscovery to your site:
Wordpress, Blogger and TypePad are setup by default to autodiscover their inbuilt feeds.
So if you use a Feedburner feed, you've got to change your code, as noted above, to point to the Feedburner feed instead of the blog's fdefault feed.
REDIRECTING YOUR RSS FEED
Once you do that, you should also redirect those that have already subscribed to the inbuilt feed to switch over to Feedburner
I figured out how to do it for WordPress by adding some code to my .htaccess file. They are talking about redirecting your Feedburner feed over on the Feedburner forum.
There also a Wordpress Feedburner Plugin for this.
I don't even know yet if I can add the redirect on hosted sites like TypePad or Blogger.
"When you enable autodiscovery for your rss feed it allows browsers and aggregators to automatically detect the RSS feed when your browsing, and it makes it easy for the user to subscribe to it."I just bumped into the feed autodiscovery issue yesterday.
Wordpress, Blogger and TypePad are setup by default to autodiscover their inbuilt feeds.
So if you use a Feedburner feed, you've got to change your code, as noted above, to point to the Feedburner feed instead of the blog's fdefault feed.
REDIRECTING YOUR RSS FEED
Once you do that, you should also redirect those that have already subscribed to the inbuilt feed to switch over to Feedburner
I figured out how to do it for WordPress by adding some code to my .htaccess file. They are talking about redirecting your Feedburner feed over on the Feedburner forum.
There also a Wordpress Feedburner Plugin for this.
I don't even know yet if I can add the redirect on hosted sites like TypePad or Blogger.
The Prettiest Idols
Becky O'Donohue and Ace Young are the prettiest American Idol Contestants.
I even have an official American Idol Blog that says so!
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