Friday, June 30, 2006
Going to UMass
I'm heading out to University of Massachusetts Amherst to attend the Media Giraffe Project Conference.
Crisp Catch, Davis Grab.
Globe Photo Jim Davis
Boston Red Sox - Crisp knocks wind out of Mets - The Boston Globe.
Coco Crisp catches ball, Jim Davis grabs photo!
Great catch Coco. Nice grab Jim.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Adding Macy's as a Payee: Bank of America
I can't figure out how to add Macy's as a payee for Bank of America Online Banking.
I emailed them and their response is worthless.
My email:
Part of the problem is that my Macy's bill has two account #'s on it, one has an extra check digit. I tried both, neither are accepted by Bank of America.
Why did Macy's have to buy Filene's? Why?
I emailed them and their response is worthless.
My email:
I am trying to add Macy's on automatic Bill Pay, but itTheir reply:
won't accept my account # format.
Can you tell me what format you are looking for?
How many numbers in the account number? Do you require dashes. Do I need to enter the checksum #?
Thanks,
--Steve
Thank you for your inquiry dated 6/27/06 regarding Other Online Banking Features. We are committed to providing you with the best banking experience possible.Has anyone succesfully added Macy's as a payee on Bank of America's bill pay system?
To add a payee using Online Banking with Bill Payment, please perform
the following:
1. Click on Bill Pay & e-Bills
2. Click Add a Payee
3. Enter the company or individual name
4. Click Go and enter payee information
5. Click Continue
6. Once added, the payee will appear in your Payee List. Please be sure to type your payee account number as it appears on the bills you currently receive for efficient processing.
If we may be of further assistance, please contact us again by e-mail or call 1.800.933.6262 to speak with an Online Banking Associate. Thank you for choosing Bank of America.
Sincerely,
Cynthia A. Mills
Bank of America
Part of the problem is that my Macy's bill has two account #'s on it, one has an extra check digit. I tried both, neither are accepted by Bank of America.
Why did Macy's have to buy Filene's? Why?
Managers are responsible for problems
VOA Special English - EXPLORATIONS - July 17, 2002: W. Edward Deming:
"... an American who was better known in Japan than in the United States. W. Edwards Deming was responsible for shaping the industrial rebirth of Japan following World War Two."via [ Milt ]
A consorgency of collaboragents
Citizen Agency:
"What is Citizen Agency?
We are a group of consultants, loosely joined across the globe who, together as independent citizens, make up the most powerful agency of all time.
Individuals, working together, can move history."
Build your own camera crane
Jay Dedman's new Videoblogging book is out, and on the cover it says, "Build your own camera crane."
I wrote that!
Yay!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
FOX25 reports on 'early adapters'
FOX25 had a report tonight on 'early adapters' of new technology.
Adopters people.
It's early adopters.
Check Google:
Early adapters 77,600 results
Early adopters 7,550,000 results
See wikipedia: diffusion
Adopters people.
It's early adopters.
Check Google:
Early adapters 77,600 results
Early adopters 7,550,000 results
See wikipedia: diffusion
The Jason Scott Interview
ASCII by Jason Scott: Interview by Leahpeah:
Leahpeah: "What do you want to tell other bloggers, if anything?Oops. ;-)
Jason Scott: If you’re not generating original content and just regurgitating other links, then machines are going to replace you."
HDR-HC3 vs HVR-A1U
I'm researching the market for HD video cameras and had thought that the Sony HDR-HC3 was the one to get, until I discovered that it has limited audio inputs.
Camcorder.info reviews the Sony HC1 Audio options:
Camcorder.info reviews the Sony HC1 Audio options:
Audio is very limited with the Sony HDR-HC3, as there is no micophone input jack. This is the biggest downgrade, in our opinion, from the HC1, and narrowly limits the consumer base. The HC3 instead features an "Active Interface" Sony proprietary hot-shoe that only accepts a handful of Sony brand microphones, which can only be purchased through Sony's online store. Furthemore, the only options available are a high-fidelity stereo microphone for $99.99 and a shotgun mic for $69.99. If there was a mic-in port that accepted XLR or mini-stereo, users would have a world of audio recording options available to them. As it stands these two microphones aren’t going to satisfy the true audiophile, and it's disappointing that, at $1500, Sony won't allow users to make their own, informed purchases.David Tames explains why the HVR-A1U might be better than the HC3:
In addition, it won’t be possible to use video lights or flash accessories if shooting with an external mic, since all three accessory options connect to this one singular shoe.
This is reason enough to go with the HVR-A1U, the best of both worlds, I got it cause it's a consumer camcorder with built-in mic when you need it to be, or put on the accessory shoe and you have a standard hot shoe for a light and two XLR connectors for audio gear, and it comes with a little shotgun that's OK for the most part, but any serious user will upgrade to a better mic.I'm also looking forward to see what Canon is going to do with the GL/2.
The Park Bench is Back
The Park Bench is Back by stevegarfield, uploaded from flickr.
Parks Department employees Frank & Fran installing Matthew Hincman's Jamaica Pond Bench.
Matthew says thank you to Sarah Hutt, the Boston Art Commission, & Bernie Lynch, Director of Maintenance of Boston City Parks.
Photo Credit: Matthew Hincman
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Movies and TV shows are NOT user-generated
Warner Bros. To Offer Content Online via Guba - Preview
Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. has made a deal to distribute movies and TV shows online via Guba LLC's search engine and video-sharing community, Guba.com, in one of the first moves by a major studio to embrace user-generated content.This sentence makes no sense.
The Active Audience
PressThink: The People Formerly Known as the Audience:
"The people formerly known as the audience are simply the public made realer, less fictional, more able, less predictable. You should welcome that, media people. But whether you do or not we want you to know we’re here."via [ Joho ]
Fauxtography
Long Awkward Pose - John.
This made me cry. In a good way.
You make like you are going to take a picture of someone, but you take a movie instead.
Here's another good one of Mikipeida.
Marketing to Avatars
AVATAR-BASED MARKETING: THE AVATAR-BASED PANEL (PART ONE OF FIVE).
Gotta go buy some new clothes at American Apparel on Lerappa Island.
Time passes...
I bought a hoodie.
You've got to click on the image of the clothing, instead of the clothing, to buy it. Also, you can see the price after to click buy.
I unzipped it but, once you do that the zipper disappears. So I left it zipped up a little.
Brooke Brodack is Famous
The self-made star - The Boston Globe:
"A camcorder, a computer, and a goofy streak were all she needed to launch a career in show biz"See, Brookers is now famous thanks to YouTube.
One thing not mentioned in the article was the YouTube license agreement that they make you agree to where they can make money off your videos in any way they want to.
Other video sites don't do that.
To make up for the Boston Globe not putting a link in it's article to her page on YouTube, here you go:
Brookers YouTube Page.
And here's a clickable link to her fan site:
Brooker Fanatics.
When will the Boston Globe start realizing that they have to spend some time putting active links to websites from stories that are mainly about websites?
Monday, June 26, 2006
The Moan and Dove
I plan on being at The Moan and Dove on Wednesday and Thursday night in Amherst and The Dirty Truth on Friday night in Northampton.
Let me know if you want to meet up for a beer.
I'll also be at the Media Giraffe Summit at UMass. ;-)
Sessions I'm in:
Is the Medium still the Message?
Citizen Media Filmmaking Workshop & Festival.
TURN OFF CAPS LOCK: MAC OS X
Here's how to turn off the CAPS LOCK key on Mac OS X:
CLICK THE
apple menu
SELECT
system preferences
CLICK
keyboard and mouse
CLICK
modifier keys
SET
caps lock to NO ACTION
CLICK
OK
CLICK THE RED CLOSE BUTTON
Update from Mom:
This only works on the new Mac OS X.
CLICK THE
apple menu
SELECT
system preferences
CLICK
keyboard and mouse
CLICK
modifier keys
SET
caps lock to NO ACTION
CLICK
OK
CLICK THE RED CLOSE BUTTON
Update from Mom:
This only works on the new Mac OS X.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
PopCurrent.com
PopCurrent.com - Where you are the critic.
PopCurrent is a new, democratic way for the people to decide what media becomes popular. The rank of a particular media link rises and falls on the front page depending on how may people vote for it -- or against it.Ray Slakinski (creator of the the first podcasting client with a user interface, iPodderX (now Transistr) was one of the architects of PopCurrent.
Nice interface and it's easy to add videos. It'd be even easier if it had a way to automatically add new videos from your RSS feed, but that might defeat the purpose of having people highlight only those videos that they feel are worthy of being promoted.
It'll be interesting to compare this implementation to digg tomorrow.
Pepsi Girl Sponsored by zefrank!
This Pepsi Girl video spoof of the Pepsi Mentos video is very funny.
What's even funnier is that there is a zefrank ad at the end of it!
iTunes Music Store: Write A review
Why was I just sent an invioce from the iTunes Music Store, for something called Pilot Write A Review?
Net Neutrality on Revver
I posted my Rocketboom Net Neutrality report on Revver to check it out.
The upload process is easy with a drag and drop interface. Posting is not immediate, as there is an approval process that the video has to go through first.
After your video is approved, you get an email announcing it's survival:
Congratulations! You've survived review and your video is now public.I tried to upload a 640x480 version but hte file size exceeded their limit of 100MB, so I uploaded a smaller 320x240 version.
You can watch your video here: http://revver.com/video/31998/16082
The problem with this is that their standard display size seems to be 640x480 and that distorts my original 320x240 upload by enlarging it.
Note: When I look at my vieo on the "My Video" page, it diplays at 320x240.
Next time I'll try a shorter 640x480 upload.
One disconcerting thing is that their display of my video on the "My Videos" page while logged in, displays my email address. I hate email addresses on websites. Upon further investigation, that email was only visible to me. I'll drop them an email telling them to note that.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Vacation Slideshow in Second Life
I had fun trying out the
Invite your friends over to watch slides from your vacation.
I'm going to have a slide show party soon.
podcamp Boston
podcamp Boston is in the planning stages.
Announcing PodCamp Boston to be held tentatively September 9th-10th at a venue somewhere near Boston (and accessible by train). PodCamp Boston is a new media forum covering podcasting, videocasting (pick your version of the word), new media, and will feature a great variety interesting session offerings for those interested in learning about podcasting, as well as those already hacking away at a podcast (or 3 or 4).Get involved.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Make it better - Freedbacking
Freedbacking ~ Chris Pirillo:
"in my effort to make this world a little better - fostering open feedback between users and developers, I’m creating a new tag that doesn’t exist in Google (which means it doesn’t yet exist): Freedbacking. Tag it, use it, share it. I’ll post a unified feed for the keyword as soon as our OPML-to-RSS script is ready, but don’t let that stop anybody from posting to their own space (read: blog) using the word “Freedbacking” somewhere within a post. You’re giving free feedback to the developers of your favorite programs, or the creators of your favorite Web service, or anybody who’s making something that you use (or want to use, or need to use). Become a freedbacker - say something! Tell them they’re not doing something right - tell them how they could make their product even better - tell them what you want! Users own the word: Freedbacking, labeling the art of offering free (constructive) feedback."
The Neverending Story
Terry Heaton's BloggerCon notes:
"I think we're in a period of great transition in our culture and that journalism is one of the core components.
Tom Maddox of Opinity noted that calling this 'open-source journalism' is a bit like calling cars 'horseless carriages.' This is a new thing and very different from advertiser-supported journalism. It's like massive parallel processing. It needs a new name, and I think it would help get us away from the fruitless bickering between mainstream media and us.'
I think this is right on the money, because what this session was attempting to define or quantify is largely unidentifiable or unquantifiable, at least in modern terms. This session was really about defining postmodern news, and that's extremely difficult when you use terms like 'story,' as in 'how do we all collaborate on a story?' I'm one of those people who thinks we need new terms and new structures that are both open and flexible.
It was either Doc or Dave who used the term 'river' to describe it, always open, always flowing. That's postmodern 'news.'"
Boston Soccer Fan Lost in Germany
Fan forgets hotel location in six-hour ordeal:
"German police rescued an American soccer fan lost in Hanover and unable to find his hotel again after helplessly wandering around the city for more than six hours after a match, federal police said Friday."
Brookers signs with MTV
Now she has their attention - Los Angeles Times:
"Carson Daly Productions signed (Brooke) Brodack to an 18-month overall programming development deal, splashed across the pages of Variety last week. Other terms weren't disclosed, but it's believed to be the first time a recognized Hollywood firm has established formal ties with one of the homegrown (and mostly young) talents on YouTube."Congratulations!
Google Video with Ads
Google Is Testing Ads for Video Service - New York Times:
"In Google's test, videos from a small number of providers who had initially charged fees for downloads will be offered free with advertising. These include Mr. Magoo cartoons and episodes of 'The Charlie Rose Show.'Let's watch this experiment.
The advertising takes the form of a banner that appears above the video, with a graphic image and a link to the advertisers' site. At the end of the video, a 15- to 30-second commercial for the advertiser is played. The test involves advertisers including Netflix and Pepsi.
After the test, Google said it intends to run auctions where advertisers must place a bid to have their ads displayed on each video. The advertising revenue will be split with the video owner, Google said."
Delta Air Lines: No Status
I just spent two hours at Logan Airport because Delta Air Lines online flight status system didn't tell me that Carol's flight was delayed.
So where it says On Time 6:15 AM arrival, it should have said Delayed, 8:21 AM arrival!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
I'm watching Nobody’s Watching
Everybody’s watching Nobody’s Watching:
"I’m curious to know if the 'failed pilot' (Nobody’s Watching) is, in fact, a WB experiment to generate viewers from YouTube’s huge audience base before the show kicks off next season. I have a strong feeling that it is. Bringing a show about YouTubers to YouTube is an ingenious move on the part of the network."I watched the first 9:12 segment and thought it was very funny.
Scripted comedy by the writers of Scrubs and Family Guy in video on a blog.
134,592 views for part one as of this posting.
I think what they are doing is working.
Direct link to part one of Nobody's Watching, on YouTube.
MagSafe Beach Sand Attractor
MagSafe Beach Sand Attractor by stevegarfield, uploaded from flickr.
After a recent trip to Maui, my Macintosh MagSafe Power Adapter wasn't fitting correctly. After examining the connection, I saw that the MagSafe Power Adapter attracts sand.
How to clean the Mag Safe Power Adapter
Live blogging on NECN tonight at 6:30
Just saw that Maura Welch is going to be on NECN tonight at 6:30 with my two friends, Blogging Live on NECN:
"I'll be doing a roundtable about blogging live on NECN (that would be TV)... at 6:30pm along with Ravi Jain and Adam Weiss."My mom tells me that she was interviewed by Maura yesterday and will be featured in a story about BlogHer in the Globe on June 10th.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Alexa Kitchen, age 7, on Rocketboom today
America's Youngest Professional Comic Book Artist Alexa S. Kitchen is featured on Rocketboom today. Great report.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Jason Crow
Project Documentary 7 by Shaun Clarke, uploaded from flickr.
Working with his CCTV class on Project Documentary.
Boston Comedy Blog
BostonHerald.com - BLOGS: Jokers Wild:
Which Boston newspaper gets it?
The Herald.
"Sean L. McCarthy, who covers pop culture and comedy for the Boston Herald, brings the laughs online with exclusive interviews, clips, reviews and recommendations.A new blog on Boston area comedy, on the Boston Herald website, done in wordPress, with comments.
"
Which Boston newspaper gets it?
The Herald.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Thermal Vegas
Thermal Vegas by stevegarfield, uploaded from flickr.
This photo was taken out the window of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas with the thermal setting using Photo Booth and a MacBook Pro.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Park Bench Update
Here's an update on Matthew Hincman's Jamaica Pond Park Bech: Big RED and Shiny: Issue #44.
Vloggers Online
links for 2006-06-18
- Jason Feifer talks about the popularity of YouTube and Brookers!
NY Times: Ze Frank
And You're So Funny? Write My Script - New York Times:
Aloha!
"Since mid-March, Mr. Frank has also been producing daily video shorts for his site, starring himself. The shorts typically feature a bug-eyed Mr. Frank talking directly into the camera about subjects like MySpace, government wiretapping and Iraq. He also indulges in the occasional stunt, like pouring chocolate milk all over himself."I lost my NY Times blogging link maker that lets bloggers link to NY Times articles without requiring registration. Can someone leave the link for that page in the comments?
Aloha!
Lemmings and Debt
The Blog | Stephen Kaus: Lemmings | The Huffington Post.
From the comments:
From the comments:
"A $4,000,000,000,000 (4 trillion) dollar SURPLUS has been turned into a $9,000,000,000,000 (9 trillion) dollar DEFICIT."U.S. National Debt Clock.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
New Media Consortium Campus
NMC Campus Observer - Our Movie “NMC Campus: Seriously Engaging”
Electric Sheep Company opened with a newly produced fine minute video NMC Campus: Seriously Engaging. This piece nicely provides an overview of Second Life, how people are building a new way of real work and interaction there, and concluding with an overview of the NMC Campus.
Boston Media Makers: Coffee with Carvin
There will be a "Coffee with Carvin" on Sunday 6/18 from 10- 12 at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain, as inspired by "Coffee with Carl."
Andy Carvin would love to have people come by to talk about their vloggercon experiences - or their lack thereof if they didn't go - and he'll be gushing with baby videos for those who can tolerate them... :-)
http://bostonmediamakers.wordpress.com
Andy Carvin would love to have people come by to talk about their vloggercon experiences - or their lack thereof if they didn't go - and he'll be gushing with baby videos for those who can tolerate them... :-)
http://bostonmediamakers.wordpress.com
Black Rock Beach
Black Rock Beach by stevegarfield, uploaded from flickr.
Just want to post this vacation photo up here so I'll always have a pointer to one of the best vacation days ever.
You know when you have a day where everything goes right? This was the day.
We had an amazing time, starting with French Toast at breakfast, renting snorkle equipment at Maui Dive Shop, and then some amazing and fun snorkling at Black Rock beach.
The weather was perfect, then we took a really long walk down Ka'anapali beach.
Then to the pool for a nice cold Sam Adams and Naked Conversations. ;-)
Dinner at Son'z at Swan Court featuring a nice bottle of Cliff Lede Claret that we can't get at home.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Snorkling at Black Rock
Snorkling at Black Rock by stevegarfield, uploaded from flickr.
Right in front of the Sheraton on Ka'anapali Beach in Maui there's great snorkling at Black Rock.
Why I Still Hate United Airlines
After a nightmare of an experience earlier this year, I swore never to take United again.
Unfortunately I had to take another airline trip via United Airlines.
This time I decided to combine business with pleasure and after attending Vloggercon in San Francisco take a trip to Maui.
After examining the the many complex itinerary choices online for a trip from San Francisco to Maui and back to Las Vegas, I determined that a package deal including air, hotel and rental car would make the most sense.
I was going to stay at the Hyatt in Maui, so I went online to book the trip, though Hyatt Vacations I figured out the rate and then called the 800 # to make sure everything I'd planned seemed logical.
The problem with dealing with a package like this, and having to used a vacation packager like Hyatt vacations, is that they are limited by their computer system as to what they can do online.
I asked the operator if I should just go ahead and book online myself. No, they replied, you might save money if I do it for you.
Although, I usually prefer to do things myself online I went ahead and booked over the phone. It wasn't pleaasant.
Short story for this part of my experience is that due to computer issues or operator error, I had to repeat my address and credit card information three times. Then, I was assigned an online account username of stevegarfield7683034867, a username that I would never have chosen if doing it myself.
Next, I was told that they could only book me on a round trip from San Francisco and back. They were not able to book me to Las Vegas on my return flight. That, I was told, was going to have to be booked by me from San Francisco to Las Vegas.
Upon arrival at the airport I checked in, using the self serve terminal and was presented with an option to purchase more leg room for $48. Sold.
Charging a surcharge for an upgrade to United Plus seating at check in to get more legroom, which I feel should be standard anyway.
Duplicate Seats
Next up, Duplicate seats. When we arrived at out assigned seats, there was a young girl sitting in one of them. Hmm, one of our seats was double booked.
The problems with United continue. Happily, she had to move and Carol and I ended up sitting together.
XM Radio I was happy to see that XM radio was available on the flight. I was listening to the Top 20 station and then the music cut out. I asked the attendant if htere was a problem with the music system, and he informed me that I'd have to either jiggle my headset jack, or hold it in by hand. Those solutions didn't work, and then I noticed others around me complaining about the same thing.
Sad.
It's like when you go to a restaurant and they try to sit you directly under the airconditioner, and then when you complain, you get moved to a better table. Then when the next customer comes in, they sit them in the same place until someone is meek enough not to complain.
And I paid $48 extra for an upgrade to this seat!
Side note: When the TV's on JetBlue didn't work on one of their new planes one time, everyone on the flight automatically got a rebate towards theor next jet Blue flight. What did United offer me? Nothing.
So one hour and ten minutes into the flight that I swore I'd never take again, I'm listening to iTunes with 73% battery left.
Unfortunately I had to take another airline trip via United Airlines.
This time I decided to combine business with pleasure and after attending Vloggercon in San Francisco take a trip to Maui.
After examining the the many complex itinerary choices online for a trip from San Francisco to Maui and back to Las Vegas, I determined that a package deal including air, hotel and rental car would make the most sense.
I was going to stay at the Hyatt in Maui, so I went online to book the trip, though Hyatt Vacations I figured out the rate and then called the 800 # to make sure everything I'd planned seemed logical.
The problem with dealing with a package like this, and having to used a vacation packager like Hyatt vacations, is that they are limited by their computer system as to what they can do online.
I asked the operator if I should just go ahead and book online myself. No, they replied, you might save money if I do it for you.
Although, I usually prefer to do things myself online I went ahead and booked over the phone. It wasn't pleaasant.
Short story for this part of my experience is that due to computer issues or operator error, I had to repeat my address and credit card information three times. Then, I was assigned an online account username of stevegarfield7683034867, a username that I would never have chosen if doing it myself.
Next, I was told that they could only book me on a round trip from San Francisco and back. They were not able to book me to Las Vegas on my return flight. That, I was told, was going to have to be booked by me from San Francisco to Las Vegas.
Upon arrival at the airport I checked in, using the self serve terminal and was presented with an option to purchase more leg room for $48. Sold.
Charging a surcharge for an upgrade to United Plus seating at check in to get more legroom, which I feel should be standard anyway.
Duplicate Seats
Next up, Duplicate seats. When we arrived at out assigned seats, there was a young girl sitting in one of them. Hmm, one of our seats was double booked.
The problems with United continue. Happily, she had to move and Carol and I ended up sitting together.
XM Radio I was happy to see that XM radio was available on the flight. I was listening to the Top 20 station and then the music cut out. I asked the attendant if htere was a problem with the music system, and he informed me that I'd have to either jiggle my headset jack, or hold it in by hand. Those solutions didn't work, and then I noticed others around me complaining about the same thing.
Sad.
It's like when you go to a restaurant and they try to sit you directly under the airconditioner, and then when you complain, you get moved to a better table. Then when the next customer comes in, they sit them in the same place until someone is meek enough not to complain.
And I paid $48 extra for an upgrade to this seat!
Side note: When the TV's on JetBlue didn't work on one of their new planes one time, everyone on the flight automatically got a rebate towards theor next jet Blue flight. What did United offer me? Nothing.
So one hour and ten minutes into the flight that I swore I'd never take again, I'm listening to iTunes with 73% battery left.
Vloggercon Thoughts
One and a half years after the first vloggercon was held in NYC during a blizzard, the second vloggercon was held in San Francisco this past weekend. The first vloggercon was planned, named and held on a whim. Early vloggers just wanted to meet face to face. At hat time there were under 100 people putting video on blogs, and you could watch every single video from each person. The Yahoo! mailing list was manageable back then with a digestable number of messages.
Since we were all meeting in New York city, sessions were put together for attendees to share info on all the new developments in vlogging. This first vloggercon had a live video stream and IRC chat, and you can still go back and watch all the sessions online at:
http://vloggercon.blogspot.com.
The second vloggercon had a two day schedule and was filled with panels of speakers, buffered by 15 minute breaks between them.
The conference location was only available from 12:00 - 6:00, so that shortened the time we had to spend together and magnified the urgency of trying to keep everything on time.
I arrived the afternoon before, and met Casey McKinnon and Rudy at check-in. We went to lunch on Chinatown and got to know each. Fun.
After that, headed over to a Meet the Vloggers event at the SF Apple Store. This was a lot of fun, with the people who wanted to learn about vlogging a some vloggers on the theatre, with a huge gathering of vloggers talking and chatting behind the theatre. After that lots of people headed over to Schlomo's bar, House of Shields, and had a grand time. Lots of people hung out outside once the band started up, I went up stairs to get a closer look and take some pics. American Heatbreak rocks! I'm glad they agreed to fill in at the last minute and I wish I had gotten a chance to speak with them.
Bre Pettis joined me for breakfast at Sears and we had a good opportunity to catch up and talk about working together.
On day one I attended a number of sessions. At one of the sessions, Dave Winer, inventor of the un-conference bloggercon, sat down beside me. When Dave plans conferences he believes that there is as much or more intelligence sitting in the room as there is on stage and likes to have a discussion amongst all those in attendance. I like that too, and had hoped that we'd be able to bring that idea into this year's vloggercon.
For better or worse, we had 500 people attend.
So on day one the sessions followed the standard panel/speaker presentations with a Q&A session following. As Irena as for anymore questions from the audience, Dave said to me, "no questions!"
It's hard to change. Dave wanted to hear more from the audience.
I went to Bill Streeter's session on how to record live bands. This session was held in a smaller room and gave the audience a better chance of participating in a discussion. That might be the key to the next vloggercon. Smaller sessions.
At the end of day two I went to dinner with some Rocketboom crew that I don't usually get to see much. That dinner went on until 10:40 PM, so I didn't make it to the Click.TV party or to Schlomo's after party. I heard it was fun.
On day two I stayed outside and in the halls instead of going to the first session. I brought along my camera and took a lot of still photos and immediately posted them up on flickr. That was a lot of fun since it allowed me to meet a lot of vloggers that I didn't already know. The wiFi was amazing, having 4 T1 lines in the hall. Amazing job by MonkeyBrians,net, et al.
The second session was jammed packed, standing room only, so I stayed out in the hall for that one and again met a lot of people. Lots of people go to conferences and never even go into a session. They stay out in the hall. I'm thinking that this was a pretty good idea, especially since all the sessions were recorded and are going to be posted to the web by the hard work of Ryanne Hodson and others. Thanks!
The first session I attended was on oral history, and I enjoyed that very much and got a lot out of the speakers presentations, and jotted down some good links on oral history sites and guides to help interviewing techniques.
One other thing I heard in the halls was that people were leaving to go to lunch. With only afternoon sessions, that was too bad since they'd miss a lot. I ate a big breakfast each day so I didn't have to go to lunch.
The final session of vloggercon gathered everyone in the big hall with Michael Verdi and jenny Simmons leading a discussion on what next? Where do we want to see this all lead?
I thought it was a fantastic discussion. I'd would have liked to see more and also would have liked to have more of the people say who they were when they spoke. I found myself asking who was speaking on the IRC and for those who couldn't be identified, I went up to them after to find out who they were. That session proved Dave Winer's point that there was a lot of intelligence in the audience. Especially when if was apparent that Michael Meiser wanted to talk. Messier doesn't vlog and doesn't really have a picture on his blog, so were were all surprised to see what he looked like. When he approached the mic, there were chants of Meiser, Meiser. Next vloggercon I'd like to see him run a session, a discussion. As it was, he was leading discussions out on the sidewalk.
Good stuff.
At the end of day two, it was dinner with whole slew of people at a nearby restaurant with the Blip.tv people. They'd planned for a private back room, but the vloggers soon took over the whole restaurant.
Up next was and Irish Bar and/or Karaoke, but it was getting late and I had a flight to catch the next day, so I called it a night.
I'd proposed having a session like I run in Boston at the Boston Media Makers meetings, where people all share what they are doing, videos they like, present show and tells and give technical tips.
The format of the conference didn't support that, although I could have signed up for a small room to run that kind of session.
I'd like to see the next vloggercon run all day, include more of the un-conference style discussions, and include more sponsored cocktail parties where there's an opportunity for more mingling.
The revolution continues.
Since we were all meeting in New York city, sessions were put together for attendees to share info on all the new developments in vlogging. This first vloggercon had a live video stream and IRC chat, and you can still go back and watch all the sessions online at:
http://vloggercon.blogspot.com.
The second vloggercon had a two day schedule and was filled with panels of speakers, buffered by 15 minute breaks between them.
The conference location was only available from 12:00 - 6:00, so that shortened the time we had to spend together and magnified the urgency of trying to keep everything on time.
I arrived the afternoon before, and met Casey McKinnon and Rudy at check-in. We went to lunch on Chinatown and got to know each. Fun.
After that, headed over to a Meet the Vloggers event at the SF Apple Store. This was a lot of fun, with the people who wanted to learn about vlogging a some vloggers on the theatre, with a huge gathering of vloggers talking and chatting behind the theatre. After that lots of people headed over to Schlomo's bar, House of Shields, and had a grand time. Lots of people hung out outside once the band started up, I went up stairs to get a closer look and take some pics. American Heatbreak rocks! I'm glad they agreed to fill in at the last minute and I wish I had gotten a chance to speak with them.
Bre Pettis joined me for breakfast at Sears and we had a good opportunity to catch up and talk about working together.
On day one I attended a number of sessions. At one of the sessions, Dave Winer, inventor of the un-conference bloggercon, sat down beside me. When Dave plans conferences he believes that there is as much or more intelligence sitting in the room as there is on stage and likes to have a discussion amongst all those in attendance. I like that too, and had hoped that we'd be able to bring that idea into this year's vloggercon.
For better or worse, we had 500 people attend.
So on day one the sessions followed the standard panel/speaker presentations with a Q&A session following. As Irena as for anymore questions from the audience, Dave said to me, "no questions!"
It's hard to change. Dave wanted to hear more from the audience.
I went to Bill Streeter's session on how to record live bands. This session was held in a smaller room and gave the audience a better chance of participating in a discussion. That might be the key to the next vloggercon. Smaller sessions.
At the end of day two I went to dinner with some Rocketboom crew that I don't usually get to see much. That dinner went on until 10:40 PM, so I didn't make it to the Click.TV party or to Schlomo's after party. I heard it was fun.
On day two I stayed outside and in the halls instead of going to the first session. I brought along my camera and took a lot of still photos and immediately posted them up on flickr. That was a lot of fun since it allowed me to meet a lot of vloggers that I didn't already know. The wiFi was amazing, having 4 T1 lines in the hall. Amazing job by MonkeyBrians,net, et al.
The second session was jammed packed, standing room only, so I stayed out in the hall for that one and again met a lot of people. Lots of people go to conferences and never even go into a session. They stay out in the hall. I'm thinking that this was a pretty good idea, especially since all the sessions were recorded and are going to be posted to the web by the hard work of Ryanne Hodson and others. Thanks!
The first session I attended was on oral history, and I enjoyed that very much and got a lot out of the speakers presentations, and jotted down some good links on oral history sites and guides to help interviewing techniques.
One other thing I heard in the halls was that people were leaving to go to lunch. With only afternoon sessions, that was too bad since they'd miss a lot. I ate a big breakfast each day so I didn't have to go to lunch.
The final session of vloggercon gathered everyone in the big hall with Michael Verdi and jenny Simmons leading a discussion on what next? Where do we want to see this all lead?
I thought it was a fantastic discussion. I'd would have liked to see more and also would have liked to have more of the people say who they were when they spoke. I found myself asking who was speaking on the IRC and for those who couldn't be identified, I went up to them after to find out who they were. That session proved Dave Winer's point that there was a lot of intelligence in the audience. Especially when if was apparent that Michael Meiser wanted to talk. Messier doesn't vlog and doesn't really have a picture on his blog, so were were all surprised to see what he looked like. When he approached the mic, there were chants of Meiser, Meiser. Next vloggercon I'd like to see him run a session, a discussion. As it was, he was leading discussions out on the sidewalk.
Good stuff.
At the end of day two, it was dinner with whole slew of people at a nearby restaurant with the Blip.tv people. They'd planned for a private back room, but the vloggers soon took over the whole restaurant.
Up next was and Irish Bar and/or Karaoke, but it was getting late and I had a flight to catch the next day, so I called it a night.
I'd proposed having a session like I run in Boston at the Boston Media Makers meetings, where people all share what they are doing, videos they like, present show and tells and give technical tips.
The format of the conference didn't support that, although I could have signed up for a small room to run that kind of session.
I'd like to see the next vloggercon run all day, include more of the un-conference style discussions, and include more sponsored cocktail parties where there's an opportunity for more mingling.
The revolution continues.
Spam Spam Spam
I am being attacked by 1,000's of spam messages in my email today.
So if you email me and don't hear back, that's why.
If it's important, call.
Some Videoblogs
Jen Simmons - expamples of videoblogs.
Here's an example of a trusted source showing you video blogs and video blog posts that she thinks you should watch.
She picks a few of my video reports:
Here's an example of a trusted source showing you video blogs and video blog posts that she thinks you should watch.
She picks a few of my video reports:
Steve Garfield on The Icy AftermathThanks.
Steve Garfield on the Blizzard of 05
Steve Garfield covering local Elections
Steve Garfield on the Fire On Dane
Steve Garfield reporting on Current Affairs and for Rocketboom
Josh Wolf is Free
SAN FRANCISCO / Journalist not forced to give up video:
Congratulations.
Grand Jury background here from Josh.
The Revolution Will Be Televised.
"A freelance journalist who faced a possible jail sentence for refusing to surrender video footage of a July 2005 clash between San Francisco police and anarchist demonstrators was abruptly released from a subpoena by federal prosecutors Thursday, his lawyer said."I'm glad we didn't have to start a Free Josh Wolf campaign.
Congratulations.
Grand Jury background here from Josh.
The Revolution Will Be Televised.
Ze Frank on Creativity 2.0
Ze Frank spoke at the HOWconference.com in LasVegas, His session was Creativity 2.0:
Designer, teacher and performer Ze Frank confesses to spending far too much time on his hobby, www.zefrank.com. Pay the site a visit and you’ll end up spending far too much time on it, too. But it’s a great study in the concepts he’ll explore in this session—like online community-building, contagious media and the “authorship society” he says we’re transitioning to.Sounds like a great session.His theory: As authorship-enabling technologies are being released at an increasing rate—and we’re deluged with massive amounts of content to consume—a new relationship is evolving between our society and the notion of creativity. In a session that promises to be as entertaining as it is informative, Ze will discuss this fundamental shift and its effect on the creative process—from ideation to release.
Ze is on to the same type of thing that Adam Curry is doing with his podcast, creating ways for the viewers to participate in the show.
That's what makes the web different form TV.
Front Street, Lahaina
Front Street, Lahaina by stevegarfield, uploaded from flickr.
This picture was taken from the second floor of Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Wait until Tuesday to talk about it
Robert Scoble talks about how the news spread that he was leaving Microsoft for PodTech.net, Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger - Why Wall Street didn’t believe Steve Ballmer (and what he can do about it):
He asked me to wait, so I waited.
"Did you miss that I turned into an international news story that has gotten more attention than everything Microsoft announced at its big TechED conference this week?After Robert told me he was leaving, a few people asked me if I had heard the news. Yes, I told them. I thought it was strange that so many people knew the secret.
How did I do that?
I talked with the grassroots FIRST. Against the advice, by the way, of a lot of PR people (they wanted me to break the news to Walt Mossberg or someone 'important' first — they thought that's how I was going to get the biggest story going).
They all are wrong. I almost bought into it too. In fact, I did. On Saturday I talked with maybe 20 people and said 'can you wait until Tuesday to talk about it?' "
He asked me to wait, so I waited.
Sometimes the web is better than TV
Lost Remote: Study: Viewing content on TV and web equally desireable:
"TV is not superior to the web when it comes to video, despite what most TV execs today will say. TV is superior to the web when it comes to watching TV. But the web is better than TV when it comes to short, on-demand, unique video that fulfills an endless array of niches."One other important thing, the web is better than TV for interactivity.
Can you talk back to your TV? Can you contribute to a TV show? Do TV shows even want to hear from you?
Take a look at what Ze Frank is doing with the show. In addition to comments, he engages his audience with additional projects like the earth sandwich project. Ze has even asked the audience to write for his show on fabuloso fridays. The first viewer written show was last week. Like we say in the un-conference movement, the intelligence is in the room. When more entertainment producers realize that the intelligence is in the seats, I know we'll see some amazing things.
This is really groundbreaking.
Hyatt Regency Maui - Extra Fees
The Hyatt Regency Maui has a few extra daily fees that you might want to know about prior to planning your stay.
1. Daily resort fee $15 - This fee is required and covers:
Admission for (2) to the health club, Maui News, Local calls, Free access to 800 # calls, In-room coffee, (1) hour daily tennis court time.So basically they are charging you $15 per day for a newspaper. HA!
2. Valet parking fee $12 - When you first arrive at the hotel, a valet asks "if s/he can take care of your car for you". I prefer to self-park, so I said no. Good thing. It cast $12/day to have them do it. Isn't it kind of tricky not to disclose upfront that there is a daily charge? After I declined I asked where the self-park area was and got a reply of down the driveway. Not the best directions since it's actually, down the driveway, back around the rotary and on the right, down a little hill.
3. Daily Internet access $9.99 - There is a charge for internet access. The website neglects to mention this. It says, in part:
Guest Rooms:So you are paying $24.99 per day extra if you opt out of the valet and $36.99 extra if you let them park your car for you.
* High-Speed Internet - Wired
* T-Mobile Hotspot Wireless Broadband
Good thing I can feed myself.
Teh Space
Jay, Ryanne and Schlomo are involveed in setting up a coworking space called Teh Space in San Francisco:
"Teh Space is the effort to create a coworking space in San Francisco. Coworking is cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents."I'd like to set up a similar space in Boston. That was part of the idea behind the Boston Media Makers.
In addition to getting people together for regular meetings, I'd like to have a clubhouse type of creative production space where people can get together and produce things.
Watch and comment on online movies
. : Peanut Gallery - The Online Interactive Multi-User Movie Theater Simulation : .:
"Peanut Gallery allows you and your friends to have a movie theater experience live, in real-time, over a local Bonjour network or the internet."via [ Unmediated ]
decentralized vs centralized
Lucas Gonze wrirtes for unmediated: decentralized blogs aggregators ecosystems vs integrated hosting/viewing communities.
He addresses the issue of hosting your content on a centralized community site vs. on your own site.
Topical.
He addresses the issue of hosting your content on a centralized community site vs. on your own site.
Topical.
Mosh Pit Wisdom
Kathy Sierra writes at Creating Passionate Users: Mosh Pit as Innovation Model:
"'Professionals' in any field come in two flavors: Knowledge Sharers and Knowledge Hoarders. The hoarders believe in the value of their 'Intellectual Property'(IP). The products of their mind must be carefully guarded lest anyone steal their precious ideas."Read on...
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Hillarious Vloggercon Interviews
Noodle Scar: Vloggercon 2006:
"Bonny speaks with videobloggers in San Francisco at Vloggercon 2006."
$10,000 per month blog revenue
Jay Brewer and his BlogPire Productions has been featured in an article for the Wall Street Journal, Extra bucks:
"Today, his stable of blogs has grown to 14 with almost 750,000 visitors each month and more than 30 direct advertisers. The heaviest trafficked blogs can generate upward of $10,000 a month in revenue, while the less trafficked ones generate between $1,000 and $2,000 before expenses, Mr. Brewer says. He now makes more than he did at his previous jobs, while having more free time to pursue side projects such as consulting."
