Rocketboom: In the news

`Rocketboom': A daily Webcast bringing you the news. Is this TV's future?:

Check your computer screen, for instance, for evidence of what someday may be known as what used to be TV. Like 'Rocketboom.'

'Rocketboom' is a Monday-through-Friday video Web log, or vlog, staged as a mini-newscast. ...

(Amanda) Congdon is reason enough to watch 'Rocketboom.' A fizzy ingenue with a mischievous streak, she bridges the gap between the program's dual missions: to be a newscast homage and a New Media breakthrough. She makes 'Rocketboom' comfortable and cool, all at the same time.

You can watch Rocketboom every weekday!

Mac users: Get ANT and have Rocketboom delivered to your desktop automatically!

Casting "Blog" the Movie

Casting "Blog" the Movie with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Robert Scoble".

Does it support Media RSS?

"Media RSS" Specification Version 1.0.0.

"Media RSS" is a new RSS module that supplements the enclosure capabilities of RSS 2.0. RSS enclosures are already being used to syndicate audio files and images. Media RSS extends enclosures to handle other media types, such as short films or TV, as well as provide additional metadata with the media. Media RSS enables content publishers and bloggers to syndicate multimedia content such as TV and video clips, movies, images, and audio.

How the Boston Computer Society Macintosh User Group was born

I spent some time taking a survey over at Making the Macintosh because thier history of Macintosh user groups didn't include one that is near and dear to my heart, The Boston Computer Society Macintosh Users Group.

After sending the survey in, I got it back in my email as returned mail. So instead of wasting all this good information about the Boston Computer Society Macintosh Users Group (BCS Mac) I'll just post it here:

What Was I Doing at the time?
I had taken computer classes on college and had been a computer programmer. At the time the Mac came out I was a computer salesperson in downtown Boston.

The Group Name
In 1984, Apple Computer chose to introduce its Macintosh to a BCS meeting for the product's East Coast roll-out.

The Boston Computer Society Macintosh Users Group, BCS MAC, was formed by people who signed sign up sheets at that meeting.

Group Leaders
Jack Hodgson - Leader
Steve Garfield - Meeting Co-ordinator
Rob Hafer - Software Librarian
Raines Cohen
Ben Calica
Becky Waring
Rich Colombre
Rick Kollmeyer
Ric Ford
Alex Rosenberg

Meetings
We had between 300-500 people per meeting. The meetings had a well prepared agenda with featured presenters who were given 15-20 minutes. The meeting always closely followed the agenda.

All meetings drew a big crowd and we had them in a large auditorium at the Mass College of Art.

Attendance
I attended all the meetings.

When Apple came to present we had to move to a larger hall.

Bulletin Board System
The user group had a BBS and it was not controversial. The Boston Computer Society had a network of BBS's and it was a logical thing to set up.

Relations
The group was very close knit. Many people went on to other jobs in the computer industry.

Newsletter
I read everything in the group newsletter.

Leaving
The Boston Computer Society disbanded in 1996.

Apple
Apple was a strong supporter of user group and had a user group coordinator. The local office in Marlboro was helpful.

Experience
The user group was so well run that I learned a lot about how to put on a good meeting, prepare speakers for waht was expected of them, and how teamwork and working with people that you truly enjoy working with is the key to success.

I want my HD movie trailers

Apple's new HD Movie Trailer page has some heavy duty System Recommendations:

For 1920x1080 (1080p) video at 24-30 frames per second: Dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer

Trolley Tracks: A Safety Hazard

John Tobin Boston City Councillor :: Trolley Tracks: A Safety Hazard.
Here's a video blog post from Boston City Councillor John Tobin out on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain where the Green Line used to run down the street on the tracks.

Burka Blue

RConversation: Burka Band!!:

"It's amazing what turns up on del.icio.us! Today I found this Burka Band in the Afghanistan del.icio.us feed, which is one of the many feeds we are subscribing to in the Global Voices aggregator. Through Technorati I then found this blog post about 'Afghanistan's Greatest Girl Band,' which includes MP3 clips of their cover song, 'Burka Blue.'"

Check it!

The Tripp Millican Show

we make money not art: Your own 24/7 reality show:

iam is a research project by Tripp Millican . iam is a 24/7 point-of-view video, published to the web as serialized metafictional video blogs, in a layered/drill down UI, exploring narrative possiblities and new types of personal filmmaking.

The Carol and Steve Show: Episode 19 - The Clip Show

The Carol and Steve Show: Episode 19 - The Clip Show.
This week we go back to the kitchen to talk about past shows and comments we've received.

Video production will be as easy as using a microwave oven

Video will allow more people to tell compelling stories that are not filtered by any intermediary and will be so engrossing that viewers will WANT to devote full attention to these personal stories.

Unlike mainstream media which is targeted to the majority, these niche video broadcasts will find thier dedicated passionate audience in the same way that tv viewers today faithfully program their TiVo's for shows like 24 and Alias.


There is a future out there that none of us can yet think of where people will be able to just insert themselves, in video, into programming without any of the hassle of logging, compression, uploading, etc that are hurdles to producing content today.

With just a small group of videobloggers who have taken the time to learn how to get video on the web, we are already seeing how interesting these videos can be.

When it gets as easy as using a microwave oven, we'll see a whole to group of video creators with videos that will be fun and interesting to watch.

Maybe we'll even watch them on our microwave while the food cooks, but they will be really short videos.

Is radio dead

Listen to Finding my Niche:

Is the radio model appropriate for podcasting and podshow.com? Or is radio dead for reasons other than Infinity and Clear Channel's mismanagement, and a poor model for making podcasting profitable?

This guy could talk about spaghetti and I'd listen.

Eric Rice, who sent me this link says, "he could talk about the grains' mutation into pasta and i'd listen."

Rocketboom!

My report on Steven Berlin Johnson, at Harvard, is on Rocketboom today!

His new book: Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter.

Call me on Skype, no, wait... don't

Skype: be afraid: Corante > Get Real >Skype: be afraid.

The Infinite Cat Project

Cat #107: Sushi watching Barney watching Daisy...
You take a picture of your cat looking at a picture of another cat that was watching another cat from an earlier picture of a cat, and so on and so on...
via [ Amal's smile page ]

Cat and Girl present: National Anthems

National Anthems.

We had a great convention next weekend

The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005

Last Week's News

LWN: How big is the new Airbus A380 megajumbo jet?:

"The new Airbus A380 megajumbo jet is so big, when it sits around the airport it really sits around the airport. Really. It has a little airport inside where you can buy a ticket, go through security, and kill time buying duty-free cigarettes and bottles of French perfume."

Rocketboom Flashmeeting

I just participated in a Flashmeeting with Alex Williams of Corante and Andrew Baron and Amanda Congdon of Rocketboom.

It'll show up soon on Corante as part of thier Feedfest.

Adam Curry's PodShow

Ex-MTV host to give voice to podcasts | CNET News.com:

Adam Curry, a former MTV host who developed software that lets people automatically receive these programs on Apple Computer's iPod and other players, will produce and be host of a four-hour program every weekday starting May 13 on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Hmm.

So I'd have to subscribe to Sirius to be able to tune in to Adam Curry at a certain time to listen to his show for four hours?

Decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts

NORML and MassCann/NORML are pleased to announce that Senate Bill 1151, a
bill to decriminalize marijuana possession (along with its companion bill,
House Bill 862), has been introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature.
Now is the time to contact your state legislators and strongly urge them
to support this important piece of legislation.

Take Action Now!
Contact your Senator:
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=7514676&type=ST
Contact your House rep:
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=7513941&type=ST

Law-abiding citizens who smoke marijuana responsibly are not part of the crime problem, and we must stop treating them like criminals.

In 2003, the last year for which we have data, law enforcement arrested over 755,000 persons for marijuana violations. This total far exceeds the total number of arrests for all violent crime combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Surely, our limited law enforcement resources are best spent targeting more serious and violent crimes.

The Paris Hilton Interview

PARIS SPEAKS! - Yahoo! News:

"So, you're dating a guy who's also named Paris. Paris Letsis.

Mm-hmm.

How do you tell each other apart?

He calls me 'Gorgeous' or 'Princess.' I call him 'Babaluna.'

What are you going to name your first child?

Paris."

freevlog

freevlog.

Step-by-step instructions for setting up a free videoblog.

Chu Moy headphone amplifier

Chu Moy headphone amplifier.

Same Clip Art?

Motor City Music Conference


Association of Music Podcasting

Protect email addresses in web pages

Defeat the communist spam robot army with this Hide email address mailto link generator.

Send me an email, no spam please. ;-)

Josh Leo's Special Spot

The Story of the Tower. [ Video by Josh Leo ]

The Website of Ricky Gervais

www.rickygervais.com featuring news on his new show Extras.

Jamaica Plain Open Studios

Jamaica Plain Open Studios: September 24 & 25, 2005.

They've got a new website.

Allowing people to park on Storrow Drive is stupid

We were expecting friends over the house last night and they called at 6:40 saying that Storrow Drive was backed up to 93 South because of a lane restriction at the Hatch Shell. They ended up getting over to our house at 7:15. A trip that normally takes 15-20 minutes took them 35!

It's the same old story. There was a Earthfest concert by WBOS going on and cars were allowed to park on the right hand travel lane. So for the convenience of approximately 100 cars, thousands are inconvenienced! This in inexcusable. Last year we all wrote letters and nothing has changed. Don't they watch Star Trek? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or something like that.

This tied up traffic, as it always does. It must have been a nightmare all earthfest day long.

BTW, the MDC is now a part of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, so we've got a new acronym to learn, DCR. I hate acronyms.

The Acting Commissioner is Stephen R. Pritchard. Maybe He'll listen to our complaints?

Video Driving Directions: JP to RT 9

Jamaica Plain to Route 9. [ Video Driving Directions ]

My friend Herb wanted to know how to get from JP to Route 9. So I found this video I made a while ago. I'm not sure if it helps, but it is fun to watch. ;-)

Christian Rudder Bishop Allen

Christian Rudder has this band, BISHOP ALLEN and is Co-founder, Editorial Director of OkCupid! a free online dating service.

You might remember him from The Fat Project and Date My Sister.

She Lied Too

GA woman who vanished before wedding fabricated kidnap story.
Look back a few posts and you'll see that I had questioned this woman's kidnap story and wanted some original reporting on the story.

Well the police had to do the job and the truth came out.

This is just another example of the problem with news these days and reconfirms my belief that you've got to question main stream media when they report on stories that are hard to believe.

We are the media.

Link Dump

Links that I'd like to write more about, but am going to go have breakfast instead.

Bill Simmons - I love this guy and had somehow misplaced his URL.

Andrew Teman - A new to me blogger that seems to have the same comic sensibility as I do. It's interesting that he's made posts that I would have made if I was living in an alternate blog universe. It's the blog universe where I posts EVERYTHING that amuses me. So check him out for all the things I would have blogged about if I had decided to post about them or even knew about them.

Funny how my breakfast is getting delayed while writing this short little post.

Linnea - She's blogging for dates. What a cool idea.

Get Your Flutie Flakes!

Flutie happy to be a return man.
I heard that Doug Flutie was signed by the Patriots yesterday.

Why it wasn't the top story on the news, I don't know.

Welcome back to Boston Doug!

The story on Doug's return to the Patriots also has this intriguing line at the end:

Brady is scheduled to appear on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" tomorrow (9 a.m., Channel 5). Brady is slated to discuss steroids and the NFL, congressional involvement in professional sports, and his interest in politics during the "Images and Voices" segment.

Tom Brady for Governor!

How can I believe this?

Missing bride found alive in New Mexico:

"A Georgia woman who vanished just days before her wedding was found in New Mexico three days later after she called her fiance from a pay phone and said she had been kidnapped, authorities said."

I want more original reporting on this story. Why would anyone kidnap this woman?

UPDATE 5/1/05:
You'll note that the link to the story now goes to a revised article that is titled Bride resurfaces, admits faking abduction.

Where is the historical record of the initial inaccurate AP story that had nothing about this being a fake abduction?

My name is Steve, I have a problem...

This is your brain on clicks - Forbes.com - MSNBC.com:

...between 5 percent and 10 percent of Web surfers suffer a Web dependency, according to experts like Maressa Hecht Orzack, director of the Computer Addiction Study Center at Harvard's McLean Hospital. They experience the same cravings and withdrawal symptoms as, say, a compulsive gambler waylaid en route to Vegas.

I went to Google and found that article on Forbes, , then I went to Gamblers Anonymous to check out their addiction tips, then created a list of questions to see if you are addicted to the internet and then blogged the article and my questions instead of doing important things.

Are you adicted to the internet
1. Did you ever spend time on the internet that was longer than you had planned?
2. Have you ever gotten on the internet to escape worry or trouble?
3. Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance your internet connection fees?
4. Do you get on the internet in the middle of the night?
5. Do you get on the internet first thing in the morning?
6. Do you pay exhorbinant rates in airports, hotels, or remote locations to get on the internet?
7. Do you think about what you next blog post will be during the day?

They lied about the money

Men Who Claimed to Find Treasure Arrested - Yahoo! News.
don't believe everything you read.

One of these things is just like the other

Dell 2005fpw vs. Apple Cinema Display 20-inch.
These two monitors use the same LCD, but the Apple display costs about $450 more.

PodBrix

PodBrix.

Netflix Freak

Netflix Freak:

Netflix Freak is a full-featured Mac OS X application for managing your rental queue that enhances the Netflix experience. The program offers many unique features not available on the Netflix website.

If I had Netflix this would be more interesting to me.

TigerWiki

Welcome to TigerWiki. This site has been made for you guys. TigerWiki is here to track all of the great changes found in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

She can't open it

Everytime I go over to my mom's, she's got a list of things for me to help her with.

This time she needed help with some Tylenol, Dental Floss and Shampoo.

We Are The Media

Josh Leo rocks the blogosphere/syndisphere/syndosphere with this new video We Are The Media:

This is a video mashup/collage of stock footage and members of the vlogosphere. I feel like we are all one big group of friends fighting to make grassroots media a force to be reckoned with. Keep reciting the slogan and know that it is true! Take corporate media's power away!

Podcasting on an Infinity radio station

R&R - Radio & Records, Inc. -
Infinity Launches Podcast-Programmed Radio Station:

Starting on May 16, Infinity will shift the programming of Talk KYCY/San Francisco from its current predominantly syndicated lineup to a wide-open slate of content created exclusively by listeners.

Listeners will upload podcasts they create on any topic to a website being launched exclusively for the venture www.kyouradio.com. From there, Infinity will review and select which programs to air on the station, with programming guided by listener interests and feedback. Additionally, the station's programming will be streamed on the website."

So if they broadcast on the web, than i guess i'm a listener, and therefore can send them a show!

Now Playing: Open Media Network

Good news everyone!


The Carol and Steve Show, as featured on Steve Garfield's Video Blog is now playing on the Open Media Network (OMN).

OMN is a free public service designed to help you enjoy a broad selection of movies, public TV and radio, video blogs and podcasts while protecting producer's copyrights.

I just checked it out on my wife's laptop, no Mac version yet.

The groundbreaking feature of OMN is that it lets viewers watch and subscribe to shows without the need for them to know anything about RSS 2.0 feeds with enclosures.

OMN features a grid style program guide divided up into categories that include What's New, Music, TV, Movies, News, Sports and Podcasts.

To watch a show, all you have to do is click on the title. Then you have the option to "Get Item", "Season Ticket" or "Show All Episodes"

Nice job on keeping the descriptions non-techie.

When you select "Get Item" the show is downloaded to yor computer.

If you choose to participate in "The Grid" the download will be faster because it uses peer-to-peer technnology where your computer is added to the network which serves content to others.

Is participation in the OMN Secure Grid Network optional?
Yes. You can choose whether or not you want to participate in OMN’s Secure Relay Network, which enables files downloaded through the Secure Relay Network to be securely relayed to other users of OMN. This increases the speed and efficiency of deliveries for all users. If you choose to participate in the Secure Relay Network, future downloads will be faster than they would be if you do not participate. You can also change this preference at any time.

The default setting is for your computer to NOT be a part of "The Grid."

I've already sent in an email telling OMN that I'd be nice if on the GUIDE when you select a feed, the area on the bottom should have a LINK to the actual blog post so people can go to the blog and read the attached text, follow links and leave comments.

That's a MAJOR requirement for videobloggers.

Also, that ability to link back to the original post should be at the bottom of the page when you watch a video. They already have the information from the RSS feed.

I'll be writing more about this as I start to use it more and see what kind of feedback I get from viewers.

Superman Video Blog

Superman Hype! reports that there's a new Superman Returns Video Journal #9 over at BlueTights.net.

I'd link directly to the video, but they still don't have permalinks.

Back in March they said they were working on an RSS 2.0 feed for their video blog, but haven't added one yet.

I just sent them an email offering to help them set up a feed.

We'll see what they say.

My Mom is a Hot Topic

My mom is going to be a featured speaker at the American Marketing Association's Blogs: Marketing Beyond the Website conference in Boston!

Blogs: It's All About the Story
Speaker: Millie Garfield
My Mom's Blog by Thouroughly Modern Millie
Session 4

Hear how, at 79 years young, Millie Garfield became the Internet's oldest blogger, according to The Ageless Project.

With the help of her son Steve Garfield, a video producer, editor and videoblogger, Millie learned about blogging, jumped on the internet, and has been posting regularly since 2003.

In this session Millie will tell you how she got started, how blogging has brought a new level of enjoyment to her life, and how she has made many friends from all over the world.

With an authentic and humorous voice, a knack for story telling and frequent updates, Millie's blog, My Mom's Blog, shows that people want to hear from someone with a story to tell.

Yay Mom!

My Life is a Comic Book

With plasq.com's Comic Life you can take your photos and make them into a comic. Ka-Blam! Zap! Poweee!

Ignore everybody

gapingvoid: how to be creative.

The Media Network is now Open

Open Media Network:

"OMN is a free public service designed to help you enjoy a broad selection of movies, public TV and radio, video blogs and podcasts while protecting producer's copyrights."

Can I be the first to call this the new TiVo for your PC?

Sponsor my videoblog?

An Early Peek Into the Vlogosphere:

"Today, there are only a small number of well-trafficked vlogs, and many are purely entertainment-oriented, such as Steve Garfield's, or more news oriented, such as Rocketboom. "

The Carol and Steve Show: Episode 18 - Planting Pansies

This week Carol demonstrates how to plant pansies in pots.

From the Blogosphere to the Syndisphere

Vote with your feed - In the Syndisphere, is the link the fundamental coin of the realm.

Ranking the Syndosphere.

TV is good for you

Watching TV Makes You Smarter:

''We realize you have no idea what a particle accelerator is, but here's the deal: all you need to know is that it's a big fancy thing that explodes when wet.''

Everything Bad Goes Public - Steve Berlin Johnson

Sports Trivia with John Tobin Boston City Councillor

Boston City Councillor John Tobin lightens up his blog with sports trivia.

Go Sox!

The Story of Passover Pt 1

When viewed in this context is looks like Moses was on a little power trip... and insane.

Hillarious.

Lupus Advocacy Alert

Urge Your U.S. Senators to Co-sponsor S.756, Lupus REACH Amendments Act of 2005

New Legislation Will Enhance Lupus Research and Improve Public Awareness and Professional Education.

United States Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) has introduced the Lupus REACH Amendments of 2005 (S.756). REACH is an acronym for Research, Education, Awareness, Communication, and Healthcare. This bill is an urgently needed piece of federal legislation that authorizes increased efforts by the U.S. government to address lupus as a significant national health issue. We need you to take immediate action to help get this legislation enacted into law.

The Atlantic Ocean Was Stormy

Check out my video of the stormy Atlantic Ocean at Lynn Beach hosted by Vimeo.

I almost got soaked by a crashing wave.

My Mom's Salmon Pie

Millie's Salmon Pie
1 16 ounce can salmon, drained, bones and skin removed
1 small can O & C onion rings
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 cup skim milk

Mix all together, save some onion rings for the top of the pie

Place in a lightly greased 8" round pie pan and bake in 350 oven for 3/4 hour.

Enjoy!

PS: mixture will be loose, that is the way it is supposed to be.

The Broken Matzoh

Here's my friend Marc at last night's Passover Seder.

The Haggadah said to break the middle matzoh, of three matzohs, in half and remove it.

That becomes the afikomen.

The Haggadah then said to raise the three matzohs.

My question: If you break the middle matzoh in half and remove it from the plate, aren't you then raising 2 1/2 matzohs instead of three?

Jetson Picture Telephone Circa 1984

Back in 1984 I added this drawing of a Jetson Picture Telephone to an idea book I used to have.

At that time programs like iChat AV, AIM Video IM, or Yahoo! Messenger were not available. The only video teleconferencing that was going on was in big corporations.

I thought it wold be cool if people in their home could use a simple interface like a Nintendo system with a connected telephone line and video camera to allow people to talk to each other.

I even went as far as writing up my proposal and sending it into one of the large videoconferencing companies.

They probably never pursued it because they were making so much money on their large videoconferencing systems.

We'll know about iknow.tv on Thursday

Just found this casting call notice:

iknow.tv (Event) Casting: Actor Actress jobs in Film TV Radio Theatre - mandy.com:

"Non-Union. Director: Michael Franzini. Get paid $50 for a HALF DAY to stand silently on a street corner, wearing a T-shirt we provide -- and be filmed for a new cutting edge television campaign.

We are looking for good looking people of all races, both men and women.

Our main need is for next Thursday, 4/27, but we will need a limited number of people every day between now and then.

You'll need to show up at 7:00am, and you'll be done by 11:30am. For the final hour or so, we'll have some items we'd like you to hand out to passersby (still being filmed intermittently).

On the 27th, the day will end at 1:30, but we will also provide lunch and a bag of goodies worth over $100, including a week pass at a well known high end gym chain.
Web: http://www.iknow.tv"

OK. I'm interested.

Orange Line, crazy people, screaming

Flickr-like tagging comes to Universal Hub.

The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club

I saw a Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club member on the street today.

He was happy to let me take a few photos.

"Putting the Smackdown on Heresy since 1981"


"Truth is not determined by a majority vote"

The fan club also has a blog, Against the Grain.

Business Week has a new blog

Blogspotting.
Stephen Baker and Heather Green from Business Week follow business, media and blogs.

ShaBot 6000: Seda' Club

ShaBot 6000: Seda' Club.
You can't beat good Passover humor.

The wisdom of Chuck Olsen

Ryan Sholin reports on the Joining the Blogosphere [JtB] Event, and says that Chuck Olsen was the most authentic voice there.

"Blogs are people." - Chuck Olsen.

Photographing Boston's Big Dig

Here's a recording of a speech Michael Hintlian gave at the Old South Meeting House on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - WGBH Forum Network - The Workers of Boston's Big Dig:

"Starting in 1997, Michael Hintlian began photographing the 5,000 men and women who worked on the Big Dig. Despite being thrown off of one site after another, his perseverance paid off in a book of stunning, gritty black-and-white photographs entitled Digging: The Workers of Boston's Big Dig. "

Call for entries: 100 second film festival

100 second film festival:

"The 100 second film festival is the festival for everybody. What do we mean? First off, at 100 seconds - anybody can create a video and participate. There are no restrictions on theme or subject matter - whatever you have in mind - you can do it! Secondly, all the entries we receive will be published to the web and catalogued so that you can hand pick your own favorites and screen a 100 second festival in your community."

It took me 100 seconds to make this post.

I should have filmed myself.

D'oh!

The Carol and Steve Show: Episode 17 - Car Wash

This week Carol does all the work, washing the car at the car wash.

Garter Snake

garter snake by joshleo, uploaded from flickr.

That snake is spitting mad!

John Tobin Video: Broncos Baseball

John Tobin addresses the Boston Broncos Baseball Club after receiving an appreciation award for his outstanding support and dedication to neighborhood youth.

The Real World - Passover Style

A Passover Haggadah: Scenes from an Egyptian Family:

CHILD 1: Dad, why are Jews slaves?

ADULT 1: Well, son, when our people came here a long time ago, the Pharaoh feared our strength. So he made us into slaves.

CHILD 1: Did we fight?

ADULT 1: No and we should have. We thought that the kind that enslaved us was just a bad man and that once he died, the new king would set us free.

CHILD 1: Bad guess, huh? We've got to do something about it.

ADULT: (Desperately trying to change the subject) Uhh. How was your day at work, dear?

ADULT 1: Awful. They treated me like a slave.

CHILD 1: (Refusing to change the subject) You are a slave, Dad.

ADULT 1: (Gives son a frustrated look and sarcastically says). Thanks. No wonder there's no profit sharing.

How about putting away the old Maxwell House haggadahs this year and acting out 'Scenes from an Egyptian Family'.

John Kador has other Passover Skits and Plays too.

Do you WiFi?

Boston WiFi Survey:

The Museum of Science and the Boston Foundation in collaboration with Boston City Councilor John Tobin's office is supporting a study to assess the feasibility for a wireless Boston to bridge the digital connectivity divide. Below are two surveys. One geared for individual Boston residents to respond and the other for Boston businesses and community organizations to respond. This data will be presented at the 5/19/05 WiFi Summit being held at the Museum of Science.

Take the stairs

My mother-in-law fell and fractured her pelvis.

Ouch, That hurt.

So she's in a rehab hospital now and I went to visit her this morning.

The physical therapist told me that my mother-in-law was somewhat confused when they were telling her not to use both handrails when practicing going up stairs on the special physical therapy staircase.

They've got two rails on there, but the physical therapist has to tell the old people not to use both at the same time because they won't have two rails on stairs when they leave the rehab.

I innocently asked, "So why have two railings? Why not remove one?"

The thearapist replied, "I'm just an indian, not a chief."

I hate that type of response. Hate it!

That's the same kind of response as, "We've always done it that way."

So I told my wife Carol about this exchange.

She asked, "Why don't they just take her outside to use a real set of stairs?"

Pope Benedict XVI: Wikipedia has the news

Pope Benedict XVI

"(Joseph) Ratzinger speaks ten languages and has received seven honorary doctorate degrees. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Beethoven.

He is the eighth German pope. At 78, Ratzinger is only two years short of the 80-year age limit on popes.

In April, 2005, he was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine [1].

On April 19, 2005 he was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II after 2 days of papal conclave."

Walter Murch on Soundtrack Pro

Walter Murch and Sean Cullen on Apple's new Soundtrack Pro. [ QuickTime ]

Cough, Click, Check this out, Click, Cough

Apple - Final Cut Studio - Soundtrack Pro - Quick Tours - Noise Reduction. [ QuickTime ]

Day help

DAYLO - Local people putting skills and talents to work ...for you!

Ronni Bennett explains it:

Here’s how it works: You need some assistance, like Millie, packing for a trip. Or you need a lamp switch fixed or some IKEA furniture assembled. Maybe your computer is acting up and you haven’t a clue what’s wrong. If your knee has you laid up for a few days, you could use a dog walker, someone to do the grocery shopping, yardwork or even cooking. This is about hard-to-find help that isn’t listed in the Yellow Pages.

It's just starting up so log in and post what you can provide as a service or see if someone can help you out.

Forget green screen, now there's blue room!

Readers of this blog know that even though I've found out that reality tv is not real, I watch and enjoy it anyway.

Now I've found out something else.

Some TV sets are not real.

I mean, not even the carpet is real!

Check this out:

Virtualsets.com - Virtual set - The Last Word with Jim Rome.

Click on the picture to see what's real and what's not!
via [ Lost Remote ]

Rocketboom: Boston Marathon 2005

Big news.

My first report, as Boston correspondent for Rocketboom, is up today.

Check it out.

I've posted a longer version on my video blog.

Amazing Rob and Amber

BostonHerald.com - the Edge: `Amazing' Rob: `Survivor' veteran and fiancee turn reality TV on its ear.
Rob and Amber are the best thing to happen to The Amazing Race since last season's horrible group of teams.

My del.icio.us wordmap

extisp.icio.us text - stevegarfield
blog, video, Macintosh, videoblogging, blogging, blogs, podcasting, QuickTime

Le Cicale

Rossella presents: Lecco's answer to the Numa Numa dance.

WiFi for Canon Digital Cameras

Introducing the Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E1/WFT-E1A.

Aaron Swartz: The Summer of The Startup

SFP: Come see us (Aaron Swartz: The Weblog):

As I leave, my roommates ask where I am going. “Well, the least impressive answer is that I’m interviewing for a summer job. The most impressive answer is that I’m getting funding for a startup company.” ‘Actually, you could make it more impressive,’ Seth says. ‘You could tell them that the guy you’re getting startup money from is a famous programmer and author of a popular book and already thinks that your idea is worthwhile.’ ‘Yeah,’ I say, ‘but they won’t know who that is.’

This is going to be an interesting summer.

Podcasting and videoblogging for free

Audioblog.com - Create & Publish Podcasts and Videoblogs.
You can podcast from your phone, from your web browser, or by uploading files.

It's a 7-day free trial from Eric Rice and company.

The Scar

Derek Powazek tells the story of 'The Scar' from Fray Cafe 3, Austin, TX.

The Carol and Steve Show: Episode 16 - Sandals

Carol and Steve go on vacation to Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort in Nassau, Bahamas.

Here's our video and trip report.

Back in the old days they called them home movies, now they are video blog posts, and they get shared with the world right when you come back.

Leave my cable tv alone!

Parents Television Council Web Survey.
Question # 28. Please rate in order of importance the following issues:

- Expanding the enforcement of broadcast decency laws to include cable television programming
- Having the ability to select your own cable channel line up
- Reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment
- Restricting the sale of adult-rated video games to minors
- Establishing a more precise rating system for films and television
- Reducing the amount of violence in entertainment
- Opposing the increase in media ownership by media conglomerates
- Reducing the amount of violence in video games

via [ Jeff Jarvis ] whose blog has the Parents Television Council Seal of Disapproval.

His three favorite shows are Howard Stern on E!, Desperate Housewives, and Deadwood.

Mark reads three blogs a day

My friend Mark who prefers talking on the telephone, to exchanging emails back and forth, told me that he reads three blogs every day.

He reads mine, Ryanne's and Superhero Journal.

Superhero Journal had an interesting post recently good questions:

"Recall a time when you were a kid and you were joyously engaged in some creative project. You were blissfully absorbed and had no regard for the outcome or who would see it."

My bloglines feedreader has 186 blogs in it right now with 4,029 unread blog posts.

The Dancing Star Wars Kid Baby

Contagious Media Showdown:

Announcing the world's first Contagious Media Showdown. Do you have what it takes to corral enough traffic to win the cash prizes? Can you make the next Dancing Baby, All Your Base, or Star Wars Kid and ride into the sunset with the bounty? This is your chance to prove you are the best in the West."

Vlogs are an exciting new development

Josh Leo talks about the exciting world of videoblogging: Vlog = Veracious Logos: Vlog on Vlog.

He got a lot of comments on this video.

I left one too:

So I went away on vacation, came back to over 900 unread emails and over a thousand unread blog posts.

I spent a bunch of time trying to get through it all.

I realized that being outside on vacation is better than sitting in front of a computer reading blogs.

I think I subscribe to too many. Bloglines makes it too easy to add another blog to my subscription list.

Videos on the otherhand are still a somewhat of a manageable level. It's going to get to a point really soon where we'll need to have a better way of sorting through it all.

So I just saw this video and loved it. Very nice job editing and it's great to show people how something other than a talking head video is entertaining.

If you liked Carol and Steve go skiing, stay tuned for Carol and Steve on vacation.

It's gonna be sooo good, as soon as I stop reading blogs nad watching videos, and start editing it.

Now I'm at the point where I want to get it posted but also want to try and spend some quality time editing it.

See you in ANT.

Democracy in 60 seconds or less

:: dnext ::

Assembling the Swan Boats

Assembling the Swan Boats by stevegarfield, uploaded from flickr.

I went down to the Boston Public Garden yesterday and took some pictures of the crew assembling the Swan Boats.

They open up tomorrow morning when Mayor Menino and his family go for a ride.

Swan Boats Official Web Site. ;-)

Logan Airport WiFi

Logan Airport has WiFi provided by Comcast, but as a Comcast home subscriber, you can't access it unless you pay.

That's frustrating.

Lots of old cameras

Photographics in Swampscott, MA is closing and has tons of old cameras and equipment for sale.

Flickr Postcard Browser

AIRTIGHT - Flickr Postcard Browser.

Bahamas - Wikitravel

At last night's Berman Internet meeting, Lisa Williams talked about Blogs and Citizen Journalism.

In addition to her presentation, which was very informative and enjoyable, we had presentations from Now Public, WikiNews.

These are two news sites where YOU can write the news.

And with WikiNews, unlike the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, if you find errors in their online stores, you can go in and change them.

Also mentioned was WikiTravel. Since I just got back for a vacation in the Bahamas, I took a look at the Bahamas entry and edited it to include som new information.

Bahamas - Wikitravel

By plane

Residents of the United States can use a United States official Birth Certificate to enter the Bahamas without a passport.

United States Customs is located in the airport, so leave extra time to clear customs when leaving the country.

They used to require visitors to pay a $15 per person departure tax in cash, but now it's included in the cost of the ticket.

I'm working on a video from the trip, which I'm going to put up on my video blog as an episode of The Carol and Steve Show. I had planned on putting this information on my video blog post, but am happy to also include over on WikiTravel where more people will probably end up seeing it.

Hey, You've got Embedded Media in your blog!

You know how sometimes when you watch a video, it doesn't open up a new page or window?

It plays right there on the web page.

This tool creates the code for you to do that: Embedded Media HTML Generator.