mmeiser blog

When I read this I thought it was a hoax, but April is 4 months off. From: Western Digital DRM'd Hard Drive Won't Let You Share MP3, DivX Western Digital's 1TB MyBook external hard drives won't share media files over network connections (UPDATE: Don't install the "required" client software! See workaround below). From the product page:"Due to unverifiable media license authentication, the most common audio and video file types cannot be shared with different users using WD Anywhere Access."It doesn't matter what the files are: If you try to share these formats over a network, Western Digital assumes not just that you're a criminal, but that it is its job to police users. You see, MP3, DivX, AVI, WMV and Quicktime files are copy-protected formats. The list of banned filetypes includes more than thirty extensions. Some of them are bizarre: .IT files are banned ? these are Amiga-style music modules composed with Impulse Tracker, a particularly well-loved tracking sequencer that hasn't been updated in almost a decade. I composed with IT myself, back in the day, and still have all my shitty compositions, none of which Western Digital would have me share. (Try MOD vs. Speak&Spell masterpiece Eddie Dreams of Women, if you dare: IT, MP3) Isn't it cute how the only data it views as worthy of policing are music and movies? These are the only copyrights that matter under corporate monkey law. It's the most astonishing example of crippled equipment I've ever seen. A DRM'd hard drive! Whatever next? Dreaming meat?Mmm.... Dreaming meat.Wait... what the hell is wrong with Western Digital!? It's so arbitrary, and they've done it on such a large scale. This may end up being the biggest DRM debacle ever.... though it will be hard to beat Sony's rootkit fiasco. Certainly someone is going to end up suing them over this.

MCF_it_is_pitch_dark.mov (video/quicktime Object) MC Frontalot video. Sweet geeky goodness. Love the apple IIe. I miss mine. :)

podium_480x376.mov (video/quicktime Object) Apple ad makes fun of people downgrading from Vista to XP.

"Youtube. This account is suspended." This is a story we're starting to see time and time again. Youtube deleting user accounts completely without any due cause being given to the owner of the account. Traditional media companies abusing the DMCA to silence critics. It's an issue I've written about before. As covered on newteevee Pubdef.net "an online destination for video reports from St. Louis and the state of Missouri published by Anotonio D. French, a newspaper reporter who was frustrated with local news coverage" had his entire youtube account deleted on accusations that one of his videos violated Channel 5 St. Louis' copyright. The video (embeded below) was critical of Channel 5's unsubstantiated claims that an local alderman took bribes in a realestate swindle. Was it fair use or copyright infringement? View it below and be your own judge. Pubdef has re-hosted the video on his own site. Of course the majority of the other 200+ videos are gone. You can read his original post over on pubdef.net. What disturbs me most about this is it's hard to feel sorry for the guy and his readers when he apparently has gone right back to hosting his videos on youtube under the the new userneame PubDefTV. Dude! Move to a reputeable host like blip.tv!

Let me just start at the end, F*ck youtube. Ever day I become more appalled by youtube's complete disregard for it's users. Sooner or later people are going to realize youtube is a complete tyrant that has no respect for their freedom of speach or right to fair use. Youtube is one tyrant putting other tyrants, namely big media companies, concerns over individuals right to free speach and fair use. I don't understand how there hasn't been a mass exodus from youtube. Enough already. Vote with your feet people and leave. There are far better video hosting sites. Two of my personal favorites are blip.tv and vimeo.com. Most importantly though, host your own vlog. I'm not calling for a boycott here. I just wonder why there hasn't been more backlash. I hear more and more cases about DMCA take down abuse on youtube every day and I wonder why people don't do the obvious thing and simply leave youtube. Case in point, I just stumbled on a nice little post by Washington DC vlogger Kenya Allmond about the deletion of one of her videos by youtube. Apparently it was just 3 minutes of her friend singing along to a few lines of a prince song as they drove down the road. She has reposted it without sound to see if youtube delete's it again. Yesterday I received a lovely notice from YouTube indicating that one of my videos was removed due to copyright infringement. The notice also stated that repeat incidents of copyright infringement would result in deletion of my account and all the videos uploaded to said account. What was the video? Did I record something from TV and post it? Did I rip a DVD and post it? It was none of these. It is a video of the boyfriend lipsyncing to Prince?s ?Kiss?. Excerpt from: Kenya Allmond: In My Own Words ? YouTube Video Removed for Copyright Infringement Great eh? How absurd is it that a person can't even share a clip of their friend singing a song while driving down the street? Why do people still use youtube again? This may seem trivial, but it's not. It's a basic free speach issue. Our right to be secure in our ability to communicate with and share our personal moments with whomever we choose. Video is the new frontier of free speach. Just as you can quotes from a book we need mechanisms and established methods for quoting or referencing in video. Let's go over some key points: youtube doesn't even bother to review DMCA take down merits youtube often simply deletes videos and even whole accounts without pre-warning youtube not only deletes the video but all the comments, discussion and related material that go with it... effectively "disappearing" it (sort of like a corrupt regime might "disappear" political dissidents) so no record exists of potential wrong doing, not even how many videos youtube has "disappeared". once deleted accounts and videos often can't be resserected even though clearly the reason for doing so is often flimsy and unstated youtube automates the process for big companies to take down literally anything they feel like regardless of merit youtube doesn't even bother to tell you who requested a take down, why, nor offer you any due process often videos are deleted without review simply because the title mentions an artist, show or movie often videos are taken down because someone sings, quotes lyrics from, or even plays a song youtube is extremely quick to respond to take downs without review but very slow to respond to DMCA counter notices All this adds up to one thing. Youtube really doesn't respect its users. They've put big media's interests far above citizens rights to free speach and fair use. I encourage people to go find someone who does respect their rights. Like Kenya use a better video host like blip.tv or vimeo.com, and host your blog on blogger.com or wordrpress.net or even your own domain. Meanwhile on a respectable video host vimeo.com, a site that respects it's users freedom of speach and fair use the hot meme for over a year has been "lip dubbing" with 1114 vidoes as of this writing. Put a song on the ipod and lip sync the lyrics into the camera as you listen along. Clearly on youtube the majority of these lip dubbing videos if not all would be removed. This is Nagi. from Knock Knock and Vimeo.

Rupert from twittervlog, one of my favorite video blogs as of late, posted this excellent video of his thoughts on videoblogging since returning from Pixelodeon Fest 2007 in L.A. His words are of equal merit. Today, I realised that everything i've been looking for is right here in front of me. It's happening right now. It might not be your dream, but it's mine, and I've only put the pieces together after meeting everyone at Pixelodeon and seeing all the curated sessions of films. This is why i've fallen in love with internet video distribution. Funny how it's taken me so long to realise the obvious. I guess i was too busy looking ahead for the one big idea, and not realising that it wasn't a 'show'. As we say in Jedi school: It's not the End, it's the Means Whereby. And as the Dwarf said in Twin Peaks: Let's rock. I don't know this Jedi school that Rupert speaks of and I've never had the pleasure of following Twin Peaks, but Rupert's sentiment hits home for me. Being in Los Angeles Pixelodeon was highly focused on the growth of videoblogging as an industry with a heavy focus on so called shows and "episodic content", but in it's optimism over future growth as an industry what most pleased me is it retained and remembered it's roots. It is at it's core simply a new method of communications and therefore as much of a communications industry as an entertainment industry. And of course this changes everything. This is something I think audio podcasters so often forget in their own strive to grow into an industry. We call video blogging "video blogging" and not "video podcasting" because it isn't television and it isn't only about news and entertainment. It's roots and all the things that are important to it come from blogging world and remebering those roots are what keep videoblogging going strong. Like blogging, videoblogging at it's core is just ordinary every day people speaking their mind, sharing their stories and simply communicating. In that videoblogging has and is succeeding beyond many of our wildest dreams. In the video blogging world we are already living the dream, vlogging IS a success... all the beautiful things we've dreamed of have come true... all the "overwhelming intangibles" have been there since the first day people picked up their camera and posted videos to their blog. This amazing ability between people across the world to connect on a deep, profound and personal level is inherent in the video blogging medium. Much more so then good old fashion text blogging, photo blogging or even audio blogging. One might say though that this "message in the medium" has even been inherent in the web since before blogging, and that videoblogging is simply an extension of the obvious... of what the internet already is with all it's blogs, wikis, bulletin boards, mailing lists, and even it's earliest bulletin boards. However, it is clear that videoblogging is currently and for the near and foreseeable future the height of this fulfillment and that as we move forward this new space will continue to bloom as it becomes accessible to more and more of the world. I truly believe we haven't even begun to reach the full potential of this sector; video as a tool for mass communications... not communicating TOO the masses... but for the masses to communicat with each other. So while many, myself included, will always be struggling to take it to the next level, to grow this fledgling little hobby of ours into an entertainment and communications industry and to continue to improve on it and make it ever more accessible throughout the world the truth is we're already living the dream. We're already doing what we want to do. Like blogging the majority of us may never make money off our video blogs, at least not directly, but that is of no consequence for us. Videoblogging connects us in new ways and opens not just new doorways but a whole realm of possibilities around the world. It's a very large step down that path to the new global village. It is not about the entertainment for us... it's simply about a radical new shift in communications. All the power of CNN to connect with people around the world and much more is now afforded to anyone with a digital camera and internet access. In many respects videoblogging has fulfilled on all those misdirected concepts of ubiquitous video telephones and then some. That we didn't realize that realtime one to one video wasn't the solution is inconsequential. The real answer is web-time one to many... and whatever role those original concepts of video telephony held we can now see that while they had may have their place they are to video misdirected. They are in fact as misdirected as the concept that Alexander Graham Bell had that the telephone would be the new radio, broadcasting messages to the world. Recently I've read a lot of hype about the iPhone and despite the slow AT )

As mentioned on many occassions I love Bill Streeter's mini-docs (mini-documentaries) on St. Louis alternative arts and culture scene. They range from interviews with local artists to local events like local semi-pro wrestling and ladies roller derby. Bill posted his latest mini-doc, this one on the Munny Art Show in St. Louis. The Munny is a design-it-yourself vinyl doll. Watch the video, it's pretty cool. Watch movie (MP4 video) Original post on May 24, 2007 from LO-FI SAINT LOUIS DOCUMENTARYS (RSS feed) A Munny (pronounced like ?money?) is a vinyl toy that comes completely blank so it can be customized. Star Clipper Comics sponsored a Munny Art show last week for St. Louis Artists to show off their own customized Munny creations. LO-FI SAINT LOUIS was there to document the event. Music by Dan Warren, via the Podsafe Music Network. (Via Mefeedia)

As part the Videoblogging Week 2007 theme "crossing borders", Lisa Rein has done an excellent series of posts on videoblogging in Second Life. As part of the series Chicago based videoblogger Davide Meade has created this amazing video of an interface he's created for videoblogs in Second Life. Complete with a channel changer and multiple screens. If you have second life installed you can check it out by visiting the below SLURL... that's a Second Life Uniform Resource Locator or Second Life URL for you geeks. :) See it in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gyeongju/113/158/74 Watch movie Original post on April 05, 2007 from DavidMeade.com: (RSS feed) (Click the image above to watch the video!) It?s Videoblogging Week 2007! The week where all sorts of people all over the world crank out one new video every single day ? just to do it. Witness the maddness at MeFeedia. Tags: videobloggingweek2007 (Via Mefeedia) DavidMeade.com - VBW07:Day 5 - Second Life

"Youtube. This account is suspended." This is a story we're starting to see time and time again. Youtube deleting user accounts completely without any due cause being given to the owner of the account. Traditional media companies abusing the DMCA to silence critics. It's an issue I've written about before. As covered on newteevee Pubdef.net "an online destination for video reports from St. Louis and the state of Missouri published by Anotonio D. French, a newspaper reporter who was frustrated with local news coverage" had his entire youtube account deleted on accusations that one of his videos violated Channel 5 St. Louis' copyright. The video (embeded below) was critical of Channel 5's unsubstantiated claims that an local alderman took bribes in a realestate swindle. Was it fair use or copyright infringement? View it below and be your own judge. Pubdef has re-hosted the video on his own site. Of course the majority of the other 200+ videos are gone. You can read his original post over on pubdef.net. What disturbs me most about this is it's hard to feel sorry for the guy and his readers when he apparently has gone right back to hosting his videos on youtube under the the new userneame PubDefTV. Dude! Move to a reputeable host like blip.tv!

Let me just start at the end, F*ck youtube. Ever day I become more appalled by youtube's complete disregard for it's users. Sooner or later people are going to realize youtube is a complete tyrant that has no respect for their freedom of speach or right to fair use. Youtube is one tyrant putting other tyrants, namely big media companies, concerns over individuals right to free speach and fair use. I don't understand how there hasn't been a mass exodus from youtube. Enough already. Vote with your feet people and leave. There are far better video hosting sites. Two of my personal favorites are blip.tv and vimeo.com. Most importantly though, host your own vlog. I'm not calling for a boycott here. I just wonder why there hasn't been more backlash. I hear more and more cases about DMCA take down abuse on youtube every day and I wonder why people don't do the obvious thing and simply leave youtube. Case in point, I just stumbled on a nice little post by Washington DC vlogger Kenya Allmond about the deletion of one of her videos by youtube. Apparently it was just 3 minutes of her friend singing along to a few lines of a prince song as they drove down the road. She has reposted it without sound to see if youtube delete's it again. Yesterday I received a lovely notice from YouTube indicating that one of my videos was removed due to copyright infringement. The notice also stated that repeat incidents of copyright infringement would result in deletion of my account and all the videos uploaded to said account. What was the video? Did I record something from TV and post it? Did I rip a DVD and post it? It was none of these. It is a video of the boyfriend lipsyncing to Prince?s ?Kiss?. Excerpt from: Kenya Allmond: In My Own Words ? YouTube Video Removed for Copyright Infringement Great eh? How absurd is it that a person can't even share a clip of their friend singing a song while driving down the street? Why do people still use youtube again? This may seem trivial, but it's not. It's a basic free speach issue. Our right to be secure in our ability to communicate with and share our personal moments with whomever we choose. Video is the new frontier of free speach. Just as you can quotes from a book we need mechanisms and established methods for quoting or referencing in video. Let's go over some key points: youtube doesn't even bother to review DMCA take down merits youtube often simply deletes videos and even whole accounts without pre-warning youtube not only deletes the video but all the comments, discussion and related material that go with it... effectively "disappearing" it (sort of like a corrupt regime might "disappear" political dissidents) so no record exists of potential wrong doing, not even how many videos youtube has "disappeared". once deleted accounts and videos often can't be resserected even though clearly the reason for doing so is often flimsy and unstated youtube automates the process for big companies to take down literally anything they feel like regardless of merit youtube doesn't even bother to tell you who requested a take down, why, nor offer you any due process often videos are deleted without review simply because the title mentions an artist, show or movie often videos are taken down because someone sings, quotes lyrics from, or even plays a song youtube is extremely quick to respond to take downs without review but very slow to respond to DMCA counter notices All this adds up to one thing. Youtube really doesn't respect its users. They've put big media's interests far above citizens rights to free speach and fair use. I encourage people to go find someone who does respect their rights. Like Kenya use a better video host like blip.tv or vimeo.com, and host your blog on blogger.com or wordrpress.net or even your own domain. Meanwhile on a respectable video host vimeo.com, a site that respects it's users freedom of speach and fair use the hot meme for over a year has been "lip dubbing" with 1114 vidoes as of this writing. Put a song on the ipod and lip sync the lyrics into the camera as you listen along. Clearly on youtube the majority of these lip dubbing videos if not all would be removed. This is Nagi. from Knock Knock and Vimeo.

Rupert from twittervlog, one of my favorite video blogs as of late, posted this excellent video of his thoughts on videoblogging since returning from Pixelodeon Fest 2007 in L.A. His words are of equal merit. Today, I realised that everything i've been looking for is right here in front of me. It's happening right now. It might not be your dream, but it's mine, and I've only put the pieces together after meeting everyone at Pixelodeon and seeing all the curated sessions of films. This is why i've fallen in love with internet video distribution. Funny how it's taken me so long to realise the obvious. I guess i was too busy looking ahead for the one big idea, and not realising that it wasn't a 'show'. As we say in Jedi school: It's not the End, it's the Means Whereby. And as the Dwarf said in Twin Peaks: Let's rock. I don't know this Jedi school that Rupert speaks of and I've never had the pleasure of following Twin Peaks, but Rupert's sentiment hits home for me. Being in Los Angeles Pixelodeon was highly focused on the growth of videoblogging as an industry with a heavy focus on so called shows and "episodic content", but in it's optimism over future growth as an industry what most pleased me is it retained and remembered it's roots. It is at it's core simply a new method of communications and therefore as much of a communications industry as an entertainment industry. And of course this changes everything. This is something I think audio podcasters so often forget in their own strive to grow into an industry. We call video blogging "video blogging" and not "video podcasting" because it isn't television and it isn't only about news and entertainment. It's roots and all the things that are important to it come from blogging world and remebering those roots are what keep videoblogging going strong. Like blogging, videoblogging at it's core is just ordinary every day people speaking their mind, sharing their stories and simply communicating. In that videoblogging has and is succeeding beyond many of our wildest dreams. In the video blogging world we are already living the dream, vlogging IS a success... all the beautiful things we've dreamed of have come true... all the "overwhelming intangibles" have been there since the first day people picked up their camera and posted videos to their blog. This amazing ability between people across the world to connect on a deep, profound and personal level is inherent in the video blogging medium. Much more so then good old fashion text blogging, photo blogging or even audio blogging. One might say though that this "message in the medium" has even been inherent in the web since before blogging, and that videoblogging is simply an extension of the obvious... of what the internet already is with all it's blogs, wikis, bulletin boards, mailing lists, and even it's earliest bulletin boards. However, it is clear that videoblogging is currently and for the near and foreseeable future the height of this fulfillment and that as we move forward this new space will continue to bloom as it becomes accessible to more and more of the world. I truly believe we haven't even begun to reach the full potential of this sector; video as a tool for mass communications... not communicating TOO the masses... but for the masses to communicat with each other. So while many, myself included, will always be struggling to take it to the next level, to grow this fledgling little hobby of ours into an entertainment and communications industry and to continue to improve on it and make it ever more accessible throughout the world the truth is we're already living the dream. We're already doing what we want to do. Like blogging the majority of us may never make money off our video blogs, at least not directly, but that is of no consequence for us. Videoblogging connects us in new ways and opens not just new doorways but a whole realm of possibilities around the world. It's a very large step down that path to the new global village. It is not about the entertainment for us... it's simply about a radical new shift in communications. All the power of CNN to connect with people around the world and much more is now afforded to anyone with a digital camera and internet access. In many respects videoblogging has fulfilled on all those misdirected concepts of ubiquitous video telephones and then some. That we didn't realize that realtime one to one video wasn't the solution is inconsequential. The real answer is web-time one to many... and whatever role those original concepts of video telephony held we can now see that while they had may have their place they are to video misdirected. They are in fact as misdirected as the concept that Alexander Graham Bell had that the telephone would be the new radio, broadcasting messages to the world. Recently I've read a lot of hype about the iPhone and despite the slow AT )

As mentioned on many occassions I love Bill Streeter's mini-docs (mini-documentaries) on St. Louis alternative arts and culture scene. They range from interviews with local artists to local events like local semi-pro wrestling and ladies roller derby. Bill posted his latest mini-doc, this one on the Munny Art Show in St. Louis. The Munny is a design-it-yourself vinyl doll. Watch the video, it's pretty cool. Watch movie (MP4 video) Original post on May 24, 2007 from LO-FI SAINT LOUIS DOCUMENTARYS (RSS feed) A Munny (pronounced like ?money?) is a vinyl toy that comes completely blank so it can be customized. Star Clipper Comics sponsored a Munny Art show last week for St. Louis Artists to show off their own customized Munny creations. LO-FI SAINT LOUIS was there to document the event. Music by Dan Warren, via the Podsafe Music Network. (Via Mefeedia)

As part the Videoblogging Week 2007 theme "crossing borders", Lisa Rein has done an excellent series of posts on videoblogging in Second Life. As part of the series Chicago based videoblogger Davide Meade has created this amazing video of an interface he's created for videoblogs in Second Life. Complete with a channel changer and multiple screens. If you have second life installed you can check it out by visiting the below SLURL... that's a Second Life Uniform Resource Locator or Second Life URL for you geeks. :) See it in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gyeongju/113/158/74 Watch movie Original post on April 05, 2007 from DavidMeade.com: (RSS feed) (Click the image above to watch the video!) It?s Videoblogging Week 2007! The week where all sorts of people all over the world crank out one new video every single day ? just to do it. Witness the maddness at MeFeedia. Tags: videobloggingweek2007 (Via Mefeedia) DavidMeade.com - VBW07:Day 5 - Second Life

How's this for a lame excuse to not be videoblogging. Mefeedia has teamed up with Irina of the Vloggies and Podtech to cover Videoblogging Week 2007 and I've been so busy I haven't had time to even do a blog post or a videoblog about it. Here are a few hilights so far. 1) The Videoblogging Week Widget (on right) 2) Randy Wicker does some on the street citizen journo style interviews about the "Chocolate Jesus" exhibit which was closed in New York do to controversy. Favorite line; "Well do you think it would have been less controversial if it was made out of white chocolate?" "CHOCOLATE JESUS" Watch movie Original post on April 02, 2007 from YouTube :: Tag // videobloggingweek2007: (RSS feed) "A nude Jesus made out of over 200 pounds of dark chocolate brought complaints from Catholic officials

Band: Battles Song: Atlas Director: Timothy Saccenti Label: Warp Records Watch movie Original post on March 02, 2007 from del.icio.us/popular/system:media:video: (RSS feed) (Via Mefeedia)

FeedLounge : The Premium Web-based Feed Reader An alternative to bloglines or google news reader. Obviously: Looking for Odeo's new home Odeo is for sale. 684,951 unique visitors/mo, 3million page views, 1.5 million flash plays, 76,000 logins. Whipass_goose_remix.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object) A remix of a the song i'm gonna whip somebodies ass by a pastor in St. Louis, done for a ze frank participatory project, revlogged by the last minute blog.

This comes by way of Duncan Rawlinson. A good follow up to my previous post on the co-working space Hat Factory in Dogpatch San Francisco. All I can say is this video makes me want to move to Vancouver tomorrow. It's not just the most beautiful co-working space ever it's bloody amazing. Wide open views overlooking the bay and mountains in Vancourver. Amazing. Watch movie Original post on February 13, 2007 from The Last Minute Blog: (RSS feed) Workspace was on Canada AM (a national TV morning show in Canada) a while back. I ripped the video of the Canada AM website for your viewing pleasure: Video (Via Mefeedia)

From: Apple - profiles - washington post Video: apple_pro-washington_post_720x416.mov (video/quicktime Object) Today's theme is snarky-ness. I'm blogging this just for reference. I despise it but it is interesting. So let's kick the tires. It's a slickly edited piece from apple. It has no authenticity. It's only interesting because it give a fakey insight into the Washington Post's video journalism group. They have 50 people on staff roaming with camera's... that's interesting. But it's low on real information and insight. I'm sure the people involved are very interesting people but apple does a nice job of making them seem like passionless boring people without original ideas... because heh, it's not about the people, it's about selling Final Cut and apple computers, and if the people are boring it makes the technology look more interesting. "I like it when the technology just goes away and you can focus on the aesthetic." Are we on message? Yack. Fluff. Apple needs to rethink their marketing strategy. But then Apple boycott's the blogging world, and doesn't get authentic and real people. Rather ironic. The most interesting point was what Jim brady, the Exec VP, called "appointment viewing". Apparently "appointment viewing" is the misguided idea that people will come back once a week to re-visit a story to see a new five minute video clip. Here the opportunities for internet based distibution for media are wide open and Jim is taking the worst thing about television, that it's not space or time shiftable and recreating it on the internet in a vain homage to obsolescence. The only thing he's missing is to make their video pieces disappear after being online for an hour, which is why there content isn't a complete failure because shows stick around long enough that enough people stumble on them. And stumble is the word. Here's a hint washington post. Throw out the interactive flash storytelling crap put the story in a nicely packaged downloadable video format like MP4 and throw it in a good subscribeable RSS/Media RSS feed with some permalinks to some supporting web page based information. It's called "subscribership"... and you should know what that is because you've been delivering newspapers to people's doors for a century. So why do you make people work so hard to follow up on stories online? Why don't you just work on a virtual baseball bat that can beat them over the head. You're version of delivery is akin to leaving the newspaper laying half way to the front porch in a puddle in the rain. I don't know why mainstream press people are so resistant to getting a clue. I guess they've just started grasped the web1.0 idea of the "web page" and can't see anything beyond it. They think they have... but they haven't realized "flying type" is not real interactivity. RSS, metadata, microformats... beyond the web page... beyond the desktop even. Clue into it. Tags: brand interactive-brand nprness washingtonpostness storytelling video-editing tom-kennedy apple final-cut washington-post laptop-editing video-on-the-net distribution jen-crandall journalism creative-class rob-curley appointment-viewing=bs

This is what vlogging was made for. Getting well off the well beaten mainstream path. Weird America is my new favorite vlog as of today. I just discovered it. My only suggestion is they bring the narrator out from behind the camera... we need someone to take us on their great journeys into weird america. Watch movie Original post on February 02, 2007 from Weird America: (RSS feed) Enter the world of Art Cars. This video is the first of many because we have so many Art Car friends! Weird America has been shooting these automotive extravaganzas for lotsa years - and we hope to for many many more. If you?d like to explore the Art Car world go here.(Via Mefeedia)

A london based agency has remixed the legendary 1976 Claude LeLouch film short "Pour un Rendez-vous" into a music video for the band Snow Patrol. Band: Snow Patrol, "Open Your Eyes" Dir: Robert Hales/Claude LeLouch SnowPatrol-open.mov (approx 8.5min) From the wikipedia article: "The band Low vs Diamond chose to use the film as the video for their song 'Life After Love' which first appeared mid 2006. Six months later, the band Snow Patrol also used the film as the video for their single "Open Your Eyes" from their fourth album Eyes Open."While I like the music video I much prefer the original soundtrack which was just the ambient noise of a revving engine, tire squealing and shifting. Oddly though the soundtrack was recreated with a Ferrari even though the film was supposedly shot using LeLouche's Mercedes. (see picture above right). Rocketboom also did their own remix of the film in June 2005 with the original soundtrack. It is a rare thing when the story behind the videos is as impressive as the video itself. Here are some of the details I've gathered about the original. length: approx 8.5 minutes director & driver: Claude LeLouche shot: 1976, 5am, Paris genre: cinéma vérité equipment: gyro-stabilised camera car: Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 (owned by LeLouch) speed: 80+mph landmarks: Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Elysées later inspired: Getaway in Stockholm, Ghost Rider, Nissan's 350Z commercial "The Run" Other interesting tidbits: Lelouch was arrested after the film's first showing, but later released with no charges. His arrest caused the film to only be shown and shared underground for over 20 years. The film was rumored (by LeLouche himself, probably to protect himself) to to be driven by a Formula One race car driver, but in 2006 it was revealed by LeLouche that he himself was the driver. The car was rumored to be a Ferrari 275 GTB which indeed LeLouche did own, but it was actually shot with a giro mounted camera on his four speed automatic Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 (see picture top right) and the soundtrack came from the five speed manual Ferrari. The camera only had a 10 minute film clip, so the race wasn't just for the girl, it was to finish filming before the camera ran out of film. A few years ago an enthusiast Richard Symons acquired the film, remastered it and released the DVD which you can now buy at rendezvousdvd.comThe original film is a must see, but good luck finding it online. It keeps popping up and disappearing, most recently on Google video. I suggest just buying the original from the website, (where there is a short teaser trailer). Besides I'm sure the DVD will look absolutely brilliant on a high def TV. My previous post: mmeiser blog: The quick tour of Paris - An early morning 8 minute long race through the streets of Paris Original post on February 21, 2007 from del.icio.us/popular/system:media:video: (RSS feed) (Via Mefeedia)

They're turning famed WBEZ Chicago public radio show This American Life into a TV show. It's coming to Showtime March 22nd. Showtime!? Blarg... I hope it's on the torrents so I can steal it. I wish they'd just dump that B.S. cable stuff and video podcast it so the people who want to see it can. They could reach a LOT more people and make a lot more money if they simply video podcast it and put ads in it. It would be so much more profitable in fact they could put FAR less ads in it... but then heh, I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said a million bizzilian times. Just shut up and watch the trailer. Watch movie Original post on February 23, 2007 from del.icio.us/popular/system:media:video: (RSS feed) (Via Mefeedia)

Interesting interview with Andrew baron and Joanne Colan of Rocketboom. Probably the best interview I've seen with them. Short sweet and to the point. Most interesting moment: Andrew shorts ZeFrank. Still I don't think there's any real anomosity there. It's just showbiz. A little rivalry is good for business. Watch movie Original post on February 23, 2007 from YouTube :: Videos by wallstrip: (RSS feed) (2-23-07) The most successful webshow in the history of our world finally sits down with Rocketboom.com Author: wallstrip Keywords: howardlindzon lindsaycampbell joannecolan joanne andrewbaron rocketboom wallstrip wallstreet money finance cash Added: February 23, 2007 (Via Mefeedia)

Looks like I'm going to re-blog my friend Jan twice today. She's oh so on topic. Re: The Faux Press :: Politics, Law, Media & Marketing: Bill Marriott's Got a Podcast :: Why Smoke-Free Hotels In a recent podcast, Marriott defends the decision to eliminate smoking rooms in all his hotels. In another (one of his first, the podcast enclosed herewith), he addresses new Federal regulations requiring U.S. citizens to show a passport when re-entering the country from Canada, Mexico and a bunch of other places. The big guys continue to buy into the blog / vlog / podcast fray. Hey, even the President and the Department of Homeland Security have RSS feeds. Excellent. The show notes for the smoking piece are: "We really received a lot of comments on the blog about Marriott's decision last year to take all our hotels in North America 100 percent smoke free. That includes Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, our Fairfield Inns, and even our TownePlace Suites. "One of our very best customers who smokes blogged back to me and said, "I'll never come back to a Marriott." Well, that's a tough pill for us to swallow. But we made this decision because we knew it's what our customers wanted. And it certainly is what our associates deserved." This is precisely the kind of issue that is best addressed by the head honcho. Well done, Mr. Marriott, though a more conversational tone might lend more credibility and warmth to your show. Thanks to Joho Blog for the heads' up. What I love about Jan is she always speaks straight to you. In this case she's speaking straight to Bill Marriott. Bill could learn a few things from Jan. I don't really have much to add except that I agree with Jan. The biggest issue I have is staying "on topic". While smoking in hotels is absolutely a great topic for a podcast I really question wether the discussion of homeland security passport policy is an appropriate topic when representing a hotel in a podcast. Although, I must say, in this case I really love that Bill has the grit to discuss such an issue, and I have to acknolege that he is not any employee, he's Bill Mariott and it's his hotel he's representing so it's his right if he wants to potentially alienate customers over issues outside of the scope of his hotel chain.

My good friend Jan over at FauxPress blogged the following about the Jet Blue's CEO posting a public apology on Youtube regarding their holding passengers hostage on a plane for some nine hours. Thanks to Steve Bryant at NewTeeVee for pointing out another interesting executive video. To Steve I say that Jet Blue's David Neeleman gets lots and lots of points for not reading from a script. So many folks these days are reading from scripts whose performances have left me cold. Hillary Clinton and Mr. Marriott come to mind. Not to worry, there's a learning curve to mastering authenticity, but you need a dedicated director on board to help you find and learn it. [Note: Senator Clinton's YouTube announcement video linked from VoteHillary.org has been taken down for TOS violation. Oops.]Furthermore, I don't need to hear, "I'm sorry." No-sir-ee. The only really meaningful response to a big-time screwup is action. Free flights, hotels, lots of free stuff for that kinda snafu. Let's see if Neeleman's words translate into motion, then re-evaluate. Checking the JetBlue website, I found this text apology. Also found their new Bill of Rights, though the amounts of compensation do not seem high enough. I just wanted to add two things. Welcome to the new face of the corporate to customer relations. Video blogging has natural advantages over regular blogging and PR channels like the press releases or VNRs (video news releases). It's particularly enticing as a tool for corporate apologists because it's much more direct then a VNR and much more personable (therefore more empathetic) then a written apology. I personally believe this may be the start of a change in the way companies interact with their customers. Welcome to the digital dark ages. Consider this emphasis. As Jan points out Senator Hillary Clinton's youtube announcement video for votehillary.org has been taken down for violating Youtube's terms of service. Normally this means a violation of copyright (the video came from CNN News), but regardless of why youtube removed it I just have one thing to say.... It doesn't matter wether it was deliberate or accidental youtube's removal of such a video is censorship plain and simple. I would even argue that its being arbitrary or accidental is even worse then it's being a deliberate act. At least if it was deliberate it would inform us of youtube's policy on censorship thereby informing our choice as to whether youtube is an appropriate choice for us as individuals. On the other hand if youtube is going to randomly and arbitrarily remove videos then it ceases to have any value as a platform for free speech at all and should be considered merely a platform for trash we don't care about.... which... is generally how I currently regard it. Please, if you're going to post stuff to youtube post a public backup somewhere. This is what we all deserve for depending on a third party. Expect to see a lot more important reference material disappear from youtube in the future. The future of youtube is the proverbial 404. If you you really want something to stick around (if it's important to you at all) I suggest using a tool like vixy.net to grab it off youtube and save a copy on your own server. For example, here's the Jet Blue video in MP4: JetBlue-our-promise-to-you.mp4 I've included it for the sake of archiving it, because without it this post doesn't make much sense. Not only is it on my server in case it disappears from youtube in six months time, but as an MP4 it's also podcast compatible and download able.

This just crossed the wires via the Yahoo videoblogging group. The Youtuber known as LisaNova has signed with MadTV. If I'm not mistaken she's the second youtuber to cross over to mainstream media. Youtube user "Brookers" was the first. She signed with Carson Daly Productions a few months back. Watch LisaNova's announcement Original post on February 12, 2007 from YouTube :: Videos by LisaNova: (RSS feed) Just wanted to make a quick video saying thanks to Youtube and everyone who watched my videos. My first episode airs on FOX on Saturday Feb. 17th @ 11PM Author: LisaNova Keywords: LisaNova MadTV YouTube Thanks Added: February 12, 2007I've started a guide on mefeedia for podcasters and videobloggers and youtubers who have crossed over to broadcast / mainstream media. Cross-over - a guide to videobloggers, youtubers and podcasters who've crossed over to mainstream media. I know there are quite a few podcasters and a few other videobloggers who've made the leap and would appreciate any reminders if you know someone I've missed. (Via Mefeedia)

I don't have the translation but I love the premise of this video not to mention the graphics. The transparent society. Oh so pretty, oh so scarry. What do we gain, what do we loose? How do we re-define public and private space not only in cyberspace but in the new world order. Perhaps someone will leave a translation and some background info in the comments. Watch movie Original post on February 06, 2007 from No fat clips!!!: (RSS feed) There's a new web portal about your town, in town. So, if you're German, say bye bye to your privacy.The nice piece of eye candiness has been directed by Marc Raymond Wilkins at BigFish Filmproduktion. C'è un nuovo portale sulla tua città, in città. Perciò, se sei tedesco, dì pure addio alla tua privacy...Un bel pezzo di zucchero oculare, diretto da Marc Raymond Wilkins presso BigFish Filmproduktion. (Via Mefeedia)

nn nnnnnIn a World Where Everyone Creates...nnFrom Andy Carvin. The dangerous stuff. A brainstorm, bluesky with Zadi Diaz and David Weinberger on NPR's evolving roll with the people formerly known as the audience. nWatch movie nnnOriginal post on February 16, 2007 from Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth: (RSS feed)nnWatch the videoJeff Jarvis, David Weinberger and Zadi Diaz discuss the evolution of the relationship between NPR and the people formally known as the audience, who are now content creators in their own right. -andy (Via Mefeedia)nn

Knights of Cydoniannn n n n n n nnn n n n n n n n nnnnDefinitely one of the best music videos I've seen in a very long time.nnWatch movie nnnOriginal post on December 18, 2006 from Alex Maccise: (RSS feed)nnJoseph Kahn directs this brilliant music video for the English rock band Muse, stars actors Russ Bain, Richard Brake and Cassandra Bell Via Wifi Blanes (Via Mefeedia)nn

Mindows Vista Security - Apple's Get a Mac Commercial (video/quicktime Object) Damn, Snap! Apple wasted no time ripping Microsoft a new one on Vista security! It's actually MEAN.

Apple wasted no time in making a commercial to poke some fun at Microsoft Windows Vista security.nCancel or Allow? Cancel or Allow? :)nnapple-getamac-security_480x376.movn(video/quicktime Object)