Apart from the obvious lesson (bootstrapping), Burt Rutan makes an amazing presentation on space flights, innovation cycles, commercialization of technology, and the superiority of private enterprise (to government).
BBC has aired a video sent by Alan Johnston’s kidnappers. The original BBC one is not share-able, so I got this one:
The BBC came out with a statement as well:
We are studying the video very carefully. We have been working very closely with Alan’s family for the past 81 days. This is a highly distressing time for them and for his friends and his colleagues. We repeat our call for his immediate release.
You might be surprised to hear what happens to gay rights activists in Moscow. I’m not … I’ve been there (Moscow), seen that.
Thirty-one people were arrested during the peaceful demonstration by the police. At the same time, the police stood aside while right-wing and Orthodox activists took the chance the exercise their “right” to violent protest by hitting many of the activists.
Here’s the news blurp, you can view the video here.
Police detained gay rights activists, among them European lawmakers, as they tried to present a letter to Moscow’s mayor yesterday in a demonstration that also attracted a hostile crowd of people who punched and threw eggs at the activists.
Police quickly grabbed about a dozen activists and forced them into a bus, including Russian gay rights movement leader Nikolai Alexeyev.
Marco Cappato, a European Parliament deputy from Italy, was kicked by one opponent as he spoke to journalists. Cappato began shouting “Where are the police? Why don’t you protect us?” and officers hauled him away as he struggled.
So let’s recap Putin’s priorities when it comes to free speech and human rights:
1) Journalists
2) Ex-spies
3) Gays
There was a recent study on how the price of petrol influences certain countries to become more/less authoritarian. Following this logic, if the price of petrol hits $100, Russia will probably become more authoritarian than the Soviet Union during the Cold War (if at all possible).
Anna Politkovskaya, death, free speech, journalism, Putin, Russia, spy
Google has just announced at the AdSense blog that they have started a closed beta of AdSense for video.
Previously, it was possible to get a video ad instead of an image ad (granted you have opted in for video). This one is different and is probably tied to Google’s acquisition of Youtube.
It will now be possible to put AdSense ads INSIDE streaming videos. So you could host your own video and put an AdSense pre-roll and then another one at the end.
I still haven’t seen it in action but if Google is successful in monetizing video, it could be huge. The economics of video, however, are much different than text so it remains to be seen if the results will actually be worth it.
ads, adsense, google, user generated content, video, web 2.0, youtube
Just as Microsoft launches Silverlight in an attempt to compete with Adobe’s Flash, Adobe strikes back.
Adobe will be launching a desktop media player, which is called unsurprisingly, Adobe Media Player. The player will be able to play FLVs (flash video format) as well as a number of other video formats.
The player has been built on Adobe’s Apollo framework which will be available approximately at the same time as the player, i.e. in late 2007.
A lot of observers have been saying that Microsoft faces an uphill battle for marketshare with its Silverlight. I bet the hill is twice as steep when it comes to Adobe getting a foothold when it comes to desktop players.
Poor video lighting isn’t something you can only find on the web. Amateur videos of all sorts suffer from its effects.
I wrote a little article on three-point lighting at the Wikipedia that describes the most basic lighting setup.
The three point lighting setup may be simple but it’s useful in 80% of cases – or even close to 100% if you’re shooting talking heads.
Let me give you an example of a bad lighting setup (see the image on the right). Both shots come from interviews that Miranda July did for her indie movie.
As you can see there’s a remarkable difference when you go from top to bottom. Note: the second one was shot by iFilm.
So what are the guys at iFilm doing right? Here’s a short list for you:
Apart from lighting, it seems that a little make up and a soft filter complete the magic.
For portraits, I recommend Tiffen’s Warm Soft/FX lens filters. Just make sure you turn the auto-focus off because sometimes it will hunt attemting to focus on the small particles in the lens filter.
filter, gonzo, journalism, lighting, user generated content, web2.0
I already have a web cam (a Logitech Communicate STX) but I’m shopping around for a good USB 2 web cam. I have tested Apple’s iSight and I was pleased with the results but I’m not ready to commit to Apple any time soon.
I’ve been a long time Sony fan, when it comes to camcorders (especially HD ones). So I’m pretty excited about this news bit from Sony!
David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said, “PLAYSTATION Eye is a great example of how we have moved forward so significantly with our technology. PLAYSTATION Eye has four times the resolution, twice the framerate and double the sensitivity of its predecessor EyeToy USB Camera. With the technology that we now have at our disposal we will be able to dramatically improve the communications experience enjoyed on PS3”.
Here’s the tech specs!
The resolution and the frame rate are nothing short of groundbreaking. I’m not sure it will only work with PS3 though, USB 2 makes it PC-ready as well.
bandwidth, FMS, google video, logitech, media, video, webcam, youtube
This is a follow up to BBC’s Ashley Highfield (he’s BBC Director for New Media) plan to move BBC beyond traditional media.
The BBC has more than one million hours of video and audio plus supporting notes and scripts. The archive trial—closed to 20,000 consumers—will launch in May and is expected to last up to six months. It’s meant to gather info to use in proposing a “public service on-demand archive” that will require apprval by the BBC Trust and “to see where we should draw the line between a licence fee funded service and a commercial service.”
It will gauge interest in various old programs, how people want to see them and when—“‘lean-forward’ exploratory mode similar to web surfing, or as a scheduled experience more akin to TV viewing.” Highfield: “The BBC Archive would be an extension of the BBC’s seven-day catch-up on demand proposals, the BBC iPlayer.
As with that proposed service, the Archive journey has been, and will be, a long one. It’s a massive undertaking. Ensuring the right split between license fee funding and commercial funding will be complex.”
The statement comes from a planned presentation that Mr. Highfield is giving at the MipTV in Cannes. Note that BBC has already released a news archive online.
In an attempt to dislodge Adobe’s Flash from its dominant position, Microsoft has launched Silverlight, a cross-browser, cross-platform plugin.
Adobe claims Flash has a 97% penetration, with the latest version (v.9) climbing to 80%+.
This from the horse’s mouth:
Based on the Microsoft .NET Framework, Silverlight enables developers and designers to use existing skills and tools: for designers, Microsoft Expression Studio, and for developers, Visual Studio.
Silverlight uses Windows Media Video (WMV) and Microsoft’s implementation of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) VC-1 video standard to deliver video files can that scale from mobile devices to full-screen high-definition displays.
Now, I’ve never seen ANYONE using Microsoft’s Expression studio for design. In addition, only a few sites are using exclusively WMV streaming despite the fact that the server is free as opposed to Flash Media Server. All in all, it’ll be a steep climb for Microsoft.
Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV
As Apple TVs hit the street in number, there’s a lot of speculation about the marriage of the iTunes library to your HD TV.
Om Malik muses about the future for indie producers. It’s not Om’s sole opinion though, he’s quoting “industry experts attending the New Video Summit in San Jose, California.”
A nice quote from Jonathan Hoopes, an analyst with investment firm ThinkEquity:
As a digital media content delivery vehicle positioned in users’ living rooms, we think the AppleTV/iTunes combination could become as disruptive to legacy video purchase-and-consumption behavior as the iPod/iTunes combination has been to the traditional music business model.
I’m not so sure about the disruptive power though. Google Video was touted as a marketplace for indie producers when it first launched.
Waterborne was the first full-length movie to make a Gootube debut foregoing a more lucrative (but conventional) distributing offer. The result has been lackluster at best (read, it’s been a complete failure).
apple tv, google video, gootube, hollywood, indie producers, video