I start with the absolute must-have - a Web camera.

A while back, there was a discussion about USB 1.1 vs USB 2.0 web cams. This discussion is mostly obsolete now as the majority of new web cameras are all USB 2.0. Keep in mind that being USB 2.0 doesn’t guarantee quality in any way. It simply means the camera can send more data to the computer (in theory).

Here’s what to look for in a Web camera:

• Speed: Since we’re choosing a webcam to record video online, the speed is the most important factor. You need a webcam that will do at least 30 frames-per-second (30FPS) when the lighting is adequate.
• Light sensitivity: The sensitivity to light is very important as most budget web cams give good results only in a VERY narrow window. It’s either too dark or too light for them.
• Control: In addition to getting a camera that is sensitive to light, you absolutely need to be able to control it. Look for cam that has a control panel where you can adjust the speed, the gain, and the white balance (the color of light).
• Pixels: As usual the more, the marrier but this is secondary to the points above. Anything over 640×480 is probably an overkill for web video at this time.

I have selected two different cameras that meet the requirements above. If you are not sure about a web cam you like, feel free to email me.

• Logitech Pro 9000: This is the latest cam in Logitech’s Pro series. It’s probably a bit of an overkill but it does have everything you need. It also has a lot of stuff you probably don’t - like adding a moustache effect.

  The list price is $99 but you can find it for less.

• Logitech Communicate STX: If you want a good budget web cam, the STX is an excellent choice. I own it myself and it does well even in low light.

  List price is $49 but you can find it for half that!

Tags: camera, journalism, recording, review, video, vidize, web cam

You can read it here although if French isn’t your first language, you can read a loose translation from Google.

Tags: journalism, recording, review, video, vidize, web cam

There doesn’t seem to be any substantial improvements in the video department but here’s the feature list:

3D Effects - Easily transform and animate any display object through 3D space while retaining full interactivity. Fast, lightweight, and native 3D effects make motion that was previously reserved for expert users available to everyone. Complex effects are simple with APIs that extend what you already know.

Custom Filters and Effects - Create your own portable filters, blend modes, and fills using Adobe® Pixel Bender™, the same technology used for many After Effects CS3 filters. Shaders in Flash Player are about 1KB and can be scripted and animated at runtime.

Advanced Text Layout - A new, highly flexible text layout engine, co-existing with TextField, enables innovation in creating new text controls by providing low-level access to text offering right-to-left and vertical text layout, plus support for typographic elements like ligatures.

Enhanced Drawing API - Runtime drawing is easier and more powerful with re-styleable properties, 3D APIs, and a new way of drawing sophisticated shapes without having to code them line by line.

Visual Performance Improvements – Applications and videos will run smoother and faster with expanded use of hardware acceleration. By moving several visual processing tasks to the video card, the CPU is free to do more.

Tags: 10, Adobe, astro, flash, player, video, web

Here’s a few important points:

A terrorist shot in Sarajevo provided the pretext for German aggression which started World War I. 9/11 was used by the Bush Administration to launch the Iraq War. In both cases, trigger-happy leaders exploited the incidents for their own political purposes.

In both cases, the national media played along. The failures of the American media to slow or stop the descent into the Iraq War are the greatest media failures of our current era…

In short, almost all governments lie and lie relentlessly. Yet governments can be made to lie less frequently by being exposed and held to account by the professional media.

He does mention blogs (such as this one) and concludes: The problem with the internet, of course, is that it transmitted considerable flakiness alongside pithy truth telling. Blog sites, for good and ill, are unfiltered and unaccountable.

So what about getting the best of both worlds - the accountability and ethics of professional journalism AND the freedom of expression associated with the Internet (and blogs)?

Tags: BBC, free speech, freedom of speech, Jeffrey Sachs, journalism, media

Here’s a sample of the video blogging from Afghanistan:

Tags: iTV, podcast, podcasting, video, video blogging

According to an article on E!, the strike cost an amazing 2.5 billion USD.

A report released Wednesday by Jack Kyser, the chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., has revealed that the three-month walkout by film and TV writers took a heavier toll on Tinseltown’s bottom line than predicted—$2.5 billion in lost show business.

The 71-page study, dubbed the Economic Forecast Report, concluded that the writers’ strike, which started Nov. 5 and ended last week, resulted in millions of dollars in lost wages for the cast and crews of shuttered film and television productions.

A follow-up strike, however, is not out of the question as SAG leaders have expressed determination to lead tough negotiations.

Tags: agreement, cost, strike, writer

Tags: special, writers strike, youtube

Hollywood directors (DGA) reached a tentative contract deal Thursday with studios, a development that could turn up the pressure on striking writers to settle their 2-month-old walkout that has crippled the entertainment industry.

“Two words describe this agreement — groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chair of the Directors Guild of America’s negotiations committee. “There are no rollbacks of any kind.”

Is this a signal that the writer’s strike is going to end any time soon?

“This deal was strongly influenced by the writers strike,” said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and a former counsel to the writers guild. “It shows all the earmarks of the improvements the writers were looking for — but it doesn’t achieve them by any means.”

The WGA issued a statement that they will review the terms that the directors got and that they’re ready to return to the negotiating table.

Tags: hollywood, WGA, writers strike

In addition to all the changes to the Journal’s print edition, Murdoch plans to make the online edition free. Apart from porn sites and MMOs, the WSJO was the only online service the managed to charge a subscription fee - for a total of $50 million in revenue.

Murdoch’s plans include broadening the appeal of the site and switching the revenue model to advertising. Industry experts doubt WSJO will reach $50 million in advertising any time soon, especially when projections for 2008 seem rather gloomy.

This bit from Kevin expresses one reader’s concerns:

Mr. Murdoch has said that he wanted The Journal to step up its coverage of politics and national and international affairs, making it a more direct competitor to The New York Times. He has lobbied for more hard news and more succinct articles — a marked shift in tone for a newspaper whose signatures include long, often quirky news features that start on the front page…

I, for one, often enjoy the front page, long quirky articles. I find those articles to be a refreshing break from the constant barrage of facts, figures, and strong opinions. Moving along to the free with advertising versus subscription based model, I favor the latter. I do not want to be constantly bombarded with advertisements that I need to move out of my way to read an article. I prefer a clean, uncluttered look.

Tags: journal, murdoch, news, news corp, online, television, WSJ

Here’s the summary:

The latest version of Flash Media Sever, which will ship in January 2008, will be come in three versions, ranging from free to $4,500 — a price drop of 90%.

The Flash Media Interactive Server 3, the most expensive of the offerings, will provide more scalability and a robust new plugin architecture that its lower priced counterparts don’t offer. But for single server deployments, the $995 Flash Media Streaming Server, should be sufficient and could be attractive for smaller media publishers. Adobe will also offer a developer version for free that supports up to 10 concurrent users.

Since most publishers will only use the streaming features, the price drop is quite significant. Previously, multiple licenses ($4,500) were required just to stream to more than 200 users.

Tags: Adobe, FMS, red 5, server, streaming, web cam, web video