A little web fun before Christmas
December 24, 2009 by John Proffitt · Leave a Comment
Here’s some humorous bits and pieces to enjoy. Consider it a Christmas present!
The Web for Beginners
Beatles 3000
The Case of the Lost Case
Rosenblum Resurrected
December 18, 2009 by John Proffitt · Leave a Comment
Back in February 2007 I was blown away by Michael Rosenblum, keynote speaker at the Integrated Media Association conference in Boston. I’ve shared this video on DVD, shown it to colleagues and helped the IMA post it to their web site back then. But it’s buried at the IMA site and it deserves much more play. So I’m resurrecting it here.
I was actually running the cheap camcorder at the event, in a dimly lit hotel ballroom from about 50 feet away off to the side — so the video itself is blah. But the audio is awesome because it was professionally recorded and I was able to merge the blah video with the fantastic audio. Makes all the difference.
Blurry and dim video aside, Rosenblum’s presentation is mesmerizing. His grip on historical stories brings to life the peril that’s present for traditional TV broadcasters and TV producers, including public broadcasting companies. This is must-watch stuff if you’re in any way involved in TV or video.
Length: about 1 hour. Introduction by KQED’s Tim Olson. Download a QuickTime copy here (113MB).
Rosenblum on Video News
Sing it brother! Rosenblum instinctively understands the next wave in both local video news production and local advertising production. While working at the stations in Anchorage, I proposed that we develop a democratized advertising platform to allow folks to write their own material, submit it online and pay for it instantly. Why aren’t we doing that today?
Brian Lehrer Live Interview from Rosenblum TV on Vimeo.
Rosenblum on TV Economics
Everyone in the PBS community knows that stations and the network screwed up when cable became a major national media distribution force. PBS should have been allowed an encouraged to develop a multi-channel national content distribution system tailored to the cable world. Too bad we missed that boat. And now, with hundreds of cable channels and millions of web outlets, video economics have jumped and it’s time we rethink our work.
Learning Google Wave
October 3, 2009 by John Proffitt · Leave a Comment
Google Wave is all the rage. Not sure what it’s about? Here are the 2 things you can review to become an expert (without actually getting an account):
Google Wave Intro by Epipheo
A quick-and-dirty explanation of what some of Google Wave can be. Very popular video from the last couple of days on the social networks.
Google Wave Intro from Google – May 2009
A very long introduction, but it’s very complete and fully geeky for those that are interested.
A new ad game in town
October 3, 2009 by John Proffitt · Leave a Comment
Awesome new entrant in the online advertising biz. And their debut self-promotion piece does more than promote — it actually teaches. Are you paying attention old-school advertisers?
How about you public media? Do you understand how the web isn’t broadcast? There are a few at NPR that get it. What about the local stations?
Mundt cuts the cord, lives to tell about it
May 12, 2008 by John Proffitt · 2 Comments
Bravo to Todd Mundt on both “cutting the cord” from his cable company and writing in-depth about the process and experience of consuming media — up to and including HD video — without cable (or satellite) TV service.
The mix of technologies required today are a bit daunting to anyone that wants just a plain old “boob tube” experience, but for any moderately inclined hobbyist, this is pretty accessible.
Furthermore — and this is the kicker — there’s more content out there on the ‘Net than on PBS, as lots of sources distribute directly and PBS (for various reasons, many of them good) chooses not to carry the stuff.
(For the record, Todd reports that he still uses the cable company for Internet access, just not for TV. My own experience is that my local cableco won’t sell me high speed service without a TV bundle, so I can’t fully follow his example. However, I have stopped watching BSG on TV and instead watch exclusively via hulu and DVD).
Oh, and be sure to follow Todd on Twitter, if you aren’t already.
J-Week 2008: Web Extras Toolkit
April 19, 2008 by John Proffitt · 2 Comments
Welcome Journalism Week 2008 visitors from Anchorage, Alaska! If you’re looking for the “Web Extras Toolkit” handout from Saturday, April 19, 2008, you’ve come to the right place.
- Download the Web Extras Toolkit here
(PDF, 1.5MB)
And feel free to recommend your own toolkit additions or corrections via the site comment feature.