The Techno Peasant Empowerment Manifesto
Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand before you a sinner, a heathen, a digital pagan if you will. What is wrong with me that I must point out the folly of those less fortunate than myself? Those poor sods who will never know the joy of spending hours in the basement programming a Sinclair ZX81, the wily buzz I feel when a truly cross platform project is created, or that using Google Apps makes me feel like a man. They...just...don't...get it.
So, there it is. The cry of religious frustration for us the disciples of the binary code. "They just don't get it." The phrase that separates us; the whisper in the ear and the pointed finger of difference. They are not like us. They don't understand. They will never be as geek as we are.
"Who are they?" I hear you bellow. Well, we could talk about old people, I mean, people older than us anyway. But that's not who they are. Vint Cerf the father of the internet isn't a 'they', Bill Gates isn't a 'they', and Apple co-founder, Woz, certainly, isn't a ‘they’. They are the people who haven't kept up. Who haven't slaved alone in dark rooms with only the friendly glow of the monitor and the typing of the code to keep them company as their high school social skills withered like grapes on the vine. They haven't canceled a date to save money for an iPhone, they don't know that TED is not a person, and they didn't cry when their school was put on the waiting list for the Apple IIe. They...haven't...paid...their dues.
Now, it's our turn, us of nimble mind and questionable social graces; of open source and beta stages. We are the new power and how we wield that power will show our true colours to the world. We have beliefs and openness. Sharing and joy. We love technology. We embrace technology. Technology, we believe, will save the environment, the government, and the future of the human race.
Therefore, I ask you, one and all, to stop using the awful phrase -- "they don't get it". We are above this. Rise up. Empower a techno peasant you know. Show them the way to the geek alter. “How?”, I hear you cry. Install the Facebook app on their Blackberry, help them understand peer to peer networking, show them the power of Basecamp, download Flock as their new browser, give them the power to make a digital change in their lives and the lives of their families without fear.
Let me be clear, I am not saying you need to become their 'geek on call' like we all are for our mothers, grandmothers, and those beautiful nubile women struggling with their laptops in coffee shops across this great nation. No, I am asking that you give back to those less fortunate than yourselves. The technologically challenged unwashed masses. The people for which the world of binary is like watching a slasher film on meth - terrifying yet strangely pleasing.
In the end it is all about fear my friends. They fear technology. They fear those who understand the technology. And the fear -- it paralyzes them.
In closing, I ask you to sally forth and free our beloved techno peasants from the shackles of analogue by gently coaxing them into the digital age. They are our next clients. Without them, and the masses that follow, we will once again be relegated to the rank basements of suburbia.
And that, my friends, is no place for the saviors of human race.
Thank you
Friday, March 28, 2008
My 5 Min Rant at ICE08 conference in Toronto
Thursday, March 27, 2008
ICE 08 Panel - Pipelines - Making Money Online
PIPELINES: The Future of Online Video
A look at how much video online really costs and why no one is making big money in online video - yet.
Moderator:
* Gavin McGarry, Independent Consultant, Joost, MELT, North West Vision and Media
Panelists:
* Kevin Bartus, Vice President Digital Media, Rogers
* Scott Bushman, VP, Business Development, Metacafe (USA)
* Richard Kanee, Director, Digital Business Development, CTV
* Jason Roks, Digital Alchemist
Link to ICE08 website
OVERVIEW OF VIDEO
Link to PPT slide on Google Apps
CAVET
The numbers we discuss here are very, general and very approximate. The idea was to give the audience an idea of some of the costs involved in delivering video online to help with the discussions during the panel.
CONTENT
Our challenge: how much does it cost, very approximately, to serve 1 minute of Youtube quality video with one 15 second ad in it on the web?
Results: there are a lot of factors to consider and if math was not your strong suit in school -- get a tutor.
ENCODING
Free:
Flash encoders: FFMPEG, Adobe Flash Encoder, Rivavx.de,
Paid:
From BetaCam TV Master including removal of 10 second commercial blacks and encoded into MPEG2 (DVD quality) - $5 per minute
With commercial blacks left in - $3 per minute
If you shoot and edit in digital and then upload to Youtube via your own machine - free.
CMS (Content Management Systems)
The software or service you use to program, track, manage, deploy, syndicate your content.
Free:
Brightcove with Ads
Sharing sites: Youtube, MyAccount, Veoh, Metacafe (trade off you giving up rights and advertising placement - non exclusive to each platform).
Paid:
Maven - $5000 per month
Platform - $5000 per month
Brightcove - $27,000 ($10K for white label + $17K against bandwidth usage + bandwidth 60cent a gig)
Ooyala - (new co) per transaction fee + bandwidth + other
STORAGE
These are the servers you will store your content on. You could build your own but when you assistant drops their organic orange juice on the machine you'll wish it was off site.
Approximately $1 per gig per month but can go as low as 20 cents a gig depending on many factors and your negotiating skills.
Free:
Archive.org, any video share sites (Youtube, metacafe, etc)
Paid:
Regular internet host - (most expensive option) mediatemple, rackspace, godaddy, allstream (MTS).EDGE - CDN (content delivery network) -Akaimi, Limelight, Level 3, Vital Stream
Web services - Amazon S3 (s3 stands for 3 services: hosting, delivery, processing power)
DISTRIBUTION
Someone has got to get your content on the pipes of the internet. For that, you pay Pedro.
Costs about $1.50 CPM but can go as low as 20 cents CPM.
Free:
Archive.org (must own your own content or have the rights), Youtube, metacafe
Paid:
Same as players as Storage.
GEO TARGETING
Maybe you don't want the whole of the world to see your documentary on Canadian knick knacks. These companies will limit your content to IP addresses in a geographical region.
Cost $1.00 CPM
DIY
Free:
No services at the moment
Note: most of the big CDN's and CMS's offer geo targeting for an add on fee
Quova.com
AD SERVING
If you want to make money and not charge your viewers a subscription fee (shame) then you will need to engage the services of someone who will serve the advertising.
Cost: vary widely but work on $3.00 CPM for a 15 second commercial + bandwidth
No free services
Doubleclick (Google)
Freewheel
AOL Networks
Microsoft (Avenue A/Razorfish)
DRM - (Digital Rights Management)
Someone has to clear all the rights otherwise we would have anarchy on the net. Oh wait, we already do.
Cost: $3.00CPM
Free:
you don't use it ;-)
Paid:
Microsoft
www.EZDRM.com (reseller of Microsoft)
Apple Store has it build in
REVENUE SHARES
Most of the online video is done on a revenue share basis. Some use a net of costs version and then split a percentage based on who sells the advertising.
Link to Spreadsheet of Money and Glory
QUESTIONS
Where is revenue coming from now and next?
What are traditional content distributors doing?
With ever expanding options where to watch content, what are the unique offerings of the major online video pipelines?
P2P (Peer to Peer)
-high quality
-mitigating of bandwidth costs
Joost
Babelgum
BitTorrent
PORTALS
-audience
-rev guarantees (sometimes)
MSN
AOL
Yahoo
SHARING SITES
-audience
-bandwidth
-onsite monetization
Metacafe
Youtube
Dailymotion
OBSERVATIONS
-Bell, Rogers, Cogeco now capping bandwidth
-Bandwidth shaping
TOOLS
Flash Bitrate Calculator
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Apple considering clamshell iPhone?
Apple could be embracing the clamshell aesthetic for a future iPhone.
Click here to see patent diagrams
Unwiredview.com found an Apple patent application for a "dual-sided trackpad device," which resembles the current iPhone redesigned into the clamshell format so popular with many mobile phones. The key to this design is having touch-screen capabilities on both the top and bottom of the phone when it's open.
Could Apple be working on a clamshell version of the iPhone?
CBC to Release show via Bit Torrent for Free
CBC, Canada’s public television broadcaster has plans to release the upcoming TV-show “Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister” for free via BitTorrent. This makes CBC the first North-American broadcaster to embrace the popular filesharing protocol.
From Torrent Freak - Full article here
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Paid Content: AOL buying Bebo
Full article from PaidContent
BREAKING: AOL Buying Bebo For $850 Million
In a major and rather unexpected deal, AOL (NYSE: TWX) is buying social net Bebo for $850 million in cash. Rumors had swirled around Bebo of either an acquisition or new financing for weeks, but few anticipated AOL as the suitor. AOL will get Bebo's 40 million members and 80 million unique users, its core 13-to-24 demographic and a growing line in both original TV production and hosting broadcasters' content. This comes as AOL completes its transition from an access business to an ad-funded content and community player.
YouTube, TiVo in tie-in deal
US digital video recorder (DVR) service TiVo has signed a deal with YouTube to make videos from the Google-owned video website available through television sets.
Starting later this year, broadband-connected TiVo users with Series3 or HD set-top boxes will be able to search, browse and watch YouTube videos on TV directly through their DVRs. Users will also have the ability to log on to their YouTube accounts and access their favourite channels and playlists through their TiVo boxes.
Voozoo.tv
If you haven't seen this new Facebook app you need to add it, like, now.
Go to www.voozoo.tv. It will add the app automatically.
Or go to the Facebook group Voozoo
The Voozoo group is the place where all things voozoo are discussed. The voozoo group will get special access to a huge library of famous movie clips to send to your friends, post to your profile, and more.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
News Blooper: Anchor VS. Reporter - Timothy Beagley
When bad reporters get worse. Oh my dear gawd. This is hilarious.
Sarah Lacy after interview with Mark Zuckerberg
Her response. See video of Mark interview below first.
Mark Zuckerberg Facebook at SXSW Keynote with Sarah Lacy
This is the very messy interview that Sarah conducted at SXSW in which the audience revolted. It takes a while to get to it.
3:39 - Zuckerberg asks her to ask a question and audience erupts.
6:26 - guy from the crowd says 'talk about something interesting' and the mob takes over.
7:10 - guy with question owns Sarah
Microsoft Surface - The Possibilities
If you have not seen this yet it is quite incredible. Not on the market yet but will be in hotels soon I hear.
Top 5 Most Useful Websites
1. Speed Test
2. Drop Box
3. Eboostr
4. Guerilla Mail
5. Find Sounds
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
BitTorrent vs. IPTV: Who Wins?
David Cotriss
P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing has always been synonymous with online audio and video distribution, and the BitTorrent protocol has played a major role in this movement. BitTorrent is known for its ability to help distribute files among a large number of users with a reduced burden on the original source. According to Richard Broughton, an analyst at Screen Digest, as much as 70 to 80 percent of online traffic in the Western world is from P2P sources, and 60 percent or more is through BitTorrent.
Full article here
Backcasting - A trend?
A friend and I were having a chat today about getting his show on a Canadian broadcaster. He is running up against myrid of roadblocks and the show is a good idea. A money maker even.
It seems there are a few wiley Canadian independent TV producers who are working with the US border stations in Erie and Buffalo, creating Canadian content, and sending it back into Canada from the US. Canadian advertisers are following suit. Well, well, well, how very interesting.
I have lived in Southern Ontario a long time and never realized just how big our market is for US border stations. I always assumed, wrongly, that everything is just bigger and better in America otherwise why would all of our networks keep buying US programming and selling it back to us.
I need to do some more research to see how many Canadian shows are made and shot in Canada by Canadians for Canadians and then broadcast on US stations back into Canada. I will keep you posted with a list. If you know of any please let me know.
Here are some interesting statistics from PBS in Erie. I draw your attention to the Canadian versus US statistics.
WQLN Viewers - TV-54
WQLN serves Northwestern Pennsylvania, Western New York, Eastern Ohio and Southwestern Ontario.
342,600 Total U.S. TV Households*
Total of 822,000 potential viewers
*Nielsen Station Index February 2003
675,000 Total Canadian TV Households**
**Based on Estimated Population of viewing areas.
Over 9,500 Members in U.S. and Canada
Here is a link to the full data: http://www.wqln.org/corporatesupport/viewers.asp
Monday, March 10, 2008
Moods Baby Moods
I'm really into understanding large amounts of data from a visual perspective. Here are some sites that are monitoring moods and quite intriguing:
http://www.moodjam.org/
http://moodviews.com/
http://www.love-lines.com/lovelines.html
http://www.moodmill.com/
My favourite is: Digg Labs Swarm
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Humanity Lobotomy - Second Draft
If you watch one video this week. This is it. Net neutrality explained simply.
Is Noon the new Prime Time?
It turns out that the web hasn't killed primetime after all. But like so many things on the internet, it's not what you think.
For starters, the web's primetime (if there is one, more on that in a bit), is a midday event. What some refer to as dayparting and others call video snacking is actually a trend of students, office workers, housewives and possibly the perpetually unemployed turning away from the TV and embracing new media in a big way.
It's noon; do you know who's looking at your ads? Speaking mostly to publishers, The New York Times found that there is a growing push to get content up in time for a midday audience.
"Go take a walk around your office [at lunchtime]," Alan Wurtzel, head of research for NBC told the paper. "Out of 20 people, I'm going to guarantee that five are going to be on some sort of site that is not work-related."
Internet TV slow to catch on despite BBC iPlayer
Less than one Briton in five streamed or downloaded traditional TV programmes from the web using legal services offered by networks or internet services providers such as Tiscali, according to a survey of the nation's digital entertainment habits.
Full article from Times Online
Over half of US to watch video in 08
Top 15 Concept Phones
Some very cool ideas. The "snake wrapped around your arm look" is going to be huge.
Link to blog here
The New Way of funding media projects
Hollywood's William Morris Agency (WMA) has teamed up with two Silicon Valley venture capital firms plus mobile and IPTV giant AT&T to invest tens of millions of dollars in digital media start-ups.
Rest of the article from C21
Monday, March 3, 2008
IPTV slow uptake in the UK
Full article from Techwatch here
Why I Don't Use Flock
I have been testing the browser Flock for the past couple of weeks as they are about to release an update. I really like it but it keeps crashing and it is slow. It seems to slow down the more tabs I open. Anyway, still give it a try if you haven't you may not have the problems I had. I'm going to try it again when they come out with the Picasa add on that is currently in beta.