VIDEO: is this thing on?
I found this clip of Ryanne doing a camera test (60FPS).
VIDEO: dirty_skin (and I'll tell you why)
We're in Vermont helping the Wreck and Salvage Crew to, well, wreck and salvage a barn.
This is for VideobloggingWeek2008 and Semanal.
VIDEO: panic_begins
Second entry for VideobloggingWeek2008.
Also posted at Semanal.
VIDEO: begin in the middle
First video for Videobloggingweek2008.
Videoblogging week started in 2004 with less than ten videobloggers as a participatory way to raise awareness of videoblogging and welcome new videobloggers. Over the years Videoblogging Week has grown to be an exciting yearly event that encourages people to push themselves creatively.
I'm also posting this to Semanal.
VIDEO: pothole_killer
Ryan and I say this contraption in New Orleans. Everyone who saw it said it was so much better than seeing 5 guys spend a whole day fixing one pothole.
VIDEO: things_we_saw
This for week 12 of Semanal. A game suggested by Daniel of Pouring Down. Join in.
VIDEO: Open_the_networks
Click To Play
Here's FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein talking about Net Neutrality.
He was speaking to a great panel at the Politics Online conference on the future of broadband in the US. It's funny that the conversation is not about technology, but simply what "openness" means. The current Bush administration (represented by the guy on the right) thinks we should just let market forces figure it out. But others consider broadband as a public service like telephone, water, and roads. Without open guidelines, where's the innovation and equal access when there's a duopoly controlling the access to the internet?
VIDEO: making_change
Since Ryanne and I are moving soon, we're getting rid of everything to drive across the country. This is for week 9 of Semanal, a year long group video project that is open for anyone to join.
VIDEO: flying_over_LA
Look how insane LA looks at night as you fly into the city.
We built it piece by piece.
This is for week 7 of Semanal.
Music: Pachebel's Canon In D (Glass Harmonica). See how they play the crystals here. Kick ass.
Political Video
Schlomo and I are co-moderating a panel at The Politics Online Conference on March 5, 2008. We'll be joined by Richard Bluestein (aka Madge), Jim Bray of Why Tuesday, and hopefully someone from The Uptake. Our goal is to highlight the growing ability for grassroots web video to affect the political conversation we have in this country.
I'm especially realizing how important an online community can help raise money.
From a recent article in the London Telegraph:
Last month, for example, Mr Obama raised an astonishing $32 million (about £18 million). Of this, all but $4 million was donated online, by hundreds of thousands of small donors (90 per cent gave $100 or less).
That's huge money and can only happen because Obama has been the one of the few candidates (also Ron Paul) to reach out online in a big way. Web video can help build this relationship. Anyway, here's our panel info. We'd love to see you come by.
Title:
How web video changes the political conversation - http://polc.ipdi.org/Agenda
Description: Regular people are increasingly making media that adds to the political conversation, lugging small (and big) cameras to political events and telling their own stories. They post their own commentary on issues using webcams. They use video clips to influence their own communities. They don't stick to talking points. What's a campaign manager or issue advocate to do?
Day/Time: Wednesday, March 5 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Register at https://www.online-donation
Los Angeles: Video 24/7
Ryanne and I are helping out at Video 24/7, a DIY video summit in LA.
It goes from Feb 8-10. Here's the full schedule.
Ryanne is leading a screening of videos that she put together, and we'll also doing a panel with Kenyatta and Tiffiniy Cheng from Miro. Our goal is to discussion on how video creators could actually record, edit, post, distribute, and archive web videos using open source tools from beginning to end. There are still gaping holes in the current process, but it's all developing.
On sunday Feb 10, we'll be leading a 3-hour videoblogging workshop. They told us 15 people are already signed up. We'll be walking people through our showinabox project using Wordpress....or just see what help people need. If you're in LA, call us (917 371 790) or come by the event.
VIDEO: a story that isnt true
Here's a video for week two of the Semanal project, where we are posting one video a week for 2008. Check out everyone's work and join in. No rules, just encouragement and often madness. Music by: William Zeitler (playing glass harmonica) "The Fixed Stars"
European Trip
Ryanne and I will be in Europe from Jan 8-Feb 6. We'll be staying with friends in London, Brighton, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris, and Barcelona.
Our main impetus for traveling is to present at these two video events: Video Vortex and VXmission. Discussions of the rights of online creators are at the center of discussion. Plus the need to really encourage creative work parallel to the commercial entertainment industry. It'll definitely be different from all the video conferences in Silicon Valley. If you're in any or around any of these cities, we'd love to meet up with you. Just email me since we'll be hanging out along the way. We'd love to get the local skinny.
And if you're looking for something to do this year, join the Semenal video project. We're all posting one video a week for 2008. You know some cool, weird stuff is going to be popping up.
VIDEO: any_mountain
This video settles my debt to two projects at once. It's Carp Caviar Promo month (see my past contributions here and here). It's also the first week of Semanal, where everyone is posting a video every week for 2008. I like these group video projects. Come join the fun.
VIDEO: fresh_fudge
Day 27 of NaVloPoMo.
VIDEO: Chainsaw
VIDEO: three_fold_blessing_oil
Day 21 of NaVloPoMo.
I took this video of a creepy TV evangelist this week when I flew to the East Coast on an overnight.
TV evangelists in the US were in their prime during the 80's with Jimmy Swaggart, Robert Tilton, and James and Tammi Faye Baker. The style is simple: get a TV show, say that god has given you the power to create happiness, and keep asking for money.
This first group were all eventually convicted or humiliated off the TV screen only after their lavish lifestyles became too outrageous. TV evangelists have since become more sophisticated with James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Ted Haggard (recently uncovered). Instead of just asking for cash for their own pockets, they now help organize voting blocks that elect US politicians. Everyone knows this is where the real power and money is. Hook right into the vein.
Anyway, this guy is a throwback to the simple, "Give me money and god will reward you" days. He's hypnotic like a vampire. I can only imagine the people who call to give money at 4am. Desperate, sad, confused.
VIDEO: constant_negotiation
What do you do when you find yourself being recorded?
Record back.
VIDEO: brewster_OLPC
Several months ago I briefly met with the awesome Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive.
He was showing off the OLPC computer (One Laptop Per Child).
They were initially promoted as costing $100, but are now about $200 each.
The computer is designed to be bought in orders of 100,000 units by developing countries to jump start their educational process. If every kid has a computer that's connected to the internet and each other, and is using open source software they can learn to program, then the kids in these countries can figure out their own solutions. This is the social techie dream.
But there are many people who say the OLPC program is bullshit.
I just got into another heated debate tonight over OLPC.
The argument is that children in developing nations need clean water and food first.
Many children barely have proper schools to attend. How are you going to give a kid who lives in a hut a computer? The corruption in many developing nations is incredible, and this would be another waste of precious resources. Why give computers to kids anyway? Give them to the adults.
I believe in appropriate technology and trust that the right people will find their ways to computers.
I truly believe that there are those of us who love to connect and explore. The OLPC computer just lowers the barrier to having a machine that connects you to the greater web so you can find your own way. Computers are not the answer, but they are a tool.
It's a pretty cool computer if you check out the features.
It runs on linux, has a video camera built in, an automatic mesh network is created through the antennae, and can be powered by a hand pump. Brewster is especially excited because he's working on Project Gutenberg which is scanning thousands of books that can be read on computers like these. He has a dream.
VIDEO: public_screaming
I walked by a park where they were watching a movie.
It's the totally crazy Cannibal Holocaust.
Kind of a weird movie to screen in a public park.
VIDEO: hen_advocacy
This video is for the folks over here who are debating whether or not to ban people from raising chickens in the city limits of Missoula, Montana. It's a great conversation, but I feel like the text comments were not being based on reality. So I decided to make a short video with some backyard evidence that raising hens properly is actually a really smart thing to do. This is also NaVloPoMo #15.
VIDEO: get_over_yourself
Day 14 of NaVloPoMo.
I really do believe that all this video we record of our lives will be like gold in 20 years.
No one else may care, but you will.
VIDEO: standing_driving_jets
Day 13 of NaVloPoMo.
VIDEO: Public_Auto_Auction
This is why I love people. This kid has a shitty ass job as a breathing billboard at a depressing urban intersection. So he decides to have fun.
Day 12 of NaVloPoMo.
VIDEO: Stop
Day 9 of NaVloPoMo. There are some really incredible videos people are making. We're going to post videos for 30 days. I wonder if we will evolve into points of light by then.
Skin_Tight
Day 8 of NaVloPoMo. This Asian chapter is done.
VIDEO: Pure_billboard
I tried going big today.
VIDEO: sometimes swimming
Day 5 of Navlopomo. Does anyone care what all this is about? Just little scenes of hanging out.
VIDEO: Things in the frame
Day three of Navlopomo.
VIDEO: what we do in the back seat
It's begun. This is my first video for Navlopomo.
Basically a group of us have decided to post a video everyday for the month of November.
Let the fun begin.
Project Complete: FireAnt
FireAnt, a video aggregator that I helped create back in 2005, was sold this week for $400,000.
Read about here and here.
It's kind of a bittersweet ending.
Glad that our work found a home and all bills paid off, but wish we could have done it all differently.
In 2004, the small Videoblogging group began intentionally using video to document our lives and then distribute them through blogs. A question quickly arose: "How could we more easily follow lots of different videoblogs?"
Peter decided to make Mefeedia. Josh and I decided to make AntNotTv (later renamed FireAnt).
We hooked up with Daniel Salber and Eric Radmall who singlehandedly developed the mac and PC versions.
(First version of FireAnt, Dec 2004)
It's the old story.
Four guys working full-time jobs, making software in their bedrooms at night.
The Videoblogging group was our main testing peeps, giving such great feedback and urging us on.
Remember, this was a time when 99% of humans couldn't conceive of RSS...let alone a video aggregator.
When iTunes enabled RSS subscription and video playback, we felt totally validated.
When Apple launched the video iPod, we thought we had arrived.
We worked ourselves to the bone for 18 months for no money.
The old story continues.
Now we felt we needed to become "serious".
We needed "money".
So we got a couple "business guys" to solve all our problems.
I remember how naive we were.
"You're excited about what we're doing? You know about business? Cool, we'll share this with you!"
Suddenly we became a "corporation" and voted on "board members" and issued "stock".
We went to VC meetings looking for "investment".
After a while, the Bizness guys said they couldn't get money because the technology wasn't good enough.
We said they needed to be businessmen and get business...and then realized they had no contacts, the currency of dealmaking.
Reality set in. Lots of phone fighting.
I was forced out of daily decisions in the summer of 2006.
Josh was the only founder who stayed on with the biz dudes.
FireAnt racked up tens of thousands of dollars in expenses, development costs, and legal fees.
Infighting seemed to bring any momentum to a halt.
To Josh's credit, he was able to get things organized enough to sell the good technology that FireAnt developed. The $400,000 basically pays off all loans and debt the company had. The story ends.
So I guess I become one of many software entrepreneurs who pass on this advice:
Do it for as long as you can on your own.
Success is definitely about good ideas, team, and execution...but it's also all about contacts and luck.
Don't believe the hype of quick riches.
haha and trust yourself.
UDPATE: Josh was worried that I made him look bad. He and I definitely had core disagreements over the past couple years, but he deserves the credit for sticking with FireAnt and saving it from the dead startup graveyard. Hopefully he will take time to share his experiences on his blog. FireAnt started as a community project and I know people would really benefit from hearing what he learned.
UPDATE: In my rush to write a port-mortem, I forgot to mention all the work that Clint Sharp did. He was with the project for a relatively short time, but created the entire website directory that had a huge impact on the public seeing what FireAnt could do. Clint always was able to bring reality to all our conversations. He has a great blog post here about how it all went down.
