[videoblogging] Re: Wordpress Basics
To train our new-to-web-authoring we use Lynda.com's series of excellent screencasts on all things WP 2.7. The underlined one's here are free. http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=750 -- ~ Caleb Clark ~ Wk: http://gradcenter.marlboro.edu/academics/mat/faculty ~ Hm: http://www.plocktau.com ~ The problem with communication is the assumption it has been accomplished. - G. B. Shaw. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[videoblogging] Re: iPod Nano shoots video
I disagree. Nokia started down this path with their Internet Tablets, the 770 and 800, which pre-date the iphone. So they've had their toes in the water for a while, including opensource. I had an N800, it had some real nice features but it suffered from the usual problem when compared to the iphone: clunky, and not enough polished apps = not as much fun. Open source is not the be all and end all, developers may care more about having a feature-rich platform to build on and which offers good opportunities for monetizing their work. Open source certainly has its advantages, everything Apple have done wrong with app store and approving apps and being control freaks reminds people of the benefits of being opensource, and stops us from blindly swapping nightmares involving the mobile phone networks being gatekeepers, for nightmares where the device manufacturer is the gatekeeper. But the open source movement has its own woes and downsides, to date I only really consider it a massive success with certain webapps, eg wordpress, and probably a few desktop apps but not many really. And the Apple app store also opens eyeballs by demonstrating that people are still quite prepared to pay for apps if the experience is deemed good enough. Open standards and interoperability fascinate me more than open source apps. On the web I have to rely on many services that are provided by corporations, and the same is true for most hardware. But at least if some commons standards are used with this stuff, it gives us some flexibility and freedom. With the exception of Internet Explorer, Im very happy with where the web and browsers have been going in regards to standards, HTML5 and friends will hopefully eventually give us a pretty comprehensive multimedia experience that will be common across platforms and will allow people to buy slightly locked-down hardware without all of the associated pain. Cheers Steve Elbows --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Rupert Howe rup...@... wrote: Nokia has been closed up until now. The N900 using an open source OS is a radical departure for them - they've been a traditional, hierarchical closed company. Thus many fewer apps. Also the apps are more functional, less fun for straight mobile phones. The moment you bring in a touch screen with a large screen surface area and good resolution, the more things you can do with it. And then add the financial and career incentive of creating a successful app for the world's most popular mobile computer. I think you're right, though - Nokia have had to raise their game massively because of the iPhone, and the N900 is definitely a desperate reaction to the iPhone and their subsequent drop in market share. Making it open and using a slightly different technology for the touch screen is a gamble, but I think it might pay off. I'm already scheming video apps for it. On 29-Sep-09, at 4:21 PM, Jay dedman wrote: So Rupert given your experience with Nokia and Apple, I would love to read your more elaborate thoughts on the two options for mobile smart phone puters. Are you leaning towards iPhone? I was a Nokia user for a long time...but without being a fanboy, I got to say how awesome the iPhone is. The fact that you can figure out how to do things without instructions is amazing. Hopefully, other companies will follow this model. It's strange to me that Nokia is open and Apple is closed, but developers have created many more applications for Apple than Nokia. Being a big fan of Open Source, it's just an example that usability will always win. As far as the camera on the iPhone 3GS, it's not something right home about. The image is pretty poor. Little control. Bad mic. BUT BUT BUT it is extremely easy to take a video and post it online. So easy. Hopefully, Apple with all their developers and design sense will just set the expectation for how all phones should be, open source included. Jay -- http://ryanishungry.com http://jaydedman.com http://twitter.com/jaydedman 917 371 6790 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[videoblogging] Re: iPod Nano shoots video
Funny isnt it? Ive tried all sorts of windows mobiles, other smartphones, windows-based tablet computers over the years, and oh my how they sucked when looking at the overall experience. When looking at what makes the iphone great, it does seem strange that nobody has come close to copying it effectively yet, even if we rule out other factors such as how well known the iphoe is, critical mas of users, journalists frindly towards apple etc. An intuitive interface gestures, a touchscreen that feels nice and responds properly, hardware-accellerated graphics to make everything flow quickly and smoothly. Not rocket science, although there are many good reasons why its not been so easy for others to copy these effectively, ranging from the touch technology used to the difficulty in ripping off the essence of a UI without completely copying it. I guess it just goes to show that quality design is still a rare skill, and that making things easy is difficult. I also blame some generalised failings of the sorts of minds that tend to get into development, myself included, it seems we often do not have strong instincts about making the interface/experience anywhere near as fun and smooth as it should be. A decade of the microsoft way nearly destroyed this natural born geeks love of computers, though I remain very uncomfortable that only one corporation, Apple, has saved my love from further erosion. I have high hopes for the Apple tablet but I would be far happier if other companies were really getting somewhere, joining what should be a new golden age where many technologies have evolved to the point where they live up to their promise. In nearly every other area technology is still failing me and depressing me, with the exception of quite a lot of music creation software and hardware, of which some very lovely products have emerged in recent years. Oh and certain aspects of the web, although Im just about to start another post ranting about that so I'll not dwell on that further here. Cheers Steve Elbows --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, hpbatman7 heathpa...@... wrote: So I will give props to Apple for the iphoneit does make you wonder though why these other handset makers are having such a hard time making an Iphone cloneI mean it can't be that hard, can it? Heath http://heathparks.com (site under construction)
[videoblogging] Google Wave the state of the net in general
Google Wave interests me. On face value its just googles answer to twitter, social networks, forums, email blog comments, but the way they are doing it makes me interested. For as well as the usual APIs that will allow developers to add functionality to the platform, and the now standard ability for users to embed this stuff in their own sites, they are also releasing full details on the protocol used to make the service work, as well as example code which demonstrates how to make your own clients and servers. If adopted by people, this means we dont have to worry about Google having complete control over this stuff and it all being centralised in the usual way. So has anybody looked at it in detail? At this stage its one of those annoying invitation-based betas so I havent had the opportunity to try it myself, though the developers stuff I mention is available and Im starting to read more detail about it. Im interested in it from the point of view of solving stuff we talked about here over the years: aggregating content and conversations in a more sophisticated way, whilst still retaining control of the data and not ending up in a walled gardem that al the API's from the likes of facebook have not really torn down, they just added more gates to the wall. What significant developments have happened on the web in recent years, especially pertaining to vlogging? I took my eyes off the ball for a while after getting tired with the hype filled web 2.0 stuff once it reached the silly greedy commercial stage and then started to vanish up its own backside, whats occuring apart from the obvious like facebook and twitter? How have the video hosting services evolved, or have they just been treading water and trying to survive in recent times? Are there any interesting projects that people are throwing themselves into? There is a hole in my life where once I used to be able to have dreams inspired by the likes of fireant, mefeedia, showinabox, and all sorts of other things whose names now escape me. Wow, I cant even remember the name of the video hosting site that used archive.org and never quite lived up to its potential. Cheers Steve Elbows
Re: [videoblogging] Re: iPod Nano shoots video
One thing I noticed about that N900 is that it's really thick and brick shaped. It's like 2 iphones stuck together. Won't really slide into the pants pocket so nicely. Also, I see this with every phone that my kids use - physical keyboards break when you use them a lot. We've already replaced multiple phones because of that. On the other hand my original iphone (my wife is using it) is still going strong at almost 2 years old - in fact it's better now because it has a newer os and apps. - Verdi -- Michael Verdi http://milkweedmediadesign.com http://michaelverdi.com
Re: [videoblogging] Re: iPod Nano shoots video
Yeah, having held it, it doesn't feel too huge, though - it's slightly shorter and not as wide as the iphone, and 18mm thick versus 12mm. Which is half as thick again, but about as thick as the other candybar smartphones I have had. Am such a N900 fanboy on this thread, sorry. On 1-Oct-09, at 6:06 PM, Michael Verdi wrote: One thing I noticed about that N900 is that it's really thick and brick shaped. It's like 2 iphones stuck together. Won't really slide into the pants pocket so nicely. Also, I see this with every phone that my kids use - physical keyboards break when you use them a lot. We've already replaced multiple phones because of that. On the other hand my original iphone (my wife is using it) is still going strong at almost 2 years old - in fact it's better now because it has a newer os and apps. - Verdi -- Michael Verdi http://milkweedmediadesign.com http://michaelverdi.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [videoblogging] Re: iPod Nano shoots video
comparable pics here in this thorough review: http://my-symbian.com/other/preview_n900.php doesnt seem much bigger than standrad devices besdeis the very sleek iphone. - sull http://vocal.ly On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 1:06 PM, Michael Verdi michaelve...@gmail.comwrote: One thing I noticed about that N900 is that it's really thick and brick shaped. It's like 2 iphones stuck together. Won't really slide into the pants pocket so nicely. Also, I see this with every phone that my kids use - physical keyboards break when you use them a lot. We've already replaced multiple phones because of that. On the other hand my original iphone (my wife is using it) is still going strong at almost 2 years old - in fact it's better now because it has a newer os and apps. - Verdi -- Michael Verdi http://milkweedmediadesign.com http://michaelverdi.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[videoblogging] Re: Google Wave the state of the net in general
Here is an intro video about wave, looks like I missed wiki and instant messaging when trying to list the sorts of things its inspired by/designed to replace. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pgxLaDdQw And I finally remembered the name of the video host of old: ourmedia. Ive just been catching up with where this and some other sites have ended up, they are still alive but not exactly bursting with momentum or giving us much to talk about. Speaking of which, are some of the conversations that used to happen on this group now taking place on twitter or friendfeed or peoples blogs or other communities, or are they not happening much at all now? Its nice to see this group busier of late, and Im just a wondering how to get a sense of the state of things, everything is so fragmented and based on popularity or social connections these days, Im a bit lost. Cheers Steve Elbows --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, elbowsofdeath st...@... wrote: Google Wave interests me. On face value its just googles answer to twitter, social networks, forums, email blog comments, but the way they are doing it makes me interested. For as well as the usual APIs that will allow developers to add functionality to the platform, and the now standard ability for users to embed this stuff in their own sites, they are also releasing full details on the protocol used to make the service work, as well as example code which demonstrates how to make your own clients and servers. If adopted by people, this means we dont have to worry about Google having complete control over this stuff and it all being centralised in the usual way. So has anybody looked at it in detail? At this stage its one of those annoying invitation-based betas so I havent had the opportunity to try it myself, though the developers stuff I mention is available and Im starting to read more detail about it. Im interested in it from the point of view of solving stuff we talked about here over the years: aggregating content and conversations in a more sophisticated way, whilst still retaining control of the data and not ending up in a walled gardem that al the API's from the likes of facebook have not really torn down, they just added more gates to the wall. What significant developments have happened on the web in recent years, especially pertaining to vlogging? I took my eyes off the ball for a while after getting tired with the hype filled web 2.0 stuff once it reached the silly greedy commercial stage and then started to vanish up its own backside, whats occuring apart from the obvious like facebook and twitter? How have the video hosting services evolved, or have they just been treading water and trying to survive in recent times? Are there any interesting projects that people are throwing themselves into? There is a hole in my life where once I used to be able to have dreams inspired by the likes of fireant, mefeedia, showinabox, and all sorts of other things whose names now escape me. Wow, I cant even remember the name of the video hosting site that used archive.org and never quite lived up to its potential. Cheers Steve Elbows
[videoblogging] Re: iPod Nano shoots video
The only problem I have found with pixelpipe is that sometimes it takes ages to crunch you video. Say you set pixelpipe to tweet your content, folk click the link in twitter, pixelpipe shows you nothing as it is still crunching. As for the iPhone 3GS for vlogging the only pain is that when you are pointing the camera at yourself and you finish vlogging trying to hit stop, well it's like when you were a kid trying to unhook a bra for the first time. Lots of fumbling and looking like a fool. But it does take beautiful images (well in good light) :) --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Michael Sullivan sullele...@... wrote: comparable pics here in this thorough review: http://my-symbian.com/other/preview_n900.php doesnt seem much bigger than standrad devices besdeis the very sleek iphone. - sull http://vocal.ly On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 1:06 PM, Michael Verdi michaelve...@...wrote: One thing I noticed about that N900 is that it's really thick and brick shaped. It's like 2 iphones stuck together. Won't really slide into the pants pocket so nicely. Also, I see this with every phone that my kids use - physical keyboards break when you use them a lot. We've already replaced multiple phones because of that. On the other hand my original iphone (my wife is using it) is still going strong at almost 2 years old - in fact it's better now because it has a newer os and apps. - Verdi -- Michael Verdi http://milkweedmediadesign.com http://michaelverdi.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
