Category Archives: Uncategorized

Diet Coke, Killer Video, Mentos, Uncategorized, Viral Video

Mentos and Diet Coke… the New Sushi

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sush.jpgI once spent a summer in NYC and I couldn't believe I had access to sushi 24/7. Each day I'd have sushi for dinner and lunch, and this went on for about 2 weeks. Then suddenly one day during lunch, I spit out my sushi into a garbage can. I couldn't eat it again for months.

This is what's suddenly happened to me with the Coke, Diet Pepsi and Mentos videos. I can't look at another one.

I hereby proclaim this Mentos and Soda fad officially over!

Okay, maybe just one more. The exploding girl. But then I'm really done.

book, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Sites, Viral Video

Why Tuesdays Suck for Online Video Junkies

snail.jpgTuesdays suck. Why? It's the worst day to check videos. For reasons I can't quite explain, people do more on e-mail and the web on Tuesdays. It's been a long-standing "secret" that promotional e-mails get the best "open rates" on Tuesdays. My CubeBreak traffic spikes on Tuesdays. Even this blog spikes on Tuesdays.

But all of this means I'm competing with my co-workers for bandwidth. Tuesday lunchtime is the single worst time to surf videos. So my videos aren't loading, and it's pissing me off. Could everyone just get off the Internet for a few minutes?  

Uncategorized

Frappuccinos Will Break Your Wallet & Pants’ Buttons

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I've been trying to tell my wife to stay away from Starbucks for years. Mostly because our coffee bill is rivaling our mortgage. But now we have a new reason. Remember how certain foods get blasted over time:frappuccino.jpg

  • Movie theater popcorn
  • Chinese food
  • Fatty fast food meals
  • Taco Bell "salads"

Now here's video from ABC News that confirms that Fraps are not just expensive, but loaded with fat and calories. ABC reported this breaking news in January too. By the way, I found the video on MyYahoo, and it won't give me a link that works- just spent 30 minutes trying to find a unique URL for the video, which appears neither on Yahoo Video or ABC News…. Grrrr…
Here's a Citizen Created Commercial video someone shot for Starbucks. Even better, check out this hysterical Starbucks commercial (what happens if you DON'T get your Starbucks early enough.

I'm going to buy one. Bye.

book, Future of Online Video, Killer Video, Making Videos, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Business, Video Software, Viral Video, Web 2.0

Video Resolution to Get Worse Before Better

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old-cam.jpgWe're all getting used to crappy video online. It may stream quickly, but it's a pixelated as Atari's original Space Invaders.

Will this improve soon? Not for the most part. Sure some of us will upgrade to higher end pro-sumer video cameras ($3000-$10,000). And broadband will allow for higher file-size uplpoads than the typical 100 meg cap. But the vast majority of us will start using our video-enabled cell phones to capture a lot of spontanious, viral videos. So in aggregate, the videos of 2007 will be even uglier than 2006.

Bandwidth isn't yet an issue online, but keep in mind that Japan's wireless broadband is signficantly faster than what you're using now to connect at home. There won't be an incentive for cell providers in the U.S. to bring us high definition video cameras because nobody will want to spend 5-10 minutes sending their video clips to their buddy. So until cell phone pipes expand in the U.S., we're going to be stuck with grainy footage for a while.

The high-end sites will boast broadcast-like quality video, but the vast majority of consumer-generated video will look worst next year. Let's hope that I'm wrong or that someone's creating a software to enhance videos.

… Like in the movies when they turn a 10-pixel image of some guy at his desk into a "Kodak clear" image, in which you can read the legal print on the memo on his desk. Does that bother anyone else, or am I just a geek (don't feel obliged to answer that)?

Blogs on Video, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Business, Video Sites, Viral Video, Web 2.0, YouTube

Will the “Video Revolution” Be As Muted as the “Audio Revolution”?

My friend Jack wrote this rant about online videos, and he said I could steal it. Click "more" below for the entire piece. Here are some highlights.audio.jpg

  • The revolution will be televised; but its just seems we needed to wait untill the television is really a large flat-panel LCD monitor with a PC hooked into the Internet.

  • The Consumer Generated Content Internet “Video Revolution” needs four things to hit tipping point: 1. eyeballs, 2. adoption, 3. famous and/or popular mavericks, and; 4. easy-to-use payment systems supporting artists.

  • Want to predict the future of the Video Revolution? Look at the Audio Revolution. Common independent music artists are still eating Ramen Noodles just like the 80’s and 90’s. Thanks to software like Garage Band, we have lots of tools to make the stuff…. However, no one really showed up with a system that paid artists directly and easily.

  • Really the Audio Revolution focused on pirated music of famous artists, not original content. More than six years past the commercial birth of the Internet we tune in to FOX and American Idol (on TV) to find our new music stars and not the Internet…all on a show made famous by a maverick record label guy from the UK who stole the idea for the show in the first place. We use our phones to vote; we can’t even e-mail it in.

  • This Audio Revolution was followed quickly followed by the Lawsuit Era.

  • Why did the Audio Revolution fail? No model to pay content providers. What if a presidential candidate put his/her videos exclusively on Revver (which pays content creators), with ad clicks going to the campaign bucket? “Sorry CNN.com, put the video town hall on your homepage via Revver or nothing at all for you.”

Continue reading Will the “Video Revolution” Be As Muted as the “Audio Revolution”? →

Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Business, Video Sites, Viral Video, YouTube

Seriously, Boss. I Was Surfing Those Sites to Write This Story

pervert.jpgThis quote from a Cnet article on the topic of smut and online video:

A weeklong review of some of the top user-generated video sites by CNET News.com unearthed scenes of beheadings, masturbation, bloody car accidents, bondage and sadomasochism. It's important to note that no child pornography was discovered.

Meanwhile, imagine if YouTube needed to monitor all posts. They'd have to hire hiring people to eyeball each frame of the more than 50,000 videos that get posted daily. Although most flicks are under 2-3 minutes, YouTube allows videos to last up to 10 minutes. So YouTube would be monitoring up to 2,500 hours worth of video a day.

Online Video, Uncategorized, Web 2.0

Nacho Libre Review: Remembering the Feature Length Clips

Let's make one thing clear. This blog isn't for movie reviews, and I don't review movies. But last night I went to see one of those old "feature length" films in a cinema. In case you don't recall them, let me give you some reminder cues:jack1.jpg

  • You have to pay and wait in line
  • They're really, really long
  • You sit in a dark room (usually uncomfortably close to other people)
  • The resolution is remarkable
  • The load time is amazing- very little streaming delays
  • When you go pee, you can't pause them

Since it was Father's Day, I decided to see Nacho Libre. Jack Black did a fantastic SNL appearance when Kong came out so I thought I might enjoy it. I was't let down- not only did I stay awake (which is not true for the past dozen movies I've seen) but I laughed outloud. In fact, I can't recall a movie where I heard the audience laugh so frequently and so loud. It was really fun.

Go check it out yourself. But don't try to "right click" and save it, because I think they're going to try to sell it on DVD.

P.S. I deliberately squashed the photo above because I think Jack looks funnier that way.

Uncategorized

Mashing Online Music Videos… I Don’t Get It

This courtesy of Adatos:

Viewing a music video online usually requires paying a small fee, but Reuters has announced that Eyespot.com has created an environment where consumers can remix videos and post them on the Web site free of charge.eye.jpg

The posting of such mash-ups is legal because participating artists decide on the material that will be made available to users. According to Eyespot co-founder, president, and CEO Jim Kaskade, these emerging bands quickly saw the value in allowing fans to experiment with their audio and visual assets, prompting them to hand over material, hold competitions, and establish online communities.

On Eyespot, anyone can upload, edit, mix, and share almost all forms of digital media without downloading new software. Rather than charge users for their video work, Eyespot will instead get revenue from advertising, premium additional services, and a share on sales of commercial content generated by free samples.

This courtesy of me:

I'm sorry. I don't get it. I really like EyeSpot — I've never spent much time there, but the logo is so darned cute. But here's where I'm having trouble: I understand people watching music videos. And I understand people shooting music videos. But I don't really understand the desire to "mash" other content. It seems like it would be all the fun organizing books in a library by title, topic or color.

This is the third craze that I haven't understood. The first was U2 (odds are you love them) and the second was "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (which I found quite frustrating).