XOLO.TV interview with David Sifry or Technorati

"WATCH ME @ XOLO.TV "Technorati"

XOLO.TV has great interviews with people in and around the world of blogging and video blogging. In this interview Gabe of XOLO.TV interviews David Sifry of Technorati.com. Note of caution, on many of their interviews and segments have really poor audio... which follows a good, but relatively loud and longish intro. Keep your volume contols handy.

Word to XOLO. Great videos guys, keep working on the sound!

Watch movie (Quicktime, 5.5 min, 69.3 MB)

Original post, from WatchMe at Xolo.tv:

Shownotes: Technorati, Les Blogs, David Sifry Click here to download the show Tags: lesblogs video podcasting technorati david sifry

(Re-vlogged with Mefeedia)

Friendster Misses You

mmeiser : HA!
mmeiser : I just got an email from friendster
Raymond M. Kristiansen: friendster
Raymond M. Kristiansen: ?
mmeiser : it's taken on the personality of a needy child
mmeiser : friendster
Raymond M. Kristiansen: ahh
mmeiser : google's "social network"
Raymond M. Kristiansen: "come back"
mmeiser : it says "Friendster misses you" in the subject
Raymond M. Kristiansen: haha
Raymond M. Kristiansen: blog that
Raymond M. Kristiansen: please
mmeiser : OK
Raymond M. Kristiansen: omg i need to do some expanding of my brain

This goes to what I was saying about social networking being a means to end end, not an end unto itself. My response...

But friendster... I know we're friends... but it's not my fault we have nothing to talk about anymore. I told you all about my hobbies... we talked about my favorite movies... books I've read... but now there's nothing left to talk about. :(

Perhaps if you would have focused just a little more on the conversation itself we'd have something to talk about. :(

Fixing itunes - on iTunes lack of permalinks

I posted this earlier on the Yahoo videoblogging group. It's a little wordy, but it's important.

If Apple isn't going to fix iTunes and put links (permalinks) back to the original weblog post directly from iTunes then I think it's high time we fix it for them and perhaps in the process show them we as a community of podcasters and vloggers mean business.

I don't do this often, but this is the only way I know to get Apples attention. (They don't return my phone calls :)

So, please join me in asking the wonderful team at Feedburner to impliment a "fix itunes permalinks" feature by commenting or reblogging as you will. Hopefully the combination of our efforts will get Apple's attention.

Details below.

On Dec 17, 2005, at 4:01 PM, Michael Meiser wrote:

Howdy Rick, My compliments on the new features Feedflare.

http://www.burningdoor.com/feedburner/archives/001543.html

This is an open letter to ask if you and the guys at feedburner would be willing to fix itunes.

What specifically I mean is itunes supports plain-text ONLY, no formating, no links in their silly comments box. They do in fact NOT have any links anywhere back to the permalink page on which the podcast or video was posted.

I find this a slap in the face of podcasters and vloggers everywhere as podcasting and video blogging have the opportunity to be much more than simply a broadcast medium. In fact many would say being able to comment is an essential feature of videoblogging and podcasting. Which is why EVERY OTHER RSS READER HAS CLICKABLE PERMALINKS. Sorry, I just wanted to be clear about that.

Anyway, my friends try to console me in my constant bitching that it's not that apple is evil, but just that they didn't have a good mechanism for displaying rich text, that they're sort of clueless. And so I've waited. However it's been to long, I would have thought they'd fix it by now in one of the many version updates that have come out. In fact apple has now put in links back to the homepage of the blog for every post, right near the podcast title, but STILL no link directly to the permalink page... I'm beginning to find it impossible that they're that clueless and am beginning to wonder if it's not part of some diabolical plan to either undermine the success of podcasting, or just to see if they can't piss absolutely everyone in this community off. Well, I'm pissed off, but I don't get made I find solutions... and maybe get even. ;)

So how can you help?

Simple... you should, might, could, add in plain-text permalinks into a feed at the end of the description field.. it would then be readable and copyable right from itunes info box. Easy for you to implement in a feed and much better than thousands of users having to go to a blog and browse around and look for the right post so they can read or comment upon it. Example below.

Comment!
http://permalink.com/blog/post.html

Well, you get the idea, i just wish apple did. Of course you could add your other features of your FeedFlair like emailing and delicious too. Just as long as your urls aren't to long. And of course you have control of that too.


How to do this...

1) Well the easiest way would just be to put a switch into the feed and just allow people to turn it on.. call it the "fix itunes" switch. I'm sure it'll not only get peoples attention, but get blogged about a bit too. ;)

2) Option two, detect feed calls from itunes... would work great, but requires some spryness on your part... then just put in the permalink at the very end of the post no matter what. Won't get you much publicity though, just help out the community.

I suggest option one, you might put have an optional checkbox put in where people can add the additional feature as follows.

Tell apple to fix these permalinks in iTunes!
http://feedburner.com/form/to/email/apple/support

Be as nice or evil about it as you like, but if nothing else all the attention and publicity you'll get out of it will help you, help your customers and give apple a wake up call so maybe they'll fix it a little sooner.

Thanks!

-Mike

Michael Meiser

fix-permalinks-in-itunes@mmeiser.com

http://mmeiser.com/blog - fun stuff
http://mmeiser.com/backchannel - del.icio.us link blog
http://evilvlog.com - serious lunacy has a new domain
http://mefeedia.com - I love mefeedia

And before long, they don?t seem like strangers anymore - on video blogging

One of the best articles I've read on videoblogging.

News & Features | I like to watch

A pretty artist chats silently with a toy giraffe. A guy sifts through his garage-sale junk, reminiscing about his old new-wave buttons. A man driving in his car talks to his wife about their thrilling weekend jaunt to CVS. Band nerds kill time at a high-school football game while the gridiron jocks kill each other. These are the people in your neighborhood. And they want you to see what they?re up to.

Once upon a time, blogging promised anonymity. One of its big selling points was that it allowed desktop philosophers to pound out their opinions and broadcast them to the world, all while wearing their pajamas. But the past year has seen a profusion of video blogging ('vlogging,' if you prefer neologisms). People can now videotape themselves in their pajamas, and post it online with a few simple steps.

It?s the next stage in blog evolution. Cheap digital cameras, free editing software, and video-hosting services have made production and publishing easy as pie. RSS aggregation technology offers the means to distribute content to loyal viewers. Broadband connections make watching it a snap. And every new iPod comes equipped with video capabilities.

Even as the iTunes music store rushes to stock up on U2 videos and episodes of The Office, the increasing plenitude of video blogs points to a real democratization of media. No one owns the means of distribution anymore, so more and more people are making their own shows. Some offer scattershot glances at fleeting moments. Others are meticulously edited and set to music. There are video diaries. Self-produced sitcoms. Citizen journalism. Talk shows. These real-time glimpses into strangers? lives ? funny, serious, contemplative, provocative ? are almost always compelling. Sure, they vary wildly in quality. So do all blogs. They?re made by artists, news junkies, pop-culture addicts, high-school kids, even the politicians. And before long, they don?t seem like strangers anymore.

THE VLOGFATHER

If anyone can be called the father of video blogging, Steve Garfield is him. And not just because his vlog was one of the first. The fortysomething Jamaica Plain resident, a freelance photographer and video producer, is one of vlogging?s biggest proponents, a cornerstone in the burgeoning vlogging community. Just try doing a Google search on the subject without seeing his name or his wide-grinning mug pop up: 'I want YOU to video blog!'"

Read the hole thing. I demand it. :)
News & Features | I like to watch

The Washington Post is video blogging

So, the Washington Post very quietly rolled out an RSS 2.0 video feed this last week. They may be the biggest media company to start vlogging (aka. "video podcasting") yet, though who can keep track.

Let's take a look at one of their latest videos in their feed, shall we.

The National Zoo's giant panda cub Tai Shan made his public debut on Thursday before an adoring audience of all ages.

Video: 120805-8v.m4v

Some thoughts on what's going on here...

• no homepage... no permalinks... no comments! ... no trackbacks! Oye! They're missing the whole point! I can't believe they don't at the very least have a ling to an associated article!
  
  
• makes a lot of sense for a traditionally print news company who doesn't have access to the TV/Cable platform to move into IP based video media... let the floodgates open... I suspected that most of the early adoption would happen from those just outside the realm of satelite/cable media... small and large size publishing companies who want to leverage their knowledge and expertise... finding new ways to connect with their demographic... this is a primary example
  
  
• hmmm... putting a skip-able ad on a downloadable and editable file... genius's eh? damn straight they are! big media companies have been WAY, WAY to uptight about their content with DRM and streaming media... such inaccessibility of content fuels black markets.... With content as accessible as this from the washington post why would anyone bother editing out the ad and redistributing or even skipping the add when the washington post has made it so convenient and easy just to download and watch it from anywhere anytime. Ubiquity, convenience, accessibility and usability will be the killers of p2p blacknets.... say hello to the lightnet of the future... open, accessible, social and beneficial to everyone.
  
  
• now that it's not streaming media people can link directly to it and re-vlog it... even redistributing it to their friends... Just like I'm doing right now! how evil is that? Not at all! I'm giving the Washington Post free press and exposure... just by doing this I'm giving them somewhere around 300 to 400 new sets of eyeballs... Them and their advertiser... and yet I'm getting to explicitly reference and talk about the video will those who subscribe to my blog... That 300-400 people that will see this video... should they find it interesting may each pass it on to a 100 more... who may pass it on to 100 more.. Now that's potentially a LOT of people... and no small matter! Just from one vlogger... Of course it depends on how interesting the subject matter is, but being able to share and explicitly reference media is one of the primary advantages of social media, aka open media, aka portable media.
  
  
• now that it's not streaming media it can be taken anywhere... or at least put on the iPod... they need to use mp4 it's not only compatible with the ipod but also the PSP and much easier to play on all platforms... expect vlogging such as this to expand to more platforms like the Tivo and elsewhere rather quickly in 2006. It's already starting in fact.
  
  
• the content doesn't have any narration and little editing! in fact without the text intro you might not even know what it was about. crazy! but it works... Actually they might want to put at least some minimal narration on it just in case it does get separated from it's description
  
  
• the format is a short bit sized piece pertaining to only one story or issue... new media favors convenient bite size pieces of media that can quickly be sifted through, watched, referenced and shared...
  
  
• the content - I find this to be the most amazing aspect... even for a huge media company this content is perfectly typical vlog media, it's just a slice of everyday life... simply some raw camcorder footage of new panda at the National Zoo! Not much different than making videos of your cat except a lot more people will find it interesting. Expect the quantity and quality of content to improve very quickly.

In conclusion... this my friends IS the future of video based media... the VERY humble beginnings... It may not seem like much but the everything is in place, including the economics. When it becomes so ubiquitous and accessible that everyone is doing it and you can get everything and anywhere you want it and watch it anytime... well then these humble little pieces of micro-content are going to start changing things in a very, very profound way. But for now... one humble piece of content at a time eh. :)

mefeedia - Washingtonpost.com Video

Vlog subscriptions on the rise

Mefeedia has worked with feedburner to more accurately report the number of people subscribed on mefeedia to feedburners stats as a result there should be an upswing in the amount of subscribers video blogs using feedburner report.

Not technically more subscribers, just more accurate reporting. :)

BTW, Don't mind the crazy jump in Ryanne's blog, just a minor data glitch I hear... the data is already fixed. We'd all love to see her jump that high, and she and Michael Verdi did get some great NYTime's press, but she's not quite that popular just yet. :)

Read about it: Mefeedia blog - Blog Archive - Feedburner stats for Mefeedia

BTW, the chart is from the excellent Vlogmap.org

Also, for those of you who didn't know it mefeedia.com has rolled out with services including the ability to manage your subsriptions and queue/unqueue videos right on mefeedia... and it's completely compatible with the iTunes/iPod combo, FireANT, DTV and the PSP so you can use any software or device for watching your videos... or even all of them. I do! :)

In fact, a little birdy told me a whole new version of Mefeedia was going to roll out sometime in the next 24 to 48 hours. Look for whole lot more personal features and some ongoing updates to make it even more fun to use. However, I must admit, I'm a little biased. I've begun to help Peter and the Mefeedia crew with a little direction and usability, including the subscription management and queuing. So, I guess I'm no longer impartial.

Oh, and btw, the Washington Post now has a video blog! More on that in a bit.

ban/sign the man - michael verdi remixed

I couldn't not not not revlog this. Michael Verdi is on the road to stardom with his recent mention in the new york times along with a few others... he's also one of the most loved vloggers... aparently all the energy he's generated, plus the amazing mad remixing skills of Raymond K at dltq.org Erik Nelson of Bottomunion.com and evilvlog.com have made a powerfully explosive remix...

(Update: Raymond informs me that this is evidence of the mad skills of Erik Nelson of Bottomunion.com fame.)

Most of people who are not vloggers won't get this at all... but those of you who are and know Mike V will probably fall out of your chairs... In my opinion this IS the future of media... It's media deconstructed to it's purest and most personal and communicative form. It's not for everyone, but that's precisely the point... this ain't no TV.

For those of you who don't get it... well if you're a blogger think of it as your absolute favorite insider blog... the blog of your friend of friends. The one you check out ten times a day to see if there's a new post... the one noone else but you and you five friends get... That's the future of media. Why? ...because media doesn't have to be accountable to the masses any more and indeed what's most relevant to you probably has absolutely no use to the other 9.999% of people on the planet, and that's not just fine, it's great!

So, enjoy!


evilverdi001.mov

via evilvlog.com

Del.icio.us gets yahoo'd

Not another one... all my favorite services are getting bought up. This is like a mini version of mergers and aquisitions trend that happnened in the 80's.

We're proud to announce that del.icio.us has joined the Yahoo! family. Together we'll continue to improve how people discover, remember and share on the Internet, with a big emphasis on the power of community. We're excited to be working with the Yahoo! Search team - they definitely get social systems and their potential to change the web. (We're also excited to be joining our fraternal twin Flickr!)

We want to thank everyone who has helped us along the way - our employees, our great investors and advisors, and especially our users. We still want to get your feedback, and we look forward to bringing you new features and more servers in the future.

I look forward to continuing my vision of social and community memory, and taking it to the next level with the del.icio.us community and Yahoo!

I don't think there's any denying that we're in a bit of a bubble at this point. This bubble is defined by the winners of the last .com boom buying up the new potentials.

At least it's much more efficient and less speculative of a bubble then the 1999/2001 bubble, when millions of ametuer investors invested in the market blindly. No we've got google, yahoo and a couple other big savy companies on competing shopping sprees.

The disadvantage though is the investment opportunities aren't well distributed either... less risk distribution but also less wealth distribution. Although I do wonder how this wealth is trickling down into the pockets of millions of developers in the space working on small independant projects. Perhaps they'll be the real winners in this bubble. Oh, and FYI, I don't think we can call it just a "tech bloom" anymore.

Maybe it's a "tech blossom". :)

And don't even get me started on the Web2.0 hype. I'm officially sick of it.

LOL

del.icio.us: y.ah.oo!

Killing the TV channel - new subscriber models

With lots of folks suddenly debating a la carte channels for paid TV systems, thanks to the FCC's sudden change of heart, it looks like Tom Evslin has come over to our view that it isn't the bundles that are outdated, but the concept of the channel. Evslin predicts that the next generation of children will have no concept of what a channel is because they'll just subscribe to shows individually. The thing is, just as setting up a la carte channels would mean a big change for cable companies, setting up the ability to subscribe to individual shows would be an even bigger leap. That's why it's unlikely the cable companies will be the first to go there (though, they've done some experiments with on-demand shows). It's the perfect way, however, for the telcos pushing IPTV to jump into the game, by offering something a lot more interesting and different than just a cable copycat.

Sounds a lot like vlogs, podcasts and the RSS subscription mechanism... So how long is it before apple mimics or just plain uses the RSS subscription model so used in their podcast directory to deliver a seasons of shows in their store. RSS distribution is perfectly compatible with DRM'd videos or songs. Technically Apple doesn't need the RSS, but they do need a mechanism for allowing your to "subscribe" to a season of shows and automatically deliver each new episode as they come out. Right now you have to keep coming back and buying each show one by one as the season progresses. I randomly pick their January expo for this to roll out... but must admit it's probably not high priority for them.... at least not untill they have a larger variety of content and sales have become more robust.

As for TV channels... I think they're going to be here for a long time to come in satelite and broadcast TV... but no... channels make NO sense whatsoever in the digital domain... just like "streaming media", which I wish would just die already.

Techdirt:Forget A La Carte Channels -- Unbundle The Shows