Dembot

Wisdom of the Crowd vs. Curator

Fri, 02 May 2008 23:06:00 -0400

I got a chance to ask Drew Curtis of Fark a ton of questions. I’ll try to get more of the interview up soon. This one part struck me as really interesting. I asked about how he curates for Fark - he almost entirely ignores his audience.

At first the idea might seem counterintuitive, especially if you use sites like Digg, but there is something to be said for the curator. Extremes and balances make for many fine options.

Jake & Amir at NYC Video Meetup

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:01:00 -0400

I’m very happy to announce that this month’s NYC video meet-up will host special guests, Jake and Amir:

http://www.jakeandamir.com

The dynamic duo will speak about their production process, technical flow, business and the history of how they got started.

From Wired: “The Setup: Real-life CollegeHumor.com employees Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld turn the cameras toward their desks, chronicling their sidesplittingly dysfunctional, partially fictional work relationship. Human’s Take: “Consistently funny,” Scheer says. “It just goes to show, you don’t need a big budget to make hilarious shorts.” I’ve also written about them here.

Everyone that attends the meet-up is invited to give a 2min introduction, then we will hear from the special guests for one hour, chat for about 15minutes afterwards and then migrate over to a bar on Spring Street.

To attend, please sign up on the website at: http://videoblog.meetup.com/8/

Tron Guy at ROFLcon on Rocketboom

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:51:48 -0400

Jay Maynard the Tron Guy at the ROFLcon conference, MIT. The classic tron costume page that led everyone awry. Where The Hell Is Matt? Special music thanks to podington bear, ham radio by rtpalovich, Tron on ebay, Tron Arcade, Tron Trailer (redux), Tron (imdb)

Podshow < Mevio

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:51:00 -0400

Podshow changes it’s name to Mevio, not Meivo.

I’ve always been disenchanted with this network and have said enough already so I’m not going to bring up the three outstanding cease and desist letters Ive sent to the company asking them to stop redistributing Rocketboom (especially as they do it with ads) but I would like to throw in a word of support for two awesome shows which in my opinion are the only reason why the network is even relevant, Dawn and Drew and GeekBreif.

Do you listen to Dawn and Drew? I consider them to be the first to successfully embrace the new medium of Podcasting. I’m not suggesting they were the first podcasters of course but I consider them the first *people* I came across, uninhibited by technology, money, and locale to captivate an audience online. If you didn’t experience it at the time, it would be difficult to understand that what they did was radical. A young liberal-minded, extremely fowl mouthed couple out on a farm in the middle of nowhere America, demonstrated the boundaries and implications of the anyone-can-take-hold-of-the-radio message with every word they spoke. Everyday they consistently released a new episode, you could just see everyone in gray pants at the National Association of Broadcasters convention fade before your eyes - still yet unbeknownst to most of them.

TRUST

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:26:20 -0400

TRUST

Rocketboom Production Process Explained

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:50:00 -0400

This Tuesday the free NYC Videoblogging Meetup (which I just noticed is the largest videoblogging Meetup in the world (not sure if that statement is deserving of any clout but whateva)) will be held at the *new* Rocketboom office/studio in Soho.

We’re giving away our production process in a 2 hour overview. From coming up with ideas, to researching, writing, shooting, editing, and publishing, our crew will explain how we put together our daily episodes. Everything from methods, to software to workflow and procedures will be discussed.

Must RSVP on the meet-up site to attend (we are getting close to capacity so you might want to do that soon to assure attendance).

Video of Twitter Madness

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:19:00 -0400

Understanding Flickr Video

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:39:12 -0400

Several people are reporting about the new Flickr video, but no one has quite articulated how to use it yet.

Covering certain events in video form for the net can be very challenging, especially when the idea is to boil it down to just a few minutes, and of course when conceptually, the work must be linear (think boring dry interviews and conferences).

This is a challenge I’ve always faced. How can you get the info across in the most effective and precise way, without wasting the time of a jaded, snarky and very click-away-busy-like audience?

Even when the sights and sounds are as compelling as a Maker Fair, for example, its still a bit overwhelming to try and convey all the goodness in just a few minutes.

Last year, I consequently came up with a method for covering events I called the Flickr Video Pool. Instead of a liner presentation, I tool a bunch of tiny clips - just enough in each case to get the point across - and put them up in the form of a Flickr pool set, as seen here:

It was effective, I think, because you could get a quick view of the still images and then decide which was worth drilling deeper. Each time you click on an image, a short clip pops up, usually raw and unedited. There is no complaining about production, or the 3 minuets of your life that you will never get back. Just keep on clicking.

I posted about the method to the Yahoo videoblogging group last year: “Much like a photo set, we set out to capture tiny little clips that, all together, stand as a fun little, self-paced video ride through the fair. I see it as somewhat of an evolution on the Flickr Set experience, in one baby step.”

So next time you find yourself at an event or a party, dont be afraid to capture 10 or 15 small little clips, anywhere from a few seocnds to a couple of minutes if its worth it. Put ‘em all up together in a flickr video pool, and there ya go, a new dimension will be added to your flickr pool experience, as seen here:

Reggie Watts

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:15:45 -0400

Reggie Watts

Michelle Ma Bell

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:39:15 -0400

The Beatles performed correctly by Dictionary audio pronunciations. See also my fave, Martha My Dear. When you find yourself in the thick of it, more.

Video

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:10:00 -0400

Video

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:09:00 -0400

Jake & Amir

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:45:00 -0400

Have you seen Jake and Amir? It’s a comedy series with character development comprised of short absurd scenes that I really enjoy watching. Ive seen a few scenes here and there but last week, I actually found myself kicked back and watching the archives because I just wanted to. I was like, WTF am I doing?

I’ve pasted in an episode below, though I think you have to flip through several of the short 1-2 min scenes before making a call. Basically, Jake and Amir work at the same office and are thus coincidentally destined to work together. Amir is quite the hand-full and Jake is able to put up with it.

Veronica Belmont Has Been Freed!

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:36:00 -0400

World rejoice, Veronica Belmont is no longer behind bars in the Mahalo offices of Jason Calacanis. Today Veronica posted that she is moving on.

The reason why I’m excited about this is because I think Veronica is awesome and that her stint at Mahalo has been hampering her potential.

A video on how to make grilled cheese sandwiches might be more Jason’s speed, but Veronica is a young bundle of depth just waiting to explode.

In a a couple of emails to Veronica today, she wouldn’t reveal what she has in store next, but it sounds like we’ll hear about it soon. I’m thinking this is her year to take the world by storm.

Photo by Scott Beale

The Rick Roll Has Only Just Begun

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:22:52 -0400

Re: After YouTube turned every single one of its home page video links into hiddenRick Astley killers, following an LA Times exclusive interview with the contemporary Rick, following a thourogh playing-out online (and off), Rickrolling will now begin to permeate the mainstream contiousness over the next several months, hitting local news tv stations and bingo parlors all accross the world. Look out Amazon, Rick is back (Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,997 in Music), and gaining.

Yahoo 9 Ends Run

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:01:00 -0400

Whew, no offense to anyone there, but Yahoo 9 was really the worst online video show I have ever seen. I couldn’t even bare to write about it before.

Have you ever looked at something and thought to yourself “Hm, that looks kinda cheap and fake”. Even if it was or not? Well I don’t think I have ever been blown away so strong by such a feeling.

Probably the worst quality was that Maria Sansone would always look up at her over the shoulder graphics as if they were there and then she would talk to them. But she was never quite looking in the right direction.

Bush booed and then throws a crap pitch at 2008 Nationals...

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:04:34 -0400

Bush booed and then throws a crap pitch at 2008 Nationals Baseball home opener (video)

The White House during Earth Hour.

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:15:44 -0400

The White House during Earth Hour.

Rocketboom Ranked A Fastest Growing Video Startup

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:27:00 -0400

Rocketboom makes the Compete list for Fastest Growing Video Startups - 02/07 to 02/08.

And my oh my do I have a story to tell on how we have been able to do this with what relatively few resources we have. The main area of growth over the last year has been building a true dream team staff. Its almost all in the people.

What more, off-site distribution for Rocketboom is very deep now and continues to grow. This obviously leads to on-site growth. I predict we’ll actually see a slight dip over the next two months on our compete graph due to our internal plans and then we are going to really rocket on up and outta here.

A small note of optimism to boot: If you are into interface design and site optimization standards, you’ll notice that the Rocketboom website has one of the worst bounce rates around - most people land on a page and are never able to find anything else we do or have done - we have only upwards to go in this department.

Having a good today aside from the Compete news. Citings in NYTimes Magazine, NYTimes Blog and Techcrunch. Still most excited to have a video linked from Boingboing, my still-yet (and probably forever) favorite blog online.

February Online Video: Politics Offsets the Writer’s Strike, GodTube.com Racks Up Impressive Year/Year Growth

Chocolate Rabbit Meltdown

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:05:00 -0400

Chocolate Rabbit Meltdown