Sean Gilligan's Blog

New Blog: Code -- Sean Gilligan on Software Development

2009-11-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

I've started a new blog about some of the software development topics I've been involved in lately. Development of iPhone applications using both the native (App Store) and webapp approaches is my current focus. I decided to call the blog code.msgilligan.com because the intended audience is my peers in the open source community and in industry. If you're interested in those topics, please give it a visit. I will continue to post here from time to time...

GMail and Google Groups not playing nicely

2009-04-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

I've been annoyed for months that when I send email to a Google Group, I don't see my own post in the thread I receive via IMAP. I finally did some research and it seems there is nothing I can do, so long as I am using the combination of GMail and Google Groups. I found this discussion of the issue in Gmail Help Discussion and I also reported the issue to Google.

If I understand correctly, GMail filters the message because it is a duplicate of a 'Sent' message. But even with duplicate suppression the message should be still be able to be tagged or filtered and/or make it back into the IMAP inbox.

The issue does not occur with other mailing lists that I am a member of. If anyone has any answers, I'd love to hear them.

Night Owls: Now they tell me...

2009-04-26T02:33:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard for years to move to an earlier schedule (kids have helped a lot with that) and now they say "Night Owls Stay Alert Longer Than Early Birds!"

So now, I'll switch back to a later schedule and, after 10 years, they'll publish a study that generates the headline "Night Owl Cancer Risk!"

Damn you behavioral researches, health researchers, all of you...

iPhone App Store Billion App Countdown

2009-04-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Apple will soon reach the milestone of 1 billion iPhone applications downloaded. Apple has a countdown page and a promotion. What I find especially amazing is the conclusion that the average user has downloaded about 30 applications! (Given that Apple has sold about 30 million iPhones and iPod touches)

I've got 91 Apps in my iTunes so I've downloaded about 3 times as many as the average user (I may have deleted a few), but I'm an iPhone developer and I download apps for competitive analysis or just to see what's going on in the market.

30 applications per user is simply amazing and bodes well for the future of Apple, their competitors, and for mobile developers.

Sabotage Cuts Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Phone and Internet

2009-04-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

MercuryNews.com reports Sabotage suspected in widespread phone outage in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. I can't believe that after 9/11 we are still so vulnerable. 911 emergency service was disrupted in some cities. Greater physical security and redundancy are both needed.

I woke up this morning without DSL Internet and with neither voice or data working on my iPhone. I went to Lulu's Octagon downtown to try to get a connection and a barista out front said "Happy Stone Age Day!" and I new I was out of luck. Fortunately two friends with offices at NextSpace took in this dazed refugee and let me use their working Comcast Internet.

Amazing!

Sensibility in River City: Iowa Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

2009-04-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today's New York Times (Iowa Court Says Gay Marriage Ban Is Unconstitutional) reports that the Iowa Supreme Court has overturned a 1998 law banning gay marriage.

“The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution,” the justices said in a summary of their decision. And later in the ruling, they said: “Equal protection under the Iowa Constitution is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike. Since territorial times, Iowa has given meaning to this constitutional provision, striking blows to slavery and segregation, and recognizing women’s rights. The court found the issue of same-sex marriage comes to it with the same importance as the landmark cases of the past.”

The Founding Fathers of the United States wisely preferred a constitutional republic to ("pure") democracy. The Bear Flag proclaims that California is a republic.

The California Supreme Court will soon decide whether 41% of eligible voters* can deny a minority group a fundamental right. Three cases challenging Proposition 8 were heard together on March 5th and a decision will be announced soon. The decision will likely hinge on legal technicalities like the difference between an "amendment" to the California Constitution and a "revision" or the definition of "inalienable". Whatever one's position on the issue of "gay marriage", I hope we all can agree that it is fundamentally wrong to allow less than 41% of the population to dictate which rights a minority group may have.

* Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote and 79% turnout.

iPhone in Action

2009-02-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I purchased iPhone in Action by Cristopher Allen and Shannon Appelcline. Although I've been programming with the iPhone SDK for almost a year and iPhone WebApps for even longer, it is my first purchase of a book on iPhone SDK development.

It's too soon for me to write a book review, but so far it presents an easy to read, broad overview of iPhone development for both WebApps and SDK Apps. If you're interested in iPhone development you should look at this book. (Disclosure: I reviewed the iUI chapter and a few others for Christopher and Shannon and have worked with Christopher on the iUI project.)

I haven't blogged or videoblogged for ages. I've been busy developing iPhone Software, among other things. I did want to share a link to this book, however...

Freddy Krueger as a Street Musician

2007-06-26T22:27:00.001-07:00

On the corner of Pacific and Cooper in downtown Santa Cruz...
Update: His name is Michael Masley.

Boy and a Steam-Powered Robot

2006-10-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

I went to RoboGames 2006 back in June. My son loves robots and had a great time watching everyone's creations. In this clip he is checking out a steam-powered robot from Crabfu Steamworks.

Vlog Central

2006-06-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

vBlog Central is in the final stages of becoming Vlog Central...

Get Katie's Dad

2006-05-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

A short clip from last weekend's kid birthday party... I was trying to get a still picture of the kids and instead of telling them "say cheese", I told 'em to say, "Get Katie's Dad!". It immediately turned into a rhythmic chant, so I switched to video and got this clip. When one of the other dads charges with his squirt gun, the kids retreat, except for the man's son, who, when he realizes his comrades have abandoned him, runs away too.

Umbrella Man Slow-walks Pacific Avenue

2006-03-20T13:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a short clip of a Santa Cruz institution, Umbrella Man, doing his famous "slow walk" down Pacific Avenue.
Sarah Phelan did an interview for Metro Santa Cruz (make sure to scroll down...)

Patrick, Hans, and Mary

2006-02-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

... will be starting a videoblog project shortly.

Swinging...

2006-01-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

... then "All Done, Dad, all done..."

Boy, Bus and Piano. Girl, Horns and Harness.

2006-01-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

Kids at play on Christmas...

Mike Rubin on NYC Video

2005-12-30T09:45:00.000-08:00

He's going to put video on his blog using vblogcentral, soon!

Enzo on Maranello Track

2005-11-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

A video from an auto race in Italy, via my friend Nizam.

Portrait of an Artist Holding a Rabbit

2005-10-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Luna Gilligan, made this self-portrait using a photograph taken by her friend, Chris. Luna is a brilliant designer and talented artist with a wicked sense of humor. I wish there was more of her work on the web that I could show you. 2009 Update: She has a site now at lilbuddydesign.wordpress.com. (Click image to enlarge)

Charcoal Squirrel

2005-09-23T04:45:00.000-07:00

I've never seen a squirrel colored like this before.

Moral Clarity

2005-09-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

"Bad guys are bad. Good guys are good." My daughter sets a few things straight. Update: Make sure to see Josh Leo's remix Bad and Good Guys.

Kids on Merry-Go-Round

2005-09-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Taken at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo

Hooligans at the Park

2005-08-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

This cell-phone clip was taken earlier this summer. My kids and two friends were swinging from low-hanging tree branches. Katie was the ring-leader (of course) and I got lectured by a neighbor-lady for causing her taxes to go up...

Eric n Josh

2005-08-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

At Buck's

Rene

2005-08-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

Renegade plugs Webzine

Baghdad Bound: The Devil Dog Diaries (National Geographic)

2005-07-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I watched National Geographic's Baghdad Bound: The Devil Dog Diaries as a video-on-demand selection on my Akimbo. Producer Gary Scurka created an outstanding documentary that is a must-see, especially for videobloggers. Why is it relevant for videobloggers?

It shows the "dirty face of reality". Scurka pointed the camera at what he saw and explained what was happening. He didn't have "an angle".
Gary Scurka shot the video himself and frequently uses the videoblogger arm's length shot.
Scurka was an "embedded journalist", who eventually bonded with the Marines he accompanied and was dependent upon for his survival. This bond was a challenge to his concept of objectivity. How did he deal with it? He talked about the issue on camera, of course!

National Geographic has on on-line interview with Gary Scurka.

Amanda Congdon of RocketBoom Reviews Akimbo

2005-07-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

Amanda likes her Akimbo. I like my Akimbo, too. (RocketBoom is published under a creative commons license, so I can republish for non-commercial usage without their permission. Cool, huh? I called Andrew Baron anyway, just to say "Hi!")

Ireland Second Richest Country in European Union!

2005-06-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

According to The End of the Rainbow (New York Times), Ireland now has the second highest per capita G.D.P. in the European Union. As an Irish-American and dual-citizen this news makes me happy and proud. I last visited Ireland in 1992 when unemployment was 20 percent. At least one Irish relative desperately asked me to tell my American friends to buy Irish products. Clearly a change in policy was needed. Says The Times:

And change Ireland did. In a quite unusual development, the government, the main trade unions, farmers and industrialists came together and agreed on a program of fiscal austerity, slashing corporate taxes to 12.5 percent, far below the rest of Europe, moderating wages and prices, and aggressively courting foreign investment. In 1996, Ireland made college education basically free, creating an even more educated work force.

[via O'Reilly's Radar]

Erin go Braugh!

Steve G at Gnomedex

2005-06-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Paul has a Rivet

2005-06-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

I met my friend Paul for breakfast this morning and I told him that my wife was doing some work for a company named Rivet. He says, "Yeah, I got a Rivet..." Paul is a practical IT guy, so his testimonial bodes well for Lisa's new client.

The Old Negro Space Program

2005-06-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

I have the Ken Burn's Jazz series in the DVD set and love it. Can't remember where I saw the link to this spoof called The Old Negro Space Program. If you have a sense of humor, love Ken Burns, or hate Ken Burns, you should check it out.

Tony

2005-06-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

QuickTime Conferencing

2005-05-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

As I use iChat more frequently, I am reminded of QuickTime Conferencing (screenshot), an earlier attempt at desktop videoconferencing that was a little too early. I was tangentially involved in the project: I helped develop device drivers for an ill-fated networking technology intended for use with QuickTime Conferencing.

That was 10 years ago! I've been interested in Internet video ever since...

I Like Biking With My Kids

2005-05-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

A few people in the videoblogging community have been posting videos about what they like. Two things that I love: my kids and bike riding. I like being able to combine the two.

Frank

2005-05-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

Yet another mobo-v-blog (mobile video blog) of a demo victim.

Freezer Meat

2005-05-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

After watching Clint and Mel and Carol and Steve clean their freezers and being personally cajoled on IM by Steve Garfield, I barely convinced Lisa to participate. My goal was to find the oldest meat in the freezer and to cook it for my lunch (in the near future.) What's in your freezer?

CSS Web Design Books, part II

2005-05-18T00:25:00.000-07:00

Back in September 2004, I purchased three CSS books, although I don't regret buying any of them, I'm still looking for the perfect practical CSS book. Slashdot just posted a positive review of Web Designers' Reference: An Integrated Approach to Web Design with XHTML and CSS which is rated 5-stars and has a sales rank of #356 on Amazon. Another Slashdotter, recommends Web Standards Solutions: The Markup and Style Handbook which also looks interesting. Do any of my many, CSS-savvy readers have any comments on these books?

Video Evidence Plays Key Role in Prosecution of Convention Protesters

2005-04-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

In Videos Challenge Accounts of Convention Unrest, the New York Times covers the use of video shot during the Republican Convention in September, 2005:

A sprawling body of visual evidence, made possible by inexpensive, lightweight cameras in the hands of private citizens, volunteer observers and the police themselves, has shifted the debate over precisely what happened on the streets during the week of the convention.

Jim Dwyer, the reporter who wrote the story, also tells the story in a video:

At Steamer's

2005-04-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

Surfers at Steamer's Lane in Santa Cruz, me not immediately realizing I was in a cell phone video clip. (Taken with a low-end Japanese cell phone.)

NYT Review of Coat-Pocket-Size MiniDV Camcorders

2005-03-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for a new digital camcorder for videoblogging or just home movies, you might want to read this New York Times article [no password needed]. (I'd also recommend looking at the video recording capabilities of similarly-priced digital cameras, but if you want a true camcorder these mini MiniDV camcorders sure sound nice.)

Reason: Bloggers Beware: Threats to the status quo are always ripe for "reform"

2005-03-10T00:10:00.000-08:00

Reason: Bloggers Beware: Threats to the status quo are always ripe for "reform":

Bloggers were one of the big political successes of the 2004 election. This motley group of opinionated writers used their cyber soapboxes to attack and defend the presidential campaigns and the two major parties. Their websites offered a fresh look at politics and implicitly undermined the Establishment media that so many Americans have come to distrust. In other words, bloggers used freedom of speech to improve American democracy. Naturally the federal government is about to come down hard on bloggers.

[via Instapundit]

Toward A Literacy of Cooperation

2005-03-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs, will be giving a talk called Toward a Literacy of Cooperation in Palo Alto the evening of Thursday, March 17th. [via Renee Blodgett].

I hope to be able to be there.

I've long been interested in spontaneous order theory and have read many books by Friedrich Hayek. The Evolution of Cooperation is another interesting book on this subject. These themes continue to repeat themselves in various human endeavors. Eric Raymond's essay/book, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, illustrates how evolutionary cooperation underlies the Open Source software movement.

Renee mentions Charles Darwin in her blog entry, and I commented that Darwin read an intellectual biography of Adam Smith after his return from the Galapagos islands (but I wasn't able to use hyperlinks on her blog.) Hayek was influenced by the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment who were perhaps 250 years ahead of their time.

The Internet is fertile ground for spontaneous order and things like Wikipedia, blogs, and open source software have surprised almost everyone with how they can bring order out of seeming chaos.

Downtown Santa Cruz Street Musician

2005-03-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

This, and all the other low-res movies were taken with my Nokia 3650 cell phone, by the way. I was talking to Yancy on the phone the other day, and he said "Dude, your recent movies look really look fuzzy. What's the deal?". (These weren't his exact words, Yancy doesn't really talk like that.) Yancy thought they were from my digital camcorder and that I had just been sloppy with my encoding.
So, the low res movies you see on my site are from my cell phone, and the high-res ones are from my camcorder.

Hot Los Gatos Chicks

2005-02-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

under heat lamps at a hardware store in Los Gatos.

Dennis

2005-02-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

Liam Mows the Lawn

2005-02-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

My son, Liam, has a fascination with lawnmowers. He'll sit there and try to push the mower for 5 or 10 minutes. Yesterday I showed him how to push it without making the blades spin and he got results!

Free Mojtaba and Arash

2005-02-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

The Committee to Protect Bloggers has declared today "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day". Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are Iranian bloggers, who have been jailed for blogging. Today, Arash was given a 14 year jail sentence for charges, according to Reuters, ranging from "espionage to insulting the country's leaders". (A tell-tale sign of a truly repressive country is when exercising free speech is called "espionage".) via Jeff Jarvis

Hypertext Style: Cool URIs don't change.

2005-02-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

Hypertext Style: Cool URIs don't change.:
http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html

Good Video Explaining Podcasting

2005-02-07T23:56:00.000-08:00

In 4 Minutes About Podcasting Lisa Williams presents a very concise overview of podcasting. Now someone just needs to produce a good explanation of the similarities and differences between videoblogging and podcasting...via Dan Gillmor

Carol and Steve Garfield

2005-01-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

Carol and Steve Garfield of the Carol and Steve Show ham it up for my cell phone camcorder at the Vloggercon party.

Message for Ryanne

2005-01-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

Ryanne Hodson was asking on the videoblogging list about Google placement. Sometimes she uses the name Ryan and sometimes Ryanne. So I sent her a private e-mail suggesting she stick to Ryanne because it is more unique. I asked if she was in transition (from one name to another) and she tought I was implying something totally different. She videoblogged her response and I almost fell out of my chair laughing. So I hooked up my webcam and made this quick response. I followed my rules for video comments, BTW. (Easy to follow since they make posting less work.)

Ryanne, (just for you) I made all the links on the post create a new window.

Production Note: My apologies for the lousy audio, poor frame-rate and lip-synch. I wanted to record a response while I was still "rolling on the floor laughing" and I used an improperly configured HackTV for iSight video capture. (Specifically it was capturing video at 640x480 uncompressed and my PowerBook hard drive couldn't keep up.) Rather than do a retake and loose my spontaneous reaction, I decided to go ahead and use the flawed recording. p.s. One project for the weekend is to clean up that desk in the background...

Cablecam for Your Living Room

2005-01-06T04:03:00.000-08:00

Steve Garfield and I were talking about shooting video of everyday home living. I want to have a high-quality camera ready that I don't have to hold or carry, for when the kids start doing something momentshowing-worthy. Then I saw this article in the New York Times. Steve could use something like this for The Carol and Steve Show, his Real Reality TV show.

Jay Dedman and Kenyatta Cheese in Wired News

2004-12-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

The Wired News article Video Feeds Follow Podcasting talks about Jay and Kenyatta's work on Vogbrowser and other RSS video aggregators, as well as what some of the companies like Feedster and Blogdigger are doing. Good work Jay and Kenyatta!

(Jay and Kenyatta are active on the Yahoo Videoblogging Group and Jay has been alpha testing vBlog Central and has given us a ton of feedback.)

Talking Heads Want Better Audio

2004-12-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Ryan Hodson, a talented artist and videoblogger, just posted a talking-head video comment, that she 'compressed the living hell out of'. If you ask me, she, like so many others, over-compressed the audio. Personally, I'd rather she made the video smaller and jerkier, but with higher audio quality. The most important part of this video is the sound of her voice, but the audio artifacts introduced by over-compression de-humanize human voices and drive me crazy. Am I the only one? I'm going to see if others in the videoblogging group agree with me and try to encourage people to not over-compress their audio.

Note: Since this video is a QuickTime demo it is only available in QuickTime format, unlike my other videos which are in multiple formats thanks to vBlog Central.

Ryan, being a video professional at her night-time day job, has access to and knows how to use high-end tools, like Cleaner 6. I decided to post an alternate, highly-compressed video comment for comparison. Since I don't have access to her high-quality master, I'm going to use my most recent video comment as an example. The video above was not automatically compressed on the server by vBlog Central, but was compressed 'by hand' on my desktop with the $29.99 QuickTime Pro version of the QuickTime Player and is hosted by vBlog Central.

Cleaner 6 gives excellent results with two-pass Sorenson VBR encoding that I can't duplicate with QT Pro (by itself), so I went for a really small video window. I used the same audio codec as Ryan, but decided to give more bandwidth to the audio to remove the artifacts. The table below compares the bandwidth used by this video and Ryan's video.

Rate	Ryan	Sean
Video Bit-Rate:	2.9 K bytes/sec	3.8 K bytes/sec
Audio Bit-Rate:	1.0 K bytes/sec	1.9 K bytes/sec
Total:	3.9 K bytes/sec	5.7 K bytes/sec

It's not fair to compare my video compression to Ryan's since she used a better tool. My point here is that if Ryan had given 0.9 K bytes/sec extra bandwidth to her audio, she would have had much better sounding audio. She could have slightly reduced her video quality or increased her overall file size by only 23%. This is why I'm asking videobloggers to not skimp on their audio quality.

Wikinews Beta

2004-12-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

I don't have an opinion as whether this will work, but Wikinews is here. I'm usually wrong about these things, so I'll have to wait and see. (via Slashdot.)

Berkeley Blogger Dinner

2004-12-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to the Berkeley Blogger Dinner organized by Mary Hodder (Mary was the subject of a recent article in Wired News that, according to Mary, took some poetic license.)

I had a great time: the people, ambiance, food, and conversation were all outstanding.

I had an interesting conversation with Mary, Esme Vos, and Damon Darlin about the learning curve for 'getting' blogging. I admitted that after maybe two years of dismissing blogging as a stupid tech fad, I finally gave it an honest look early this year. In January, I decided that blogs were a great way to publish video, spent a good deal of time learning about blogging, and read a good portion of Dan Gillmor's We The Media. However, I don't think I truly understood all the magnificent complexity and spontaneous order that is involved until after some of the questions and feedback I got when I photo and videoblogged the FCC Raid on Free Radio Santa Cruz in late September.

To a reader, a blog is little more than a regularly updated website; you have to actually be a blogger to truly understand the various feedback mechanisms and the conversational nature of blogging. This is what makes it so hard for many to understand why this is so different from other things that look same on the surface (forums, mailing lists, etc.)

It seems the 'understanding curve' for blogging is steep. Mary, suggested that with wikis this isn't the case, you can see the magic fairly quickly, as I did when I discovered the Wikipedia and made some minor grammatical changes to the podcasting entry. (I have to admit to being a little close-minded here, too: I was initially put off by wikis after having seen them used in a vain attempt to get a 'shoemaker and the elves' effect and have documentation mysteriously appear for some Open Source software development projects.)

But, I don't think that telling my Mom and Dad that to truly understand blogging they'll have to go play around with wikis first is a good idea. We concluded that maybe the blogosphere needs to evolve some mechanisms that help newbies really understand things more quickly. (Wish I had a good idea here, but all we've done is identify a problem...)

A note on video comments

2004-12-03T15:31:00.000-08:00

I've posted two talking-head video comments on other people's videoblog entries (here and here). I don't really consider these stand-alone vblog entries: they should more properly be placed as video comments on the respective original videoblogs (here and here). A few (suggested, personal) rules for talking head video comments:

They must be made immediately after viewing the video (to capture the emotional reaction.)
They must be done Ed Wood style: one take, no script, no rehearsal, no editing. (Think of an interview with moviegoers at the premiere...)

Liquid lenses for camera phones

2004-12-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

The Register has an article about Liquid lenses for camera phones that are currently under development. They promise to add auto-focus and optical zoom to camera-phone-size lenses, by 'Q1 2006 at the latest'.

Jay Dedman Blasphemes Redwoods

2004-11-26T01:59:00.000-08:00

Jay Dedman, my friend from the videoblogging list, recently posted this vblog entry about his visit to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The "Stupid Trees" he's referring to can be seen online in VR. (Even the VR doesn't do the trees justice.) It made me so mad, I had to videoblog my response. To make the offense even worse, he shows me in his closing titles! (I promise not to get too carried away with the talking head stuff, but I think it can be a good way to show an emotional reaction to someone else's video.)

Karate Chimp

2004-11-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

An amazing chimp who's been trained in Karate...

Consumer Electronics Association: Camera Phone Code of Conduct

2004-11-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

The Consumer Electronics Association has an introductory webpage with a link to a Camera Phone Code of Conduct (PDF). The rules seem reasonable enough to me:

Camera phones should not be used where photographic equipment is typically banned, for example: museums, movie theaters, and live performances. Users should look for signs posted in public places. which indicate whether photographic equipment is banned.
Camera phones should not be used in public areas considered 'private' by those who use them, for example: bathrooms, changing rooms, and gym locker rooms.
Camera phones should not be used without authorization to record and/or transfer confidential information. This may apply within a corporate, government or educational environment.
Camera phones should not be used to take photos of individuals without their knowledge and consent.
Discretion is advised when using your camera phone to take photos of individuals under the age of 18.
Safety is paramount when operating a motor vehicle. Users should refrain from using the camera or video function of a wireless phone when driving.
Camera phone users should always respect the privacy of others. Photography of individuals without their consent, when and where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, may be prohibited by law.

I think folks on the videoblogging list have generally been pretty good, but the motor vehicle rule may be problematic.

Rocketboom and Slashdot Naysayers

2004-11-12T01:55:00.000-08:00

Just saw rocketboom. These guys (and gal) just rebutted the Slashdot naysayer crowd (who bashed videoblogging) once and for all. (Other rebuttals, are here, here, and here.)

The Slashdot naysayers, particularly as embodied by Chris Wiegel, got me all fired up. For the moment, the quality of rocketboom's vlog (another vote for the word "vlog") is causing me to give up hope of ever becoming a real videoblogger.

They set the bar very high with incredible production values: both video and web. They embody many of the things we've been saying on the videoblogging list. When I recover from the shock, I'll make a long list of everything they are doing right. One critique, though: It seems to not have the individual voice or voices that we have come to value in the blogosphere. I'd like to see Josh Kinsberg and Andrew Baron on camera (hopefully not being arrested), at least a little. It would also be nice to see Amanda Congdon relax and be herself from time to time.

Site that tracks Cease and Desist Notices

2004-11-06T16:16:00.000-08:00

Learned of this link at the Law session at BloggerCon: http://www.chillingeffects.org/.

Tofu Tenders

2004-11-06T02:13:00.000-08:00

I stayed with friends on the Friday night before BloggerCon and raided their refrigerator in the middle of the night. This was the only ready-to-eat (or microwave) food I could find:

Jay Dedman at BloggerCon

2004-11-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

Jay Dedman at the Friday night dinner:
(This was my demo of moblogging for Jay. I added the text later from my computer.)

Oustanding videoblog-like submission for INdtv

2004-11-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

So, Al Gore has this new project to create a cable channel, called INdtv and is out looking for the video producers, etc. to staff the channel. A new member of the Yahoo videoblogging group, Randy Mills, posted this self-interview for INdtv.

Frances Cherman at Lulu Carpenter's

2004-11-03T22:27:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I ran into Frances Cherman at LuLu Carpenter's.

First Post-Election Political Videoblog.

2004-11-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Human Dog has made the first post-election political videoblog entry that I am aware of.

No matter who you voted for, you'll have to admit that Bush will be the better president for videoblogging.

Election is Over

2004-11-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

I had previously said that I hope whoever wins, wins by a significant margin. The margin wasn't big enough to eliminate all questions about vote counting, but it could have been much worse. In the U.S. there is no excuse for an election system that can't compute accurate results within hours of the polls closing. It is in the interest of all Americans to insist upon a better process, and to make sure that any computer technology used in the process has been checked, double-checked, and leaves a verifiable paper trail. We need to pay attention to this over the next four years and hold people accountable.

Just in Time for Halloween: Political Monsters

2004-10-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

via Instapundit:Comic book monster look-a-likes!

(Didn't immediately notice that the selection reveals a political bias; still funny, though...)

Videoblogging, Podcasting, and "Meta" Data

2004-10-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to make this vblog non-technical, but I wanted to note here that exciting things will soon be coming to the videoblogging world. Podcasting is becoming a popular method of distributing audio files (in MP3 format) in blogs, and, at vBlog Central, we plan on adding a similar function for video. In short, podcasting allows users to subscribe to audio "shows" that they like and then listen to them offline, on their iPod or other player, at their convenience. Kind of like Tivo for audio. I subscribe to the videoblogging Yahoo group, which is a great group of people who are pushing the creative and technical boundaries of video in blogs. Lucas Gonze just created a new Audio and video syndication group, that is focusing on syndication and metadata for audio and video. This will be a very tech-heavy list, but if we come up with a solution and get it implemented, it will be very exciting for consumers and producers of audio and video content. Stay Tuned...

Creativity Always Builds on the Past

2004-10-26T03:25:00.000-07:00

This movie, by Justin Cone, won the Moving Images Contest put on by Creative Commons. I think it is an excellent introduction to the concept and application of Creative Commons licenses. I'm uploading it to my blog as a test. I'll probably use it as a video FAQ on Creative Commons licenses on vBlog Central...

On the air at Manhattan Neigborhood Network

2004-10-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, I called my videoblogging colleague, Jay Dedman on his cellphone and didn't know he was on the air with YOU, his call-in TV show on MNN. As he was expecting a call, he answered the phone. He posted the clip to his videoblog. Warning: Some of the callers use offensive language.

Tour of Community Television of Santa Cruz

2004-10-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Lisa Mastramico was kind enough to give me a personal tour of Community Television of Santa Cruz last night. It was my first time inside an actual TV studio. I'd like to go back with my camera and videoblog it. After the tour we went to Cafe Pergolesi and I tried to explain blogging and videoblogging to her. It seems like Lisa pretty much dedicates her life to community television, alternative media, and political activism. I had a great time talking with her.

She asked how (video)blogging is different than Indymedia and I'm embarrased by how poor of a job I did at answering the question. Another person that I met at the station expressed concern that the Internet and videoblogging could be used as an excuse to cut funding for Community TV, as that rationale had been used in (I think he said) Los Angeles. I've got to ask Jay Dedman to come and talk to them during his California visit for BloggerCon. (Lisa said she'd like to meet Jay.)

I need to point Lisa at Dan Gillmor's We The Mediabook and blog, at Creative Commons, and at the DigitalBicycle project. Another thing I need to do to evangelize blogs is learn how to use Bloglines or similar tools to send people starter subscription lists. I thought Community TV people would get videoblogging right away, but they've got a sophisticated infrastructure that works for them, and, I tend to forget, that just 10 months ago, I thought blogs were a bunch of hype.

7 out of 10 Dutch ISPs censor content on bogus copyright claim

2004-10-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

Joi Ito's Web: Copyright Takedown Experiment Reveals Horrible ISP Policies: "Dutch civil rights organization Bits of Freedom has run an interesting experiment: They put up a text by a famous Dutch author, written in 1871 to accounts with 10 different ISPs. Then they made up an imaginary society that is supposed to be the copyright holder of the author in question, and sent copyright infringement takedown notices to those 10 ISP via email (using a Hotmail account). 7 out of 10 ISPs took down the material, sometimes within hours and without even informing the account holder."

How should an ISP decide to handle a situation like this? If you refuse the request you are open to liability lawsuits, if you blindly obey it you're someone's tool -- or do you spend time investigating every complaint and then hope you bet on the right horse? Doom9 implies that it is somehow bad to act on the notice of some imaginary society that owns the rights. What if it had been someone they'd heard of, a big publisher or TV station? Now, it's OK for the ISP to take down the material? What if a big media company, powered by Akamai was using an independent's creative content material for commercial purposes? Now what do you think the mechanism should be?

As I was fascinated by the implications of Gimme the Mermaid video on the Illegal Art site, I thought about what would happen if we were hosting that video and were asked by Disney to take it down? It seems, to me, to be fair use, albeit provocative fair use. Do I have to fight Disney's lawyers to protect my customer?

I think the first thing I'd do is call EFF. In an ideal (Coasean) world, what would the process be? What's the best EFF could suggest, these days?

Better Video of Free Radio Santa Cruz Bust by Lisa Mastramico

2004-10-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Lisa Mastramico produces a series called S.C. Indynewsreal for Community Television of Santa Cruz. I met her at the FCC raid/protest, where I was shooting short video clips and photos with my camera phone. If my DV camera battery were charged and I had the proper training and I had real talent, I might have been able to make a video like this one that Lisa made: Lisa originally posted the video to the Santa Cruz Indymedia site, but gave me permission to upload it to my blog using vBlog Central. The Indymedia link is QuickTime only. The vBlog Central version can be played with QuickTime, Real Player, or Windows Media Player.

Don Cochrane tells me about Digital Media Factory

2004-10-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

My friend, Don Cochrane, from Coffeetopia pointed me to this article about a new operation in Santa Cruz called Digital Media Factory. I helped Don setup a blog on Blogger.com. In this camcorder-phone clip he explains his idea for the blog:

He also created an interesting web site called California Earth Lodge.

Update:Cinemar, the Central Coast Cinema Artists Resource, is having their next monthly schmoozfest Friday, October 22nd at 7:30 at the Digital Media Factory. I plan on attending...

Videoblogging at BloggerCon

2004-10-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

Jay Dedman responds to my suggestion of a videoblogging session via e-mail:

i couldn't think of anything better than doing a videoblogging session. but how's it work? we just do it in some corner?

I think you are supposed to propose sessions on the discussion forum on the BloggerCon site. I'm about to do it... UPDATE: I did it. BloggerCon for Newbies, summarizes the role of the discussion leader, and other procedural issues:

Think of the conference as if it were a weblog. At the beginning of each session, the leader talks between five and fifteen minutes to introduce the idea and some of the people in the room. Then she'll point to someone else. She may ask a couple of questions to get them going, then she'll point to someone else, then someone else, then make a comment, ask a question, etc. Each person talks for two to three minutes. Long enough to make a point. About the time someone would take if they called into a radio talk show.

Jay has displayed great patience as a talk show host, so he is surely qualified to be a discussion leader!

Video Link: David Weinberger on blogs as conversation

2004-10-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

On Blogumentary, I found a QuickTime movie clip of David Weinberger talking about blogs that I thought captured the conversational nature of blogs quite eloquently.

Made it into BloggerCon

2004-10-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last week, everyone on the wait list got admitted to the BloggerCon conference. Originally, they were only going to admit 250 people, but now it's at 413. Given the small size of the conference, the interesting registrants and the unique format, I'm very excited about attending. Jay Dedman will be attending and I'm going to ask him if he wants to moderate or participate in a session on videoblogging.

Afghan Elections

2004-10-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

This photo (via asmallvictory.net via Yahoo via AP), of Afghan women voting in their burqas is worth at least 1,000 words...

Technorati Hackathon, part 1

2004-10-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Dave Sifry kicks off the Technorati Hackathon.

Blogger Can't Spell "blogs"

2004-10-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

I was using the spell checker on Blogger.com and found this...

(Click Image to Enlarge)

Dan Gillmor's Talk at San Jose State University

2004-10-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

I attended Dan Gillmor's talk, put on by the Commonwealth Club. He covered mostly material from his book, We the Media, which I highly recommend. Because I've already been reading the book, I didn't learn much, but got a better understanding of Dan's experience and thought processes. I got to meet Dan and get my new copy of the book signed, though. (I had been reading a gallery proof that I got from the O'Reilly booth at Apple's WWDC...)

(Click on the image for an enlarged photo)

It was interesting to hear Dennis Wilcox, Director of the SJSU School of Journalism ask questions, and it seems that journalism schools and students still don't fully understand the nature of the changes that are happening -- although they may understand the significance. I'm assuming that SJSU is ahead of the curve, since they are here in Silicon Valley and invited Dan to talk. Dan recommended that all journalism students start blogs, but warned them that what they write now may last a long time (think Google cache) and could come back to haunt them. Remember the old saying about being under 30 and not a liberal. You can give liberal either its European or American meaning, but in this context I suppose I mean passionate and idealogical. I know I'd be embarrased to read blog posts that I wrote when I was at Berkeley and had just finished reading Atlas Shrugged, and if I was trying to get a newspaper job today, I'd sure hope my prospective employer wouldn't see them. I decided to try one camcorder-phone video while I was there.

The audio is weak -- he's saying: "More voices have got to be better than fewer, and with that, thank you for coming."

In the last month before the election, there's a lot of pressure to be reduced to just two voices (anti-Bush and anti-Kerry, as it were) and we truly are best served by many voices. Thanks, Dan, for reminding us of that.

Legalizing Pirate Radio

2004-10-04T01:57:00.000-07:00

On the videoblogging list, Alan from demandmedia provided a pointer to Senate Bill 2505, which was introduced by Senator McCain to implement the original FCC recommendation to legalize low-power FM. Alan also referenced a "more wonky media reform site" called freepress with a section devoted to Low-Power FM.

A Swarm of Videobloggers Will Get the Scoops

2004-10-03T01:01:00.000-07:00

Via Technorati, I found this post on The Media Drop that references the Free Radio Santa Cruz bust slideshow and says: "If he can pull up scoops like this on a regular basis, then it'll be such a huge impetus on the medium [of videoblogging]!" There's no way I'm going to be able to do this regularly -- I literally just happened to be passing by. Sure was fun, though, being a "citizen journalist" for a few hours. I do believe, however, that the growing community of videobloggers will be able to "pull up scoops like this on a regular basis".

More on Free Radio Santa Cruz and Pirate Radio

2004-09-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't post much text explaining the situation, but several people have asked for it, so I'm taking a long lunch to write this post. I didn't originally do this for two reasons: 1) the focus of this blog is supposed to be video and 2) I really didn't know any background information or have the time to research it.

Free Radio Santa Cruz http://www.freakradio.org has been broadcasting illegally for about 10 years. I don't know what the ups and downs of their ongoing battles with the FCC have been, but yesterday the FCC did what only the government can legally do: sent in people with guns to achieve their objectives.

The FCC took their antenna, transmitter, computers, tape players, turntables, and I heard they were taking records, tapes, and CD's too. That's the stuff they're loading into the "undercover" camper-shell pickups that you can see in the slide show.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about the situation. Being not very subversive myself, I think people should try to obey the law, even when it is stupid. Then you try to change it. 10 years is a pretty long run, after all. Alan from demandmedia is familiar with low power radio advocates and says, "Some have chosen civil disobedience (like Free Radio Santa Cruz), some have chosen to take on one of the most powerful lobby's in DC. I think they work together pretty well. Laws protecting civil rights don't get passed unless there are people [who] civilly disobey restrictions o[n] them." He says Prometheus Radio is the "premier grassroots lobbying group" for this cause. He also says there is a bill in congress that would allow FRSC to become legit.

I don't know the details of the technology and law for FM broadcasting, but I think the reasonable solution would be to change the law (or regulations) to allow micro-broadcasting under reasonable conditions. In this specific case, I don't think that FRSC (aka "Freak Radio") was hurting anyone (i.e. interfering with another signal.) The more I learn about this, the more it sounds like Prometheus should be unchained. I'd like to learn more about the "bill". I'll bet there will be some discussion at the upcoming Santa Cruz City Council meeting. (Not that it will do much good, as this is a federal issue.) Santa Cruz residents will recognize Mayor Scott Kennedy and Councilman Mark Primack in the slide show.

For more information:

Free Radio Santa Cruz (There is a live Internet stream)
Prometheus Radio Project
Videoblogging list on Yahoo
Santa Cruz Sentinel story
Mercury News story
Santa Cruz Indy Media has several articles. (but the site seems slow.)

John Malkin on the FCC Raid

2004-09-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

John Malkin, who hosts a show on Free Radio Santa Cruz, talks about the FCC raid that occurred today. The FCC seized their antenna, transmitter, A/V equipment, including record players, etc. Update: Although their FM broadcast is down, they've got an a "station alert" playing on their live stream.

I just happened to drive by their "station" on Laurel St. in Santa Cruz and noticed the commotion. I thought, "Heh, I should videoblog this!". Unfortunately the battery for my DV cam was not charged up, so I was limited to taking a few short video clips with my cellphone and a handful of photos.

Slide Show of FCC Raid on Free Radio Santa Cruz

2004-09-29T15:49:00.002-07:00

Since my DV camera wasn't charged up, I took many photos with my cell phone and put this slideshow together using the QuickTime export capability of iPhoto. Music by Barbara Leoni and used under a Creative Commons license.