Meh. I want my boxee box… but the longer it takes, i’m either going for another macmini or bailing on expanding the media center all together… [to be continued]

        

Got an unusual email from the boss, Dr. Ludgate, this morning saying that she wasn’t going to be able to make today’s graduation ceremony. Bummer. The reason for the absence was because the “Gotta Keep Reading“ video that we’d assisted in creating with Ocoee Middle School was going to be a segment on the Oprah Winfrey show today. What? Oprah’s people set up a satellite connection this morning so that she could talk to Ocoee Middle School principal Sharyn Gabriel, reading coach Janet Bergh and two students about the video, with the student body gathered in the same quad area where the video had been filmed last December. How’s that for a Friday morning wake-up call?

The segment featured a shorter version of the video and a little Q&A between Winfrey, Gabriel, Bergh and the students, and ended with Oprah announcing that Target Stores had been enlisted to help upgrade Ocoee’s library. Below is the original video and beneath that several stills of the 1,285 that I shot during the video shoot.

Hard to imagine that an idea shared last Fall in a downtown Orlando restaurant has resulted in an inspirational video that’ll be a life-long memory for the 1,700 students who participated and now has become part of the national conversation on the importance of reading.

image by joe bustillos

image by joe bustillos

image by joe bustillos

image by joe bustillos

image by joe bustillos

image by joe bustillos

sources:
all images by Joe Bustillos.

        

By definition, this is a “first world” problem. In the news gap between CES and the Apple event next week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I might manage my media collections between all of my computers. The buzz around the Boxee box and anticipating the need to have most of my working data in the cloud so that I can access it regardless of what computer or platform I’m using has inspired me to find a better way to work with my media. Actually this is a “problem” that I didn’t have until I moved from my one-room studio to my one-bedroom apartment and then two-bedroom townhouse. I have four macs floating around the house (and anticipate a fifth Apple in the form of an iPad-netbook-media-thingy), each with their own full copies of my iTunes library, DVDs ripped to a couple macs, and daily podcasts downloaded to all four computers. In the past I manually erased podcasts I’d already listened to on one of the four computer and my iPhone, but given how many podcasts I listen to this method is just too much work. I’d also been hoping to store my DVDs on one computer and be able to view them on any of the other devices. The upcoming release of the Boxee box has me rethinking my media sharing scheme.

Boxee Beta from boxee on Vimeo.

One of the things that I’ve learned so far is that even though I’m using fast wireless “N” and or a fast “power” Ethernet connection between the first and second floors, ripped DVDs stored on hard drives in their original Mpeg2 format won’t play across the network without lots of buffering or dropped frames. Unacceptable. I was anticipating using my PS3 as the movie/media player downstairs (still working on that), so I had previous converted some movies to mp4 and those videos seemed to play nicely across the network. So, even though I’m a firm believer in having access to all of the “extra features” that I look for with my DVDs (and how convenient they are to access using the DVD menu system), I’ll need to rip and convert my media to a more network friendly format, like mp4 (which makes each extra feature into it’s own separate video file). Grrr.

image by Joe Bustillos

I have a huge DVD and music collection and get most of my more daily news and entertainment via video and audio podcasts, so I need some kind of box attached to my TVs so that I can get my Internet/network media. I was hoping to use my PS3 as the player in my living room, but it has a crappy web-browser and doesn’t do RSS, so it can’t natively do podcasts. More work needed here. At the moment my mac mini is doing living room media duties. I love the Front Row interface, but it seems a bit confused that my episodes of StarTrek (classic and Next Gen) are not movies and won’t let me organize things. So maybe the updated Boxee interface will do the job.

I’ve played with Boxee previously, but couldn’t break away from my iTunes addiction. With the software upgrade and set-top box, I’m thinking that this might be the solution to my Internet TV/podcast thing, either the software or the set-top box. Depending on my success using the PS3 as a media player, I still might need another set-top box for the bedroom TV. I’m also thinking that I need to plug into the NetFlix thing (streaming and disc) so that I don’t find myself buying every movie I want to see. So whatever box I get needs to do Netflix, access my music and DVDs across the network and either grab podcasts off the net or the ones stored on my other computers. Having invested in the PS3, I’m aware of the problems of getting a box that isn’t as expandable to handle all of the twists and turns that tends to happen in the media market.

Sources:
* Boxee Demo. http://www.boxee.tv/box retrieved on 1/23/2010
* FrontRow image by Joe Bustillos
* Tekzilla » Episode 124: “Should I buy a Boxee Box or a Roku or Stick With My xbox?” http://revision3.com/tekzilla/veronicapc/should-i-buy-a-boxee-box-or-a-roku-or-stick-with-my-xbox-360- retrieved on 1/23/2010
* Tekzilla » Episode 121: Boxee Box. http://revision3.com/tekzilla/2010newyear/boxee-box retrieved on 1/23/2010

        

Jenkin’s “Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide” is part of my course reading and students are always finding great videos of Jenkins on the Interwebs. Here’s a great one that sums it his take on the evolution of media and what it means for the culture and the media industry. Thanks Seann G.

        

Long Beach studio circa 1999 - image by joe bustillos

So I packed books and everything in the bedroom and started taking apart my home office, disconnecting all the monitors (three) and gadgets. I decide to set up a temporary office on the dining table in the front room with one external monitor, keyboard and mouse. When I went to bed that first night in the office-less bedroom I was really surprised at how dark that room was. I had to turn on a nightstand light to safely navigate the room. Next surprise was how soundly I seemed to sleep that night. Duh.

This isn’t rocket science, I’d been sleeping in rooms bathed in the continual glow of blue, red and green LEDs, and four monitors showing an earth in space screen saver for as long as I could remember. Of course once I took my glasses off it was all an undefinable glow, but I guess the glow was enough for my brain to not fully “shut off” when I slept. The difference in my sleep before and after removing the office was remarkable. It was remarkable enough that I decided that I was going to forego the bedroom TV or other technology when I move to the townhouse.

I know for many this a “duh” thing, but for me this really is a change in thinking. For years I’ve maintained no difference between my working life writing on the computer while watching some TV and pushing up to and past the point of exhaustion and then just staggering to bed my head still very full of the things I’d been working on. Now I am going to have to be much more deliberate and intentional as I get up from my office chair and walk down the hall to go to sleep. Hell, maybe I’ll develop the habit of doing some reading or talking to late night friends before drifting off to slumberland. A technology-free zone was not something I would have guessed would have come out of this move. Wow.

        

In honor of the upcoming J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek”…

Movies: Star Trek X: Nemesis

        

The following video was brought to my attention by a coworker as we both love watching stuff being presented at the TED conference. Alas, this video continues what I believe is a false cultural perception about the increasing general dehumanizing nature of technology. Admittedly it needs to be a bit bias, it’s a Nokia ad. But there is something that the ad misses about why these technologies succeed.

From the big screen to the small, the ad would have us believe that what was once shared (the big screen), was lost in the next two steps (TV & computers) but wonderfully recaptured in this latest iteration, specifically the N-Series Nokia devices. Um… bullshit.

The one constant across the fabled four screens is the shared nature of the experiences. Whereas the shared nature of the big screen is immediate, what worked for TV, the second screen, was talking about ones favorite TV series or episodes with fellow fans later. The success of the media itself was and is dependent on the number of eyeballs watching and the number of eyeballs watching is dependent, largely on the conversation surrounding the series. Whereas the shared experience is largely immediate with the big screen, it’s no less real for the small screen, just less immediate. The ad says that the experience is “Private.” Perhaps, but if the producers want to be successful it must, by nature, be communal on a massive scale.

So the third screen, the computer screen, bane of all that is good and human in the world; If all of your experiences of this screen is Excel spreadsheets and corporate email, God help you and we’re very sorry for you. But just like the TV experience, what is good and works is what connects us via this particular screen. IM (instant messaging), chat, social networking, webcams, email and gaming are all aspects that can connect us in a way that isn’t possible by any other means. With this third screen the connection is both in real time and “time-shifted.” And gaming, specifically listed in the ad, is successful because it is a shared experience, either in-real-time, or the same conversation had about favorite movies (1st screen) or TV shows (2nd screen). Contrary to popular belief and this ad, what works with gaming in particular and computers in general, is the common experience of the journey, struggle and triumph either as a clan or even as an observer. The storytelling and experience of the first screen, movies, is continued with this third screen in a powerful way that surpasses the passive experience of the first screen. Third screen, gaming and computers, FTW!

So, this fable fourth screen, the savior of all that is connected and good in the world, follows the same pattern: whatever works with the third screen applies to the fourth screen. The lie is that because it’s portable, where one can enjoy media in the presence of ones community then it must be more connected. Again, bullshit. It’s not the portability that makes it more connected, it’s the video conferencing, TM and IM, network gaming, apps that connect to all of the social networking. The portability makes it something that can be experienced away from the desktop or a set location, but it’s the activity, the shared experience, that makes it more connected, not the portability. The imagery that we’re all getting back together and reconnecting because of this fourth screen is largely fictional. We’ve always been connected but the potential and power is much much greater, and now, more portable.

The unspoken truth about gaming and technology is they can take connectedness to the next level, combining the shared experience with interactive participation and freedom from location or time limitations. Except for the fringe anti-social users, who would be anti-social regardless of the technology, the truth is that we are reaching an unprecedented level of meaningful human connection, not due to some portable device but because that is what humans do when the possibility of connectedness is realized. If your experience of technology is dehumanizing and disconnected perhaps you should examine your usage and not blame the technology but your own inability to look someone in the face and say, “Hi.” jbb

*Original source: http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/07/25/will-the-4th-screen-bring-us-together/

        

Buzz was that Microsoft’s last three ads changed the effectiveness of Apple’s “I’m a PC/I’m a Mac” ads. To recap: the first Seinfeld/Gates “Churro” ad left the techies wondering WTF and the general public wondering when Gates and Seinfeld’s new sitcom was going to be airing. The general public got their wish with the second “move in with the typical dysfunctional American family” ad… kind’a. The TV-version cut out all of the funny bits and what was left was even more WTF than the “Churro” ad. Adding insult to injury, probably only the techies saw the four and a half minute much funnier YouTube version, laughed and then moved on to the next YouTube video. The third “quit picking on me, I’m not a stereotype” ad was the most pathetic. The company that single-handedly killed IBM’s OS/2 operating system (thus eventually ending IBM’s role in the microcomputer world) and out-maneuvered Apple with it’s own graphical user interface “revolution” in the 80′s and 90′s is now whining, “Hey, I’m cool too!” And where do all three of these ads fail? Well, just compare a Bill Gates’ keynote with a Steve Jobs’ keynote. Which one perfectly balances the graphical message with an easy to remember verbal hook and which one clutters the screen with words and drones on with no decipherable message?

So, with two new 30-second “I’m a PC/I’m a Mac” ads, Apple redirects the conversation back to Microsoft’s failed Vista OS and points out that throwing money at ads or choosing to banish the “V” word won’t change Microsoft’s uncoolness. Nothing flashy, no WTF factor, no “churros” or subplots, just a silly little observation that Microsoft continues to miss the point.

This has got to piss off someone at Microsoft. $700-million in advertising undercut by two simple 30-second spots. That’s gotta hurt. jbb

        

First, a few words from one concerned citizen about how the media is handling the upcoming election:

A few weeks ago my oldest sister forwarded a Republican slanted presidential candidate comparison chart to the whole family. I glanced at it and immediately recognized the fearmongering and misrepresentation of the facts geared toward fear. My brother Matt was motivated to write a response to the chart. Even without the original chart, his response was so powerful that I wanted to publish it in this blog (with his permission!). Without further ado… brother Matt gets political:

First of all, whoever wrote this up should learn how to spell the candidate names. It’s Barack, not Barak.

Next, offshore drilling will never solve our energy problems. The oil that would be produced is ten years down the road and there is no correlation between the recent price increases and increase on demand. Oil futures markets, lack of leadership at the administrative level, a middle east war and record profits have more to do with recent prices than supply.

Next judges, there is a philosophical difference with law as it supports the status quo and envisioned so that the law protects all citizens. Our founding fathers were gifted men, but they were far from perfect. If the constitution was not modified, we would still have slavery, minorities would not have property rights and women would have neither the right to own property or the right to vote. Imagine, giving the vote to all those silly frivolous women. Surely, this will be the end of America as we know it.

Have you noticed that the folks that are resistant to change are often those that live their lives in fear. They are afraid of those different than them. they are afraid of blacks, Mexicans, Jews, gays and even the the disabled. It is as though they that will lose their position as “top dog,” in the pile of haves vs. have nots.

Next, what about McCain and his service record. Have you ever pondered how a navel cadet who finished in the bottom 1% of his class got the prestigious opportunity to fly fighter jets? Could it be that John McCain’s father was a four star admiral? How do you think McCain got into Annapolis to begin with? It wasn’t Affirmative Action, it was that much older program called good ol’ boy network. Ironic, how those that benefit form this very old perk are the same that oppose measures such as Affirmative Action, which is a small attempt to level a playing field that is entrenched with old money, alumni, and the well connected.

Amount of time served is the next topic. If experience was the only factor of what makes someone good at a particular skill, then old people would be the best drivers. Let me remind you that Barack Obama has the same number of years in office as the Ronald Reagan.

Healthcare, Kathie with all the trouble you’ve had with your healthcare, I thought you would have enough common sense to know that the system does not work. Even if you have good insurance, medical care is regulated by insurance companies that have an overhead of 25%, while Medicare and members of Congress are administrated by “bloated bureaucracy” that manages to do the job with less than 6%. That means for every $100 you pay, an insurance company takes $25 right off the top. No wonder the insurance companies spent hundreds of millions to kill Universal healthcare during the 1980′s.

Barack Obama does not support late term abortion. John McCain supported a women’s right to choose in 2000, now in 2008, when he needs the fanatical religious right’s votes, he has flipped-flopped on this issue. If the Right Wing was truly concerned with being pro-life, they would adopt every infant in this country and not just the healthy white babies.

Obama supports a reasonable schedule on an Iraqi withdrawal. John McCain said that we might be there for a hundred years.

Obama would like to see reasonable restrictions on guns in some of our inner cities. You know, the places that you’re afraid to go to when the sun goes down.

Obama is against taking away citizen’s rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, even if those citizens happen to have the same naughty bits in their undies. Again, what are you so afraid of? If marriage is a “Sacred Institution” joined by the Almighty then any objective observer would have to give it an “F” grade since it fails 50% of the time. The religious right have a saying,”What would Jesus do?” If being gay were such a huge sin, then you would think that Jesus would bring up the subject time and again. But he didn’t. In fact Jesus gave no warning or rebukes to homosexuals. But what he did warn about was on the subject of money. He brings up the topic of money about a dozen times in the gospels.

English as an official language? Okay folks, are you too stupid to learn a second language? History lesson: what is the oldest city in the Unitied States? Answer: St. Augustine, FL, where the european settlers spoke spanish. We live in a global economy. One of the reasons that we got attacked is that we did not and still do not have enough Arabic translators. We have a scathingly bad record of being poor students of history, culture and languages. Remember how the Neoconservatives thought that our soldiers would be greeted in Bagdad like the French greeted the allied troops during WWII? Remember that the Bush Administration did not know the difference between the different Islamic sects? Remember that the oil revenue was supposed to pay for this war?Remember the American idiots that killed an Indian Sikh, because he was wearing a turban. Most Americans have the attitude of “give me my cheeseburger and my TV and leave me alone.” Its amazing that there are those thats resent the fact that Obama worked hard and got a great education. Maybe Americans are just too stupid to be effectively governed.

Lastly, taxes. Does anybody think that you can spend money like a drunken sailor and cut taxes without some serious financial consequences. Our current president has taken this economy down the toilet. We have suffered the perfect storm of record deficit spending, deregulation of the banking industry that has lead to the sub-prime crisis, an energy policy that was designed by oil industry insiders that has caused the greatest shift of currency to leave this country and go to countries that sent the 911 terrorist to the U.S. (please remember 15 of the 19 terrorist were from Saudi Arabia) and the crisis is spreading. We will see further financial problems due to our continuance of the slide of home property values, our lack of personal savings and the heavy reliance of easy to obtain credit cards. We need to seriously ask the same question that Ronald Reagan asked Americans in the 1980′s debate: Are you better off now compared to four (eight) years ago?

Please don’t be fooled by this type of conservative claptrap you sent me. These people have tired, old ideas. And if you didn’t notice by their example, they don’t give a damn about the average American or the problems that the average American faces. I wrote this lengthy reply because I am concerned and a bit angry with the voters in this country. But I deeply love my sister.

Matt

Amen, bro. Onward and upward. jbb