Archive for May, 2007
Calacanis Says Mahalo
Jason Calacanis is out there trying something new, and so people are going in all directions talking about it. Mahalo is a human-powered search engine. What’s this? It means that people put in the links, and people try to build relevance to the topics. It’s not that far off from what Jimmy Wales is (was?) planning to do. Only Jason’s already launched it. “First!”
Will It Work?
I like the premise. It’s further down the path from the whole Rollyo “roll your own search engine” thingy. Remember that? I’m not sure. It requires humans. Humans are tricky bastards. They have to pay attention. They have to do things.
My Vote
I work with entrepreneurs. I’m a hybrid spirit myself (not fully there, but sensitive and appreciative of). But I think I’ll cast my vote with Jason on the notion that human-flavored curation of search is an important trend in coming years. I want to see this work out. And I signed up. Mahalo!
Super Powers Must be Taught
If you are learning new things but not sharing, you’re doing a disservice to those around you. Maybe you think others get it already and you’re just new to the game. But it’s never the case. There’s always someone in the audience who hasn’t learned what you’re talking about. They might’ve missed the news, or maybe they’ve been using something else to get a job done, and don’t realize that they could be doing something new. An interesting thing happens when you teach others what you know: it builds authority within yourself, and it builds good will between you and your extended audience. Teaching and sharing and extending your knowledge out to others bubbles opportunities to the surface that might not have shown themselves otherwise. Bre here, in this picture, is the KING of teaching others. It’s baked into his life model. So, why aren’t YOU teaching what you know?
Not Enough Time
There’s never enough time to get done the things that need doing. It’s a given. But the more folks you teach, the more you can raise the bar. Build networks of people who do what needs doing. Extend. Friendsource. Do virtual barn raising. There’s not enough time to build a million little arks. These fishbowls need to be broken, and you NEED to get out there and swim among the masses. Teaching others what you know, and building larger PLATFORMS for people to understand and work on things together will pay off more in the larger story.
Not Unique
If everyone’s doing what you’re doing, it makes you a cog, the same as everyone else. Bullshit. How many pitchers are playing baseball today? Are they all doing it the same way? How many guitarists? Painters? Everything you do is the same as everyone else. Only you do it differently. The power in teaching others what you know is that they’ll grow the concept, do something different, make it better, and then you can jump on, learn what they did, and then flip it through the permutations again.
No Return on Effort
If you’re giving away all this knowledge, what’s in it for you? There are countless rewards to dispensing knowledge. Being known as the person with answers and how-to knowledge is almost immediately useful to your standing in the world, because there are plenty of people in the camp of NOT knowing. The return? More people knowing how to do what needs doing. More people working on the larger solution instead of reinventing the wheel.
Not an Expert
Why should people listen to you? You’re not an expert. Forget this one. If you know something, chances are someone else needs to know it. If you’ve figured out keyboard shortcuts to GMAIL, someone else needs that info. Have you figured out the best settings to transcode MPG to DV? Great! I don’t know those. Share? See? EVERYONE has something to teach. Everyone, and that includes you.
Any Questions?
If you’re not teaching and extending knowledge, and developing the larger picture around you, what are you doing instead? Why aren’t you taking on the larger questions and taking your swing at it?
And if you ARE teaching? Where are you putting it? How are you sharing it? Can people find it? Can they search it?
There’s a new media revolution on, and I’m not saying that to be dramatic. There’s something big moving. For every $5 Million Wallstrip deal out there, for every consolidation and purchase and shift, there are more things to be said and done in the personal media / new media / creating new things space.
Be a grasshopper. Teach. Share. Grow.
photo credit brex
Search Terms for ChrisBrogan.Com
I get a kick out of the stats for my site. People overwhelmingly search for “Chris Brogan” when finding my site, meaning that I’m not really an expert in anything but being me, I guess. No one searches for “new media” or “social media” or “community” and finds me. They just look me up. Great!
But here’s the list of random things people have put out there for search terms and landed on my site. Some make sense. Others are just funny:
jeff pulver - makes sense
whoopie pies - huh?
my favorite youtube video -okay!
superhero quiz - makes sense
kodak park -…
twitter for groups - Of course!
can I get back deleted email on gmail - yep
Weave a grasshopper -sure
www.15secondpitch.com - interesting
writing a short bio -cool
U-TUBE VIDEOS JOKER PRODUCTIONS
the stages of a grasshopper
“wake up”
talking to your audience level
myspace hot pink glittery writing - ????
independent filmmakers
success model for blog
“Boss” “Thanks”
deleted gmail account
communication tips branding
listen to iron man song - superhero, clearly. : )
thunderbird gmail backup
federated media tips
Download Squad Needs to Eat Their Dogfood
This picture is a screen capture from an article I just read
I am a HUGE fan of Download Squad. I read them every day. And today, I saw a great article about social networking and ecommerce. Love this article, because it’s got lots of great insights. Here’s one:
WHERE DOES YOUR CUSTOMER HANG OUT? – More Americans visit the DailyKos blog than all but a handful of newspapers. Instapundit claims more than 200 million page views. Blog readers spend more time and money online. And many find what they want, from housing to jobs, on CraigsList. An ad on a blog that reaches these markets will drive visitors to your social networking page, if you have one.
Okay, so now look back up there at that graphic. Zoom in. The button? Submit this to Netscape.
Why?
Netscape is owned by AOL. Download Squad is owned by AOL. No big foul here. Nothing horrible. But please, if your’e saying “WHERE DOES YOUR CUSTOMER HANG OUT?,” no matter what the internal marketers are saying, LOTS of customers are hanging out on Digg. Sure, keep your Netscape button. But add a Digg button, and a del.icio.us button, and more.
Do NOT keep it in the family, especially on an article that talks about reaching out.
Explaining Wikis
The cool dudes at Common Craft now have a video about Wikis. If YOU’VE tried having this conversation with people, you know where it goes and fast. Here’s a fishbowl breaker:
Subscribe for FREE and get FREE updates. (blogs are free, sillies).
TalkShoe as Live Audio Platform
Pictured with an appropriate social media networking tool in hand is one Mister Mark Juliano of TalkShoe. (At this point, I think I’ve met everyone but their receptionist). He has attended more PodCamps than me, if that gives you a sense of Mark’s (and company’s) commitment to the new media space. You might already know the name because of famous Internet talk radio shows like Geek Riot, or that lesser known show by Leo Laporte, Net@Nite. It’s a platform for broadcasting and recording live Internet talk shows.
I’ve used the service twice and have had no problems. I’ve tuned in to a few shows and witnessed no problems. Other friends have reported issues, and I can’t give the details I don’t know.
What I *do* know is that you might consider trying out TalkShoe as a potential service for a quick, easy, flexible audio production platform, especially should you be interested in trying out live audio. With my recent post about Ustream.tv and BlogTV.com, I wanted to give a shout out for those who still love audio. (Daniel Steinberg- are you listening?)
Have you tried it? Are you on the service? What do you think?
(Though I wish they paid me to plug them, there is no business relationship between Talkshoe and me.)
Replay-Spring VON Blogger Panel
I’m watching the blogging panel I moderated at Spring 2007 VON, which had Robert Scoble, Michael Arrington, Steve Garfield, Jeff Pulver, and Andy Abramson. What I like about the video is twofold: one, I think the information is interesting. Two, it’s just SO COOL to think back and realize who was on that stage with me. It’s kind of interesting at points. Check it out.
A Videoblogger Setup
Sometimes, people ask me what gear I use to create a videoblog. For the most part, the stuff you already own is pretty good. But let’s pretend you’re going to run out and buy some new stuff to create videoblogs. I’ll tell you what I’ve got, give you some variations on the theme, and we can discuss other people’s setups in the comments section. Sound good?
My Computer: A MacBook- I have a dual core Intel Macbook. Not the pro. Just a Macbook. This has proven to be strong enough to handle my video needs. I am a Mac guy. I’ve used Macs, PCs, and Linux boxes for decades, but my heart belongs to Apple. Why? Easy. They’re easy.
My Software: iMovie or Final Cut Express- MOST of us don’t need Final Cut Pro. We’re barely scratching past iMovie, most of us. But if you want “real” video editing, I’m told Final Cut is real, and what I do in iMovie is fake. Tell you what: iMovie is free and it’s easy to use. You decide.
Storage: External Hard Drives- Storage is getting cheaper and cheaper. Don’t shackle your computer with buying a big hard drive on board. Use the built-in 40 GIG drive or 80, but use that for your WORKSPACE, and store everything off-box on an external hard drive. And while you’re at it, buy two. They’re cheap. Back one up to the other, and bring the other drive to your family’s house, or to the office, or somewhere that will protect your media, should disaster strike. Do a drive-to-drive backup once a month or once a week, depending on your production volume.
The Camera: Sony DSC-T9: This is where we can all disagree, or pimp our own favorite camera. I have a really nice Sony camera, and I have my T9. I *always* have the T9 with me. I often forget the lah-ti-dah camera. I don’t care which you use. Here’s what to consider:
DV cameras record to little magnetic tapes. This means when you’re ready to load it into your computer, you have to wait for the tape to load.
DVD cameras record to DVDs. This is pretty much only a good option for parents looking to launch unedited DVDs (or lightly edited) to grandma.
HDD cameras (not high def, but hard disk drive) record to a hard drive, and then transfer digital data at digital speeds. I prefer this type of camera, and yet, I read often that DV is better, because doing the on-camera transcode to the hard drive causes some loss of quality. *I* haven’t seen this, but I should let you know, in case you have “mission critical” data conversion requirements.
To go Hi Def, or Not to Go- Andrew Baron of Rocketboom answered this months ago. He says that hi definition is important now, even if you’re uploading video that will go to a two-inch iPod. I used to disagree. I now believe that transcoding your video to the highest quality possible, and then offering a flash or lower resolution version is the way to go. I agree. High definition is probably a good thing to shoot for now.
My Online Host: Blip.tv I need to qualify this. I use Blip.tv because I know the people who make the app. I use it because I’ve had nothing but success. I use Blip.tv because I think their product works well, and it does a ton of things for me that I don’t have to think about, just as a matter of course. So, they’re my favorite.
HOWEVER, all the other guys are reasonably good, too. I like Veoh, Revver, Brightcove, VideoEgg, and plenty of the other hosts, too. I like YouTube for what it is: a platform for fast and easy distribution where the abundance of eyeballs happen to be at present. No slight on any other service.
Your Turn- Why don’t you describe your setup. What do YOU use? What did I miss? Questions?
Chris Brogan blogs at [chrisbrogan.com]. Add him on Twitter
The Age of LIVE Internet TV
Justine Ezarik has gone live. As of a few days ago, Pittsburgh’s own personal brand unto herself has leapt into the “life recorded all the time” arena. I dropped by her site, iJustine.tv, last night to say hi. And despite being somewhat annoyed by all the pervs in her chat room asking her to get naked, I was happy that she caught my Twitter, waved hi, and went back on with her life. (BTW- I *was* going to write about how Justin Kan never got all those pervs in HIS chat room, but then I remembered when he went on that date, and oh yes he did.
Justin and I hung out at ONHollywood for a while, and despite desperately wanting to podcast our conversation, I kept it “real.” I asked Justin what were some of the challenges to recording one’s life live. I told him that the very first moment I tuned in was when he was navigating going to the bathroom without showing off his business to everyone. Justin laughed and said he gets that a lot- people revealing less-than-ideal jumping on points. But for us, Justin Kan has taken on the real live version of The Truman Show or EDtv. He’s one of the live pioneers.
No Strangers to Live
Here’s my boss, Jeff Pulver, and his friend Geo, broadcasting live from the car. Well, it’s a recording of when they ran a live broadcast while driving along. LIVE! From a moving car! How cool is that? (And scary.)
Jeff and I do a show sometimes on uStream.tv. We do it in a studio, with lots of interesting folks in the chat room audience (a staple of the new live experience). There’s always someone there, usually dragged in from Twitter and Jeff’s blog.
Chris Pirillo does a live show as well. I just peeked in while writing this post. It’s 3:40AM west coast time, and 55 people from all over are in there hanging out. Doing what? Watching Chris type, near as I can tell. He’s not facing the camera. He wasn’t at that moment engaging the people. Just typing. 55 people.
YOU Go Live
The two services out there to beat are uStream and BlogTV. Ustream is cleaner-designed, and seems to eat fewer resources. It has embed codes to throw your archives or your live show right up on your blog. BlogTV is missing a few features, but its killer app right now is having a cohost, a second video feed live at the same time as the primary. Oh, and you can load and unload cohosts all over the place. It’s great.
I’ve spoken to lots of people trying out the creation of LIVE Internet TV. On the one hand, this is different than webcams of the 90s. You can archive. You can share. It’s not just naked people (though I’ve seen that on places like Stickam and other services - not because of anything Stickam does, by the way- hell, they’ve got all kinds of things saying don’t you dare get naked). *Just because I don’t want lawyers to sue me: I’m not saying Stickam promotes this. I’m saying they dissuade it. Really. Note to pervs: go there, and leave Justine alone.
But Why and What Next?
It’s really exciting doing live Internet TV. I did interviews yesterday with Eric Skiff of Clipmarks, Jim Long of Verge New Media (day job: NBC cameraman), Goldie Katsu, security professional and Jewish mysticism expert, Ed Kohler, half of Technology Evangelist, and both Steve and Carol Garfield from the Carol and Steve Show. I love the back and forth. I enjoy watching how questions from the live chat room shape things.
But what next? I loved watching Robert Scoble drag his live feed around a break table at the Web 2.0 Expo a few months back. It got me connected to people at an event that I didn’t attend. I know that Reverend Jon Swanson has experimented with broadcasting live church sermons to people who can’t make it in to church. I’ve watched Matthew Ebel take it to a live gig in Pittsburgh. Where does it go next?
Is pre-recorded video podcasting dead? I don’t think so. My wife, Katrina, said yesterday at the live event, “Editing is good manners.” She meant that producers of content must respect the time of their audience, and that creating something meaningful means also creating something that’s not full of air, fluff, ums, and dead spots. Doing live TV, especially with less-than-perfect preparation, means a lot of dead space and air-filler.
Your Take
I’m a fan of the LIVE stuff. Were I to bother putting out rich media right now to convey a personal message, I’m sure that I’d use either the Ustream or BlogTV platform to do the work. I’d shoot it live, and then take the archive for a rebroadcast.
What about you? Where do you see this going? What’s your interest level for live versus recorded? Will YOU be streaming any part of your life LIVE any time soon?
photo credit laughing squid
What Need Does This Site Fill
Brian Clark pays me to link to him. Okay, he doesn’t really, but he should. I love his work on CopyBlogger. In this case, Brian’s answering the question he gets all the time. You know the one. “What’s the secret to getting all those blog subscribers?”
His answer: be remarkable. Fill a need for your audience.
Curse You, Brian Clark!
What the hell does my audience come here for? I don’t know! The best answer I have, the only answer I have, is that people feel like they’ve received something new to think about when they finish reading my average post.
But you know WHO comes here? That’s just it. Moms, entrepreneurs, tech geniuses, professors, preachers, developers, artists, my parents, people at my office forced to read my blog, and a whole other bunch of crazy Hong Kong Kavaliers.
So I don’t know. I just don’t know.
You Tell Me
This isn’t a “Make Chris Feel Happy” question. This is an honest question: Why do you read this site? Is it entertainment? Is it your own version of The Learning Channel? What do you wish I’d do more? What do you wish I’d do least?
Your call. It’s your game.
