Yep, you read the headline right. By now most of us have dvr's(Digital Video Recorders) setup at home and many of us might go as far as saying that we probably couldn't live without one. In fact, I work with a guy who rents three of them a month and he figures that he watches an average of five hours a tv a day. That is crazy!
Anyways, a recent article on Yahoo News reviews a new service that will allow you to record a streamed movie off of many of the popular video sites. It will work with Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and it is called PlayLater.
For $5 a month or $50 a year you can record a streamed movie off of one of the aforementioned sites or other sites like ESPN, MTV or even CBS. According the the article the quality isn't as good as it would be if you were just going to watch the original stream. Movies on the internet are already compressed files and its being re-compressed by the recording so its losing quality.
The idea behind this is great. We all watch streamed movies and to be able to skip commercials or save it for when you don't have access to the internet makes this very intriguing. The example the article gives is being on a plane and not having anything to do, you could watch a recording of a streamed movie.
The article also talks about the legalities about PlayLater. Right now there is no way for these companies to block the recordings or take action against them. Digital Video Recorders are considered legal and therefore they probably won't be able to do much to stop these services.
Right now its only available on PC's and not Mac's, if it was I think I may look into it, I think it sounds like a good idea. What about you, would you give it a try? Did I mention you can try it for free for two weeks?
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Facebook Updates
To be honest, I am not real big on checking my Facebook. I probably only check it a few times a week. The only reason I got an account is because my wife thought it would be a good idea to keep up with family that we don't see everyday.
Anyways, I found an article on New York Times website talking about some of the recent changes to Facebook. They changed Facebook? According to this article, they did. The article didn't go into great details about the changes, but rather asks whether or not you like the changes. So I just logged on to my Facebook account to see what all they hype is about.
When I first logged in, I didn't really notice too many changes, just some more confusing stuff on the right hand side. I guess it doesn't bother me, before there was just a lot of white space on my computer over there. I guess that depends on your screen resolution. I was logged on for about 10 minutes checking out whats happening in peoples lives and responded to an email and noticed that the new ticker kept changing every time one of my friends did something. I guess I know how much certain friends are on Facebook.
Back to the article, it also referenced that Facebook made some more changes to their privacy settings. Which is always a good thing, I still don't feel really excited about sharing a whole of information of Facebook and don't really like sharing pictures and videos, because I don't know who will be accessing them. So any more secure settings is a good thing.
The last thing the article referred to was you can subscribe to someone's page that you aren't friends with. I can see why this might be a good thing. There are some of my friends that I am not really friends with but maybe would just like to keep tabs about what they have going on in their life. But at the same time, someone can subscribe to my page, even though we are not friends.
Sounds like their are a lot of people who do not like the new changes, what do you think of the changes? Am I missing something? I probably am, as I consider myself a Facebook beginner.
Anyways, I found an article on New York Times website talking about some of the recent changes to Facebook. They changed Facebook? According to this article, they did. The article didn't go into great details about the changes, but rather asks whether or not you like the changes. So I just logged on to my Facebook account to see what all they hype is about.
When I first logged in, I didn't really notice too many changes, just some more confusing stuff on the right hand side. I guess it doesn't bother me, before there was just a lot of white space on my computer over there. I guess that depends on your screen resolution. I was logged on for about 10 minutes checking out whats happening in peoples lives and responded to an email and noticed that the new ticker kept changing every time one of my friends did something. I guess I know how much certain friends are on Facebook.
Back to the article, it also referenced that Facebook made some more changes to their privacy settings. Which is always a good thing, I still don't feel really excited about sharing a whole of information of Facebook and don't really like sharing pictures and videos, because I don't know who will be accessing them. So any more secure settings is a good thing.
The last thing the article referred to was you can subscribe to someone's page that you aren't friends with. I can see why this might be a good thing. There are some of my friends that I am not really friends with but maybe would just like to keep tabs about what they have going on in their life. But at the same time, someone can subscribe to my page, even though we are not friends.
Sounds like their are a lot of people who do not like the new changes, what do you think of the changes? Am I missing something? I probably am, as I consider myself a Facebook beginner.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Just How Many Pages are on the Internet?
A recent article on CNN's website talks about just how many pages are on the web. The article asks, "It seems like an answerable question, right?"
I would think that this information has to be somewhere, its something I have never thought about before and am know curious to find out. It would have to be extremely hard to find an exact number as the internet grows by thousands of pages everyday.
According to Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired Magazine, he thinks there are at least a trillion web pages that exist today. A trillion sounds like a crazy number and it would be real interesting to find out just how many pages there really are out there on the internet.
Thats exactly where the World Wide Web Foundation comes in. They are on a mission to figure out how big the internet is. WIth a $1 million dollar grant Google, they plan on releasing their results, which are going to be called the World WIde Web Index, according to the foundation's CEO, Steve Bratt. The index's website lists that the index will be the first multi-dimensional measure of the web. The say that its going to cover a large number of developed and developing countries and will access the political, economic and social impact on the web. It will also look into the Web connectivity in each country and the infrastructure they have in place to access the Web.
I have no idea about you go about something like this, like I mentioned earlier, there are thousands and thousands of pages added everyday. Its going to be real interesting to hear the numbers the report is going to publish.
I would think that this information has to be somewhere, its something I have never thought about before and am know curious to find out. It would have to be extremely hard to find an exact number as the internet grows by thousands of pages everyday.
According to Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired Magazine, he thinks there are at least a trillion web pages that exist today. A trillion sounds like a crazy number and it would be real interesting to find out just how many pages there really are out there on the internet.
Thats exactly where the World Wide Web Foundation comes in. They are on a mission to figure out how big the internet is. WIth a $1 million dollar grant Google, they plan on releasing their results, which are going to be called the World WIde Web Index, according to the foundation's CEO, Steve Bratt. The index's website lists that the index will be the first multi-dimensional measure of the web. The say that its going to cover a large number of developed and developing countries and will access the political, economic and social impact on the web. It will also look into the Web connectivity in each country and the infrastructure they have in place to access the Web.
I have no idea about you go about something like this, like I mentioned earlier, there are thousands and thousands of pages added everyday. Its going to be real interesting to hear the numbers the report is going to publish.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
9/11 Symposium
For those of you who read my blog two weeks ago you will recall that I am involved with a upcoming symposium on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Its called September 11th: Ten Years Later, Impact on the Heartland.
New new media will play a large roll in this event. If you visit our homepage on our website, you will find that we have a Twitter feed. One can also like any articles that they read on their Facebook page. Another way of new media is streaming live video. You can watch the live stream here. The symposium is set to begin Friday, September 9 at 8:30 am. We are going to be streaming all day until about 6pm. We will also be streaming Peter Bergen to a private audience. Peter Bergen was one of only a few who ever interviewed Osama Bin Laden. Then Saturday, September, 10 we again start at 8am and will go until 6pm.
Some of the other new media we are using is Skype. We have purchased to iPad 2's and have sent them one of them to Washington D.C., New York City, and Pennsylvania. We have a reporter who will be live at each location and will let us know whats happening at the sites of the crashes. The iPad 2's have both a front and rear camera so the reporter will be able to switch between the two cameras to get the appropriate shots. We have 3G running on all the iPads so as long as we have a strong cellphone service we should be ok. However, we are dealing with technology and we never know what can happen.
During the live streaming video, you will see graphics on screen, along with Powerpoint presentations, videos and a lot more. It will be a couple of long days, but it will be interesting listening to all the wonderful speakers we have coming.
Remember to check out the stream if you have sometime this Friday and Saturday.
New new media will play a large roll in this event. If you visit our homepage on our website, you will find that we have a Twitter feed. One can also like any articles that they read on their Facebook page. Another way of new media is streaming live video. You can watch the live stream here. The symposium is set to begin Friday, September 9 at 8:30 am. We are going to be streaming all day until about 6pm. We will also be streaming Peter Bergen to a private audience. Peter Bergen was one of only a few who ever interviewed Osama Bin Laden. Then Saturday, September, 10 we again start at 8am and will go until 6pm.
Some of the other new media we are using is Skype. We have purchased to iPad 2's and have sent them one of them to Washington D.C., New York City, and Pennsylvania. We have a reporter who will be live at each location and will let us know whats happening at the sites of the crashes. The iPad 2's have both a front and rear camera so the reporter will be able to switch between the two cameras to get the appropriate shots. We have 3G running on all the iPads so as long as we have a strong cellphone service we should be ok. However, we are dealing with technology and we never know what can happen.
During the live streaming video, you will see graphics on screen, along with Powerpoint presentations, videos and a lot more. It will be a couple of long days, but it will be interesting listening to all the wonderful speakers we have coming.
Remember to check out the stream if you have sometime this Friday and Saturday.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Thank You Mr. Jobs
As you have heard by now, legendary Apple founder/CEO Steve Jobs has officially retired. What can one say other than Thank You. Thank You for making my life so much better. I cannot imagine where I or the rest of the world would be without your knowledge and forethought on such amazing computers, inexpensive software and innovated products.
I have personally owned three Mac computers in the last decade and I have have nothing to say but wonderful things about them. They are simple to use and they are extremely reliable. I grew up with them going through school and now use them at work. I don't recall ever having a virus or an issue that couldn't be easily figured out.
Your software has changed the face of many industries, you have been able to offer them at fair prices and now we don't even have to wait for them in the mail, we can just download them from your App store. iTunes has revolutionized the music industry and pair it with an iPod and you have digital music at your disposal.
Final Cut Pro has been offered to video editors at a real affordable price and has given everyone from the pros to the beginners enough tools to make great things happen in the video world.
Although they have been out less than two years, iPads have quickly become the tablet of choice. The iPhone has become the phone that all other phones are compared to. More and more apps and software are being invented daily for these products, making using them that much more enjoyable.
If you haven't switched to a Mac computer, what are you waiting for, you will be glad you did?
You co-founded Apple in your parent's garage and now its one of the most successful companies in the world. Mr. Jobs, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for everything that you have done.
I have personally owned three Mac computers in the last decade and I have have nothing to say but wonderful things about them. They are simple to use and they are extremely reliable. I grew up with them going through school and now use them at work. I don't recall ever having a virus or an issue that couldn't be easily figured out.
Your software has changed the face of many industries, you have been able to offer them at fair prices and now we don't even have to wait for them in the mail, we can just download them from your App store. iTunes has revolutionized the music industry and pair it with an iPod and you have digital music at your disposal.
Final Cut Pro has been offered to video editors at a real affordable price and has given everyone from the pros to the beginners enough tools to make great things happen in the video world.
Although they have been out less than two years, iPads have quickly become the tablet of choice. The iPhone has become the phone that all other phones are compared to. More and more apps and software are being invented daily for these products, making using them that much more enjoyable.
If you haven't switched to a Mac computer, what are you waiting for, you will be glad you did?
You co-founded Apple in your parent's garage and now its one of the most successful companies in the world. Mr. Jobs, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for everything that you have done.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
100 Stories Project
As the Video Production Specialist at Bismarck State College, I was assigned a project for our upcoming symposium that we are hosting on our campus. September 11: Ten Years Later - The Impact on the Heartland. The project is called the 100 Stories Project.
September 11 of this year will mark the 10th anniversary of the horrible terrorist attacks on our country. The purpose of the 100 Stories Project is to collect 100 stories on video about how these acts of terror impacted the lives of people in the Heartland. Where were they when they heard about the attacks? How did it impact their life?
When I first started this project I never thought about or realized how much this project would impact me. I remember where I was when I heard about the attacks, as does everyone I have asked. Its one of those things you will never forget.
I have recorded 94 stories so far and have heard some real interesting stories. I have talked to parents who were concerned about their children who were living in New York. I talked to people who were out of the country and had hard times getting back in. I talked to one gentleman who ended up losing his brother in the War on Terrorism. I also interviewed the mother of the only North Dakotan lost in the attacks. I have seen many people tear up when talking about these horrific events.
I don't think I will ever think about 9-11 the same. After completion of the project it will be archived on our website, on our iTunes U site, it will be broadcast on our local community tv station, and may even end up on YouTube.
I am truly grateful to be part of this project and look forward sharing it with future generations, so they can understand the impact it had on our nation and to the people on the heartland.
September 11 of this year will mark the 10th anniversary of the horrible terrorist attacks on our country. The purpose of the 100 Stories Project is to collect 100 stories on video about how these acts of terror impacted the lives of people in the Heartland. Where were they when they heard about the attacks? How did it impact their life?
When I first started this project I never thought about or realized how much this project would impact me. I remember where I was when I heard about the attacks, as does everyone I have asked. Its one of those things you will never forget.
I have recorded 94 stories so far and have heard some real interesting stories. I have talked to parents who were concerned about their children who were living in New York. I talked to people who were out of the country and had hard times getting back in. I talked to one gentleman who ended up losing his brother in the War on Terrorism. I also interviewed the mother of the only North Dakotan lost in the attacks. I have seen many people tear up when talking about these horrific events.
I don't think I will ever think about 9-11 the same. After completion of the project it will be archived on our website, on our iTunes U site, it will be broadcast on our local community tv station, and may even end up on YouTube.
I am truly grateful to be part of this project and look forward sharing it with future generations, so they can understand the impact it had on our nation and to the people on the heartland.
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