Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Seen any good videos lately?
Last week we were supplied with a brief (20 second) video to go with a story on our Life section front about a scientist from Horn Point studying turtles and toxic algae in Australia.
I’m keeping the story active in the Life section for at least another week. Check it out.
When you click on the story, you’ll “video clip” over in the area on the right were images are listed.
The file is small so we loaded it directly onto our Website. With larger files I use YouTube to house the material with links back to our site to play the videos.
Speaking of YouTube, check out their politicians channel. Called “YouChoose ‘08” it is an effort by YouTube to help you face the candidates. There are a dozen candidates with their own areas complete with their video messages and links to sites of interest.
Candidates are beginning to see the Internet as a tool to share their message. In the past it has been a sore-point for many politicians and public figures as their efforts came under close scrutiny from legions of bloggers. The swift boat attacks on John Kerry is just one example. Dan Rather’s departure from CBS following the questioning of information used against President Bush and his National Guard service, is another example of the web of bloggers keeping a story lit until it caught fire.
Politicians have found it important to stamp out a fire quickly before it gets too much momentum. By creating their own web presence, they are providing their own channel to disseminate information. Of course it can also be disinformation, too.
A satirical ad poking fun at Hillary Clinton was revealed to have been done by a person on the Barack Obama campaign (unbeknownst to the candidate). It was a take off on the Apple ad that introduced the Macintosh to the world more than 20 years ago. Which in itself was a satire on 1984 and a regimented society it portrayed. (Instead of “Big Brother” would she be called “Big Sister?”) It was extremely well done. It got quite a bit of play. When it was discovered to have been done by someone in the Obama campaign, the staff had to leave.
You can find it on YouTube using key works like Hillary Clinton, 1984 and vote different.
Are you tired of writing checks to pay your bills? Maybe you are using your computer to send your payments by the Internet, but even that can be a nuisance at times.
Customers of the Cingular Wireless portion of AT&T (remember AT&T recently purchased Cingular) will soon be able to manage their accounts and pay bills electronically by using their cell phones.
AT&T is signing agreements with several banks to provide the service. Some of the banks mentioned in an article on CNET news by Reuters include Wachovia, BancorpSouth, Regions Financial and SunTrust Banks. Just as online banking has become popular, the cell phone application should also spread and become a routine function with most banks as well.
On the CNN cable show “Reliable Sources” last week, there was another acknowledgement of the impact of the Internet on our culture. One of the panelists made the observation that news outlets used to ignore the Internet. Now the news is often driven by the Internet. His comment was in part, in response to questions on why so much gossip-type news was showing up on network and cable broadcasts. It could be a missing boy scout or the fate of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby, it would be broadcast with follow up after follow up.
Well, now that we know how Smith died maybe they’ll shut up for a while. But I guest there is still the question “why” she died isn’t there.
Stay tuned for updates—only not from here.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com or my blog accessible from stardem.com.
I’m keeping the story active in the Life section for at least another week. Check it out.
When you click on the story, you’ll “video clip” over in the area on the right were images are listed.
The file is small so we loaded it directly onto our Website. With larger files I use YouTube to house the material with links back to our site to play the videos.
Speaking of YouTube, check out their politicians channel. Called “YouChoose ‘08” it is an effort by YouTube to help you face the candidates. There are a dozen candidates with their own areas complete with their video messages and links to sites of interest.
Candidates are beginning to see the Internet as a tool to share their message. In the past it has been a sore-point for many politicians and public figures as their efforts came under close scrutiny from legions of bloggers. The swift boat attacks on John Kerry is just one example. Dan Rather’s departure from CBS following the questioning of information used against President Bush and his National Guard service, is another example of the web of bloggers keeping a story lit until it caught fire.
Politicians have found it important to stamp out a fire quickly before it gets too much momentum. By creating their own web presence, they are providing their own channel to disseminate information. Of course it can also be disinformation, too.
A satirical ad poking fun at Hillary Clinton was revealed to have been done by a person on the Barack Obama campaign (unbeknownst to the candidate). It was a take off on the Apple ad that introduced the Macintosh to the world more than 20 years ago. Which in itself was a satire on 1984 and a regimented society it portrayed. (Instead of “Big Brother” would she be called “Big Sister?”) It was extremely well done. It got quite a bit of play. When it was discovered to have been done by someone in the Obama campaign, the staff had to leave.
You can find it on YouTube using key works like Hillary Clinton, 1984 and vote different.
Are you tired of writing checks to pay your bills? Maybe you are using your computer to send your payments by the Internet, but even that can be a nuisance at times.
Customers of the Cingular Wireless portion of AT&T (remember AT&T recently purchased Cingular) will soon be able to manage their accounts and pay bills electronically by using their cell phones.
AT&T is signing agreements with several banks to provide the service. Some of the banks mentioned in an article on CNET news by Reuters include Wachovia, BancorpSouth, Regions Financial and SunTrust Banks. Just as online banking has become popular, the cell phone application should also spread and become a routine function with most banks as well.
On the CNN cable show “Reliable Sources” last week, there was another acknowledgement of the impact of the Internet on our culture. One of the panelists made the observation that news outlets used to ignore the Internet. Now the news is often driven by the Internet. His comment was in part, in response to questions on why so much gossip-type news was showing up on network and cable broadcasts. It could be a missing boy scout or the fate of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby, it would be broadcast with follow up after follow up.
Well, now that we know how Smith died maybe they’ll shut up for a while. But I guest there is still the question “why” she died isn’t there.
Stay tuned for updates—only not from here.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com or my blog accessible from stardem.com.
# posted by Richard Polk @ 7:29 AM 
