Live from Davos via The Video Web

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I’m presuming that most of you know about the World Economic Forum held in Davos each year and attracting a virtual planetary A-list who’s who… from heads of state to Bill Gates & Rupert Murdock to celebs etc. etc.

As the video web expands, live person-to-person coverage is becoming quite interesting; and perhaps the best of that batch is Loïc Le Meur, the French self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur and blogger.” Here’s a taste of “live from Davos” via the video web featuring Emma Thompson, Bill Gates and more…

Btw, Le Meur’s latest start up is Seesmic.com “the dashboard for your videos” and an online video “conversation” platform that’s still in alpha (testing, limited user base, etc.) Click here for a review/demo by BBC News’ Dot.Life

Oh yeah… And then there’s “The Davos Question” on YouTube:

And (drum roll) a darn good (IMHO) answer by “rock star” Bono :

It looks like the video web’s conversations are heating up! 😉

My First Pocket Camera Video is on YouTube

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I mentioned that I got a Flip mini-video camera for Christmas:

My favorite new gizmo is The Flip (Ultra), a pocket-sized, web-ready video digi-cam. No tape, just 60 mins of MPEG-4 video in Flash memory and a flip-up USB port.

This camera is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. It’s easy to use and for what it is, it works quite well.

So, I took it out for a drive… my buddy Keith Bailey had a photography show open at a restaurant in San Francisco last week. I shot the following while in attendance, in a very noisy atmosphere, in some instances with virtually no light… and the results are not bad. I edited it in about 1 and 1/2 hours with iMovie and “borrowed” some music from a friend, Gary Malkin (his collaboration with Tito La Rosa will be for sale soon.)

Anyway, here’s my quick first effort at pocket-cam event videography. It’s about 3 minutes. Please let me know what you think:

My Virtual CES Report

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No, I didn’t go to CES (the consumer electronics mega-convention) in Las Vegas, but here are a few tidbits from the web that I’ve found worthy:

Scoble‘s doing Qik videos direct from his cell phone including this interview with the guys from YouTube:

And CNET picked this astoundingly innovative and open source BugLabs platform as its CES Awards winner for “emerging technologies.” I even like their video. Cool.

Johnny Chung Lee: My New Procrasteering, Low-Cost Electronic Whiteboard-Inventing Hero

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After I discovered the YouTube video on 3-D virtual reality using Nintendo Wii hardware posted below by Johnny (Chung) Lee, I started digging deeper.

First, I discovered the YouTube video posted below about building a low-cost electronic whiteboard using the same Nintendo Wii hardware and custom software that he is giving away. Way cool!

Now, I’ve learned that Johnny has named his blog after a term I’ve never heard before and which I presume he invented, “procrastineering” which he says means “giving into productive distractions.” I can totally relate. I presume he means like me blogging right now instead of working, right? Johnny’s blog is http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/

And then (yes, there’s more), I found out that way back in 2000, he invented a $14 steadicam for videographers replacing that expensive piece of equipment that every semi-serious video camera person needs these days, but many cannot afford. He’ll even put one together for you and sell it for about $54 including shipping!

This guy’s so cool that he’s even put out a call for Mac developers to help him develop a Mac version of the Wiimote Whiteboard.

Johnny, I’m officially your fan. We even have the same “JL” initials. 😉 Great stuff.

The Rapid Demise & Eminent Death of Music DRM

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Digital Rights Management (or DRM) has been a controversial subject against which I have pontificated for years, starting with the whole Napster thing in 2000. Ironically, in that article, I slammed Edgar Bronfman Jr. who is quoted prominently in this new Businessweek article about Sony BMG being “The last major label (to) throw in the towel on digital rights management…” Thanks for the link to this article goes to the TechCrunch postmortem, “Ding, Dong, The Music DRM Witch is Dead.”

I have to admit that the death of DRM is coming even more quickly than I expected, but we can all be glad that she is dying (and, I guess, that Bronfman is waking up).

If you really want to understand this subject, I highly recommend Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity by the wise and articulate Lawrence Lessig.

Nintendo Wii Hack Creates 3-D Virtual Reality Head-tracking: Whoa!

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I don’t usually cover do-it-yourself techno-hacks, but as far as I’m concerned this is one of the kinds of things that YouTube was invented for. Specifically, here’s an amazingly creative computer guy (a Ph.D. student actually) who has figured out a way to create a true 3-D virtual reality experience by doing a customization (a.k.a. a “hack”) of the Nintendo Wii.

What’s equally impressive, at least to me, is that in less than 5-minutes on the video clip below, he not only explains how to do this yourself, but he educates us mortals about the difference between a simulated or flat 3-D image and the much more real virtual reality style head-tracking that he has managed to implement. I love not only what he’s done but the fact that he can use internet video to share it (and to share it so clearly) with the world. (Thanks, Johnny.) Enjoy.

Literacy = Learning (& unlearning)

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This quote came today in my email, and I think it makes a nice thought for starting our New Year:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
~ Alvin Toffler

May we all continually reinvent ourselves (regardless of how uncomfortable that may be at times.)

The Story of Stuff: Powerful, Interactive Online Education & Activism

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I certainly don’t want to diminish the enthusiasm of those who are authentically spreading joy by giving gifts, but as someone who has not only been concerned about the environment and the people on our planet for many years, and someone who has been watching various forms of interactive online videos and Flash movies for those that are the most powerful and (in my humble opinion) the most likely to succeed in making a difference, I was really blown away by the twenty minute presentation:

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

Please click the link above to watch this fabulous program and check out this great website (or watch the Flash video intro below). Then if you are so inspired, please “pay it forward.”

Happy Holidays!!

Yet Another Stupid (yet entertaining) Web 2.0 Video

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Another tech bubble? Who are you kidding?!? Or not…

Revolutionary gPC is a $200 Web-facing Computer with no “Microsoft tax”

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This makes so much sense it’s scary. A $200 computer, by Google, on sale NOW at WalMart that leverages the power of the Internet with browser-based and open source software (thus no “Microsoft tax”).

I might just be geeky enough to go out and buy one. We’ll see. Meanwhile, click here for details of the Everex gPC as covered by John Biggs in the NYTimes.

This kind of “webtop” computer has been a long time coming, but frankly I’m a bit surprised that it’s finally here. That said, in the world of the Web, surprises never cease. Bottom line, I agree with TechCrunch‘s comment, “The Webtop is going to be a classic disruptive technology, starting out cheap and at the margins, but slowly working its way up the food chain.“