The two videos I watched were Isaac Mao (Social Brain Foundation) and Rebecca MacKinnon (Global Voices). The Isaac Mao video discussed social networking such as blogging and chat rooms. Mao talked about "micro behavior" in these blogs. This can be seen in various social networking sites such as Twitter where information is being shared, but in concise 'blogs' if you will. You can read about various micro-blogging tools here.
Mao also discussed censorship primarily with regard tothe great firewall in China. He discussed journalism 2.0 with regard to professional and grass roots media and the importance of having the truth accessible. Obviously with censorship the users are not getting the entire truth and are not able to get all the information that is out there.
The other video I watched was Rebecca MacKinnon (Global Voices). MacKinnon also discussed blogging with regard to what kind of information people were linking to in their blogs. She said that bloggers in the US did not link to blogs from other countries as much nor did they discuss issues in other countries as much. She also discussed censorship and how it is not only in China where the internet is censored. She talked about how companies are stuck in the middle between users and the government. She discussed one case in China where journalist Shi Tao was sentenced for 10 years in jail for speaking out and it was Yahoo who gave the government his email records. She then mentioned the issue of companies needing to "uphold their user's interests" and still operate as well. She discussed a website that is seeking solutions and that has a multi-stakeholder initiative: Global Network Initiative.
I had to watch the web video with Tony Hsieh (zappos) because I love shoes! I can't believe a woman would spend $62,000 on shoes, where does she put them all? The fact that they focus on customer service is important because it brings in repeat customers. Everyone wants to buy from a company that is on their side. I think that the idea is brilliant because it's not some big fancy marketing idea, it is simply providing the best customer service possible. The surprise upgrades are an amazing idea, they will sometimes surprise you and upgrade your shipping and you could get your shoes the next day. I think that it is an excellent marketing technique because it lets your customer know that you really care about them. Their number one priority is company culture and it is good that they recognize that if their employees are happy then their company will be more productive.You can check them out at www.zappos.com.
I also watched the video with Michael Pollan. He made some really good points about food and what interested me most about his discussion was his link between the health care system and food. We are a society of fast food and I am just as guilty as the next. We spend more time eating out and we forget that for the most part fast food is harmful to our bodies. Large quantities of sugar and fats can be traced to all kinds of diseases. We ingest in enormous quantities the two calories that are the most unhealthy. If we make simple lifestyle changes we can decrease our trips to the hospital and thus, in my opinion, make health care more affordable. I'm not an expert but I do know that every plan does not cover everything. He cited that 60% of Americans are overweight and that is a huge portion of our society. In order to remedy our health care crisis we need to start by making informed eating decisions.
I watched Bob Sutor of IBM and Keven Rose of Digg. It was interesting to watch these videos back to back. Sutor was dry, had a slideshow prepared, talked slowly -- to be blunt he was boring. Rose, on the other hand, talked fast, had a flow of ideas but didn't have a set presentation. In fact, Rose says in the beginning that he was set to talk about something completely different. I liked his presentation better because he didn't seem to be as stuffy as Sutor. Sutor seemed to be more "old school" business than Rose.
Sutor says we are at an inflection point and big things have to happen in the IT industry. He also says there has to be a partnership between IT and different industries like government. He says that by the year 2011 there will be more than 1 trillion connected devices and 2 billion people will be on the Web. He discusses traffic problems, power problems, and how IT can help with these issues. He talks about a program IBM is working on in Stockholm where they are working together to reduce traffic. So far, traffic has been reduced by 40%. He says there are five things that need to happen. The first is big bets. The second is an open political administration -- much like the one that will go into office on Jan. 20. The third is new collaborators in business, the fourth is open source being the key to privacy and security and the fifth is higher standards.
I enjoyed the Rose video more. He talked about starting a start-up during a difficult time. He said he had a first mover advantage because, at the time he started Digg, services like techcrunch weren't up yet. He thinks that over the next 12-18 months there won't be any investing in start ups. He said we're heading into a valley area where it'll be good to start something new. He gave some pointers on doing this and keeping it cost effective. When Rose started Digg, he kept his day job. Instead of hiring someone from the US to help him, he outsourced using Elance and got someone from Canada to help him. He also served as his own PR. A couple of interesting things he mentioned: his servers are rented at $99 a month and he said to start a podcast and have it put on Itunes because you'll get 20,000-30,000 people listening to you when you're on the "new" page.
Sorry this is late... family just left this morning.
Our three bedroom rental house got the beating of its life this week with a three legged arthritic 60 lb golden retriever, twin 6 month olds, a two year old and four sets of adults.
Heilemann made the statement that the 2008 Presidential election is like the 1960 election when a new medium became a dominant medium.
He asked the panelists to state if it was true or false and discuss.
Trippi- True. Sited HowardDean. Said that the new tools, Facebook, Youtube, etc., helped to push the web as a dominate medium in this election. Also sited the fact that more users have broadband this election and Obama was able to utilize the power of free video. He made the point that the value of Obama’s free video exposure (in terms of number of views) was as much or higher than McCain’s entire budget.
He said these tools made the change from the 2004 to the 2008 election. Just like Kennedy made the first televised presidency, then Obama may make the first web presidency.
Gavin- He wants to know what the web presence will be like in the office. “What does it mean?” How will it work in changing public policy in terms of fundamentally shifting the construct of so many issues in the country?
Huffington- Agree. “Lets put it very bluntly, were it not for the Internet, Barrack Obama would not be the president.” She raised his sophisticated way of organizing and fundraising and contrasted McCain’s old ideas vs. Obama’s new ideas.
Her comment,“The internet has killed Carl Rove politics,” gained great applause.
She talked about the pundits in the blogosphere having an obsessive compulsive need to fact check and keep stories alive way after the mainstream media has “moved on to the next shiny object” (credit to Jon Stewart).
“Remember Sarah Palin?... I call it the Trojan Moose of the Republican Party,” zinged Huffington.
She referred to the online obsessive campaign to prove Palin’s statement about being against the “Bridge to Nowhere” wrong.
She concluded with this great quote. “In 2004, trust me, they would have gone on repeating it because the echo chamber would not have been so powerful. And the same thing happened with all the fear mongering around BillAyers, around Obama being a strange socialist terrorist, somehow it was not believable because the truth kept on intruding into people’s rooms in such a way that it was not possible for that completely delusional fear mongering to prevail. So that for me is the greatest success of the ’08 race.”
The panel continued to talk about if there was a right and left balance among the blogosphere. They contended that the blogosphere might be more about finding the truth than about towing a party line and made the distinction between how new media are approaching this differently than traditional media.
Up to this point Gavin didn't contribute too much until he began singing the praises of Facebook and lamenting the power of Youtube.
Trippi chimed in on this and sited George Allens' slip up with the
"macca" comment.
They also discussed the manipulative and "gotcha"
tactics of citizen journalists and how there is no
more "off the record" events.
Huffington spoke about Obama's fundraising comment
The panel discussed how MySpace Music has been wt/out a CEO for a while and Battelle forced a squirm out of DeWolfe as he discussed some rumors.
Bronfman discussed his take on iTunes and "who is making money" there.
Then DeWolfe spoke to the difference between MySpace Music and iTunes.
Basically he said they wanted to "put together a service that paid the music companies, paid the artists, gave the users a great experience, made it so they didn't have to go out and steal the music and made sure that everyone got paid."
They talked about the difference between MySpace Music and Rhapsody, and how MySpace Music has more ads than anyone (this disclosed by DeWolfe!).
He said the main difference between Rhapsody and MySpace Music is the community factor.
DeWolfe described as such, "It's a bit like going to a bookstore and not knowing what to look for in a bookstore verses then going to your friend's house and him giving you a book to read"
Battelle then attempted to usher the panelists into an Apple-bash.
Bronfman didn't bite. Perhaps due to fear of getting on Jobs'(if you don't check any links at all, please goto this one!)bad side.
His honest opinion-
Bronfman- "Look, Apple's done a phenomenal job."
Batelle- "Besides that stuff!"
Bronfman- "No but it's true. It's really true... What is remarkable and why you have to give them so much credit is nobody else has managed to pull it off... the iPod was introduced, i think, in 03, here we are five years later and there isn't a single competitive device in the market place. there's a reason for that- they're incredible good at what they do."
Battelle might be on the MySpace Music payroll or perhaps had been dissed by Jobs' at some point- either way, this guy did not attempt to hide his feelings. Overall, Battelle pushed an anti-Apple agenda and gushed (unwarranted)praise on MySpace Music.
DeWolfe and Bronfman both had some interesting things to say as insiders, but not much was really said about the "Future of Music".
I sat in on a similar panel at SXSW and also found that they had little to really say about the future. I feel that this subject is changing too much to actually come up with any real projections.
And of course you can't talk about the "Future of Music" sans Radiohead's grand experiment, of which Battelle gushed and Bronfman and DeWolfe salivated over.
The two videos I watched were Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com and Beerud Sheth of Webaroo. The topic Hsieh chose to discuss was importance of building your brand. He began at Zappos.com in 1999 and focused on customer service and the customer experience from the beginning. According to Hsieh, "If you get the culture right and make sure everyone understands the vision of where your company is going, most of the other stuff -customer service, company culture, falls into place." Culture is so important to their business model because Hsieh feels that a company's brand and culture are two sides to the same coin. They have a stringent interview process to make sure employees fit into the company culture and have passed on talented people because they are not a good fit. Hsieh's main goal is to not be known as an online shoes store, but rather the a company that consistently delivers good customer service and experience. He strives to create the "wow" experience by offering things such as two-way free shipping and surprise upgrades. Unlike some companies, Hsieh knows repeat customers are the best customers and makes a point to take care of them. The Web has made companies more transparent and therefore customers can see through those who project one image yet operate in another. In conclusion, if you focus on what is important such as your company culture and don't stray from it, the profits and sales will follow.
The second video, with Beerud Sheth, focused on the disparity between Internet users and mobile device users in India in order to showcase "another web within the web." Worldwide, there is around 1.5 billion Internet users and about 3.5 billion sms or text users. In India, this disparity is even greater with around 30 million Internet users and about 300 million sms users. The subscriber growth is rapidly increasing, mostly in small towns and rural areas, but the capabilities of the technology used by this group is very limited. Companies seeking to grow the consumer base in these areas are not concerned with new apps and cooler capabilities but yet how can we lower the price and make it more available to a wider audience? Because of this, Sheth highlighted on GupShop which is the Twitter of India. GupShup allows a publisher to form a group and invite friends and other subscribers. GupShup can be used entirely by mobile device, which is the lowest common denominator. It offers free group messaging and currently has around 12 million subscribers. Basically, it's what we think of the Internet currently but it's compressed into mobile devices for greater access.....like another web beyond the web.
Jack Klues from VivaKi sits atop two of the most powerful media services networks in the world—Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and ZenithOptimedia. He is also a member of Publicis Groupe Directoire, the elite governing body that guides his organization’s parent company, Publicis Groupe S.A..
The Interview in general appeared (on the surface) seemed dry and contrived. The major goal for his company ViviKi's new model delivers powerful digital capabilities to the group and its clients that are accelerated for the new media landscape. He claimed that the in building an online branding is creating a the balance between brand building and customer acquisition. And to build a brand online he said it is much like the traditional model of brand building - you simply have to know who you customer is and what they want.
On the other hand - The Interview seemed much more vibrant and alive. In general Zuckerberg claimed that in the past year and in the current economic crisis the Facebook agenda was not necessarily worrying about the economics but to engage and grow their new users. And one of his biggest obstacles was to get user to over come the Internet Safety issues and have people share personal information online.
In both interviews, both gentlemen, seems to be aware of how to build a brand online. But each use different platforms. ViviKi builds large corporate brands while Facebook use Individuals to build brands.
I took a look at the Track Me and the Michael Pollan clips from the Web 2.0 Summit.
The Track Me clip was hosted by Brady Forrest from O'Reilly Media, Inc. and included panelists from Google, Sense Networks, Skyhook Wireless, and MicroEnergy Credits . The panel discussed applications dealing with tracking, or the ability for apps within mobile devices to follow each other around. Using technology within iPhones and Blackberry's along with satellite and other wireless networks to provide location information. Google is looking to provide a platform for other developers to build applications that can bhring all the location technologies together under one umbrella. Skyhook has sent out teams around the world to locate an map access points around the globe to maintain a Wi-Fi system to integrate location based apps.
The Michael Pollan interview was an interesting look at the connection between agriculture and the health and energy crisis going on in this country and others. The interveiw was conducted by John Batelle of Federated Media Publishing. Pollan is the author of 'In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.' It related to the huge amounts of fossil fuel it takes to grow and maintain the food supply for the country. He states we can lower carbon output simply by changing the countries diet. the more a food source is processed the more money it makes. However, the more a food is processed the less healthy it becomes in nutrients and the more fossil fuels are consumed to continue the processing of the food supply.
I chose to talk about the presentations by Bob Sutor of IBM and Jesse Robbins of O'Reilly Radar. Both speeches were similar in the fact that they both addressed the need for utilizing new technology for the betterment and advancement of mankind. Sutor used examples ranging from such things as traffic system improvements to meat packing tags for fresher meat. Robbins concentrated on the area of disaster relief along with using new technology for search and rescue campaigns.
Sutor's presentation was interesting as he feels that we are at an inflection point in the IT industry were partnerships between private and public organizations must happen to be successful. He acknowledges that we have the processing power and connectivity, along with extreme advancements expected in the next few years, but the proper utilization of our growing technologies is key for advancement. Sutor uses the examples of inefficient electrical grids being used in major cities that allow large amounts of energy to be wasted along with inefficient supply chains for consumer goods companies that waste much more than they should. He goes on to emphasize that big projects and "big bets" are required in our world to make things more efficient which will in turn allow us to advance. These "big bets" need the private/public partnerships to work though. These projects need to have privacy and security concerns addressed early and should not be an afterthought of the project when creating and utilizing these new technologies.
Jesse Robbins spoke on how web 2.0 tools are transforming humanitarian aid. Mr. Robbins was actually part of the Katrina relief effort and saw first hand the ineffective use of technology. He drew up a list of four things that lead to disaster tech innovation, they are: 1. Disaster (the event itself) 2. Ad-Hoc Adaptation (people take tools at hand to survive and recover from disaster) 3. Champion (champion needs to emerge after disaster to improve it iteratively) 4. Iterative Improvement
His example on the matter is when he was helping in the Katrina effort (disaster) and they were using handheld GPS units and Google maps (ad-hoc adaptation) because many of the street signs had been blown down. The google maps were not current though and the American Red Cross was under the impression that they were so people were told to cross bridges that were destroyed and time was lost. A champion had to emerge to give advancement and that was a geo hacker named Mikel Maron who teamed with Google, Yahoo, and the UN and aid agencies to update the maps for humanitarian organizations. With his collaboration came a new champion and improvement in the form of internet SAR organization that helps analyze aerial and satellite imagery for search and rescue efforts. If a disaster comes and there is no champion, there is no iterative improvement.
The two presentations were similar in the fact that both addressed the need for improvements in technology and the use of private and public organizations in implementing the new advances. They must work together to achieve progress and efficiency. Whether the progress be made in traffic systems or search and rescue campaigns, both stressed the need of companies working with public organizations to advance themselves and mankind in general.
Kevin Kelly (K. Kelly) Wired Kevin Rose (K. Rose) Digg
Well I would like to share my brilliant knowledge of the Web with you as I compare and contrast the Web 2.0 presentations of Kevin Kelly of Wired and Kevin Rose of Digg, but it is my ignorance that will once again shine. I can speak a little Spanish and maybe a little more Greek; I know these guys were using my native tongue, but I think in a new dialect known as "Webian." The first difficulty I encountered was that I didn't and I don't know what "High Bit Order" really is. If I knew better exactly what Web 2.0 is then I might have a better chance of figuring out what Web 3.0 or 10.0 might look like in the next iteration.
Back to Kevin versus Kevin. I will start with K. Kelly... In this presentation the discussion was about the history of the past 6,527 days since the inception of the Web and a prediction of what the next 6,500 days will bring -WOW-!!! I truly enjoyed Kevin's ability to take complex issues and make them simple.
So here goes - The first step of the Web as we know it was the simple connection of the computers on the Internet, step two was the sharing of documents and use of applications to make document sharing richer in content, step three is linking data and now we are at the beginning step four which is sharing data to the extent that computers can make intelligent and intuitive connections, deductions and decisions based on the minutia of that data. How can this knowledge help predict Web 3.0 and beyond? One of the initial pointers to the future is in the cloud, and what the cloud is and how the cloud works. With the abilities of sharing data, the cloud becomes one big OS or one huge machine that is made up of billions of smaller processors working in unison and as such, its computing power of this connected system allows for the smallest of details of one person's particular life to be shared, stored and used to enhance not only that life but the lives of all others connected to the Web.
The social, financial, political and personal implications are staggering. That is K. Kelly's take on High Bit Order, K. Rose tells us that timing is everything if we want to profit from this exponentially growing online world in the cloud.
K. Rose's presentation discussed the benefits of starting up during tough financial times, because competition is slim during those periods. Some of the challenges for such a start up would include funding, staffing, equipping and promoting your business on a shoe-string and K. Rose used his start-up of Digg as an example of how frugal budgeting and creative strategies can help you create similar results as he had with Digg.
So, K. Kelly tells us what to expect concerning High Bit Order and K. Rose suggests a strategy to profit from it.
As a side note, I looked at another High Bit Order presentation from Beerud Sheth to hopefully shed some light on the subject for me and he talked about SMS mobile Web and the Web beyond the Web and how http content is being blown out of the water by sms content. Yeah... I'm lost!
I watched two of the panel videos from the 2008 Web 2.0 summit. The first was a discussion about the future of music, and the second covered tracking methods created for use with mobile devices. The theme I found present in both discussions was the business to business partnership model currently being used to provide services to customers. Businesses that were once thought to be unrelated or competitive in the past are forming partnerships to promote products and services because more and more businesses are creating specialized products and require others to market them to turn a profit.
A conversation on the future of music
Participants John Battelle, Federated Media Publishing, moderator Chris DeWolfe, MySpace Edgar Bronfman Jr., Warner Music Group
This panel focused on the future of music and new media technologies. DeWolfe and Bronfman discussed the recent partnership of Warner Music Group and MySpace, which allows MySpace to carry more titles that users can access, as well as sell music. Users benefit because they become the “curators” of their personalized play-lists. MySpace benefits by providing a service other social networks do not, and Warner benefits by selling music and promoting its artists.
Bronfman also discussed his view that iTunes and MySpace are not competitors. He says the attraction of MySpace revolves around a networked community, whereas the Apple Store simply allows for the purchase of products. The community makes all the difference!
Track Me
Participants Brady Forrest, O'Reilly Media, Inc., moderator Greg Skibiski, Sense Networks Ted Morgan, Skyhook Wireless April Allderdice, MicroEnergy Credits Rich Miner, Google
Participants on this panel talked about how apps are becoming more prevalent in mobile devices, and how the lure of many new technologies revolves around the ability of those devices to provide information on user-location. Wi-fi and satellite tracking have become highly-demanded features in mobile devices. And, the need for consumers to buy “smart phones” is no longer necessary, as long as carriers provide access to the services for which consumers’ devices have the capacity to run. iPhone was sited as one example where the user market has been seriously restricted because Apple decided to limit availability of the product to only one service provider.
The two panels I watched from the Web 2.0 summit were The Future of Health and Micheal Pollan the author of " In defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto" and the "Omnivores Dilemma".
In the first panel there were three panelists. Th first was Daniel Kraft from Stanford Medical School, one was Joanna Mountain from 23 and Me, genetic testing and the third was Carroll Mccall from Humana Inc. The main themes that I noticed in this panel were customization, prevention and being proactive when it comes to our health care. 23 and me is a genetic testing company where individuals can go and get a profile of their genetics which can enable them to understand if they are likely to get a certain disease based on their specific genetic traits. Joanna Mountain also said that there is a lack of desire from people to care about genetics or want to understand it, however when it is personalized and customized to patients they have found that patients are much more willing to learn a few new concepts about genetics when it relates to their own personal data. Even though currently genetic testing can only tell you about .1% of your genetic traits, it is growing rapidly and the price of the testing has dropped drastically, so it is more affordable. Daniel Kraft from Stanford Medical school, said he really liked what companies like 23 and Me were doing with genetic testing but wondered what a patient would need from him(or a physician) if they had their genetic profile. Carroll Mccall from Humana inc said that the need for physicians would be to show the patient how the genetic testing is relevant to them, the physician can make recommendations to the patient based on their individual genetic testing results. Carroll Mccall also discussed the healthcare side of the issue discussing how we need to make a change on how we view healthcare, it should be more of a relationship of receiving good care from the healthcare provider that looking at the return on investment. She also said that the an issue with insurance is that it is not customized per person, the insurance looks at everyone the same and insurance needs to shift to more customizable coverage for each individual. Daniel Kraft from Stanford medical school also discussed extending the physician and patient relationship to an online forum similar to Facebook, where the patient could chat with the physician or send them messages to extend the physician patient dialogue. Forums like Web MD are doing a great job of this currently.
In Micheal Pollan's forum he talked bout how food is key and in order to solve big issues that we are worried about today such as energy independence, healthcare cost and climate change we need to look at our food system first. Most of the main issues with healthcare can be traced back to the american diet. Pollan recommends a new way to raising and eating food called "eating sunshine". He says that every single calorie is a product of photosynthesis and we should all live by that motto. We need our animals on a farm not in feed lots and we need to re-localize our food systems as much as possible. The government has a disconnect in signing farm bills that allow large amounts of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil to be produced, yet they are worried about the obesity crisis but clearly they are helping it along. Cheap food=Expensive healthcare. Pollan says we need to realign our agriculture policies along with our environmental and healthcare policies. In Pollan's opinion the web can empower consumers to make informed choices in two ways. The first is a device that will make the food system more transparent, not only will the device tell you the nutritional breakdown of the food, but it will tell you where it came from and how it was transported . The second way the web empowers consumers is though online local communities of people sharing information on where to to find food locally instead of going to the supermarket.
What these two panels have in common is that they both agree that the web is instrumental in progressing both issues of food and health forward. They also agree that that there is a definite link between our food and our healthcare crisis.
The differences between these two panels are that the first on health tends to focus more on customizing healthcare for the individual whereas the second, on food, looks at revamping the way we get food and the type of food we eat completely ,and not as much on customization.
I looked at Kevin Rose's arguments about starting a start-up in a bad economy. I wanted to see how this wunderkind operates and what he had to say about the topic. I also looked at The web and politics because I am fascinated by the way the web is altering communication, especially in terms of political and social action. An even larger umbrella term for what is happening is the democratization of information.
The Kevin Rose presentation was much shorter than the political presentation, but was none-the-less informative about how start-ups form and the kinds of resources that are available for people interested in doing so.
Rose described how Digg did not launch during the real web 2.0 explosion and how that helped them in terms of not having much competition for the first 6-8 months. He called it the first mover advantage. Rose talked about the funding for consumer Internet start-ups will be drying up a bit, at least in the short-term. This is actually an opportunity to gain that first-mover advantage. Its much more difficult to launch a new company when that particular sector of the market is being flooded with new companies.
Rose did not quit his day job when he founded Digg. He outsourced his web programming to Europe and ended up paying 1/3rd of what he would have had to pay someone from the U.S. Its interesting to see this kind of effect of globalization. Even high-tech related fields can be outsourced as opposed to the traditional notion of manufacturing being the primary beneficiary of outsourcing. Rose also rented servers for $99 a month, the cheapest route and did not suffer any problems or setbacks. I think that he is certainly on to something here. It may be more difficult to get funding, but if you can attain it success will be much more likely due to the lack of competition.
There was not a lot of overlap in terms of subject matter between the two presentations. However, DIGG is firmly part of Web 2.0 now and is part of the New Media that is transforming the nature of politics itself. Because DIGG aggregates is can have an article from the Huffington Post or the Drudge Report. DIGG can enhance the reach of these blogs, which can in turn have the kinds of influences we have seen in the recent presidential campaign.
John Heilermann of New York magazine moderated a panel which included AriannaHuffington of the Huffington Post, Gavin Newsom mayor of San Francisco, and Joe Trippi a political consultant. Heilermann compared the 2008 election to the 1960 election because they shared something in common. What they shared in common was the maturation of a medium that altered the political landscape irrevocably. In 1960 of course the debates between JFK and Nixon were the first to be televised, and in 2008 the web really reached a level of maturity in terms of its influence on the political world.
Trippi agreed and said that in 2003-2004 the web hadn't quite reached its zenith in terms of influence. There was no youtube and facebook hadn't opened up to everyone. Since then broadband users increased and a whole new slew of tools emerged. 14.5 million hours of official Obama video was watch on youtube. That's exposure that Obama didn't have to pay for like he would have in a broadcast model. He also didn't have to interrupt programming. People that had a serious interest could go watch videos at their leisure.
Newsom described the web as "fundamentally shifting the construct of what we believe is possible in this country." I could not agree with Newsom more.
Huffington of course agreed as well, stating that Barack Obama would not be president or even have been a Democratic nominee if it weren't for the web. She argued that the net killed Karl Rove politics. People had access to the truth through the blogosphere and youtube and were less susceptible to the kind of fear mongering that defeated John Kerry in 2004.
Huffington also brought up an interesting but somewhat unrelated point about how many quote unquote left wing issues are now mainstream. Issues such as: global warming, health care, and ending the war in Iraq. Huffington said that "the truth does not always lie in the middle." She called Obama the new center and talked about how she envisions the Huffington Post as new journalism, not right vs. left, but what is true. Trippi agreed that the msm focuses he said she said journalism, but the blogosphere and related tools allow the individual to decide on their own. He poingnantly altered James Carville's "its the economy stupid" by stating "its the network stupid." I think that Trippi nailed it on the head with that quote. He also astutely pointed out that youtube demands authenticity.
Newsom described that politicians are behind the curve in terms of social media and the web. They realize how it alters and improves fundraising, but not much beyond that. He talks about facebook and how it has changed the audiences that show up.
This panel really excited me. I am a firm believer that the web has irrevocably altered and will continue to alter the structure of politics in the world. It has empowered individuals like nothing we have ever seen in the history of mankind. It is an exciting time to be alive.
I looked at Kevin Rose's arguments about starting a start-up in a bad economy. I wanted to see how this wunderkind operates and what he had to say about the topic. I also looked at The web and politics because I am fascinated by the way the web is altering communication, especially in terms of political and social action. An even larger umbrella term for what is happening is the democratization of information.
The Kevin Rose presentation was much shorter than the political presentation, but was none-the-less informative about how start-ups form and the kinds of resources that are available for people interested in doing so.
Rose described how Digg did not launch during the real web 2.0 explosion and how that helped them in terms of not having much competition for the first 6-8 months. He called it the first mover advantage. Rose talked about the funding for consumer Internet start-ups will be drying up a bit, at least in the short-term. This is actually an opportunity to gain that first-mover advantage. Its much more difficult to launch a new company when that particular sector of the market is being flooded with new companies.
Rose did not quit his day job when he founded Digg. He outsourced his web programming to Europe and ended up paying 1/3rd of what he would have had to pay someone from the U.S. Its interesting to see this kind of effect of globalization. Even high-tech related fields can be outsourced as opposed to the traditional notion of manufacturing being the primary beneficiary of outsourcing. Rose also rented servers for $99 a month, the cheapest route and did not suffer any problems or setbacks. I think that he is certainly on to something here. It may be more difficult to get funding, but if you can attain it success will be much more likely due to the lack of competition.
There was not a lot of overlap in terms of subject matter between the two presentations. However, DIGG is firmly part of Web 2.0 now and is part of the New Media that is transforming the nature of politics itself. Because DIGG aggregates is can have an article from the Huffington Post or the Drudge Report. DIGG can enhance the reach of these blogs, which can in turn have the kinds of influences we have seen in the recent presidential campaign.
John Heilermann of New York magazine moderated a panel which included AriannaHuffington of the Huffington Post, Gavin Newsom mayor of San Francisco, and Joe Trippi a political consultant. Heilermann compared the 2008 election to the 1960 election because they shared something in common. What they shared in common was the maturation of a medium that altered the political landscape irrevocably. In 1960 of course the debates between JFK and Nixon were the first to be televised, and in 2008 the web really reached a level of maturity in terms of its influence on the political world.
Trippi agreed and said that in 2003-2004 the web hadn't quite reached its zenith in terms of influence. There was no youtube and facebook hadn't opened up to everyone. Since then broadband users increased and a whole new slew of tools emerged. 14.5 million hours of official Obama video was watch on youtube. That's exposure that Obama didn't have to pay for like he would have in a broadcast model. He also didn't have to interrupt programming. People that had a serious interest could go watch videos at their leisure.
Newsom described the web as "fundamentally shifting the construct of what we believe is possible in this country." I could not agree with Newsom more.
Huffington of course agreed as well, stating that Barack Obama would not be president or even have been a Democratic nominee if it weren't for the web. She argued that the net killed Karl Rove politics. People had access to the truth through the blogosphere and youtube and were less susceptible to the kind of fear mongering that defeated John Kerry in 2004.
Huffington also brought up an interesting but somewhat unrelated point about how many quote unquote left wing issues are now mainstream. Issues such as: global warming, health care, and ending the war in Iraq. Huffington said that "the truth does not always lie in the middle." She called Obama the new center and talked about how she envisions the Huffington Post as new journalism, not right vs. left, but what is true. Trippi agreed that the msm focuses he said she said journalism, but the blogosphere and related tools allow the individual to decide on their own. He poingnantly altered James Carville's "its the economy stupid" by stating "its the network stupid." I think that Trippi nailed it on the head with that quote. He also astutely pointed out that youtube demands authenticity.
Newsom described that politicians are behind the curve in terms of social media and the web. They realize how it alters and improves fundraising, but not much beyond that. He talks about facebook and how it has changed the audiences that show up.
This panel really excited me. I am a firm believer that the web has irrevocably altered and will continue to alter the structure of politics in the world. It has empowered individuals like nothing we have ever seen in the history of mankind. It is an exciting time to be alive.
Lessig talks about Obama, someone he has known for many years prior to his entering public service. I respect and admire Lawrence Lessig a great deal, and this conversation really confirms my confidence in our president-elect.
Lessig also talks about free culture, amateur creativity and copyright issues. Take a listen to this genius.
In lieu of having class on Wed, I'd like you to watch two of those videos from the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Summit 2008. Go here: http://web20summit.blip.tv/posts?view=archive&nsfw=dc . The first three pages have the 2008 videos. Don't use any of the 2007 videos.
They are each less than 15 minutes. Pick two, at least one with someone you haven't heard of. Then, I want you to make one blog post that discusses, compares, contrasts the two. Embed each of the videos you watch in your post.
To get the Embed code use the Share button (Choose Embed, Legacy Player, choose Go) then copy and embed the code. Make sure you are on Edit HTML when you paste the code in your blog post. MAKE OTHER LINKS TO RELEVANT ITEMS THROUGHOUT YOUR POST.
Don't worry if it still says the blog is locked. You can make a New Post. You will just have to type in one of those text codes to prove you are human. Hopefully the locked status will be removed soon.
I will be exploring opinions on Barack Obama's election. I will focus mainly on African-American opinions and feelings. I would like to tell the story mostly through video .
I'm going to use this project to do a shortened look at the Swedish migration to Williamson Co. From the original migration in 1834 to the current building of the Round Rock campus.
I'm going to use this project to do a shortened look at the Swedish migration to Williamson Co. From the original migration in 1834 to the current building of the Round Rock campus.
With the demand for healthier food choices in restaurants and so many calorie conscious customers, for my final project I plan to interview differentrestaurants and ask them about what the costs, benefits and issues with providing healthier food are. I would like to look at very different restaurants in size, type of food and the demographic served to see who is making these changes and at what cost.
For the final project I plan on documenting the Barbecue Capital of Texas, Lockhart. I will try to get interviews and other media about the city (mostly about it's BBQ restaurants). I am going to find visitors and residents to see their opinion on their city and the four major barbecue restaurants there. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!
I am not certain of my topic. I have debated on issues such as diabetes, alternative health care, a former student, celiac disease, thyriod diseases, and a long list other topics I have written down on my legal pad. "Turning your hobby into a second income amidst troubling times" sounds like a idea for the project. I could interview some local success stories and existing struggling small businesses. Well see.
I will be doing my "Web Documentary Site" about the the philanthropic efforts of Billy & Dodee Crockett, the owners of Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Recording Studios. The piece will look at how the Crockett's use revenues from their recording facilities to help support their concert series, The Blue Rock Revue series of books and the Artist's Retreat; all of which go to support the arts and artists of all types. I will give background on the Crocketts, their vision and how they are bringing their dreams to reality. The story will feature each of the ventures at Blue Rock how each is connected to the other and how it all comes together to support the philanthropic vision that the Crocketts have for supporting the arts.
In fears of being pigeon holed as a beer nerd (knurd), I am doing my final project, in conjunction with my final feature for the Media Writing course, on Austin breweries and brew pubs.
The print portion would be something like this, but in Austin, and I would create an interactive web portal to compliment.
As far as the "newsworthiness" goes, it would definitely be something that could be a possible feature in the food and wine or travel section of a news paper/magazine, and Austin is beginning to make a name for itself among the national craft/micro brewery scene (Uncle Billy's Brew and Que won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Fest).
I'm hoping to hit up three or four local breweries (depending on time and cooperation) and do a mini run down on each, including video, images and some links.
And I have high hopes to create an interactive tour map of all the locations I visit.
So pigeon hole me if you must, but I figure if I am going to pour hours of effort into something, it doesn't hurt that it is something I have already nerded out on.
For my final project I was going to capture the essence of a New Braunfels' Christmas. Never knowing if this will be my last Xmas in NB I thought I should attempt to show everyone its charm. I will have interviews with key members of the community (hopefully the mayor). I will have interviews will everyday people. Will showcase some events: Downtown lighting ceremony, Kris Kringle in Gruene, Weihnachtmarkt, Wassial fest, - there is a lot more going on but if I can get all this I have my work cut out for me.
Still thinking of a definite idea but as I am sure all of you know, it's not easy. The idea that I like the most right now is a friend of mine here in San Marcos who is attempting to set up recycling programs at all of the apartment complexes in town. He is doing it by himself with no help from anyone else and I would go along with him for a week as he tries to sell the idea to local complex owners. May not sound like anything big now but he is an interesting guy with a mission that could use some attention. Not entirely sure if I will choose this project but it is the most intriguing one currently. Let me know if anyone has any ideas or suggestions that I can work off of!
For my final project, I was thinking of doing the Austin Farmers' Market downtown. I'm not sure what the focus or angle will be yet of the site. Perhaps the benefits of shopping there and the impact on the local community? Any suggestions will be appreciated!
I was thinking of doing my final project on responsible dog ownership. I'll focus on the shiba inu (type of dog) since I have two of them. There is an internet sensation of some shiba puppies online here: Shiba puppies - this video has been discussed on various news sites and on TV. But with all this coverage also comes people who go out and buy a dog on the 'cuteness' factor without researching properly. There is also the issue of people who purchase puppies from back yard breeders and/or from pet stores (the later is notorious for getting puppies from puppy mills).
So, I will discuss responsible pet ownership, buying puppies from a reputable breeder, or adopting from a rescue group or animal shelter, socializing dogs properly, etc. I have tons of shiba pictures I have taken from meetups and of my dogs so I'll have a slideshow with or without music (I haven't decided yet.)
Hey Everyone! After much introspection and thorough calculations, I'm still not sure what to do this project on. I really want to cover fixed-gear biking or longboarding still, but I'm not sure what kind of angle to take. I want to make it at least a little newsworthy and less of a documentary kind of thing.
I was also thinking about doing something on the homeless in Austin or finding a way to localize consumerism. My mind is in a lot of places right now!
Hi everyone! For my final project I am going to present stories of the civil rights movement and then ask those same people about the significance of the 2008 presidential election. The participants will vary in age and in race.
Good afternoon, guys! I'm toying with the idea of putting together a website that focuses on the topic "life is art." I know many disagree about whether or not life is art, or art is life, or whether one is a representation of the other, et cetera. It's theoretical and philosophical, but I want to put it together in a fun, engaging way. It'd have a general artsy opening about the philosophy and the differing views. Then maybe separate pages to address different canvases (the human body, nature, painting, music, performance art, and so on). I have ideas about a few people I'd like to interview -- my most favorite tattoo artist ever (Mike Norris from Southside Tattoo), one of my undergrad art history professors (Housefield), and a friend of mine who loves art as much as I do. And I have a few ideas about some still photography videos I'd like to put together. What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I have been thinking since last Wednesday's class on what to do my project on. Last night while watching the election results I got an idea after I logged onto Facebook. I compiled a document full of peoples' status updates and their reactions to Obama being named president. Some were blatantly racist while others were supportive. I am going to do my flash project on the 2008 election and Facebook's utilization by users once the results were announced.
This may be hard to understand ,or even explain for that matter, but just know that it deals with the election results and social networking sites.
For the Flash project, I want to do a history timeline of digital music (MP3, iPods, DRM, etc.). I also want to incorporate copyright issues into the project as well.
I would like to do assignment 4 on New Media Politics. Campaign financing is huge on the internet and yet it is only a small part of how political campaigns are using new media. It is also important to recognize how the public has changed its news gathering habits, to make new media a major part of their political information resources. I also found a very interesting item last night on CNN (TV); Anderson Cooper did a "3D Hologram" interview with entertainer and Obama supporter Will.i.am. I have not found the interview online yet, but I'm sure I will.
I am thinking about sticking to what I know. Many high schools are now using the internet to create their school yearbook. No more complicated software. So you might see this idea animated in Flash.
I'm thinking about doing my project on the evolution of journalism. I'll start with newspapers, then to radio, tv, and finally the Internet. This is what I'm thinking right now!
