Check out this video of Regis Philbin discussing his run-in with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman at a dinner part at Phil Donahue’s Manhattan penthouse. Regis almost suffers an existential crisis on the air as he admits that his show is vapid and pointless compared to the serious work being done by Goodman, which he says airs on “one of those PBS stations,” referring, of course, to PEG access channels. It almost makes you feel bad for the guy… almost.
The Nation posted an article this week about the Al Jazeera satellite news network and its growing popularity around the world. The article’s author, Ned Lamont (yes, that Ned Lamont), mentions that despite Al Jazeera English’s widespread acceptance overseas, there are precious few TV channels in the US that carry its content…
Al Jazeera’s most recent offspring, Al Jazeera English, is more like PBS on a slow day. Al Jazeera English is available around the world and even on the Israeli cable systems. But it is barely visible in the United States–Buckeye Cable in Ohio and Burlington Public Access in Vermont are the only channels that carry it.
By “Burlington Public Access,” Lamont is referring to VCAM’s sister organization RETN, which runs a 1/2 hour of fresh Al Jazeera English programming every weekday at 6:30 pm. RETN operates channel 16 on Comcast and Burlington Telecom cable systems in Chittenden County.
Documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (The Control Room) and TED, the invite-only Technology, Entertainment and Design conference held annually in Monterey, California, are teaming up together for something called Pangea Day, and asking professional and amateur filmmakers around the world to submit short pieces for a world-wide film festival with the lofty goal of building bridges between cultures. The films will be screened in a four-hour presentation in cities around the world and online on May 10, 2008 — Pangea Day.
How to produce and submit your short film:
Pangea Day films are meant to be visual stories, ones that can be understood despite language barriers, and therefore should not rely on dialogue. If dialogue is required, Pangea Day organizers are asking that videos have English subtitles so that all films can be translated. In order to show as many videos as possible, submissions must be 5 minutes or less.
Filmmakers with submissions should upload their films at http://www.youtube.com/group/pangeadaywww.pangeaday.org. and register their film at www.pangeaday.org.
A panel of jurors, led by Noujaim and other renowned members of the film community, will review all submissions and select the winning films to be screened on Pangea Day.
…Build one! The blog over at makezine.com has a list of gift ideas all stemming from open source hardware that are sure to bring joy to the ones you love this holiday season…
…From mp3 players to mini guitar amps to wi-fi bean bag computers (huh ?) Makezine has posted dozens of schematics and how-to pages for DIY extremists looking to take gift-giving challenges into their own hands. Please note: we’d like folks to refrain from bringing the following item into our studio…
High-power TV-B-Gone Kit - Turn TVs off from 100 feet away, the open source hardware way! Tired of all those LCD TVs everywhere? Want a break from advertisements while you’re trying to eat? Want to zap screens from across the street? No one ever says at the end of their life they wished they watched more TV - this is a life saver!
The TV-B-Gone kit is what you need! This ultra-high-power, open source hardware kit version of the popular TV-B-Gone is fun to make and even more fun to use. This version is best used in countries with NTSC: North America & Asia.This kit comes with all parts necessary. Tools and batteries are not included. This is a very simple kit and great for people who have never soldered anything before.
If anyone decides to construct any of these items (Jeff Botas perhaps ??) please consider documenting the process on digital video so we can admire your handy work. As you all know we’re more than happy to provide the video resources for such a project. Happy gift building everyone!
EngageMedia.org has published a lengthy, detailed report on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) video codecs and players. According to the site, “It is a review of available tools for the creation, playback and embedding of online video using FOSS codecs, and a look at the most pressing areas for development to enhance their adoption by social change video projects on the web.”
Non-FOSS codecs and players are plagued by patent issues and proprietary technologies that can inhibit usability and affordability for many video makers. According to the report, as media become further democratized, it’s important that the tools we use do not become locked down and owned exclusively by a small number of technology corporations. This report lays it all out and offers some best practices for video content creators. What follows is an excerpt from the report that focuses on some specific technology recommendations…
The use of two FOSS video and audio codec combinations are recommended:
- Xvid/LAME Use of the Xvid codec for video and LAME codec for audio in the medium term as both codecs are well developed and generally well supported but are encumbered with patent issues that mean they may be plagued with legal issues into the future.
- Ogg Theora/Vorbis Use of the Ogg format, Theora video codec and Vorbis audio codec as they are patent-free technologies that have seen great improvements in usability and the number and quality of tools available to create and play them is increasing.
There are many good FOSS players of both Xvid/LAME and Ogg Theora/Vorbis available, some more suitable for certain purposes than others. However the recommendation is that Transmission projects promote the use of one player application primarily, VLC, in order to share documentation and training resources more easily by adopting the same software:
- VLC Use VLC as it is highly-developed FOSS media player for FOSS codecs available on all platforms.
The following transcoders are recommended to create Ogg Theora/Vorbis video files:
- MediaCoder (Windows) Use MediaCoder as it is a very usable and highly-configurable FOSS transcoding application with good presets.
- Simple Theora Encoder (Mac) Use Simple Theora Encoder as it is a very easy-to-use FOSS application for creating Ogg files with presets and configurability.
- Ogg Convert (Linux) Use Ogg Convert as it is a very simple and usable FOSS application to create Ogg files amongst others.
The following transcoders are recommended to create Xvid/LAME video files:
- MediaCoder (Windows) Use MediaCoder as it is a very usable and highly-configurable FOSS transcoding application with good presets.
- Avidemux (Linux) Use Avidemux, an easy yet configurable FOSS transcoding application with good presets.
- FfmpegX (Mac) Use FfmpegX as it is an simple yet configurable Shareware transcoding GUI application built on FOSS transcoding software.
- ffmpeg2theora Install the FOSS ffmpeg2theora on the server to create Ogg Theora/Vorbis files automatically for the user, that can then be played back in the browser with other FOSS technologies
- Mencoder Install the FOSS Mencoder on the server to create Xvid/LAME files automatically for the user where appropriate, for download. Alternatively use this to transcode to Flash video for playback in the browser using FOSS technologies.
