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.
…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.
At the very least this is a solid example of a D.I.Y. alternative to what tends to be an overly expensive production tool if purchased through say….B&H. While it’s easy to question the mobility and durability of the end-product you gotta dig the spirit behind the project…
On October 31st, the FCC made some decisions concerning media ownership and franchising rules that could adversely affect public, educational and government access centers nationwide. It’s one more push towards a cliff that PEG centers have been inching closer to over the last several years. Basically, the FCC is attempting to remove rules that permit local franchising authorities (in this case, the Vermont Public Service Board) from requiring cable companies to set aside funds for PEG services.
If that sounds confusing at all, Toward Freedom has published an excellent piece on the various threats facing PEG centers that spells it all out in plain English. If you care at all about VCAM, local media, free speech or empowering the citizenry with technology, please take a minute and read the article. Here’s a snip…
Cue unsettling music that foreshadows ominous events: The Telcos, eyeing television as their next mile marker, have “determined that local franchises are just too troublesome for their business model,” according to SaveAccess.org. Instead, the phone companies want a national franchise agreement, which would allow them to enter communities without negotiating with municipalities, thereby gutting any local control over channels and rights-of-way, or public spaces.
“The municipalities have a lot at stake, primarily with rights-of-way,” Eisenmenger said. “When that telephone or cable company comes in and digs up the streets [and put in cable boxes], having the municipalities have control… to make sure those go in appropriate places, that the streets are cleaned up and repaved.”
The Telcos tried first to tip Congress in its favor, but a national franchise bill died in the Senate in 2006, though frighteningly, the House passed the bill. Always a survivor, the phone companies have switched gears, now pursuing state video franchises – comprehensive state-wide agreements negotiated at the state level which usually circumnavigate local governments.
…
In a separate court, the supposed referee, the FCC, is taking sides. In 2006, the agency made its own order to allow for a national video franchise. Several PEG advocacy groups have sued the FCC, including the Alliance for Communications Democracy and the Alliance for Community Media.
SaveAccess.org also reported in September that the agency is expected to “rule that existing cable operators can, under certain circumstances, back out of key provisions in their current franchise contracts with local governments, renegotiate lower municipal fees, and reduce the benefits they currently provide to the public.”
The AP is reporting that Comcast is actively blocking certain peer-to-peer file sharing connections.
NEW YORK (AP) — Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.
The interference, which The Associated Press confirmed through nationwide tests, is the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a U.S. Internet service provider. It involves company computers masquerading as those of its users.
If widely applied by other ISPs, the technology Comcast is using would be a crippling blow to the BitTorrent, eDonkey and Gnutella file-sharing networks. While these are mainly known as sources of copyright music, software and movies, BitTorrent in particular is emerging as a legitimate tool for quickly disseminating legal content.
The principle of equal treatment of traffic, called “Net Neutrality” by proponents, is not enshrined in law but supported by some regulations. Most of the debate around the issue has centered on tentative plans, now postponed, by large Internet carriers to offer preferential treatment of traffic from certain content providers for a fee.
Comcast’s interference, on the other hand, appears to be an aggressive way of managing its network to keep file-sharing traffic from swallowing too much bandwidth and affecting the Internet speeds of other subscribers.
…
Comcast’s technology kicks in, though not consistently, when one BitTorrent user attempts to share a complete file with another user. Each PC gets a message invisible to the user that looks like it comes from the other computer, telling it to stop communicating. But neither message originated from the other computer — it comes from Comcast. If it were a telephone conversation, it would be like the operator breaking into the conversation, telling each talker in the voice of the other: “Sorry, I have to hang up. Good bye.”
This year, VCAM & RETN are partnering with the Vermont International Film Festival in the screening of the film Four Eyed Monsters. The film will play on the festival’s opening night — Thursday October 11 at 7:00 pm. The film’s after-party will be held here at the VCAM studio. Because Four Eyed Monsters screens on the festival’s opening night, the after-party will double as the opening night party of the whole festival!
VCAM and RETN are thrilled to help bring this film to Burlington. It is a wonderful example of user-generated media-making — our stock-in-trade in the PEG access world. It’s an autobiographical film about two young New Yorkers (Susan Buice and Arin Crumley, the film’s co-directors, who play themselves in the film) who meet and decide to avoid all the trite conventions of courtship — like spoken language. The film is peppered with the actual video and still images the couple took of themselves as they met, dated, broke apart, came back together, and made the film itself. It’s incredibly raw and real and intensely voyeuristic in its tone.
Filmmaker Magazine has called Buice and Crumley part of the “mumblecore” indy film movement, which Wikipedia describes as, “an American independent film movement that arose in the mid-2000’s. It is primarily characterized by ultra-low budget production (often employing digital video cameras), focus on personal relationships between twenty-somethings, improvised scripts, and non-professional actors.”
Four Eyed Monsters was released for free under a Creative Commons license for a limited time on YouTube. It was nominated for two 2007 Independent Spirit Awards and it took home the Special Audience Award at the SXSW film Festival in 2005.
Co-director Susan Buice will attend the screening and (we hope) the after-party here at VCAM. Both events happen on Thursday evening, October 11. The film will screen at the Waterfront Theater downtown at 7:00 pm and the party gets underway immediately afterwards here at VCAM. Hope to see you there!
As we are being treated this week to a string of warmer-than-average weather here in Vermont, VCAMers are brainstorming new ways to enjoy the beautiful outdoors while maintaining our healthy dose of movie watching. With winter steadily galloping over the horizon VCAM is sounding the call: DIY’ers unite!
With just a few tools and a projection-friendly exterior wall anybody can create their own drive-in theater. For a tutorial on how to set up your own drive-in visit MobMov.org.
For a more eco-friendly approach to outdoor movie-going, watch this video on a bike-in theater hosted by Public Access Television in Iowa City. See you in the great outdoors!
