The New York Times has a good article on how the networks are in a frenzy trying to figure out how they will make money in the new world of video-on-demand. This has been going on for a while, but as the networks, the internet, and the gadget-makers become more cozy, those outside the circle are beginning to realize they will need to figure out a way to be profitable if they are to survive the inevitable changes.
I can imagine that there were similar questions and anxiety in the air when television came on the market. Back then you could spend an entire afternoon at the theatre and get two movies, a cartoon, a short, and the news all for like 15 cents or something. Once TVs came into people's livingrooms, the movie-going experience changed. People got their info quicker and eventually cheaper and people went to the movies for the experience.
I would venture to guess that something similar will happen with TV. There is a difference between shows I want on-demand, and shows I'd like to watch live. But I guess there's no script on how this will all turn out, so we'll just have to stay tuned...
At this point we have a fully-functioning, external SATA, hardware-accelerated RAID array running from the internal PCI bus of our PC. On the plus side, even though it won't compete with SCSI speeds, it comes in at a fraction of the cost. While it costs the same as out-of-the-box Firewire RAID arrays, it will handily outperform them and give us options like hot-swappable drive trays, custom block sizes, and more. Not to mention that when 400GB or 500GB drives get nice and cheap, you can upgrade your RAID array at a fraction of the original cost and double your storage. Nice.
Now we're ready to look at SATA RAID cases. You can very easily get ripped off looking for a great case, when all we actually need is something to house the 4 or more drives we want and provide reliable and adequate power along with good airflow. A great place to find cheap RAID SATA cases is CoolDrives.com. This one is $150 and will do everything we need, including providing hot-swappable access to the drives if your PCI card supports it.
Think Secret highlights how next month Apple will unveil their new content distribution system at the Mac World Expo. It's bound to cause a stir in the new media revolution. You know how in iTunes if you buy a song or a video and then your system crashes you're out of luck? Well, speculation has it that with what Apple has in store, there will no longer be a need to download anything - ever, as all content will be stored on their servers and be cached out.
This will fly high with those concerned about digital rights management. And I'm sure as Apple is smart, that the company will find a way to make everyone else okay with it as well. One thing we won't have to worrry about is filling up our hard drives or losing any content we've bought, since it will all be stored on an Apple user's iDisk. Not sure how I'll feel about it in a month when I can't get to my stuff because of a lost connection on my laptop. No word on what the non-Apple users will do - perhaps switch?
At this point, if you have the available drive bays inside your computer, you can install your drives, connect them, and you're ready to go. But if you're like me, your drive bays are probably filled already. So how can we get the speed of an internal RAID array with the cost-efficiency of SATA? With a riser card that bridges the internal ports to the external PC case. Cool.
You'll need another open PCI slot for this baby, even though it doesn't actually plug into the logic board. For $25, you can purchase an 8-port internal to external PCI SATA port adapter from a site like MacGurus.com (scroll down to "Internal to External SATA Port Adapter"). You'll need the 4 internal cables that came with your PCI RAID card. Those go from the RAID card to the adapter, all contained in your PC case. Now you have 4 accessible ports on the back of your PC ready for *external* SATA cables. For future growth, you can always add another internal PCI SATA RAID with 4 more ports and plug them into the riser card.
When planning your film, one of the first things to think about is where you're going to shoot it as well as the logistics. It's not enough that the place is beautiful - will it meet your most important needs? This article over at b-independent.com is pretty helpful.
A few things to remember when scouting locations are:
Bring along your department heads. The Director, Cinematographer, or Art Director may be able to alert you to any problems you may encounter during the shoot
Consider cost. Just because a location is perfect doesn't mean it's financially feasible. And just because a location is not perfect, doesn't mean you can't get perfect shots
Listen for sound issues. I mean really spend a good chunk of day around the location you'll be doing most of your filming in and make sure there aren't any freight trains, airplanes, or rush traffic around the time you'll be shooting
Be aware of power supplies. If you don't have a generator you'll need to plug in somewhere. Make sure you won't be short circuiting the apartment or house you're in and be aware of where the fuse box is located
Logistics - parking, bathrooms, changing area, food, elevators - there's a lot ot consider in order for things to go smoothly
Releases/Permits - make sure you have everything signed and sealed before the big day
In collaboration with Steven F. Woolf, technical guru and producer of the upcoming videoblog Jet Set Show, I bring you "How to build your own external SATA RAID Array."
Randall's product highlight of the Iomega XL got me thinking. That's a pretty good option for external RAID, and I'm glad to see more of these kinds of products hitting the market, including some network storage devices like the iNAS. But if you're a little more adventurous and not afraid to roll up your sleeves a bit, you can create your own custom external hardware-based RAID array using SATA. Yup, external SATA.
Posted Nov 22nd 2005 6:22PM by Zadi Diaz Filed under: Web
So you're interested in finding more about video blogging, the people creating them, where to find them, and how to subscribe... Here's a quick list of sites that will keep you up-to-date on the latest vlogs in the vlogosphere.
Posted Nov 21st 2005 10:56PM by Zadi Diaz Filed under: Web
Old St. Nick has went and gotten himself a podcast show. I'm thinking why not go one up and make it into a videoblog? With titles like "The Naughty and Nice List" it would be fun to see the dissapointed faces of children on the naughty list. "Friday Night Football" could show us Elves tackling eachother in a friendly game of Elvin football that uses flags made of licorice and a football made of fruit leather. And "Going Down the Chimney" would be hilarious. It could be a first hand look on how the Jolly One manages to squeeze himself down a soot-filled hole without getting a serious wedgie. Come on Santa, give us a videoblog!
Tribeca All Access Connects helps to promote the theatre and film work from under-represented artists of color. There is a lack of the unity rainbow in Hollywood and so programs like this help to get people's foot in the door.
With TAA Coonects, filmmakers can participate in one-on-one meetings with film industry decision-makers during the Tribeca Film Festival, which takes place May 1st through May 4th. They're looking for feature-length narrative and documentary film projects as well as screenplays that haven't been optioned and don't have a director or producer attached. Deadline is December 16th, 2005.
Diversified Multimedia's Video Vault converts all those movies you have on DVD or VHS tapes to iPod viewable video. So now you don't have to be relegated to watching Desperate Housewives (which has been awful this season). You can import all your digital and analog tapes, AVI, Mpeg1,2 and 4, ASF, WMV, DVR files, export them directly to your video iPod and watch them on the go.
You can also organize your collection as thumbnails by genre, as well as overlay subtitles on top of the video. It's 40 bucks and you can download a free trial off of their web site, except it's PC only.
There are certain things I like to meditate on during the Thanksgiving season. Family, friends, events I'm thankful for, ways I can make a difference, how I can be a better person...
There are certain videos that have struck a chord with me during this meditative state I'm in right now. Granted, these are only a few of the many, and I urge all of you to do your own search on videoblogs you can save for "meditative" reference.
An Iraqi Woman talks about Fallujah Rana Alouiby, director of International Peace Angels, talks about her experiences on the ground in Fallujah during and after the second siege in November of 2004"
Berlin Holocaust Memorial "It's hard to describe the feeling as you walk though the seemingly endless lines of stones..."
The Masses The collective, crowd, group, herd, army, drove, mob... the masses.
7 Days The individual, the human being. Starfire's brother talks about his seven day deployment to New Orleans.
Come Union 69 Simply riveting how a simple conversation can turn into a work of art. Communion with a friend, communion with yourself. This is the video I'll meditate on this Thanksgiving season.
*Note: Comments are gold. When you visit one of the vlogs and like the video you see, just drop a comment, it's always appreciated in the vlogosphere. :)
Ever wonder how to make fake real-looking blood? No, you don't squirt ketchup all over yourself.
Simple ingredients include:
white corn syrup
red food coloring
water
Add blue food coloring to darken, and whole milk to make it less transparent.
Recipe I think is best:
White corn syrup
Red food coloring
Corn starch
Water (mix and heat until desired thickness)
Add something brown, like chocolate, to darken.
Hey, you can also eat that recipe (and add vodka if you want to get crazy), but we won't get into that! For black and white video/film just use chocolate syrup.
To make into a wound, use pieces of tissue, add some vaseline, and place into your masterpiece of rawness.
Oh, you can also add a diluted fusion of blood into a squirt bottle and spray it on your actor for that "splattered" look. Or you can fill a small baby powder container for more splatter gore.
The folks over at We Are the Media declared November to be Remix Month. There are only 14 days left to the month, so create a video remix if you haven't already.
What are the rules? Basically mash some video up from different sources and make a new work of art, then tag it "remixoff2005" on technorati and del.icio.us. Just make sure the video material is either your own, has a creative commons license, or is public domain. You will be judged, and if you win you get link love.
Posted Nov 16th 2005 3:18PM by Zadi Diaz Filed under: Trends
Talk on fair use is continuing. The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection is still trying to decide whether or not it's legal for us to make personal copies of the media we buy, whether it be physical or digital copies.
The H.R. 1201 Bill is one of the main players in this discussion. It's basically a bill that states that 1. it's not a violation of copyright law to obtain access to media in order to make non-infringing use of the work and 2. making hardware or software that lets us distribute media for non infringing use is okay.
Lots to discuss. The one idea that came up was having limited fair-use copying - much like what iTunes does. But that's easy to get around for those who are technically savvy. Build a better mouse trap - you get a smarter mouse.
But how about instead of trying to trap mice, figuring out how mice can work for everyone's benefit?
The New York Times has a good article on how the networks are in a frenzy trying to figure out how they will make money in the new world of video-on-demand. This has been going on for a while, but as the networks, the internet, and the gadget-makers become more cozy, those outside the circle are beginning to realize they will need to figure out a way to be profitable if they are to survive the inevitable changes.
In collaboration with Steven F. Woolf, we bring you Part 4 of how to build yout external SATA RAID array.
In collaboration with Steven F. Woolf, we bring you Part 3 of how to build your external SATA RAID array.
Think Secret
In collaboration with Steven F. Woolf, we bring you Part 2 of how to build your external SATA RAID array.
When planning your film, one of the first things to think about is where you're going to shoot it as well as the logistics. It's not enough that the place is beautiful - will it meet your most important needs? This article over at 
In collaboration with Steven F. Woolf, technical guru and producer of the upcoming videoblog Jet Set Show, I bring you "How to build your own external SATA RAID Array."
So you're interested in finding more about video blogging, the people creating them, where to find them, and how to subscribe... Here's a quick list of sites that will keep you up-to-date on the latest vlogs in the vlogosphere.
Tribeca All Access Connects
There are certain things I like to meditate on during the Thanksgiving season. Family, friends, events I'm thankful for, ways I can make a difference, how I can be a better person...
Ever wonder how to make 
Talk
