If you are into MMOs like EVE, Everquest, WoW or others then you will want to check out Total MMO.
It's a new show about the worlds of MMOs, tips, tricks, reviews. And its brought to you by Next New Networks. In addition to the show there is a blog and also viewers/readers are encouraged to comment and upload video as well. Hope you like it.
(disclosure: we are investors in NNN)
A lot of my friends went to Maker Faire ten days ago in the bay area. I read a few blogs on the event. Sounded like a blast. The whole DIY space is a big theme on Threadbanger - one of the networks brought to you by NNN, (and also one of our portfolio companies).
Threadheads did an excellent show from the Maker Faire. In case you missed it here it is.
I like the DIY/prosumer space a lot. We recently made another investment in this area that we haven't announced yet. I can't wait to tell you all about it soon.
Tomorrow on StarWars.com Lucas is making 250 clips available for editing and mixing various clips with user generated content as well.
And users will be able to publish their mashups everywhere.
The tools have been here for awhile. In this case StarWars.com is using Eyespots products. There are others that are great as well. And iMovie on a Mac is super easy.
But now we have content owners understanding the value of getting this stuff into the hands of users. George Lucas, who has always been ultra conservative on protecting his IP, is jumping into the pool and no doubt others will now follow. Get your hands on a copy of the Phantom Edit if you want to see how creative users can be.
Wow, now we really need a big honking database and web service for content owners to dump their clips and make them available instead of one-offs.
Anyone want to start this?
I thought the Battlestar Galactica video mashups were pretty cool.
Here is another video mashup
The creative folks at Stanford University's Documentary & Film program developed this video using a large variety of Disney video and audio clips.
The purpose of this particular mashup is to highlight issues surrounding copyright laws and fair use doctrine
Very clever. Check it out here.
We need a big honking database full of video and audio clips so we can do video mashups easily and legally. Maybe something like what Snocap is doing for indie artists on myspace but instead for video mashups.
Content owners could dictate the rules, ie. whether their assets can be used with or without advertising, with or without fees and with or without creative commons credentials etc.
We are the creative generation
This afternoon I was on a panel at Streaming Media East today in NYC. The topic of the panel was "From the Web to TV: New Media Delivery Revolution"
On my panel was Fred McIntyre from AOL, Tara Maitra from TiVo and Ed Lee from Akimbo. Unlike the panel I was on last week, I liked this one. I was at a NNN board meeting in the morning today so I had a lot of ideas swirling around my mind. Some of them I felt comfortable sharing and I did. There were video cameras rolling so if I get a copy I will post it at some point.
I enjoyed Tara's view on the future of internet video, how internet video business models are evolving and Swivel Search (announced today). More about TiVo and some future stuff in a post soooon. Fred and Ed and the audience also had a lot of interesting points. Jose did a nice job moderating the session.
There were varying opinions on our panel but one thing is clear. While lots of folks in the press, startups and big companies are trying to connect the web to the TV, consumers are enjoying video on their computers like crazy. They aren't waiting nor will they need to. The big screen tv is just another display. not the only display.
Right now I'm on a train from NYC back to Boston. And I'm watching a bunch of videos on veoh, youtube, wallstrip and veracifier on my Macbook w/a verizon evdo card. And it's great. It's fun and it's interesting.
Here is todays episode of Veracifier. It's a good one.
The recent deal between Disney and Cox is interesting to me. They are going to disable fast forward functionality on VOD. It's an effort to preserve an endangered species (aka the 30 second spot)
I'm not opposed to ads. I want content creators and distributors to make money. We have portfolio companies that are counting on ad sales.
But I think anytime you force the consumer to do something unnatural you are going to lose. At the very least it will bum out that user and that can't be good. And forcing someone to watch an ad (especially for time-shifted/prerecorded content) seems unnatural to me.
I think we need to find creative solutions here. NNN is rolling out some new pre-roll campaigns at VODCars that integrate the pre-roll and the show itself. And Wallstrip has done a masterful job integrating product placement in some of their shows. NBC is reducing their 30 second prerolls to a 15 seconds and YouTube is going to reduce it even further.
DVRs and VOD is a platform for innovation. We can do a lot with these platforms to make sure the economics work. New ad units are starting to emerge and there are a lot of lessons (good and bad) that can come from the online world to the cable/satellite/iptv world.
We shouldn't go backwards and turn off functionality or make the consumer experience worse. It's too late. The genie is out of the bottle.
Veracifier is the latest network launched by Next New Networks.
And very quickly it is one of my favorites.
Veracifier is a network that has an interesting mix of content.
Mondays-Thursdays, Joshua Micah Marshall and the team at Talking Points Memo are the hosts of TPM TV. It's a new web show delivered by a passionate group of bloggers that are credited with breaking the US attorneys story wide open among other things.
On Fridays, there will be exclusive episodes of Alive in Baghdad. Alive in Baghad is web show created by Americans and Iraqis on the ground and shows the occupation through the voices of Iraqis.
There are also some great new community elements to Veracifier. In addition to the regular stuff you see in lots of places like comments and email sharing, readers of Veracifer can also upload their own videos. That's cool. I think their blog says it the best. So here's the quote
"Most importantly, we want to know what you, the viewers think. That's why there's a comments link under every video. An email address on every page. And a link to upload your own video. Whether its your own commentary, footage, an original report, or simply your thoughts recorded on a webcam, we want to see it, hear it, and put it on the network."
And here's todays show. Hope you like it as much as I do.
(disclosure: we are investors in Next New Networks)
Make magazine is very cool. I first learned about Make from Peter at Bug Labs. More about Peter in a post coming soon but not too soon :) Make is quickly becoming a very popular magazine for DIY electronics.
Etsy is a place to buy & sell handmade items. Great stuff. They both have a very loyal and growing community behind them.
And this week they have another thing in common.
I'm happy to say that both are featured inside the current episode of Threadbanger. Check it out.
(disclosure: we are investors in N3 the folks behind Threadbanger and other great networks)
I've blogged about Pulp Secret before and I'm really enjoying it. The show is getting better and better. Great energy and fun style.
If you like comic books and super hero stuff (who doesn't) than you should consider adding Pulp Secret to your favorite rss reader. Here's the latest episode (disclosure: we are investors in N3)
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