Born On The Web

Teknision is a branded application company, they are the creators of the site I linked yesterday: “Update Hollywood”. Paolo hinted me to the presentation of his company in a comment:

How marketers can use rich internet applications to build their brands? (video + powerpoint)

Interesting talk…

Hey, had a client send me a link to your blog, we actually are the company that developed the front end of Update Hollywood, here is a link to a presentation that we did on user experience and our spin on it. Gabor Vida, our President did the presentation to local businesses in our area.

http://www.teknision.com/zone5ive/

check it out.

Thanks for the feedback Paolo.

• nuclear NIGHTMARES
  beautiful , touching photoset of the victimes of Chernobyl.
  (tags: Chernobyl photo art victimes)
• Update Hollywood with Martin Grove
  If you look at this application, you’ll know flash has still his strong points compared to AJAX/xhtml. It has the only available technology to provide such a great quality video and integration in a webpage. I’m really amazed how fast it loads.
  Notice h
  (tags: IPTV flash tv interface trailers)
• Four Tet: News
  Four Tet – download a free live concert of him. Scroll a bit down … Love his music. Try the song “Spirit Fingers” first. Via joshuaink.com
  (tags: music band electronica bands)
• Office 2007 footage
  A look at the new office 2007 user interface. Make the functionalities of Office more visual . It seems like they finally “cut the crap” and made office really fast and usable. Am I dreaming?[Streaming video]
  (tags: office UI video microsoft interface)
• Computerlove | Connecting Creative Talents (Coming soon)
  I still miss computerlove, it was a great community to be in… Please come back, soon … :’( Anyone any idea when it’s going to be back online?
  (tags: computerlove portal community art inspiration illustration design)
• The Web 2.0 Trinity: People, Data, and Great Software (web2.wsj2.com)
  1. Users 2. Data 3. Function : I can live with that
  (tags: web2.0 data users)

• magpiebrain – Is Amazon S3 the first Tier 0 Internet Service?
  If Flickr and it’s ilk could be considered tier one applications, then surely Amazon S3 much be considered a tier zero service. Where Chicago crime(=mashup) exists only because of other services, Amazon S3 exists only for other services and applications
  (tags: amazon S3 onlinestorage noUI)

I’ve been using greasemonkey for a couple of months now, for very subtle changes to sites it comes in pretty handy. This firefox extension gives users a (client-side: javascript) programming layer over existing web pages, you can add your own stuff to the interface of amazon.com or link directly to the torrent of a movie on imdb.com. It adds a level of interactivity possible by the user.

But as a web developer it’s a bit scary too, people can do just anything with your nice site design, layout. I really only install the userscripts that are really subtle, but most of all that are functional.

This week Niels, suggested me a userscript that directly links to MP3 file next to the streaming link on all vrt radio station sites. I knew you could find the link to the file, but it was always a pain in the ass. This userscript made that very easy, and I have to say, I’ve been downloading MP3’s from the stubru server ever since :) .

As you can see on the screenshot this script does nothing more than adding “(MP3)” next to the streaming link, but adds the functionality of a podcast of all programs. Very simple, very functional, very “right click – save file as…”. This script works for stubru.be, donna.be, radio1.be, radio2.be, klara.be and rvi.be . Pretty cool huh ?!

I’m planning on writing a userscript myself, anyone any ideas?

Links:

• greasemonkey firefox plugin
• a database of userscripts
• how to write a greasemonkey userscript tutorial
• stubru, donna, … userscript: add direct link to mp3
• show prices in EUR on amazon.com
• flickr userscripts
• Creammonkey: greasemonkey for safari users

• Max Kiesler – Round-up of 30 AJAX Tutorials
  ride the wave, baby, ride the wave … :)
  (tags: ajax tutorials)

• del.icio.us/url
  track your urls on delicious… great to check popularity of pages.
  (tags: popularity del.icio.us tracking)

If we, Belgians, should be happy with one thing, it’s definatelly our summer music festivals. The line-ups are always very impressing, the atmosphere and the surroundings are so cool. Werchter is just 20 km from home, but Rock Werchter always feels like going on holiday.

I’m just checking out this years’ line-up and it’s looking very promising. I think it going to be better than last year. There are a few bands I really want to see, I tried to give you an impression by linking to some live videos, quality isn’t always good:

• Manu Chao: I saw them in 2001 in Werchter, they were absolutely incredible ! One of the best shows I saw live ever. Even if you don’t like their music, you will find their show great. Only for this band I will pay my ticket. Live videos : 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 (this last song is great)
• Roger Sanchez: Simple, if you want to party he is your man ! Also saw him in 2001 on Werchter. A memorable moment. Live video : 1
• Soulwax Nite versions: We know them all from soulwax and 2 many dj’s , it is always a great show when they’re playing. I saw them in this concept last year on Pukkelpop. Live video : 1 – NY excuse – E-talking
• Vitalic: If you have to much energy, this guy can help you. He always takes his crowd to a higher level and never fails, I experienced this last year at pukkelpop and I love techno. Live video: 1 – Poney Part 1 (very cool clip)
• Mogwai : I’m a fan of these guys. This is my kind of music, I never saw them live so I’m curious how they going to bring their music. Live videos : 1 – 2 – video clips on their official site
• Arctic Monkeys: the next hype … Live video: 1 – 2

I’m probably going to see others like deus, eels, … but the above are already on my schedule.

I’m astound by the amount of video data available on YouTube, just try searching for your favourite band.

• Google Mars
  First google conquers the world …now the universe … MUHAHAHAAAA ! :-)
  (tags: google mars maps)
• on10
  Microsoft launched a new kind of video blog. quote :”Every weekday at 10:00 am (PST) we’ll update this site with a new video that highlights people, their passions and often the technology they are using. At the end of each week we compile these videos
  (tags: microsoft videoblog vlog technology)

• Dragable RSS boxes
  open-source netvibes … I can use this. Great stuff !
  (tags: ajax rss javascript netvibes opensource)

At the plusminusitv convention last thursday, there was an interesting discussion about the future of tv. I didn’t got the chance to give my opinion during the panel discussion, but I would like to write it down, because I think a lot of people underestimate the impact and speed of the change that is going on at this moment.

I consider myself as part of a generation that has a different perception of the traditional media, we were one of the first generations to really grow up with the internet. I’m using the internet since I was 11 – 12 years old. The possibilities then were nothing compared to what’s possible now. I’m only saying this so you’ll understand that the perception of traditional media will change more radically if you look at younger generations. My brother of 14 loves to listen to bbc radio one. The music he likes is not available in Belgium. Those (+-)kids aren’t restricted anymore to the media available in Belgium. The traditional media becomes less important, they just choose the information they want from the internet(audio – text – images – video – …).

If you look at studies about iDTV you see a lot of traditional patterns coming back. Studies say that prime time stays prime time and that popular channels will stay popular also when you have like 112 other channels available. Well I’m not pretending that those studies are incorrect, they are definatelly true. But I don’t think they will be true if you only look at the new generation of people. Why? Because the younger generations are growing out of the traditional patterns. When they become 25 they don’t need the traditional tv anymore to stay informed. They will choose what to watch when to watch it. When they need information about a recent newsfact they’re first reflex is not waiting for the 7 o’clock news, they will first check the internet.

If we take a look at the current iDTV model in Belgium, it can be interesting for the 35+ segment, but for the new younger generations it will fail. It has almost no extra value for people who are familiar with the internet. Maybe some good movies or series, but I’m sure that in the future they will be available for download from the moment they are released. I don’t think young people want to wait untill lost season 2 for example gets aired on a Belgian tv channel. They are in touch with the whole world trough the internet. They want to be able to access the same information at the same time as the people who live in the USA. My brother is a fanatic runescape player. He talks with his friends from all over the world, he get’s information from all over the world, he wants to be able to view the same cool tv shows as his friends abroad. Often it’s impossible to access that information the legal way so often those kids get it from bittorrent, P2P, … I think it’s pretty logical, they want to be able to talk about the same tv programs their friends talk about. I’m just trying to explain how important it is, not to underestimate the changes this will bring to tv in the future:

• The internet will be the main channel for everything: communication, information, entertainement, … The new generation just wants different screens and different interaction methods to access that information, communication and entertainment. Cell phone, screen in the living room, laptop, … every device has access to the internet, to the same information, communication, entertainment.
• Selection will become incredibly important, tv channels will need to evolve to a brand that makes selections of worldwide shows. They will do nothing more than select very specific programs.
• The TV channels will have a stronge community around the brand with very faithfull viewers. They will be able to give feedback to channel, that feedback will be an important factor in decisions taken by the TV channel.
• Poweruser will need to be able to make the selection themselves. Other users can subscribe to their selection, just like RSS works today. You’ll be able to view the programs you want on demand. If you think this is the future you’re wrong : democracy player, veoh, uTorrent , … Those tools just need a rss feed and will automatically download the programs you selected.
• The link between the information viewed in the program and other information available on the internet will be very strong. If you’re looking at a touristic program, you’ll be able to immediatelly check the flight rates to that location. Or plan your route on google maps to that specific location. This will be an important commercial value. Give the viewers the right commercial information at the right time.
• The other way around can also be important, if your browsing google earth, you can view touristic tv programs, news items about that specific location.
• Production companies need a web service that gives access to all their tv programs.

I know these are pretty progressive ideas, but if I look at my own environment and things happening on the internet. I’m pretty sure tv is evolving this way. I believe Belgian tv stations urgently need to start experimenting with this new evolutions. What will be the value of Lost season 2 for VT4 if ABC made it available for download FREE? TV stations urgently need to look for new business models, if they want to keep there privileged place in the market.

Related:
The ironic future of traditional media
Microsoft: IPTV to reach critical mass this year