Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Who will be the Starbucks of local TV News???

Cory Bergman is the creator of a blog called Lost Remote, which talks about TV news, technology, and trends connecting the two. It's good stuff...especially for an unabashed TV nerd like me. Cory posted a really interesting insight about the current state of local TV news websites...and how bright the potential unclear future could be:
...younger viewers — ages 18-34 — are watching less and less, or not starting to watch at all. It doesn’t speak to them anymore. It’s not relevant.

You might argue this decline is due entirely to the internet. But TV stations have websites, too. And that lack of on-air relevancy is translated online, where they’re reflections of their on-air editorial product, handcuffed by old thinking and cost structures. You’ll often hear local TV execs talk about on-air’s tremendous reach — that even with declining ratings, it’s still a terrific vehicle to reach large audiences. Yes, that’s true, but that reach isn’t translating online. And that’s a very big problem.

Check out the entire posting HERE and check in on their blog LostRemote, HERE. I'll also add them to my list of things I like at the top.

Favorite year-end music video


Creed Shreds

It's not just the content, and the backhanded insult to Florida-based "rock" band Creed that makes this so funny to me...but that the editor made sure the vocals and drums hit right on time with the video. Super-creative.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Know Your Meme

Some people are confused by all this randomness on the interwebs. I know from being a journalist that people thirst for context to the stories and quirky bits of entertainment on the web.

A internet meme (PRON: meem) is a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly (thanks, wiki). On the internet, that usually means a viral bit of video or music that gets stuck in your head and you just HAVE to show your friends. There are plenty of Chappelle Show skits and hip-hop lyrics that have become catchphrases amongst my current co-workers, and the internet allows us to replay them at a moment's notice.

We'll get into those other inside jokes another time, perhaps...

To start, you should be familiar with the biggies, and Rocketboom has set up a really cool new site called "Know Your Meme." Some of them are a bit more obscure (Disaster Girl, La Caida de dgar) but others have risen to the level of common knowledge among users (FAIL, lipdubs, O RLY, Boom goes the dynamite)

So...check out "Know Your Meme"...it's kinda awesome.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Kicking off the blog

This is my first post...so, nothing too controversial, but maybe kind of interesting!

I saw this website yesterday, and I have since proclaimed the nerdiest thing I've seen this week (destined to become a somewhat regular feature).

Students at USC have come up with a way to display things three dimensionally using a spinning mirror. It's kind of like a, hologram...they can even play live video three dimensionally through the thing!

Check out video of the thing in action (the most impressive stuff starts at 1:16 into the video)