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  • John Pope

    Lead Editor/Moderator

    70 Posts

    About

    John Pope, a.k.a. JohnP@Dell, has been involved with social media since 2006 and computers since, well, let's just say...

    Recent Posts

    • Higher Quality Reviews on Dell.com from People Like You
    • Hooked on Video
    • Lights…Camera…Panoramio-Enhanced Street Views
    • Dell Mini 10 Makes Its Debut
    • Check Out This New e-Mail Alert

    Jennifer Hughes

    Community Content Manager

    70 Posts

    About

    Jennifer leads the content coordination for Dell’s social media properties. She has been involved with social media s...

    Recent Posts

    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web

    John Blain

    Gaming Guy

    63 Posts

    About

    John has been active in social media at Dell since April of 2006, starting with the blog outreach team, and now as the ...

    Recent Posts

    • Are Developers Suffocating the PC Game Industry with DRM?
    • SXSW Interactive, A Gamer’s Adventure Part IV
    • SXSW Interactive: A Gamer's Adventure Part III
    • SXSW Interactive: A Gamer's Adventure Part II
    • SXSW Interactive: A Gamer's Adventure Part I

    Chris Byrd

    Digital Life Liaison

    40 Posts

    About

    Chris works closely with the online community on all things "digital life" and is known on Twitter as @ChrisBatDell. Wh...

    Recent Posts

    • SXSW 2009: The First 48 Hours
    • Check Out The New Dell Lounge
    • Dell Design Studio Artist Interview: Tristan Eaton Part II
    • Dell Design Studio Artist Interview: Tristan Eaton
    • PockeTwit: Twitter Client for Windows Mobile Users

    Natalie M. Davis

    Manager, Global Operations for Community Team

    33 Posts

    About

    Natalie and her team engage in conversations on Dell and non-Dell social media sites. She has over 10 years of marketi...

    Recent Posts

    • A Little Bling in Every Chic Geek’s Step
    • “And They Call It, Robot Love …”
    • A Necklace By Any Other Name
    • I Dare You to Hug Me: For the Inventive Chic Geek
    • Making It Viral

    Jay Pinkert

    Raconteur

    29 Posts

    About

    To paraphrase the Bard, some are born great bloggers, some achieve great blogging and some have blogging greatness thru...

    Recent Posts

    • Inspiron 15 Laptop: Sweet Spot of Form, Function and Affordability Launches on Dell.com
    • The Swiss Army Knife of Laptops
    • All's Right with the World: Inspiron Mini 12 Now Available with XP and Ubuntu
    • The Gift of Gab Could be Worth $4,000
    • A Welcome Disruption: Inspiron Mini 12 Now Available Online

    Richard Bernier

    Dell Community Security Liaison

    28 Posts

    About

    I have been with Dell for five years; two of those have been spent with the conversations group. You may have seen me o...

    Recent Posts

    • April 15 Is Almost Here
    • Hurry, Cut the Red Wire!
    • Conflicker Malware Poised to Strike on April Fools’ Day
    • Solicitation Overload
    • Who Are You? You Are Who?

    Anne B. Camden

    Consumer Product PR

    16 Posts

    About

    Anne has been with Dell Corporate Communications for 10 years, proudly practicing product PR the entire time. Started o...

    Recent Posts

    • Meet the Inspiron Mini 12 – Slim, Stylish and Well Connected
    • Lights, Camera, Action! Movies and Music Now Pre-Loaded on Your New Dell PC
    • About Those Ubuntu Mini 9 Hard Drive Partitions
    • Update on the Mini
    • Green Light for Ubuntu-Powered Inspiron Mini Shipments

    Ed Hassinger

    Software Engineer for Austin-based NetQoS

    14 Posts

    About

    It feels like I bought my first "IBM-compatible PC" just last year. And despite two decades and stints with nine failed...

    Recent Posts

    • Some Day You May Own the Software You Own
    • Congratulations Linux! You’ve Officially Gone Mainstream
    • Produce Your Own Video, Stop the Country’s Decline!
    • From PC to Boob Tube – Play Video Off The Internet On Your TV
    • Important Life Lesson – How to Cope With The Loss Of Your Favorite TV Show

    Randy Gibson

    Imaging & Display Guy

    8 Posts

    About

    Randy is a technical writer and senior analyst for the Dell Solution Network. A nine-year veteran of Dell, he specializ...

    Recent Posts

    • A Familiar Name in Digital Photo Printing
    • Diminutive Dell Projector Designed for Digital Nomads
    • A Full-Color Printer That's Surprisingly Green
    • Your One-Stop Solution for Photo Editing
    • New Options for Home Theater

    Jesse Leonard

    Vista and Ubuntu Linux Liaison

    7 Posts

    About

    Jesse Leonard, a.k.a. Dell-Jesse_L within the online Dell community, has been involved in the Dell Forums for eight yea...

    Recent Posts

    • Hands-On With Dell's Wasabi Ultramobile Photo Printer
    • Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Counting Down to Oct. 30
    • Firefox 3 Add-Ons
    • Firefox 3 Download Day Logs More than 8 Million Takers
    • Firefox3 Update

    RichardatDELL

    Two Ears, One Mouth Advocate

    6 Posts

    About

    After a career in Canadian politics, Richard moved to the U.S. to build out a career in communications. He joined Dell ...

    Recent Posts

    • Photographers: Tune In Marc Silber, Get Great Shots
    • Marc Silber and the Fine Art of Photography
    • RichardatDELL Finds a More Beautiful Way to View Photos on the Web
    • That Dreamy Infrared Photographic Feeling Returns, Thanks to LifePixel
    • Geotagging Your Photos

    Ellen Murphy

    Consumer Public Relations, EMEA

    5 Posts

    About

    Ellen works on the Consumer PR team in EMEA. She has nine years of marketing and communications experience, ranging fro...

    Recent Posts

    • And the Winner is ….
    • SPOTTED – Red Carpet Reporter
    • Dell at the MTV Europe Music Awards
    • Dell signs Major Pan-European Sponsorship With MTV
    • Dell UK Formula 1 Test Day Event at Silverstone

    Winnie Wong

    Alienware Marketing Communications

    5 Posts

    About

    Winnie has been a part of the Alienware family since 2000, when there were only 64 employees on the payroll. Her passio...

    Recent Posts

    • Over-30 Gamers
    • Girls Just Want to Have Fun: More Women LAN Partying
    • Immersive Gaming
    • Microtransactions Becoming Major Issue with Gamers
    • First Sighting

    Stefanie Nelson


    5 Posts

    About

    Stefanie has been entrenched in online media since the mid 90s, currently runs the marketing communications programs fo...

    Recent Posts

    • Dell Outlet Exclusive Twitter Deals
    • How I Won The Battle of The Batteries
    • Do You Jelly?
    • What's in That?
    • Google on Your Phone

    Michelle Mosmeyer

    Dell Communications Analyst

    5 Posts

    About

    Michelle has been with Dell Global Communications for more than eight years. In that time, she’s worked in Executive ...

    Recent Posts

    • The Science of Attraction
    • Confessions of a Valentine’s Day Naysayer
    • The Art of Affordable Escapism
    • Parents, CHILL … Facebook Actually Benefits Kids
    • Tech Tips for Those of Us With Wanderlust

    Vida Killian

    Dell IdeaStorm Manager

    4 Posts

    About

    Vida has been with the Dell social media team since 2006. Her first computer-related memory involved BASIC programming...

    Recent Posts

    • Meet George Jetson...
    • Wow! That's a LOT of Ideas
    • Help for Organizing the Help
    • From Chemical Engineering to Chick Blogging - Huh?!

    Michelle Forde

    Dell's Red Carpet Reporter

    3 Posts

    About

    Recent Posts

    • Red Carpet Reporter – The Big Night
    • Red Carpet Reporter – The Press Conference
    • Red Carpet Reporter – I’ve Arrived

    Lionel Menchaca

    Chief Blogger

    3 Posts

    About

    Lionel Menchaca (LionelatDell in Twitter) has lived and breathed social media for the last couple of years and wishes ...

    Recent Posts

    • Microsoft & Netflix Agreement Coming
    • Alternative to Roku for Streaming Netflix
    • Vista Tip: Use Snipping Tool for Screen Captures

    Matt Parretta

    Dell Analyst Relations

    3 Posts

    About

    Matt has been at Dell since 2006 and is responsible for relationships with consumer industry analysts. He spent four ye...

    Recent Posts

    • New Tech Analyst Blog Spots Holiday Trends
    • Dell Dock Gets a Face Lift
    • Photography PhD Not Required

    Anna Hutchinson

    Product Reviews Manager

    2 Posts

    About

    Anna manages Dell’s product reviews program and works with journalists and tech experts across the United States. She...

    Recent Posts

    • It’s Not Just What’s In the Box That Counts
    • "Techspeak" or Plain Talk, Dell Awards and Reviews Site Deals in Both

    Michael "Odee" O'Dell

    Team Dignitas, Managing Director

    2 Posts

    About

    I've been a gamer since I got my first computer, a ZX8, in 1980. Last year I was able to fulfill a lifetime dream and t...

    Recent Posts

    • “Frontier” Views on Current, Future State of Gaming
    • Join Team Dignitas Live on WebCam at the M Festival Tomorrow

    Kara Krautter

    Foodie in Training

    2 Posts

    About

    Although I spend most of my day managing the Small Business blog for Dell, any free time I have seems to involve food. ...

    Recent Posts

    • Sharing Your Love for Fashion Just Got More Fun
    • Online vs. Print: Where Do You Find Recipes?

    Jennifer Allison

    Global Consumer Internal Communications

    2 Posts

    About

    Jennifer joined Dell’s Corporate Communications group in 2006 to focus on executive and employee communications for t...

    Recent Posts

    • New Dell Products at CES 2009
    • Separating Ourselves from the Animals

    Deborah R. Wood

    Independent Communications Consultant

    2 Posts

    About

    Open to learning about almost any topic and a professional interest in helping people communicate in new and traditiona...

    Recent Posts

    • Mind Your Social Media Ps and Qs
    • Passionate About Your Stuff? Check Out itaggit.com

    Jacqui Zhou

    Lead Editor/Moderator of Direct2Dell Chinese (http://chinese.direct2dell.com/)

    2 Posts

    About

    Born and raised in Shanghai, China, Jacqui always wanted to travel and see the world. After she earned a college degree...

    Recent Posts

    • “Bandit” Cell Phones: Part II
    • “Bandit” Cell Phones Find Favor Among Chinese Consumers

    Bill Bivin

    Community Liaison

    1 Posts

    About

    Bill works with the online community as the Community Liaison for laptops, and has worked at Dell since 2003. His Twitt...

    Recent Posts

    • What's Your Mini OOBE Look Like?

    Andrew Ford

    Head of marketing, corporate accounts, Dell Europe, Middle East and Africa

    1 Posts

    About

    Andrew is a keen internet, e-mail and social media enthusiast, and has worked in the IT and telecoms industry since the...

    Recent Posts

    • Your Data -- How Much is Out There? Is It All Bad?

    Chris Kinnair


    1 Posts

    About

    Chris "Blackmane" Kinnair is the world famous Team Dignitas Call of Duty 4 leader and when not practising to win tourna...

    Recent Posts

    • Chris "Blackmane" Kinnair Reviews Warhammer Online

    Bob Blomquist

    Senior Manager, Electronic Media

    1 Posts

    About

    Bob has spent 15 years at Dell working in a number of communications roles ranging from video productions to broadcast ...

    Recent Posts

    • Social Network for Pedal Mashers

    Richard Margetic

    Global Online Digittante

    1 Posts

    About

    Richard has been with Dell for the past three years with earlier stints at IBM, PwC and Microsoft, all in online. His I...

    Recent Posts

    • Xobni|inboX

    Ricardo Guerrero

    Global Online Project Manager & "Twitter Dude"

    1 Posts

    About

    Hailing from Colombia, South America, Ricardo has worked at Dell since 1999 as a content developer, and most recently ...

    Recent Posts

    • Twitter: It’s Not Just TMI About Your Friends!

    Kerry Bridge

    Dell EMEA Digital Communications

    1 Posts

    About

    Recent Posts

    • Exclusive Interview with MTV Nominees ABRI at GiTEX

    Dawn Lacallade

    Lead Stormchaser

    1 Posts

    About

    Dawn has been with Community for several years and is currently the Lead Stormchaser for Dell Ideastorm. She has been w...

    Recent Posts

    • Wii Fit: Who Says Exercise Can’t Be Fun?

    Mary Ellen Krautter


    1 Posts

    About

    I've been on the cutting fringe of the technology world since 1981 when my husband brought home one of the first person...

    Recent Posts

    • Coming Out of the Closet: The Ideal Home Office for the Not-So-Techie Gal

    DJ Moe

    DJ With Dubai's Channel 4 FM

    1 Posts

    About

    DJ Muhannad Al jazireh (aka DJ Moe) was born Aug. 14, 1969, to parents who still haven't the faintest idea of what to m...

    Recent Posts

    • One Step Closer to the European MTV Music Awards

    MoneyGuyBK


    1 Posts

    About

    MoneyGuyBK is one of our most active and helpful customers on the Dell Community Forum, where he has earned “Supersta...

    Recent Posts

    • You and Your Idle PC Can Help Humanity

    Debbie Gormley

    Care Community Liaison

    1 Posts

    About

    I’m a native Texan, Austinite if you will. I don’t think I’d ever move away from here but there are many other pa...

    Recent Posts

    • Shopping on the Internet

    Shaun Clark

    World Class Gamer

    1 Posts

    About

    Shaun Clark (game name Apollo) is a name that has been partnered with command and conquer since the release of EA's tit...

    Recent Posts

    • My Weekend at the M Festival in the UK

    Amie Paxton

    Dell Channel Community Manager

    1 Posts

    About

    With over nine years of interactive program management in technology and advertising, social media is transforming Amie...

    Recent Posts

    • Online Resources for Baby Names

    Stuart Wallock

    Dell Senior Manager, Global Community & Personalization

    1 Posts

    About

    Loving new tech things to play with since I started gaming on my Atari 2600 way back when, I have been working with Int...

    Recent Posts

    • New Dell Special Art Edition Laptops

    Mark Horner

    Team Dignitas

    1 Posts

    About

    Recent Posts

    • Coming Home a Winner

    Eric Erway

    Program Manager, Global Online

    1 Posts

    About

    Eric serves as a program manager for Dell’s Global Online team, working with multiple groups to translate customer re...

    Recent Posts

    • Making Technology Work for You

    Gunther Hoffmann

    Team Dignitas

    1 Posts

    About

    Gunther "SiS" Hoffmann, of Antwerp, Belgium, is a member of Team Dignitas and ranked No. 1 in his home country for Trac...

    Recent Posts

    • Dell-Sponsored Team Dignitas Wins Another Gaming Tourney

    Rick Scott


    1 Posts

    About

    Rick is a PADI open water scuba instructor and photographer. He splits time between his home in Austin and his ranch ne...

    Recent Posts

    • For Under $500, Gear Up for Amazing Underwater Shots

    Todd Smart

    Dell Community Outreach Administrator

    1 Posts

    About

    My job is to support our Community Liaisons as they help to resolve customer issues. I’m originally from Western New ...

    Recent Posts

    • Wireless Networking is Great, But There Are Practical Concerns

    Camille Nisich

    Global Communications Operations Manager

    1 Posts

    About

    Camille returned to her roots in 2007, joining Dell’s Corporate Communications team after nearly seven years in the c...

    Recent Posts

    • When Your Photo Filing System Fails You

    Mary Ellen Gitachu

    Dell Corporate Communications

    1 Posts

    About

    ME (EMMIE) works in corporate communications at Dell. Originally from the East Coast, she’s tracked around the states...

    Recent Posts

    • Over the Net and Through the Webcam to Grandmother's House We Go

    Kathryn Diana

    Dell Product Reviews

    1 Posts

    About

    Kathryn is a member of Dell’s product reviews team and works hard to get products into the hands of gaming journalist...

    Recent Posts

    • Brass knuckles?! Genius!

    Geoff Knox

    Supervisor, Global Operations for Community Team

    1 Posts

    About

    Geoff has been with Dell since 2005 and has been working with Dell’s social media efforts since 2006. He has been a f...

    Recent Posts

    • To Be, or Not To Be, on the Vista SP1 Bandwagon?

    aikiwolfie

    Frequent Contributor to IdeaStorm

    1 Posts

    About

    I got my first Atari when I was only 2 years old - 1980 I think - and I've had a computer of some kind ever since. Past...

    Recent Posts

    • Thoughts on Simplifying IT and After-Sales Support
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • Brass knuckles?! Genius!
    • Are Developers Suffocating the PC Game Industry with DRM?
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • April 15 Is Almost Here
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • When Your Photo Filing System Fails You
    • Hurry, Cut the Red Wire!
    • Conflicker Malware Poised to Strike on April Fools’ Day
    • Cyber Sisterhood Reads from ‘Round the Web
    • I found your blog on google and
      read a few of your other posts. I
      just added you to my ...
    • Yes Dating sites Getting more
      popularity these days. They are
      attracting mostly
      y...
    • I do like the Dell hardware but its
      customer service policies are
      outrageous Read the ...
    • Dell customer service - bad
      business practices Read the Ripoff
      report for more
      d...
    • I emailed this link to my sister.
      She has been looking for this info
      for a long time.
    • Jennifer - Great post and sorry for
      the late response here. I work in
      the fundraising ...
    • It was interesting to browse trough
      :-) keep up the good work and
      thanks for sharing.
    • It was interesting to read...you
      have some great information on your
      blog. Your insight...
    • You made some good points there. I
      did a search on the topic and found
      most people will...
    • Camille, After many years of
      working in the darkroom I have
      switched to using a digit...
    • Description Stopped
      working Problem
      signature Problem Event
      Name: CLR20r3 P...
    • If you like social shopping, and
      you love shoes, then you're going
      to LOVE ShoeHunting....
    • My recommnedation? Buy a Mac, it
      comes with all you need to manage
      your photos out of the box.
    • These are a good idea and the color
      idea is cool, but do we have to be
      so cutesy cutesy...
    • my God, i thought you were going to
      chip in with some decisive insight
      at the end there...
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Archive for the ‘Video’ Category

Thinking Outside the Box With Gaming Insider Boyd Beasley

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Think what you may, Electronic Arts is one of the biggest and most respected names in the video game business. They’ve been a part of my personal gaming life for decades. I vaguely remember losing countless hours to Archon and Archon II, Populous, The Bard’s Tale and, more recently, Need for Speed, Burnout,  Crysis and Warhammer Online. I could easily say I and countless others like me wouldn’t be the gamers we are today if it weren’t for Electronic Arts.

It was a treat for me to sit down last week and speak with EA’s senior director of customer service, Boyd Beasley. We had the chance to talk about the future of gaming, what it means to be a griefer, the role of social media in gaming, and how a company like EA can meet the challenges of the ever-changing gaming market.  I was able to capture some of our conversation on camera for posterity. Although there were a few subjects we really couldn’t talk about, I came as close to those as I could. The conversation was fairly refreshing, and it was good to see that EA is looking outside the box a bit to solve some of the industry’s problems. Take a look:

It was great to see a gamer at the helm of EA’s customer service, even if he is a carebear (sorry, Boyd. I had to take a shot!). From our discussion both on and off the camera, it was easy to see that Boyd is passionate about what he does, and the industry needs more passionate people.

Posted in Gaming, Video, Vlogs | No Comments »

Hooked on Video

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

U.S. Internet users are watching more videos. A staggering number, actually. Americans viewed 14.8 billion online videos during January, according to data released today by ComScore. Notably, YouTube surpassed 100 million viewers for the first time.

Other snippets of January data:

  • 76.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
  • The average online video viewer watched 356 minutes of video (about 6 hours).
  • 100.9 million viewers watched 6.3 billion videos on YouTube (62.6 videos per viewer).
  • 54.1 million viewers watched 473 million videos on MySpace (8.7 videos per viewer).
  • The duration of the average online video was 3.5 minutes.
  • The duration of the average online video viewed at Megavideo was 24.9 minutes, higher than any other video property in the top 10.

Posted in Video | No Comments »

How to Get the Right Parts for Your Dell

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

A tip of the hat to the young Dell customer who posted this helpful video on YouTube:

Posted in Design, Desktops, Events, Laptops, Tips, Video | 1 Comment »

CES 2009 Vegas Baby!!

Friday, January 9th, 2009

Vegas Baby!!

This was certainly the chant stuck in my head as I struck out for the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. However after a 3 hour delay in Houston due to unknown mechanical issues with our plane, a 2 ½ hour flight next to an inebriated woman who drank too much during said delay, I was happy to finally arrive in Las Vegas with my sanity.

CES 2009 Las Vegas Convention Center

For those that don’t know, the Consumer Electronics Show is the premier event for audio, video, mobile electronics and computer technology. If you are interested in the most up to date information available on the latest gadgets and emerging technology, this is the event to attend. Over 130,000 people are expected to attend the event this year, which is an 8% drop from years past due to the failing economy. Having said that, you certainly couldn’t tell people were concerned with the economy given the packed aisles and crowded booths on the convention floor.

Dell Suite at the Palms - CES 2009

For those of you who haven’t seen the posts about new products we introduced in Vegas, Jennifer provided an overview several of them here while Lionel blogged about Adamo and the Mini 10.

I was able to capture a bit of video myself from the announcement using my cell phone and Qik. For a quick peek, take a look.

This being my first time attending CES, I can certainly say the event is massive. Much larger in scale that even the online maps represent. Having been limited to only a few hours on the convention floor this morning, plans are in place to pounce early and bring a large connection of photos from the event for my next post.

Friday night, it’s the It Won’t Stay in Vegas blogger party hosted by Robert Scoble. This promises to be an exciting event and a good time will be had by all for sure.

Posted in Design, Events, Laptops, Video | 1 Comment »

Making a Difference

Monday, December 15th, 2008

Dell and many of our customers are proud to partner with (PRODUCT) RED, a worldwide initiative designed to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. Check out this new YouTube video for details of the campaign and the products.

Posted in Desktops, Laptops, Printers, Video | No Comments »

Have You Heard of Qik?

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Qik is a site that lets you share live video from your phone. Regeneration.org recently used Qik to share video of their road trip across the country. How might you use it? Here are a few ideas.

I will start with my favorite hobby — shopping! It could be used to take someone virtually shopping with you. Instead of taking pictures of each outfit, you could video all of them and then ask for feedback. I might also use it if the grandparents can not make it to a soccer game. I know they would still feel they are a part of the event if they could watch some of the game live. Best part of all, using my cell phone to take the video would be super easy and non-intrusive.

Let us know if you have used Qik and give us your thoughts.

Cyber Sisterhood

Posted in Cell Phones, Cyber Sisterhood, Tips, Video | 1 Comment »

Seriously… MTV Music Videos Are Back!

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Oh, how I miss my “Yo MTV Raps” and actual videos being played on MTV. I’m one who can distinctly remember the first night MTV hit the air. Back in 1981, I was playing Little League baseball and we had a sleepover at the house of teammate. His father also happened to be our coach. Much soda and pizza were consumed, but more importantly MTV videos were watched. You know how it started, with The Buggles video “Video Killed the Radio Star”… and then it was all history.

But in this day and age, you are hard pressed to see any videos on MTV these days. It’s all clouded by Reality TV, complete with beautiful looking kids who are in no way representing the normal, average looking people I went to school or college with. The once magical day when I would rush home to see my favorite artists new video is gone, replaced with re-runs of spoiled kids getting drunk and acting crazy, all in the name of “Reality.” Well maybe some of its reality for that age … but I digress.

clip_image001

MTVM Web Site

Well, for those of you miss actual videos as I do, you no longer have to go hunting on YouTube.

MTvM Music just launched with over 16,000 available videos for your viewing pleasure. This site has partnered with Social Project, the providers of Flux, which also claims to enhance the community experience with the site.

In joining, the site offers the traditional share and post comments for other viewers. And to be honest, having 16,000 videos available *is* pretty sweet, and the quality is a lot better than what you see on YouTube. You can view information from the album the video was cut from, and in most cases, biographical information as well.

While I do hold out hope to actually be able to view videos again on the MTV channel itself, this will scratch my itch and provide me my fix, complete without commercial breaks.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Posted in Music, Video | 1 Comment »

Produce Your Own Video, Stop the Country’s Decline!

Friday, October 31st, 2008

Do you have that stubborn friend who insists on voting for the worst of the two evils? Now you can actually make a difference for your country without actually taking much time or effort to do so! If you want to send a wake-up call to someone who can’t take precious time out of their day to vote, then check out this site. Simply enter their name and e-mail address. They receive a link to a short video of a news report that explains the importance that their vote makes. The Flash video cleverly and seamlessly imports their name into the news report. I was a bit disappointed that the newscaster didn’t actually speak my name however. I’ve already seen Flash sites that use speech synthesis to convert electronic text to audio.

This is just like the talking computer WOPR from the classic movie War Games, just not as cheesy. Microsoft has several products centered on this.clip_image002 The Microsoft Speech SDK is actually pretty easy to use, if you want to write your own Text To Speech application. This is already built into Vista, simply select the “Ease of Access Center” icon and your computer will start talking. The Narrator program will speak the text you have displayed on your active application. It is highly customizable to support other languages and voices.

News At Seven has done this. They randomly select news stories, and then have a gaming engine render the newscaster. Text to speech makes the newscaster “speak.” You can download a video clip from their site here.

I’m not an ad wizard, but I could see this kind of thing being used as effective advertising. With your own Facebook account, they already know your name and interests. If you are going to display an ad on your site, why not do a Flash advertisement where the actor in the commercial speaks your name? For example: “Ed Hassinger, Gears of War 2 is out now! It is on your Amazon wish list and they have free shipping!”

Now hear this: GO VOTE!

Posted in Eclectica, Tips, Video | No Comments »

From PC to Boob Tube – Play Video Off The Internet On Your TV

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Previously, I mentioned how life with losing a cable TV channel could be rough. I’ve also mentioned how you can use Microsoft Media Center to record television shows on your PC. The key question is how do you stream media on your PC to your living room PC? This is a problem that many companies have had a hand in trying to resolve. Namely Amazon, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc. Well settle in for the answer, because there are a lot of options.

Generally, there are two approaches to stream music/video/television from your PC to your TV.

1. A dedicated non- PC hardware device i.e. Roko with the popular Netflix service, Tivo with Amazon Video On Demand (formerly Amazon Unbox) and the Apple TV. Typically, they work on a subscription-based model, you buy the shows/plan you want, hook the device to your TV and away you go. It may cost more, but you have convenience. Note: The popular Slingbox device isn’t quite in this category. It relies on a TV source you supply, and allows you to view it anywhere with an Internet connection.

2. PC Software – There is ample software to do this task i.e. TVeristy, Zune, Windows Media Player, XBMC, Orb, Google Media Server, Connect360, and those are just the primary Windows programs. Many exist for the Mac and Linux. After the install, you could simply hook a PC to your TV. However, the heat, noise and size of the PC might not work with your decor. You could build a PC better suited, or looks for a sleek compact model i.e. the Dell Hybrid. You really don’t need a high-end PC for such a task.

Fortunately, many non-PC devices can hook to your TV and stream those video files on your PC using the software above. One standard is the Digital Living Room Network Alliance, which is trying to make this ecosystem all work together. In this situation, the PC handles downloading the show, then transcodes it to a proper video format for your device attached to your PC. The most popular devices to do this are the XBOX 360 and PS3. They are a great buy considering their primary purpose is to play video games. Having both, I prefer the XBOX 360 because it supports direct downloads of TV shows from XBOX Live as well (no PC required). Soon, you’ll be able to stream TV shows and movies directly to your XBOX from Netflix library directly, without a third-party PC install. This includes movies in HD as well.

Of the software I mentioned, I’ve tried most. Each has pluses and minuses. Not a day goes by that I don’t use Media Center for streaming TV I’ve recorded on my computer from cable. For TV shows I can’t record, I recently tried PlayOn by MediaMall. Play On allows you to stream browser based TV to various devices.

It is in beta, and the first few iterations didn’t install on my PC. The PC requirements are minimal, and you simply need Windows Media Player 11 as a prerequisite. Both my PS3 and 360 connected effortlessly. TV shows did stream well, and the picture quality was great considering we are talking about Flash video. However, the real deal breaker is that Hulu didn’t stream for more than a few seconds. A $30 price tag is a bit steep, but if it worked well it might be worth the price.

Thoughts? What works best for you? Has anyone actually cut the cord and dropped TV service to stream their shows exclusively over the Internet or over-the-air?

Posted in HDTV, Tips, Video | 3 Comments »

Making It Viral

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

Having the pleasure of working on one of Dell’s first viral marketing campaigns, Project Nerd Buddy, I am astonished at how many companies struggle to understand what constitutes a viral video. Just because you upload it on YouTube doesn’t make it viral. I have even seen educational videos about products marketed as viral by the companies that upload them. Yikes! Terry Tate

So what makes a video viral? It’s truly an art. Often times, it has humor or gore, can be complex, engaging, and interactive. It breaks down to something people will want to watch or interact with over and over again and send to their friends. If your video doesn’t have these attributes, it’s probably not viral. Some of the heavy hitters are Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, and my personal favorite, Reebok’s Terry Tate. I have probably watched the Terry Tate linebacker videos over 100 times.

Doesn’t seem too hard to create these, right? Then why have so many companies failed in their viral ventures? It’s actually quite simple. Many companies aren’t willing to create an only viral video. It has to be educational, have product placement or a direct link to purchase to justify the cost — and it may or may not be compelling enough to make you want to watch and share. Ideally, there should be a balance between engaging you and motivating you to do business with the sponsor. Let’s take Subservient Chicken. Yes, I have played with the chicken for hours on end, giving him every command I can think of, but does it make me want to go to Burger King? Not really.

Reading through Geek Sugar this weekend, there was a nice write up on a newer viral campaign for Kodak, called Make Me Super. This is a good example of a viral campaign that may have found this balance. You can upload your photo and it gets placed into a superhero’s body. A video is then created for you with a snappy theme song with your name in it.

Photo 1

It’s funny, engaging, interactive, and yes, I have already forwarded it to many of my friends. What I am most impressed with is how well product placement and ability to purchase is worked into this site. They have made products that you would purchase about you, rather than about them. I may have to create a superhero for my husband and make a set of the playing cards for him as a stocking stuffer. His poker buddies would get a big kick out of them!

I’m happy to see some of the viral efforts getting back on track and companies doing a better job striking the balance, rather than being on either end of the video spectrum. Viral marketing can be a great medium and is capable of creating excitement for a company’s brand beyond commercials and traditional marketing methods. Looking forward to seeing more and more.

Do you have a favorite viral video that was done well or done wrong? Looking forward to your thoughts and comments.

Posted in Social Media, Video | 2 Comments »

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