New Year's Resolution....Blog!

This long dormant blog has be haunting me. I started this blog in 2005, and had a good run at posting - but soon found myself not putting posts out into the Internet ether. I continued to read sevearal blogs daily though - many of which I put on the sidebars here about 6 months ago.

My New Year's resoultion is to blog more. Why? Two reasons. First, it engages me in a conversation with others who have something to say on topics that interest me. Second, blogging allows me to jot down thoughts, share them, revisit them, refine them with others, and build on them. It allows me to creatively explore ideas. This blog is my open scratch pad and shared creative journal.

Regarding note-taking, scratch pads, etc., I was recently struck by this interesting blog post from Marc Andreessen, where he quotes from a 1934 New Yorker magazine profile of Hollywood producer Darryl Zanuck and his one-time boss H. C. Witwer.

All life is art direction.....

Vlogging: My 1st VideoBlog Post

I finally decided to try my hand at videoblogging. To view my first videoblog post - you can click here or on the photo to the right. It's a short 42 second Windows Media clip (.wmv file format). This was more of a "proof of concept" experiment for me, and I wanted to understand first-hand how easily it could be done. Below is a description of how the final video was created and then posted.

Video clips (between 10-60 secs each) were shot using a very bare bones point-and-shoot digital camera - a 2 Mega-pixel Olympus D-380 with 8MB's of memory. The camera was set-up to capture video at a low resolution (160 x 120 pixels) mainly to allow for somewhat longer takes.

The Olympus automatically created .mov files. These were converted to .asf file formats using a free endcoder called SUPER (version 1.791) that I found on Download.com. The clips were then imported into Windows Movie Maker for editing and the addition of an audio track.

The final video was created by exporting it from Windows Movie Maker -- encoding it by using the "Video for broadband (150Kbps)" drop-down option, which produced an 817KB file.

All of the above took maybe about an hour.

I then created an account with the Internet Archive, used OurMedia to upload my video, obtained the URL for this uploaded video file, and also created a "screen capture" of a frame from my video - the photo used in this blog post.

That took another 1/2 hour maximum (including the time it took to learn about using the Internet Archive and OurMedia). So - from start-to-finish, I was able to produce a 42 second video and post it in about one and a half hours. For more info on how to videoblog, check-out: Freevlog.

Still to figure out: how to easily convert the file back to .mov format for playback in QuickTime (using free conversion tools). It seems that SUPER doesn't read the file format produced by Windows Movie Maker.

All life is art direction......

Collaboration: Preserving History, Celebrating Teamwork & Building Something Unique Together

This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the 100-year celebration of Clingstone, the "House on the Rock" in Jamestown, Rhode Island - which is near Newport in Narragansett Bay (note: this house is literally on a rock in the middle of the bay).

Thank you to Henry Wood (Boston architect) who's the current owner and the primary cheerleader for the house's restoration over the past 40+ years. Each year, Henry hosts a work weekend (the last one was in May) where friends and family join to have fun while collaborating on projects that help to preserve this amazing place.

Henry hosted a wonderful party on Saturday where people gathered to share stories, celebrate their work together, and to honor this unique and special architectural space.

For anyone interested, here is some historical background on the house, taken from a 2002 newsletter article published by the Jamestown Historical Society:

"J.S.L. Wharton built Clingstone (completed in 1905) to replace Braecleugh, his cottage that was demolished when Fort Wetherill was built. It was completely self-sufficient. A vast cistern held rainwater collected throughout the year. A diesel engine pumped water through the house and provided electricity. [Editorial note: the house is now powered by wind and solar power.]

The Whartons summered at Clingstone until 1941. The house stood empty for the next 20 years and suffered greatly from the ravages of water and vandals.

Henry Wood bought Clingstone in 1961 and started a long program of restoration. Over the years this fine old cottage has been the subject of many newspaper articles and anecdotes – some accurate, some not."

....all life is art direction.

Vloggercue 2005 - "the summer of Vlog"

Yesterday evening was filled with one of those rare experiences when you feel a real sense of community amongst people at the start of something potentially big. I had the opportunity to attend Vloggercue 2005 at a loft apartment in Hoboken, NJ with 30+ attendees (vloggers, technologists, and others). It was a blast. The Vloggercue site has a listing of those who were planning to attend. (See my earlier post about video blogging, aka vlogging, and the Vlog SoHo event held Friday at the Apple store).

Vloggercue was basically a barbecue that brought together all kinds of different people with a shared interest in vlogging. There was food (really great BBQ) and drink, and lots of conversation. There were also similar events taking place in Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Those events were linked to ours using FlashMeeting, which is a very cool online videoconferencing tool. In addition to just meeting and talking, several people gave demonstrations of vlogging tools that they're developing. These included: blip.tv, Linkubator, vlogdir, mefeedia, and FireANT.

Thanks again to Adam Quirk for hosting this amazing event at his apartment and to all of the organizers!

Infinite Games

I've been a regular reader of Jay Cross' Internet Time Blog for a number of months now, and he continues to lead me to interesting ideas, people, and resources (further info on Jay Cross). I wanted to share two people/resources from a recent post on "Infinite Games" that intrigued me quite a bit.

Jay writes about Bill Veltrop, who's the founder of TheInfiniteGames.org , and quotes from a book written by James Carse - Finite and Infinite Games (also referenced on Bill's site ):

"There are at least two kinds of games.
One could be called finite, the other infinite.

The finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play,
...and bringing as many persons as possible into the play.

Finite players play within boundaries;
infinite players play with boundaries."

I just loved the above quote. Definitely need to get a copy of that book, as well as read through Bill's site in much more detail.

Thank you Jay - for continuing to expand my own learning/knowledge, and inspiring me to play with boundaries instead of just within them.

Video Blogging (aka Vlogging) @ Apple store in SoHo NYC

You say you want a revolution: Yesterday evening I attended a workshop @ the Apple store in SoHo NYC , where there were a series of video bloggers (vloggers) who spoke - they dubbed it Vlog SoHo (click on the link in this post's title or to the left for a list of the speakers and links to some of their sites).

For those unfamiliar with Vlogging, this is from the event's web-site: Videoblogging is a new form of expression centering around posting videos to a website and encouraging an audience response. It is the next step from text blogging and podcasting. A community of artists, video editors, podcasters, bloggers, and software developers has formed around this new mode of communication. We are a group of people who use videos as a normal part of our blogging."

Vlogging has enormous potential for communications: from citizen journalism, to collaborative projetcs, to art and self expression, etc.

Steve Garfield was the emcee last night (this is his bio from Wikipedia). Steve vlogged from the DNC in Boston last summer and got tons of press. I had the opportunity to speak with Steve after the workshop, and mentioned that I'd been following the vlogger scene for a few months. He was very welcoming of me (as a newbie to this growing community).

I first read about vlogging sometime early this year, and then discovered a site with video of sessions from Vloggercon 2005, which was held Jan 22, 2005 at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). Vloggercon was the first offical face-to-face meeting of vloggers from around the country (and world).

Also at the workshop last night was Eli Chapman, who is
Avid Technology's Manager of New Market Development. Eli was a session leader at Vloggercon 2005, and he writes a blog called ChapmanLogic. I thanked Eli for posting an incredible video some months ago, which I've since e-mailed to many people. Click here for Eli's post.

FYI - if anyone is interested in setting up a free Vlog, Ryanne Hodson and Michael Verdi have created FreeVlog, a site with how-to tutorials.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Steve Jobs gave the commencement address @ Stanford this past week and he ended with these parting words of wisdom from the Whole Earth Catalog - "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." He also shared 3 stories about events that helped to shape him, and I found these to be very interesting.

A buddy of mine had e-mailed the text of Jobs' speech to me. I then found the link in this post's title while reading another blog called Anecdote. And, here's a link to video of the last few minutes of that speech.

From Jobs' address: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

Love him or hate him, you have to respect Steve Jobs for his accomplishments. I happen to be a fan. As an undergrad @ Cornell some 14+ years ago, I had the opportunity to hear Jobs speak and give a demo of the NeXT computer / NeXTStep OS. It was an amazing experience.

Just found this Oral History Interview with Steve Jobs circa '95, listed under an Oral History Archive (featuring leaders of the IT revolution) that's hosted by the Computerworld Honors Program. These quotes from Steve Jobs are of note:

"Apple was this incredible journey....The thing that bound us together....was the ability to make things that were going to change the world....and the greatest joy was that we felt we were fashioning collective works of art much like twentieth century physics. Something important that would last, that people contributed to and then could give to more people."

"I actually think there's actually very little distinction between an artist and a scientist or engineer of the highest caliber. I've never had a distinction in my mind between those two types of people. They've just been to me people who pursue different paths but basically kind of headed to the same goal which is to express something of what they perceive to be the truth around them so that others can benefit by it."

"I think the artistry is in having an insight into what one sees around them. Generally putting things together in a way no one else has before and finding a way to express that to other people who don't have that insight so they can get some of the advantage of that insight that makes them feel a certain way or allows them to do a certain thing."

"In the 70's and the 80's the best people in computers would have normally been poets and writers and musicians. Almost all of them were musicians. A lot of them were poets on the side. They went into computers because it was so compelling. It was fresh and new. It was a new medium of expression for their creative talents. The feelings and the passion that people put into it were completely indistinguishable from a poet or a painter."

Stay passionate. Stay creative. For all life is art direction....

E-Learning: Training People How to Coach @ Target

On Wednesday, I attended the E-Learning Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting for ASTD NY and saw a demo of an approach being used by Target to train supervisors on how to coach cashiers. The link in this post's title is a presentation related to that application (note: unfortunately, the link is now dead), and given by David Guralnick of Kaleidoscope Learning (from a 2003 ASTD conference). David hosts a SIG meeting every month at his company's office.

Because coaching is a "soft skill," it is very challenging to teach it via e-learning. More concrete, linear skills are easier to train using online methods (e.g., step-by step instructions on how to assemble something).

The model that David's group used (Watch, Rate, and Compare) to design an e-learning experience is one that might be effective for coaching skills training. Learners watch a video clip of a scenario, they then rate the virtual coach on several dimensions, and have a opportunity to compare their ratings to "experts." The learner can then reflect on the differences and similarities between his/her ratings and those of the experts, watch the video again, and in some cases see a video of the same situation performed very well.

What's Been Keeping Me from Blogging....

Life has been hectic the last week. Moving apartments (even within the same building) can be lots of work. So that's kept me away from blogging as much as I'd like. Plus, my DSL line may not be up for another week or so. More posts to come soon.....

All Life is Art Direction......

This simple phrase was uttered by one of my good friends yesterday, as we discussed day-to-day issues in our respective lives. He has a knack for coming up with great phrases that sum up insightful thoughts.

I was struck by his latest quip this morning, as I read an article entitled, The Power of Design, from the June '05 issue of Fast Company (via elearningpost).

From the article: "Look around you: The evidence of design's power is everywhere."

Apparently, the whole June issue is on "design," but only this article and a few others are available online w/o a subscription for now (archives are publicly viewable - so, next month the entire June issue should be up on the web).

I haven't fully digested all of this, but it did spark thoughts related to what author Dan Pink has been putting forth. He's just published a new book, A Whole New Mind. While I may not completely agree with everything Mr. Pink expresses (I think some of his statements such as "the MFA is the new MBA" are a bit overstated), he does make several excellent points (e.g., see Revenge of the Right Brain from Wired) that resonate with me. There is no doubt in my mind that design, art, creativity, empathy, and people skills will increasingly become key factors in long-term success.

BTW, Dan Pink's thesis about MBA's vs. MFA's was recognized as one of the top 20 breakthrough ideas for 2004 by Harvard Business Review. You can listen to a recent (and short) audio clip of Dan Pink on this subject at Marketplace Radio.

What's Really Going On Inside Our Heads When We Make Economic Decisions

An interesting report from tonight's News Hour w/ Jim Leher on PBS (one of my favorite programs on TV). Excerpt from beginning of segment:

...."an MRI of the human brain, cross-sectional images right through to the mind's deep core to see what's cooking inside -- cooking not in sickness, but in health. This animation is a composite of normal brains made at UCLA's Laboratory of Neural Imaging, one of dozens of labs where researchers are now trekking, "Fantastic Voyage"-style, to discover where specific thoughts and feelings arise.

And, as it happens, even economists are getting in on the action, asking how and where we humans think economically by seeing which parts of the brain are most active when we're deciding what we want and how to get it. One lesson thus far: The brain isn't quite as rational as the discipline of economics has long assumed, a finding that could have major implications right now given current economic uncertainty -- the falling dollar, rising interest rates, stock market volatility...."

Listen to Audio of Segment (RealAudio)

Change or Die

From the May '05 issue of Fast Company. This article popped up in many places on the web last week - thought it was an interesting read. Excerpt from the beginning of the article:

"All leadership comes down to this: changing people's behavior. Why is that so damn hard? Science offers some surprising new answers -- and ways to do better....

...What if you were given [a] choice?......we're talking actual life or death now. Your own life or death. What if a well-informed, trusted authority figure said you had to make difficult and enduring changes in the way you think and act? If you didn't, your time would end soon -- a lot sooner than it had to. Could you change when change really mattered?......Yes, you say?

...You're probably deluding yourself. You wouldn't change.....Here are the odds, the scientifically studied odds: nine to one........."

Services And Tools To Publish Video Content Over The Internet: The Rise Of Online Movie Distribution Services

An excellent list of new services for publishing/distributing video and films over the Internet (via Robin Good). I cannot agree more that there is radical innovation coming to this area.

Won't it be interesting if "the masses" are given tools to "write" and "read" via the language of video/film as easily as we now use word-processors and e-mail?

How many of us write by long-hand anymore? Sure it's done, but most use a PC to bang out their ideas. Think how many people now use Photoshop (or some other program like Picasa) to help shape their images - who, except for professionals could have done that 20 years ago?

Many people already have digital video cameras (in their phones too) and have access to tools like iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Final Cut Pro, Avid, etc. But how do you publish and share your work? That's where these new services will help to propel us to another level.

The next wave of the video revolution is upon us. It has huge implications for business, art, and society as a whole.

(BTW - one might think of "business" as being the obvious, established media companies...... yes, that's true. But I also see very promising uses for video in communication between employees and with customers.)

Welcome.

This is my first post to the "beta" version of this blog. More to come....