business views through a digital window

Congratulations VIA Agency!

2007-01-18T13:10:00.000-05:00

We're proud to have launched today viaagency.net

The Virtual Interactive Agency has a history of building and being involved in really cool interactive items at auto shows (such as The Jeep Experience Simulator) and has various interesting clientele such as Mattel, Ford, and General Motors.

We're honored to have built their new online site, utilizing Flash, CSS, HTML and other tricks to make a cool hybrid site that is still visible to search engines. Thanks to Joey Silvian for working with us and being a great client to work with!

http://www.viaagency.net

iPhone thoughts, AppleTV

2007-01-18T12:01:00.000-05:00

There has been a million iPhone reviews. I think that it's a beaten, dead horse - except I'll add this.

Please, make one without phone capability. I want a mac PDA - and if we could add some pages capability, or something like that, I'll get rid of my much loved hipster PDA/iPod. Cingular, being in downtown Detroit, and I are not friends... I couldn't hold onto a call for more than a couple minutes... it's why I switched to Verizon. More expensive, but, client calls are priceless.

Also, I think the AppleTV has tons of potential. The idea that a podcaster can create content and have it be right on their television is awesome... Alex Lindsay at the Pixel Corps (and TWiT) has it right on the head that it's a brand new market that many smaller players can jump into with low distribution costs.

More later... friend is writing a fascinating article on localization of web site content, I'll be sure to post it up for you folks as soon as I get it.

Kudos To Hawk Wings

2006-12-25T18:21:00.000-05:00

Hawk Wings is an excellent blog about Mail.app (I, as a mac user, avoid Entourage which is sorta like Outlook for mac) and it has all kinds of fabulous tips about how to tweak Mail.app in OSX.

Now, Mail isn't perfect - however, no email program is. Somewhat like what I hear marriage is, compromise is part of the deal. However, I love the customizable features, and I miss no other now.

Even better, I've enabled IMAP on our servers which gives you a good percentage of the functionality that a Microsoft Exchange server does for.... free. I can check mail from anywhere, my multiple machines sync up - it's great.

But more to the point - this rule has pretty much killed all image spam for me. Not that I'm as paranoid about nasties being downloaded being in OSX, however, I can say I've gained ten minutes of productivity a day thanks to this rule.

Amazing things for Christmas...

2006-12-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

Taking a break from the holiday festivities and a project to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year... and to comment on the so many things.

Firefox is now 25% of the browser market worldwide.

It's great to see so many switching - although there are alot of people who honestly love Internet Explorer. However, I find that they love it for the wrong reasons - such as it works better on their underpowered machine, or it's blue... 25% is an amazing feat, however, I think that until it comes bundled with PCs (which some it does now) it won't get to 50%. Also, IE 7 is a strong contender. As much as I'm for the underdog, the bottom line is that it is all about a solid computing experience for the user, regardless of the browser. If all the IE 7 improvement talk is not hype, I think a lot more people will be surfing safer. And that's a good thing, no matter the browser.

On a personal note, thanks to the close to 2500 unique people who check in on this blog and the mother site over the month now. We really, really, really appreciate your support and your business and that kind of traffic tells us that there are people who really appreciate and are interested in what we're doing.

2007 is going to be a huge year; we've negotiated deals with some great organizations and looking forward to serving you. We're also working on various other educational programs and media to augment the work we do for-hire so that our clients are given every tool to succeed.

Thanks so much - there is so much to be thankful for - from Erik and I and everyone else. Also thanks to all those who have supported and believe in us in various capacities - Tom, Jason, Todd, Brandon, Rebecca, Steve (and another Steve), and all the others I've not mentioned but value no less than the others.

Hipster PDA +Nano

2006-12-12T13:52:00.000-05:00

So here is an interesting thought....

I love the idea of the hipster PDA from 43Folders/Merlin Mann. But, I always want to add a technology bit, and pre-iPhone, I've been using the iPod Nano for my contacts, calendar, etc. because it has beautiful integration with our platform of choice, OSX.

Well, now I've put the two together. I use the Nano to keep everything synced, and then I use the cards/clips to do the additions as I don't have a direct interface to program the Nano yet (iPhone please)?

What's great is every time I show someone, they can't believe that you can keep notes, photos, contacts and calendar on your iPod if you have a mac - and they want to throw their Treo or whatever in the trash as it just looks cool and works.

VHS Dead at 30

2006-11-27T13:30:00.000-05:00

Had to post this - it's the inevitable march towards an all-digital (and soon without physical media save for a hard drive) future...

FAQQLY is interesting

2006-11-03T01:01:00.000-05:00

Fun thing we're adding to our podcast launching next week... it's called Faqqly. Anyone can come and ask questions, and we have the choice of answering and posting them and it automates the whole process. Seems a whole lot less me-focused and much more you-focused (which I'm all about).

Of course, you can check it out now but we'll also be driving people to it through our podcast, so that if you have a question, you can ask and we'll either

answer you personally
answer you publicly or
if you're spam, not answer you at all.

Should be a fun way to interact and more visible than email. Enjoy and ask away!

You've Got Four Seconds

2006-11-09T12:53:00.000-05:00

Interesting article on the BBC that states, apparently, if a shopper waits longer than four seconds for a site to show up, they'll leave - as well as that the site sets the visitors' impression of the company.

Last.fm Added

2006-11-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

Added Last.FM music tracking to the blog, over there on the right side. You know, that personalization thing. That, and I really like a lot of music.

Last time I was hooked into Last.FM was in July, so the chart will be out of date for a little bit... but enjoy!

Guru of Making "Wow!" Happen

2006-11-03T00:53:00.000-05:00

Yep, my new working title. We've got even more improvements afoot... and one of them is better describing what I do.

But for now, check out this cool content - yes, we did the production for it, but the panel was really enlightening as to what needs to be done because it's all coming toward cross-media marketing.

In other news, welcome to the Sherry Washington Gallery to our family of clients for a new website & strategy. We're pulling together look 'n feel with their content, and expect to be launched soon.

Interesting Take On Email

2006-10-30T12:05:00.000-05:00

How to deal with email as just another input... from the great Merlin Mann at 43 Folders and David Allen

Let me wax poetic

2006-10-29T19:30:00.000-05:00

It's important that you know your whole job - the whys behind it, and how it gets done. This is especially important in this digital age, where although there are a plethora of tools available, not so many folks know how to use them. Think about it - you can go to Home Depot and buy everything to build a house. Yet, few of us have the ability to take those tools and actually make a house.

We had a tape come through that was drop-out city. For the non-tech-savvy, it's much like you recorded a TV show but the whole thing looks messed up with peoples' heads where they shouldn't be, or funny colors or noise in certain parts of the picture.

Many pros I know couldn't fix that tape and would of left it for dead - but we did fix it. How?

It's because I was taught by my mentor that you need to know the technical background to create really great productions as opposed to "walling off" yourself to the "other side." And with digital tools nowadays, that wall is a low fence that is easily hopped.

Because he taught me those things for years, drilling it in my head that yes, checking your scopes matters, what the difference is between fields, and how still video is going to look when it is between fields (crucial pre-render), what blanking is, etc., we have been (although tediously) able to repair this critical tape using what would be to many people confusing controls (a simple online search shows that others find the controls difficult to use) that are completely understandable if you have a basic technical background. That, and those controls are extremely powerful and can accomplish this task BECAUSE they rely on knowing what you're doing.

Moral of the story, and what he taught me - whatever you do, do it well. Love it enough to want to know it intimately. And if you don't love it, leave it and find something you love. That's when you'll truly excel at what you do - and when you'll cease going to work another day in your life.

Bosses Hand Out iPods

2006-10-27T15:36:00.000-04:00

Wonder if other folks are using iPods for their corporations or companies?

Wonder no longer. This article on the Wall Street Journal site illustrates what using an iPod can do for you quite easily.

What not to do on a web site....

2006-10-20T11:33:00.000-04:00

WPTS has done it again. Made me laugh myself silly.

This is exactly what not to do.

Foreign Automakers Lead Auto Search Terms

2006-10-16T21:39:00.000-04:00

It's something I never thought about until I was doing some research for an upcoming project, but it's an interesting fact.

According to Hitwise (link to the stats box here), "toyota" (2.69%), "honda" (2.68%), and "nissan" (2.12%) are the top three automotive search terms, with the first American automaker being Ford at 1.83%. Now, you can slice and dice stats a bunch of ways, but, interesting because it seems to me this says that people are looking more and more for information on foreign (esp. Japanese) vehicles.

Moral of the story: Watch your statistics. Very, very useful information.

Weird Al Has Captured Me

2006-10-12T23:11:00.000-04:00

"White and Nerdy."

Here's the deal - I'm not the whole song, but it totally describes in part our team... although over half of that song is appropos for me (big public admission).

But - I do own a company that specializes in internet media. Go figure.

Wakin' up with ideas

2006-10-11T02:14:00.000-04:00

I was all asleep, and then "BAM!" it all hits me. All the malaise I had today with ideas, gone.

Gootube.... interesting deal. Obviously, online video has a ton of revenue potential, or Google wouldn't of forked over 1.65 Billion in stock for YouTube. And Google is right - online video is a great way to show off ads. A great for instance is the sponsors for the events we webcast. Since usually, our events are around an hour long, so you're looking at 10 minutes of exposure time in a six-unit rotation because it's always there.

Great news in that we've finally found the mac software package to beat the Channelstorm and Tricaster - and at a great value for our clients to keep our prices at our legendary reasonable status. We're going to roll it out at some of our multi-cam jobs around the beginning of the year, saving hours in import time and many pounds in gear.

That's all for now - I leave you with a fun link. The Buddha Machine - have a little Electronic Buddhism with you wherever you may go. Headphone jacks and an internal speaker, it plays loops of what could be best called "Buddha-esque" sounds. I personally love the graphic (that's that funny electronic schematic graphic with a buddha in it).

More Long Tail

2006-10-04T21:31:00.000-04:00

Interesting article in IHT about the Long Tail.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/04/business/ptend05.php

Word Verification, Moderation, and More

2006-10-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a few minutes to put up some key points about the blog and how much I hate spam.

I have had more than a few people email me that they don't like having to verify and have the comments moderated, so they don't comment. Here's the deal; if I don't, this thing is going to become rife with spam. I have to moderate it otherwise we end up with miles and miles of ads for, shall we say, "health" products.

Be assured that if it's civil, even if you disagree with me, I'll put it up. Discourse is key to the internet, but is slowly being choked off by the proliferation of spambots and people who surf the net and get paid a couple cents per time to include spam.

And also, coming soon is our new marketing tips podcast. I'll announce it right here when it's ready.

Interesting article on the "Death of Radio"

2006-09-27T18:54:00.000-04:00

Now, I know John C. Dvorak has a flair for the dramatic at times, but he usually has pretty well thought out points and been right more than once. Interesting article - my favorite quote is:

Because of this narrow range of programming, commercials galore, and the miserable music stations, the door was wide open for an alternative to broadcast radio. Enter podcasting, with a worldwide audience of Internet users and a narrowcast model that works only in massive distributed markets. Thus a podcast such as the one I take part in, "This Week in Tech," can achieve an estimated 500,000-700,000 downloads and listeners. Having done local radio about computers myself, I can assure you that no such numbers are possible except through podcasting. Most specialty, narrowcasting radio is relegated to the weekends or college stations, where nobody cares about ratings.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2020285,00.asp

Enjoy!

It's C.

2006-09-25T20:26:00.000-04:00

We contacted Apple today about the whole podcast name thing, and much to my surprise they contacted us this afternoon.

It seems as yes, they're going after company names and products that are sharing the "pod" name, not referring to podcasts or podcast production services or the creation of podcasts.

First, Kudos to Apple for getting on this. I'm not sure how I feel yet about the whole thing - but CBS has already switched to netcasts.

I'm torn - podcast is a great term for many reasons, but for others, including growth of the format, making any competing product not able to use the word "podcast" or "pod" in the name limits the possibilities. Quite frankly, I still get plenty of folks who think podcasts need an iPod to be played - which I would theorize is Apples' intent.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. There are a lot of folks who are quite offended by the whole thing - I know they need to protect their trademark as well; and have to admit I would be compelled to if I were in their position. Tough call.

Maybe the middle road for us is creating netcasts in podcast-compatible format. Who knows.

Why You Need to Be Careful About Shared Hosting

2006-09-24T17:10:00.000-04:00

So, MacCast, one of the more popular podcasts got knocked out by GoDaddy for using too many processor cycles.

This highlights the point about shared server space - it's not a good idea for popular items, and a horrible one for podcasting or multimedia hosting.

In his "MacCast is not gone, just knocked down" post, he was complaining about a very expensive $100/month. That is relatively nothing and is a mere minimum of the cost of doing business properly with this kind of material to avoid downtime issues if you're popular. I'm surprised they're letting him get off that cheap.

This will continue to plague amateur podcasters until their perceived price links up to the actual in regards to bandwidth, storage space, and processing power.

And in corporate environments, a note to the wise on the bandwidth side - if your company is sharing a 100mb connection to your server and your network, the last thing you want to do is host media on your server. If media is coming out at 1mb per sec, just fifty simultaneous users and your network is at half speed - a real problem if you're serving up applications. In fact, just 10 could make for a sticky wicket. And the cost of avoiding these problems is so little, that it's silly not to keep them separate.

p.s.- I like maccast. And GoDaddy did not act professionally by not warning him; they should of sent him a note saying "hey, this is happening, we need to do this." But, the lesson should be learned for podcast/netcasters that this costs money, and the barriers to entry even at $50 or $100 a month are ridiculously low compared to the past.

I remember the days not so long ago where you couldn't get going for less than a few hundred thousand dollars.

Apples' Bonehead Move? Maybe?

2006-09-24T16:58:00.000-04:00

This might be a boner move by Apple if it's true.

Apparently, they're trying to forbid the use of the word podcast by non-Apple entities.

That's right. The term they helped create and the industry around it, they're suing them. The question is, is it about "Pod" or "iPod" in the company name, or referring to the work companies such as ours create as a "Podcast?"

If it's the latter, it could be among the stupidest things in my opinion they could do. Cause frankly, podcast isn't a great term for it anyway and most people we run into are confused by it.

Leo Laporte is pushing a change, from Podcast to Netcast, and some are suggesting breaking it down to Audcast and Vidcast to be even more specific. Not bad in my opinion, as so many people I know don't realize that you don't need an iPod for a podcast.

I'm theorizing it's one of a few things; either a) they want to reclaim the word "podcast" and re-license it for a fee; b) they're that stupid or c) they're doing a bad job of defining what they're going after, because everyone is reporting from this article on the Wired Blog that Apple is stopping the word podcast, which I sense it could be an issue that "podcast" is in the company name.

Let's see how it turns out. Here are some other links for some more info.

iConnectdots
ZDNet Article on Trademark Office Documents

Podcast Poll

2006-09-24T02:08:00.000-04:00

Apple Keynote Bloopers Video

2006-09-23T10:31:00.000-04:00

You all have seen me take a couple good-nature ribs at Microsoft - well, got linked to this video on Youtube.... The Keynotes Steve Jobs would rather forget...

Enjoy!