August 9 2007, 5:03 PM

Class 8

Tonight's power point deck is up in the folder. I have also updated the blog page to also include your workshop folders. We will be in a different classroom for the start of class this evening. With the absence of a few classmembers I will stream the class, and the only room set up for that right now is 321. As soon as I get a link for the stream I will post it here and send it our on the class mailing list.

See you tonight.

August 2 2007, 12:03 PM

Week 7

Next to last class. This week will cover the DRM lecture I didn't get to last weekm and I will start on the mechanics of distributing video through Flash. We will do the Windows workshop witht he profile editor and also the Flash workshop in the week 7 class. Here is the hand out for the flash workshop, and I will have hard copies as always.

July 17 2007, 12:01 PM

Odds, ends and Week 6

Just a few random thoughts as we move towards Thursday's class. Dan Orme will be coming in to class to give a Windows Media demo, talk a little about implementation of the codec and answer any exciting questions you may have. It should be a nice respite from my stream of consciousness.

I bumped into an interesting site you might want to explore. Called the Jing Project, it works on either Mac or PC and is a tool for sharing media and screen data. The concept of Jing is an always-ready program that instantly captures and shares images and video…"from your computer to anywhere." I think the jury is still out on the last line of hyperbole, but you might want to check it out. They have an overview page here. It could be a whole new way to bypass DRM strategies.

The Washington Post had an article on the ever evolving battle over internet radio and the rights fees that the Copyright Royalty Board want to shake out of the internet radio channels. Not sure if this will require registration to their web site. I have been registered at the Post and NYT for so long I genuinely forget what content is freely available and what requires registration.

July 12 2007, 4:54 PM

Reading assignment for Class 5, July 19

To be honest, I am reluctant to shift the blogging away from Amy's friend ,Cliff. Those posts are laser sharp and cut to the quick. But I will move the focus this next week to the business of streaming. I have posted three articles that are very loosely related. They discuss the business shortcomings and opportunities with distributing media over the internet. Two of them are from trade magazines, and one is an academic article. The challenge I face is the overall paucity of good writing about streaming media in the academic community. Weather the cause is the nescient development of the medium, or your instructor turning over the wrong rocks, there is very little good being written on the complications and potential of moving media to the computer. Mr. Wooten is exhibit "A". There is an opportunity for each of you to be one of the first to write about it. Want to get published? Write about streaming media.

The directory is here:

http://courses.washington.edu/smedia/2007/pub/articles/

July 12 2007, 8:24 AM

Class 4 Flotsam

Tonight's PowerPoint deck is up on the server. I have received some great proposals for final papers, but if you have not sent something to me please get it in shortly. I should have feedback for each of you in the next few days.

And don't forget your blog postings. They really give me an insight on your grasp of the big picture of streaming media. Besides, most of them are a really great read.

Summer has proven to be particularly troublesome to lock in my guest speakers. It is as if people want to take vacation, or something. I ran into this last year and thought I had it solved this year. We will probably end up with 4 guests instead of my planned 6-7. I have lectures for all this content, but I was hoping you didn't have to listen to me drone on for 3 hours every night.

July 5 2007, 10:57 AM

Class 3

I have posted the workshop document here for tonight's class. I will have hand-outs for your use as always. This is where I tend to park all of the non-PowerPoint class materials. Also, make certain you have activated your Catalyst account. We will start using this service as a means for viewing your completed class projects.

July 2 2007, 12:20 PM

Of Apple, Universal and Week 3

Some interesting developments in digital rights management, Apple and Universal/Vivendi. The New York Times reports the gloves are coming off. Universal Music has declined to re-sign to a long term deal with Apple, essentially leaving them open to exclusive deals with other services. It appears the studio is gearing up to loosen the stranglehold that iTunes has on online distribution. With the release of the iPhone and following his well-timed decision to openly "share his thoughts" on DRM, and the recent EMI deal, is Steve Jobs ready to play hardball?

Also, it appears that once again I have not been all that clear in outlining this week's assignment for class. This Wednesday (July 4^th) please post in your blog either a thoughtful comment on this week's reading or profile a media website that you love or hate, and tell us why. In one week (June 11) I will ask you to submit a one paragraph proposal for your final paper.

Also, I will walk you through the process of posting your completed files onto your personal web share that UW provides for your class work.

See you on Thursday. Have a safe Independence Day. Wear your sunscreen.

June 28 2007, 8:07 AM

Audio Files for June 28 Lab

I have posted the audio files for tonight's lab in the public folder on the class blog site (http://courses.washington.edu/smedia/2007/pub/ ). For tonight you will need to choose a computer in the 302 Lab that you will want to use for the duration of the course, create a folder for your use during class, and download the "uninvited.wav" and "Kinano60.aif" files. These are the files we will be using at the end of tonight's class. Also, tonight's powerpoint is posted. We have a guest speaker who will talk about podcasting and I would expect that Travis will have PowerPoints that I can share once he is done.

June 23 2007, 11:44 PM

One More Reason Why the UW Bookstore Frustrates Me

OK, it appears the Book Store has messed up. To be honest, this is really frustrating for all of us. I have not heard if they are ordering another batch of our textbooks, but you might want to explore options with Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

As an alternative to the reading assignment for this week, if you do not have the book yet,  you can read and comment in your blog on the Vanity Fair article.

(http://www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb/features/2007/06/wolcott200706) 

Or you can choose a streaming site that has an implementation of video media that you like or hate and can comment on that. I would reccomend that you do the reading once you get the book, because you will feel quite lost for the rest of the term if you do not have a basic foundation in the technology.

Again, I am sorry the bookstore did this to us. I ordered them two months ago, that should have been plenty of time. It makes me wonder if customers are just picking them up because the bok looks interesting. Or perhaps they bought them for Kathy's class by mistake. I think we share the same class number this term.

On a totally different note, a goofy video of Rube Goldberg-type inventions that appear as segment bumpers in the Japanese children's show "Pythagora Switch". This serves no purpose in class whatsoever, but I think they are cool. I dare you not to have the catch little jingle in your head for the rest of the day.

June 20 2007, 11:59 AM

Of Bibles and Home Movies

I will post articles, links and resources that I bump into that I feel might be helpful to you. None of these resources are required reading, just things I think you will enjoy. I have parked two new files in our public folder for you. One is a great (and insanely dense) "bible" that will give you clear insights and definitions on the technology of video and television. It is published by the Quantel corporation and can be downloaded from their site. I have parked it here to make it a little easier to find. I was doing some research on Brightcove (you will hear more about them in a few weeks) and came across this article in PC Magazine (not exactly the last bastion of academic rigor, but hey, you take the information where you find it.) This article is a nice quick review of the various video distribution sites on the web.

If in your academic travels you bump into something we might want to review please pass it on to me or post it in your blog. I think we learn more from each other than we do from the book. Besides, it is critical that we stay current on the shifting technology of web delivered media.

The Syllabus is posted as a PDF up in the public folder, if you need it.

June 18 2007, 9:51 PM

Optional reading for class 2

OK, here we go. This is the central meeting site for the 2007 class. I will start it off with an optional article to read. More in the pop culture realm than academic, but I found it an interesting analysis of how changing the way we deliver the media changes the message. The medium is the message, and all that. In last month's Vanity Fair there is an interesting article on the politics of YouTube. I won't claim to agree or disagree, only that it is a perspective worth noting.

Also, I will need your e-mail adresses and blog urls sent to me so I can get the list coordinated. Please get it done by Tuesday June 26.