Oh, fair YouTube...

Adding on to the previous post's video revolution, network broadcast television is starting to take a hit from online viewing. Is it a step closer to the end, or a step closer to a conglomeration of the two? Who knows. Between YouTube and streaming online episodes (which are all good and great until the episode stops suddenly and has to load :-P ) and other similar services, people are starting to watch television differently...

...online.

Online video 'eroding TV viewing' [ From the BBC online ]

You knew it was coming, you just knew it!!!

Peanut butter + jelly.

Lucy + Ethel.

This + That.

Obviously, the next logical dynamic duo...

Mobile phones + television.

We all knew it was only a matter of time, and now, it's a visible blip on the horizon. The implications are immense--no longer will primetime be confined to living rooms, no longer will working mothers miss out on "Oprah" or "Live with Regis and Kelly", no longer will anyone ever have to miss an episode of "Desperate Housewives" (though like many ABC shows, they are broadcast online the day after the original airing). The concept brings an interesting twist to journalism, as well--if there's a hostage situation on the first floor of a building on the corner of 8th and Madison and you're working in an office on the 32nd floor, why not tune in to see what's going on? The news will no longer be restricted to the home or the internet. Now, it's unlimited. Granted, yes, radio has had similar capabilities for eighty+ years; but this advancement brings voice and vision to the world of remote broadcasts.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; I'm excited! I like the prospects, and though I've never been cell-phone savvy (only to call home from college did I get a cell plan at all), I would definitely go out and get one of these.

Ericsson: Mobile TV will reach masses [ from The Seattle Post Intelligencer ]

"Right"(wing) from Wrong(?)...

In this post at The American Thinker, Steve Gilbert criticizes ABCNews, jailed weblogger Josh Wolf and journalists all at the same time. He insinuates that journalists and bloggers are obsessively leftwing and criticizes the idea of journalists wanting to keep their sources in confidentiality.

Sigh...

'08 can't come soon enough.

ABC News and the freedom to mislead [ from The American Thinker ]

WiFiRiffic?

I remember a few years ago being dazzled by Starbucks' and Panera's wireless internet access for customers. Now, though, it's fairly commonplace. We even have a wireless network in our house (though except for when I'm home on breaks, we rarely use it). Now, there's several pushes by large technology corporations to make widespread "hotspots" of wireless connectivity. Who knows if it'll work or not. I really don't know. I think it sounds like a good idea, but it does open up potential problems (such as connectivity theft, hackers and the like). If it's working in Portland and San Francisco, I don't see why it can't work around here either. But I'd rather the companies work out the issues before a widespread release.

Microsoft's Municipal Wi-Fi Push [ from BusinessWeek.com ]

Pulling the plug has never been THIS satisfying before!

This is just a quick post, but I'm excited for the day when this can happen. Though I wonder, what would happen if it was humid outside or if you walked into the room sopping wet? Hrm... Electricity and its funny little nuances...

Lab report: Pull the plug for a positive charge [ From TheHerald.co.uk ]

Cellular Journalism

The first time that I can readily remember cell phones playing a pivotal role in journalism was during the July 2005 London subway bombings. I remember sitting in my room, preparing to drive my sister to my aunt's house for babysitting, watching MSNBC and seeing images and low-quality video shot with cell phone cameras. Reports, personal accounts and media were flying into the studio at an alarming rate--most from citizens whose texting/photography skills were right on par with their survival instincts. In a way, it was morbidly fascinating. The fact that just four years earlier, the technology had not yet fully developed, leaving most audio-visual memories of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to standard news crews, is mind boggling. Where in those short four years did journalism turn from a challenging profession into a lurid hobby?

Singaporean beats Guinness World Record for fastest texting [ from Pocket-lint.co.uk ]

In Memoriam...

Keeping with the theme of multimedia journalism, it is only fitting to stop and reflect for a moment on the work of Ed Bradley. Working for CBS's "60 Minutes" for the past twenty-five years, Bradley brought more than his fair share of stories to a national audience. Though my parents raised me as a diehard ABC viewer, I've started to branch out to other channels in the past two years and I've found "60 Minutes" to be one of my favorite newsmagazines. One of the most memorable stories by Bradley that comes to mind is a recent one in which he interviewed the Duke lacrosse team with a sort of calm inquisition that seeped deeper into the minds of the players than they seemed to expect. Bradley's tranquility was matched only by his fascination and perception; his persona was visible in every story he reported and made for many memorable clips. To say that he will be sorely missed is an understatement if I ever heard one.

Ed Bradley of '60 Minutes' dies of leukemia [ From CNN.com ]

Wikip-uh, oh.

So Wikipedia, the preferred online stepping stone (and unfortunately for some, sole research tool) for many has been targeted by malicious virus propagation techniques. Luckily, Wikipedia is right on the ball and patrols edited pages fiendishly. Personally, I'm just hoping that this isn't the beginning of the end for Wikipedia--I personally love its informality. If I hear a term I don't know anything about, I'll quickly look it up on there and have a better grasp of what it is. If I'm working on a paper or project and I have no idea where to begin, I'll start there and follow the bountiful collection of links provided on most pages to get me started. It's invaluable, and I only hope these virus creators don't render it valueless.

Virus creators target Wikipedia (from the BBC News Technology section)

Surprise, surprise!

Okay, so we all knew it was just a matter of time until Google took on the mass that is Wikipedia. So this is of little surprise. It's actually kinda cool--I thought I knew e-mail, and then came along G-mail. I thought I knew how to search my desktop, then came along Google Desktop. And don't even get me started on Google's Picasa. I'm excited for Windows Vista; I'm ecstatically chewing my fingernails in anticipation of a potential Google operating system.

I'm really interested to see Google wikis in motion. Maybe I'm being a bit pretentious, but the phrase "Web 3.0..." just keeps echoing in my head. Google's shown innovation before; can they make that +1.0 leap? I think so. We'll see.

Google acquires wiki startup [from CNN.com's technology section]