Dear AT&T,

These past few months we’ve grown apart. In fact, we’ve been in a relationship for the past two years, but it feels much longer. The arrangement has been thus: I use my iPhone and you charge me as much money as you can for the worst service you can get away with. In this respect you have been utterly consistent. I got so used to it. Can I blame you? You were the only one for me. I got my first iphone a few months after it came out. It was shiny and new, and I was full of hope. AT&T, I’m sorry to say this but…I’m leaving you. That’s right, I’m gone. I have been loyal to you, given you thou$ands of dollars, and even stood up for you at times. Alas, you took every opportunity you could to drop my calls, over and over.

These are some pictures I found while moving out.

Our first date: your dad scared the shit out of me.

Forever? For-ever ever?

Remember that time we went to church together?

How’d you get in there? Mnnnnmmm…that’s nice.

I loved you so much. It’s fucking over.

I forgot to pay my bill on time and you suspended my account and charged me late fees (nearly everytime). The thing that makes me so sad : ( is that I tried. I really tried. What else could I have done?? Maybe I should have been easier on you. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used 3g so much? (Did that anger you?) Should our parents have intervened? Your dad Steve has been so quiet these past few years. In fact, he’s only upgraded my iPhone (the reason for our relationship) to such a minimal extent that you barely excite me these days. Where is a reverse facing camera for videochat? Cut and paste? I had to BEG for that. Open access for developers? Maybe I have been blind and you care more about Steve than you do me, your loyal customer. So, I’m leaving you AT&T.

Goodbye.

Sincerely,

-John Birdsong

Ps. If you care where I’m going, I will be taking my unlocked and permanently scarred iphone 3g to t-mobile for a NSA “no strings attached” relationship with unlimited talk text and web for $79.99. I have included a picture of my new girlfriend Catherine Zeta-Jones. : )

That’s right. I’ve been cheating on you.

What do you think of AT&T? I think they suck.

John Birdsong is a producer editor director for Panman Productions. He has more than one favorite color and sometimes he grinds his teeth when he is sleeping. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his girlfriend Morgan-Jo.

Seriously, it is…well, cable TV to be precise.

I was watching “Six Feet Under” the other night, which I’ve just gotten into and is so far pretty good, and I thought: A couple years ago this wouldn’t even be possible. I had just downloaded the show on itunes, for a couple of bucks, and it doesn’t even have to fully download before you can start viewing. It already seems native, but think back…a few years ago I would have had to clean the snow off the car (it was snowing like crazy) drive fifteen minutes to Blockbuster, only to find that someone had already rented it, and I was out of luck. BUMMER. Not anymore. There are so many ways to ingest on demand media now. There are the legal platforms: itunes, hulu, vimeo, youtube, netflix watch instantly, amazon on demand, abc.com, southpark studios (there are a bunch more, but you get the point). Then there are the illegal ones: bittorent (alas pirate bay is dead), and gnutella (aka frost/limewire), and all the bizarre flash based overseas American TV video hubs (awful quality). You’d think the name of the game here is you get what you pay for, but hulu defies that. (at least as of this writing). Hulu has hinted that there will be a pay model, but I’ve read you won’t lose shows like “the cobert report” and “the office”. They (hulu) has hinted at upselling premium content such as HBO and showtime shows. I say go for it. The keyword here is on demand. If I want to watch a movie and I have the choice of renting it on Amazon on demand and being able to watch it immediately, or downloading it from bittorent and having to wait for it. I’ll take amazon everytime. Here is a brief description of some of the free and pay on demand media services available on the internet right now.

iTunes

Who hasn’t heard of itunes? Aside from offering digital music downloads, itunes now also offers movies and movie rentals. I suggest the rentals if you have a bluray and decent TV, becasue if you are going to own a movie itunes downloads don’t match the quality of bluray.

Amazon on Demand

Amazon is making hand over fist tax free $$ with their retail business (I did all of my Xmas shoping with them online.) So why shouldn’t they compete with apple? They should. Competition is good. Competition means lower prices and a wider range of products/service. Thank god itunes has competition. I think the quality of video is little better here on amazon, but it’s a close tie. The video codec they use seems to be a little easier on you computer as well if you have an older system.

Hulu

Free doesn’t get better than this. Seriously, everything here is free. Hulu is my go to place to watch shows like 30 rock. People my age (28) don’t really have landlines. Services like Hulu allow us to get rid of our cable subscriptions too. Screw you comcastcablevisiontimewarner.

Netflix Watch Instantly

Some great movies and TV here and new ones everyday. You have to pay for this, but if you’re into movies you already have netflix and this comes as part of your built in service. Plug you’re laptop into you’re TV, and you’re good to go. Great stuff here.

YouTube

Funny cat videos and people getting hit in the balls is hilarious! I never get bored of it. Check out their screening room for more highbrow content, plus they have a new tv and movies section with a bunch of content (most not that great).

Vimeo

Art house YouTube. Cool stuff here.

Daily motion

Youtube uncensored. Kind of a cool platform, but aside from showing boobs (which is great) I don’t really see how it separates from the pack.

12Seconds.tv

My grandmas spoiled chihuahua on 12seconds.tv (sorry the embed wasn’t working here : )

Cool platform. Short videos.

So…check out these platforms. Invest in a cable to hook up you’re laptop to you’re TV. Cancel you’re cable subscrition. Take a trip with the money you’ll save. Besides, you watch WAY to much fucking TV.

John Birdsong is a Producer Director Editor with Panman Productions and lives in Williamsburg BKLYN with his girlfriend Morgan-Jo and their cat Fanny Fae McNamara.

Victoria & Richard Emprise was created by the artists, Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs. This intimitable couple tickled the turn of the 20th century upside down. Then tumbled into today with leaps and bounties of inventions and intentions to rattle the shackles of protocol with a wry wink to the world. The designs of Victoria and Richard fetch the fancy and unfeigned wisdom within us each and shower them with crisp inspiration to conquer the callous. Their collections are full of exuberant and funky designs in dinnerware, stemware, tabletop accessories including lamps and vases.

Whether you are looking for jewelry, a purse, a lamp and magical carpet- they have it all!

Come visit them at RS POP- 501 Lexington Ave @ the Roger Smith Hotel.

This year there were no HUGE advancements in technology (on the consumer level), but it was the year WE really embraced technology.  For example my entire family is on Facebook now.  If I want to share something with them it’s ridiculously easy.  Hi Mom!  The point is, the longer this stuff is around, particularly the advancements in communication the more we begin to rely on them not as a novelty, but as a necessity. For example, when cell phones first came out they were very much a novelty. Now, when your plane lands the first thing you do is fire up the iPhone (if you have one) check your messages (voice and email), send a few texts, and probably update your FB status. Another example is GPS, and I’m completely lost without mine. What will we rely on in 2010, and furthermore what will be the next big thing in 2010? (Comments plz).

Without further adieu, here is my list of top tech in the year that was 2009

iPhone 3gs

This smart-phone will now shoot video (unhacked) and send it to YouTube, and if you get lost in the woods you have a nifty compass to guide you out! Price: Your f%*ing soul.

New Intel CPUs

Code named “Nehalem” i5 and i7 core chips with “turbo”. Put them in mac books already!!! I’m waiting ’till they do to upgrade. Price: Get one with a new computer (27″ iMac).

Twitter

This micro blogging service exploded in 2009. Words like “Tweet-up” “Tweets-giving” and “Tw-izzlers” entered our vocab. I’m @johnbirdsong, holla. Price: Free (or ALL of your free time).

Tinychat.com/Skype

Skype, one of the most effective low/no cost communication tools has been around for a while. The new version allows screen sharing which is AWESOME. Tinychat.com takes it a step further and allows groups (up to 12 cameras) to communicate with a/v in a virtual room. Perfect for online meetings, and bizarre 3.0 interaction. Price: Free

Facebook

This year my mom and dad both joined Facebook, and they use it (a lot). Price: All of you free time.

Flip ultra HD

Best flash memory video recorder. Reliable, tough, fantastic daylight video, not to bad indoor/low light video. A lesson in minimalism. Price: $170

Any of the LED back lit flat panel HD TVs

Energy sipping, high quality displays for Bluray, DVD, Hulu, Netflix, web browsing, Amazon on Demand, gaming, and oh yeah…cable.  Price: $1,000+ (for Samsung, Panasonic, etc) less $$ for Vizio (which gets very high ratings).

Canon D7 Digital SLR

I havn’t gotten to use this pro-sumer still camera yet, but the picture quality and videos I’ve seen are beautiful. With the D7, Canon has embraced creative filmmaking. The cam features full 1080p HD video @24 fps, adjustable exposure control, and a large CMOS sensor to mimic the shallow depth of field look of motion picture film cameras. Price: $1,899 with a 28-135 lens.

17″ Mac book Pro

This behemoth of a laptop has an 8hr battery, two video cards, up to 8GB RAM, and a 3.06GHZ duo core Intel CPU.  Price: starting around $3,000

Amazon Kindle 2

Paper books are so passe. JK, but the Kindle is a pretty amazing device. First of all:  electronic ink is really cool. Kind of like a 21st century etch a sketch, but with Hemingway and J.K. Rowling instead of that dumb staircase you’d draw over and over.  One of the coolest things about the Kindle 2 is that it comes with FREE wireless. The browser is not perfect, but it gets the job done (for the most part).  Price: $259

Looking forward to 2010:  What’s Next?

1. Wireless electricity…coming soon

2. A proper upgrade for the iPhone…better battery, HD video recording, front facing camera for video chat

3. Faster computers (plz)

4. 3D HDTV

5. Larger capacity more reliable SD cards

6. Flip camera with wireless, optical stabilization, mic jack, AND headphone jack

7. WiMax

8. A redesigned Facebook

9. A new more efficient, less processor intensive video codec. H.264 is great, but is really CPU intensive…takes 20min to transcode a 3 min video. S-L-O-W.

10. A video camera for every cop that records 24/7 and cannot be tampered with, and a less lethal taser. Police need WAY more oversight.

What did I miss? What tech trends do you see for 2010?

Do you disagree? Please let me know.

-John Birdsong

Part 1

Part 2

This week I set out to review the different options available for LIVE internet broadcasting. There are a number of options and platforms available. The best advice is to determine YOUR needs and pick the one that suits you best.

Here is my best of list

1. 1. USTREAM.tv
2. 2. livestream.com
3. 3. justin.tv
4. 4. Qik.com
5. 5. Kyte.tv

Some of these platforms don’t offer services that others do…for example Qik is meant only for mobile phones. while USTREAM allows streaming from a PC or mobile (iphone).

USTREAM

Right now USTREAM is my favorite. It’s really popular and offers some high profile content as well as a ton of user generated LIVE and archived content.

Pros

1. 1. You can use flash media live encoder (if you have a fast PC) for HQ broadcasts.
2. 2. Easy. Like really f%#ing easy.
3. 3. New broadcaster app for iphone allows for spontaneous LIVE streaming (don’t forget to jailbrake and install ‘mobile substrate’ so you can stream over 3g).

Cons

1. Limited quality with mac (no plugin).
2. Messy UI sort of reminds me of myspace (not a good thing).
3. Player app for iphone doesn’t work (that sucks).
4. The ‘youtube’ of LIVE internet broadcast (at least for now).

Livestream.com

Pros

1. Gorgeous design. Site is beautiful, and easy to navigate.
2. Standalone app for mac (can broadcast using h.264).

Cons

1. Annoying (video) ads.
2. Unreliable recording (archiving) with mac app (to be fair: the mac app is still in beta)

Justin.TV

Pros

1. Says it’s compatible with Quicktime Broadcaster (HQ broadcasting for mac)
2. Very experimental (lots of lifecasting going on here).
3. Nice design.

Cons

1. I only got QT Broadcaster working for a minute…(crap).
2. Have you ever heard of justin.tv? (now you have).

Qik

Pros

1. Qik is pretty awesome.
2. Live video from your iphone (jailbroken), and certain Nokia handsets.
3. Syndicates really well. Press the red button and it posts to facebook (live and archived video) posts to youtube, twitter, tumblr, etc.

Cons

1. Only works on mobile phones.

Kyte

Pros

1. OK site design.
2. Offers mobile and PC broadcasting.
3. Quality seems good.

Cons

1. Have you ever heard of kyte?
2. Site seems heavily geared to their pay model and a little hard to navigate because of it.
3. Hard to navigate to FAQ and other HELP info.

Come back here every tuesday for more technology related reviews and best of lists.

Cheers,

-John Birdsong

We will be LIVE streaming Matiyahu’s show @Music Hall of Williamsburg. Stop by and check it out here or on USTREAM.

-John Birdsong

LIVE Dec 20 @7pm

MATISYAHU BRINGS ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF LIGHT TO NEW YORK CITY

Matisyahu brings his brand new album Light to hometown crowds in New York City for the Festival of Light, an impressive annual eight night stand, beginning December 10th at Webster Hall. Matisyahu will perform four nights at Webster Hall and four nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg during the eight nights of Hanukkah. Each night will have a different opening act including Glitch Mob, John Brown’s Body, Kid Koala and Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes. This is the fourth year Matisyahu has brought this special tradition to New York City.

Fans will have two chances to purchase tickets before they officially go on sale this Friday, October 23rd. American Express card members will have an exclusive pre-sale this Wednesday, October 21st beginning at 10am. The next day, members of the Matisyahu fan club, and followers of his on Twitter, will be able to buy tickets starting at 10am using a special code obtained by monitoring Matisyahus Twitter feed.

The dates are:
12/10/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Glitch Mob)
12/12/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ John Brown’s Body)
12/13/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Dub Trio)
12/14/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Brothers Past)
12/16/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Rana)
12/17/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kid Koala)
12/19/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Travis McCoy)
12/20/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kevin Devine)

‘One Day (Acoustic)’

Matisyahu is currently on the road behind Light which Billboard said “pushes musical boundaries: dipping into everything from guitar driven rockers to stripped down acoustic tunes.” The 40 date tour is sponsored by surf-wear brand Mavericks. Coined as “the wave beyond,” Mavericks inspires hardcore athletes to face the unpredictably raw power of Mother Nature. Matisyahu and Mavericks is a match largely in part to a shared passion for preserving the environment. The tour pulls into Anaheim at the House of Blues on Wednesday at 7pm.

Free live streaming by Ustream

FASHION (MODELS) ON THE ROOF – LIVE! INTERNET BROADCAST
A mashup of music, video projections, and fairytale couture. Watch this event LIVE! on the internet @ http://www.panmanproductions.com. A unique visual experience presented by Panman productions.

Lolli Popitt Inc was born in 2009 by Aurora and Amande Elle. They incorporate vintage wear (clothing from the 20’s- 80’s) and transform them with modern trends. Aurora and Amanda drawn in inspiration from porcelain dolls and fables- so women who wear their creations can re-live the fairy tale.

Signature attributes of their clothing line include: whimsical ribbons, bow and flowers; feather hair pieces; Dorothy shoes and Cupcake dresses.

-Melissa Gonzales of http://www.homemadebffs.com

Lolli Popitt will debut their line October 2, 2009 in NYC- 8:00 pm to10:00 pm
Check them out (http://www.lollipopitt.com/)

Telfar Spring/Summer 2009 Collection Preview

for more info http://www.telfar.net

Hi, yr invtd
PLZCUM LOL
TLFR ss2010:]
TELFAR rdy2wr
mon 9.14.09
6pm
@ X-INITIATIVE
548 w22 st. NYC
all gsts MUST RSVP 2
info@faag.us

http://www.rogersmithlife.com
http://www.panmanproductions.com

Call the Roger Smith Hotel @ 212.755.1400 for special fashion week room rate

follow us on twitter @rshotel

Roger Smith Pop: Dolita Paris

Dolita is no stranger to the fashion industry. She worked in the couture studio of Jacques Esterel when she was 16, and now she is producing her own collections. Last season her runway looks were a huge success and garnered a lot of attention, including that of megastar Beyonce.

Her designs are sensual and seductive. She uses sexy fabrics like Silk jersey, Lace (from France), Lycra, and Velvet; her clothes feel like a second skin.
It’s clear that Dolita Paris is on the path to becoming a signature brand!
She is FANTABULOUS! Don’t miss her.

Dolita Paris

-Melissa Gonzalez, Host of Homemade BFF’s

On Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 from 2-4pm  the Dolita Paris Spring 2010 Model Casting took place on 47th and Lexington, outside the Roger Smith Hotel.

Live Casting brought to you by Steve Ocean, Panman Productions & Lion’esque Productions.

On Thursday Sept 17th, Dolita Paris debuted her Spring 2010 line at the Empire Hotel in NYC.