It is a military notion to centralize communication tools so that everyone within an organization, community or ecosystem is operating within a similar structure. With many blog platforms to choose from, I believe that tumblr is the right fit to increase our community engagement. John Birdsong has written a very thorough explanation of the platform and its functionality which will be able to help you understand how this system really works.

Click here to learn more about the platform.

What am I talking about?

Distribution!

In an effort to expand our internal communication, I look to have all of the participants within our broad community to utilize the same platform.

Here is a list of tumblr blogs to follow

John Knowles

Adam Wallace

Brian Simpson

James Knowles

Ek

Melissa Rodriquez

Lily’s nyc

John Birdsong

Aleks aka Freakcast

Abianne Prince

Others to follow

Julia Roy

Gary V

Frank Wallace

Panman Gallery

Panman Productions

To look internally and think locally is the objective. The people on this list are members of the greater Roger Smith Community who interact with you on a daily basis. It is my goal to broaden our community engagement and open the flood gates to the potential of our team as a whole.

I encourage you to sign up and follow anyone you know in an effort to increase internal awareness of our online presence. If you have any concerns of questions, please don’t be too shy to ask. It is a sharing platform that will allow for media to spread efficiently within our network.

What can you expect? When Panman Productions began its relationship with the Roger Smith Hotel we engaged in a series of dailies which were quick snapshots of the the work that were engaged in at the moment. It is my goal to re-instate the daily notion and open the interactions to all members of the Roger Smith Community. Know that you can be a simple observer or an active participant in content distribution. If you have any question on how to engage in the process I am happy to help facilitate you interests.

Hi peeps it’s been a minute since I’ve written this column, “Tech Tuesday” The Birdsong Review (like the new title??).  Anyway…This week I review Ustream’s new standalone broadcasting program, Ustream Producer.

Ustream.tv allows you to broadcast LIVE video on the internet. “Ustream Producer” is available for Mac and PC, but here’s the deal; Flash Media Encoder (FME by Adobe) has been around for PC for quite some time. So, this is the first time one has been able to broadcast to Ustream using HQ Flash 9 H.264 video. Pardon mon Francais, but Ustream looked like total shit when you used a mac for broadcasting before this. The only program out there that could broadcast to ustream in HQ was Wirecast by Telestream, which cost around $500. So, it should come as no surprise that Telestream is the same company behind “Ustream Producer”. The cool thing is that you can now get it basically for free.

Ustream producer comes in two versions: free and premium ($200). Check out the chart for the deets on what’s different.

Wirecast is a pretty great program, and this version of “Ustream Producer” seems stable enough. The free version will only allow you to use one live camera. If you have a setup where you’ll be using a analog video switcher then a canopus or deck to output firewire into you’re comp, then you’re in luck. If you’ didnt check out the chart yet, the main dif here is: lack of titles, SD bitrate only, single cam (one source).

Here are some pics of the program.

Here is a LIVE (pre-rec) VJ set with Panman and Freakcast.

Test #1

If you’re an internet broadcaster and you use macs (for FCP), and havn’t shelled out $500 bucks for wirecast yet, this is GREAT for you. If you have shelled out the ca$h rest easy; wirecast is still a great program. You can broadcast to places other than ustream with wirecast, use titles, plus many many other features.

“Ustream Producer” offers a high quality solution for broadcasting without using a CPU power hungry browser and flash app; it’s far more efficient with it’s use of system resources. If you have high end GPU, you can use it to enhance video compression as well.

As you saw from the pix above, the app allows you to transition from one shot to another using: cut, smooth, and cross-dissolve. These are pretty much the only transitions you should ever use BTW, and you should rarely use anything ither than cut anyway. As I said before, if you use a analog video switcher, and output a mixed signal you can absolutely use multiple cams with the free version.

Overall Rating: pretty cool.

I’ll leave you with this video of some kid making his own show using ustream producer. Kids are hustlers these days.

Click here to download USTREAM Producer.

John Birdsong is a video Producer Director Editor with Panman Productions and lives in Hipsterville, BKLYN with his Girlfriend Morgan-Jo and their cat Fanny.

Tumblr is a popular short form blogging service; it was founded by David Karp in 2008 and has grown since then to 3 million plus “publishers”. The number one reason to use tumblr as a blogging platform is that it’s really really simple, like even my cat could use it.

Here’s what Tumblr has to say about Tumblr…

“Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors, to your theme’s HTML.”

Get started. Register as a user. Tumblr’s registration should be a model for all. It takes thirty seconds and skips on asking your blood type and your mother’s maiden name. Easy.

Once you’ve registered you’ll want to name your Tumblelog. If you change your mind you can change the name later. Tumblr uses a dashboard setup, and if you’re familiar with wordpress you’ll either find it’s simplicity refreshing or leaving you wanting more.

Tumblr will allow you to post a picture, text, video, link, or song from your desktop or mobile. It will also syndicate that message to twitter and/or facebook. In other words it makes sharing your, or someone else’s, content really easy. The other great thing is custom themes. Tumblr allows you to choses form hundreds of custom themes to completely change the look and feel of you r tumblelog.

Following and being followed…

If someone is following you, your posts will show up in their dashboard feed similar to the news feed in facebook or twitter. This makes keeping up with what your friends are doing/saying pretty easy.
Tumblarity is tumblr speak for popularity. Tumblr is a bit of a social network as well as blogging platform, as it allows you to follow other people and vice versa. If your tumblarity goes up, it means you have more people viewing and interacting with your posts.

Sign up for tumblr, and get blogging. It’s free (and there are no ads)!!!

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.

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

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