Okay, it's now logical to ask, were there RVs are the Phoenix RV show? Oh yes, there were plenty, and I'll get to those in due course. Here is a guy who does alligator wrestling at these sorts of events. I didn't catch his name, but here he bulldogs a gator to bring it to submission. Paul Hogan was nowhere in site.

Again, no commentary--just action.

One of the higlights of our trip to the Phoenix RV Show, at the Civic Plaza, was an exhibition outside the Civic Plaza by Dog-On-It, a company that bills itself as doing "dog training for the real world."

Here is a Border Collie showing off its acrobatic skills. Given the scene, I let the action speak for itself.

Just in time after the headlines reveal that being obsese will not kill you. The perfect place to celebrate getting fat (and eating fat) is New York's Carneigie Deli, arguably one of the best (if not best-known) Jewish (or Jewish-style) delis around.

So, I am walking back to my hotel when I stumble upon a “news event.” Some folks from a new company—“I Know”—are handing out souvenir coins on Avenue of the Americas at 48^th St. Given the age and high-tech demeanor of the group, my hunch is it’s some sort of new Web content business. They plan on launching next week, and were excited that a random videoblogger (me) was anxious to shoot some footage of them (as well as ask questions).

The coin is cool and bears the slogan—“This coin is the key.” The website is up with some teaser material; it might not be totally live until next week. Check back.

On my way to an appointment in the area of Radio City in NY, I spotted a line of young women waiting for tryouts to become Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. I didn't even know Rockettes still existed?

I am a sometimes fan of CNET and its News.Com site. Back in the Dot.com heyday, when I lived in the Bay Area, I used to be a periodic guest on some of their TV shows. I like Richard Hart, ex of KRON and a number of how-to videos sponsored by Esquire we used to sell at our video store in Seattle.

Anyway, News.com has this wiki that asks people to add their comments about the future of TV. Yikes, everyone’s on board predicting its demise. And here I thought Mike and I were just being curmudgeons.

In a world gone mad:

Martha's $30 Million Sirius Deal

That's how much the satellite radio network is guaranteeing over four years. Plus: It'll help develop some of MSO's lesser stars

Are those agents queuing outside San Quentin?

No in-depth insight here--simply further evidence that the future is built around consumer-generated content. The merger of Adobe’s workflow, text and graphical capabilities with Macromedia’s rich media tools is empowerment for semi-professional and consumer creators.

We finaly made it down to Penzeys. Penzeys is a Midwestern spice company that has a series of stores in the heartland and a thriving catalog business. As serious cooks, we love to try new spices and spice blends.

Penzeys held a contest for spice lovers to vote where the company should open its next store. Boston won, but Phoenix came in second. This is their Phoenix store (which actually is in Scottsdale).

We had this event marked on our calendar with a big red circle. This is a two-day event held at Scottsdale Stadium, Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants. Instead of Alou and Bonds in the dugout, there were some well-trained four-legged athletes. This clip feature Alex, who works with his "partner" for the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Talk about anytime minutes, last night at the spectacular U2 concert at Glendale Arena, cellphones were out in force. As part of the show, Bono asked those in attendance to text message to contribute to his cause, One.org.

What’s interesting is that the tickets clearly stated that there were no cameras and/or recroding devices allowed. Clearly, however, the majority of cellphones last night were cameraphones. People were snapping away every few seconds. A few folks near us were emailing the photos as soon as they were shot. And despite the fact they everyone was searched, there were a ton of digital cameras at the Glendale Arena. Bono even reached down, took one from a fan and clicked a picture of himself before handing it back to the bedazzled devotee.

Fast forward to the point in time when these phone are equipped with better video capabilities. I mean, whoa! Less than 24 hours after the show, can you imagine the number of bootleg videos of the show pouring through the Web. I mean, there will be enough torrents to cause a torrential downpour.

This is serious stuff. Since security guards are not allowed to physically pat your down—this not a flight to Tel Aviv—I could have snuck my trusty Sanyo Xacti MPEg-4 camera into the show and no one would have been the wiser. Attached to this post could have been an amazing clip of Bono singing “One” or “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It does not seem right to do that, unlike baseball games where I shoot clips of Hall of Fame players, people parachuting into the stadium and Sausage Races.

There are some serious issues on the way for the recoding industry, although most of them are already here. The Web will become bootleg concert city—it’s inevitable. That is, unless the music industry embraces rather than scorns new technology.

After repeated tries, I now have my Webcam working with Serious Magic’s Visual Communicator. I went into the XP settings and attempted to change the drivers so that the PC read the Webcam video drivers instead of the TV tuner card. No luck.

Then, I figured that perhaps the issue was with my Logitech software. Maybe, just maybe, it was not the latest version or the version not suited for Windows XP.

Bingo!

Now, I am up and running and won’t have to use funky trial software to create Video Rants.

This is way cool. It also looks to be the making of a global trend. Even if it becomes part of a paid subscription service, it will be extraordinarily valuable. Broadband service for commuters turns the PC and other devices into a platform for communications (Skype while on the bus or train); productivity device; radio, TV, and movie studio. The impact on cellphones will be powerful, hence T-Mobile’s involvement. It’s also why I am skeptical about non-Internet delivered services such as satellite radio.

100 mph WiMax hits the rails to Brighton

Service uses WiMax uplinks for Wi-Fi on the train

By Peter Judge, Techworld

Commuters from Brighton to London's Victoria station can use free broadband on the train, thanks to a Wi-Fi-and-WiMax service. The Brighton Express is an apt place for a pioneering Wi-Fi service, given Brighton's role as a high-tech media-savvy remote suburb of London (and home of more than one Techworld stalwart), but T-Mobile hopes to make this the standard way to deliver Internet connectivity on the move.

Users get an 802.11b Wi-Fi service in the carriages. A pre-WiMax system from Redline connects from antennas on the carriage roofs to base stations by the side of the track (very much like the non-mobile system at the Science Museum). The service was integrated by Nomad Digital, a WiMax specialist, and will be offered free by T-Mobile for a trial period.

Once again, the BBC gets it. Despite some of the business turmoil in and around the BBC (selling off divisions, etc..) they have a vision that’s not shared by the U.S. counterparts. Well, at least not for the mainstream ones likely to face major digital competition.

BBC to extend podcast trial with 20 extra programmes April 14, 2005 by Staff LONDON – The BBC will 'podcast' up to 20 more radio shows including excerpts of Radio 4's 'Today' programme and Radio Five Live sports debate show 'Fighting Talk', following on from the success of its initial downloading trial.

Speaking at Music Radio 2005, BBC radio and music interactive controller Simon Nelson revealed that the podcasting trial, where listeners have news programmes delivered to their computer or MP3 player, will be extended until the end of the year due to the success of last year's effort. He added that the BBC will explore the technology and distribution of the medium further.

Close, but no cigar. Newspapers need to embrace the (evolving) consumer. Take it from someone who worked in digital media at a major daily newspaper.

The handful of Video Rants on this site has some downloading issues. They cannot be downloaded to “open” because the Logitech SW will not work properly due to some security pre-sets on my computer. My company will not allow us to enable plug and play features on our home network. Never mind, it’s a long story.

I am using a trial version of Video Edit because I cannot get Visual Communicator to recognize my Logitech 4000 Webcam. Once I get more serious about these rants, I will use my tripod and Sanyo Xacti to record them. The Video Edit SW (unregistered version) saves the files in some odd MPEG2 flavor; I have been able to download them and open them in Window Media Player. Most of the time.

I just ran across a legal P2P file sharing and hosting service called Prodigem. I am trying to find out more information, but it looks similar to what Open Media Network is trying to do. It also shows that Google (and others of its ilk) need to accelerate their video search and serve plans or be left behind.

Prodigem's "about us" info is sketchy. Stay tuned.

Google just launched its video intake engine. I mean just launched. It’s here. Looks like you might need a gmail account to get in. Since I have one, I am not sure.

You are asked to download an installer (small .exe file) that allows you to scan your directory. It now supports a lot of varied formats, but not my MPEG-4. I alerted Google and they will have it added within a day.

The goal, as Google explains, is to understand the nature of what’s out there in the video world in terms of content types and topics. They will build taxonomy and indexing based mostly on XML tags. So, the more you tag and the more precise your tags, the more in-depth the taxonomy.

Down the road, it’s likely Google will want to be an enabler between content creator and consumer by offering a service that either inserts ads (using Ad Sense) or collects fees on behalf of consumer creators. So, as someone asked me last week—YES, Google might become a hosting site.

Video search has gone from red hot to white hot.

From out of seeming nowhere, we are about to be inundated with companies wanting to search, index and offer feeds to Podcasts and Videoblogs. Sure, it’s a good idea.

But wait…there’s more. If a consumer creator needs to submit his/her Podcast to each and every video/audio search wannabe, well…that’s kind of a waste. I don’t want to spend extra time submitting my audio and video wares; they can come and find me just like they do for “regular’ Web content. If Yahoo!, Google, MSN and everybody’s Great Aunt Susan asks me to fill out a form, mark off the tags/metadata and then upload my files, I’ll spend more time filling out forms than actually creating media.

And that’s bad and counter to the concept of free-flowing consumer media. If I want to fill out forms, I’ll join the Armed Forces or see a doctor.

So, content searchers and indexers…Come and find it. I’ll help if I can, but make it painless!

Definitely worth checking out if you are a Podcaster or Videoblogger. The project is powered by technology from Kontiki. Kontiki has worked with CNET, the BBC and some financial firms so they have content delivery down cold. This project is intended to show off Kontiki’s capabilities in the area of consumer-created content distribution.

Interesting deal. Will XM look to add Podcasts as part of the mix? If so, they may want to talk to TVEyes and it's new service, Podscope. XM could become a hosting service that empowers Podcasting for satellite radio. I also wouldn't be surprised to see AOL's Singingfish group involved somehow; that product has some amazing capabilities.

1 hour, 44 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - America Online on Monday announced plans to launch a Web-based radio service with XM Satellite Radio in a move that may help XM win customers from AOL's 24 million subscribers, driving XM shares higher.

The service, which will offer about 200 channels streamed over the Web in CD-quality sound for a monthly fee, will combine existing stations from both partners and will begin to roll out this summer.

The service, which will cost an estimated $5 a month, will be available for free to AOL's current paying subscribers. AOL is a unit of Time Warner Inc. , the world's largest media company.

XM Radio subscribers will have access only to XM's online stations, but some AOL programing will be available on XM's stations.

The deal represents another attempt by AOL, the world's largest online service, to stem the loss in its paying subscribers. It increases exposure for XM, the leading U.S satellite radio provider, which hopes to win more customers from AOL's estimated 24 million subscribers.

There’s still a long way to go before Podcasting enters mainstream.

Jeff, my new personal trainer, asked me what I thought about satellite radio. I told him I was skeptical and thought there was more promise in trends such as Podcasting and Internet radio. Jeff has never heard of Podcasting, and he’s a fairly hip guy.

Sounds like Podcasters need a marketing campaign, but then again there are those in the Podcasting universe who seem to enjoy its relative anonymity. Not me.

It’s funny how media minds think alike. A few weeks ago, when Mike and I were sitting at Ho Ho Kam watching the Cubs play Colorado, and Mike suggested we just record our conversation during the game and put it up as a Podcast. Between my arcane knowledge of needless baseball trivia and Mike’s comments about sports, media, music, life, etc… we’d have something that maybe two or three people might find enjoyable.

Well, someone beat us to the punch. At My Sports Radio, there’s a Podcast from the other day where a would-be sportscaster comments on the Phillies-Nationals game as he watches it on TV. I love it. Other fans would love it too. It inspires me to try our idea of recording our in-game drivel and put it up as a MADCast.

Stay tuned.

I cannot help but wonder if, in five years, there even will be a National Cable Television Association? If cable exists, it will be part of a new homogenized media product that bears no resemblance to cable TV of today. I was around at the start of cable TV. I even met the man who "allegedly" invented cable TV--the famous appliance store owner who strung coax from his shop to a nearby mountain to get "distant" TV signals from Philadelphia and New York. It was a ploy to sell more TVs. Anyway, cable's time has come and in about five years, will be gone. Maybe sooner.

Next stop--TV over IP.

Al Gore’s idea is a good one given the spark in citizen journalism. The puzzling notion is why the company would look for cable TV distribution. Seems to me this is a Web/IPTV-TV over the Net product. The ability to reach younger viewers (one of its stated purposes) is much better served by using the Web as a primary distribution medium.

This is not to say that cable wouldn’t provide a decent secondary channel, but just look at what’s happening in the world of citizen journalism and you’ll see a resounding consensus that the Internet is the future for such applications. Jamming a new idea down an old pipe is not the way to go.

Gore Launches TV Channel for Young Viewers

SAN FRANCISCO - Al Gore has a plan for luring the Internet generation back to television: make it more participatory by having viewers contribute their own video.

The former vice president and longtime Internet champion joined investors Monday to announce the creation of Current, a cable TV channel that will target younger viewers with a blend of news, culture and viewer-produced video.

Gore will serve as chairman of the board of the new venture, which will be based in San Francisco.

He and Joel Hyatt, the founder of Hyatt Legal Services who will serve as Current's chief executive, assembled an investment team that paid $70 million last year to acquire the Newsworld International channel from Vivendi International.

The channel, to launch Aug. 1, will remain privately financed and initially will be available in 19 million cable-subscriber homes

This from ZDNet:

SAN FRANCISCO--Google will begin archiving personal video clips as part of its ever-expanding search service, company co-founder Larry Page said Monday.

"We're going to start taking video submissions from people" in the next few days, Page told a crowd at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association show here. Later, in response to a reporter's question, he called the move an "experiment in video blogging."

An interesting move from Google. A few questions:

1. Does this mean Blogger (Google’s blogosphere service) will more easily support videoblogging?
2. Will Google have a player to show the clips or just use the native player on the user’s desktop?
3. Will Google drop ads in the videos, and if so, will they have a revenue-sharing deal?
4. Does this mean Google wants to be a media company, even if it’s one focused on the long tail of content?

'Podcasts' Catching on with iPod Owners - Survey

Headline from the Pew Internet Life folks... talk about stating the obvious.

Mike and I have been saying for nearly a year that companies like Starbucks, need to give away Wi Fi access and focus on the content opportunity (beyond selling CDs) and other vertical aspects of their businesses. By offering free access, it’s a no-brainer that folks will stay longer at the coffee shop and buy more coffee, more food etc… That alone will pay for the cost of access.

In the future, however, these Wi Fi centers will be important hubs for content foraging. Details of that scenario are in Mike and my proprietary research.

This story is in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal:

Dunn touts free Wi-Fi as edge against coffee chains