V I D I O T S . U S

San Diego Chargers Oceanside via Mass Transit?

2009-06-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

Dateline: Oceanside [North San Diego County] CA, USA

Today media reports are flying that the San Diego Chargers are re-considering a move to Oceanside.This could have greater implications than a "simple" change of location for an NFL team. It is a chance to show the world that mass transit is the modern efficient and world-class solution to transporting folks to/from major events.

It could become a strategic move to reign in our dependency on the automobile with one audacious forward thinking project. For starters consider that professional football has been around longer than the automobile, with roots to the early 1900s.

We realize that this is "Take Two" for the Chargers in Oceanside. “Take One” was "Goat Hill" and it evoked lots of controversy. The “Goat Hill” location was the wrong place at the wrong time.

North County Times published about this back in 2007

Also, in 2007, vidiots.us expanded the concept to emphasize that mass transit was key to success for Oceanside/San Diego Chargers.

For all "old goats" that see the world only through rear view mirrors, Southern California developed into "Autopia" while Disneyland was opening in 1954. In only 55 years auto transport has created a deadly, unsustainable and costly gridlock throughout the Southern California area and now across Urban/Suburban areas around the country/world.

Now, in 2009, “change” is the mantra for prosperity in our complex, information based, world.

The new Oceanside Charger Stadium “proposed site” is currently a wasteland occupied by a decrepit drive-in swap meet and a noisy underutilized civil aviation airport. For those who are hell bent to fly here, Palomar Airport is only a few miles south.

Now is the time to provide a modern solution to moving fans to big events. Such a venue could attract culture of every sort, if Mass Transit is fully deployed. It could easily stimulate the local economy providing [thousands] of jobs and sustainable quality living for our cities future.

Oceanside is destined for "change" whether us old goats like it or not! The question is whether it is “enlightened change” or "NIMBY" [Not In My Back Yard].

We understand that this "Oceanside Charger Mass Transit" project is going to cost a fortune. Consider that the SouthWestern California Metroplex exceeds 20,000,000 and with market [fan base] that large there are countless examples of private/corporate collaboration that could fund the entire project including the high-speed monorail to connect Oceanside Transit Center to the new stadium/venue.

All that is needed is enlightened planning and world class marketing. Would Oceanside allow such a grand vision? The potential for the Chargers to become all of "Southern California's NFL team" is only a train ride away. Enter at gate 9 3/4.

"Let the Games begin!"

Did Video Kill the Radio Star? ©

2009-05-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Almighty--

We didn't want to go past the Obama first president in "age of videography" story until it had progressed, but in the face of cold wars/weapons of mass distraction, we had to engage with video production for feature film release and all media.

For 38 years we have been working in the transition from film/video technologies and how they effect people. The path to such work has been full of twists and turns and flips and flops but each event added color to the big picture. In our first production of "Did Video Kill the Radio Star?" we wonder we are facing future which is going to be new comedy/tragedy. We cite Orson Welles "War of the World's" 1938 radio broadcast. Funny? . . . not so much. Important? . . . you betcha. And just as we think the show must be tragedy we are reminded of Erma Bombeck's "When humor goes, there goes civilization." So as the form takes shape it is still balanced between comedy/tragedy.

Having said that Videography Lab is pleased to announce production on a feature length motion picture produced using proprietary videography techniques.

One great "Radio Star" in our book, has always been Stan Freberg, who's foray's into radio, TV, film and phonograph records of his comedy and music video expertise, stand as testament that "Stan the Man" [deference to Stan Musial :] Freberg rightfully championed the title "Radio Star", while acknowledging many others with whom he worked. Michael Nesmith and Tom Lehrer . . . are you out there? We must add here that "radio star" was The Buggles words to describe what video was killing. The "radio star" at that time covered a lot of territory . . . most notably the entire music industry. We appeal to Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downs to give their ideas of what they meant by "Video killed the Radio Star." [Harsh:] on camera to the documentary film. Our comedy research led us to this gem:

Any old lazer disc collectors out there who remember the groundbreaking guitar work of "Takanaka". . . a true video star but is it still shining?

And my favorite and most personal connection with a video star is with Michael Schultz, who conceived and directed the music video feature films "Car Wash" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" [a remarkable film when viewed any time in the 21st Century:]

Many will note our use of [_____:] brakets. They are a way of saying that contained herein is the source of citation and that the discovery remains a work in progress.

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Press Release: May 13, 2009
Videography Lab - Oceanside, CA announced this morning that it was in production on a feature motion picture produced entirely using state-of-the-art videography, entitled:

Did Video Kill the Radio Star? ©

The prduction will feature assets compiled over the decades between the fading of phonography and the emergence of the new video/digital media. Bob Kiger, producer of the film, is sending a "message of aloha" to any and all video and radio stars to contact him via email or comments made below on how they would like to be a part of this film. "Technical quality of all historical assets is of primary importance" says Kiger. The most critical viewers will eventually be watching in a motion picture theater.

This poses provacative problems for todays producers. Should we produce at 24 frames per second to make the product optimal for the feature film viewing or should we produce at the traditional 30 frames per second that has always been with us through TV. [actually 29.97 fps:]?

We will be deploying TALL video technology [a work in progress and Dreamweaver is not our forte:] for many of our interviews with radio and video stars. The idea that is driving this project is Networking as opposed to deal making.

All contributing members to the production thusfar have felt an abiding agreement that education of children at a very early age [we are currently pushing an 8th grade mandatory class :] on living in the age of videography. Our goto favorite institution to do this education documentary is Chapman University in Orange, CA. The reason we chose Chapman was that it was a convenient train ride away from our lab/home. Kiger was recently invited to attend a "Women in Focus" event at Chapman and was pleasantly amazed at how sophisticated their program had become.

In spite of this great line up there exists substantial issues getting the highest quality assets from early videography sources. They always seem to be hidden in vaults both physical and mental that make acquiring intellectual property assets challenging.

Videography Lab is deploying every "trick in the [videography book:]" into the production of this feature film.", says Kiger. This is but the first installment in a number of projects under the VID franchise which we registered with the Writers Guild of America in 1998 [might be 1999. Bob sent himself a certified and unopened letter with the certification an all that stuff . . . but now gotta go through a lot of old paper work and tons of video assets to be viewed but the sun is shining":]

Dateline May 14, 2009
The sun may be shining but getting digital copies of early Bob Kiger photography and Videography Studio archives present challenges.

Dateline May 25, 2009
We have discovered specific instances today that show how Video Market Fragmentation has impacted global culture. A separate article will be rolled out on this subject very soon.

Obama first President in "Age of Videography"

2009-01-22T17:41:00.000-08:00

On January 20, 2008 the Consumer Electronics Association welcomed Barrack Hussein Obama as the first "digital president". We made comment on the story and waited for 24 hours while "message was being reviewed" when the URL was refreshed. Here is the CEA site link or a PDF of the page.

Obama's lifestyle have shown his use/mastery of digital communication tools.

As it turns out President "Barry" Obama, as he is called in Hawaii, is OK to use his Blackberry as he works as our Commander in Chief. Score one for the "digital president". But that does not speak to the whole man. President Obama appears to have mastered the art of living an analog life in a digital world.

Here is vidiots.us review of the Oath exchange.

1. Robert's began by reading beyond the first recommended pause and ran on.
2. Obama stopped at the recommended pause and listened on.
3. Robert's is distracted by the Obama pause and word's of the oath are switched out of order.
4. Obama heard the switch of word order coming out of Robert's mouth.
5. Obama paused a moment and than recited Robert's words faithfully.

This entire exchange was Analog! It shows President Obama's capability to stay "in the moment" [Be Analog] even when all around him were overwhelmed by pageantry. It was also a moment of brotherly respect for Chief Justice Roberts. We note the lesson taught and learned after Obama helped re-write Robert's rules of order during the Oath of Office.

President Obama is the first to lead in "the Age of Videography".

Expect an avalanche of news / feature stories to saturate all Media about our first "digital president". Vidiots know that the real story is President Obama's balance of Analog / Digital with exceptional skills in both output and input. He'll need all of those skills when he meets with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Videography Lab predicts Obama/Putin Meeting sooner than previously envisioned because of the economic peril that both know faces the world. What may be less known is the partnership in space peril currently facing US Astronauts and Russian Cosmonauts in the International Space Station.

So are the US and Russia buddies in the eyes of the world? These two "super powers", former cold war enemies, have only half a billion of the world's population of nearly 7 billion people. The remainder of the world watches from the margins. And the margins are geographically huge, including the whole of Eastern Europe [former Soviet Block countries], the entire Middle East and Southern Asia. We could also add the surging power of Cuba, Venezuela and many South American and African nations are watching the US/Russian "balance of power".

Recent events, including Georgia, Ukraine and along the traditional "Silk Route" to South Asia suggest that the world is watching what we refer to as "Battlespace Videography". We used to call it a "Propaganda War" but in the age of videography it is far more complicated and open than in the past..

The emerging world [nearly 5 billion strong], are looking for reasons why they should align themselves with either the US and it's allies or the Russians and their allies. And they are getting their information from the astounding array of cellular and broadcasting that now exists. They realize that in spite of the relative peaceful growth of life since the Cold War, there are still only two countries that could annihilate all of humanity in a few hours. Sure, there are other powers, including China and Iran, but they do not have the power of world annihilation . . . yet!

The notion of a Obama/Putin meeting is quite interesting. Should it be a video game or a reality show? The world is watching.

Dateline February 11, 2009 - "Out of control" Russian Sattelite smacks down US Iridium Satellite

Dateline February 12, 2009 - Watch President Obama celebrate Lincoln and Darwin Bicentennial

Dateline March 30, 2009 - After watching this evenings CBS evening news our article stands as the G20 begins.

Dateline April 2, 2009 - Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Nation calls it like it is.Dateline May 7, 2009 - Really Cold War Nuclear Confrontation in the Arctic Circle

Dateline May 23, 2009

This week it became evident that President Obama has to deal with a ghost of the past before the Obama-Putin meeting could become feasible. The face of the ghost is former VP Dick Cheney.

Dateline June 7, 2009

Building on his vision of a better future, President Obama is methodically making the case for a meeting with Russian leader . . . Vladimir Putin.

He spoke eloquently in Cairo to open peaceful dialog with the Muslim World and followed up with a powerful message that squarely addressed the old "cold war" and diplomatically challenged Putin to answer. without insult, but with an emphatic refrain that "This is the Moment!"

Here now is the speech that has the nuance to be a subtle invitation for the Obama/Putin meetup.

Dateline Midnight - June 12, 2009
The analog transmitters are now supposedly turned off and as we are turned on as we watch PBS "Charley Rose Show" the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, states that President Obama is scheduled to visit Moscow July 6-8, 2009.

Muslim reaction to "Sexy Money Joke"

2008-12-08T00:57:00.000-08:00

About a week ago we received an internet joke about new "sexy Canadian money". The writeup that accompanied the illustrations, which were professionally produced, read as follows.

"Darned clever, these Canadians !

Perhaps America and Europe should consider changing their currencies too.

Due to the global war on terrorism, many terrorist organizations have had their finances frozen. Consequently, they have resorted to counterfeiting.

The Canadians have decided to redesign their currency to prevent the radical Muslims from even touching it! It is also hoped that this will l have a positive effect on tourism:"

At first glance we thought it funny. But then we realized that the joke was rotten to the core. It continued:

"Muslim terrorists have to kill themselves if they see a naked woman. Those Canadians always find the solution! Must be the pure water up there in the North...."

So in order to get a reliable Muslim perspective on the issue, we forwarded the "Canadian Currency Joke" to our Istanbul associate, a young member of our family that was born and raised in the USA and graduated from Berkeley with a philosophy major. In his senior year he wrote us that he had converted to Muslim and was moving to Istanbul.

There he took an assignment at a leading English language newspaper, fell in love with a co-writer and was married in a Muslim ceremony. We felt that if anybody would have a well reasoned analysis of the "sexy money joke" it would be this young gentlemen. What follows is his response with a watermark of the "money" in the background.

Note: Fore easy reading double click on graphic and it will appear in a new window. Pres Edit > Zoom In.

Joe the Crab Catcher

2008-10-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Before "Joe the Plumber" hit the media big time, we had been tracking instances of "Joe's" global empire. Here are two recent graphics that show "Joe's Crab empire" has long held sway in Alaska.

Depression means a lot of things

2008-09-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

If you google [a generic word used by many for search] "Depression" today you will get "about 104,000,000 results for Depression" in (0.38 seconds). That's lightning fast speed. It would take you the better part of your lifetime to examine all the opinions and definitions and side-tracks that appear. So we took a simple source . . . Oxford's online dictionary.

depression • noun

1 severe despondency and dejection, especially when long-lasting and accompanied by physical symptoms. 2 a long and severe recession in an economy or market. 3 the action of depressing. 4 a sunken place or hollow. 5 Meteorology a cyclonic weather system.

UPDATE: May 2, 2009 MSNBC reports "Even as there is talk of a Depression, no one can define exactly what that is"

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The truth is there are very few "Happy definitions of Depression" to be found . . . but there are signs of hope.
Here's one about depressed astronauts getting solace from computers.
or this non depressing story in the making . . . Attack of the cancer-killer tomatoes!

We vidiots define "depression" as "the lowest point in a downward curve that begins to rise again toward enlightenment and happiness."

So are vidiots "depressed" by the current state of global events? Not so much. As this story evolves, we will happily explain how modern humans have nowhere to go but up!

For today we will refrain with lyrics of Carol Burnett, who dressed as Shirley Temple, did a happy tap routine in "Fade Out - Fade In" which this vidiot was lucky enough to see on Broadway in 1964. NOTE: Doublelick the graphic below if you would like to easily read the lyrics.

Can we climb out of a "black hole"?
Stay tuned \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Latest Update: October 27, 2008
Things are so crazy now that links to the most depressing stories will be the clearest way to continue.

A Depressing World View of US from China

The UK Times reports "Dr. Doom" . . . "I fear the worst is yet to come"

Fannie Mae "forgives" loan for Addie Polk. A 90 year old Akron, Ohio woman who shot herself as foreclosure agents moved in on her.

Jobless Father Kills His Family and Self. Out of "absolute despair"

Mother's Cookies Crumble

Gift Cards Worthless when Retailers file Bankruptcy

To Avoid Being Depressed, "Sarah Palin Skimps on Campaign News

Why Barack Obama Should Feel "Depressed"

"Depression is the leading cause of suicide" . . . the bottom line of this ABC News report

Based on this story we predict a new wave of Depression Clinics to Zap patients into bliss

Google - Yahoo search fails Videography Lab test

2008-01-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Saturday - June 14, 2008

Early this year we posted our concerns about Google's dominance in search/advertising and suggested that only a Microsoft/Yahoo hookup could hope to compete with Google. We have all watched in amazement as Yahoo courted just about anybody in the media world to resist a relationship with Microsoft. During our postings, our research division, Videography Lab, monitored search positions of their URL, www.videographyblog.com on all search engines based on the keyword search for "videography".

The results were a roller coaster ride ranging from ranking on page 8 up to page 1 and down again to page 15 on Google and Yahoo search. On Microsoft Live Search we showed consistently high ratings and can be found on page 1. This is reasonable since we are the seminal authors of the word "videography" [1972 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER magazine]. Google has shown it's ability and willingness to manually manipulate search position to punish those who speak out against their monopoly.

[Note: the comments at the bottom of this article reflect our position since we originally challenged Google]

The latest Google/Yahoo maneuver to combine advertising and search services and monopolize the acquisition of information on the web must be stopped!

Left unchecked, this monopoly will allow powerful interests to control the most basic information that you seek, with no viable competitive alternative. Those with the most money to offer "Goohoo" will be at the top of the search. Legitimate scholarship will be lost to commercial and special interests.

If you want to preview this "Brave New World" than try this test. Use Google to search "There is absolutely no inevitability, as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening" [include the quotes]. This should take you to the author of this quote and the work in which it was written . . . but it does not.

If your answer is Marshall McLuhan in "The Medium is the Massage" Google has led you astray. Finding the right answer online isn't easy because Google has buried the original author and work so deep that we vidiots ran out of patience looking at page after page of search results.

When or if you do find quoted author and work, please share the answer under "Comments" below.

And remember, this is just one example of the flawed Google algorithm that is gaining indomitable commercial clout and dumbing down the entire world. See what the American Consumer Institute has to say about the Google/Yahoo deal.

HD Format Wars are over! Now what?

2008-01-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

UPDATE FEBRUARY 20, 2008

Vidiots.us original prediction, just before the Consumer Electronics Show, that the "HD wars are over proved correct", but our assumption that the HD-DVD would continue as a complementary format in information technology will be proven wrong because we vidiots did not contemplate the magnitude of the "surge" toward the winning format. The move to Blu-Ray by Warner Brothers studio took the market over the tipping point. See Bloomberg February 18 article for details.

We would like to note that Toshiba's stock skyrocketed after the news of their probable caving in on HD-DVD? The consolidation of support behind a single HD optical format will quickly become good news for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers alike. Toshiba has now declared that it will not refund early adopters of the HD-DVD players

In a perfect world, SONY would buy all rights to the Toshiba brand including the HD-DVD name and than help early adopters convert to Blu-Ray. This would consolidate cooperation between SONY and Toshiba, thereby amplifying the advancement of the technology. SONY would then also be free to use the more descriptive and elegant name HD-DVD in the future!

Microsoft has also lost big time in the collapse of HD-DVD to Blu-Ray, because their X-Box gaming console used the HD-DVD format. In our opinion Microsoft will have to switch from HD-DVD to Blu-Ray in their X-Box or give up X-Box altogether!

Microsoft appears to be floundering in several areas: Vista, Yahoo acquisition, and soon X-Box. It seems unreasonable to view them as a monopoly. They have become co-stars with SONY, Nintendo, Google, Ebay/Paypal/Skype, Apple, AT&T and others in screenplay that is the evolving "age of videography".

National Park halts Maui downhill bicycle tours

2007-10-10T14:52:00.001-07:00

memoirs of Cruiser BobDateline: October 10, 2007 Oceanside, California, USA

by
Bob Kiger aka "Cruiser Bob"

Living in our "green" leaning society, one would think that the last thing to be openly discriminated against by the US Government would be bicycles. Sadly the opposite is true. The 25 year old "legendary Maui downhill bike tours" came to an abrupt halt on October 10, 2007 by order of the National Park Superintendent. Here is the AP version of the party line.

The report that follows is entirely my intellectual property and contains facts and allegations about Maui and it's citizens and visitors, the National Park Service, Federal, State and Local politicians, insurance practices, lawyers, policy toward bicyclists and other issues that you will not get from the AP or any other news service unless they steal or license it from me. :)

Since Cruiser Bob's Haleakala Downhill began in 1983, over 1,000,000 people from around the world have participated in, what many describe as, "Hawaii's Best Adventure". United Airlines Magazine summed up the activity in 1983 by saying "Simply put you sit on a bicycle and coast from the top of the world's largest dormant volcano to the bottom - a drop in elevation of 10,000 feet and a circuitous distance of 38 miles".

Some of the items that will be discussed include:

1. Cruiser Bob's vid on the origins of the downhill bike ride.
2. Search for a partner, process and permits
3. Did the National Park derail the original downhill idea
4. Prejudice against bicycles by upcountry "kamaainas" & "locals"
5. The Court of Insurance vs. the Court of Law
6. How quality went out of control in the downhill bicycle business
7. One Haleakala Park Superintendent we knew that had integrity
8. "Cycle to the Sun" shows the noble side of Maui bicycling
9. A downhill castle and how Maui county demolished it
10. Searching the world for other downhill venues
11. Wider shoulders for Maui Highways and the "North Shore Greenway"
12. Tragedy, treachery and transportation to the mainland with a pine box

Each of the subjects above will become links to historical documents, stories and footage in the days ahead. It will take some time to produce the content involved, so I ask the readers indulgence for my posting such a dismal set of topics without full sourcing. Please note that I have absolutely no holdings (other than my intellectual property) in any Maui business . . . bicycle or otherwise.

Columbia University president acts like a true vidiot!

2007-09-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

We keep updating this article because it is hard to tell who's "got vid?". Either you got it or you're a vidiot. As of September 25, 2007 the president of Columbia University takes the prize for biggest vidiot of the month. His pre-speach attack on Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was an invited guest to the University, was uncalled for and is certain to inflame the Persian world and much of the rest of the world as well.
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In January we sent a message of hope into "battlespace videography" (Google it) that "Bin Laden is sitting on the world's VID". Well he is indeed as seen in excerpts of the (yet to be revealed 9/11) 2007 tape.

We like to view only the original uncut uncensored version of anything. Well that isn't possible as we type at 20:40 hours and nobody can get the real tape on internet or television. Just inserts and innuendo's and occasional quotes from the "transcript". Why such secrecy. Well CNN reports that "all of the sites that we usually turn to for video like this are down!" She continues. "They've been down all day . . . any it's been very difficult to obtain anything." And she stammers on: "Now who is doing this? . . . We think this will be "a matter of much speculation" ????

SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 Bin Laden Tape Censored - As of 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time there is no sign of the original bin Laden tapes available through Google search (at least on pages 1 or 2). We ask why the US government feels they have to censor all incoming messages from our enemies (Iran, Cuba, Argentina, Al Quaida). We are saavy people and we can spot a snake in the grass. Let us see the original uncut messages and than "discuss them amongst ourselves". (All in the Family circa - 1974) Do you know that we heard that the CIA is saying that some Arab terror experts think that Osama is "beating the war drums" by dying his beard black . . . a very socially acceptable practice among Islamic leaders. Here's a story from today's Guardian

As of this writing his key word indicators (world convert islam) don't show any sign that bin Laden has understood videography. He is notably capable in the technology of videography. He does not need a press agent. What he needs is a history lesson.

Osama bin Laden is sitting in the first documented spot where our common ancestors first traded and conducted the rudiments of civilization (as opposed to loosely associated hunter gatherer groupings). If he was a wise man he would seize the opportunity to be inclusive even negotiable. We are all brothers and should not be divided.

If he has gotten the connection between vid > videography than an end to the "war on terror" can be negotiated and globally agreed upon as "pas see". If he has not gotten the connection, than he should be labeled for what he is . . . a divider.

And vidiots don't lend our time or attention to dividers. Please note that censorship of his complete video would also be divisive. The only win win position will come from a uniter . . . not a divider.

So as of mid mourning September 11, 2007 both sides of the War on Terror (Bush & Osama) show that they have not yet learned how to win in battlespace videography.

Workflow for videography 2007

2007-08-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

In a previous article Videography Labs reviewed the Pentax W30 waterproof SDHC still / movie camera. While there are a number of features that still need to be adopted to make the classic videography recorder, this camera is a good start.

Since the late 1980s we have conducted research on cameras mounted to the human body. Now that the size and weight has shrunk to the point that strapping the Pentax Optio W30 onto the forehead gives minimal parallax problems. The trick is learning to turn on / off the camera, and by listening, know when the camera has gone into record. Three beeps and it was recording. One beep and it's stopped. There should be a more sure fired way of assessing camera recording status than hearing little beeps. Often the ambient noise, like in a crowd, can overwhelm such subtle signals.

Obviously leading an active life with a camera strapped to ones forehead can result in an enormous amount of digital data to be managed. It is the goal of this article to give the workflow for simple data storage and retrieval that will enable anyone with any type of editing software to access their digital library, edit the stills or movies and transmit the content wirelessly to a distribution network.

Let's begin by backtracking to SDHC. The current capacity of these tiny and ubiquitous media is 8GB (8/22/2007) but the word on the streets is to expect 16 GB cards in short order. This means very little to us at this time. 8 GB will hold 120 minutes of Standard Definition VGA (640x480 @ 30fps). Considering that every movie ever made was done with 20 minute loads of film, we see no immediate need to rush to 16GB SDHC cards as soon as they arrive.

Our tests of lithium-ion batteries for the Pentax camera show that a fully charged battery cannot run the life of the 8GB SDHC card . . . becoming lifeless somewhere between 75 - 90 minutes of recording time.

Future demands of HD devices will make higher capacity SDHC a must but that is not the Tech-Plateau upon which society rests. This notion of Tech-Plateau is most important at this time. The giant media and manufacturing companies are in pitched battle to see who will control the media of tomorrow. Estimating that it will be 2-4 years before the future of HDTV delivery systems for User Generated Content settles, we decided to publish this report with SD (VGA) video as the current standard.

While currently producing in SD we contend that there is a rock solid standard for HD that is being ignored as of late October 2007.

Videography workflow begins with an 8GB SDHC card (full of content) which we just pull out of the camera and insert into an SDHC compliant PC card reader. Note: Older memory card readers are not SDHC compliant, so when acquiring an SD card look for the SDHC logo or test the card. (During the life of this testing, the OS was Windows XP Pro. Videography Labs advises holding with Windows XP Pro during the current Tech-Plateau.) When the SDHC card is inserted into the computer a window opens asking you what you want to do with the data. Scroll down to "Open in Explorer Window" and highlight and OK. All movies, stills and voice recordings will be in a folder marked DCIM and will have subfolders which tell the date on which the content was created. It is recommended that the date folder structure remain intact during archiving.

We have found that stills are much easier to quickly triage than movies so we usually just hit Thumbnail view and than look at each still in the Windows Media Viewer. If the photo is a keeper we go on to the next . . . if it is a loser we delete it on the spot.

Than we go to the movies which are produced in Quicktime. We purchased Quicktime Pro for Windows so we could easily trim long takes to get just the desired material. And that's how we approach watching our dailies. We open each movie directly off the card and scan it for quality of sound picture and content. If there is a lot of waste we trim and rename the file to reflect the subject when we Save As. Confirm the recording of the trimmed take on the card and than delete the original long movie. This procedure can save GB per day of future screening time. We used to say "Tape is Cheap" Now, once purchased, SDHC media is "free". It's too easy to build up an unworkable collection of old content, so we keep fair discipline on watching and editing our "dailies".

Voice recordings can be flowed through Dragonfly voice to text software (www.nuance.com) to create digital documents on the run. All of this content needs to be migrated off active hard drives for archiving.

Our test notebook was a Gateway 450ROG Pentium 1.7 which we featured in this earlier article. Perhaps our specifications got some traction for Tech Web today ran a 7 part article about the 2008 breed of notebooks entitled "Next years notebooks will be worth the wait".

High on the list for old or new laptops is the ability to swap components in what we generically call a Universal Drive Bay. Years ago we contacted Adobe Tech Support while beta testing their Premiere Pro 2.0 program complaining about "write delay" errors. They wouldn't even address the problem unless the drives holding content were 7200 rpm. So we allied with Hitachi Systems and installed their 7200 rpm drives not only as our C: drive but in several Universal Drive Bay holders. This allowed for the swapping into system of a dedicated 60GB Hitachi 7200 rpm drive when capturing (now getting to be an old notion :) and editing projects. We call this our Project Drive and on it there is a folder titled "Transfer to DVD". The contents of SDHC cards, after initial triage editing, are transferred into this folder.

Since we had already standardized on the 8GB SDHC memory card, it made sense to find a DVD media that would cover the same amount of data.

The low priced, but capable, LG GSA 21640 Super Multi DVD Rewriter which is connected to the laptop by USB 2.0 and has as a principle feature the ability to write data to Dual Layer disks. This provides a conveniently matched 8.5GB per disc. The software bundled with the player is Nero Express, which we found to be very reliable.

Theoretically at least, every 8GB load of flash memory could be faithfully preserved and stored on an individual DVD. As a practical matter the archiving of the contents of the "Transfer to DVD" folder ended up with date priority. , filling up each disc as much as possible before making the transfer. We are very careful to check data integrity on the DVD DL discs before erasing any files from our "Transfer to DVD" file.

It is possible to print information and graphics on the DVDs using software supplied with the LG DVD burner, but we have yet to utilize this "LightScribe" feature because it requires more expensive media, so a Magic Marker is employed. The finished disks are stored in simple DVD books available at Wal*Mart with a sleeve for each disc.

Once the system is up to speed and all material has been transferred we give high points to Microsoft's iView catalog for accessing both movies and stills. We have pleaded over the years with Adobe Systems for such a catalog, but they have yet to come forward with a viable still/movie catalog system.

So now everything is stored and cataloged and it's time for a project. At that point the desired source material should be copied onto a 7200 rpm drive on your computer. Edit using desired software. If your a MAC person it will be iMovie or Final Cut Pro. If your on a PC the options are more varied. At Videography Labs we beta tested Premiere Pro 2.0 from Adobe, so we persist with that program. It matters little which software is used because there is no Capture required. Just import the data files from your hard drive.

The main bottleneck creating our Tech-Plateau is distribution online/broadcast of edited material. The most popular online website, YouTube, with 75% of all on-line video viewers tops out at a resolution of 425x353 pixels? This requires a reduction of resolution of an odd percentage from the original 640x480 recordings. YouTube's compression scheme seems to induce a lot of blurriness to original material that is dynamic in nature. Here is an example we call Wonder-ful Sounds from Kayak:

Talking heads, with little movement, don't seem to suffer the blurring as much. YouTube needs to fix this. Whatever it's current shortcomings, YouTube gives User Generated Content providers a quality venue, if they are into marketing their productions.

People, around the world, now have the capability of being first on the scene to record major events. The workflow described here can get the material into an edited, or at least trimmed status. The next step in our complete workflow is uploading the desired content to the venue of choice. CNNs iReport and YouTube are two examples of venues that are well established at this date, but this is just the beginning.

Timely and easy delivery of content can be critical in marketing and reportage. To fill this task we found the amazing Junxion Box. Originally developed for platoon level communications in Iraq, the Junxion Box converts a standard Aircard (we used Sierra Wireless Aircard 875) into a wireless hotspot that allows networking without wires from your RV or SUV or home. We are so fond of the wireless hot spot that we installed identical Wilson Cellular on our lab and field mobile unit. When it's time to hit the road we just plug the Junxion into the cigarette lighter and the laptop into the RV house inverter. Wireless hot spots allow us to use identical mail settings and other protocols, whether we are at home or in the field. They also free us from the restraints of having to compute in a fixed position. We like to be comfortable when doing field work.

Wireless network quality is already acceptable for small projects like those accepted by CNN and YouTube. We tested download streams during the "Live Earth" concert for 11 hours straight and had NO dropouts of picture or sound. We viewed the concert on full screen. We have noticed a degradation of signal strength during peak use periods. The network infrastructure required to overcome such slowdowns is part of the Tech-Plateau that will take some time. In the case of AT&T wireless, the HSUPA standard is long overdue. It will double the speed of the current 3G standard.

UPDATE: September 6, 2007

We are impressed by the writing in ZDNet about Digital Rights Management. The concept of using "hash function" to secure content producers rights is intriguing.

The underlying principle we follow with regard to creative compensation is that a reasonable royalty structure be established and paid for the enjoyment and use of another entities creative content. Without paying our artists and creative thinkers a fair return for their contribution, art will eventually stagnate in the digital domain.

The debate over how to fund high levels of creativity in a "cut & paste" world where many want something for nothing is a primary roadblock to progress in videography. It is also fundamental to maintaining the "Techn-Plateau" upon which we currently rest.

We would also like to send a special kudo out to Creative Cow the forums for videography professionals and advanced users for their very informative and entertaining primer on "video compression" for the web.

See: http://library.creativecow.net/articles/rabinowitz_aharon/ITKVS/Compression_Pt_1_Fixed.mov

videography - Camelot of Convergence

2007-08-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

Sitting on my hacienda patio in oceanside california wirelessly conveying small replicas of my vid to the mainstream "cut & paste" world now in "the Age of Videography" (Miller Freeman Publishers 1996).

Having been around video "since video wasn't cool" (Ted Turner) I have left my experience guide my imagination into the world of today and tomorrow. The Videography Labs in Oceanside, California is preparing two white papers on "living in the Age of Videography".

1. How and when to communicate your vid to the public domain.

2. Who will pay for the infrastructure for the future videography society?

UPDATE: August 17, 2007

Recent developments in flash memory storage cause Videography Labs to say "hold on laptops" for the next really capable generation of solid state machines. It's not that far off! Here's what we wrote in January 2007:

http://vidiots.us/2007/01/hold-on-to-your-pentium-m-notebook.html

Digital still/movie camera for the 21st Century

2007-07-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

Dateline: 11/4/2008
Bob Kiger - Author / Editor, Videography Lab

Time for quality in point & shoot digital/still "devices

Update May 14, 2009

With the growth of 1080p HD TVs around the world a natural viewing environment was created for Assets produced at full HD resolution, so the quest was on for the state-of-the-art videography point and shoot camera.

We acknowledge that, to achieve most desirable features, we had to give up on the waterproof specification. We are sure that, after reading this review, there will be a marketeer who will make a user friendly waterproof housing. So the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS is shown above fully extended to show all features.

We've only had the camera operational for about 12 hours but already it is shining in performance. It is extremely small and light considering it's firepower. [1080 30p movies and 10 Megapixel Raw stills.] But that is only the beginning.

It is equipped with a 20:1 wide angle zoom lens. We have gone from panorama to reach out and touch distant palm trees. The "C" batteries have been constantly maligned but thusfar the cheap batteries included with the camera have performed all tasks faultlessly. This includes not only shooting movies and stills but playing them back on the HD TV.

What a dream it is to be able to view your "dailies" at full resolution anytime you desire. We don't even have to tie up computers to process the HD. The Canon PowerShot SX1 IS has an optional AC power cord so you can screen HD content all night if you've got it on an SDHC card.

So the camera acts like a movie player via HDMI plugs and the signal can also be directed at surround sound systems. Wholly Home Movie!

The picture and sound quality is simply awesome!

We miss having an audio input on the camera to receive closeup radio mikes. Why not Bluetooth?

For the entrepeneurs within earshot, there is a crying market for a SDHC player that would go directly into the TV. If you exist . . . write us.

The Canon PowerShot controls are most intuitive for photographers who grew up with SLRs, but it's not an SLR. Instead it has a rangefinder that is in fact a mini screen that allows the videographer to make adjustments in darkness and privacy. This feature we presume is also saving battery life, because it only kicks in then the main LCD is swung to the off position in the back of the camera body. Slick engineering.

SO WHERE'S THE BAD NEWS?

Canon PowerShot is a low end product for the Canon Corporation. They will have to elevate many features up to their Rebel and high end SLR digital cameras and leave Canon PowerShot at it's current stage of development.

Not to worry. The "cat's out of the bag" as far as desirable features for videographers. The real surprise is how many people are seeing themselves as videographers. They are literally using the tool kit of videography to enhance their own life paths.

Because of this inertia, the feature sets of futue Platforms is wide open.

And now we return you to yesteryear when we were raving about the Pentax Optio W30

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Specifying a quality digital camera has been our goal for 35 years. Videography Labs originally tested the Pentax Optio W30 for two reasons:

1. It is waterproof and shock resistant
2. It conforms to the new SDHC standard

After substantial field testing we have overall admiration for the Pentax Optio WP30 but suggest that it is only the beginning of a new generation of digital imaging devices. Here is our laundry list of features that would make this camera (and others to follow) classics.

First and foremost is a wider angle lens. The current lenses on most simple digital cameras are comparable to a 35mm lens on a 35mm SLR in angle of view. Most serious photographers prefer something more like a 28mm lens. This would enable the videographer to capture interiors and panoramas more effectively.

Pentax heard our call and released their Optio W60. Unfortunately they took one step forward with the equivalent of a 28mm lens on a 35mm SLR. In doing so they botched up many common sense features for any camera. See Common Sense & New Hybrid Technologies section below.

Second is the capability of an external microphone. Cinematographers have long known that it is sound that makes the movie. Often the subject is a distance from the camera and we want a clean sound track of their words or sounds. Our solution is quite doable with existing technology. Make future digital cameras Blue Tooth capable and therefore capable of wireless receipt of an external Blue Tooth microphone. A current review of Blue Tooth products has shown no candidates in this category. Further, by internalizing the Blue Tooth capability we preserve the waterproof feature while increasing sound quality in special instances.

No point and shoot camera has yet to adapt wireless microphone capability as of this date.

Third is to provide Raw Data capability. Upscale digital cameras have widely deployed Raw Data for maximum post production image control. This format should be included in quality point and shoot cameras as well. It can be chosen by the user with internal programming, so those who just want snapshots can choose standard jpeg recording. Those who seek enlargements or have a workflow that includes extensive post production should have the Raw Data choice.

No point and shoot cameras have adopted raw imaging as of this date.

Larger and more sensitive imaging chips. Samsung recently announced limited deployment of a 10 Megapixel cell phone. Alas, due to bandwidth restrictions, the testing was limited to South Korea. We are not advocating that our ideal digital still/movie camera be a cell phone. In fact, we see acquisition with quality as the dividing line at this time. It takes only minutes to transfer a high quality still or movie to a platform where it can be properly post prepared for the desired audience and that process is best done on a separate platform. The reason for larger and more sensitive imaging chips is that a lot of Zoom functions are currently relegated to the chip level and (by adding overhead) quality is preserved for the final still/movie. One of my favorite video engineers had an adage . . . "there is no substitute for resolution" when it comes to cameras . . . still or movie.

The Pentax W60 did increase it's still imaging to 10 Megapixels.

Adoption of 1080 30p as a recording format. There has been a near panic rush to develop 1080p (60 fps) progressive format as the high definition standard. This has created an unrealistic burden on bandwidth for all digital movie cameras and recorders. The simple adoption of the 1080 30p as a digital movie standard would allow full 1920 x 1080 pixel raster with half the bandwidth (recording overhead) required with 1080p. It also eliminates the annoying vacillation between intermittent fields of 1080i.

Audiences have lived for over 100 years paying good money to watch movies that were recorded at 24 fps which has proven to be the threshold for "persistence of vision". TV viewers have watched their programs for over 60 years at 25 fps (PAL) to 30 fps (NTSC) with no complaints other than intermittent fields. The problem of intermittent fields became prevalent when digital TV enabled instant playback of critical moments . . . like whether the tight end in an NFL game had his foot on the line before stepping out of bounds. The 1080 30p standard is rock steady and has half the storage and handling requirements of 1080p. It makes the high definition revolution easier to implement with todays technologies.

Since we originally published this article a slew of camcorders have adopted the 1080 30p standard, in most cases simply calling it "1080p" Bravo . . . but Pentax has not yet adopted with it's Optio waterproof cameras. Their new Optio60 has a kluged 720p at 15fps. It is unusable for sync sound recording.

Simple Bluetooth or IR remote to trigger camera from a remote position. We have just conducted testng of our new "FaceCam" and a 20 year issue popped up. When the user cannot see the camera at the time they press record, they cannot assure whether the device is recording or stopped. Many a helmetcam shot has been lost because the camera was on when the operator thought it was on. The addition of a simple remote with a bright blinking light when the camera is recording would eliminate this issue. Note: Since we have already specified Bluetooth for remote sound recording, we suggest that a Bluetooth enabled wireless remote would be the simplest solution.

Update August 8, 2007 We recently tested the "AC adapter" for the Pentax Optio WP30 and found it to have a designer defect. This plug in device does not charge the batteries in the camera. We spoke with Pentax engineering and they said that a conscious decision was made to not allow battery charging because of fear that people would plug in and than take the camera into the water. That is vidiotic engineering. A simple disclaimer would cover this problem. And besides, they can still plug in the camera and take it into the water. The consequences would be destruction of the camera because the water tight seal would be open and electrical shock. The inclusion of a battery charging capability when plugged into AC is almost universal for portable videographic devices. We highly recommend that this feature be added. We also recommend that there be a shut off for the LCD to give the lithium-ion batteries a better chance to go the full life of an 8GB SDHC card. Right now the batteries can only achieve about 60% of the media's capability.

On the PLUS side of the Pentax "AC adapter" is the A/V cable that comes with it. This allows the videographer to view content, both still / movies on any TV set without having to use a computer. Very handy!

With this post we have given Pentax a "brief window of exclusivity" to make the feature corrections and become the first classic videography still / movie camera.
As of this 8/22/2007 update the brief window of opportunity is closed.

There are other manufacturers, notably Olympus, that have waterproof cameras. We talked with a Kodak rep whose immediate response was "they don't see the market for such waterproof cameras". Duh! Tell that to the many people who lost their digital camera to a few raindrops or a quick dip in the pool or sink.

Where do most families go when they are out being happy and full of Kodak memories? To the beach or the lake or the river or the streams to cool off. Waterproof also means that nasty sand particles are not drawn into the camera body when they attach to a protruding lens on a non-waterproof camera. We can easily see why Kodak has almost become a non-player in the digital videography market. As graduates of Rochester Institute of Technology we have always had an affinity for Kodak, but it appears that these days, the venerable Kodak is run by vidiots.

Common Sense Features: In their "upgrading from W30 to W60 Pentax moved the tripod hole to the extreme edge of the camera and way away from the lens. Common sense says you put the tripod hole under the lens so a pan is a pan on center of the focal point. With the silly Optio W60, a pan is actually a swing and it runs against every tenet of classic photography.

Pentax also took a very sensible design where one could access the battery and SDHC card from a side door while the camera was mounted on tripod or other mount. Their "upgraded" W60 accesses battery and SDHC cards are on the underside of the camera. This can be the difference between getting the shot or not if the photographer needs to make a swap.

New Hybrid Features: The popularity of touch technology in the Apple iPhone compels us to recommend a hybrid of a waterproof 1080p 10 Megapixel still/movie camera with the iPhone to create one device that will give modern humans a single device that would perform the lions share of tasks require to live productively in "the age of videography".

In upcoming reports we will show a reasonably priced workflow for handling the enormous volume of content that such devices record and how to make it manageable. We will also introduce incremental device changes that are leading to the "Classic videography device for the 21st Century".

California has abundant water

2007-07-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

An open letter to Arnold Schwartzennager, honorable Governor of California

Did you know that the #1 occupation on Earth is carrying water! If it was the gold rush 168 years ago that popularized Calfornia as a coastal paradise, it will be the green rush that will save it from running short of water..

A while back I rode the Pacific Coast Bike Trail past Crescent City, California, through the redwood mountains in a driving rainstorm. From an overlook I watched millions of gallons of fresh water plunging into the Pacific below.

600 miles south, tens of million of Southern Californian's are huddled along the coast and they have nearly perfect climatic conditions, exept they have a ravenous appetite for fresh water. So here's the deal. California designs and implements a pilot project to collect (using gravity) the water falling and stores it in giant water balloons.

These balloons, once full, would be towed (by tugs or by a self contained solar engine) south along California coastal waters. With substantial help from the prevailing currents, these giant water containers could be nested at high tide in position for solar powered pumps to drain them into waiting reservoirs. This is an elegant but by no means a new idea. The Sierra Club has already staked out a position on the matter:

Sometimes the greatest good must be considered and we believe that re-distribution of water that is currently lost to the Pacific is a small price to pay for a renewable source of water for Southern California.

The Otay Lakes and Sweetwater Reservoir in San Diego would be one example of a place to put California's water. Obviously we are talking big water balloons and they can be designed to be hydrodynamic and even to be saddled by their own solar powered engines.

Using gravity and solar power we can create a true "aqueduct" along California's coast and decrease dependence on the Colorado River. Call me a vidiot!

Incarcerex . . . cure for vidiocy?

2007-06-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

Kudos to the Drug Policy Alliance for this remarkable spoof of US advertising videography.

This late breaking Supreme Court decision on campaign funding resurrects a bunch of old bashes that are guaranteed to bring in ideological voters. Why have a congress at all to pass campaign finance reform when our "highest court" decides that we can unleash the special interest attack dogs during the "last few weeks prior to the election"?

High Tech on a Low Budget

2007-06-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of buzz lately about information overload in the "age of videography". CNET UK provides a very funny attempt by one Brit to "detox" from all his high tech gadgets.

This eight part series, while hilarious, does not provide a practical solution to the issue of how to deal with all that stuff that is being piped down the tubes creating a bandwidth and storage overload that is going to get far worse as time goes on.

No fear. . . Videography Labs is putting the final touches on "Project Airstream Hacienda" a series of reports that will specify lifestyle changes that lower our carbon footprint while streamlining access to desired information in the broadcast & digital media.

We're not simply talking about changing light bulbs or recycling. These practices, while useful, are only baby steps in the transformation of living needed to stop being helpless VIDIOTS.

The key to developing low overhead access to information is development of systems that can pass the FUSE test (Flexible - Universal - Stable - Efficient). In the weeks ahead Videography Labs will be publishing detailed reports on how to use FUSE to get the most "bang for the buck" in a world gone am0k with technology overload. Stay tuned!

Ultra bicyclists show the way to energy independence

2007-06-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hardly a minute goes by without the media or bureaucrats sermonizing about ways to cut back on our consumption of gasoline. While it has caught the publics attention, most of these fixes are trivial when compared to the athletic feat that just began high in the Rocky Mountains, at the US-Canadian border.

According to the Adventure Bicycling Association:

Great Divide Race starts today

At noon today, high on the remote Montana/Canada border, approximately 20 riders will set off on the world’s most challenging bicycle race — the fourth annual Great Divide Race. Held on Adventure Cycling’s 2,490-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, the riders, or at least those who finish, will pedal the entire distance to the Mexican border without any outside assistance. They carry everything they need — food, water, shelter — on their bikes and backs, with refueling stops in small-town stores along the way. Riders are truly on their own, with no support crews, SAG vehicles, or massage-teams allowed.

With a record number of racers, and with several hoping to break the course record of 16 days (note: that’s not a typo), the 2007 Great Divide Race promises to deliver high-quality human drama and unparalleled long-distance adventure. To follow the race updates, go here. Audio updates can be listened to here.

Though the race follows its Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Adventure Cycling does not organize or officially sponsor the Great Divide Race. In fact, no one sponsors the race. The GDR is a grassroots event by design, with exactly zero dollars in prize money for the winners.

-------------------------

Several aspects of this story should be noticed by all the vidiots out there.

1. If these bicylists can travel under there own power along the treacherous ridge of the Rockies, why can't we use our bicycles to go to work . . . or to get milk, the morning paper, a lotto ticket or even a pack of cigarettes? If even a small percentage of local commutes and trips were done with bicycles, it would have a dramatic effect on global gas consumption.

2. Why "no one sponsors"? If Steve Jobs was really on the ball he would have an iPhone powered by a small solar mat with each contestant. From such high vantage points there would be a good chance that some of the peril of riding from Canada across America to Mexico could be communicated and help could be dispatched.

These fine athletes are heroes in the most modern sense. They are riding high tech machines along the world's longest off-road route without aid of fossil fuel. There exploits should be an inspiration to citizens all around the globe.

FAST FORWARD TWO WEEKS

For Immediate Release
July 2, 2007
Contact: Aaron Teasdale
800-755-2453 x237
ateasdale@adventurecycling.org

Great Divide Race Winner Shatters Course Record

New records for speed, participation set in world's most challenging bike race

In an unprecedented display of fitness, strength, and nation-spanning bravado, Jay Petervary, a 35-year-old from Jackson, Wyoming, has won the fourth annual Great Divide Race, decimating the course record with an astoundingly fast time of 15 days, 4 hours, and 18 minutes. Thought unbeatable by many, the previous record of 16 days, 57 minutes, was set in 2004 by current race organizer Mike Curiak. Following Adventure Cycling's 2,490-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, riders in the Great Divide Race navigate jeep roads down the spine of the continent through some of the most remote country in North America, climbing over 200,000 feet and crossing the Continental Divide 28 times.

"I had planned to get photos of every rider pedaling the route," said Adventure Cycling's Aaron Teasdale — whose photo gallery from the first day of the race can be seen here: www.adventurecycling.org/gdrgallery2007 — "but JP shot by me so fast I didn't even have time to get my camera out of the pack. He was red-faced and pumping like he was sprinting for the finish line — and this was two hours into a two-week race."

Cannondale-sponsored rider Matthew Lee, winner of the previous two GDRs, finally achieved his goal of breaking Curiak's record but, in a twist, did not win the race. In the 36 hours before the race, Lee rode the 221-mile Canadian Extension of the Great Divide Route as a "prologue," making his time of 15 days, 22 hours, and 40 minutes, extraordinary in its own right.

This year's race has delivered the kind of backcountry adventure the Great Divide Route is known for, with one rider having a close encounter with a moose, another group caught in a high-mountain June snowstorm, and two riders in remote southern Colorado reporting a close-range UFO sighting. A record 24 GDR riders lined up at the start line, with 11 riders still on the course (and 11 pulling out along the way), including a yet-to-be-determined third-place finisher.

The Great Divide Race is a unique event in the world of sport — there is no entry fee and no outside support — with riders carrying everything they need (food, water, supplies) on their bikes and backs. Petervary wins no prize for his accomplishment, other than the satisfaction of knowing that no other human being has ever ridden the mammoth route faster.

"Mountain biking has a new hero," said Teasdale, "and his name is Jay Petervary."

To learn more about the Great Divide Race go to www.greatdividerace.com. To follow the riders still in this year's race, go here: www.greatdividerace.blogspot.com.
_________________________________

I take back my earlier comments about sponsorship and the iPhone. This story is a lot more important than iPhones . . . it's about the dominance of the human spirit.

High Praise to all the participants in the Great DiVIDe race!

Is Fox News Corp. turning Blue?

2007-06-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

The scales Rupert Murdoch uses to determine "fair and balanced" are about to turn decidedly blue if he succeeds in selling off 9 of Fox News Corp's 35 broadcast stations, as reported in todays New York Times.

The Times reports "The stations are generally in the smallest markets served by the News Corporation’s 35-station television group." This rationale is more obtuse in the Hollywood Reporter which states "Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. plans to sell nine of its Fox network-affiliated TV stations in smaller markets where it has no duopoly to raise cash it can redeploy into growth areas or for possible acquisitions."

A review of the stations for sale shows that Milwaukee (#17), Memphis (#18), Denver (#26), Kansas City (#38) and St. Louis (#53) are not even close to the "smallest markets" served by News Corp. They are holding on to Ocala, FL with a population of under 60,000, not even rated in top US markets. They seem to be consolidating their position in Central Florida holding onto not only Ocala, but Tampa Bay and Orlando. Similiar patterns are seen Texas where Fox News Corp tenaciously holds it's Dallas, Houston and Austin city limits coverage.

With a pending offer to buy the Dow-Jones and Wall Street Journal, Murdoch appears to be positioning his company to ride the wave of Progressive change sweeping America. Consider that 8 of the 9 stations offered for sale are in Red States that voted Conservative in 2006. Fox TV current holdings include 21 stations in Red States and 15 stations in Blue States.

If News Corp. is able to fulfill it's sales plan the new holdings would be 14 stations in Blue States and 11 stations in Red States. What's also interesting is 7 of the 9 stations offered: Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Memphis and Birmingham would appear to divest Fox News Corp of a vertical swath of the American heartland.

Clearly Murdoch, transplanted to the US from his native Australia, has been a shrewd predictor of trends in demographics as he built News Corp. The question, at this time in history, is whether he is practicing the preaching of his forerunner in cable news, Ted Turner, who openly stated "Lead, Follow or Get the F#*k out of the way".

UPDATE: According to this Reuters 6-15-2007 story, there are already signs that Murdock is setting his course.

videography theory

2007-05-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

Videography Labs has compiled data that analyzed population and display technology from 1947 - 2007 according to it's founding author and architect, Bob Kiger:

"Based on projected population increases and historical growth of video displays (originally analog now replaced by digital displays) videography doubles every three years. The cost of obtaining information using videography halves every three years."

The implications of such growth are expressed today with the massive storage requirements needed by every vidiot to digitize the record of their life and times. And the data growth issue is going to go nuclear in the next decade.

At Videography Labs we predict the doubling trend will continue well into the 21st Century, by which time most knowledge will be available to the world's children via videography, as portrayed in this Power Point presentation, product of a group effort by high school teachers at Arapahoe HS. in Littleton, Colorado.

In addition to dramatic population increases we would like to highlight shifts in population demography according to Dr. Ron Wimberley, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at NC State University, who announced that May 23, 2007, marks a “mayday” call for all concerned citizens of the world. “So far, cities are getting whatever resource needs that can be had from rural areas,” he said. “But given global rural impoverishment, the rural-urban question for the future is not just what rural people and places can do for the world’s new urban majority. Rather, what can the urban majority do for poor rural people and the resources upon which cities depend for existence? The sustainable future of the new urban world may well depend upon the answer.”

videography micro workstation VMW

2007-04-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Authors note: If you are not yet aware that you are living in "the age of videography" this discussion of the videography micro workstation may activate your imagination.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Videography Micro Workstation, VMW, is a hybrid design based on existing technologies and standards incorporated into a hand held device. It enables most workaday business to be conducted to a level meeting or exceeding the notebook computer of Spring 2007. We vidiots see the soon-to-be-coming iPhone as a baby step in the right direction . . . but iPhone has plenty of competition from Samsung and others.

Vidiots.us believes that the HD 1080 30p is the logical standard (see very small HD display from Sanyo) for a VMW. The workflow for producing 1080 30p on a handheld device is in development and we will publish as we update this story. A discussion entitled “The most stunning audio and video technology available on any computer platform” is of interest. Perhaps most interesting is the discussion going on about DRM and video. Steve Jobs "Video is pretty different from music right now …”

Video is one component of videography. Audio is another component. All available copyright protections should be afforded to the author of an artistic work done in 1080 30p. Syncronization licenses should be a standard rate as they are in the broadcast industry. Royalties from sale of content should be split between audio and video artists. One could write tomes about all the challenges to this simple system, BUT the bottom line is that it will make money for future videography artists and give the public quality that they demand. Delivering such content takes powerful new technologies.

One enabling technology, NAND technology is reaching for ever denser molecular media, which we also refer to as “flash” especially high speed “flash”.

Flash memory is featured in all HD (see P2 by Panasonic) & SD micro & mini cards. All these SD formats are doubling in capacity every nine months, Flash technology can be configured to support a "swap" capability allowing endless recording.

A second storage solution, of flash memory for HD recording, is useful to emulate the production of feature films which, for over a century, have been produced one 20 minute load at a time relying on editing to develop the content. In this age when flash memory is getting cheaper by the day (We just bought this 2GB micro SD card for $40 retail) the idea of having several cards for hot swaps is reasonable.

A leader in high powered handheld devices, Samsung shows a 10 Megapixel cell camera.

In other reports Samsung suggests that the cost of flash (NAND) media will eventually be so low that the cards can just be shot and stored.

As research progresses there are substantial indicators in technology of smaller platforms. This article on bar code readers for cell phones includes the following quote.

“The cell phone is the natural tool to combine the physical world with the digital world,” that executive, Cyriac Roeding, the head of mobile-phone applications for CBS, said the other day.

We agree that the handheld device with cellular capabilities is the “natural tool” for videography. The entire technology of wireless peripherals is most enabling to micro videography devices. Wireless projectors that handshake with the handheld device to allow larger presentations or review.

Major hurdles include voice to bitmap/vector document preparation . . . a challenge for software providers in the near term. Will these micro apps be online?

Dense applications cause micro devices to consume power at a rate that suggests constant charging would be vital.

VMW should be waterproof! Many vidiots are kayakists and naturists. We have already learned from experience the value of Pentax Optio as a high-powered device that is not systematically destroyed by submerging, even for an instant, in liquid.

Imagine if the best features of cell, video, photography, mp3/ipod, HD broadcast and more were combined with some features described above. You will have a prototype of a videography micro workstation - VMW 2008. New developments are being announced, even as we publish our specification, like LG'/Harris announcement that their "technology would be the first to enable TV stations to broadcast local programming to portable devices using the same airwaves they use to broadcast to regular living room TVs" and Samsungs 10 Megapixel cellular device.

While it is interesting to join technologies, the issue of quality of such systems needs to be addressed. Instead of throwaway devices with instant obsolescence, why not build devices of Leica quality for future videographers? Since NAB has concluded we have done extensive testing on one videograpy device that is waterproof, shoot movies in SD onto an 8GB SDHC card, which we have transferred using a PC Card reader into our laptop workstation for editing. It is not a cellular device but could easily be one. Please remember that the entire purpose of this thread is to gather the best existing technologies and specify a videography micro workstation.

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vidiots.us will continue update after digesting the new gear from NAB 2007

Calling all vidiots !

2007-03-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

Vidaddy needs your help to start a new sort of on line communique. It is the simple poster transmitted internationally via PDF file.

In this case we need your help selling our "Airstream in Oceanside Park". . . a project that we have worked on for five years. It is all about being a minimalist and creating a low overhead lifestyle while living along the idyllic coast of Southern California.

We now spend full time perfecting our vintage Airstream for a single/couple who want to beat the summer heat inland by escaping to the beach. Oceanside's climate is also very mild during the winter months for snow bunnies.

So our idea is to set up a page with a simple set of instructions on how YOU, our friends and fellow vidiots, can help Vidaddy sell his hacienda by printing his poster and putting it up in a place that is legal and will attract the attention of those who might be attracted to an "Airstream in Oceanside Park".
This is a replica of the poster & Here is the instruction page.

If this poster business works it could be the model for a new internet service.

Making a living in "the Age of Videography"

2007-03-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a 3/23/2007 web cast from McGill University on digital rights management . . . attempting to address the issue of both audio & visual artists getting compensated for their creative content in today's digital environment.

One speaker presented a system that he does not seem to be getting traction in the US. They decided instead to deploy their system to China. Here is their flow chart for"Fei Liu".

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It won't work!

To really solve the digital rights management issue, the world has to come to grips with the nature of videography. Not easy for a planet full of vidiots.

VP Cheney travels the world in an Airstream hidden in a cargo jet

2007-02-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

First let's get this straight. There is nothing about VP Cheney that I admire or aspire to. Having said that we have something in common. We both spend some of our time in classic Airstream trailers. That's me and my dog Maile above.

Cheney's Airstream is buried in the bowels of a "C-17, a hulking gray cargo jet out of Charleston, S.C. . . dubbed The Spirit of Strom Thurmond". This story from the Chicago Tribune coupled with today's 416 point loss in the Dow Jones Industrial Average have motivated me to breath new life into my 1966 Airstream Safari into a lean mean high tech urban living environment. I call this project "Airstream Hacienda" and you will be hearing much more about it in the months ahead.

As I post this revision I am "air-streaming" it wirelessly with a wonderful new wi-fi router called a Junxion Box

March 1 is D Day

2007-02-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

D is for Digital. As of Thursday, March 1, 2007, all NEW TV sets must be equipped with digital tuners. It's all part of a much delayed plan to bring broadcasting into the "Age of Videography", a place of confluence for computer, telecom and radio & television technologies.

The switchover from analog to digital is long overdue, in large part because of the lobbying of broadcasters and consumer electronics manufacturers, who lobbied for a decade to delay the switchover. The Chicago Times does a pretty good job of sorting through the HDTV state-of-the-art.

For those who have already made the leap and bought a HD digital TV tuner and hooked it up to their old TV antenna the results are nothing but spectacular. At least from our antenna.

Unlike the old analog signals, which had ghosting and noise and other artifacts, the new HD signals are crystal clear or they don't show up at all. The lab here at http://www.vidiots.us/ receives 9 HD channels, including the major broadcast networks and PBS. One channel of surprise and delight is called "THE TUBE". All this wonderful channel plays is continuous music videos, similiar to MTV before it sold out to reality programs, quiz shows and general junk.

We recommend that all vidiots make sure that their TV antenna is in good working order and take a few days to develop the HD antenna viewing pattern. What you may find is that a wonderful array of news, sports, music and entertainment are available to YOU FOR FREE. It's almost tempting to consider disconnecting our cable and saving a bunch of money every month.

Our decision will be based on the ability to receive broadband internet through telecom and the continued development of IP TV programming so we can watch CNN Pipeline and Comedy Central Motherload to keep abreast of the laughable news of the day.

Bin Laden is sitting on the world's VID

2007-01-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

DATELINE: : Mehrgarh

One goal of vidiots.us is to shed some light on the earliest common bonds of language that can be traced. Some call this "Mother Tongue" . . . other "Ursprache" (which incidentally was the winning word at the 2006 Spelling Bee!).

Our specific interest is VID, a primal utterance that was central to early Sanskrit writing (4,000 or so years ago) . But long before mankind was writing down language, they were communicating with language. VID, and it's derivatives, "video" and "avidya" have always referred to "knowing", "understanding", even "sacred or holy knowledge".

The influence of this primal term spread east & west along the trading routes that passed through the ancient Indus Valley. That is why Mehrgarh is of such interest.

Conventional wisdom among linguists is that the benchmark technology, which may have coincided with the development of written language was the wheel - yoke - axle. Without demeaning the importance of the wheel, we speculate that there may have been more primal technologies that prompted sophisticated language before the wheel. One example might be the relief of pain through dentistry. Which brings us back to Mehrgarh.

This ancient trading and supply center serviced the needs of caravans traveling along the Silk Route. As we can see on the map of the ancient Indus Valley at left, this area includes the Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir borders. Try to imagine an early human in the middle of his/her journey across the world with a painful toothache! Relief is needed and there are townspeople in Mehrgarh who have developed tools to ease the pain. In order for such action to take place the pained person has to get the "dentist" to know his/her pain. By all reasoning they had to share their VID of the condition with the "dentist" and the dentist had to share their VID that they had a way to drill away the pain. How else could such a high level of human interaction have been transacted?

According to artifacts discovered in Mehrgarh many such transactions took place in the area where Osama bin Laden has avoided capture from just about everybody.

Research into the roots of our common "knowledge" may be contained in archaeological sites that are near ground zero of the battlespace to get bin Laden. So, as our cartoon above points out, Bin Laden is sitting on our VID. All of our VID! Even his own VID! Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and most every other modern human once shared a common reverence for their own witnessing and understanding of life.

This is a common bond!

Vidiots.us recalls with great sadness the destruction of the Buddhas in Afghanistan by Taliban in the beginning of this millenia. We also despair over the loss of precious world culture because of the Iraq War and other conflicts in the Middle East.

But it's not too late to save our vid! The spread of information technology, which we call videography, allows all people to present their issues and develop solutions to problems that were (in earlier times) only possible with violence.

Please note: this post is just the first draft on this subject. This article will be regularly updated based on technology breakthroughs and Comments which are enabled here.