Kusior Digital Media

Guy Kawasaki on the Death of Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T16:59:00.000-04:00

Guy Kawasaki on the Death of Steve Jobs from Michael A. Stelzner on Vimeo.

NASTAR 2010 Nationals

2010-03-31T12:32:00.005-04:00

The NASTAR 2010 Nationals in Winter Park, CO were fantastic. There were thousands of competitors, male and female, from 4 years old to 80+. A big shout to NASTAR's partner Nature Valley! Also, can't forget Warren Miller Entertainment and their fantastic new film... Dynasty, narrated by Jonny Moseley.

It was my first year competitively skiing and I placed 41st out of 70 in the 45-49 year old group. Next year, God willing, I will go out again and improve my rankings.

Rankings aside, NASTAR is a great family activity and a great way to keep in shape. I saw a lot of guys who were in their 60s, 70s and 80s and they looked great.

NASTAR Platinum and Gold Ski Runs at Pat's Peak

2010-02-11T12:32:00.021-05:00

This video was shot at Pat's Peak in Henniker, NH. Thanks to James, Jon and Mike for their ski racing advice and tips. I had both ski poles in my left hand and held a Flip minoHD in my gloveless right hand.

I shop and get my skis tuned at Ken Jones Ski Mart in Manchester, NH. This year I wanted to try NASTAR, so I purchased a pair of Atomic GS12 (176cm), Scott racing poles and a Spyder GS suit. Thanks to Alison Jones for her advice on the suit... it works great and I estimate that it shaves off about 0.7 to 1.0 seconds on Pat's Peak 'Downdraft' NASTAR course. If you are in the Salem, NH area, then I recommend Buchika's Ski and Bike.

NASTAR stands for NAtional STandardized Race and more information can be found at www.nastar.com. For my age group, I am currently ranked #1 in New Hampshire and #2 in the Nation (Patrick Kusior). God willing, I plan on going out to Nationals in Winter Park, CO at the end of March.

Skiing requires explosive power out of the starting gate; upper body for two or three quick poles and lower body for two or three quick skates. Next is setting up for the first gate, getting through that gate and quickly transitioning to approach the second and subsequent gates. Core body strength, leg strength, balance and focus is required to drive through the finish line.

I do a lot of exercises and a fair bit of running, but the biggest impact on my flexibility and focus has been my Yoga sessions with Ilene Hallisey; Ilene is a certified Kripalu Yoga teacher and you can e-mail her at on_my_om@yahoo.com.

Also, get a hold of the print November 2009 issue of Ski Magazine and read the article 'Go from Good to Great'... lots of great exercises and tips. Don't forget to follow SKI Magazine on Twitter.

See you on the slopes!

2009-12-07T13:40:00.001-05:00

Andrew Gaydos directs The Rockingham Choral Society

Google to Include Real-time Twitter Data in Search Results

2009-10-27T16:36:00.001-04:00

source: http://www.newenglandtechwire.com

Mountain View, Calif. -- Following suit with rival Microsoft, Google has announced plans to include real-time updates from popular microblogging service Twitter in its search results. "The next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you'll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information," Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience, wrote in a blog post. "We look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months." Microsoft on Wednesday announced separate deals with Twitter and Facebook to incorporate real-time status updates from the services into its Bing search engine.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/rt-google-tweets-and-updates-and-search.html

America's Top Ten Internet Retail Businesses

2009-09-24T06:11:00.006-04:00

Some companies on this list are pure-play web-based businesses and some are brick and mortar that supplement their revenue with online sales.

1. Amazon $19.2B

2. Staples $7.7B

3. Dell $4.8B

4. Office Depot $4.8B

5. Apple $3.6

6. OfficeMax $3.1B

7. Sears $2.7B

8. CDW Corp. $2.6B

9. Newegg.com $2.1B

10. Best Buy $2.0B

I linked CDW and Newegg because I have never heard of them before. I'm surprised that I did not know 20% of the list. Did you find anything surprising?

Source: Internet Retailer

8 Top Buzz Tracking & Social Media Monitoring (SMM) Sites

2009-08-28T21:41:00.005-04:00

Here are 8 sites that fall into the Buzz Tracking and Social Media Monitoring (SMM) categories. These sites help you find out what people are saying about you and your company on social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, various blogs and more...

I missed a few, so feel free to fill in this form. The results will be posted, in about 5 minutes, to the bottom of TheTwitterZone Top Social Site's page.

Twitter Sites (ranked by followers, high to low):

http://twitter.com/ICEROCKET
(We are the best real-time search engine. Give us a try, you will discover some awesome stuff! We are the ULTIMATE buzz tracker...Now searching Twitter also)
http://twitter.com/Radian6
(The social media monitoring platform for PR, marketing and customer support pros in corporate and agency settings)
http://twitter.com/filtrbox
(Real-time social media monitoring platform for PR, Marketing, and Brand pros. Get real-time alerts, trending and analysis for news, blogs, twitter and more.)
http://twitter.com/Sysomos
(Business Intelligence for Social Media)
http://twitter.com/AlterianSM2
(Social Media Monitoring Tool as featured on TechCrunch http://tinyurl.com/c8qmxg)
http://twitter.com/scoutlabs
(Scout Labs is a new web-based social media monitoring solution.)
http://twitter.com/trackur
(The official Twitter account for social media monitoring tool Trackur.com)
http://twitter.com/blogpulse
(Nielsen Online Tool)

Web Sites:

Here is a good article by Jason Falls "Social Media Monitoring Grudge Match: Radian6 vs. Scout Labs"... some really good, insightful comments.

Off 'til Early August

2009-07-24T07:11:00.001-04:00

Hello and thanks for visiting. I'll be off 'til early August.

Answer to June Poll Question

2009-07-02T19:23:00.002-04:00

Who said: "Eighty and six years have I served Him and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?" 88% picked Polycarp. Continue reading to see the correct answer.
- Tertullian was an African writer that changed the face of Christian thinking. In A.D. 196, he began writing books in Latin, rather than the commonly used Greek, because Latin allowed more precision and less philosophizing. He elucitated the doctrine of the Trinity, posited the three-fold aspect of humankind (body, soul and spirit), and was the first to create the theological constructs for baptism and the Lord's Supper.
- Origen, the greatest scholar of the 3rd century, was born to Christian parents in Alexandria c. A.D. 185. His father was imprisoned and was killed for his beliefs. Origen began teaching Greek literature to support his widowed mother. He was prolific and wrote over 800 books and hundreds of sermons, including the first attempt at a systematic theology, 'On First Principals'.
- Jerome, who was born in A.D. 340, began his ascetic lifestyle as a hermit but found he needed something to occupy his mind. He took up Hebrew and began teaching classes in biblical interpretation. Eventually he translated the Old and New Testaments from their original languages into Latin - what we call the 'Vulgate' which the Roman Catholic Chruch used as its 'authorized' version.
- Poylcarp (correct answer) was the last living link to the New Testament age. The apostle John had discipled Ignatius, who in turn discipled Polycarp. In A.D. 156, at the age of 86, Polycarp was arrested in Smyrna for refusing to call Caesar 'lord', burn incense to him, and acknowledge his 'genius' as devine. He was sentenced to death by being burned at the stake. He was given an opportunity to recant Jesus, but instead uttered the immortal words "Eighty and six years have I served Him and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?" Polycarp's act is a reminder to Christians to take a bold stand for Christ.
source: 1001 Surprising Things You Should Know About Christianity by Jerry MacGregor and Marie Prys

What is #followfriday?

2009-06-18T18:51:00.003-04:00

Question: Are you proud of your friends? and would like other people to know how cool, smart, creative they are? How do you do that?

Answer: Use #followfriday. Every Friday, Twitter users from around the world recommend other people to follow. The # in front of 'followfriday' is Twitter's way of grouping people with similar interests. To save space, I use #FF instead of #followfriday. Read the interesting story about the origins of #followfriday.

So, #followfriday is a group, but the cool things is... anybody can create a group and there are literally thousands of groups. For more information please visit http://hashtags.org

Introducing Grace Place Kids

2009-06-15T19:34:00.004-04:00

I'm really proud to know one of the guys that made this video and the Grace Place Kids Website. Don't forget to follow them on Twitter (twitter.com/graceplacekids)

"My Hero"

Results of May 2009 Poll

2009-05-31T14:05:00.003-04:00

Q. What is the best url shortening service?
Your answers:
bit.ly (50%)
cli.gs (25%)
tinyurl (25%)
is.gd (0%)
snipurl (0%)
Thanks for participating!

Results of April 2009 Poll

2009-05-04T11:32:00.001-04:00

The question was
"Will Susan Boyle's Performance be YouTube's Biggest Sensation Ever?"
20% said Yes
80% said No

Thanks for participating... please place your vote for the May 2009 Poll

Poll Question for May 2009

2009-05-04T11:18:00.003-04:00

Hi All,
As many of you know there are a number of URL shortening services such as tinyurl.com, is.gd, cli.gs, bit.ly and snipurl.com. The poll question for May 2009 is what is the best URL Shorting Service?

I'm interested in your comments...
If you want to "to shorten a URL and track the click history" then is cli.gs the best?

Susan Boyle: Stunning Performance, Most Viral Video of All Time?

2009-04-18T14:43:00.006-04:00

There are quite a few Susan Boyle videos on YouTube, but this one is my favorite... "Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)". The audio is terrific and it captures, succinctly, all of the emotions of this riviting performance. The embed option for this video has been disabled by BritainsSoTalented.

The camera angles, cuts and transitions are great. I like the expression on the judges' (and audience's) faces moments before Susan's performance and then moments into the performance.

According to a Mashable article, feed by stats from Visible Measures, this performance is poised to become the biggest viral hit of all time. And it deserves to be. Social media (blogs, Twitter, FB, et al) is doing its part to spread this video around the internet. It is a stunning performance. Godspeed Susan Boyle.

Evan Willams on the Origins of Twitter

2009-03-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

What is #followfriday?

2009-03-20T21:05:00.001-04:00

Question: Are you proud of your friends? and would like other people to know how cool, smart, creative they are? How do you do that?

Answer: Use #followfriday. Every Friday, Twitter users from around the world recommend other people to follow. The # in front of 'followfriday' is Twitter's way of grouping people with similar interests. Read the interesting story about the origins of #followfriday.

So, #followfriday is a group, but the cool things is... anybody can create a group and there are literally thousands of groups. For more information please visit http://hashtags.org

TheTwitterZone

2009-03-13T05:19:00.004-04:00

I'm proud to announce the launch of TheTwitterZone. It's not quite done yet... still plenty of work to do. TheTwitterZone is a social media-orientated site with a focus on Twitter-orientated content. The site will have Lists, Stats, Tips and News about how to get the most out of Twitter.

Something that you will notice immediately is that it was not created with WordPress. For now, at least, I am using Google Sites with Google Analytics.

Wishing you a nice Friday and weekend.
Patrick
@kusior

2009-02-17T21:46:00.001-05:00

Tweetup Mt. Sunapee (NH); skiing all day next Tuesday. Sugarbush (ME) this Saturday. Mid-April is Tuckerman's Ravine.

Twitter Widget

2009-02-07T15:54:00.004-05:00

Look to the right hand side and you will notice that I added a Twitter Widget to this blog. Use this link to add your own widget.

The myths and realities of video advertising

2008-08-04T13:46:00.002-04:00

by Tod Sacerdoti.

Tod addresses some of the myths and realities of online video advertising. Here is one myth/reality section of the article.

Myth: Impressions are a good measure of effectiveness.
If television campaign performance can be defined as "measurement by maybes," online video campaign performance should be defined as "measurement by metrics." However, many marketers are relying exclusively on the impression metric, which is not sufficient. The bottom line: not all impressions are created equally.

Reality: Impressions are only the beginning.
The savvy marketer realizes the importance of looking beyond the impressions and includes such factors as engagement, ad duration, cost-per-view, clickthrough rate, recall, brand lift and brand adjacency as key influencers of a campaign. Not surprisingly, in 2008 we will see budgets rapidly shifting to high quality, typically branded inventory that performs high on a range of brand metrics, and away from the "churn and burn" low quality video sites and networks.

>kmm<

Great Overview of Google by Santosh Sankar

2008-08-02T07:15:00.000-04:00

Santosh Sankar is currently a junior at Penn State's Smeal College of Business where he is majoring in Finance. He has held leadership positions with the Nittany Lion Fund and currently is an analyst in the IT Sector.

His Google overview article and the subsequent comments are very informative.

>kmm<

"I have a dream" (HTC's 'Dream' that is)

2008-07-18T21:26:00.000-04:00

HTC is positioned to be the first company to release a phone based on Google's open souce software stack a.k.a Android. A number of websites are dedicated to Android and HTC's Dream.

Here are just a few:
Android Community
Demo of the HTC Dream at the I/O Conference
HTCDream.com
EverythingDream.com
>kmm<

iPhone Stats

2008-07-10T19:50:00.000-04:00

89% of iPhone subscribers use the Web on their phones, vs. 15% of the overall mobile market
83% of iPhone subs use email, vs. 13% overall
60% of iPhone subs use search, vs. 7% overall
50% of iPhone subs visit social networking sites or blogs, vs. 6% overall

Source: comScore M:Metrics

Android Phones Are On Schedule for 2H 2008

2008-06-23T18:50:00.000-04:00

by Amy Thompson
Google Says Android Phones Are On Schedule for 2008 (Update2)

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the world's most popular search engine, said it's on schedule to deliver the first mobile phones that run its Android operating system to customers by the second half of this year.

Momentum for the project is building from carriers, handset makers, developers and consumers, Mountain View, California-based Google said today in an e-mailed statement.

more...

Web Page Chart

2008-05-22T09:21:00.000-04:00

Text Tag Cloud from a Google Form

2008-05-17T15:51:00.000-04:00

Below is a Text Tag Cloud that was generated from a Google Form:

This is the link to the online form.

What is Your Favorite Color?

What is Your Favorite Pet?

>kmm<

TI's DLP Pico-Projector Demo

2008-05-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

Whenever I talk about Mobile Marketing, the biggest negative I often hear is "It will never work, the screen it too small". The iPhone's generous screen size is mitigating a lot of comments from the nattering nabobs of negativism crowd.

Additionally, TI's pico-DLP technology could revolutionize how hand-held content is displayed. The DLP technology is not a big hit with HDTV (people prefer either LCD or Plasma), but DLP is perfect for handheld devices and the handheld market, in terms of volume, dwarfs the the HDTV market. If TI plays their cards right, they could have a enormously successful product.
>kmm<

10 Steps to Improve Search Engine Ranking

2008-04-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

[excerpts from a Brandon Leibowitz article]

1. Implement Title Tags and Meta Tags
Title tags are an important aspect of search engine optimization as they are the way to convey your marketing skills to your target audience. The wording should flow smoothly while containing important keywords.

2. Offer Quality Content
Your content is very useful for the search engines in determining whether or not your Web site is relevant to your topic. You want quality, keyword rich content. You do not want to stuff your keywords, but place them sporadically throughout you site.

3. Acquire Quality Links
Links are a valuable tool for gaining top search engine rankings. Links (backlinks) are viewed as a vote from one site to another, so the more links to your site, the more popular the search engines think your site is.

4. Strive for Quality Backlinks
Recently, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) began to crack down on link farm sites (sites where you buy links) by penalizing them in the search engine rankings. Avoid link farms or buying links from non-authority sites, as they will only do more harm than good.

5. Have a Keyword Relevant Domain Name
Before purchasing a domain name, you should look for a URL that has relevant keywords to your company. Ensure that your domain name has some relevancy to your Web site.

6. Use HTML
Search engine spiders have a hard time reading coding other than HTML (hypertext markup language). To avoid any confusion for the spider, have your Web site written in HTML -- not Flash.

7. Make Site Navigation Easy
You want a Web site that is easy to navigate. The more confusing and broken links on your site, the less likely it is that a spider will fully crawl and index all your pages.

8. Use Fresh, New Content
Search engines do not want old, outdated content on their search results, so you must make sure to add new content to your site on a consistent basis.

9. Add a Blog to Your Site
A blog is a great tool for keeping visitors up to date to with your site. Blogs help promote your site and give your visitors another way to locate your Web site.

10. Make Your Web Site for Humans - Not Spiders
You want to have a Web site that is easy to read and comprehend -- not a site that is made for the spiders to read. Ultimately, your site is viewed by humans who hold the purchasing power. Ensure that your Web site is easy to read and does not have any misspellings.

>kmm<<

Sniff by Useful-Networks.com

2008-03-31T21:22:00.000-04:00

sniff - never ask “where r u?” again

sniff (social network integrated friend finder) lets you instantly locate your friends in real-time, anytime, anyplace, using your mobile phone. Putting security and safety first, sniff also gives you total control over your privacy and how you share your location with others. What’s more, sniff integrates with Facebook and the world’s leading social networks. For more information visit Useful Networks

AT&T To Debut Mobile TV In May

2008-03-30T16:14:00.000-04:00

The following is an excerpt. As readers of this blog know, I am a fan of LG and Samsung phones. AT&T has picked one phone from each company for thier first trial run. The iPhone has to get a real querty and enterprise e-mail. I know that the second gen iPhone is going to address the e-mail deficieny. No word yet on a phone with a tactile querty. A slide version, to reveal a tactile querty, and more robust e-mail capabilities would make the iPhone tough to beat.
>kmm<

[begin]
The service, which initially will launch on two handsets and with two exclusive channels, utilizes Qualcomm's MediaFLO technology.

By W. David Gardner
InformationWeek
March 28, 2008 02:03 PM

After several months of delays, AT&T (NYSE: T) is planning to begin offering its AT&T Mobile TV in May in a move that stands in sharp contrast to its success with Apple's iPhone, which has been widely hailed for its video offerings.
The new AT&T service, which initially will launch on two handsets and with two exclusive channels, utilizes Qualcomm's MediaFlo technology, which has been used by Verizon Wireless' V Cast Mobile TV and other service providers internationally.

"AT&T Mobile TV is a powerful new... here is the entire article.
[end]

EE Times lauds ADI's Stata

2008-03-24T13:18:00.000-04:00

by
Junko Yoshida
EE Times
(03/21/2008 3:10 AM EDT)

Google confident Android will beat iPhones

2008-03-16T17:02:00.000-04:00

From UPI.com, March 15

My next phone will be Android-based

[begin]
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 15 (UPI) -- Google executives say they are confident the company's forthcoming phones armed with the Android operating system will overtake the U.S. market from the iPhone.

Rich Miner, manager of Google's mobile platforms group, says the new Android-based mobile phones are more flexible than the proprietary Apple phones since the so-called open system allows applications from other software makers, The Times of London reported Saturday.

Miner said the first Android phones are due out late this year.

"It's great that people are finally building tools so all of these third-party applications can be built and get out there, (but) there are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can't do with the iPhone -- at least at the moment," Miner said.

The Times said the Android SDK was made available online last November and Google officials say it has already been downloaded more than 750,000 times.
[end]

Google could be superseded, says web inventor

2008-03-13T18:41:00.000-04:00

The following is an excerpt from a March 12, 2008 Times Online article.
[begin]
Google may eventually be displaced as the pre-eminent brand on the internet by a company that harnesses the power of next-generation web technology, the inventor of the World Wide Web has said.

The search giant had developed an extremely effective way of searching for pages on the internet, Tim Berners-Lee said, but that ability paled in comparison to what could be achieved on the "web of the future", which he said would allow any piece of information — such as a photo or a bank statement — to be linked to any other.

Mr Berners-Lee said that in the same way, the "current craze" for social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace would eventually be superseded by networks that connected all types of things — not just people — thanks to a ground-breaking technology known as the "semantic web".

[end]

iPhone to take on Blackberry

2008-03-12T15:21:00.000-04:00

The following is an excerpt of an article written by Lilly
[begin]
Apple moved to take on the Blackberry today by announcing plans to allow its iPhone to link up to corporate email systems.

Until now, the Blackberry has been the preferred gadget of the business community as it allows executives to synchronise Microsoft applications, such as Microsoft Outlook email, contacts and calendar, with the smartphone. Many businesses shied away from using the iPhone as it does not work well with their email systems.

Speaking at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California this evening, Phil Schiller, head of worldwide marketing for Apple, said the iPhone's next software update would support Microsoft's Exchange product.

The news saw shares of Research In Motion, maker of the Blackberry, fall 2.7 per cent to $99 on the Nasdaq.
[end]
The full article.

Even thought the new iPhone will support Outlook, the lack of a tactile querty keyboard will keep it out of the hands of my power business users (those who currently use Blackberry devices).

Snaggable Ads

2008-02-15T16:13:00.001-05:00

An example of a snaggable ad from clearspring.com

Tips and Tricks by Videomaker

2008-02-15T11:28:00.000-05:00

Below are some useful Tips and Tricks videos. For aritcles, Tips and Tricks, and more visit videomaker.com

Episode 101
TIPS & TRICKS: Basic Handheld Techniques

Episode 83
TIPS & TRICKS: Cutting on the Action

Episode 81
TIPS & TRICKS: The 180 degree rule

Understanding Digital Video Architecture

2008-02-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

MPEG-2, DivX, AVCHD: These are just a few of the confusing acronyms of digital video. Let's clear the air a bit. To understand Digital Video Architecture, you need to start at the beginning. The beginning in this case is known as Video Compression. That is the start of this article; after that, we will get into the most common formats in use today.

In order to make digital video's use widespread, there had to be a way to reduce the amounts of data that needed to be stored and transmitted. This reduction in the amount of storage is a direct result of the advances made possible by video compression. The advances in video compression have single-handedly led to the widespread use of video to the desktop and to hundreds of channels in your home. To boil it down to its most simplistic level, compression is performed when an inputted video is analyzed and the information that is indiscernible to the viewer is dropped. Each event is given a code - the most commonly occurring events are given fewer bits and the rarer events will have more bits. These steps are usually known as signal analysis, quantization and variable length encoding.

There are 4 major ways to compress video. Discrete cosine transform (DCT), vector quantization (VQ), fractal compression (FC) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT).

The Result of Compressing Video
MPEG stands for Moving Picture Experts Group. MPEG was established in 1988 to develop standards for digital audio and video formats. There are 4 MPEG standards being used right now. Each compression standard was designed with a specific application and bit rate in mind.

MPEG-1 is designated for 1.5Mbit/sec standard for the compression of moving pictures and audio. This was based on CD-ROM video applications and is a popular standard for video on the Internet transmitted as an .mpg file. Level 3 of MPEG-1 is the most popular standard for digital compression of audio - known as MP3. VideoCD uses MPEG-1 as its standard compression method. It is not very complicated to create and will yield okay results.

MPEG-2 is designed for 1.5 to 15Mbit/sec standard on which digital TV set top boxes and DVD compression are based. It is based on MPEG-1 but designed for the compression and transmission of digital broadcast television. The most significant improvement over MPEG-1 is its ability to efficiently compress interlaced video.

MPEG-4 is the standard of multimedia and Web compression. MPEG-4 is based on object-based compression, similar to Virtual Reality Modeling Language. Individual objects within a scene are tracked separately and compressed together to create an MPEG-4 file. The end result is a very good and efficient compression that is very scalable, from low bit rates to very high ones. This format is the one most used today.

It offers excellent video and audio quality. It is the most popular MPEG standard used right now.

JPEG stands for Joint photographic Experts Group. JPEG is not a very good compression technique for full-color or grayscale images, as it exploits the fact that the human eye will not notice small color changes in an image.

Extensions to Keep an Eye On
.AVI It stands for Audio Video Interleaved. This type of file is a sound and motion picture file that conforms to the standards set by Microsoft Windows Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF). You will be able to recognize this type of file by its extension .avi. This is a common file format. The video quality is good at smaller resolutions; the only major drawback is that the files tend to be large. The most commonly used video codecs that use .avi are MJPEG and DivX. To play an .avi, you could use Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, or the DivX player.

.MOV This file extension identifies an Apple QuickTime movie; .mov is an Apple QuickTime motion video file format. Developed by Apple Computer for viewing moving images, .mov is a method of storing sound, graphics and movie files. Originally QuickTime was developed for the Macintosh; it is now available for Windows as well. Such .mov files are created and played back on the Apple QuickTime player.

MJPEG is short for Motion JPEG. It is a video codec where each video field is separately compressed into a JPEG image. It best suited for broadcast resolution interlaced video, such as NTSC or PAL. MJPEG is not good for movies that are smaller than TV resolutions. MJPEG is ill suited for progressive scan computer monitors. It is lso used for short files such as the short movies that can be made by a digital camera.

DivX is a software application that uses MPEG-4 standard to compress digital video. The DivXNetworks and the open source community are developing DivX jointly. The DivX player is a powerful and stable player.

Note: This article is an except. The entire article was written by John Devcic (a freelance writer and videographer) and can be viewed at videomaker.com.

Freescale is demonstrating working LTE technology...

2008-02-14T09:05:00.000-05:00

Thursday, February 14, 2008 Freescale Showcases End-to-End LTE Cellular Technologies
Source: Wireless News Wireless News via NewsEdge Corporation :

The technology is on display at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Cellular Handset: LTE (Long Term Evolution) is engineered to provide high-speed, low-latency data that can unlock the power of high bandwidth applications in a mobile environment. Freescale s demo at Mobile World Congress will feature streaming high-definition video uplink and downlink.

Our ability to demonstrate streaming HD video at such high data rates illustrates both the growing maturity of the LTE specification and our unique implementation, said Tom Deitrich, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Freescale s Cellular Products Group. We are committed to working with and supporting key partners to rapidly commercialize LTE for operators.

Freescale provides the five key ingredients baseband, A-to-D and D-to-A wideband converters, integrated front-end converters, software expertise and power amplifier efficiency in RF for LTE success in consumer-enabled devices, said John Jackson, Vice President of Yankee Group s Enabling Technologies Group. Their expertise in cellular and networking gives them a clear advantage in the development and leadership of LTE.

Through our leadership in RF power amplifiers, programmable DSPs and PowerQUICC communications processors, Freescale is well positioned to help our customers evolve to next-generation wireless technologies, such as front-runner LTE, said Lynelle McKay, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Freescale s Networking and Multimedia Group. We offer platform development solutions today that speed and simplify creation of networking equipment for LTE and other emerging broadband wireless technologies.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))
((Distributed on behalf of 10Meters via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com)) ((10Meters - http://www.10meters.com))

Grabbing a Clip from EDN

2008-02-08T10:04:00.001-05:00

This clip shows a great example of whiteboarding. The video is hosted by Bright Cove

No New Phones for Christmas

2007-12-06T14:19:00.000-05:00

I've decided to hold off buying a new phone until 2008. I like my LG VX8300, on Verizon, because it has good web access, VZ Navigator, ESPN MVP, a camera, video, microSD and it is compact. My next phone will have QWERTY keyboard, so I am thinking about the LG Voyager. I've tried it out at my nearby Verizon store, but am not convinced that it is the phone for me, yet. The touch pad is not very sensitive, but I liked the biggish screen and the keyboard.

While I was in the mall, I strolled over to the Apple store and tried out the iTouch and the iPhone. I won't be buying either product in the near future... I simply do not like the touch screen querty keboard. I can type faster on my LG triple tap (T9) keyboard. Another concern is that gmail does not render properly. And lastly, the safari browser's pinch finger/expand finger rendering of webpages is novel, but not very practical. I still believe the company's should have two webpages: an encyclopedic .com version for PCs and a reduced feature set .mobi version for mobile devices.

I have an iTunes account and it is easy to port my mp3s over to my LG. All I do is remove my microSD card from my phone and install it into my pc. Next, I copy my mps from my iTunes folder, then return the uSD card to the phone. Done. It might not be as elegant as a one touch sync, but it works.

LG VX10000 a.k.a. Voyager

2007-11-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

I'm in the market to upgrade my current LG VX8300 and am considering LG's new VX10000. I've been a Verizon customer for about 5 years and like their service and selection of phones. A couple of applications that I like are the VZ Naviagator and ESPN MVP. The VX8300 is a true workhorse, it is rugged, compact and gives me access to some nice applications. I'm considering the VX1000 for a number of reasons such as touch screen, larger screen, qwerty keyboard and a solid flip top design. I recently checked the phone out at my local Verizon store and was impressed with the solid feel, great visual and sound and fit and finish. Below is a very informative review from a company called phonescoops. I liked this review better than CNET's review.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T11:17:00.000-05:00

I am thankful for my family, friends, heath and job. I am thankful for being able to write a blog and for living in the United States. At this time of year, I am particularly thankful for the men and women in uniform who unselfishly serve this country.

MIW Wrap-up

2007-11-17T17:44:00.000-05:00

Wed. and Thur. had lots of interesting stats and individual presentations. The morning tracks were the most instructive as well as some of the breakout trac ks in the afternoon. The tracks that had the least appeal was the round table discussions... I've been to a lot of conferences, going back to the DSL days of early 2000, and have determined that round table discussions are not the best way for me to gather information.

Some stats that stood out were: 2M mobile phones sole for every TV, 4M mobile phones for every PC, 2.7B mobile phone users today (credit: James Pearce of dotMobi); 32 mobile phones sold per second and 4 births per second (credit: Alexandre Froment-Curtil of Vodaphone).

I like the formula that expresses the power of the social web as 'me to the power of you' or 'meEyou' or 'me^you'.

Speaking of the social web, I recieived an autographed book of Larry Weber's 'Marketing to the Social Web' (publisher: Wiley) and have read the first c0uple of chapters. Larry is Chairman of the W2Group Inc. If you want some insight into the mobile social web and 'how the future of marketing is a two-way street and not a one-way message', then I suggest that you click on Amazon or B&N and buy a copy after you read this.

Tuesday at MIW

2007-11-14T19:24:00.000-05:00

Mobile Internet World. A couple of low res videos taken by a 1.3 megapixel LG VX8300. The quality is poor. This is mostly an exercise in pushing content to You Tube from a cellphone, resizing the embedded video, then posting it to a blog.

Bruce Stewart, VP & GM
Connected Life Americas, Yahoo, Inc.

Ed Mitukiewicz, Principal Research Scientist
Orange - France Telecom Group

Mobile Internet World

2007-11-10T16:24:00.000-05:00

This Tue, Wed & Thu I will be attending the Mobile Internet World in Boston (http://www.mobilenetx.com/). The list of presenters and demonstrators is impressive and I will be making daily posts. So what is this about? Here is a portion of what you will find on their website.

Mobile Internet World will, for the first time, bring together all key mobile technologies, products, systems and services into a single, information-packed event that features key industry players, thought leaders and users. Mobile Internet (MI) World will answer these fundamental questions:

What is the MI?
How, when and where will it come about?
What makes up the evolving MI ecosystem?
What are the roadblocks?
What impact will the MI have on enterprises & consumers?

Androids and Gadgets

2007-11-09T23:00:00.001-05:00

You may have heard about Google's Gadgets Ads. Essentially they mini-applications that can be mini-versions of your website that are embedded in any AdSense ad size (for more details see http://www.google.com/adwords/gadgetads/index.html). Currently, these Gadget Ads are on PC-based platforms. Android will make it easy for Google to push their revenue generating gadgets from PC to mobile devices. Google is aiming to extend their success in PC-based ad revenue to mobile devices.

SigmaStudio by ADI

2007-11-06T18:34:00.000-05:00

Analog Devices' SigmaStudio™ Graphical Development Tool is a tool specifically developed for SigmaDSP™ audio processors. Familiar audio processing blocks can be wired together as in a schematic, and the compiler generates DSP-ready code and a control surface for setting and tuning parameters. (www.analog.com/sigmastudio)

iPhone vs. GPhone

2007-11-05T19:42:00.000-05:00

Ok this is a little premature... there is no GPhone, yet. Today, the blogosphere was abuzz about Android, which is Google's linux-based mobile software platform. Will Nokia, which uses Symbian jetison its Series 60 development platform or will 50+ mobile devices manufacturers discard Microsoft's Windows Mobile? In the short-term the answer is no. The mobile market is large (there are 4x the number of phones than PCs). Google does not have to be #1 in this space, although that would be very favorable if it attained such a ranking; no, Google could be #2 or #3 and the corresponding revenues would obviously supplement the cash cow search ad revenue stream. After Android is adotped by a number of device manufactures and after the software is exercised and optimized in real-world scenarios, then I can foresee a GPhone. For now consider Android to be Google's Trojoan horse.

dot what? dot mobi!

2007-11-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

.mobi is the newest top level domain (tld) and time will tell if it catches on. Some big companies and brands have their own .mobi sites such as bmw.mobi and ferrari.mobi. Banks such as Bank of America have their own site and call it bofa.mobi. The bofa.mobi redirects to https://www.bankofamerica.com/mobile/. So for now the biggest adopters of the newest tld are travel, automotive and banking, essentially entities in the b2c space. Will .mobi catch on with b2b companies? I'll comment on this in later posts.

The Mobile Channel

2007-10-30T14:48:00.000-04:00

I am a big proponent of the m-channel a.k.a the mobile channel. Some of my peers in the marketing world believes that life ends with a .com-based, pc-based website. There is a smaller group that cut their teeth with the offline, print world and are wrestling with what to do with their careers as offline ad dollars and budgets are evaporating. .mobi is getting a lot of buzz right now... it will never overtake .com in popularity, but I do believe that it is good practice for corporations to own both tlds (top level domains). Consider .com to be the encyclopedia version of your company's website, then consider .mobi to be the pamphlet version of your company's website.