History Matters

I MADE HISTORY!!!! My entry is the stuff of dreams... and only because it will put you to sleep.

Sadly, I have every expectation that this will not be a particularly fascinating day, but it's my day nonetheless. So far I have spoken Japanese (sheepishly and incorrectly) in class at uni. More importantly, I was on time, and even better had actually cared enough to get dressed nicely. Maybe it's just an American thing, but many of us don't care enough to spruce up for morning classes. Now I'm blogging for class and later will be taking photographs for yet another assignment. Work work work. Perhaps later still coffee with a friend, or drinks if I'm lucky. I'm really bored with Hartford and am so ready to move somewhere new. Maybe just for the sake of the blog I'll do something REALLY amazing and noteworthy today. Most likely not. It's only a Tuesday.

Google and YouTube Dilemma

I originally posted most of this as a response to Colin's "Blog Like a Pirate Day" post. But I'm not as naturally prolific so I'm going to regurgitate this.

Although the copyright issues at hand here are very very old (within the digital world timeline), I am still surprised by the lack of creativity media companies have shown in responding.

First off, I don't think YouTube is in any serious danger of being dismantled as Napster was, primarily because it offers a much more valuable service to the community. It is significantly easier to distribute information for single or multiple uses, without the threat of acquiring viruses along the way. Used positively, it could be a great tool for distance-learning, marketing, and a myriad of other purposes. Partnered with Google, its audience will skyrocket.

As for running it, I agree that YouTube administrators should be held to their responsibilities of complying with requests to remove materials. However, much like on eBay, it is incredibly hard to police as effectively as most of us (non-fraudulent people) would like. Personally, I like ABC's response to taking away traffic from YouTube and still retaining advertisers and viewers. Nearly 24 hours after a premiere showing of a featured show, they post the episode on their own free viewing site, with only about 90 seconds worth of commercials. Now, the quality is diminished from on TV, but with so few commercials and the ability to access it for free anytime and anywhere I want is priceless. Plus, the quality and speed is still far better than on YouTube.

Anyhow, I think that's the direction more media companies ought to take if they're smart. I doubt it will really hurt DVD sales in the near future when the technology online is still catching up. But as technology becomes more and more sophisticated, businesses will have to react faster and smarter when it comes to protecting media and intellectual property.

Smirnoff seems to have embraced the trend of recycling video for its Raw Tea campaign. You should watch because its just absolutely hilarious and maybe just a little frighteningly familiar. But anyway, this has gotten really popular and serves as another way outlets like YouTube can make a positive impact on sales (but not on our minds...)

Sip Sip Gangstas.

Political Blogging Post-LL: Sidekick, Scene Stealer, or Heckler?

After reading some of the issues raised by my devoted classmates, and having had a vague late-night talk with a friend about Republican vs. Democrat campaign organization, I started wondering to what kind of capacity bloggers could be organized to make even more of a contribution to their chosen party.

Many people have talked about the double-edged sword of blogger sidekicks, as in the Lieberman blackface incident. Yes, it certainly put Lamont between a rock and a hard place, and he was criticized for his half-baked response. Yet nonetheless his role as an outsider, as a newbie to the political rhetoric game, made him much more sympathetic despite his answer being fairly unsubstantial. Lieberman's group, coming out guns firing, didn't really make Lamont look bad or himself look any better. The very fact that his team was so quick to harp on the image seemed to work against him. It seemed to reinforce the common notion among his detractors that he was so caught up in the political game that he'd forgotten his foundation as a Democrat. (Whether or not that notion is valid notwithstanding.) This tried-and-true method he'd employed successfully in the traditional political realm is exactly what held him back here. His spin, being far too calculated, comes off as slimy, whereas the spin generated by independent Lamont bloggers is far more effective, in part because of their rawness. It makes it seem more sincere.

However, back to the organization issue. I'm told that a great chunk of Republican campaign coffers are actually rather small donations made by individuals. Interns are employed all over the country expressly to nurture relationships with like-minded voters and encourage them to contribute. Bloggers have already started to operate in a similar way, independent of any official party program. Now that I've been outed as a closet nerd, I can freely admit seeing something similar happen on Penny Arcade. Before hiring a business manager, began doing contract work, started selling merchandise and hosting conventions, there was about a year or so where the two of them lived on the voluntary donations of their readership.

Anyhow, I just wondered if the political blogosphere will continue to be unpredictable and difficult to manage, or if it will evolve over the years. And if it does, will its appeal diminish? Will the blogs who manage to organize be considered insiders, a status contrary to the current essence of blogging? Will that make them more or less trustworthy? Maybe this is why official blogs have a hard time finding a voice, because they haven't identified their own persona, as insiders trying to replicate the behavior of outsiders.