Full Transcript:

[Commercial]

Music

Cariann Higginbotham: Technology Evangelist podcast for May 25^th, 2007. Freestyle Friday.Recorded live with audience participation.

Benjamin Higginbotham: My name is Benjamin Higginbotham and with me is Cariann Higginbotham.

Cariann Higginbotham: That’s me.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And it’s Freestyle Friday. We get to talk about anything we want, technology or non-technology related and for some reason, it’s always technology related. Have you ever noticed?

Cariann Higginbotham: Wow, I could have an entire show about all kinds of things that are related to technology, I just don’t think you’d let me.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Like the season finale of Lost?

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Hey, that's weird.

Cariann Higginbotham: It’s a total mine F.

Benjamin Higginbotham: All right, let’s go back to that because first, the topic that I thought was interesting this tonight, we’re doing a trial stream on Operator 11. Now, usually we do our Operator11.com trial streams after the show to try to figure out the routing and how we’re going to do audio and everything else, but this time, we’re actually doing it concurrently with our YouStream video. And this is kind of interesting because Operator11 and YouStream are different and yet the same at the same time and Operator11 kind of offers lot of same features, so well, let me back up what YouStream is a way for us to easily broadcast our podcasts live on the internet with video and audio and allows for audience participation through an IRC chat room and it’s actually been really great for us. It’s been fantastic. The podcast is never been better. We can actually interact with the audience and if I forget to ask you a question of a guest, the chat room can come back and say “Hey, what do you think of this?” With the exception of yesterday when they actually asked a question, then I totally ignored them. Operator11, what?

Cariann Higginbotham: We had an interview, it’s a little bit different.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Oh, I forgot?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Now Operator11 takes it to the next level where not only -- because see what’s the thing with UStream is that, right now there’s one wide camera shot that everyone can see. They can see the back of my head and Cariann and a bunch of microphones and computers and that’s it. They’re coming from a television background, listen noise, bajeebra [phonetic] was out of me. Because what it does…

Cariann Higginbotham: Everything annoys the bajeebra’s out of you.

Benjamin Higginbotham: We know but this really gives me because all -- here’s the thing, I don’t have the brain power to actually do a technical direct like directing technical direct it -- why are you laughing before?

Cariann Higginbotham: I don’t have the brain power to direct it and technically direct it, you had entirely too pregnant of a pause.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Well, I am good at pregnant pauses. I – oh let me make my point, let me make my point then you can make fun of me. I don’t have the brain power to actually run the show, produce and host it, run all of the audio through the board, make sure all of that’s working and actually ask the guests and keep on track and do the video switches all at the same time and pay attention to both the chat rooms that are making sure that I’m actually answering everyone’s question. I kind of -- I loose my ability to do this stuff right around the ability to switch different cameras, but what Operator11 allows me to do is very easily in a visual mode, see all the different cameras that are available to me and bring a guest in from an audio and video stand point so that I’ve to think about it, so that rather than having to do it all on the board, I can kind of all do it on the Operator11 site, but the beautiful thing is, instead of just seen the back of my head when a guest is talking, we get to see the guest’s face. But, when I switch to their camera, they can’t hear my questions, so if I switch to that guest’s camera and I ask him a question, it don’t switch back to my camera and no one else can hear that question. It’s just their audio.

Cariann Higginbotham: Great.

Benjamin Higginbotham: That’s a problem.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yes.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Now, Guest 99 is saying that is in YouStream is saying “wrong.” So, they can hear me but can everyone hear me? So when I switch to netcast, say, number two, right I can --- then I can -- okay, so they are saying “Press ‘preview’.” If I press ‘preview’, then their video doesn’t go up on the screen, I can only hear it. That kind of defeats the whole point. If I’m going to do that, why not just use YouStream at that point. I’ll just bring him on a Skype conversation or Gizmo Call and then I can actually control the call itself, so why would I just hit ‘preview’ and not sure their video at all. This is the problem -- this is my fundamental problem with Operator11 is I want to use it because it has most of the features I want, but I’m -- I just -- I can’t get the last 10% to get it so that I can create -- get video and audio on the screen with everyone sharing the audio. It’s almost like I need a button that says “Ignore all audio except what's running through your board.” Or “Always broadcast.” Yeah, it’s almost like I need an audio button, if that makes any sense. They want to know if who’s human. YouStream must know if someone’s human. So, anyhow, so that’s -- what do you think, Cariann?

Cariann Higginbotham: Ah, well, I don’t direct. I have no desire to direct in anyway shape or form. I have seen you do it, I have seen you do it live at live -- like a -- not just studio things like this but like a large sort of stadium shows and what not and I know that it’s like the two different animals to a certain extent, but it’s still directing and you sweat and you swear and you look like you’re having a horrible time and you keep telling me how much you like it and it just -- I don’t get it, I don’t get it and so I don’t know -- I mean I guess I just kind of have to go with whatever you say because you know you pretty much think that you’re write anyway regardless of whether or not you are. So, in this case, I’m just going to go along and say “Yeah, where’s my audio button?”

Benjamin Higginbotham: Now, here’s another interesting problem with Operating11. So, we’d like to start the pre shows about an hour before the actual show, so at about 8 O’clock Central Time, we started broadcasting on Operator11 as we did on YouStream, about 30 seconds ago, my Opertaor11 session just died.

Cariann Higginbotham: Nice.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So, now I have to actually go back in and say “Start a new -- start a new show.” That’s a little bit annoying. Cariann fill for me while I actually starting the show. Cariann Higginbotham: Um, okay, sure, kids. Well, someone told me not to talk about loss, so now I can’t talk about that.

Benjamin Higginbotham: No, you go ahead talk about loss.

Cariann Higginbotham: No, I can’t, because -- all right, look how about I won’t give you any spoilers other than I now am completely, no fun intended, but lost, like I walked it, and I thought I was -- I knew what’s going on and I was feeling how cool about myself and then I went “Wow.” And that was it and so now, it’s kind of like I don’t know if you people had the same experience when you saw the movie The Sixth Sense. But I was kind of one of those where it was the end and then I went, “Ah, I have to watch that all over again now because, I’m not really sure what happened.” or “How did I miss that?” Or “What’s going on?” Kind of one of those experiences. So, hopefully that wasn’t spoilery, Casino is a season finally and so, of course you’re going to have some sort of crazy blah, blah, blah going on, but, yeah kind of crazy. So, Nick just got back from Pirates apparently and his lips are sealed. Yeah, my understanding is that this is one of the biggest organ another one of the big twists like a since Psycho or something for…

Benjamin Higginbotham: Really? I’m excited because I was going to see that. Can I?

Cariann Higginbotham: Like Blaire Witch, you know what it mean like you’re standing in the line and people are like not saying anything.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Really?

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah. Either that or somebody’s like “Lee, you are Dorothy’s father.” You know that kind of thing. Benjamin Higginbotham: Alright.

Cariann Higginbotham: It’s one or the other.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Wait. What’re you talking about?

Cariann Higginbotham: Some movie you haven’t seen this. That’s you know 30 years old.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I am excited at see Pirates. Actually, I was excited enough where I’m -- I considered for a moment, been like “Will they notice if we don’t podcast tonight?”

Cariann Higginbotham: Screw Friday. Oh my goodness, that’s really funny.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And so for those of you wondering we actually are back on Operator11 again, and they -- let’s go back to Operator11 for a moment because that’s a pretty big issue. If I can only broadcast for an hour and I’ve got a three hour show, how do I make that happen? What’s the plan there? Because our shows are three hours. We start at 8 P.M.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yup.

Benjamin Higginbotham: The show’s from 9 till about 9:45.

Cariann Higginbotham: Depending.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Because it’s a little bit of slack your time there in one hour, it’s usually 30 minute show. So, given me 50 minute buffer there and then we talk for another hour so after the show with the audience.

Cariann Higginbotham: Easily.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Just kind of saying “You know the viewers and listeners the participants. It’s not really an audience, everyone.

Cariann Higginbotham: God I think it was one eye, we’re here to like 11 or 12 and it was like “No lucky guys, I got to work tomorrow. I need to go home now.”

Benjamin Higginbotham: Right, because you know, a lot of people have questions and we’re answering the questions and we’re bantering, then you know I say ‘audience’, I don’t want to use the word ‘audience’ because it’s not the everyone’s participating which is what makes it such a great and dynamic medium and that’s why I’m kind of excited for Operator11 because I can switch between lot of cameras and I can do all the different stuff, but then I run into things like I can’t do my audio routing like I want and the show time is out after an hour. So, I am like “Ah so close, so close please. Please.”

Cariann Higginbotham: and yet so far.

Benjamin Higginbotham: But, it’s cool the interface is awesome. Caffeinated say “There’s another one to try.” And that’s BlogTV.com. so, Caffeinated -- actually Caffeinated is the one who turned me on to Operator11 which is, by the way, in all fairness to Operator11, it is in Alpha phase right now, not even beta. So, I am just thrown out and saying “You know you -- may be -- give me a little bit of a break.” But no, I’m not going to. Blog.tv caffeinated I will absolutely give that a short phone in the future shows and see what we get, I think, with Justin.tv coming out and then with YouStream coming out like right on the heels of Justin.tv and Justin.tv now offering to make streaming available to other users, not just Justin.

Cariann Higginbotham: Right.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And now operator11 you know, it sounds like what was a blog TV? We are just going to see a bunch of these different flash broadcasting websites out there and I think only if handful of them are actually going to survive, to be perfectly honest, but the problem with flash is there is a unicast, it’s not a multicast.

Cariann Higginbotham: Ok.

Benjamin Higginbotham: It’s not a peer to peer. and this goes back to -- ready, ready?

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Bandwidth. Fiber in the home internet backbone.

Cariann Higginbotham: Wow.

Benjamin Higginbotham: in a weird how every.

Cariann Higginbotham: You can make any conversation about bandwidth. can’t you?

Benjamin Higginbotham: I can. Every show, I think for eversince …Cariann Higginbotham: Let your mind out of the gutter. Every show is well, but there is bandwidth in the gutter. You see that’s why I like being.

Cariann Higginbotham: The Bandwidth is in the gutter. Darn it and it needs to get out and into the home. Needs to clean itself up.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Bluefox is saying that he thinks YouStream and StickCam or Stickum is a lot of people would like to say, are going to be the two big Giants. I don’t know, I think it’s way too early to tell at this point. YouStream is definitely has lot of momentum right now, StickCam is kind of the tiny Bopper crowd. I -- we tried StickCam a couple of times and I always walk away from it feeling dirty. I don’t know why. I just feel used. After using StickCam, I’m like “Hoo.” I just -- I don’t like it, I don’t like it, I don’t know why. I don’t have I don’t have any good reason not like other than the “UI Sucks”.

Cariann Higginbotham: I think 951 actually makes a really good point about StickCam or Stickum that there’s no real direction.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Right, they try -- they just throw stuff at the UI and say “No, here those, here’s a thing on the left that bounces up and down for no reason. it doesn’t -- it’s supposed to be a viewmeter but it’s not.” So.

Cariann Higginbotham: Oh well.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Right, so, that’s my – I don’t know if StickCam -- the thing with StickCam is, it’s the opposite of YouStream. YouStream has a few channels with a lot of live participants. So, few live channels will call it, may be five people are live at a time, probably -- I’m making numbers upright, but five people live at a time, but each one of those live shows has hundreds or thousands of people watching that one live show. StickCam or Stickcum has thousands of live shows with one participant each.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah, may be

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah right. And, for our format at least, for the talk show when we want to engage everyone, when we want to have that two way conversation and see what they’re saying in the chat room and actually you know really get to the meat of the issues, having one participant and getting lost in a sea of and just people blabbering about nothing that’s just it’s not good for us. Now, Operator11 seems to be closer to the YouStream site, but they’ve also got the multicam switching functionality. So, not only can I do what YouStream does, well, which is what we’re doing right now On Operator11. But I can also, then, bring other users in on the conversation, with the audio and the video and make it really easy for everyone to see everyone else and all those fundass. So that’s, that’s really, really cool and of course, I’ve forgot to start netcasting on Operator11 so. I just, just asked.

Cariann Higginbotham: So, we’ve something with you. Isn’t it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, absolutely, guest 950 said “Check your camera, I don’t think it’s on.” And it wasn’t, I have to make sure the little bread bars are moving, so there we go. So what’s the chat room thing? Who’s – if you have to be us, who would you choose? And you could only choose one. Would you choose Operator11, would you choose YouStream, or you would choose something else? And remember you‘re us, you‘re not some teenaged kid doing your broadcast. You have to, you have to actually do that two way interaction. Right now, we’ve got two for Operator11, Canadian Jeff says “UStream.” CJ says “I would use them all.” Interesting answer, CJ taken out of the box. Kidman is “UStream.” Jason Mac is UStream, guest 951 is Operator11 and guest 99 -- which is my favorite guest number, is, just -- he’s laughing. CJ says -- and CJ brings up an interesting points embed them all in one page and this comes up to the director’s dilemma again. I could embed them on one page, but if you’re listening to the audio and both of them or if you’re trying to watch both of them, you‘re going to get this weird double audio thing going on because they’re not going to be in sync with each other and I have to run audio to both of them. I can’t make one of the mute because then people who’re only watching Operator11, may be through the Operator11 home page, or people who’re only watching the YouStream feed, again may through the YouStream home page, they’re not going to be able to hear what's going on unless they go to our web page with our IRC Chat and what not, and I don’t want that, I want to make it so that anyone can get to our content anywhere as a content producer. Yes.

Cariann Higginbotham: Absolutely, the audio stream is much more important than the video. Sorry kids.

Benjamin Higginbotham: If that -- OK, hang on. I agree. And especially since video is 80% audio. Audio is way more important. I could shut off the video and I could go a black slate and just continue talking and they would do that thing, but frankly, video brings a whole new dynamic level to this and if we -- right now the video is OK because we’ve only got this one static shot that shoots down on the -- how I can say audios that’s actually us. I just like the word ‘audience’ tonight for some reasons.

Cariann Higginbotham: Or audience.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I’m just going to use the word ‘audience’.

Cariann Higginbotham: I am your audience.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I am using, instead of the word ‘Um’, I’m going to use ‘audience’.

Cariann Higginbotham: Good luck with that.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Thank you. Instead of just having this one camera, if we have the ability to switch between multiple sources very easily and quickly, so you could see a tight shot of Cariann and tight shot of me or wide shot of the studio, a tight shot of the talent, that would be awesome and that would add a whole new level to the podcast and frankly, I would probably record that show with the video and embed that with the video in the web page as opposed to just the audio stream. How cool would that be.

Cariann Higginbotham: Absolutely.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Gizmo said I need a producer. I do. Actually -- well, no I don’t. I can produce the show, just -- first, I’m just too much of a control freak. I’m not going to let -- it’s not really control freak, it’s more of a perfectionist, I guess and that’s just.

Cariann Higginbotham: And those aren’t Synonymous?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, at least, they, yeah, no, do you really think I’m a control freak or because I’m more than happy to give up control as long as you do it to the best of your -- you know, just do right, I would only want to see the best of your ability because the ability better be done good.

Cariann Higginbotham: I guess I just I’ve never known a control freak to be like “No, don’t put that garbage in the garbage can. I wanted on the floor where I said it should be.” Just in general, control freaks have a tendency to be perfectionists. I -- you know it’s just my opinion.

Benjamin Higginbotham: They say I need a therapist. Cariann Higginbotham: Well. Doesn’t everyone?

Benjamin Higginbotham: All right, well, the point is what I really need is a technical director. I need someone to sit down and switch between the cameras and just make sure that the camera shots are going as they shoot, the audio sounds like it shoot in there we are broadcasting on the different websites, so that I can then actually produce the show and make sure that the show -- what's happening in the show is what I want it to be. That makes sense?

Cariann Higginbotham: Correct. I understand.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And Gizmo has an interesting idea and I wanted to do this for a very long time. It’s kind of like -- well, I’ve got as a director on the operator. Dashboard here. And that years, I should be able to send all of the camera angles to a viewer and they can choose which angle that they want to view.

Cariann Higginbotham: Choose you own adventure?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, kind of, exactly like choose your adventure book, but if they just want to look at you all my long

Cariann Higginbotham: And because I say that’s not good idea because you know my camera angle is going to be way more popular than yours.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Oh that happens with – not GeekBrief. It’s Geek Riot, GeekRiot.tv. iJustine and Steve …..

Cariann Higginbotham: And you pay a lot of attention to him, don’t you, and there is that blonde chick I know what her name is? And then there is that other

Benjamin Higginbotham: Dude.

Cariann Higginbotham: Curson, I’m not really sure – may be it’s a guy.

Benjamin Higginbotham: If you watch the show and you just look the YouStream viewers, Ijustine usually has two or three more viewers. Be nice to me, blonde chick, two or three times more viewers than Dude does.

Cariann Higginbotham: Oh yeah?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah.

Cariann Higginbotham: That’s interesting. And you remember you are married to me.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I don’t recall that at all.

Cariann Higginbotham: We have to go home together.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I don’t recall. No, we don’t. We have two different vehicles.

Cariann Higginbotham: Anyhow.

Benjamin Higginbotham: All right. What you talked about last. We talked about -- all right, we’ve beaten UStream and Operator11 to death I think at this point. I could talk about it for hours and then I think the chat room would just be mad. So I’m not going to do that. They want to know at this point if I’ve actually tried blogging into both and all of the fundaas. BlueFox brings up StarCraft2, oddly enough, for once, that’s actually in my show notes, so we actually had a guest bring up something in the show notes before I’ve started talking about it. How awesome is that?

Cariann Higginbotham: Why?

Benjamin Higginbotham: I – do you know what StarCraft is?

Cariann Higginbotham: No.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Have you -- oh you never, you‘ve never seen or played StarCraft? I know -- listen, I’m not a gamer either and I know you -- listen, you‘re giving me that blank look of your nuts.

Cariann Higginbotham: Oh you mean that’s coming across? Good. Yes do tell, I’d love to know everything about StarCraft, especially StarCraft 2.

Benjamin Higginbotham: We’re going to make that the intro no. I’m going to cut that out and put that back in the intro.

Cariann Higginbotham: Please do.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Alright, StarCraft 2 is exciting because the last times -- the first StarCraft came out -- when -- like 1998, I mean it was a long time ago. When did the first StarCraft come out? Someone in the chat room give me an answer there I’m screwed on Operator11 so I can see -- yeah they’re saying a long time ago. 1998, yet abs -- yeah.

Cariann Higginbotham: Hey, some of these people were born in 98, all right. Give and them slack.

Benjamin Higginbotham: OK, now I’ve got -- all right, Canadian Jeff is saying, 1995 guest 951 is saying 98. I’m pretty sure it’s actually 98 not 95, yeah 98, there we go. 1998. That’s almost ten years ago this game came out and it’s still so much fun it’s basically and specially in marketing – why do you -- why are you laughing? it’s a fun game.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah, pong is fun.

Benjamin Higginbotham: No. Cariann Higginbotham: Go on.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Did you not see how the room got really excited when I started talking about StarCraft like I just a flurry of activity came up in both Operator11 and IRC. Oh Canadian Jeff, I am not going to to repeat that, that’s just -- that’s not cool.

Cariann Higginbotham: Especially the funner apart.

Benjamin Higginbotham: StarCraft is a multiplayer game where you get to choose your race.

Cariann Higginbotham: Your race.

Benjamin Higginbotham: You’re so human, oh man.

Cariann Higginbotham: Oh, okay.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Unfortunately it has been years since I played so I don’t remember the three …… Cariann Higginbotham: That’s fine.

Benjamin Higginbotham: But once just Z I think it is and…

Cariann Higginbotham: Sure

Benjamin Higginbotham: The Zarg and the Protash, if I pronounced that right. Thank you, BlueFox, by the way for that. Yeah human protestor, great, so you choose your race and each one has their pros and cons and you have to build your little community area so you got things like your minerals and you have to build all these plans and your ships and then you build your warriors and then -- the game is best when you play with multiple players.

Cariann Higginbotham: One would think.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Against each other and then you go and destroy your opponents. It’s so cool. Crush, no, no, it’s cool, no, it’s cool. Why you’re looking at me like that?

Cariann Higginbotham: I am waiting for the cool part.

Benjamin Higginbotham: No, destroy. You get to go on, you get the -- like crush your opponent -- because it’s not just -- it’s different than just having a big gun and shooting things because you have to think how many resources you have, where you’re building things, what your defenses are going to be, because they’re going to come and try to destroy you too.

Cariann Higginbotham: So, it’s D&D in the digital world.

Benjamin Higginbotham: May be, not really.

Cariann Higginbotham: Except you don’t real dice.

Benjamin Higginbotham: No.

Cariann Higginbotham: I need to D20 crap.

Benjamin Higginbotham: It’s fun. StarCraft 2 is going to bring…

Cariann Higginbotham: Does it have dice?

Benjamin Higginbotham: No.

Cariann Higginbotham: Dang, it! What good is game without dice? Especially like a D12 or something. No, StarCraft 2, yes, do we move to a new planet?

Benjamin Higginbotham: No, we still have the same races.

Cariann Higginbotham: Darn it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: But, now we have cool 3D graphics and explosions and really ……

Cariann Higginbotham: You mean the Zurg and the humans didn’t hookup and beat little zoom-ins.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Before is basically a 2D mapping. You look straight down on it. Now, you actually have a 2D map that you look down on, but it’s prettier.

Cariann Higginbotham: Woo, Prettier, they put more pixels in it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: By the way -- here is the best part. In Operator11, they want you take back, say, in D&D and in YouStream, they’re like -- awesome, there should be no more D&D here.

Cariann Higginbotham: OK, I will take back D&D. I will call it -- I don’t know, Dungeons and Dragons.

Benjamin Higginbotham: It’s cool.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yup, Sure it is.

Benjamin Higginbotham: It’s cool.

Cariann Higginbotham: That sounds awesome.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And, here is the best part. Here’s what makes me really excited. You’re ready.

Cariann Higginbotham: Detail.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Simultaneous Mac and PC release. So, I have Macintosh computers. Normally, I’m jacked out of game releases.

Cariann Higginbotham: Random, yes.

Benjamin Higginbotham: No. Normally, I’m jacked out of game releases, and you know I want to play Halo, all I get to wait two years before they come out with Halo for the Macintosh.

Cariann Higginbotham: Or you go, visit your friend who has got a PC.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, I don’t have friends who have PCs because if they have PCs, they’re not a friend of mine.

Cariann Higginbotham: Alex.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I didn’t say you know friend, you said friend, not crazy co-worker.

Cariann Higginbotham: Go on, goodness, gracious.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So, simultaneous Mac PC release and we just got a encoding workstation to encode our 1080p videos, that’s an 8-core Mac Pro with 4 Gigs of RAM, that I might be upping to 16 Gigs of RAM on dual 24 inch monitors. I’m telling you StarCraft 2.

Cariann Higginbotham: Right, we’re using those two and code our videos.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And play StarCraft 2.

Cariann Higginbotham: To encode our videos.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I will buy a Mac Pro just to…

Cariann Higginbotham: Are, you done encoding those videos, by the way?

Benjamin Higginbotham: No.

Cariann Higginbotham: I see how it works.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I will be, by the time StarCraft 2 comes out.

Cariann Higginbotham: Ummhummm,

Benjamin Higginbotham: so, I’m excited.

Cariann Higginbotham: Good.

Benjamin Higginbotham: All right. Next topic. Let me lookup my topic list.

Cariann Higginbotham: Wow,

Benjamin Higginbotham: There is the Google purchased FeedBurner for a hundred million.

Cariann Higginbotham: OK. Tell me all about that.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Google Purchased FeedBurner for $100 million.

Cariann Higginbotham: Let me try this again, tell me more?

Benjamin Higginbotham: You know what FeedBurner is?

Cariann Higginbotham: It’s a website.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Duh, all right, you know RSS?

Cariann Higginbotham: Yes.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Do really not know what FeedBurner is?

Cariann Higginbotham: I have never visited FeedBurner, how is that?

Benjamin Higginbotham: OK, you probably never would, you probably don’t even know what’s going on.

Cariann Higginbotham: Well, then how dare you seem to think that I would know what it is?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Because technology is through osmosis, I figured you just know everything I know. It just seeps…

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah, I know we got a some card from some guy from FeedBurner today that I entered in for you.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Oh, That’s awesome, thank you.

Cariann Higginbotham: You’re welcome.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Oh, That’s another topic. Plaxo.

Cariann Higginbotham: Ok, go on.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So, FeedBurner, what it is? You’ve got your RSS feed. That drives a 1080p video, 720p video, the podcast is well as the main RSS for the Technology Evangelist website or whatever website. We used FeedBurner to do what’s called burning our feed and that’s where there’s an RSS feed that the site generates automatically. We give that to FeedBurner and FeedBurner grabs on to it and then kind of scans it and massages it as it were, so that it works in all different devices. So, if I’ve got a Google reader, it’ll work. If I’ve got bloglines, it’ll work. If I’ve got news gator, it’ll work. If I’ve got -- pick and choose a program. It also allows me to track the number of viewers that have subscribed to my feed, my FeedBurner feed and best of all, it caches that feed for me, so I don’t have to be responsible for a bazillion people hitting -- I said a bazillion here -- hitting my feed, all throughout the day, every five minutes as they’re trying to scan their RSS feed and look for updates.

Cariann Higginbotham: But, FeedBurner does.

Benjamin Higginbotham: FeedBurner does. Right, so they cache it so that I don’t have to.

Cariann Higginbotham: Right. No, no, I’m just -- I want to understand, OK.

Benjamin Higginbotham: The thing is, most everyone I know that has a blog uses FeedBurner because why not, it’s free, well, it’s essentially free, if you want the Pro account, it’s like 5 bucks a month. What to do. But, it’s pretty much free, so why wouldn’t you use it. Well, they got bought by Google.

Cariann Higginbotham: Ah Um, is that good or bad?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Well, both, because Google is now the large evil empire I think. Well, I don’t know that they are evil they say…

Cariann Higginbotham: Google is big brother. I got it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, a kind of, it’s kind of scary how much data they have.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah, We should have a whole day on that. Benjamin Higginbotham: We should, well. They turned on the -- or unlock the ability for me to view my search history and what’s interesting is, it’s not from that point forward, it was from like a year.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah, clearly they’ve been watching me for a while.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Exactly.

Cariann Higginbotham: And I’m stupid I guess.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Little --- why?

Cariann Higginbotham: I should pull that up for you, it’s really kind of funny, but go on.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Guest 951 says all your base are belong to Google.

Cariann Higginbotham: Are belonged to Google.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yup.

Cariann Higginbotham: Absolutely.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, Gizmo says look out and I’m going to go off on Google. Well, yeah, I’m. So far, they haven’t done anything evil with the data and their slogan is “Do No Evil”, but they’re so much potential there and they’ve so much power, I don’t think people realize how big and scary and big brother they’ve actually become.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah, No, I understand.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So anyhow they’ve FeedBurner now. So, now on top of all the other data they have, now they’ve got all the data for people who are subscribing to RSS feeds and all the data form the RSS feeds themselves and everything associated with that and it was just a matter – I mean FeedBurner owned the market. I don’t think there was anyone that really competed with them so it was just a matter of time before someone snatched them up and of course, it was going to be Google because, 100 million, whatever. That’s nothing for them.

Cariann Higginbotham: Interesting.

Benjamin Higginbotham: But, anyhow. That’s that topic.

Cariann Higginbotham: Nice.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And StarCraft 2, we did that, Google purchases FeedBurner for 100 million. We did that Operator11 versus YouStream, we did that. Where is all the professional online video content? didn’t do that one.

Cariann Higginbotham: yeah, where is all the professional on, besides porn, I understand, but go on.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Well, actually that’s a – we’ll close out with this topic. Online video. I’m a firm believer in online video. That doesn’t mean YouTube. I don’t mean YouTube at all. In fact, I don’t even want to put them in the same category that’s like the home movies of online video. I’m taking about well, it is the independently produced sitcoms, independently produced documentaries, the videos where they actually put a little bit a time and money into it and post the videos online, like Ask a Ninja, like Mr. DAD, programs like that, Channel102.net I think it is, that they have a – oh what is it?

Cariann Higginbotham: I don’t know what is it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: we ventures a ted note -- ah, whatever that is the super hero one which is hilarious and they’re saying Deal that TV. Now, that doesn’t count even. I mean that’s getting close, but that’s still talking heads for 30 minutes. And don’t get me wrong. I’m guilty doing that same thing too. It’s talking heads for 30 minutes, Jason Mac, there’s like wooo. No, that’s what it is. It’s great, Patrick Norton talking heads 30 minutes. That’s not what I am talking about.

Cariann Higginbotham: Is he cute?

Benjamin Higginbotham: No, not . He is not my type.

Cariann Higginbotham: Got it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Well, not sure what that means, but…

Cariann Higginbotham: I don’t know.

Benjamin Higginbotham: They’re saying go to revision three. There’s a little bit of content, I’m not saying that there’s no content. There’s definitely a little bit of online content, but I was expecting it to be a lot more by now. I was really expecting a lot of creative people to start coming out of the woodwork because what a great distribution medium the internet is. I can get to anyone in the entire world and I can do in high def.

Cariann Higginbotham: I think nobody knows how to handle it yet. Benjamin Higginbotham: Really?

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Is that they don’t know how to monetize it or they just not know what they are doing?

Cariann Higginbotham: Well, I think it depends on their motivation and generally, I think if they’re looking to monetize in general they don’t know how to do it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Caffeinated says, it will still cost money to produce and good video does cost a lot money to produce. It takes a ton of time to produce good video, just a ton of time and time is money too.

Cariann Higginbotham: Well, time is money and you have to be passionate about it. Somebody would just kind of said something about like you sit sown on computer, I’ll give you a video in 10 minutes. Yes, absolutely but I don’t necessarily want a 10 minute video of the fungus growing between my toes. That’s not compelling, at least not to me, and I don’t really care that much about it and I’m clearly not going to be able to monetize it, so on and so on.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Guess951 has an interesting point, says, two points, I don’t want to sit down and watch an hour long produced video on a small player window and when do you sit down on a computer, you basically give a video 10 minutes. My point is, yes that’s true but just because it’s internet video doesn’t mean that has to be stuck in a browser. Think out of the browser. What about the Apple TV? Why can’t we produce 720p videos or 1080p videos, ignoring the Apple TV for a moment and distribute those online, have then automatically downloaded to your Apple TV and watch them there. Juzed is an interesting example of doing that but they’ve got those wall gardens and I promise I won’t get on that soapbox tonight. but Juzed, I don’t think is going to do that, but you’ve got Apple TV, you’ve got a NetGear digital entertainer 8000, you’ve got these devices that bridge the gap between the computer and the high definition television monitor, but not a whole lot of people seem to be taking advantage of that yet. We’ve got a little bit of a chicken egg scenario now. Why would people buy an Apple TV when there’s not really great content out there and why would people make really great content when they don’t have the apple TV market to distribute it to.

Cariann Higginbotham: Well, I think in general, whatever you do, it should be as good as you can do it. So, if you’re making video whether that be, we know only television stuff and you’re kind of doing your own little cute little family video things on the side. Why not make your family videos as cool as they possibly can be and maybe, they will move through the market, may be America’s funniest home videos or whatever that it is, will go on to that internet, will go on and beyond from there and then we could have America’s sleaziest home videos and America’s domestic home videos and America’s best home videos. Slightly verging off topic to a certain extent. Somebody was asking the another day, actually I think it was my mom was asking me “If there were any sort of award shows for really great videos or video content or movies that are only online?” And I was like “Well, there is the Webbie awards.” But that’s not really what you are talking about and I got to thinking about it, I thought -- well, you know there probably is a lot of people out there who want to make the content, don’t know if there’s going to be an audience out there or not and they’re worried about the cost of it and so they’re not doing it. Does that makes sense?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, absolutely, so that’s one of it is worried about the cost because it does cost a lot at least today to produce great video and I don’t know that, that’s ever going to go away. It’s not an equipment cost per se, although that’s part of it if you want really -- like really, really great video but you can do with a low end camcorder as long as you have patience and or creatively think around ways to do things.

Cariann Higginbotham: Well, the thing is if -- even if it’s kind of only crap, at least to start, you start building that audience and then may be you can monetize that somehow. I don’t know. I’m really not interested in that personally, but and then you use that money obviously and put it back into the business.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Right, so we’ve got the monetization problem, we’ve got the time problem. There’s a creativity problem because you have to be very creative to actually come up with show ideas, recurring show ideas because not just coming up with a show once. You got to actually have to come out on regular basis. Basis be a day, week, …

Cariann Higginbotham: It’s how we ended up with Freestyle Friday. Isn’t it?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, basically.

Cariann Higginbotham: OK.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And you also have to have -- I mean you have to have time and your data, produce the stuff. So, there’s that and then someone brought up earlier -- I want to give credit to whoever said this, I’m sorry, I don’t remember who said this but they mentioned “Fiber to the Home.” I’m not going to get into that soapbox again but I think that’s true. Is bandwidth into the home enough today to support 720p videos for the Apple TV or like device, it doesn’t have to be an Apple TV, it can be the Google box, it can be the, the Whatever. M Holand said it.

Cariann Higginbotham: M Hollsinger.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, so. Hollsinger. I think I got that right. Said that about Fiber to the Home. So, is there even enough bandwidth into the home to make the experience acceptable for the consumer and what about the education to the consumer, but it doesn’t matter. The thing is I think content will drive this market. It’s not going to be the technology per se. I mean the technology, the fundamentals for the technology are there. The fundamentals for the technology are the Apple TV and broadband into the home. At least a 5 Megabit connection into the home. I think those are there today. Now, those need to improve but at least they’re there. We’ve got the foundation work there.

Cariann Higginbotham: Certainly.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Now, we need, on top of that, great content producers to step up and produce their shows for the internet only, in high definition, not in standard def, not in a YouTube video, not in a browser window. You can do in the browser window too, that’s fine, that’s great but I know when I go home and I’m going to do a lean back content, the lean forward contents in the browser, lean back is on your television. I want lean back content. There’s nothing on TV which happens every freaking night so I’m looking for something to watch. There should be online channels I can turn to that are niche enough that I’m interested in that are long tale enough that are produced may be once a week. I can just sit back, watch my 30 minute internet video or my one hour internet video, skip forward through the parts that kind of bore me and call it a night.

Cariann Higginbotham: Don’t you think that’s still kind of scary?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Why?

Cariann Higginbotham: Well, like, all right, look, all the network televisions or television networks I can talk, just do their up fronts which is the sort of throwing out all of the different pilots and seeing what sticks and kind of announcing what they think is going to stick and what they’re going to do for the fall and blah, blah, blah.

Benjamin Higginbotham: The Caveman Show on ABC?

Cariann Higginbotham: Yes, exactly, things like that which means this is well this is my little soapbox to a certain extent that somebody thought that The Caveman Show was a good idea. They told that to someone else. That second person said “Yeah, it is. Let’s make a pilot for it.” They made an entire pilot showed it to many other people and all those people thought it was good enough to put on the air. Now, I personally think that is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever, ever, ever heard but if that’s what’s going on the air, that must mean there’re – I will use your word -- a gabazillion other different ideas out there that nobody had faith in, that nobody thought were good enough to talk to somebody else to make into a pilot to show someone else to possibly get it on TV to just like in where it was that show called Drive on Fox to get canceled in one show. So, if that’s the atmosphere that these people are looking at and without having a President set on online video at only online video, video exclusive to the internet, besides something like a cut scene from Battlestar Galactica or the last you know couple of minutes at the end of Lost that may be when they read overtime in your Tivo first out on it and whatever the case is, that’s scary, that’s really scary up on your heart, into it to put your money, into it to put your time, into it to put your livelihood, into to just possibly go …..Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah actually, cool this in Operator11 sense it’s strange that Drive got cancelled really early like that, that was kind of an odd one apparently.

Cariann Higginbotham: It really was. It was only aired like twice or something really stupid like that and that’s not -- like I said earlier, I mean that’s not even long enough for people to decide weather or not they actually like it, then it’s just gone and it’s probably replaced with some sort of -- and don’t get me wrong, I love Seinfeld when he was on before, but it’s going to be probably replaced by some clearly rerun of Seinfeld because they needed to fill the space with some thing.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Guest140 brought up another interesting question. This was on the YouStream chat room and is “Will the average home user be able to use this technology be getting it from your computer to your TV, the downloading of high def content from whatever website, from, say, TechnologyEvangelist.com and getting it on to their HD TV?” I think the answer is “Yes.” To be perfectly honest, and then he goes on to ask “It was just for the tech crowd?” I think it’s both right now, but now I think it’s primarily only the tech crowd, but there is a trickle down that will occur and when that will occur, I’m not entirely sure, but the Apple TV is so painfully simple to use and the average consumer can already use iTunes.

Cariann Higginbotham: It is practically plug and play, in really.

Benjamin Higginbotham: You know you could do it, you have done it.

Cariann Higginbotham: Yeah, and I really -- well I’m here on the “Technology Evangelist podcast”. I’m really here because I am Ben’s wife and so to a certain extent I’m the voice of reason, I’m the everyday man, I have honestly personally…

Benjamin Higginbotham: You are the everyday man!

Cariann Higginbotham: Shut up. I’m every man’s man. Said better?

Benjamin Higginbotham: May be.

Cariann Higginbotham: Not really. Anyhow, I haven’t personally held an Apple TV in my hand, but I have full confidence that I could freaking figure it out. There’s like four cables, it can’t be that hard, most of them are color coded for crying out loud.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, if you can hookup a DVD player, you can hookup the Apple TV.

Cariann Higginbotham: There you go.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And it’s just as simple. The harder part is getting the content on to the Apple TV and even that, Apple made extremely simple and as Guest140 said “Well, though, it’s Apple.” And yeah I think that’s a valid, well, though it’s apple.

Cariann Higginbotham: Well, kind of well that’s all right so well take that logic and adhere it to the mp3 player market. There were mp3 players out there before iPods. Weren’t there?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Absolutely, there were even hard drive based mp3 players out there before iPod.

Cariann Higginbotham: OK, so then apple came along and I don’t want this to sound bad but made it so any idiot could pick it up and figure out how to use it. May be not get the exact song that they wanted, maybe they’re kind of confused by the back lighting thing and whatever, but pretty much, a five year old could pick it up and drool on it and it would play something and that’s kind of one of the things that made it so popular because it was so easy to use. So the Teeny Boppers could do it, they could show it to their parents, their parents go “Hey, great, now I could put flea with Mac on there, whatever it is that they like and they could use it. It was kind of this universal thing because everybody could do it. Now, we’ve got Apple TV. There’s got to be other things that have been out there and even if they haven’t been, Apple TV has made it so simple that now, other people, other companies are going to get behind them and be like “Well, yeah, we’re going to make our little smuggest thing too.” And why not?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Covis, hope I’m pronouncing it right, on the Operator11 website says “Mac folks can use TV shows app plus transmission plus visual hub and get any TV show around the world on their Mac or Apple TV or Tivo and that’s been the beauty lately and I think that’s kind of more for the technical people and we also need to see subscription based content models and may be -- I’m not sure.

Cariann Higginbotham: Subscription based content models kind of like getting the whole thing from iTunes, like put them on .

Benjamin Higginbotham: Yeah, yeah, yeah or you subscribe to the season for example, and then you just get everything in that season, or you subscribe to something and Covis says “We got to pay somehow.” Right. Do you pay with your cash or do pay through advertising like you do for over the Air television.

Cariann Higginbotham: Oh, Yeah I mean I rather only pick out of the five different shows that I watch, granted, not me I watch a lot more than that, but in general, say, the five different shows that I watch, instead of and now I have to pay for the five channels that I watch which means that some of them are cable. Some of them are in cable, some of them are basics, some of them are HD and now, I’ve got to pay out you know all of this different money for the DVR to make sure because three of that even shows that I watch her all on the same time but I want to see all of them blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? I would much rather if I would certainly watching five shows to buy just those five shows. Absolutely I will be all over it.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Covis says “Right, pay us $25 for an hour on HBO.” Exactly, so you get anything on HBO so you -- may be you pay $25 or whatever it is to all of the Technology Evangelist content or whatever it happens to be. And I’m just using that as an example, and you know that’s a possibility I personally have been fighting that model a little bit because I think that the industry, that model may work some day. In fact, I’m sure, will work some day. I’m sure it will. I think the question right now is will that model work today in a market where it’s more difficult to get online content than it is to get your television content? So will the consumer say to home go “Yeah, I’ll pay $25 for this and go through the hassle of the downloading it and buy an Apple TV to get it on my TV.” Or they’re going to say “Well, not, I’ll sit through a 20 second ad in the beginning to watch my video.

Cariann Higginbotham: I don’t know. I think you’re going to have some of each. I guess it’s just kind of depends on what the bigger crowd is, ha?

Benjamin Higginbotham: All right. You know it’s about time to wrap up this podcast. I am going to going to continue this stimulating conversation on both Operator11, well, we continue it on Operator11 for the next five minutes and twenty seconds actually.

Cariann Higginbotham: Actually, bumped out for time.

Benjamin Higginbotham: And so we get bumped off Operator11, what you are doing to me, what you are doing to me, you don’t love me anymore, come on and we‘ll continue with on YouStream.tv until it actually fizzles out which will probably be in about two minutes. Thank you everyone for joining us. We’ll be going live again Sunday night for New Media Monday that’s at 10 O’clock Eastern, 9 Central, Seven Pacific. Join us live then. We look forward to talking with you. Have a great night.