In my last post, quoting a C-SPAN RealVideo clip of Donald Rumsfeld, I discovered a syntax to specify the beginning and end of the clip.

Pete Peterson:

“I’ve been informed that this occasion is also being webcast. Someday I’m going to have to figure out what that means exactly, but it’s apparently very significant” (audience laughs) (21:57/53:56)

Syntax

filename.ram?start=numSeconds&end=numSeconds

Improvements

Querystring time selection is a very important feature– the equivalent of “page numbers” in print — but client implementations could be improved:

• Client Programs should allow users to easily scroll forward or backward,
  beyond the specified selection. This would allow the viewer to quickly view the context of the quote
• Counters should be based on either:
  • Date-Time: (2003-01-01 13:21:31 EST)
  • The Beginning of the Video: (0)

  Counters based on the query string start are useful, but tell the viewer nothing of the context.

Other Media Formats

A Quicktime/Windows media player version of the CFR speech is also available. I do not know how clip selection works in these formats.

Yesterday evening while I was watching Donald Rumsfeld’s speech, at the Council on Foreign Relations on C-SPAN, three things struck me:

1. Pete Peterson:
   

   “I’ve been informed that this occasion is also being webcast.
   Someday I’m going to have to figure out what that means exactly, but it’s apparently very significant” (audience laughs) (21:50/53:56)

2. Secretary Rumsfeld:
   

   “I find when I come to New York, there’s always somebody in the room who’s the world’s leading export on a subject that I get asked about..
   and so I’d like you to identify yourself right now… All right then forever hold your peace…
   I am told, and it’s not authoritative..”
   
   (28:30/53:56)

   

   This was in preface to his answer about missing Iraqi museum items, and given the context, a excellent piece of self deprecation.

3. Audience Members with questions were asked to introduce themselves. All of them professed an institutional affiliation except one:
   1. American Securities LP
   2. former Senator, Indiana 3rd District
   3. Morgan Stanley
   4. PBS
   5. journalist

The journalist was pressed for her credentials (she was a freelancer) and treated as an outsider. Her question wasn’t even terribly biting– what are you going to do to prevent people like Saddam from using the banking system to hide their assets– but I got the sense that journalists were not welcome in the audience. (46:20/53:56.2)

This got me thinking about all the webloggers who are experts in their fields and how their expertise is presented and viewed.

• Politicians caught in controversy or ignorance fear expert opposition

Note

My Computer has access controls which prevent the public appropriation of real audio clips, but I was able to bring you this low quality screen shot by using the analogue hole (using my brother’s Camera and tripod). #

Update

I was wrong about the whole access control thing. It is possible to make screenshot of realplayer; you just have to turn off hardware acceleration. (31 May 5:41 pm) #

Dave Winer pointed to a dark horse congressional canidate and a British MP who blog,
but I haven’t heard much about Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin,
the leading candidate to succeed Prime Minister Chretien.

It’s true that Paul’s style isn’t as informal as most bloggers, he doesn’t update very often,
and he doesn’t have permalinks or RSS, but he is the first high-ranking government official to post.

Now I’m waiting for the university presidents. It’s a group with a lot of potential.

I’ve seen the reports;
now show me the weblogs!

Note:

I haven’t “verified” my claim that Paul Martin is the highest ranking politician currently blogging, but Tim Bray’s article about scholarship got me thinking about fact checking.

My Conclusion: Unlike laws, which are assumed to be constitutional unless proven otherwise, weblog posts are not assumed to be true until after they’ve passed though the deliberative process of the blogosphere. (updated May 24, 11:21 am)