Background

In May, I figured out how to quote C-SPAN’s real audio clips.

The URLs are hidden behind javascript, but I managed to
discover the querystring syntax. Now it’s August and some of the links are broken because they moved the files to a different server.

Inspiration

Whenever I hear something interesting, I make a mental note,
but when I’m near a computer, I make an entry into my openreferences.

Hearing Lawrence Di Rita describe “anti-american forces” as a euphamism for ‘terrorists'”stuck me as a quotable moment and got me thinking again about how to expand referencing into other media. #

Quote | Context |  Full

Last week Aaron talked about “google TV.”   #

Google hooks up a bunch of their machines to video capture cards and begins recording all the TV channels. Then, they make a full-text available using the closed captioning information.

So, let?s say you’re curious about Howard Dean’s stance of smallpox vaccinations. You Google TV for “Howard Dean smallpox” and get back a bunch of animated GIFs showing key scenes(basically a still whenever the picture majorly changes) from the surrounding show, perhaps with a short textual excerpt from cleaned up closed captioning data.  (More)

I entirely agree. Spread the meme!

Hope

We’ve got a lot of work to do to encourage broadcasters to
develop interfaces that don’t break, but I don’t think “ref TV”
is necessarily that far off.

Necessary Conditions

To move forward, 3 things need to happen:

1. The Media Companies need to be convinced
   that it fits with their business model. (Where Newspaper Stories Go When They Die“: Tim Bray)
2. Technologists need to promote interoperable standards
3. Referencing visionaries need to develop words
   to describe the destination

Viral Marketing: misunderstood or misguided

“Viral Marketing”, as a meme, has succeeded in distributing itself but it’s failed to penatrate old ways of thinking. Marketing people now ask software designers to implement the “send this page to a friend” feature or controlled syndication, but they don’t understand the bigger issue:

networks that don’t try to direct the flow of communication make better markets.

When people really “get it”, they’ll start asking for “Cool URLs“, RSS feeds, and permalinks.

Defining the Terms:

Just as webloggers have developed terms and criteria like “permalinks”, “feeds”, “posts”, and “trackback”, referencing advocates need to promote a set of terms and criteria that define openmedia.

Today I went to a local Columbian Restraunt. The food was very good, and attractivly presented. It made me wish my brother had brought his digital camera.

Imagine restraunts whose satisfied customers post photos of the food they were actually served. I think in the next few years some of the bigger companies will see that an authentic product has more value than the “airbrushed” compositions we see in their TV ads.

The success of Subway over McDonalds is about more than just “passion” or advertising muscle. It is about “health” and “authenticity”.

Related

• Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality
• Sandwich Showdown–Domino’s Vs. Subway
• Advertising v reality

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) #