Collaboration tools is going to soon become a misnomer. The more mainstream, standard office applications and productivity tools start adding collaboration facilities to their apps the more collaboration will become part of what is expected by any digital work tool. Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Communication - Graph credit: Ramius This Sharewood Picnic contains a new collection of selected collaboration tools that I, and Nico Canali De Rossi have uncovered during our weekly searches for Kolabora. It includes tools to send large files to anyone, instant messenger gateways allowing you to connect simultaneously to all your favorite instant messaging networks and a couple of interesting tool to draw, annotate and share web page markups. Here the list:

1. PipeBytes: Send files of any dimensions with no upload process
2. Globe7:VoIP software allows you to text-chat, video conference and transfer files
3. DrawHere: Draw on web-pages and share your annotated page via email
4. JKN: Online annotation tool allows you to add notes to web-pages and share them with people
5. TeamWork Live: Manage projects, share documents and collaborate with people online
6. IM History: Save your instant messaging conversation history online
7. Messenger FX: Web-based instant messenger lets you access MSN IM network
8. BigFileBox: Web-based file hosting service allows you to share files with others

Here the details: Photo credit: Alastor

1. PipeBytes PipeBytes in a web-based tool that anyone can use to share files, with no size limitation. If you want to send a file, just click the "Send" button, browse for you file, and click "Upload". You will be provided with a pick-up code, or simply with a pick-up URL, that will connect your and your friend's computer to send the file directly, with no uploading process. Free to use, no registration needed. http://www.pipebytes.com/


2. Globe7 Globe7 is a free downloadable VoIP application that allows you to chat and talk with people. After you download it and register to the service, you can start adding other people to your contact list: you can chat, have video and audio calls, share pictures, transfer files, save the chat history, and also call landline phones at really cheap rates. Completely free to use, it is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux herehttp://www.globe7.com/downloadg7.php. http://www.globe7.com/


3. DrawHere DrawHere takes a slightly different twist on the website annotation paradigm by allowing users to literally draw directly onto a website that they are visiting. Clicking on the bookmarklet opens up an image editing palette to the side of the screen. This palette features layers, opacity, brush size and a color spectrum. Annotated pages can be saved and shared by email or embedded into your blog. Different users annotations can be browsed through from a separate window. DrawHere can be activated via a bookmarklet, from the DrawHere website by entering the URL you want to draw on, and can even be included as a button on your web-page. Free http://drawhere.com/


4. JKN JKN is a web-site that allows you to add notes on a web-page and to share them with anyone. After you insert the URL you want to annotate, you can decide how you want to share your notes with others (link, email or blog), and start typing on the selected page as it was a normal blank page. Then, depending on the sharing method you chose, you will be given a URL to share or you will be asked for your contacts' emails. It is free to use and requires no registration. Beta. http://info.jkn.com/


5. TeamWork Live TeamWork Live is a web-based project management and project collaboration tool that helps you run your projects more efficiently. All you need to get started is a web browser and an internet connection: you can manage projects, track tasks, share documents and files, collaborate with clients and remote teams. Completely free to use, requires registration. https://www.teamworklive.com/
   
6. IM History IM History is a downloadable program that allows you to store all of your instant messaging conversations online, supporting AIM, MSN, Windows Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Skype and Miranda networks. All conversations will be saved and uploaded on a web-server that can be accessed through any web-browser. Free to download and use. http://www.im-history.com/


7. Messenger FX Messenger FX is a web-based service that lets you access the MSN instant messaging network without having to install anything on your computer. The access is protected through encryption and the interface is available in multiple languages. There is no possibility to talk to contacts that are on other IM networks. Free to use. http://www.messengerfx.com


8. BigFileBox BibFileBox is a web-based file hosting service that you can use to upload and share your files with other people. After you choose whether you want to upload a file using the Java drag-and-drop facility or the click-to-upload interface, you can upload as many files as you want and, when done, you can create "tokens" to give people permission to browse/edit your files. You can also choose the duration of the token. Free for up to 50 MB or see plan comparison. http://www.bigfilebox.com/

… from a surprising source: ESPN.

John Sawatsky, ESPN’s senior director of talent development, has tutored reporters, anchors and producers around the world. Since 1991, he has devoted all his time to teaching interviewing to professional journalists. ESPN asked him to assess the prospects for the upcoming “60 Minutes” interview of Roger Clemens.

Sawatsky’s assessment amounts to a lesson in interviewing technique (and rips Mike Wallace to shreds in the process). Fascinating reading.

My favorite part of the year-end (or year-beginning) “Best Of” lists is how these lists serve as a kind of aggregator for the movies that I should give my time to in the coming year. Let’s face it, if you live in the USA and you don’t live in New York or L.A. (I don’t), and/or you didn’t make it to the Toronto Film Festival or Cannes last year (nope), and/or you’re not a member of the press with access to advance screenings (ditto), you might have had the chance to see only three of, say, J. Hoberman’s picks for the ten best.

That’s what region-free DVD players and video projectors are for. So, without further ado, here are my five favorite Top 10 (or more) lists of 2007.

indieWire Critics Poll
Village Voice/LA Weekly Film Poll
Two polls that are virtually identical in their results… because they poll virtually the same group of people. Don’t ask me why there are two polls.

IndieWire 2007 Critics Poll: Best Undistributed Film
Village Voice/LA Weekly Film Poll: Best Undistributed Film
Same as above.

Michael Atkinson’s Straight Outta Digi: The Best Non-Theatrical Debuts of ‘07

DVD Beaver’s Best DVD Releases of the Year

Jonathan Rosenbaum’s Top Movies of the Year

***

Oh, and the best film I saw last for the first time last year? The restoration of The Whole Shootin’ Match at SXSW. Over twenty-five years since it was produced, it’s still not available on DVD.

Last night I tried to catch some of the action going on at Seesmic, one of the most innovative and promising new web services out there. Labelled as a "Twitter with video", Seesmic hasn't yet defined a strong application personality for itself yet, but, and that may be as valuable as having defined one, has been listening with true open ears to everything its first few hundred users have been telling it. By using a true bottom up approach Seesmic has created a true conversational platform to help, refine and steer the very direction of the company that makes the same platform available. But is that enough to dive a web company to success? Is it enough to have enough money, visibility and technical resources to put together a Twitter-like tool with video and then try to get as big as possible to then see where money can be made, or would it be better to have a vision before everything else and then shape it with the help of your community? Hard to say, as your audience could be driving you a thousand different directions at the same time, unless you have already well figured out where you want to go. That is also what one of the digerati of the web thinks, when providing his own view on the success potential of the bottom-up drive-approach of the Seesmic community.

Bottom-Up Driven Social Media - Always A Winning Strategy?

Listen and watch to what Cluetrain Manifesto's author and blogger David Weinberger had to say on the effective potential of the Seesmic bottom-up driven strategy: David Weinberger duration: 2':15" Yes, you have got it right. The cool thing about Seesmic is that it allows you to shoot out short video messages to the community while generating a wide, always in-flux, extended party-like visual conversation, where topics and people move in and out almost just like in the real world. I find the Seesmic conversations truly genuine, often engaging, sometimes dull and superficial, just like in real life. And it is this genuinity, this final rise of the personal voice in all of its splendor, uncensored and unpackaged for delivery, that makes this content so incredibly compelling. Compelling for those participating in it because it is very real and extends significantly the number and quality of discussion mates you can have. Compelling for those watching it only because there is often a great deal of personal learning and insight that is normally shared inside these conversations. Compelling for the publisher hosting this community because it creates a true virtual space in which to support the interests and passions of your readers. Bye bye forums, Seesmic is here. Compelling for advertiser and marketers which could find in the very community members some of the best endorsers and promoters of their own tools and products. Without needing to become all shills. But Seesmic has still a long way to go even in developing some of what should be its basic features, such as the lack of more powerful threading capabilities. These would allow one to follow and engage in specific conversations at her own time while providing a wealth of valuable content that could be re-sued elsewhere. Not only. Seesmic requires still too much of a compulsive, redundant interaction reduced to its very minimum terms. Clicking on the next video to see what the next person said. And next. That gets tiring. An "autoplay" feature which would allow you to follow your favorite friends or conversation threads is all I am hoping for.

Why Distributed Social Media Is Better Than Centralized Social Media

So, let aside the excitement for what Seesmic could be, what appears to me still enigmatic is the apparent focus, a-la Facebook on having another centralized community, which as a consequence requires everyone to go to Seesmic to have a conversation with the people they like. Is this really needed? Aren't we in the age of distributed (social) media? Why should I go to engage in a conversation at Seesmic when I have already built a community of friends at my own site or elsewhere? I love to have conversations and I love to meet new and interesting people, but I don't think I need to throw myself into a super-busy party where everyone has a micro-span of attention for me and where topic changes every moment? My friends are not at Seesmic. My friends are where I have met and invited them before. At my place. Not at some downtown disco where all of our group intimacy and "feel" is lot or where I need to be forced out of any conversation simply because we are a million and one. Virtual space is infinite, let's use it. A month ago I posted this short video comment to Loic on Seesmic. Robin Good on Seesmic duration: 40" "MySeesmic" is in fact my own idea Seesmic. I want to have Seesmic on my site, for my readers, with my own lokk and feel. That's what I want: a distributable version of Seesmic that any site can embed and integrate in its pages. Just as Ning and many of the other Open Social partners, I would love to see Seesmic adopt this new standard and leverage the best from both the distribution potential as well as from aggregating and providing access to all these communities from a centralized space. To my surprise, last night, Loic LeMeur posted a fresh new clip he has just recorded with Patrick Chanezon of the Google Open Social team, and where Patrick provides some interesting suggestions and ideas to get Seesmic into the Open Social game. If you haven't yet read about Open Social, this is a new standard that allows easy distribution and integration of social media services into other sites. Loic LeMeur and Patrick Chanezon duration: 15':05"

Advertising on Seesmic?

But outside of the core implementation strategy Seesmic will use, one of the fascinating aspects of these new innovative social media tools is how they will survive. What will be Seesmic business model? Advertising on Seesmic? Well, the bottom-up video conversational approach worked greatly here as well with Seesmic users spontaneously brainstorming alternative advertising strategies and providing free creative input to Loic and his (and others) future investors. Check out this great video compilation from Seesmic where not only you get a sense of what it is like to be inside this video conversational platform but where you can also hear some interesting ideas about the possible alternative potential advertising opportunities ramping up for Seesmic and for similar social media destinations. Seesmic compilation a) conversational style b) brainstorming on advertising opportunities (from 3:05") c) community spirit, tradition and peer pressure at work on Seesmic - you gotta dance! (from 5:51") duration: 7':41" Just watching those few video clips gave me in turn a bunch of ideas and as social media wants, I shared back: Robin Good duration: 1':51"

Conclusions - What I see Ahead for Seesmic

Seesmic has great potential. Of this I am sure as I saw firsthand by using it the power that this new format, conversational video can have in terms of supporting and energizing online communities, while providing them with an excellent tool to brainstorm, discuss and develop new ideas. From my own viewpoint, as an online publisher, Seesmic does not have yet any of the key features that would make it a killer app in my eyes. These are: a) Threading - find easily specific conversation threads o any topic or author you select b) Autoplay - watch it like TV by selecting the conversation themes or authors or time periods you are interested in most c) Distribution - allow Seesmic to be built around communities that already exist by making it highly distributable and easy to integrate into any existing web site (like Ning does). Seesmic bottom-up approach in transparently leveraging user ideas and comments is something rare to be seen and should be great matter of research and study for media students. Loic, its CEO, is, whether you like him or not, a man larger than life, positive, optimistic, and very determined (and aware) of the role he has chosen to play for himself. He seems to be able attract lots of attention and press coverage but he has definitely an interesting story to tell. Overall this is a hot mix to keep watching close for a while. It may be pan out to become nothing I would waste any time on, as much as becoming the next truly social media marketing platform I would really bet my best cards on. One thing appears now sure. Even if it ain't Seesmic doing it, the time is ripe for the real, uncensored conversations to start. What do you think?
Written by Robin Good for Master New Media and first published on Thursday January 3rd 2008 as "Social Media And Conversational Marketing: Seesmic Bottom-Up Approach And Advertising Opportunity Insights"

I was speaking with a fellow filmmaker the other day who was asking me for tips on finding grants for fiction films. I’ve been successful at finding grant-based funding for my work (”Gina, An Actress, Age 29″ was supported by the sadly now-defunct Aperture Film Grant), but I had to break the disappointing news that those sources are few and far between for fiction work these days.

Having said that, if you’re developing a not-for-profit film/video project — say, a social-issue documentary or a youth video project — there is money out there. A great introduction to finding money is Morrie Warshawski’s Shaking The Money Tree, 2nd Edition.

I read Shaking the Money Tree years ago when it was still in its first edition. Since then I’ve probably raised close to $100,000 in grant monies for various projects (my own and others’) since reading it. Documentarians will probably benefit from it the most, but I strongly recommend it to filmmakers that need help raising funds for their films, or fund-raisers new to film and video production, regardless of film genre.

One fundraising strategy that’s discussed briefly in Shaking The Money Tree is given its own extended treatment in Warshawski’s newly revised The Fundraising Houseparty, 2nd Edition.

As Warshawski points out in this slim volume’s introduction, individual donors account for 87% of all non-profit endeavors. Fundraising houseparties are a way to bring such individuals together and introduce them to a project that might deserve their support.

I’ve never hosted a houseparty (nor had one hosted for my work), but I have attended a couple, so I have a decent grasp of what works and what doesn’t. Warshawski’s guide is the best I’ve seen on what can be an intimidating process for the uninitiated. The basics are spelled out in easy-to-read prose, with straightforward diagrams and illustrations helping to walk you through the process. The appendix even includes sample invitation letters and a worksheet. Yes, some of this stuff is common sense (”Thank People as They Leave” states one heading), but other topics aren’t (”taxes”).

As the saying goes, you gotta spend money to make money. At $20 (or less) each, these books are a pretty good investment for anyone considering or pursuing the not-for-profit realm of moviemaking. If you have other tips or reading suggestions, share them in the comments below.

Where would you like to see Master New Media going next? It is the start of a new year and nonetheless I have started making new editorial plans since this past 2007 summer, it is only now that some of them will start to see the light of the day. Among them is first of all a greater focus on cultivating an open and direct dialogue with each one of you. This is why today I open Master New Media to you, my reader to openly suggest, criticize, push through your own ideas to make Master New Media more of the site you have always wanted. For a long time, the content and the editorial style I have chosen to use have left little or no space to the open conversation with which so much of the good web is made up today. Unless I can learn something from you, there is little hope I can go in the right direction next. So, whether you are a fan or long time supporter of this site or someone that has only recently discovered Master New Media, I gently invite you to start this new year by telling me straight and openly what you like and don't like about this site. Don't hold any shot, say everything you feel and more than everything contribute something that can help me see things you think I haven't realized so far and should pay more attention to. Here is some guiding questions if you feel overwhelmed by your own ideas: a) What is the feature or the trait that do you like the most about MNM (MasterNewMedia) ? b) Which is the one that you like the least? c) If you were to add a feature or editorial component what would it be? d) What bothers you the most on this site? e) What is something you would like to see more of? I am fully listening! Peruse the "Readers Comments" link here below and let me hear what you have to say.

Best wishes for a creative, productive, happy, and peaceful 2008.

Where I come from (East Tennessee) it is tradition to eat black-eyed peas for good luck in celebration of the New Year. Sometimes that means beans out of a can, sometimes it means more: Today Ashley treated me to a plate full of not only Hoppin’ John, but also greens and macaroni and cheese. Yes, 2008, we’re off to a good start.

Follow along at home:

If you have the Joy of Cooking, and you should, there’s a good recipe for Hoppin’ John in there.

Of course, there are variations. Here’s one. Vegan? I haven’t forgotten you.

Happy New Year to all!

As 2008 will bring greater focus on professional online publishing for Master New Media, here is the second part of my anticipations and predictions for this new year that has just started. In this second part:

• Online Collaboration Tools
• Mobile
• Mobile Live Video
• Online Marketing
• P2P
• Conversational Tools - Microblogging
• Widgets
• OpenID
• Off-line Web-based Applications
• X-Events

Here the details:

2008 Media Predictions - Part 2

If you haven't seen Part 1 yet, check it out here: New Media Predictions 2008: What Online Independent Publishers Should Expect From The Future - Part 1

Online Collaboration Tools

2007 has been in many ways a record year for online collaboration tools with literally dozens of new tools having joined these fast growing group. Screen-sharing, video-conferencing solutions based on Flash as well as new innovative solutions have been all over the news thrughout 2007. Will it stop? Absolutely not. You are going to see more real-time and asynchronous collaboration tools entering the space as well as notable innovation from many of the existing players. Screen-sharing will become a standard integrated OS or application integrated feature in an increasing number of cases. Adobe is one of the key companies now setting the benchmarks in this space nonetheless the broad installation base of WebEx and other enterprise conferencing systems still own the numbers. But Adobe has set a long term strategy for the development of its next line of collaboration tools and characterized by a light footprint, cross-platform compatibility, easy to use and feature-rich approach. Connect and Brio are two brilliant examples of this successful strategy. Adobe is not my sponsor, but when a company does well over and over again, one should have no shame of saying it. What to expect? I think that if Brio and the last iterations of Connect are any indication, you are in for some serious good surprises from these guys which means easier to use and more effective collaboration tools at your disposal.

Mobile

For online independent publishers, mobile is the next frontier, as more and more people log, search and read news while on the move on their mobile phones and PDAs. Better integration of monetization and advertising opportunities, as well as more sophisticated tools to easily convert your standard web site in one that can be accessed by any mobile device will show up during 2008. Cooler than cool a new mobile application will allow you to post to your site or blog using your voice and the images / video you capture on the move. The great thing is that your voice is converted into text and published as written content along your mp3 downloadable podcast. In 2008 you will also be able to access remotely all of your tools, music, data and multimedia content, while being able to play it back on any television set or computer you will find available. Thanks to tools like Mojopac, Orb, Slingbox and TakeTV you will be able to access all of your tools and music / video content from just about anyhwere.

Mobile Live Video

Yes, I have already written about web tv yesterday in my first part of new media predictions, but live video will be a technological innovation that will affect not only web television channels but a much broader set of application and uses. While accessible and cost-free live video streaming has been here for a good year now, the ability to stream live video from anywhere you may be without having to open your whole notebook is the new video-casting frontier. Two companies (Wwigo and QIK) have already introduced tools and services that allow anyone to broadcast real-time video from their Nokia cellular phones and in 2008 you should see a breakthrough announcements in this field from some top international brand names.

Online Marketing

SEO and SEM are not enough anymore to do a good, comprehensive job of promoting your content or specific products online. The online marketing mix now requires a great deal more understanding of how Google expects you to publish and architect your content, plus it helps a great deal if you are fully active in using social media destinations and in leveraging the power of social networks. In 2008, I expect a new wave of services and tools that can help you simplify and manage more efficiently all of these chores. From pushing your new content to the best most relevant social media destinations for your target audience (Digg, Reddit, Sphinxx, Delicious, etc.), to creating your own mini network of supporters and fans that will proactively help you give visibility to it. It is likely that you may see also the expansion and diversification of borderline services like Subvert and Profit which have aggregated a large team of individuals to push, for a price, selected content on major social media destinations like Digg and YouTube. As you may have learned recently from Techcrunch, getting video clips to get viral is not really a matter of having a particular talent at shooting video but rather the consequence of a very well orchestrated operation borderline marketing in which ethics and rules get easily subverted to achieve phenomenal popularity in the arc of a few days. APML is coming and with it a possible wonderful and pretty scary innovations. As advertising is here to stay on the web, wouldn't be better if the ads you saw were tailor-made to your interests? Think of this as the next step forward from the AdSense contextual advertising you can see appearing in this article. Contextual advertising services such as Google Adsense attempt to serve relevant advertising based on the content of the article that they appear in. As such, you have a greater chance of seeing ads that will appeal to your tastes than you might through mainstream, mass media advertising, which simply sends out the same message almost regardless of context, and hopes that some small percentage of viewers will be interested. If the APML standard takes hold, however, content providers and advertisers will have a much better chance to serve you with relevant information, so that ads become useful rather than something that interrupts what you came to see in the first place.

P2P

2008 is going to be the year for P2P to take the front stage for publishing and sharing contents in ways that need not be underground or illegal in any way. Radio, film and video distribution, and to a large degree live television can so greatly benefit from P2P distribution approaches that further delaying the understanding of the key benefits P2P can bring must the highest priority for any commercial television. Beyond Joost, Babelgum and Hulu there is a yet uncovered world of classic mainstream television channels which haven't seen yet the light of the day on the Internet. Why? There is no good reason for this. Only ignorance. Zattoo and Livestation seem among the few ones so far to have sniffed the meal asvia what should be called P2PTV major broadcasters and TV networks can not only reach a much broader public without needing extra expensive broadcasting hardware and without needing to give up any of their advertising or sponsorship components, but they can also track and monitor with much greater accuracy what viewers are really watching. P2P has many things going in its favour, but more than other innovative new media technologies it may best represent the tip of iceberg of a deep paradigm change we are not ready to dive into just yet. I invite you to look at the fascinating ideas of P2P as a way of living that Michel Bauwens and his network have been bringing forward. This is the stuff we should be looking into, and if you want to be really innovative while helping others tangibly to create a vision for the future Michel Bauwens may be the best lecturer to invite at your next media related conference.

Conversational Tools - Microblogging

If you haven't yet given yourself the treat of using a microblogging tool, now is the time. Tumblr, Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku and many others offers the simplest interface and command set for any online publishing tool you may have encountered so far, while providing you with a truly effective way of shooting out rapid fire news, information, call for action, updates and even personal stuff for your friends, if that's all you care about communicating. In 2008, some microblogging tools will start to integrate audio and video functionalities using an approach similar to Seesmic, the new still in Beta service which allows individuals to shoot out short video messages while forming their own personalized social network. On this front there is still a lot to go, but it appears evident to me that these tools are absolutely powerful and hugely powerful radars to allow you to stay in touch with hundreds of unique sources at once as well as providing a great publishing assets for any serious online blogger, trainer or independent reporter. Microblogging tools have moved the online conversation paradigm a step further beyond blog comments. They are still a bit rough around the corners, offering little control over "grading" the incoming sources and news in different ways, while being able to better categorize and group them according to your needs. The conversational aspect will also need to be refined a lot more before we can gain a true conversational experience even when using these asynchronous tools. But the above should likely be the innovative areas in which these tools will be making their next steps during 2008.

Widgets

This is the dream of any online publisher. Write once and publish your content to multiple media outlets at once. And thanks to RSS, the steady growth of widget use, the recent introduction of Open Social and of cross-media publishing tools the original dream has been actually surpassed by the reality we have been able to create so far. Publishing all of your content via one or multiple RSS feeds is one of the strategic keys that allows you to get highly enhanced distribution. But widgets, who are built on RSS, are increasingly a more effective strategy to get extra exposure, visibility and traction while possibly being able also to extract some monetization opportunities from them. In 2008, look for further innovation and new content publishing tools that allow you and your readers to package and distribute your content in multiple ways. If you want then to make the best of such opportunities, follow these great recommendations from Fred Wilson:

"1 - Microchunk it - Reduce the content to its simplest form. 2 - Free it - Put it out there without walls around it or strings on it. 3 - Syndicate it - Let anyone take it and run with it. 4 - Monetize it - Put the monetization and tracking systems into the microchunk. Widgets are a syndication tool and a tracking tool. And hopefully they’ll become a monetization tool as well."

Open ID

How do you love having a tens of different usernames and credentials to log into the different services you have signed up to? OpenID comes to the rescue and in 2008 you should see larger adoption of this new identification standard which is free, non-proprietary and which can be integrated in most any web-based service out there. While OpenID is largely still in the adoption phase it is becoming increasingly more popular, as big organizations like Microsoft, AOL, Sun and Novell are starting to adopt and support the use of OpenIDs on their web-based services. This is why if you are an online publisher looking to expand your membership-only services you may want to consider learning more about OpenID and the unique benefits it may bring to your customers and readers

"For businesses, this means a lower cost of password and account management, while drawing new web traffic. OpenID lowers user frustration by letting users have control of their login. OpenID takes advantage of already existing internet technology and realizes that people are already creating identities for themselves whether it be at their blog, photostream, profile page, etc. With OpenID you can easily transform one of these existing URIs into an account which can be used at sites which support OpenID logins. As Brad Fitzpatrick (the father of OpenID) said, “Nobody should own this. Nobody’s planning on making any money from this. The goal is to release every part of this under the most liberal licenses possible, so there’s no money or licensing or registering required to play. It benefits the community as a whole if something like this exists, and we’re all a part of the community.” (Source: OpenID)

Off-line Web-based Applications

Offline web-based applications were in my new media predictions for 2007 as well, but nonetheless the interesting progress made by Socialtext, Zoho and Google Gears on this front, major advances that would allow mainstream adoption of this functionality are yet to come. Offline web apps represent a new capability for traditional online-only web services which now allow you to go offline and be able keep working until you re-connect next. In 2008 you will see off-line web apps going mainstream and leveraging this unique feature as a critical competitive selling point to significantly increase their user base.

X-Events

This is an idea whose time may not have come yet but it remains firmly on my radar for what you should start preparing for. X-Events are events which are planned and carried out in a continuous experience that merges offline physical events and online activities. The best way to explain this is a physical conference for which a community site is built before hand and in which participants, lecturers and sponsors start interacting and actively engaging with each other way before the physical event starts. Nonetheless the core event takes place in physical space it is also re-broadcast and made accessible in multiple ways, while numerous forums and post event showcases are set-up after the physical event is over. A truly eXtended event in these terms would guarantee much greater success to the physical venue, extended exposure and visibility for all commercial partners, much greater opportunities for engagement and social networking for participants as well as an infinitely more capable platform for including presentations and shows from a greater number of people. Even though most of the tools that would be needed to set-up an effective X-event have been out there for a while now, the true challenge is not only in integrating these into a coherent whole but having individuals who can see this vision and bring it to a plan that is certainly more challenging and complex than the typical tech conference. But so would be the success and rewards, I believe. Whether X-events will become more of a reality in 2008 it is hard to say, but given the popularity and revenue streams that these conferences can carry I think it is only a matter of time before we see someone starting to properly ride this valuable horse.
end of Part 2 Part 1 : New Media Predictions 2008: What Online Independent Publishers Should Expect From The Future - Part 1
Originally written by Robin Good for Master New Media and first published on January 1st 2008 as New Media Predictions 2008: What Online Independent Publishers Should Expect From The Future - Part 1

It’s been a while since the last Coffee Break, so I’ve got a nice little stash built up for some New Years reading.

200 Documentaries You Must See Before You Die eBook

True Films sister site, Cool Tools, has released a free eBook with the the top 200 films True Films has reviewed. This is a great list of films that will definitely build up my Netflix queue. Not just restricted to features, it has TV series including Mythbusters, Project Runway, and Project Greenlight Season 1, though I’m a fan of Season 3, after Bravo took over.

This is definitely worth a browse, I guarantee you’ll discover something new.

The PDF can be found here. And True Films, and Cool Tools, are good sites worth adding to your reader.

Become an Expert Interviewer - Fast - Great list of tips to come up with killer questions and keep the dialog engaging during an interview.

As part of your preparation, search out previous interviews the guest has done. Look for topics “the guest really likes to talk about,” advises Miller, and the topics that “fall flat.” The goal: To find a balance between what your audience wants to hear and also what the guest wants to talk about.

The list was derived from a PDF with even more tips, which can be found here.

A Little Light Painting

Here’s a video about the making of the photo above. Yeah, it’s still photography, but the ideas behind compositing can be taken over to the film world. And it’s a really awesome photo.

Digital Media Locator - Lots of libraries now offer eBooks and movies/docs online, for free, as part of your library service. Check this site to see what’s available at your library.

The Afterlife is Expensive for Digital Movies - Celluloid is still king…for archiving at least. This is a really fascinating article from the NY Times about the high costs of storing movies in the digital age, an age that does not do so well against time.

The problem became public, but just barely, last month, when the science and technology council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the results of a yearlong study of digital archiving in the movie business…Industry types largely missed the report’s startling bottom line: To store a digital master record of a movie costs about $12,514 a year, versus the $1,059 it costs to keep a conventional film master.

Much worse, to keep the enormous swarm of data produced when a picture is “born digital” — that is, produced using all-electronic processes, rather than relying wholly or partially on film — pushes the cost of preservation to $208,569 a year, vastly higher than the $486 it costs to toss the equivalent camera negatives, audio recordings, on-set photographs and annotated scripts of an all-film production into the cold-storage vault.

To begin with, the hardware and storage media — magnetic tapes, disks, whatever — on which a film is encoded are much less enduring than good old film. If not operated occasionally, a hard drive will freeze up in as little as two years. Similarly, DVDs tend to degrade…only half of a collection of disks can be expected to last for 15 years…Digital audiotape…tends to hit a “brick wall” when it degrades. While conventional tape becomes scratchy, the digital variety becomes unreadable.

Now I have to check all those old hard drives for those classic middle school films, not that much of the world would care if they never reach a screen again.

Full Frame: Garrett Scott Grant - I’ve said it many times before, Full Frame is a great festival. And now for first time filmmakers, there’s a chance to experience it for free.

What: This grant funds first time documentary makers for travel and accommodations at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, April 3-6, 2008. For four days, grant recipients will be given access to films, participate in master classes and be mentored by experienced filmmakers. TWO filmmakers will be chosen for the grant in its second year.

Deadline is January 28th.

The Most Expensive Drink at Starbucks - This will keep you going through the night. A 13 shot venti soy hazelnut vanilla cinnamon white mocha with extra white mocha and caramel, all for only $13.76.