12.24.2008

Playlist Rocks



Now that it's banned from MySpace & Facebook I figured it was time to check out Playlist - and it rocks! Great widget service to set up playlists of music you like. It's like the FM radio DJ actually took your call, and your requests!

11.21.2008

YieldBuild - interesting Ad service

YieldBuild automates optimization of Ad space in layouts on your site. Beta seems desirable...

11.13.2008

I enjoyed running sound for the Hustle band live on Sunday



I enjoyed running the soundboard when The Hustle played a benefit show at our church (Hope Community Church). Their hybrid hip-hop style was a blast and they were a talented, tight band.
Too bad I gave the band my only copy of the board recording... it was good for live.

Be sure to check out their tune "Philadelphia".
MySpace.com - THE HUSTLE - Indie / Experimental / Hip Hop - www.myspace.com/thehustleband

10.21.2008

ユニクロトップ - UNIQLO ユニクロ



Interesting promotional widget from Japanese brand Uniqlo.
Won awards at Cannes.
View on the hour to enjoy the alarm animations...

9.28.2008

Tokyo Subway on Flickr - Travel Photo


Tokyo Subway on Flickr



I've rediscovered this shot I took in Tokyo with my Treo 700p, where the train motion blur really pops the foreground elements. Fun!

9.23.2008

Bravo TV - Design a Room app

They have coding problems over at BravoTV.com. Flash and HTML integration seems broken quite often.
Loading... Loading...

9.09.2008

Palm Needs to License ShapeWriter

ShapeWriter


How cool/innovative is this input UI approach?
Palm should license this to play on the iPhone's keyboard usability woes...
Ever try using a finger nail?

9.06.2008

Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime® components

Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime® components
Great codec utility for QuickTime on the Mac.
Allows FLV playback and transcoding.

I News 3 your personal news center

I News 3 your personal news center has run a video story about me running for President!

9.02.2008

Google Web Browser 'Chrome' Released



Google Chrome: "Look under the hood of Google Chrome in this comics interpretation of key engineering decisions, by Scott McCloud."

8.25.2008

Radiohead Concert Photos 2008-08-12

Photo_081208_023


Radiohead 2008/08/13 Setlist:

  1. Step
  2. There There
  3. Morning Bell
  4. All I Need
  5. The National Anthem
  6. Videotape
  7. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
  8. The Gloaming
  9. Where I End And You Begin
  10. Faust Arp
  11. No Surprises
  12. Jigsaw
  13. The Bends
  14. Idioteque
  15. Climbing Up The Walls
  16. Nude
  17. Bodysnatchers
Encore
  1. House of Cards
  2. Lucky
  3. Go Slowly
  4. Just
  5. Street Spirit
Encore 2
  1. Reckoner
  2. Planet Telex
  3. Everything In Its Right Place

8.24.2008

Radiohead Concert 2008-08-12

Photo_081208_031
Photo_081208_031, originally uploaded by Jon Ashley.

I took a bunch of pix with the Treo 700p at the recent Radiohead concert in Camden, NJ.
Some even good...
Much thanks to Scott W for the last minute ticket hook-up!

8.01.2008

Lyrics Word Cloud generated by Wordle



Lyrics to a song of mine run through the Wordle applet.


Fun!

7.02.2008

Localization - It's Big in Japan | Omnisio

Through a cool new tool - Omnisio - I have linked up the GoogleVideo of a presentation I made to the Delaware Valley UPA with the presentation for side-by-side display of the video and the slides.
Now, how do I incorporate the event photos posted on Flickr?

6.22.2008

Quoting the AP will cost me, but posting their video is free?

According to the AP (Associated Press) I can't quote them without paying for the content. But I can embed this entire AP video report off YouTube for free?





Wow! The AP really doesn't understand what changes have transpired in media

5.14.2008

Lost - Home - ABC.com



My favorite show... perhaps of all time. I can't believe the short seasons and year-long breaks. It's agonizing.

5.10.2008

YouTube - Guys backflip into jeans


My brand for decades - Levi's 501s... sweet.

4.17.2008

Fisher-Price PXL 2000 - Wickedly Lo-Fi Home Video

From Retro Thing - Fisher-Price PXL 2000 - Wickedly Lo-Fi Home Video.

I really wanted one of these when I was a kid! I thought it would be the coolest.



Never got a Commodore 64 either... ;)

4.09.2008

Boddingtons - the ale of choice









And Corona is swell to promote it... ;)

3.11.2008

Frozen Grand Central at Improv Everywhere

Frozen Grand Central at Improv Everywhere

Sweet social manipulation... mass-participation performance art thing.

3.10.2008

Adrian Sannier of Arizona State University talks about Google Apps

YouTube - Arizona State University talks about Google Apps

I had the pleasure of working with Adrian "Ace" Sannier while at Engineering Animation. I learned a great deal about leadership just being around him.
I do not believe he normally goes by "Ace", but another Adrian had beat him to the EAI offices, so...

3.06.2008

GREY Group

GREY Group - the "parent" company of my employer - just relaunched the dot-com.

2.26.2008

Succumbed to Paste $5 CD Closing Sale









Mute Math

Mute Math
Jamie Cullum
Catching Tales
Matthew Sweet
Kimi Ga Suki
Matisyahu
Live at Stubb's
The Go-Betweens
Oceans Apart
Joss Stone
Mind Body & Soul
The Soul Sessions
Erin McKeown
Grand

Quite unlike myself I grabbed a bunch of CDs that I've been meaning to.

Looks like I waited for the right price.

Love the monthly Paste Mag too.

Paste CD sale HALTED by server errors

http://www.pastestore.com/product/1085
renders
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:45:08 GMT Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.8.18 OpenSSL/0.9.7d mod_perl/1.29 Connection: close Transfer-Encoding: chunked Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1

OK

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@pastemagazine.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.


Apache/1.3.31 Server at www.pastestore.com Port 80


BIG TROUBLES YOU HAVING - NO WONDER CLOSE THE STORE
TOO MANY TRIES IT TAKES TO GET THE PAGES
ONLY CHARGE CREDIT CARD ONCE, YES?




(Comical immigrant poetry from a frustrated shopper and experience designer)
--
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Jon Ashley - User Experience Architect

See the difference you can make - Earth Hour 2008

2.20.2008

The Wombats - Moving to New York

YouTube - The Wombats Moving to New York

And many others on YouTube.

The Wombats are playing SXSW for the 2nd year in a row. Nice.

As much as I love The Fratellis it's no wonder I dig this UK band too.

2.15.2008

Immigration_by_the_Numbers.mov

Immigration_by_the_Numbers.mov

Great video giving an overview of the effect that the volume of immigrants has on the US.

2.05.2008

Tide to Go - Mytalkingstain.com

Tide to Go - Mytalkingstain.com
Nice campaign for Tide... I think I'll by some Tide to Go.


1.20.2008

Sennheiser - Sound Logo Contest

Sennheiser - Sound Logo Contest
Hmm... how to top "N - B - C"?

Nokia Nseries

In order to view the Nokia N82: The urbanista diaries you need JavaScript and Flash Player 8+ support

Interesting device, campaign and site.

1.06.2008

Social Networks & UGC Media in Mobile

Panel:
Peg Jackson, moderator (NeoCarta Ventures - VC, uses LinkedIn)

Shane Lennon - "Gypsy" - location-based social net, WAP, gen content, attach location, upload, commenting - friend finding app, content search, mapping and directions, has FaceBook integration
Liang - Nokia partnership dev, contextual tie-in requires metadata
MayLin Ng - mig33 - mobile social network (8MM+ users global)
Andrew Perlman - Vringo (video ringtones) melding personalization with Web 2.0?? choosing content to use to identify/represent yourself to the world
Darcy Lorincz - Origin Digital - 800 content partners, connect content to destinations at various bitrates/formats
John Mantell - Helio (video focus) - mobile access to FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube - VOD services


Notes:

"Mobile Social Networks" - what does that mean? ;)
location-oriented, can share (soon) with friends and family
and behavior (shoot video of drunk at office party)

greater ##s accessing I-net worldwide on mobile than other

Helio/MySpace partnership

6% of mobile users in US have uploaded UGC to networks from phone

Nokia - 18% of photos taken are on camera phones
> working around the infrastructure, ex IM over IP, VOIP... must enable 3rd-party developers (Skype, etc.)
> integrating Contacts and presence (Microsoft partnership)

"profiling and self-expression tools"

iPhone
Google Phone ("Android")

(mg33) Social Network must be built for the mobile to work on the mobile
> all aspects on the mobile without any PC use
> leverage communication services (chat, voice, share picture, etc.)
- comfort rises and then sharing/social grows from that

(Gypsy) mobile space - vertical behaviors, but not vertical services/lock-in
use cases are at level 1 at the moment

Business models:
(digital goods, subscription, advertising ??)
mig33 - off-deck strategy, local distribution partnerships to monetize
Cross-platform strategies are the most successful (even including Print), more touchpoints, mobile can be center

build once, deploy anywhere doesn't work long-term (OK start) - form factor impacts the content

UGC screened/flitered through partnerships (iFilm, etc.)

Tech that will Impact:
Slifter - cool app/start-up
Gidget - (was Attendio - location-based Facebook App)
Gicue ? Giqueue?
MessageMe - post and monitize mobile content
DVB-H
mobile wallet (too obvious, why not happened in US yet?)
SK Telcom - S. Korea -
Digital Orchid - lottery tickets mobile

Privacy -
Allowing user to be able to control

Mobile & Broadband Music

Panel:
Ted Cohen - moderator, TAG Strategic

Brad Duea - Napster
Victor Fredell - Sony/Ericsson (80% of content revenue comes from games)
Cyrill Glockner - Microsoft
Ken Hertz - entertainment attorney, GH&L LLP, Beverly Hills - Will Smith, Beyond, Black Eyed Peas, etc.
Paul Campbell - works with Quincy Jones - QD3 (QE3?) Entertainment
Chris White - Motorola global music efforts

Notes:
Napster - side-load to mobile phone or over air (ATT, DoCoMo, European carriers), .99 per song or $15/month

Collapse of DRM at major labels??
- for purchase
- subscription will continue to use DRM
> Fredell - about the music experience overall, not just eliminating DRM (which is one of the pieces)
> White - exciting to see, but in Asia 90% of music biz is OTA, all DRMed...
> Ken Hertz - not really significant revenue... artists believe every day is their last day in the business (21-yr old out at 25)


How shipment of music-enable phones effects the industry...

What went wrong with Plays For Sure?
> Glockner:

Nokia - "Comes With Music" - introduced in Dec, phone with 1 year of music even after subscription ends, no burn, no copy, but stays in Nokia device

In music business models you are selling: convenience, quality, monitizing affinity

Napster - Swisscom (no-DRM approach, 5-song trackpack - ALL phones, 5 songs per month) vs AT&T (DRM with 1 phone, Microsoft)

subscription or ala carte bundle? (semantic difference only)

Hertz - assume everything is going to be subverted somehow (technically) so build your model with that assumption

Consumer Adaption /= Business Model
Ad-supported model tough to make money

2008 - labels will publicly embrace blanket licensing (ala ASCAP, BMI) - some is going to happen

"3D-Radio" - TiVo for radio...

iRadio - motorola, does not exist

Moto - every phone is Asia has FM radio

sideloading vs. OTA
4GB cards < $40 !

3 major trends (Glockner):
> mobile experience, access anywhere to my content
> PC is increasingly a platform for video
> CE manufacturers want to participate

--- 2008-2009 NBT? --- L to R
greater compatibility, ease of use
media management within phone, navigation through media
better end-user experience on mobile devices > Silverlight...
blanket licensing debate
role of advertisers, value add but no dedicated budgets... shift of dollars to support innovative business models
handset HW and SW tech integration, switch from music to voice mode; device manuf getting more into content; more in-home compatibility

Movies, TV and Video for Mobile

Panel:
Ralph Simon - moderator, Mobile Entertainment Forum

Frank Chindamo - Fun Little Movies (USC teaching, short-form 5-minute movies) - Rock Entertainment just acquired them (custom video codec?)
Douglas Craig - Discovery Communications (3 products: streaming mobile channel on MobiTV/Sprint, B2B style clips with partners, WAP site)
Lisa Hsia - VP New Media, Bravo/NBC Universal (wireless piece: Project Runway, IronChef - WAP sites, MMS clubs, mobile games - text to Buy thing if can get carriers, social networking thing)
David Lang - Mindshare Entertainment
John Najarian - SVP New Media, Comcast Entertainment Group, LA-based (E, Style and G4 new media - VOD, podcasting, wireless, WAP - text alerts, games, apps... ex. E -18-49 demo focus, affluent, female skewed)
Dave Ulmer - Motorola (entertainment applications - how to expand user-generated content, shipped Bourne Identity with handsets in EU on card - live mobile video transmission from mobile handset)


Notes:

major media groups and channels harnessing mobile for revenue and audience reach

Moto: UGC /- goofy content on YouTube... look at what we;'re watching on TV now... Reality TV, etc.

"Gill O'Riley" parody - Fun LIttle Movies
serials

from "Rock", ANSA - text question to service, send back a good human answer to question

Discovery > slices of content, personalization? revenue generating additionals? > fish where the fish are (produce around popular shows, expand) - shout differently, graphics size differs
produce once, publish everywhere mantra, thin margins on emerging platforms
More of a promotional vehicle rather than revenue-generating

Animal Planet example - "pet finder" works small, linked to big station: website for finding adoptable pets, working on mobile extension, directed to local animal shelters
TLC - "TakeHome Chef" - WAP shopping lists to phone

How to move from promotional vehicle to revenue-generating vehicle??

mobile video usage is tiny, SMS is broadly used

TV Channels look at mobile as part of larger strategy
Mobile fan club with sponsorship (in 6 figures...) - 75-85% engagement!! (sponsored by Lauriall)
Top chef - Bravo successful show - etc.
2008 - set up $500k of mobile program sponsorships

Comcast - text alerts, ad supported, pushed on air and online, read on E-Online, "E News Now" video product online and mobile
minute-long story news break, 12 per day... Brittany Spears, good for business.
Mobile - news has GOT TO BE NOW, not at 6 and 10 - Realtime expectations

As a matter of course, must have cross-channel thinking

Moto, Dave Ulmer - mobile is being used as an extension... brand and value
Transition year 2008 - like switch from Radio to TV

WiFi and WiMAX will change everything soon

for Moto, multimedia is a primary focus these days > WiFi and WiMAX are coming
carriers will realize how to make money even on networks that they don't own

mobile is intensely personal (when's the last time you handed it to someone and said 'you use it'?)

MyStyle.com (Style channel extension) - extending with WAP as well, allow user to provide info back to network
For Comcst/E/Style - the mobile-originals do't work as well and the traditional-show tie-ins

Discovery - "How Stuff Works" - WAP version: lookups, fact of day, etc.

Automated tools to create mobile versions of shows?
> StarCut - in Helsinki - offers a tool
> WDA - Wireless Development Agency

AT&T, Sprint, Verizon - carriers all have different video models

data rates in US are lagging, but catching up via WiMax, behind Asia

Motorola - building handsets that support DVB-H (even non-handset portable TV)
Verizon, AT&T launching the MediaFlo product...

mobile licensing is an issue, writers' strike impact

Breakthroughs in Personalized Mobile: Video, Music, Gaming, Search, Etc.

Panel:
Arlene Zeichner (moderator)
Lee Hancock - go2 (mobile media co. - location based services, 2MM users, ad driven, 350 mobile websites)
Mark Lewis - DDB strategic planing services
Mitch Oliver - Qualcomm (BREW, etc.)
Brian Sathianathan - Abott Media Inc. - media search
Paul Scanlan - MobiTV (3MM paying subscribers, SprintTV, XM to Mobile Phones)
Mathew Snyder (former Nokia mobile search and advertising, Enpocket - ADObjects founder)
Jessica Stoner Steel - VP Biz Dev Pandora, now available on mobile Sprint, AT&T

Notes:
Scanlan - types of services sought? 1st device to be 'guaranteed' to be unique to an individual user
"end-user authentication"
Hancock - go2Pets (Purina) , go2Golf (Acura) - adaptive personalization over user survey/prefs setup
Steel - US users: radio 16 hrs/week, 3 hrs/week MP3 device - Ease of Use is the reason - push a button

Nokia deal, Universal - handset maker driving content, payment side deal, content owners get paid


Lewis - pursue permission-based model, not interference-based traditional model

Privacy issues/concerns

Lewis - "how can we earn people's trust?"
Hancock, go2 - targeted content, not complaints from users
little cross-sharing between carriers and websites (sites know more)
perceives low concern over 'location' knowledge

LBS - Location Based Services

Sathianathan
Personalization Two Camps
1) users coming from desktops, expectations of same personalization on mobile (profile shared)
2) on-through-move device, quick connection, highly-sticky needed...
on Mobile, not a "feature (like online) but a "core function"

3-Screen Environment
> mobile operators forced to change, like Music content...
WiFi and cellular in same device - why would I pay over cell when over WiFi the content is free?

Pandora - universal access, starts up on same screen when switching device
mobile - convenience use case, "boredom killer"

How is targeted advertising going to work - local? national?
Lewis - lean-forward device... how can you enhance the experience (location, etc.)?
throwing coupons has a very low success rate in all media, why try it in mobile?

92% prefer ad-supported free content
carriers have prohibited ads on mobile sites until recently - opened it up??

teens open to ads, they don't have any money
older demos... may be less open to ads

Sathianathan - down the long tail, advertising gets more and more acceptable

MobiTV - ad insertion on personal basis possible

Steel - radio traditionally ad supported, Pandora ad-support online, unicasting, interactive ad campaigns
in mobile, expensive to deliver unicast in carriers world... but Pandora would like it to be free everywhere

DDB
Brands built today - different than 10-20 years ago
Marketing has to be a service, shear amount out there...
create an experience, not an ad
ex. Budweiser in Pandora

sponsor the right content, rather than pushing a ton of ads

Pandora - CPM... double digits
21-35 males in major metros who listen to rock music... drives up the CPM

Brand - advertainment opportunities...

go2pets - purina - 3 month trial (400k unique visitors on mobile phone) - renewed for 1 year!
very young, sponsorship helps build the content

DDB - can no longer plan 1 big campaign and just push it, you have to try different things and adjust...

Personalization 2008 -
Pandora is about device access
lift monitization 15-20%
MobiTV - personalized advertising, seamless cross-device personalization
recommendation schemes, user profiling techniques... users who liked X often Y
- help discovery on mobile device??
Qualcom - intelligent recommendations on personal profiles
DDB - partnerships for personalized mobile content
go2 merged, messaging and WAP environment - automatic personalization, location based

hard to scale local-tie-ins in personalization

micro-communication on the mobile will grow - ala Twitter
hyper-personal first, hyper-local in a sub-component

ARPU - mobile ads is in Cents, not dollars

CES 2008

Attending the "mobile" sessions at CES 2008 in Las Vegas. Just saw a panel discussion on mobile video... Vongo/Starz, GoTV, MobiTV, Motorola, Sony/Ericson and Fox Reality TV were all represented.