Posts Tagged ‘youtube’

Self-assignments

I think most of us can agree that it can be difficult to break new ground when submersed in a day-to-day work routine. Tasks have to be completed and often those tasks follow certain time-tested procedures to complete them. This makes for great efficiency and productivity, but it can make it challenging to push the boundaries and explore new things. One great (and low risk) way to practice a new skill or explore a new idea is to give yourself a self-initiated assignment.

Recently, San Francisco designer Alex Cornell posted his reflection on a personal assignment in which he created a series of YouTube videos. He had been creating videos of his music for quite some time, but wanted to introduce new graphics and a fun storyline to go with them. He recognizes the pitfalls of the project, including confusing some of his viewers and struggling with the time commitment, but he was able to immerse himself in a project that was totally his own and that was personally satisfying to him.

I think one of the most interesting ways to start a personal assignment is to establish some restrictions that will keep it small and manageable. For example, next time you have to make a PowerPoint presentation, try keeping every slide to 2 sentences or maybe use one large photograph per slide. If you are interested in photography, shoot only in black and white (on your digital camera!), only take photos of animals, or shoot only things with straight lines for one day. Writers might pick one object on their desk every day and write a poem about it or maybe write a review of a new gadget you just got. Perhaps all of your dinners for the week contain broccoli or have all raw ingredients (think Iron Chef here). There are endless possibilities! Whatever the restriction, stick to it and see what interesting results come of it. Don’t be afraid of “failure” since you have nothing to lose!

Journals or blogs are great ways of documenting personal assignments and even if you never share it with anyone, you might find that some of your experimenting will find it’s way into your professional work and add new life to whatever you’re working on. Have a personal project or idea to share? Tell us about it in the comments below!

By David Gnojek | May 4th, 2010 | View Comments

5 ways to watch online video on your TV

Internet video’s come a long way in the last few years. You can now stream high-definition video to your laptop or phone, but what about your television? Here are five ways to connect your TV for instant access to online video.

Apple TV

Apple TV is a $229 device that lets you stream video (and music) from other computers on your home network, download movies directly from iTunes, stream YouTube clips, and watch thousands of video podcasts instantly. You can also save video to the built-in hard drive for better performance (that is, no potential for network hiccups).

Apple TV has been around for about three years–longer than the iPhone–but has yet to really see the success that Apple’s mobile devices have. Apple calls the product its “hobby,” and it shows that it’s not a primary focus for them. They’ve updated the software and interface a couple of times over that stretch, but haven’t added any appreciable new technology. I used one for a couple of years until the hard drive conked out about a month ago. I decided it wasn’t worth trying to repair.

If you’re after video podcasts, or want to stream music from iTunes on your computer through, say, a receiver in your living room, you might like Apple TV. Otherwise you might be interested in one of these other options.

Roku Player

I replaced my Apple TV with a Roku player. For me, so far, it’s been a home run. Roku starts at $80–a high def model will set you back $100–and really does take about five minutes to set up. The device is designed to stream movies from Netflix, and does so wonderfully. It also streams Major League Baseball via the subscription-based MLB.TV, a service I’m looking forward to using this season. It’s also got support for Pandora if you’re interested in music.

However, Roku’s support for podcast viewing is lacking. It relies on Mediafly, and seems like it might have potential, but is slow and hard to navigate. Roku also doesn’t have a built-in hard drive, so you can’t save video to it. I miss being able to listen to my iTunes library in the living room, too. On the other hand, it’s 100 bucks for a device to stream high def video to your computer. If you’re already a Netflix and/or MLB.TV customer already, it’s worth every penny.

Game consoles

If you’ve got a current-generation game console hooked up to your TV (that would be a Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, or Microsoft Xbox 360), you can already stream online video to your computer. For you Netflix fans, the PS3 and Xbox 360 will already stream movies, and Wii support is coming soon. I’ve streamed plenty of YouTube video to my Wii. If your home computing setup is more Microsoft in nature than Apple, an Xbox can stream video and other content from your computer, or from the local hard drive or a USB drive. They PS3 can also play local video files, or from the PlayStation Store (kind of like Apple’s iTunes Store).

Computers

If you want more flexibility, and have the skills to set things up yourself, you might consider hooking a computer up to your TV. This will probably be my eventual route–my plan is to eventually have a Mac mini sitting under my TV, with Boxee media software installed to simplify access to podcasts, music, baseball, and movies. If you’re a PC, check out the Dell Inspiration Zino HD for something similar. If you’re really DIY, build a media center yourself using Linux.

Also of potential interest is a set-top box from Google. Details are sketchy right now, but the ability to access “apps” on your TV just like you would on your phone or tablet could be compelling. I’ve long thought Apple should include the Apple TV as a supported device for its own App Store.

Internet-ready televisions

If you don’t want to mess with hooking up yet another gadget to your television, your best bet is to invest in a TV with Internet capabilities built-in. TV manufacturers like Vizio are releasing models with apps for Netflix and other streaming services. Personally, I think it’s a little early to invest in something like this. I’d wait for a model equipped with an operating system, be it something from Google, Apple, Microsoft, or an up-and-comer we haven’t heard from yet.

Photo: francescominciotti on Flickr

By Aaron Sumner | March 19th, 2010 | View Comments

“Twitter Power Tips” webcast recording now available

A couple of weeks ago I sat in on an interesting webcast from tech publishers O’Reilly and Associates entitled “Twitter Power Tips.” The presenters, Sarah Milstein and Tim O’Reilly, have just published The Twitter Book, a guide to making the most out of Twitter. A recording of the webcast is now available through O’Reilly Media’s YouTube channel, and embedded below.

If you’re new to social media, or are still on the fence about why or how to use it (not just Twitter), I highly recommend watching at least the first 15 minutes or so of this recording. Mr. O’Reilly makes some excellent points about why an individual or business/group/corporation should add social media to their messaging mix. My favorite point: Create more value than you take.

By Aaron Sumner | June 1st, 2009 | View Comments

Library of Congress videos on YouTube, too

Last week I mentioned that the Library of Congress was making its audio archives available through iTunes. Now you can also access a growing collection of archived video via the LOC YouTube channel, including book readings, old films, and historical documentaries.

If you’re a professional developer planning to use one of these videos in a school, don’t forget that many districts block access to YouTube (and other video sharing services), so plan ahead! You can use software like TubeTV or online services like KickYouTube (just add the word kick in front of youtube.com in the video’s web address) to save a copy of a clip to your hard drive.

(via Mashable)

By Aaron Sumner | April 8th, 2009 | View Comments

Official video downloads from YouTube

We’ve told you about ways to save videos from YouTube to your computer in the past–notably, by using TubeTV. Now, YouTube has begun providing direct downloads of some content without requiring extra software of browser plugins (or hacks).

Right now there’s not much to download. You can grab Creative Commons-licensed content, for free. Commercial content is coming, too, for purchase through Google Checkout. The saved video will be in MP4 format, which should work just fine in most modern slideware applications, iPods, iTunes, etc.

(Via Lifehacker)

By Aaron Sumner | February 12th, 2009 | View Comments