Comment Re:There are about 10 good shows out there, and... (Score 1) 151
Yup. I believe they're owned by Sony, which explains their tactics.
Comment Re:Indie TV isn't free, that's why you don't see i (Score 1) 151
What you say is of course true, but it doesn't have to be this way. Four months ago, the most expensive Greek TV series ever, The Island, was broadcasted: 150,000 Euros per 50 minute episode (26 episodes were made). What they created for that amount of money, I'm sorry to say, rivals any of the US efforts for Star Trek or Star Wars indie fan films. Greek TV generally sucks, but they got it right on this show. But of course, there are no unions in Greece, and salaries are smaller there. Still, it's something that US needs to think about when the unions put crazy minimum prices for cast and crew.
Comment Re:There are about 10 good shows out there, and... (Score 1) 151
It's also on Youtube (and on Bittorrent legally free, I believe).
Comment Re:Fantastic stuff! Wish i'd dumped cable earlier! (Score 1) 151
I personally signed out of Comcast CableTV *exactly* a week ago! Between the web series, Netflix, Vimeo via my Roku box, and Hulu Basic via my laptop's HDMI, I don't need any cable box. I bought an indoors TV antenna too, just in case, but I haven't connected it yet.
Comment There are about 10 good shows out there, and... (Score 5, Informative) 151
I'm an indie filmmaker myself (used to be a tech nerd a few years ago, but turned into movie magic 3 years ago). I'm constantly trying to find such good shows too, online. And I have quite a list for you.
- Continuum, scifi: http://www.facebook.com/ContinuumTV (shot with a Canon 7D dSLR)
- Pink http://www.pinktheseries.com/
- http://mindseyeseries.com/
- http://www.minglemediatv.com/CursedWebSeries.html
- http://www.crackle.com/c/Trenches
- http://www.crackle.com/c/Fear_Clinic
- http://www.asylumseries.com/ (shot with a RED One)
- http://www.crackle.com/c/The_Bannen_Way
- http://www.crackle.com/c/Urban_Wolf
- condition:Human http://vimeo.com/user1160921
- http://compulsions.tv/
- and of course, the videos in these two Vimeo Channels: http://vimeo.com/channels/hd and http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks if you have a Roku, or a GoogleTV you can view most of these shows above via RSS, or via the Vimeo application for these two platforms. The videos in these two Vimeo channels, are really, really good indie work.
There's one more sci-fi web series coming out soon, but I can't remember its name. They use Canon dSLRs to shoot it.
Feel free to email me btw, if you like to discuss any of that, I'm a lot into indie filmmaking: http://eugenia.queru.com/
Submission + - Twitter Appears to Censor Wikileaks-Related Trends (studentactivism.net)
Sheep writes: This past week I found it weird that none of the words #wikileaks, #cablegate, #cables, #Assange, etc. were actually "trending" on Twitter. Today, my fears of some secret censorship going on, are slowly coming true. It appears that Twitter is censoring all these keywords, essentially trying to minimize the effect Wikileaks can have on the world through Twitter's democratized popularization of information. It's ironic that last year Twitter suspended their own scheduled server maintenance in order to not interrupt its users from tweeting on Iran's revolution, and now it appears to censor, and manipulate public opinion as it sees fit!
Churchill Accused of Sealing UFO Files, Fearing Public Panic
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Newly released secret files show that Winston Churchill ordered a cover-up of an alleged encounter between a UFO and a RAF bomber because he feared public panic. From the article: "Mr Churchill is reported to have made a declaration to the effect of the following: 'This event should be immediately classified since it would create mass panic among the general population and destroy one's belief in the Church.'"
Comment Re:Define Commercial Use (Score 1) 437
Exactly. This is one of my problems with CC-NC as well, and with the "commercial" definition in general.
The problem is though that there is nowhere a real definition of the word. There are so many cases, and new cases arise daily as technology moves on, that it's very difficult to put your finger on it and say that something is commercial or not.
The CC study was rightfully made. It showed that the definition really is in the eye of the beholder. You CAN'T put it in the license, because the definition is so extremely broad and complex. It's like the "fair use" clauses. It's for a judge to decide.
Comment Solution is easy (Score 1) 437
>"What can I do?"
Simply re-license them for CC-BY 3.0. If this is not your primary way of making money for your household, let people reuse your images any way they want to. That's what I do. All my videos and pictures are CC-BY 3.0. The only ones that are not CC at all are the ones involving music videos for local rock bands (videos I shot for them), which I don't have the power to CC-BY them since I don't own the copyright.
But anything else *I* created and own, it's all out there for free. Do the same, and you won't have the problem of people stealing your images.
However, if these pics are your primary way of making a living, then yes, sue them.
Submission + - Television: The Next Big Tech Battleground (osnews.com)
An anonymous reader writes: OSNews posted an article explaining why the TV is where it's at in the tech world. The author argues that TVs can become as "smart" as cellphones can, that IPTV is king, and that the success of it all (at least in the US) will depend on enforcing net neutrality.
Submission + - Legislate past the MPEG-LA? 2
Midnight Warrior writes: We could solve the H.264 debate if a country's legislature were to mandate that any patents that contribute to an industry-recognized standard were unenforceable in the application of that standard. Ideally, each standard would also be required to have a "reference design" that could be used without further licensing. This could also solve problems with a ton of other deeply-entrenched areas like hard drives, DRAM, etc. RAND tries to solve this strictly within industry, but both the presence of submarine patents and the low-bar required to obtain a patent have made an obvious mess. Individual companies also use patent portfolios to set up mutual, assured destruction. I'm not convinced that industry can solve this mess that government created.
But I'm not stupid. This clearly has a broad, ripple effect. Can Slashdot come up with non-computer industries where this would be fatal? What if the patents were unenforceable only if the standard had a trademark and the implementer was compliant at the time of "infringement?" Then, the patents could still be indirectly licensed, but it would force strict adherence to standards and would require the patent holders to fund the trademark group to defend it to the end. In the U.S. model, of course. Or should I go off and get a master's degree and use this as my thesis?
But I'm not stupid. This clearly has a broad, ripple effect. Can Slashdot come up with non-computer industries where this would be fatal? What if the patents were unenforceable only if the standard had a trademark and the implementer was compliant at the time of "infringement?" Then, the patents could still be indirectly licensed, but it would force strict adherence to standards and would require the patent holders to fund the trademark group to defend it to the end. In the U.S. model, of course. Or should I go off and get a master's degree and use this as my thesis?
Submission + - Is Windows 7 Actually Faster Than Ubuntu 10.04? (phoronix.com) 1
mgpeter writes: While Linux has long been talked about as being a faster operating system than Microsoft Windows, in 2010 is this still the case? It seems every time we deliver new benchmarks of the EXT4 file-system it's actually getting slower, recent Linux kernel releases have not been delivering any major performance enhancements for desktop users, the open-source Linux graphics drivers are still no match to the proprietary drivers, and "bloated and huge" is how Linus Torvalds described the Linux kernel last year. This is all while Windows 7 was released last year, which many view as Microsoft's best operating system release to date. Even after using it a fair amount the past few months in preparation for this about-to-be-shared work, it is actually not too bad and is a huge improvement over Windows Vista, but is it really faster than Ubuntu Linux?
Submission + - Why Our Civilization's Video Art and Culture is Th (osnews.com)
jrepin writes: "Eugenia from OSNews writes: "We've all heard how the h.264 is rolled over on patents and royalties. Even with these facts, I kept supporting the best-performing "delivery" codec in the market, which is h.264. "Let the best win", I kept thinking. But it wasn't until very recently when I was made aware that the problem is way deeper. No, my friends. It's not just a matter of just "picking Theora" to export a video to Youtube and be clear of any litigation. MPEG-LA's trick runs way deeper!""
Submission + - "Lost" and the Emergence of Hypertext Storytelling 1
Hugh Pickens writes: "The tv series "Lost" involves a large cast of characters marooned on a tropical island after a plane crash with episodes that thread lengthy flashbacks of characters’ backstories with immediate plots of day-to-day survival and interpersonal relationships, and a larger “mythos” involving the strange and apparently supernatural (or science-fictional) happenings on the island. Independent scholar Amelia Beamer writes that the series works as an example of a recent cultural creation, that of the hypertext narrative. "In Lost, the connections between characters form the essential hypertext content, which is emphasized by the structure of flashbacks that give the viewer privileged information about characters," writes Beamer. "Paramount are the connections unfolding between characters, ranging from mundane, apparently coincidental meetings in the airport, to more unlikely and in-depth meetings, reaching back through their entire lives and the lives of their families." Beamer writes that the series also pays tribute to video games, another relatively recent interactive means of storytelling. "The introduction of new plot points is heavily foreshadowed, and when the characters finally do break through the hatch, or meet the so-called “Others” "there is a sense of “leveling up," writes Beamer, "passing through a transition point at which a game becomes more complex (and more potentially rewarding)." Another part of the hypertext content is the community created around the series that includes a "Lostpedia" with over 6,000 articles dedicated to the show that elaborate on connections and theories regarding the story. "Lost is evidence of a new kind of cultural creation made possible by technology, where viewers can access and contribute to a huge internet-based fan culture, and are no longer dependent on network broadcast schedules.""
Comment An open letter to Bono (Score 1) 569
Regulating downloads is impossible. And if it's made possible, it will come with a GREAT PRICE to indie artists. Bono is not an indie artist, so he sees the world from his point of view, but there are more indie artists than major ones, so I fail to see why Bono should have his way. I actually wrote a blog post about all this, replying to Bono and explaining why he's wrong, on my own blog (I wrote it before I saw the Slashdot news post).
