Live video coming to YouTube in 2008?

Sure sounds like it from this scoop from Sarah Meyers as reported by CNET's tech news blog. Don't you think live video will explode then?

There are sites where you can do live streaming video now, but none with the reach and brand name of YouTube.

Seems like a real game changer. And will the Internet be able to take the surge in bandwidth demand?

Guitar Hero 3 comes to AT&T Phones

First it was Verizon, and now CNET reports that AT&T phone customers will be able to play Guitar Hero 3 on their phones. Let's just not hear of someone trying to drive while trying to keep up with the insanely fast GH3 version of "Devil Went To Georgia," 'keh!?

Are digital music sales already 40% of revenue at some majors?

Digital Music News reports that at the recent Digital Music Forum in New York, some surprisingly high digital sales numbers were revealed.

Disney Games coming with "Ultimate Band" for Wii, DS

Another entry is coming in the video game music space, currently dominated by Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Disney Interactive Studios is coming with "Ultimate Band" for the Nintendo Wii and DS. No add-on controllers. "Songs already confirmed for "Ultimate Band" include "Steady as She Goes" by the Raconteurs, the Who's "My Generation" and "Fell in Love With a Girl" by the White Stripes, all of which will be covers."

HTML Code Tutorial

That's the name of the site: HTML Code Tutorial. Looks like a handy reference (I needed to check how to strike out text). Do you have another favorite HTML reference site?

Chris Anderson on "Free" - Wired article, video, links

Lots of info and links from Wired on the idea of "Free" driving digital business success. This quote ends Chris Anderson's video: "Every industry that becomes digital, eventually becomes free."

Google launches wiki-ish "Google Sites"

Here's a critical look from CNET, here's the main Google Sites page from Google. Looks like a simple way to get an intranet up and running.

Gizmodo: Patience advised on going Blu Ray

A nice look here from Gizmodo at where things stand on Blu Ray DVD. "Sony's more affordable new Blu-ray player will hit the market this summer for $400. Nothing built by Sony or anyone else should be considered before then, the one exception being the PS3."

Amazing - over 1 BILLION cell phones sold in 2007

It's staggering, isn't it? "More than 1.15 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2007, a 16 percent increase from the 990.9 million phones sold in 2006."

A hit drama online doesn't guarantee TV success

“Quarterlife” has been a hit on MySpace. On network TV, not so much. "...the worst performance in the 10 p.m. time slot that NBC has seen in nearly 17 years." Ouch.

Music exec: "Music 1.0 is dead"

From Ars Technica. News from the "Digital Music Forum East" meeting. Point worth pondering: "the next big thing is a dozen things."

Irving Azoff on the Eagles / Wal-Mart relationship

And the power of touring in this NY Post article.

Quote from Eagles manager Irving Azoff: "I recently looked to see how much The Eagles have been paid in royalties from all their downloads at iTunes. The Eagles are one of the two or three best selling catalogs in the business. And we figured out that [total iTunes royalties] equaled about 45 minutes of one concert at any city in the world." (Saw this in the Lefsetz letter)

iTunes now #2 in Music Sales

iTunes now trails only Wal-Mart in music sales. The line from that jumped out at me was "...48 percent of U.S. teenagers didn't buy any CDs during the year, up from 38 percent in the year before."

Another look at the above story from the LA Times here, that notes: "The number of people buying music legally from online music stores jumped 21% to 29 million last year from 24 million in 2006..." but that "The increase in legal online sales was driven by people 36 to 50."

Excuse me, one of my 17 types of media is beeping...

Wow, the people who've agreed to take part in this all-day media use study must be confident that they don't have anything to hide, hmm? And check this: the researchers will monitor "the use of 17 different media as the people use them alone and in multiple combinations." (!)

Do you even come close to that? I gather that's counting multiple media on one device, don't you think? On your PC alone you could do e-mail, chat, browse the web, download songs and videos, etc... so that be five right there? Would a DVR and live TV count as 2 different media?

A wary view of the project here.

I've set up a news alert to monitor what happens as results get reported later this year.

HBO putting some full episodes on YouTube

I like seeing HBO join this trend (CBS had an episodes online announcement last week).

I've been wanting to see some of "In Treatment," and HBO's posted (as of this writing) 4 full episodes online.

Thanks for the hits, Phil Gernhard

I've met record execs and artists who worked with him, but I never got to meet Phil Gernhard. I've sure loved some of the songs he helped bring to the world, though. In particular "Spiders & Snakes," one of my favorite 70's hits ever.

What a parade of hits: "Gernhard's legacy included producing Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs hit "Stay," Dion's "Abraham Martin and John," Lobo's "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," Jim Stafford's "Spiders And Snakes" and the Bellamy Brothers' "Let Your Love Flow." He also produced and composed "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen."

He was also involved in the careers of many contemporary country artists.

Thanks for the music, Phil.

Michael Wolff on Hollywood in a YouTube world

From Vanity Fair. "Hollywood, which has been the center of the culture, the coolest place, the ruler of the Zeitgeist, is out of it." (Thanks KVD).

Timing is everything - the article came out right before the 2008 Academy Awards show had the lowest Oscar ratings ever.

Speaking Tips from an M.I.T. Professor

Looks like a lot of great speaking info in these online videos. Check out Prof. Patrick Winston's "Big 4" if you want a quick handy lesson on how present your ideas more effectively. I like his references to probability and psychology in explaining the need for cycling, repeating your point three times to insure that your audience has the chance to "get it." (I found this from Boing Boing, but the video referenced there was gone when I checked it).

A 12-min version of Prof. Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture"

This version of Prof. Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" (from Oprah) is short enough to watch for quick inspiration any time. One of my favorite lines of his (from the longer version of his speech): "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things." Info on Dr. Pausch and links to the full-length original lecture video here.

Cool ways to make RSS Feeds work harder for you

You can really get some ideas here. I like Bloglines for a feed reader, but I can see SendMeRSS as being handy for feeds you want to stay on top of in your e-mail box. Please comment below if you use any services like these.

See yourself in Ascii text

Got a web cam? See yourself in dots with the Amazing Instant Ascii Cam. I haven't tried it yet but it looks fun. See the author's text pic here.