Gonna get a droid & switch to Verizon – sprint is just not 100 percent & my Pre tends to reboot!  Such is life…

Welcomed by Kevin Shively, TVWorldwide

Streaming Media East 2010 – the day after report:  What is it about technology conferences that makes them so exhausting?

The exhibit floor this year was smaller then last years and I heard from the exhibitors that real “customer” presence was light, but of course for my purposes… that doesn’t really matter.

Selfishly I have to say, I am only interested in technology innovations that are easy to integrate or deploy, that are affordable and of course, that actually work.  There was a lot of discussion around scalable technology, SD to HD workflow transitions, adaptive (bit rate) streaming… and of course, highest on the list is the promise of “unified systems” (as it is referred to in the Enterprise) or single [video] signal transmission to multiple devices, something along the lines of TVEverywhere type availability of broadcast content, but specifically one feed that can play back on any device (i.e. Mobile, Desktop, Set top box, etc.).

That’s a lot to think about, but I was able to pin-point my priorities and focus on putting together a package that would work for me and my budget… and here is that journey.

The conference took place at the New York Hilton, as it has for the last several years.  Upon arrival to the show floor, one flight up via escalator, one was greeted by Kevin Shively at the entry and his A/V crew set up & ready for live interviews (you can view the replays here).  I couldn’t help but notice that this year Kevin and his trusty A/V crew (Pete) were equipped with the NewTek Tricaster TCXD850, this is the model that supports HD workflow (and will easily plug & play SD so you can ease in as you upgrade equipment and peripherals).  The Tricaster still runs on XP OS and I was a bit concerned about Microsoft’s recent announcement that they would no longer support Windows 2000 and XP O.S.

TriCaster™ TCXD850

In light of this concern I made sure my first stop on my updated workflow mission was to hit the NewTek booth and ask a guru.  I interview Will Waters, a NewTek Systems Integrator who was doing live demos on the show floor, and he assured me (*party line*) that NewTek is working with Microsoft to ensure support, however the unit is released to market on Windows XP.   This does concern me for the long term, but if one needs a workflow solution now I believe the Tricaster is the “best” studio in a box for the buck.  Of course, I would recommend not using it as your live encoder while producing a live webcast nor would I recommend going on the road with just one (I would prefer to have a back-up unit or solution like having a UStream.tv account with their UStream ProducerPro which is switcher ready and is pretty inexpensive for what you get.

On a side note, the Tricaster comes configured with UStream presets, however when I asked Will about this he was quick to redirect and position the product as being more “ubiquitous” so I suspect that relationship may have changed somehow, at least “politically”.   Just an interesting note. (And I did not see anyone from UStream.tv present at the conference, so… do the math!)

NewTek TriCasts™ America: Varsity Tour. From May 11-June 9, 2010

NewTek was plugging away at the capabilities of the mobile unit and their up-coming “Varsity Tour” (vehicle seen in the picture to the right), of which they boast:  NewTek will visit multiple cities to host live events, inviting audiences to check out the benefits of a giant live HD TV truck that fits in a backpack.

The strategy is this, they know that the trick to keeping their products relevant is attracting talent and expert users of their products, so they are hitting the Education trail to get kids hooked on their products early!  Makes sense…

At this point I have myself a nice little plan, Tricaster with a UStream.tv backup/failover plan… now I needed to figure out what to do with my transmission and how to send it out to the world.

My eyes usually glaze over and mind fog sets in at these events, I was lucky enough to run into Lisa Larson-Kelley (follow @lisamarienyc on Twitter) who was on her merry way to the A105: HTML5 and Web Video Standards session, moderated by Tim Napoleon, Co-Founder, President, Alldigital with panelists:

Jennifer Taylor, Director, Flash Content Creation and Distribution, Adobe Systems, Inc.
Monty Montgomery, Director, Xiph.Org Foundation
Greg Harris, Chief Creative Officer, Daily Interactive
Justin Eckhouse, Senior Product Manager, Video and Mobile, CBS Interactive

A105: HTML5 and Web Video Standards

The session was packed, standing room only!  It turned into (or tired to turn into) an Open Source vs. The Man type of debate that didn’t really go anywhere.  Here is how I read the session:

CBS = We wait & see to drive innovation

Adobe =”Hello, my name is Adobe & Flash is a CPU hog” “Welcome Adobe” – The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem [and, scene!]

Daily Interactive = I don’t remember anything this guy said, and I wasn’t even drinking yet.

Xiph = Stop talking & Just do it! [or something like that! You know, something really Open Sourcey and philosophical....]

Bottom line, I am looking at the HTML5 specification and it’s really no harder than HTML/XML but it has a fancy number – did you know the the number 5 is the most graphically desirable number since it contains both curve and straight line and it also represents my favorite Mambo?

The technology that really caught my eye this year is the ever affordable, pseudo non-political, ubiquitous, codec agnostic product engineered by team Wowza.  Their party line:  Wowza Media Server is the world’s first platform that lets you stream from one H.264 encode simultaneously to multiple players and devices. It unifies the multi-protocol, multi-player H.264 streaming into a single workflow, eliminating the need for multiple player-specific encoders and servers. And Wowza Media Server 2 delivers all that at an unbeatable price — 75% less than the single-protocol Adobe Flash Media Interactive Server (FMIS) or Microsoft Windows Server® with IIS.

Wowza Media Server demo - live streaming video to an iPad

I spent quite a bit of time with the fellas from Wowza trying to figure out what their party line is, we even broke bread… So, maybe I came close to drinking the cool-aid but the fact of the matter is simple:  I said it had to work.

FACT:  I was able to view their demo on the floor and they went in depth into how they used the VLC player as an encoder to get the video off of the server (running on an HP laptop) and over their “lab” network were able to just play back the url in the browser on the iPad.  I could “see” it working and accept the fact that this was just a demo.  They were honest about that.  Good.

FACT:  I really think the benefit of their product is in the price-point and ease of deployment, as Alex Dobrushin, Chief Marketing Officer, walked me through the set-up on say… An Amazon ECS account… the CMO described how all I have to do is take the Wowza pre-configured server image and load it up to my ECS instance.  Wowza offers a free demo that I plan to download from their site in order to build out my first Amazon Wowza media server.  This right here is the foundation of what a CDN is.  Of course I don’t want to be a CDN, I just like to stream the media to the people!

I did a round of interviews with A.M. Arno of Bandwidth Bastard fame and will be editing some clips of my exploits for your viewing pleasure shortly.

Last Word:  I got what I needed out of this conference and I hope that you got something out of this post, now go brush up on your motor skills and get some exercise!

She had to be put to sleep today, riddled with cancer… for those of you who knew her, you know I  love that little cat…

Here is the last picture of her taken before her last day as a cat… I hope they finally let you come back as a true lady-diva.

I will always miss your “Meh”

babybops last pic

I will Tweet from Vegas rather than attempt to do full posts from NAB, but when I get back home I will write up reviews!

My goal is to get as many products to DEMO and then do write ups… So, now is the time to put in your requests for QA/UAT on any products you may be considering or interested in this year!  I am already going after the new Tricaster HD, so impress me with your initiatives and I will try to get to all your requests… And guys, don’t forget Streaming Media East is coming up in May!

Check out  the all new StreamingMedia.com that launched yesterday!  Happy Spring everyone, 2010 is a great year for technology, just don’t say “iPad” … sick of em already

The best of NYC, waiting area for the Manhattan Borough Rent Office.

I just went through the upgrade process, took an hour but immediate impression is great!! The video recorder works well & no glitches yet! I watched tv during the upgrade on a 73iinch Mitsubishi, Travel channel in HD!

I have  recently found out that the police were called during Christmas and new year’s eve, exact time/day is not yet known but my neighbors reported that there were 2 incidents during that holiday week, on my property, and that is unacceptable.  The court will have to issue a request for the police records during that time in addition to the call traces (using *57 on my land-line via Verizon and TAP service) to add some weight of urgency to this case.

Since my original post, many concerned  citizens have forwarded very valuable information regarding harassment enabled by the use of blocked/restricted calls and of course stalking – there is a much deeper psychology that plays into the reasons why any of this may occur, there is a very fine line between stalking and harassment in the eyes of the law and reparations will happen differently depending on how the judge or court hears the claim – I have provided some links to useful information that could help you to keep these types of situations from escalating.

For New York State:  http://www.safehorizon.org/page.php?page=stalking_nylaw

Most statutes define stalking as the willful, malicious and repeated following and harassing of another person. In addition to a pattern of conduct, many state laws mandate that an imminent, credible threat of violence be made against the victim for the activity to be considered stalking. But thirty-two states also consider the stalker’s intent to instill fear as illegal, with all but six states defining criminal stalking as any activity that would instill fear in a reasonable person.

Why do I take this so seriously, here is a report from last week, of a 23-year-old woman killed outside her Orlando office by a stalker had asked for a protective order but was denied.  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585535,00.html

Resources:

- For Blackberry users, a new service that will be offering more options as they develop and expand their product line, thanks Roseann for reaching out to me!  http://www.privacystar.com/Default.aspx

- Very valuable information regarding recent rulings, i.e. California Penal Code 646.9, www.leginfo.ca.gov –>  http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs14-stk.htm

- http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs3-hrs2.htm#2

- http://news.cnet.com/FAQ-The-new-annoy-law-explained/2100-1028_3-6025396.html

- http://www.stalkingvictims.com/home.htm

- A very informative site:  http://www.safehorizon.org/page.php?page=stalking_nylaw

-  http://trac.syr.edu/laws/47/47USC00223.html

- http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/stalker.html

Of course, it is very difficult to get a restraining order or order of protection, BUT if you can prove reasonable damages in Civil Court, there are ways to effect change.   Preliminary Hearing is next week and hopefully, with an Advocate on Privacy Policy and support from the Telco’s , maybe we can effect some change.

Why do I care so much?

I lived over a year with fear and helplessness every time my phone rang from a blocked number over and over again, late at night, early in the morning – it effected my ability to work, to sleep and to simply answer my phone – I missed a great deal of work because of the harassment!  Since I began writing about  it has stopped, but that does not make it “ok“.

Remember, when you sign up for your mobile phone, you are agreeing NOT to abuse the use of said device.

Thank you to all those who reached out to me and shared their stories, I hear you loud and clear!

Are you working “overtime” during the Holidays?  I have to tell y’all, I have learned a valuable lesson about life…. and that is about putting yourself, health and love before career at any cost.  If you are working overtime, slow down… look around you because if you miss those subtle clues in your  life when things are slipping away, you will find yourself with nothing.

Officially let it be known,  it was unfair of me to put my career first before the people who mean the most to me, it hurt my love relationship over the course of just a few sad months deeply and profoundly.   I had personal turmoil and had become so sick from overworking myself for my so-called career that it led to a terrible struggle with Sciatica and other health issues (I couldn’t even walk for months during the winter of 2008 and that lasted all the way into the summer, finally started to get better in July!!).

So, be forewarned,  there are very evil, cruel people out there who prey upon situations such as mine where I was weakened, so many truly “dark beings” will swoop in and take advantage and spread their bad karma if you let them, but they can be easily dismissed if you are with someone and surrounded by those who you truly love and have a connection with, but you can only bounce back if you stop yourself and jump back into your own life and get engaged.

It is scary and ironic how quickly things can change, and you may not even notice it is happening, but your life and love could easily slip away –  now that I am aware of what that mind-set of over-working and neglect can do to a relationship, let alone a life I have changed my ways.   I have recently put my personal health and spiritual love first, and everything else seems to be just falling into its place – for this holiday season if you find you are in that scary space, just stop and take a moment, and figure out what really matters most to you before something evil and sneaky just suddenly appears and tries to steal bits and pieces of your soul.

BTW:  My Birthday is coming up on the 10th of December and we have big plans!  If you are in the giving mood, don’t forget to send me a note.

So, yes there is a very good chance of some kind of an official announcement coming soon of some yule-tide/year end type possible engagement, and what exactly do I mean by that?   Stay tuned and find out!

I am still in love with my Palm Pre, I just installed the Classic APP from the SPRINT APP catalog that enables one to use legacy Palm apps on the Pre.  I will be testing pseudo-RDP with home brew’s RemoteWin (they couldn’t call it RDP because it is not using the RDP) – SPRINT service has been pretty good so far, of course I want more than the 900Kbps combined that I get when running web based speed tests off the device, but still good!

I went up into the mountains of Pa. lst week and it was raining pretty hard, low cloud cover, I lost my SPRINT GPS navigation, I couldn’t be “located” – which is good to know if I ever need to fall off the radar; However, the actual cell service never left my side (shifted at random between 1x, EV, R, etc.) and I was able to make/receive calls the entire time.

Plus, that vanity mirror sure comes in handy!

All I have to say about my SPRINT service is this:  I was riding on the N train to a meeting in mid-town and my phone rang.  If you have been to New York City and seen our “sub” way system you know it is deep underground and no one gets calls on the train in a tunnel.  In other words,   AWESOME!!

As for my SPRINT EVDO card, Speedtest.Net is telling me I have over 2Mbps on th UP!  What??? I started getting these readings after installing an update that was pushed out – took an hour and a half, but if the speedtest is an indication of the kind of up-grades being made available over “affordable” means, that’s great for streaming!

I know, I need to do more testing and I will.  Admittedly the spattering of APPS that were made available did not live up to the hype this past week.  Alas.

The one thing I need to do immediately is set up VNC or RDP on my device, then we will really kick around some tires in the field.  And I will get to the testing and I will tell the world… I love my Pre!