“Farting in Public” Kid Goes MIA: Campaign to Bring Back Spencer May 15, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Nalts, Online Video, Viral Video, YouTube, popular videos , 9commentsSpencer is my nephew’s friend who appeared in “Farting in Public” (now almost at 5 million views). We’ve done about 12 mostly public videos together, and here’s a playlist so you can watch them all on YouTube: “Best of Spencer.”
Spencer has a unique ability to suspend social anxiety and do just about anything without cracking up. Meanwhile, I stand behind the shaking camera laughing with tears in my eyes. He reminds me of The Man Show boy.
I’m starting a campaign to bring him back, because I miss him more than my online-video viewers. And he hasn’t returned phone calls lately. Maybe another creator has signed him. Well rest assured I pay better, Spencer! Free food, iTunes cards, gift certificates, Target trips and even a free Hamster that debuted in “Hamster on a Walk” (I hope Beaowulf is still alive).
Here’s my “Best of Spencer” video, appealing to viewers to charm him back in the “comments” section.
Where to Buy Cheap Video Camera and Gear- New and Used (B&H) May 15, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Videocameras, video cameras , 13commentsUnknowingly I was approved as a B&H affiliate last December (I should check e-mail more often). So here’s a banner below. For those of you that don’t know, affiliate programs allow bloggers and website owners to earn some small portion of your purchase if you visit the e-commerce site via the blogger’s coded link or banner. So bookmark this page!
A lot of people ask me what video equipment to buy, and where to get it. I default to BestBuy for impulse electronics, and often buy from Amazon.com. But my “heaven on Earth” is the NYC B&H store. I’ve mentioned it several times before (even before I had the old “affiliate” hidden agenda. 
B&H is like FAO Schwartz for digital video, audio and camera nerds. They sell video cameras, digital accessories, sound gear and computers. Prices are amazing, and I’ve never had an issue with service or returns (bought my recent Canon HV20 there for a steal). I’ve been burned by NYC retailers before, but the place is run by Amish I think.
My original blog (revverberation.com) was littered with low-revenue text ads, but I’ve deliberately not junked this blog up with low-profit Google text ads. They’re an eyesore. But here’s an affiliate banner for B&H. I have no idea how much I make if you go there via this banner, but I thought I’d give it a try. I’m pimping, but I know I’m not steering you wrong.
So if you’re on the market for gear and you can find a better price at B&H, go there via this link and you’ll be helping me offset my Bluehost fee for this blog! Again- I wouldn’t send you there if I wasn’t really happy about my experience with B&H, and most of the prosumers (professional/consumers) I know buy all of their gear at B&H — whether they live in NYC or not. Double check Amazon.com because occasionally you’ll find a better price there, but the options on Amazon for video enthusiasts are limited.
The actual NYC store is a dreamland. Get there if you can. I drove past it recently with Mr. Safety and told him about the giant conveyor belts that shoot your product from the warehouse to the register and he thought I was teasing. When I shop there I hear circus music in my head and people’s heads transform to giant lollipops.
Kids Today: Quote from Socrates? May 13, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 19commentsI remember a quote I received 16 years ago via e-mail — back in the days when you couldn’t verify things through Snopes, Google or Hoaxbusters. To put this time in perspective, a girlfriend challenged me to find the original name for Winnie the Pooh and it took a phone call to Disney’s librarian to get the answer (Edward the Bear).
Here’s the quote (which took me 45 minutes to find via Google because I couldn’t remember that it’s attributed to Socrates):
The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.
It’s widely reported that this quote below was spoken by Socrates (and written by Plato), and this was further legitimized by this source: Attributed to SOCRATES by Plato, according to William L. Patty and Louise S. Johnson, Personality and Adjustment, p. 277 (1953).
But the folks on Google Answers doubt it’s authenticity, and point to this information as sourced on Bartleby.com:
This passage was very popular in the 1960s and its essence was used by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Gijsbert van Hall, following a street demonstration in 1966, as reported by The New York Times, April 3, 1966, p. 16. This use prompted Malcolm S. Forbes to write an editorial on youth.—Forbes, April 15, 1966, p. 11. In that same issue, under the heading “Side Lines,” pp. 5–6, is a summary of the efforts of researchers and scholars to confirm the wording of Socrates, or Plato, but without success. Evidently, the quotation is spurious.
So what’s this got to do with online video, Nalts? It’s the context of today’s “Kids Today Suck” video, where I react to a series of playfully insulting birthday wishes from online-video creators. (Parenthetically, I’m still wiping the makeup and latex off my face, hoping to spare my kids the trauma of waking to a dad that’s even older looking than usual).
My video reflects what I believe is an important insight, and there are other historical quotes on Google Answers that back it up that make it less important as to whether Socrates said it or not. When we perceive children as disrespectful and lacking exercise we are observing a timeless truth. So put ‘em in perspective before you beat yourself up or, worse yet, them.
There are at least two 2-word statements that make me gag — especially when they come out of my own mouth. “You need” and “these days.” When I catch myself thinking or saying them, it usually prompts some reflection.
Thanks to all of you for your birthday wishes! You blogged about it, created a new YouTube channel with several dozen thoughtful and humorous wishes, and created the funniest birthday “collab” I’ve seen. You even pushed my recent “Soap Candy Prank” video to the number one comedy of the day on YouTube, with more than 300 comments and high ratings. Life’s a roller coaster but I tend to believe it gets more enjoyable with time — like a fine wine. Unless of course the cork rots.
Give SecondChanceAround a MILF Vote May 9, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 32commentsYou know ASecondChanceAround from YouTube?
Give her a MILF vote on “Hot Moms.” It’s a mother’s day contest, and she was submitted by her daughter.
I am to Korea what Jerry Lewis is to France. May 7, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Nalts , 26commentsWell maybe the headline is an overstatement because I have no idea what this Korean website is saying about me. But I’m sure it’s something like “he’s a viral video genius” who knows marketing and online-video better than anyone else in the globe. If you happen to speak or read Korean, I’d invite a translation. Google Translator isn’t much help, and the other sites turn this text into something that makes no sense…
, 자칭 바이럴 비디오 천재
입니다. 온라인 스타도 아니고 머라고 해야하죠. 자칭이니 힘들군요.
모바일 비디오 - 현재 아주 소수만이 모바일을 위핸 비디오를 제작하고 있다. 모바일 비디오는 다른 카메라 샷, 그리고 더 타이트한 스토리가 필요하다. 소수 제작자들은 스폰을 받기 시작했고 모바일 업체들은 컨텐츠 수급에 목말라 있다. 따라서 2008년은 암흑기를 지나 일본과 핀란드에서 일어난 일에 근접하는 기간이 될 것이다.더 중요한 것은 모바일에 있어서의 근본적인 교착상태이다.사용자의 요구는 천천히 늘고 있고 망사어자와 컨텐츠 소유자는 서로 권한에 대한 양보를 하고 싶어하지 않고 있다. 거기다 수익은 작다. 밴처는 상황을 조용히 해결하고 싶어하고 큰 업체들은 컨트롤을 위한 전쟁을할 것이다.
비디오 광고 - 구글의 InVideo광고가 명확한 모델이다. 덜 성가시며 타겟팅이 가능하다. 그리고 마케터들에게 먹힌다. pre-roll은 고급컨텐츠에서 보게 될 것이고 비디오 주위의 배너는 일반화될 것이다.
누가 망할까요? - 2진그룹의 비디오 서비스들은 큰 회사에 팔리거나 아니면 사라질 것이다. 2007년 Youtube와 그 외 서비스들의 market share의 격차는 엄청나게 벌어졌다. 온라인은 아마 하나 또는 두개의 major player로 정리될 것이다. 최고의 기술을 가지고 있더라고 사용자를 모으지 못해서 또는 광고주를 모으지 못해서 다들 사라질 것이다. 예로는 Revver가 있겠다.
온라인 비디오 스타 - 아쉽게도 인터넷 비디오를 통해 아마추어가 스타가 되는 일이 예상만큼 일어나고 있지 않다. 헐리우드 스타일은 무시할 수 없다. 비용구조가 받쳐주지 않음에도 불구하고 투쟁없이 변하는 것은 없을것이다.
드라마작가 파업 - 작가들은 그들이 원하는 것을 얻게 될 것이다. (그러니까 다른 매체를 통해 얻어지는 광고 수익에 대한 배분)
일시적인 비디오 유행 - 광고에 기반한 공짜 라이브 비디오 스트리밍 서비스들은 고객에겐 아주 좋으나 돈이 될 곳이 안보인다.돈을 받게 되거나 사라지는 것을 보게 될 것이다. (Stickam / Skype)
자칭 천재시지만 많은 부분 매우 현실적인 상황인식이 보이시는 분입니다.
One Small Step for Video Ad Standards. One Giant Leap for Creators and Brands. May 7, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Future of Online Video, Google, Making Money, Video Advertising, Video Business, YouTube, advertising, google video , 10commentsOne of the factors that has limited the growth of online-video advertising is the production and traffic work. Mike Shields of Mediaweek reports that the Interactive Advertising Bureau this week introduced a set of guidelines to standartize online-video advertising and make the medium “easier for advertisers to buy.”
The new guidelines cover three basic forms of online video ad formats: linear ads — interruptive video spots which are typically of the pre-roll variety, non-linear ads — which include the increasingly popular ‘overlay’ ad units, and companion ads — bannerlike ads that appear alongside video as it plays on the Web.
The guidelines, writes Shields, are the product of work conducted by the IAB’s Digital Video Committee, which is composed of 145 leading media companies, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. “This is a historic day,” IAB president and CEO Randall Rothenberg said, likening the announcement to a similar set of landmark guidelines put in place for banner advertising in the late 1990s. IAB senior vp David Doty said he thinks leadership and marketing, predicted “seismic shifts” would occur in the online ad business as a result of their adoption.
So while the viewer in me isn’t too excited to see the new “interruptive video spots,” the creator and marketer in me looks forward to the possibility that this may unlock some of the potential of this medium.
In related news, tech writer Leah Messinger writes about other sites beyond YouTube that offer advertising models brands can consider.
Nalts Gets Killed May 1, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Nalts, Online Video , 40commentsFiction and reality can be ironic. Last Thursday night I joined some folks in NYC to shoot the recent “Farting Unites,” but not before meeting in Newark to get killed by PaulScott1972 — here’s his frightening video threat.
And here’s a video called “Ignored: Part 5.” It’s graphic and involves a car being tampered, but be sure to enjoy the outtakes to decompress.
In true irony, during this same time I received real death threats and car tampering that has resulted in an ongoing police investigation. See “more” to read about that too-close-to-home drama.
The fictional series, titled “Ignored,” (see entire playlist) was inspired by the behavior of YouTube viewers who feel dejected because their favorite creators don’t respond to e-mail or messages… K80Blog was fake killed last Halloween. Musosf and GeneticBlend are two of the creative brains behind this disturbing but intriguing storyline.
It’s unfortunately true that as a YouTube creator’s viewer audience increases, it becomes impossible to dignify each person with a response. This makes the “famous” recipient perpetually guilty, and offends people who don’t know what it’s like to receive hundreds of messages a day via YouTube. I remember feeling “ignored” when I was new to YouTube and didn’t get responses from popular YouTubers to whom I wrote
The death video is atypically dark for a Nalts one, so my kids won’t be watching it and neither should yours. But I have been known to fake my own death before (see GooTube Conspiracy). I’ve even had a firework smash through my eyes thanks to the special effects of Davideo Designs.
Study Shows People Who Don’t Watch Online Videos Are… Boring April 23, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Nalts, Online Video, YouTube , 24comments
A recent study shows that the shrinking percent of US citizens that don’t watch online-video regularly are more likely (by 45%) to be boring than their video-watching counterparts. This study, mind you, is based not on a significant N or any official methodology. It’s just based on my own experience.
For example, here’s a result of last evening with Zipster08 and ChristopherMast. It’s a video called “Loco Mama and the Boys from the Hood.” Call them crazy, but don’t call them boring.
Incidentally, Mast (an Indie singer and nurse) is “couch surfing” with the Nalts family this week, and documenting every waking moment. Again- call it what you will, but it’s not boring.
And, all things being equal, life is more interesting when it’s not boring.
Doritos Video Contest April 21, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Contest, Online Video, YouTube, advertising, popular videos , 11comments
So there’s a galary of amateur videos (consumer-generated advertising) posted on Doritos’ UK website, including this classic Davideo hit. He’s the UK creator of the exploding Diet Pepsi Mentos girl, and one of my favorites in the use of abstract video animation (so be sure to rate it if “five sizzling chips” if you like it too).
It’s another agency produced flash site, so no direct links to the videos are provided, but it’s called “Just Can’t Wait.” So you have to go to the site, skip the intro, click “Just Can’t Wait” and vote. At least you don’t have to friggin’ register to vote.
Dear agencies: when are we going to learn that it’s cost prohibitive and unnecessary to create a custom site with subpar video players? To its credit, Doritos also set up a YouTube channel that features “Just Can’t Wait,” but I’m not sure votes count there.
Here’s another brave entrant featuring a guy whose tongue burns off. Kinda gross (as reflected by the votes) but has the most views.
Converting and Uploading Those Old VHS Videos April 20, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Making Videos, Online Video , 9commentsI’ve got two or three plastic bins in my basement, packed with hundreds VHS tapes. Among a lot of junk (Simpsons episodes, SNL reruns) lies some of the first video shorts I’ve made… um… two decades ago. So I spent hours this morning researching ways to convert them, and it comes down to a few complex choices with big tradeoffs:
- Ship your tape to a service provider (I found AMB Media Services via a Google text ad). For the price of $5 to $9, you can transfer VHS, VHS-C, Mini-DV, or Hi-8/8mm tapes. If you only have a few tapes, and want a low-maintenance solution (because your VHS still blinks 12:00), this is your best option. But when you add the shipping (about $9), converting a few tapes will cost more than buying a device. Some pharmacy and photo shops offer this service, and maybe shipping is less expensive.
- Use a camcorder with an analog input. Then you can connect your ol’ VHS to your camcorder and record it digitally. Next, you simply convert your digital tape to your computer as you would any new footage. Unfortunately my high-end Canon HV20 doesn’t have analog in. But I used an earlier camcorder to convert and upload “Woodblock Doll,” “Mint and Treats,” and “Attack of the Killer Slinky.”
- Buy a “Black Box” Device. Pinnacle’s Dazzle was the first device I bought to convert my Mini-DVs to digital footage more than 8 years ago. I researched the space, and paid maybe $200 for the device and editing software. Now there’s an AV-to-digital converter that’s selling for less than $50. There are other “black box” solutions like the Canopus ADVC-1110, but it’s pricey at $200 plus. Here’s one of the highest-rated VHS/DVD devices on Amazon (the Sony VRDMC5 DVDirect DVD Recorder). This Sony device got a favorable review from PC Magazine as well as CrunchGear, but a few customers have complained about audio problems.
- DVD/VHS Combination Units. Wired’s “Gadget Review” compares a number of other solutions, that include simple consumer decks that have both DVD and VHS. Some of these allow you to dub a VHS to a DVD… but this appears oddly complicated. Further, you’ll need software to “rip” that DVD signal to something you can edit, compress and upload. This ‘DVD/VHS combo option leaves you with a full DVD copy of your tape without all the editing and manual work.
- Additional Options and Sources. In researching this post, I did find a nice review of options by “AskBobFranklin.” And two reviews worth mentioning: Video converter software compared and Video editing software compared. I also like this post by SignVideo that describes the method and gives you tips on preserving the quality.
So what’s the bottom line? I’d go with a service (online or at a local store) if you just have a few tapes. But if you have six or more then it’s much more affordable to get a device. While writing this post, I bought the Pinnacle Dazzle DVD Recorder ($44 at Amazon.com). Then I realized that it had a few bad reviews on Amazon, and… oh… it’s not Mac compatible. D’oh. So now maybe I’ll spring for the Sony VRDMC5. Or maybe I’ll tell wifeofnalts it’s on my birthday-wish list. The black box is convenient but it’s another darned device that has limited functionality beyond this purpose.
Here’s my description of “the perfect device,” but I doubt it exists:
- It costs less than $200, and has a VHS deck and a DVD burner.
- The DVD is playable on a regular DVD player, but it also automatically chunks the video into segments that can be viewed via thumbnails. Or you can set it to chunk in 5/10-minute increments.
- You’d store the entire DVD as a safeguard against the deteriorating VHS tapes (although obviously burned DVD are far from permanent archives). Still, I suppose we’d actually watch our wedding tape more than once a decade if it was on DVD.
- But the DVD would also allow for easy exporting in the form of Quicktime, .mov or .mp4 files… so that you don’t need to use software to “rip” the entire DVD, convert, edit and upload. Too many steps!
Would appreciate any feedback if this device does exist. I’d love to dust off some of the videos in the basement, like these vintage Nalts clips (see “more” for details).