Mood: Good (riiiiight)
Currently listening Big Band Bossa Nova (Balanco No Samba) - Stan Getz

Yeah, apologies if posts like the previous one are getting anybody down. In fact, i daresay that the only other person who seems to be wallowing in the same pit seems to be Boon, strange dreams and all (of which i even tried to psychoanalyze for him - not too far off the mark either apparently!).

Heh, birds of a feather...

Anyhow, i said i'd post something on a brighter note and i will! Well, maybe not brighter but a little more pointless. Yes, pointless issues or articles of note are my forte. ;)

Vlogging

I was reading through the latest TIME magazine the other day when i stumbled across a short article which they had on the rather spanking new phenomenon of vlogging, which is sort of like blogging but with a digital video camera:

Boston-based music-video producer Steve Garfield, 46, is no ordinary blogger. Instead of simply posting his thoughts online in a chatty weblog like millions of others around the world, he links a Canon GL2 digital video camera to his laptop and uploads short clips of protest rallies, traffic short-cuts and even news events onto his personal Internet site.

Garfield belongs to a small but growing group of video bloggers, or vloggers, who are turning the Web into a medium in which it's possible that someday anyone could mount original programming, bypassing the usual broadcast networks and cable outlets. "My last entry was a news story about a local ice rescue, and this July I'm going to cover the Democratic Convention," says Garfield, who posts one or two new clips every month. "With cheaper digital cameras and cell phones that can also shoot video, more and more regular people like me will start becoming citizen journalists."

Video blogs don't require sophisticated equipment, just a PC or a Mac, a high-speed connection and a digital video camera as well as a hosted weblogging service like TypePad and, if you want, editing software such as Final Cut Pro or iMovie (the latter is free with most Apple computers). For really spiffy professional results, it makes sense to invest in tools like Serious Magic's Visual Communicator, a TelePrompTer-graphics-backdrop package that provides network-news production values for $199.

Although millions of text-driven blogs have blossomed worldwide, there are only a couple hundred video blogs out there. To sample some, check out Japanese slacker vlog avoidinglife.com, music-video blog sxsw.com/music or the Drudge Report-like compendium of diary vlogs vidblogs.com. Hollywood celebrities are also plunging in: Adam Sandler's personal site offers regular video messages from the comic.

Jeff Jarvis, an early champion of vlogging and founder of buzzmachine.com, a blog that deals with politics and the media, sees great potential in the phenomenon. "Vlogs are a weird, new kind of way that people can document their lives," says Jarvis. "It has the potential to be the farm team for new talent used by big, mainstream media. Suddenly anybody can become an Andy Rooney." Or better yet, an Edward R. Murrow.

Cool! The future of blogging? Why not i say! Then again, i seriously doubt that anyone would rather see me rambling on about...er...'life' the way i do in all my technicolour glory. In fact, i think most people would probably get turned off by the whole idea. Or just plain puke. ;p

Checked out some of the sites (although for the life of me i can't seem to find Adam Sandler's vlog), and the only qualm i have is with the insanely long buffering time that's required to view these videos. And the fact that it seems somewhat voyeuristic (and therefore, wrong) in watching what amounts to a home video of some online stranger. I was kind of expecting a monologue style rant, but the vast majority seem to focus their videos on various birthday events and the like... Still, once bandwith becomes cheaper i just might be tempted to try it out.

Hrmm, better get me a Mac then! ;p

Gender Issues With Blogs

On a related note here's another article which compares genders and the way they use blogs. As is probably evident, blogs - especially amongst teenagers - are on a massive rise in recent times. Aside from focusing on the issue of privacy protection (girls tend to link back to their webpages, and therefore pictures, while boys tended to reveal their locations more readily), it does present some interesting findings:

- 52% of all blogs are created and maintained by 13 to 19-year-olds.
- Previous studies on gender and the net have suggested girls communicate better, and more often, than boys. However the new study contradicts this with the gender split being 50-50.
- Females tended to link to personal homepages while males were giving out details of their location more often.
- On average, males used more emoticons, like smiley faces.
- Not only did teenage bloggers write a lot more than would be expected, they were also using the blogs as a form of "self-therapy".
- Most of the blog posts were about their everyday lives, and what was happening in their school. About 67% used the facility that allowed them to comment on blog entries.
- Its less a case of exhibitionism than that of the common human need of finding connection.
- There are currently 4.12 million blogs on the Internet.

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity." - T. H. Huxley

And now for something a little more entertaining! ;)

Found this site of the Science Hobbyist through Oaky's blog. Remember those cool little 'experiments' which you partook in as a kid while discovering some cool trick you could pull off with your body (erm, not THOSE kind of tricks you pervs!) or easily pull off with a few common items? Well this site has a whole shitload for you to try. Here's a few examples i recall pulling off:

Make 'smoke' with your mouth
Compress the air in your mouth, then let off the pressure, then let the air out slowly. You'll see fog! Detailed version: Face a light source such as a bare light bulb. Tightly close you lips. Fill your cheeks with air partially, breathe normally through your nose, then fiercely tense your cheeks and lips while blowing to compress the air inside. (It helps if you push fingers on your lips to keep air from spurting out.) Now relax your cheeks, part your lips, and spit the air out very slowly. (Don't breathe out, instead spit the air out with cheeks and tongue.) Smoke! Fog comes out of your mouth. It's just like the fog in the neck of a freshly opened bottle of cola. This works great in the dark with a flashlight.

Burst of flavor
While reading, eat something. Notice that the flavor vanishes as soon as you get involved with the story you're reading? Now concentrate on your mouth, and the flavor explodes into reality. By concentrating on the text or on your mouth, you can make the flavor flash on and off. WEIRD!

Visible Touch
Look to the left, close your eyes, then touch the rightmost edge of your right eyeball with a fingertip. (Push gently on your eyelid, don't touch the eye itself!) Wiggle your finger up and down. See anything off to the left? That's the "image" of your fingertip, but the retina of your eye is feeling it, not seeing it. Move your finger UP, and the black/silver splotch moves DOWN. Use two fingertips, and you see two splotches. This is the realm where touching meets seeing.

Tube of Boob
Tune your TV to a blank station and adjust it for good "snow". Stare into the snow. Imagine the number "3", and it will appear as a 3-shaped flickering. But then it will start to slowly rotate. Mentally erase the 3, then imagine a horizontal line. It appears, but it won't stay still, it wants to drift and rotate. Make it shrink and vanish. Keep staring, and soon the snow will smoothly ripple, as if you were looking through the distorting water of complicated waves in a swimming pool. Think of more stuff to create. Who says that watching TV for hours isn't worthwhile?!

Hehehe, sure brings back memories! Be sure to check out the site (as well as the huge list of other ideas contributed by people at the bottom), and before you know it you'll be a 10 year old kid again. And lets face it - these tricks are COOL!

Ok, i'm gonna take my pills now...

Later.