During the show, CNN put up a clip from Jeff’s campaign to get users to submit questions for candidates via YouTube. An admirable goal, indeed. When asked how he found the questioner – Jeff said he met him at a conference and it was just a “man from the heartland.” Indeed – and impressive, too. The question for Mike Huckabee is a well thought out, articulated – and most important – well delivered on camera. Who could this talented amateur be?
Only a guy that spent more than a decade on television as the anchor for WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, that’s all. Kudos to Jeff for using a producer’s eye to find what I have to imagine was the single most skilled television personality at the entire conference. :)
Just got home from the CNN studios in DC, after a short piece on Howard Kurtz’ Reliable Sources show with Jarvis. Topic? Web video, anonymous politics, etc. I think my take is a simple one: more speech = better. Restricting that speech, through regulations or law = an awful idea. If I have to listen to the same people complain that we spend $1 billion on political campaigns (slightly less, btw, than this country spends on potato chips every year) whine and cry about all the “nefarious” ways people can use the new internet – I’m going to have to put a fork in my eye.
Wow. That’s all I can say. I’ve been in various electronics stores over the past few months, and keep seeing these ridiculously expensive remote controls. $150-$400 for a universal remote? That must be for people that spend $10,000 on home theater equipment, I thought.
Not so. I bought the Harmony 670 yesterday, and have to say it’s one of the coolest gadgets I’ve ever purchased. Sit down with a laptop – logon to the Harmony website and create an account. Then from there – there’s a VERY simple web wizard with a near-inexaustible database of devices to choose from. Just start inputing your components, tv, the works. Then plug your remote in via mini USB, and download all the data. Basically idiot proof and error free in my case.
But the best part is the operation strings you can keybind. Now – I press “watch TV” and the following happens: 1) tv comes on, 2) switches source input to HDMI. 3) cable box comes on, 4) all the keys on the remote now function to control the cable/dvr/etc. (*except volume* which is bound to the tuner), 5) tuner comes on and switches source input to TV/Sat.
So I’m leaving SXSW a few minutes ago – when who do I see outside the Hilton, waiting for a ride?
Yep. Dan Rather.
I say hello, shake his hand – and ask if he would mind taking a picture with me. Always the gentleman – he says yes, “but it has to be really quick, my car is here.”
No problem at all – I’ve got a camera right here.
That’s right – a camera. With a dead battery.
And with that – years of past sins come crashing down on my forehead.
Quick summary:
- Journalists should bark more.
- Corporate interests kill the news.
- Coziness with sources degrade journalism
- “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question”
- The internet is good.
- George Bush = bad.
- SCOOTER LIBBY!!
Sigh. No mention of the fact that traditional journalists have been eroding their own trust for decades. No mention of “the rush to be first” trumping the “need to be right.” No mention of how the professional class *inside* the newsroom and the celebrity producers/anchors/pundits simply run roughshod over systemic controls that are designed to catch simply schlock or untrue work from going on the air. (for those reading – this last point is exactly what the Thornburgh report concluded about the 60 Minutes II debacle)
Please. Make it quick. If anything is true about the rise of videoblogging – especially the increased aggregate audience attached to the new medium – it’s that it’s lowered the average IQ by about 40.
Well, once again we are bereft of anything that resembles reliable internet connectivity. Sigh. (If you think that being forced to write offline and then post later would afford me the opportunity to edit before publishing – not likely.)
Panel Link
Panelists:
- John Purdy Pres/CEO, Red Knight Learning Systems
-
Lauren Davis Liemandt Foundation
- Paul Medcalf Sr Flash Game Developer, Blockdot Games
- Melinda Jackson Dir of Instructional Design, Enspire Learning
Again, high hopes – as this panel likely holds the most opportunity for not only driving real issues into the public conscienceness, but real understanding as well.
“Hard Fun” – challenging enough to push users beyond their own knowledge, in an entertaining way.
…15 minutes into the panel: nothing yet. Since we have a couple more speakers due to talk about “examples” (read: a quick run through of their own past projects with no sense of process or purpose), my hopes are sinking quickly.
Note: I fear the same failings I noticed last year at SXSW are present in full force. Too many panelists:
- are more interested in selling their firm/product than teaching/sharing
- use outdated examples of their work in presentations because they’ve already got some results to back up their contention that it’s an effective one.
In the end – too many seem focused on appearing brilliant than helping the attendees get smart(er).
But a question: what was the key takeaway from the panel as a whole?