Daily Archives: November 14, 2005

The times, they are a-changing

Posted by on November 14, 2005 1 comment

Regular readers might have seen my open letter to ABC affiliates in the wake of the ABC/Apple video distribution deal. It seems that a few of the local affiliates have wised up with their own plans to distribute local programming via the internet. While I doubt local executives read my letter it seems to show that at least some local stations are planning for the future when more and more people become interested in timeshifting via digital downloads.

In further support of my original hypothesis about the decline of appointment viewing and the paradigm shift to digital downloads as a video distribution mechanism AOL has announced a deal with Warner Brothers to distribute classic tv from the WB archives via a peer-to-peer download method.

I can’t say yet specifically what the replacement for broadcast appointment viewing will look like, but it is coming. The WB/AOL annoucement requires custom p2p software and relies on advertising and a yet unknown codec. The ABC deals allow mobile viewing via the iPod’s video capabilities. Podcasters and online only shows such as DigitalLife TV have embraced BitTorrent and H.264 amongst other standard codecs. One thing all these services have in common is that they are a “direct to the viewers” approach that is generally favored by media creators and leaves the old affiliate system of broadcast appointment viewing out in the cold. The genie is out of the bottle.

One thing leads to another

Posted by on November 14, 2005 Comments Off on One thing leads to another

Just to demonstrate how I can end up spending a lot of time on a fairly simple web inquiry, while I was researching that last blurb about Google Games I ended up on some sites with open source versions of more familiar games.

FreeCiv is one that I’ve seen before. It’s obviously a F/OSS implementation of “Sid Meir’s Civilization” game.

In a similar thread, Stratagus is a F/OSS clone of WarCraft, it was formally called FreeCraft.

The board game Risk has been recreated in software several times over the years but two F/OSS projects attempting this are Jrisk and JavaRisk.

Google Games

Posted by on November 14, 2005 Comments Off on Google Games

There are a lot of interesting games people have come up with for Google. Early on people were entering keywords to try and come up with the shortest string that would return only one result. Later people started posting lists of keywords and you would have to guess what site would come up. Now with the advent of Google Maps and the associated API people have re-created a “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego” type spy-hunt geography-learning game called Brewster Jennings Protects America. Others have re-created the board game Risk. These are popping up so quickly that someone has already created a Wiki page for Google Maps games.

MSP and nothing to do?

Posted by on November 14, 2005 Comments Off on MSP and nothing to do?

There’s always something going on at the University of Minnesota. Two of the calendars that will help you find events including concerts, plays, lectures, movies, workshops, meetings and more are the Campus Events calendar and the TCSU & SAO calendar. There’s usually more listed on the campus events calendar which is farily comprehensive but the Student Activities Office calendar might be a little more student friendly for those just looking for something fun to do after class.

Web Resources for TechEd Instructors

Posted by on November 14, 2005 Comments Off on Web Resources for TechEd Instructors

The Minnesota Technology Education Association may not have the best looking webpage around but it’s full of useful information for TechEd teachers and not just those in Minnesota. With sample lab safety manuals, curriculum resources, funding suggestions and more it’s a great first stop when looking for something TechEd related.