The Future of Media #80: Movies

© 2010 Jupiterimages Corporation

Watching movies at home doesn’t always mean a trip to the video store anymore! These days the Internet offers a variety of ways to watch your favorite movies without even leaving home.

The popular site Netflix allows you to choose films from their huge collection of titles—for a monthly fee they send DVDs through US Mail right to your front door! In the past year they have also added “Instant” titles that you can stream from their site and watch on your home computer. Not all titles are available for streaming, but the number is growing.

Have an xBox 360 or Playstation 3? Netflix allows you to stream movies through these gaming systems at no extra charge. Recently, Netflix also announced its plan to provide streaming movies through the Nintendo Wii! Streaming content through the Wii should be available by Spring of 2010.

Blockbuster is now offering streaming movies in addition to their storefront rentals. Fees are paid per rental. You can get DVDs delivered through the mail and download “On Demand” titles from their website. Blockbuster also offers downloads for purchase.

You may have heard of Hulu, a site that provides free access to full-length network TV shows. Hulu also has an extensive library of feature films you can watch on your computer. There are thousands of free titles. The site highlights popular films, recently added movies, and films from various genres.

Are you into foreign movies and art films? Check out Mubi.

© 2010 Jupiterimages Corporation

Mubi “is a web site making great films from prominent festivals around the world accessible to anyone through high-definition video streaming.”

You may have seen the Redbox kiosks in a fast food restaurant, in front of a pharmacy, or in the grocery store. Redbox allows you to rent movies vending machine-style with just the swipe of a credit card. Well, now you can reserve movies through Redbox online before you visit the kiosk. You just choose the movies you want, choose a pickup location, pick up your movies and enjoy. Fees are charged per night, and you can return them to any Redbox kiosk.

Movie trailers have been available online for quite some time. You can find them all over the web, but some of the better quality high definition trailers are available on specific sites. Apple Trailers, for example offers a database of movie trailers for films currently in theaters and for upcoming films. You can watch them online and they are available in HD, as well as on the iPod and iPhone. Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is a well known database of film, actor, director, and production information. IMDB offers movie trailers for many films, both current, upcoming, and from the past. There are also some full-length films to choose from. Hulu, the streaming site mentioned above, also has trailers available.

Exercises

1. Use one of the film sites above to find a free full-length film (you’ll probably have the best luck with Hulu, The Auteurs, or IMDB). Watch a little of it. Would you watch an entire film on your computer or do you still prefer watching DVDs on your TV?
2. Find a trailer for an upcoming film. Would you use these sites to keep up on current film information?
3. Write a blog post about the experience. Would you consider using any of the fee-based services to get the movies you want at home? If so, which one would work better for you and why?

The Future of Media #79: Television

This module on the future of media consists of three posts: television, movies, and the future of both. Completing all three posts is worth 2 training hours. The module is available through March 31, 2010.

When television was in it's infancy at the end of the 1940s and beginning of the 1950s, I don't think anyone could have imagined that people would be able to record shows, watch TV shows on demand, or even watch a show on the Internet.

Today, changes in the public's viewing habits and the increase in the number of channels and options has forced the television industry to look at other options to reach it's viewing public. One effect is the growing use of product placement in TV shows as viewers increasingly skip over commercials with their DVRs. Another effect is the increase in the number of episodes available on the web for people to watch.

Most of the major networks have some kind of online presence for viewers to find their favorite shows. Availability of episodes varies both by network, site, and show. The major options are:

• Hulu.com - Offers recent episodes of popular shows such as Lost, 24, The Office, and Family Guy primarily from NBC and Fox. It also has "classic" shows such as The Facts of Life, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and What's Happening. The number of episodes varies by show and each does include commercials.
• tv.com - A one stop shop for CBS shows, either airing on CBS or in some way produced by them. Popular shows include NCIS, CSI, South Park, and Survivor. Classic shows such as Bonanza are also available.
• Joost - Has quite a bit of animation in addition to similar offerings to Hulu and tv.com.
• viewmy.tv - Watch news from around the world.
  
• CastTV - The site's goal is to index every video, and thus TV show, on the web.
  
• Major Network websites - ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and The CW all offer at least some episodes of their current TV shows online. In addition to current shows, NBC also has a selection of classic shows as well as original online-only shows.

Going Mobile

With the advent of web based mobile phones, especially the iPhone, watching TV on the go is becoming easier and more popular. There are several free or low cost options for taking your favorite programs with you.

• The major phone providers including AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon all have some kind of Mobile TV option. Charges may apply.
  
• The major networks all have mobile websites: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and The CW. Not all the sites are accessible over a regular internet browser as they are designed for use on smart phones.
  
• For iPhone/iPod Touch users, some of the sites have available apps: tv.com (CBS), The CW, and ABC. There are also a number of mobile TV apps for the iPhone. Mashable has a list with reviews. Note that some apps have a small fee.
  

Be Your Own TV Star

Why let the networks or cable channels have all the fun? You can be the star of your own program online. There are a number of sites that let you post your own videos, or in the case of USTREAM and Justin.tv, post a live feed. For more on making videos, see the video module from October 2008.

• USTREAM - This site host to the popular Shiba Inu Puppy Cam, lets users post streaming video. People can chat about your stream live.
  
  Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV
• Justin.tv - Like USTREAM, users can post live feeds.
  
• YouTube, Yahoo! Video, and Vimeo all have options for uploading videos to their sites and sharing your creativity with the world. Many users have "channels" that you can subscribe to, in effect creating their own online broadcast network.
  

Exercises:

Post your replies on your blog.

1. Visit Hulu, tv.com, or one of the other TV sites. Search or browse the site to see if your favorite show is listed. Are you able to watch full episodes online? What coverage is available?
2. Have you ever watched a TV show on your cell phone? If so, did you like it? If not, are you interested? Why or why not?
3. Are there any streaming programs or user "channels" that you watch? Have you ever posted videos to a site on a regular basis?

This module brought to you by Linda Stevens (ADM), Grace Lillevig (ADM), Abigail Buchold (ADM), & Mark Haywood (ALD).

Images © 2010 JupiterImages

Searching #78: Video

Video content on the web is ubiquitous these days. Innumerable methods and tools exist for editing, uploading and sharing it. Moreover, the most compact and inexpensive of digital cameras now have video recording capability, making amateur moviemakers of us all. Not only is it easy create your own clips, it’s just as easy to find others out there thanks to search engines devoted solely to searching for video content.

In 2006, Time Magazine named as its annual Person of the Year not, as is customary, a world leader, scientist, or celebrity but instead selected “You,” the broad base of users of the World Wide Web. This was due in no small part to a then-relatively young site known as “YouTube.” Though it’s likely the most popular video site on the Internet, YouTube is different from other video search engines for the fact that 1) it is primarily a video-sharing site, allowing users to upload their own content for public or private viewing after creating a free account, and 2) it searches only its own user-generated and uploaded content rather than any video out there on the Internet.

Another well-known video search engine is Truveo. Like Google, Truveo utilizes a simple, user-friendly design that disguises depth and a thoroughness about locating Internet content. The no-frills homepage greets the user with a text box for keyword searching and five of the most popular categories beneath for browsing: News, Sports, TV Shows, Music, and Most Twittered. According to its website, some of the most trafficked online presences, notably those owned by AOL and Microsoft, employ Truveo as their video search engine of choice.

Despite also being very capable and comprehensive, Blinkx’s professed uniqueness lies not solely in presentation or in search options as in how it evaluates video content for accurate retrieval. According to its own description, Blinkx, unlike many search engines, looks not only at the text around a particular form of media to determine what it’s about -- a common method that can sometimes retrieve inaccurate results. Instead, Blinkx employs “speech recognition and video analysis software” that does not only scan text surrounding media to acquire a description but also, in a sense, listens and watches content itself to get a better idea about a video or other form of media, thus providing you with a hit that’s potentially closer to your target.

There are, of course, other great video search engines on the web. For comparison or curiosity’s sake, you could also check out Google Video, Clipblast, Yahoo! Video, or Bing, just to name a few. So, play around and see what entertaining, fun, or interesting content you can find. Just be careful – there’s so much out there that it might be difficult to pull yourself away!

Exercises:
1. Search for a particular video using both Truveo and Blinkx. Look for any similarities or differences in the results, and write about them in your blog.
2. Go to HCPL’s YouTube channel and take a look around. Discuss in your blog ideas for how your own branch video could add to the mix of searchable video content on the Internet.

HCPL Staff: Have you completed this exercise? Dont' forget to submit your Registration of Completion.

Image copyright Jupiterimages

Searching #77: Images

“What does a lupine look like? I need a picture of the El Salvador’s state seal. Where can I find a picture of Davy Crockett?"

We’ve all heard questions like these and can usually find pictures for our use or our customers to use. But how to find one that is free to download and use? Every major search engine has its own image search that is relatively easy to use: – Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Ask.
But how to determine if you can use these images?

What’s the difference between free and royalty free? A "royalty free" image means that the price of the image is the same whatever the time of use and the number of prints. You will still need to buy that image under a royalty free license but then you can use this image without limit of time and without limit of number of uses. There are numerous sites to buy photos from – iStockPhoto or Fotolia to name a couple. "Free" means free - we like our stuff free!

Most of our customers feel the same way. There is a search engine just for pictures called Picsearch. When I searched on “lupine” I got 23,582 hits. Typing in “lupine free” gave me only 32 hits. Further exploration showed that these photos are available for use in “non-commercial website/projects only”. They would like for their website to be acknowledged. The photo used is from © BlossomSwap.com.

Then there is Clip Art – art work that can be used to spiff up any poster. I needed a Santa for our Christmas Blog and got several interesting choices. I tried Microsoft Clip Art (available with the Microsoft Office package), iClipArt, and AllFreeClipArt. I had varying degrees of success with the clip art programs. Harris County Public Library subscribes to a clip art program, called Schools.Clipart for library staff use when making posters, flyers, etc. Each clip from this site must be credited with “@jupiterimages” when used.

Exercises:

1. Using AllFreeClipArt, how many clicks did it take to get to a color Santa that doesn’t look like a troll?
2. Read “10 Places to Find Free Images Online”. Blog about 2 of the sites listed.
3. Try logging in to the clip art program for HCPL use. Each branch has their own login and password you can get from your branch librarian. Find an illustration that could be used for a program at your branch and add it to your blog. Be sure to credit that piece.

Image Credit: www.blossomswap.com/picture/purple_lupines.html

Searching #76: Sound Effects

Ever thought about spicing up your blog with sound effects? Turn up the volume on your speakers, or plug in your headphones, and consider this scenario that uses Windows Media Player to play the sounds:

The alarm clock rings. You wake up and head to the kitchen for breakfast. You crack some eggs into a pan and make some toast. You have a cup of coffee. You brush your teeth, and head out the door. You jump into the car to head off to work.

There are lots of ways to search for sounds. One useful site is FindSounds, a site that has processed over 35 million sound searches to date. This site also provides tips for searching for sounds on the web.

Sound files come in lots of formats. Examples are Microsoft WAV (.wav; a common audio file for Windows); MIDI (.mid; musical instrument digital interface); MP3 (.mp3; compresses music files without loss of quality to make them more easily used by computers); and RealAudio (.ra; sized to support streaming audio). The Simply the Best Sounds site is another good place to search for sounds. It has a list of formats, together with more detailed descriptions.

Like any web content, sound files may contain copyrighted material. It is the user's obligation to obtain copyright clearance if it is required for the intended use.

Exercises:

1. Use FindSounds to search for and post links to at least three animal sound effects in your blog. Finding out whether or not these are in the public domain is not easy. Try clicking on "Show Page" to see the site where the sound originated. You may have to go back to the "Home" page of the website for more detail. Or you can try deleting part of the right-hand side of the web address (URL) to work your way back to a page with more information about the rights governing the use of the sounds. A website that is very concerned with copyright will usually have this posted in a pretty obvious manner.
2. It is much easier on the Simply the Best Sounds site to find what sounds are included in the public domain. Search for three such sounds, and post links to them in your blog. If you can't identify the direct link to the sound, just name the sound and give the link to the page on which it appears.
   

Image @jupiterimages

Searching #75: Google and Beyond

This module on Searching will consist of four parts: general search engines; searching for sound effects; searching for images; and searching for videos. Together they are worth two training hour credits.

Are you in a rut when you search the Internet? Maybe you suspect that your bias for a particular way to search could be limiting your results. If so, it’s time to try BlindSearch , developed by Michael Kordahi and described as a “search engine taste test.” The goal of this site is simple: What happens when you remove the branding from the top 3 search engines? How differently will you perceive the results?

Beyond Google, Yahoo!, and the newer Bing (from Microsoft), there are lots of other search engines out there. Which is #1 with users? Check out the stats on Hitwise, which monitors and updates both the volume of traffic on search engines, and the number of visits to each.

Looking under the surface, what really is it that makes a search engine work? The Berkeley Library took a look at the detailed criteria that make a search engine perform well. This includes factors such as: How big is the database that is searched? How current? How fast is the search? In what ways can you limit searches? How are the results displayed? How are they ranked?

Exercises:
1) Type in at least three queries in Blindsearch, hit search, and then vote for the column which you believe best matches what you were seeking. The columns are randomized with each search. How did your favorite search engine rate in the three tries? Do you think this will affect how you search in the future?

2) What search engine was #1 on Hitwise the week that you searched? How did it compare to its closest competitor? Do the usage statistics match your own personal choice of a favorite?

3) Marketing of search engines requires that they continually add new features that they hope will appeal to you. Explore the features of one of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, or Bing). What new things did you discover that you would find useful?

Image Credit: Jupiterimages

This module is brought to you by Nancy Agafitei (CC), Christi Whittington (KW), and Jim Johnson (KW).

Parade of Pets

It seems HCPL staff households are filled with adorable pets, but here are the official HCPL Cutest Pet award winners:

Here they all are in a Parade of Pets: