A deep dive into digital marketing

26 seconds of booze (or an early shot with the MinoHD)

Posted by Chris under Broadband, TV, Technology, Uncategorized

Sample Booze Video

I thought what better to use for a first still life then my liquor cabinet. And while it’s no Russu bar, it serves it purpose for holding my near and dear whiskey’s (that’s Scotch, Mash and Rye), along with other assorted choice beverages.

Also you’ve got low light, dark colors, glass reflecting some light, etc. so a pretty good test environment to check out the video. And wait for the load, I don’t have the fastest server and it’s 33MB, remember it’s HD

But more important is the 26 seconds of HD video from a $200 camera. Sure it’s a bit grainy but it smaller although thicker then my iPhone. I’ll be playing with this over the next couple of days so look for shots from the family Thanksgiving!

AT&T + iPhone = Free Wifi

Posted by Chris under Apple, Broadband, Mobile, Technology, Travel, iPhone

That’s right, recently announced by AT&T and shared across twitter and the web, free AT&T Wifi for iPhone users at AT&T WiFi hotspots. So beyond just Starbuck, including any of the public AT&T Wifi hotspots, you’ll get free Wifi on your iPhone, can you tell I’m excited.

As AT&T says

AT&T knows Wi-Fi is hot, and FREE Wi-Fi is even hotter. Which is why FREE AT&T Wi-Fi access is now available for Apple iPhone at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. Users can relax and access music, email and web browsing services with their favorite blend in hand from the comfort of their nearest location. For information visit www.att.com/attwifi.

Enjoy the experience of mobile Internet on Apple iPhone. Your iPhone now has free AT&T Wi-Fi access at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. Visit www.att.com/attwifi for more information or find a Starbucks location near you. That’s all you need to get going – so go ahead, see what your iPhone can do!

And it’s pretty darn easy to activate, instuctions via AT&T are below.

iPhone users, get started with Wi-Fi

• Activate Wi-Fi from the settings icon on your iPhone
• Select “attwifi” from the list of available networks
• Enter your 10-digit mobile number and check the box to agree to the Acceptable Use Policy. Tap ‘continue’
• You will receive a text message from AT&T with a secure link to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot. You will not be charged for the text message.
• The SMS link will only be valid for 24 hours at the location it was requested. Another request must be submitted when using another hotspot location.
• Open the text message and tap on the link for 24-hour access to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot

You’ll see it first on Hulu.

Posted by Chris under Broadband, Flash, TV

As first reported (or first I saw it) by TechCrunch and also on the Hulu blog, you’ll be able to see many of the fall premier shows first on Hulu. As the announced today, Tuesday that its Fall Premiere Lineup, which over the next seven weeks, will be the place to find season premieres of Prison Break, Bones, House, Heroes, The Office and 30 Rock.

To further build hype for Hulu (and the new shows), Hulu  will have the season debuts of Knight Rider, Lipstick Jungle, Chuck, Life and 30 Rock a full week before they’re broadcast on TV.

In what I see as a very smart move the networks have decided to take a plunge into changing their business model a bit and embrace the online space a bit more.

And if you are really Jonesing for your fall TV, get a full lineup of Hulu coverage over the next seven weeks, head over to its Fall Premiere Lineup page.

The Comcast pipe is closing up

Posted by Chris under Broadband, Comcast

So Comcast has now announced that they are going to, as of October 1, restrict monthly data usage to a threshold of 250 gigabytes per account for all residential high-speed Internet customers, or the equivalent of 50 million e-mails or 124 standard-definition movies.

As they say, “If a customer exceeds more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, he or she may receive a call from Comcast’s Customer Security Assurance (CSA) group to notify them of excessive use,” according to the company’s updated Frequently Asked Questions on Excessive Use.

And I pity the fool who exceeds 250 GB in a month twice in a six-month timeframe as they could have their service terminated for a year.

Although maybe it’s not all bad as what you could get else where as it’s far above what other ISP’s are looking at. Cox Communications’ monthly caps vary from 5 gigabytes to 75 gigabytes depending the subscriber’s plan. Time Warner Cable Inc. is testing caps between 5 gigabytes and 40 gigabytes in one market. Frontier Communications Co., a phone company, plans to start charging extra for use of more than 5 gigabytes per month.

Pandora going bye bye – say it isn’t so

Posted by Chris under Broadband, Community, Technology

In what may be the end to Pandora, the recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) to raise royalty fees that will cover the administrative costs of SoundExchange, may well be the end for Pandora

More info on the fees can be found here, thanks to ars technica, but this would seem to spell the end for not only Pandora but other great intenet broadcasters like Radio Paradise.

So stay tuned (pun inteded) but in the coming months as the new fees come due we may hear a lot less music out there.

Your bits are better then mine

Posted by Chris under Broadband, Comcast, Security, Technology, Uncategorized

Yesterday CNET reported on the latests over the the FCC 3-2 ruling on Friday to “declare that Comcast’s throttling of BitTorrent traffic last year was unlawful, marking the first time that any U.S. broadband provider has ever been found to violate Net neutrality rules”

Big news right except that there were not fines, penalties or even a slap on the wrist, and Comcast’s comment from a company spokeswomen: “We believe that our network management choices were reasonable, wholly consistent with industry practices,” isn’t really one of apology.

Remember this is the same Comcast that denied in August 2007 that it was filtering BitTorrent traffic. But when experts showed a few months later that Comcast really was throttling BitTorrent after all, and the company was forced to concede to the FCC that it blocks only “excessive” traffic.

Now I’m a Comcast subscriber. I’ve been using their highspeed broadband for almost 10 years and their broadband and TV for over four. It’s fast, reliable and for the most part like the electricity in my house, it just works. Clearly their are network bandwidth issues, some of which along with some solutions are pointed out in the recent MIT Technology Journal. As a side note I’d suggest you add this magazine or the website to your regular reading.

The FCC needs to get it’s act together to work with ISP’s and create solutions to packet/data management as the problem is going to get worse before it gets better.

Broadband speed survey

Posted by Chris under Broadband, Technology, Uncategorized

Pew’s Internet research has done past reports on US broadband usage. This year they want to add to the data and you can help. How?

Well, they want to see the speeds that the American population is using for their internet connections. And with the recent premium/metered pricing tests by Comcast and others it’s even more important to see if we’re getting what we’re paying for.

So if you are interested participate in the the Broadband Census, which is being overseen by Drew Clark, a telecommunications and technology journalist. Visit BroadbandCensus.com . Once you are on the census page, you’ll be asked to give some information about your broadband connection and then have your connection’s speed tested.

After you participate you can also see what other people are reporting for their speed, so you give and get.

Questions on the study can be directed to Lee Rainie, Director – Pew Internet & American Life Project.

As a side note I’d recommend signing up for their email list. The research that Pew provides is free, quite relevant and helpful.