Baratunde exists at the intersection of comedy, politics and technology. His official duties include Web & Politics editor at The Onion, co-founder of Jack & Jill Politics and host of PopSci's Future Of on Science Channel. Basically, he's a smart, funny, extremely handsome dude.
Baratunde, Comedy, Funny, Inauguration, President Barack Obama, Video, YouTube in General My friend Dahni-El just emailed me this story from the BBC
Computing magazine Which? recovered 22,000 "deleted" files from eight computers purchased on eBay. Criminals source old computers from internet auction sites or in rubbish tips, to find users' valuable details. Freely available software can be used to recover files that users think they have permanently deleted. The only solution, according to Which?, is complete destruction - and it recommends using a hammer.I don't know about a hammer, but how about a baseball bat, a high kick and some Geto Boys? Pretty hot. I can now enact this scene in the name of computer security
I'm always interested in how creative people will take advantage of new means of production and distribution. Our networked infrastructure and ever cheaper and more powerful processing power have upended business models and changed the relationship between artists and producers. However, most early examples of the impact of new technology are uninteresting. It's dominated by people who just see a new way to distribute the same content. Examples include those who use Twitter to carry their RSS feeds or YouTube to post their broadcast video content. A higher level of evolution comes when people take advantage of the new means of production or distribution to enhance interactivity. Perhaps they allow and engage with comments or crowdsource the financing of their projects. But the most interesting is when the content itself, the production, changes because of new capabilities. The first TV shows were just radio host talking. It took a while to really take advantage of the visual medium. I've just found the most interesting example yet of this change in the art itself on YouTube. It's a "forking" or choose-your-own-adventure style series whose conclusion is up to the viewer. At the end of each clip, you face a decision about how the plot is to advance. It's a very old and simple concept, but until now, we haven't had a way for people to employ it on a large scale. The people who've been promising "interactive TV" said this would come a long time ago, but their implementation depends on mass upgrades of cable boxes across hundreds of millions of households adopting a common standard. Meanwhile, a few months ago, YouTube added features allowing producers to embed video links within a clip, and these guys have run with it. Check it out. Now think of all the interesting technologies and social media tools out there and how the art itself will adapt to the new capabilities. Let me know if you've found some interesting examples.
Interactive TV, Media, Social Media, Storytelling, YouTube in General Listen to the statements quoting the TSA agent. "I HAVE POWER. I HAVE POWER." This is seriously scary. The government is probing us, softening us up for more and more aggressive police tactics. How do you combat this?
For anyone who's ever worked in tech support. Enjoy!
Comedy, Tech Support, Video, YouTube in Comedy Friday I was so annoyed that I couldn't get my Tivo to record our Google Pop Culture and Politics panel as it was aired by C-SPAN. I completely forgot that this event took place at Google, and thus, is on YouTube. I'm an idiot. Anyway, here's the 45 minute video of our panel. They cut the opening Onion News Network video I showed right after my intro, but you can see it here. I haven't replayed the entire thing, so they may have also cut the second Onion video I showed, which is friggin hilarious. Highlights:
Conference, DC, Election 2008, Google, Lizz Winstead, Onion News Network, Panel, Politics, The Onion, Video, YouTube in Election 2008 Comedy, Election 2008, Republican, Satire, Video, YouTube in Election 2008 Last Wednesday, I spoke on a panel during NYC's InternetWeek. It was put on by OneWebDay and Susan Crawford. The topic was participation and politics online. It was actually really good! I spoke about the ClintonAttacksObama wiki at Jack & Jill Politics, and the audience and other speakers brought some really great thoughts and insights to the table. I shared the stage with Andrew Rasiej (Founder, Personal Democracy Forum) and Jay Rosen (Professor, NYU Department of Journalism and creator of OffTheBus at HuffPo). The moderator was Allison Fine (Author, Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age)
Here's the YouTube Link. It's 90 minutes. You can find it in various other formats here.
Allison Fine, Andrew Rasiej, Conference, Internet, Jay Rosen, NYC, OneWebDay, Panel, Politics, Susan Crawford, Video, YouTube in Election 2008 Marc Scheff is a friend of mine from college who's doing his thing as an artist. He recently wrote and posted this on his website
For the first time in my 31 years, I care about politics. I see a candidate who has the capacity to inspire and motivate people, like I have never seen. There are many like me, who had given up and resigned themselves to a government that is willfully out of touch. I’ve seen these people get up and move because they believe we can do this together, now. Obama is great, but what people are willing to do in his name is nothing short of incredible. That is something in which I do believe. I created this portrait, and video. Please spread the link, share the youtube, and get out the vote for November.
Art, Barack Obama, Election 2008, Marc Scheff, Politics, Video, Video Portrait, YouTube in Election 2008 
Barack Obama, Election 2008, Music, Video, YouTube in Election 2008 