not on tv

Wishing you all a heartwarming 2010

erikvisser — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:43:15 +0000

Give your heart the deciding vote on all matters of life. Personal and professional!
Two commencement speeches that inspired me and I will carry close to my heart are those of J.K. Rowling at Harvard in 2008 & Steve Jobs at Stanford University in 2005. May all you dreams of the heart come true in 2010!

Changing all post to fit the new theme

erikvisser — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:55:58 +0000

The theming is done (minus some minor changes). So now I changed the homepage of not-on.tv as well to fit the new design and functionalities. Almost all the technics involved came from standerise Wordpress. No exotic plugins needed.
And to be honest I’m proud of how it turned out. Steering more and more away from the technical bits (It’s become more complex and needs a specialist / professional) I’m very pleased with the code and the design concept I slammed together.
To be honest I didn’t look if it validates. To scared, maybe in a month or so…

But now the other hard part begins. Like every time I change a theme all posts must change with it. Because I like to make a theme special and personal.
This will be needed for the following blogs:

not-on.tv/vlog (80 posts to go) done!
not-on.tv/ref ( 126 posts)
not-on.tv/weallspeakfootball (38 posts) = next
not-on.tv/levendzand (10 posts) = done!
not-on.tv/internetcreatieven (4 posts) done!
not-on.tv/lesblogs2005 (18 posts)

Never a dull moment

(the video belongs to the post The Parade on not-on.tv/vlog)

changing the 2 year old theme

erikvisser — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:54:26 +0000

It’s a pattern. Every two years I have to rearrange the theme just to explore new possibilities on how to share information with the visitor. I have been very happy with the old one, Witch, for a change, looked like a regular blog with a minimal of design. But after the migration and the incompatibilities with Wordpress MU I decided to replace the theme that I made in 2007.

Over the years I have created lots of video’s and images. But you could only see them one at the time on your screen and only 7 on a page. As a visitor you have no idea what you can expect form this website. This needed to change. So with the new theme all post are available as a thumbnail on the index page of each individual log. This takes some loading but with the bandwidth we have these days I take the gamble.

My kids played with version 0.1 (http://not-on.tv/vlog) and I immediately saw the benefits. They just choose an image the liked and watched the vids and going back for another they already spotted. It’s not the date created is of primary interest of the viewer but the subject. It always has. And an image tells more then a thousand words.

Hope you enjoy it as much as my kids. Tell me what you think.

NaVloPoMo ‘09

erikvisser — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:51:55 +0000

In the month november 30 vloggers make 30 vids in 30 days.
The rules of the game:
Length: 90 seconds max. It can be shorter.
Your video must be inspired in some way by something from the previous day’s video video. You *don’t* have to explain the connection. It can be obvious or *not at all*. You can draw on a person, object or activity – or anything in the way the video is made – picture, music, style, etc.
Anything else goes – you can do anything you want.

In the end of the month you can find them on http://videobloggers.mirocommunity.org/ and their individual vlogs, links profided.

I should start vlogging again…. first create a killer new theme.

Going green and into the cloud

erikvisser — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:13:24 +0000

After years of hosting the website on the publiclands server of the publicworks foundation. The server ended it’s lifecicle and changed careers to be in art and serving music.
In the years passed since I desided to start a hosting service a lot did change for the better. It became cheaper,more reliable and more divers. So I choose for cloud hosting and green energy. Cloud because it has great promise on uptime and scalability. Green because the IT sector is a big contributor the the emission of CO2. Trying to live as sustainable and harmonious with the earth I’m so pleased to see hosters like greenhost.nl offer both.

Lot of work to do though. Moving a website like this to an new host will not be easy… See how it goes.

(the video shown is part of the post Uphill Flowers on http://not-on.tv/vlog)

Blog-art

erikvisser — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:17:04 +0000

In Theater aan het Spui in Den Haag organiseren Karin Ramaker en Marco Raaphorst een evenement vóór en dóór creatieve webloggers. Het evenement zal plaatsvinden in het najaar van 2009.

Ze varen af op een viertal doelen:
* creatieve webloggers laten hun werk zien en horen
* een meetingpoint voor webloggers en andere geïnteresseerden
* live performing art
* samen werken (live foto’s van blog-art uploaden naar Flickr, live Twitteren, live Bloggen)

Via een drietal plekken:
* plek voor vertoningen
* plek voor ontspanning
* plek voor interactie

Ook graag onderdeel zijn van dit nieuwe evenement wat offline gaat brengen wat online zo bijzonder maakt? Ik ben in ieder geval erg benieuwd. Meld je aan voor de nieuwsbrief of kijk even op blog-art.nl.

Migrating from Wordpress to Wordpress MU

erikvisser — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:04:06 +0000

After years of pain updating different but identical Wordpress installations and themes for all the blogs that resides here on not-on.tv I decided to use Wordpress MU. The Wordpress that lets you have more blogs within one installation and use the same theme for more blogs. Sounds like heaven. Took some doing and for me getting to know the specifics of MU. But here it is all blogs are back online although they need some serious work to make them work well. MU has some security issues that makes the way I used to blog with special plugins not that compatible. But he the future hold all kinds of promises for much better change management.

Video blogging week 2009

erikvisser — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:04:35 +0000

It all started in 2004 and has been a tradition since. Next year I’ll be there. For now enjoying all the vids that will be produced under the tag “videobloggingweek2009″

When does the magic start?
April 5th – 11th

What?
Participating videobloggers post a new video to their blog every day for a week

Videoblogging week started in 2004 with less than ten videobloggers as a participatory way to raise awareness of videoblogging and welcome new videobloggers. Over the years Videoblogging Week has grown to be an exciting yearly event that encourages people to push themselves creatively.

Who?
All you need is desire and a camera. Anyone can participate.

How?
To participate post videos and tag them “videobloggingweek2009″.

Vlogvertising? What the F*ck!

erikvisser — Fri, 11 May 2007 22:58:14 +0000

Jan McLaughlin of The Faux Press is mashing up vloggers. In exchange for commercial use of vloggers’ footage, videobloggers get a minimum of :05 text / logo ad in the mashup. In the meta, she thinks of the project as a video magazine and vlogvertising. The 30-inch screen in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC will eventually draw in sufficient funds to make it sustainable for publisher and film makers alike.

This experiment is like a narrowcast where local advertisers have a channel that is mixed with the content made by vloggers worldwide. Mashed up by Jan. She also uses a number of my video’s.

This Saturday 5/12/07 6-9 pm Wburg.tv is officially launching the already-launched N. 7th & Bedford plasma screen in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City.
We’ve got a special edition of Wburg.tv (Vol. 1, No. 3.0) specifically to promote the launch party that will play for two days, then advance to Vol. 1, No. 3.1 – same thing, but without the launch party text. Featured are Howe, Erik Visser, Blandlands, Missbhavens, Noble, Squigglebooth, Howell, Toole & Rule (so far).
BBQ – Parade (Grand St. @ Bedford –> Laila) – Live acoustic music – Coctails – Screening

Laila Lounge
113 N. 7th
Brooklyn, NY 11211
862.221.5280
http://www.lailalounge.com/
Geek Note: With Free wi-fi!

Vol 1, No. 2.0: Featured are David Howell, Weagel-as-Human-Dog, Red Elvises, The Faux Press, Gomez Glick, Raymond Kristiansen, Stephan van der Palen, Andrew Shapiro, Duncan Speakman, Surfburg.tv, Dave Toole, Erik Visser, Wreck & Salvage

Most difficult is to explain ‘vlogvertising’ and what vlogvertising means to potential advertisers. The ‘vloggie’ nature of the endeavor enables low production costs essential to affordably bring vlogvertising to small business owners.

The following sentence may be the explanation.

I look forward to the day we post the vlog commercial made by the eleven-year-old from down the street with her cell phone. That’s vlogvertising at its best. – Jan McLaughlin

The first question Jan asks a business owner interested in creating a vlogvertising campaign is, “Who are your best customers?” Best customers are the best people to participate; their proven relationship with the business – their affection for the business – is authentic, and you can neither buy nor fake that. What then are the essential elements of a successful vlogvertising campaign?

This great article by Jan sums up the discussion and vlogversation about this phenomena.

Vol 1, No.1.0: Featured are Philip Clark, Francisco Daum, Faux Press, Brian Gonzalez, Phil Hamilton, Human-Dog, Adam Jochum, Raymond Kristiansen, Clark ov Saturn, Andrew Shapiro, Duncan Speakman, Surfburgtv.com, Wreck & Salvage, Michael Verdi, Sara Weagel.

You can find all the generated media at wburgconcierge.com/vlog

(this is a crosspost)

the new standard

erikvisser — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:02:31 +0000

When I thought of restyling this vlog (about three months ago) I desided to make it “640 ready” and start making my video’s comply. And so I did.
Now apple wrote this e-mail today:

Greetings from the iTunes Podcasting Team:

Apple TV is here, and podcasts are making a big move into the living room. We want all of them to look as good as possible, so we have three video formatting recommendations for you. Also note that we have just posted a revised and expanded technical spec. Finally, the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is coming up. There’s a major focus on developers of content in addition to developers of software.

Recommendations for Formatting Video Podcasts

1. If you’re encoding your video podcast at 320×240, please increase the resolution to either 640×480 or 640×360 (depending on the aspect ratio of your source files). Why? Because video podcasts at this resolution look great on Apple TV and still port to video iPods. Lower resolution podcasts might also work on both platforms, but they don’t look nearly as good on a widescreen TV. As always, make sure to test any encoding changes you make to ensure device compatibility. QuickTime 7.1’s “Export to iPod” function will ensure that a video file is encoded at a width of 640 and is iPod-compatible.

2. It’s best not to create two different podcast feeds for different resolutions. By doing so, you dilute the popularity of your podcast and reduce exposure in our charts. It’s better to have one feed high in the charts than two that are lower.

3. If your source files are 16:9, stick with that aspect ratio. Don’t add letterboxing to make them 4:3. By doing so, you prevent the video from expanding to fill a 16:9 widescreen TV and instead end up with black space on all four sides. Also, your original source files should be at least 640 pixels wide.

Of course these are just recommendations. We understand that there are good reasons for 320×240 (bandwidth bills) and 720p (looks fantastic). Do whatever makes the most sense for your show. For more information on formatting video, see the recently updated spec:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html

To see a sample of excellent podcasts that also look great with Apple TV, check out the Apple TV Podcast Showcase.
…

Best regards,

The iTunes Podcasting Team

Good to know I’m ready to be broadcasted on someones telly.

(this is a crosspost)