A Look at Joost
March 9, 2007 | 47 Comments
Jenny recently hooked me up with a much coveted Joost account. Sadly I do not have any invitations yet, and there is a long list of people who have already asked me for one, you know who you are…
I was initially frustrated by the lack of client for MacOS-PPC, since this is the machine running in my living room, hooked to my TV. With that aside, I downloaded the client onto my Windows Vista laptop, where it initially also would not run. Luckily, with Vista all you need to do is jump through a few hoops. Here’s what you do:
- Right click on the shortcut, select properties.
- On the compatibility tab, un-check everything, except “Run as administrator”, this must be checked.
- Then click “Show settings for all users”, and do the same here.
- At this point you should be set to run Joost!
After the initial frustration of getting it running somewhere, I started to appreciate the potential here. In general, it runs pretty smoothly, the quality is surprisingly good for on demand web video. I think it is head and shoulders above the quality of YouTube or Google Video, probably comparable to VHS.
At the moment, the content is a bit limited, although I did watch the Green Day: American Idiot concert, which was very cool. I was extremely happy with the interface. I believe the channel based delivery of content will be familiar and intuitive to the general public who is familiar with cable TV.
My one final complaint would be the advertisement placement. It seems like the software just randomly decides to insert commercials from time to time, which I am OK with, but it doesn’t have any intelligence for deciding when to cut in. For example, I say a stupid Maybelline ad twice, both time in the middle of a song. I think this will work out in time, but just an insiders view of what’s wrong in the beta from my perspective…
Tags: american idiot, google, google video, green day, joost, macosx, Maybelline, television, video, web, windows vista, youtube
2006 in Review: What I’ve Been Listening To
December 30, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Podcasts were a new media for me to consume this year and in turn make up a majority of what I have been listening to. I received an iPod for Christmas in 2005 allowing me to get into podcasts. Looking back at the mix of podcasts and music I have been listening to, I think it helps me with perspective about what is in my head this year.
Podcasts:
- Ricky Gervais Show - The crown jewel of comedy podcasts. Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant harass and berate Karl Pilkington, hilarity ensues. I enjoyed The Office, this led me to the podcast and now I consume all comedy that Ricky Gervais delivers (Flanimals, Extras, etc.) I am sad that this series has ended. Hopefully the trio will miss it and return soon.
- NPR Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me - I had been listening to this fairly regularly on NPR. Since it became available in podcast, I haven’t missed an episode. This is a great weekly dose of news with a funny spin. Think of it as a radio version of the Daily Show, presented as a quiz show.
- TWiT - Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, and John C Dvorak are only a handful of the regulars who look at “This Week in Tech”. This weekly discussion about all things tech is fun for any tech savvy individual with an interest in current tech topics.
- Marvel Podcast - consistently good content, though the sound quality, editing, and ability to keep the RSS working properly all count as negatives here. These lack polish in the technology department.
- Comic Geek Speak - As a Marvel only comic fan, I only listen when Marvel is the core of the discussion, but whenever something Marvel hits the show notes, I tune in. I’ve especially loved the Civil War episodes. If you are a comic fan, these guys can satisfy your need to hear and enjoy in depth conversation about events happening in comics right now. Most of us aren’t fortunate enough to have many real life comic fan counterparts to do this with…
- Never Not Funny - I would give this a 3 out of 5 on the funny scale. Not something I would ever pay to listen to, but plenty entertaining to fill a long car ride or as background while doing chores. Jimmy Pardo and Mike Schmidt could use more guests on their show to play off of. Instead, they mostly play off of their producer…
Music Podcasts:
Pub Songs Podcast
Irish and Celtic Music Podcast
Both of these are from Marc Gunn and are pretty solid. I think there is great potential in the near future for music podcasts to take off. Their ability to introduce subscribers/listeners to new and interesting music within a defined genre is greatly powerful.
Radio:
Almost exclusively I listened to idobi Radio. The constant stream of advertisement free punk kept me entertained almost all day of nearly every work day. I’d like to expand this list and find other great radio stations. If anyone knows good alternative rock, punk, celtic, or classical radio stations that are streamed at at least 128 kbs, I would love to hear about them.
Sweet Bands/Albums:
- Green Day: Bullet In A Bible - I can not even count how many times through I’ve listened to this entire CD. I don’t usually like live CDs, but the energy captured here is intoxicating. If you like Green Day, or punk in general, you must own this.
- The Bloody Irish Boys - I discovered these guys on the before mentioned Pub Songs Podcast. I just can’t get enough of their punk Irish mix of music.
- Ceann - Another Pub Songs Podcast find, this Pittsburgh based band mixes music I love with
- Ik Ben - Scott Hylbert’s band is wonderful. I cherish every track they have released.
Music Singles:
These aren’t necessarily new, but they are six selected tracks (five was too hard) I couldn’t get enough of this year. I have excluded any of the artists/albums I mentioned.
- Welcome to the Black Parade: My Chemical Romance - idobi radio introduced this to me just before it started getting insane amount of radio play. I say play away, this song is so sweet.
- Masters of the Universe: Army of Freshmen - As a lifetime He-Man fan, this song is an absolute blast.
- Blackbird: The Beatles - out of the blue I heard this Beatles song which I previously had not heard much. I’ve always liked The Beatles and it was fun to find a “new” song I love.
- Surrender: Cheap Trick - this was used in the sadly cancelled Sons and Daughters partial improv TV show. I get a bit sad when I hear this since I loved the show, but it is still awesome.
- The Suffering: Coheed and Cambria - Al introduced me to this tune. I love it so much.
- 24: Jem - this was in the Ultraviolet trailer and totally sold me on the film… until I saw the movie and hated it. Oh well, the song is still awesome.
That’s it, everything that has colored my audio landscape this calendar year. The iPod made is a banner year for audio in my house. I hope I find half as much great stuff in 2007.
Tags: 2006, audio, bullet in a bible, ceann, celtic, green day, ik ben, internet radio, irish, karl pilkington, marc gunn, music, npr, podcasts, pub songs, radio, ricky gervais, Scott Hylbert, twit