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iPod, smartphones and home theaters tutorial now available at VIDEO PROFESSOR

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video-professor.gifTo teach people how to enjoy music, videos and games by learning how to use the most popular digital devices on the market today, VIDEO PROFESSOR, the leader in comprehensive, self-paced computer software tutorials, is offering a three-lesson, Digital Devices Made Easy: iPod(R), Smartphones and Home.

This tutorial is ideal for anyone wanting to learn how to use the latest digital technology. Understanding these digital devices will increase your enjoyment if you have them, or save you hundreds of dollars if you are considering purchasing them.

It also provides three hours of in-depth, one-on-one instruction about all the latest and greatest technological devices, entertainment devices and web sites.

Originally posted on September 29, 2007 @ 8:58 am

Hollywood brings Cinemaweb.net and SSUpload.com to court for copyright infringement

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cinematube.gifssupload.gif The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA), on behalf of the major Hollywood movie studios, has filed lawsuits in federal court in Los Angeles against Cinematube.net and Ssupload.com – Web sites that facilitate copyright infringement on the Internet.

Cinematube and Ssupload both highlight on their sites the availability of the latest in pirated movies that are all too often still in theatrical release. Both sites enjoy significant profits via third party advertisers and user donations.

“No matter how you slice it, the sole purpose of these sites is to disseminate and profit from creative content that has been illegally reproduced and distributed. We will continue to scour the Internet for these illegal sites, and through lawsuits such as these we are putting illegal Web operators on notice that they are not above the law and will face serious consequences for their activities,” said John Malcolm, Executive Vice President and Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations for the MPAA.

I’m just wondering why this group sued only 2 Websites when a simple Google search for “free movies” will yield hundreds of sites, blogs, and forums promoting piracy. Even Google is indifferent towards piracy, as claimed by a legal watchdog group.

Originally posted on September 28, 2007 @ 9:26 am

National Lampoon Videos #1 in Comedy on YouTube

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nationallampoon1.jpgNational Lampoon Inc. announced that its wildly popular web videos have gone into the Internet stratosphere surpassing 6 million views on their YouTube channel alone for the month of September. National Lampoon now ranks #1 on YouTube for the month in all comedy, and stands as the #2 US YouTube partner, beating out such entertainment behemoths as NBC, CBS, Warner Bros. Records, BBC, Fox News, and hundreds more.

National Lampoon’s web success has not just been limited to September; over the past 12 months National Lampoon’s creative team has produced some of the most seminal comedy videos online, each of which has generated millions of views across the Internet. They include:

“National Lampoon’s Seinfeld The Lost Episode”, a mash-up video on Michael Richards’ racist rant in Hollywood, which was featured in the New York Times and other major publications.

“National Lampoon’s 24: Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, a parody on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in Boston, which was featured in Entertainment Weekly’s Must List.

“National Lampoon’s Weekend at Anna’s”, a mash-up video on the race for Anna Nicole Smith’s fortune, which was featured in Rolling Stone Magazine.

“National Lampoon’s 72 Virgins”, a faux movie trailer in which two idiot college students unwittingly join an Al Qaeda cell to get the 72 virgins promised to terrorists when they die. The trailer was featured on Fox’s Bill O’Reilly show.

“National Lampoon’s Fat Guy Nation: Girl Or Food?!” Along with the other “Fat Guy Nation” webisodes, have become an Internet must see.

“Britney’s VMA Awards Performance” spoof, seen across the Internet in the multi-millions and the companion piece “Leave Chris Crocker Alone! Britney Responds”.

“Don’t Quit Your Day Job” a career guide video which highlights the many talented creative personalities in the entertainment industry.

Originally posted on September 26, 2007 @ 4:52 pm

MSN Video releases new version with ad delivery model

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msnvideo.jpgMicrosoft Corp. released its latest version of MSN Video, offering consumers and advertisers an enhanced experience by improving the ability to find and discover premium and user-generated video content from the expansive MSN Video library, adding new community sharing features, and introducing a new time-based advertising delivery model.

The new MSN Video makes it easier for viewers to find and discover the breadth of video content from more than 40 leading video content providers, as well as video from across the Web. MSN Video now also integrates Soapbox user-generated videos directly into the same easy-to-use destination, and enables people to search and browse the entire MSN Video catalog while concurrently watching a video in a split-screen format. In addition, MSN Video users are now able to easily create playlists of their favorite videos and share them with friends.

The advertising delivery model for MSN Video, a first of its kind for a major online portal, now delivers advertising based on the amount of time a viewer spends watching videos, instead of by the number of clips watched. This improvement will provide a more predictable viewing experience and enable people to “channel surf” without being interrupted. MSN users will now see pre-roll advertisements before the first video and then see additional advertisements no more than once every three minutes during their viewing session.

Originally posted on September 26, 2007 @ 10:09 am

Mayor Bloomberg announces NYC TV On-Demand Player

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nyctv.jpgMayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the creation of the NYC TV On-Demand player, offering hundreds of high-quality video clips from NYC TV’s Emmy Award-winning shows. With a user-friendly interface, a high-speed search engine across neighborhoods and topics, and the ability to e-mail clips to friends, the On-Demand player is NYC TV’s next step in using technology and critically acclaimed content to connect New Yorkers and people around the world to the City.

Currently, NYC TV On-Demand has nearly 500 clips culled from NYC TV’s library of award-winning original programming. With dozens of clips slated to be added every week after the launch, the player will be the single largest source of online video about New York City lifestyle, culture, neighborhoods and entertainment. NYC TV will continue to enhance the player after today’s launch by offering mapping technologies to allow viewers to quickly locate businesses or events in a given clip.

The NYC TV On-Demand player cost roughly $100,000 to create and operate for one year, and was developed with Brightcove, an Internet TV service for broadband media distribution.

Originally posted on September 26, 2007 @ 8:03 am