The Next Web Portal Revolution: Video Gateways
November 19, 2016
Navigate to “Yahoo and Google Face Challenge As Social Media Sites Aim To Be Video Gateways.” The leaders in this new gold rush are Facebook and Snapchat. The write up reports:
Facebook and Snapchat have overtaken the homepages of Yahoo and Google as the front doors to the internet for hundreds of millions of people.
Okay, Google has invested in Snapchat. The outfit won’t be left out in the cold. Some other high flying Web outfits may be caught napping. Video is the thing, the biggie, the next money machine.
The write up continues:
Recurring shows are hitting Facebook from cable companies such as E! and business news provider Cheddar.
And Snapchat is also beavering away:
Snapchat has co-invested in two media brands exclusive to Discover.
What’s happened to dear, old, almost impenetrable YouTube? The write up reports:
YouTube has come closer than any video app to surpassing TV. But industry experts say the service is flooded with competition, associated with on-demand viewing and set in its style. Facebook and Snapchat represent uncharted terrain and potentially more lucrative opportunities, so that’s where money is flowing.
I think this means no cigar.
And the new content flowing to Facebook and Snapchat has one appealing factor to the cost conscious:
“No need for editing,” she says. “We’re just done.”
Good enough. Just like the title for the article and almost nothing of substance about Yahoo. For the shows which are capturing eyeballs, consult the original write up.
Stephen E Arnold, November 18, 2016
HonkinNews for September 6, 2016, Now Available
September 6, 2016
If you visit Zimbabwe, what risks do you face when you use Facebook? Is the CIA’s investment arm too secretive? Whom do you consult to get the inside scoop about legacy code running on the mainframe in the basement? For the answers to these questions, invest six minutes in the September 6, 2016, edition of HonkinNews, a round up of stories from Beyond Search. You can view this week’s program at this link or click on the embedded viewer on the Beyond Search blog.
Kenny Toth, September 6, 2016
HonkinNews for August 16, 2016
August 16, 2016
The weekly news program about search, online, and content processing is now available at https://youtu.be/mE3MGlmrUWc. In addition to comments about Goo!Hoo, IBM, and Microsoft, you will learn about grilling squirrel over a wood fire. Live from Harrod’s Creek.
Stephen E Arnold, August 16, 2016
Honkin News: Beyond Search Video News Program Available Now
August 2, 2016
Honkin’ News is now online via YouTube at https://youtu.be/hf93zTSixgo. The weekly program tries to separate the giblets from the goose feathers in online search and content processing. Each program draws upon articles and opinion appearing in the Beyond Search blog.
The Beyond Search program is presented by Stephen E Arnold, who resides in rural Kentucky. The five minute programs highlights stories appearing in the daily Beyond Search blog and includes observations not appearing in the printed version of the stories. No registration is required to view the free video.
Arnold told Beyond Search:
Online search and content processing generate modest excitement. Honkin’ News comments on some of the more interesting and unusual aspects of information retrieval, natural language processing, and the activities of those working to make software understand digital content. The inaugural program highlights Verizon’s Yahoo AOL integration strategy, explores why search fails, and how manufacturing binders and fishing lures might boost an open source information access strategy.
The video is created using high tech found in the hollows of rural Kentucky; for example, eight mm black-and-white film and two coal-fired computing devices. One surprising aspect of the video is the window showing the vista outside the window of the Beyond Search facility. The pond filled with mine drainage is not visible, however.
Kenny Toth, August 2, 2016
Azure Media Services Meets Microsoft Machine Learning
July 26, 2016
The article on TechCrunch titled Microsoft Is Bringing Automatic Video Summarization, Hyperlapse, OCR, and More to Azure Media Services discusses the machine learning enhancements coming soon to the cloud-based resources for video workflows. Media Services will be able to summarize videos, perhaps more honestly than the average theatrical trailer. Face detection is another perk. The article details,
“Microsoft is building face detection into these tools and the company is including its ability to detect people’s emotions (something the company’s Cognitive Services already do for still images). Using this, you could easily see how people reacted to a speech at an event, for example. If your keynote goes on for too long, you will probably see people’s emotions go from happiness to indifference and then to sadness and contempt.”
The face detection and feature-reading technology is also shown in CaptionBot, Microsoft’s AI robot that can describe images. The uses of this sort of capability are extremely broad, but marketing professionals especially must be foaming at the mouth. Other features such as motion detection and optical character recognition as well as superior speech-to-text capabilities will certainly have users flocking to the upgrades. Also exciting is the Hyperlapse developments, which Microsoft promises will enable time-lapsing of videos in Azure Media Services without frame limitations.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 26, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on July 26, 2016. Information is at this link: http://bit.ly/29tVKpx..
IBM Cloud Powers Comic-Con Channel
June 30, 2016
The San Diego Comic-Con is the biggest geek and pop culture convention in the country and it needs to be experienced to be believed. Every year the San Diego Comic-Con gets bigger and more complex as attendees and the guests demand more from the purveyors. If you are at Comic-Con, then you need to think big. Thinking big requires thinking differently, which is why it would seem “IBM And Comic-Con HQ Make Strange Bedfellows” says Fortune.
IBM announced that they have teamed with Lionsgate to run a Comic-Con HQ video channeled powered by IBM’s cloud. The on-demand channel will premiere during 2016’s Comic-Con. Comic-con attendees and those unfortunate not to purchase a ticket have demanded video streaming services for years, practically ever since it became possible. Due to copyright as well as how to charge attendees for the service have kept video on-demand on the back burner, but now it is going to happen and it is going to be a challenge.
Video streaming is:
“Video is a demanding application for cloud computing. Storing and shipping massive video files, often shot in ultra-high-definition 4k format, is a useful testbed to show off cloud services.”
Anything new related to Comic-Con always proves to be a hassle and troublesome. One of the cases in point is when the SDCC launched its digital waiting room to purchase tickets and had way more traffic than their servers could handle. The end result was a lot of angry fans unable to buy tickets. Another challenge was handling the massive crowds that started flocking to the convention halls around the mid-2000s (attendance swelled around 2011 with the Twilight movies).
Anything that will improve the Comic-Con experience and even allow non-attendees a taste of the magical July event would be welcome.
Whitney Grace, June 30, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
New Scan Video Search Tool
November 2, 2015
Navigate to Scan Video at http://www.scan.video. The service is in development. Results are limited. Documentation, although brief, is on the site’s about page. I ran a query for my video about cyberosint. The system did not locate my YouTube video on that subject. Other queries were more successful; for example, when I searched for “dance”, I received hits and new search box appeared inviting me to search for words in the video. My quest for a killer video search system continues.
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2015
YouTube Wants You to Pay For…YouTube Content?
August 5, 2015
YouTube is free and that is one of the biggest draws for viewers. Viewers pull the plug on cable and instead watch TV and movies on the Internet or via streaming device. While YouTube might be free, video streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime offer network television for a fraction of the cable price. Google wants in on the streaming service game and it is already prepped with YouTube. Google’s only problem is that it does not have major TV networks signed up. Slash Gear explains in the article that “YouTube’s Upcoming Paid Service Hasn’t Signed Up TV Networks.” Cheaper access to network TV is one of main reasons that viewers sign up for a video streaming service, without them YouTube has a problem:
“What is most notable, however, is what is missing: TV networks. And according to sources, YouTube hasn’t at this point signed up any of those networks like NBC and Fox. Those networks would bring with them their popular shows, and those popular shows would bring in viewers. That doesn’t mean the networks will never be brought in — sources said there’s still time for them to get on board, as the rollout isn’t pegged for until later this year.”
Google is currently counting on YouTube stars to power the paid platform, which users will be able to watch ad free. Without network TV, a larger movie library, and other content, paying for YouTube probably will not have many takers. Why pay for already free videos, when all you have to do is watch a thirty-second ad?
Whitney Grace, August 5, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Facebook Wants You To Double Think About Using YouTube
August 4, 2015
Facebook does not like YouTube. Facebook wants to encourage users to upload their videos to its network, rather than posting them on YouTube. The Next Web shares how Facebook is trying to become major YouTube competition in “Facebook Throws Shade At YouTube When You Try To Paste A Link.” How is Facebook doing this? First, when a user tries to post a YouTube link, Facebook encourages users to upload to Facebook instead. Most users do not want to upload to Facebook, because it does not offer the same posting options as YouTube or does it?
Facebook has apparently upgraded how users can share their videos, including new features such as adding categories, sharing as an unlisted video, and disabling embedding. One drawback is that this could increase the amount of stolen videos. Some users might upload a stolen video, claim it as theirs, and reap the benefits. Facebook, however, does have user Audible Magic to catch a stolen copyrighted video. A direct quote from a Facebook representative said:
“ ‘For years we’ve used the Audible Magic system to help prevent unauthorized video content. We also have reporting tools in place to allow content owners to report potential copyright infringement, and upon receiving a valid notice we remove unauthorized content. We also suspend accounts of people with repeated IP violations when appropriate.’”
Thievery of original content is an important factor Facebook needs to work on if it wishes to rival YouTube. Popular YouTube celebrities and channels work hard to create original content and YouTube is a proven, marketable network. Facebook needs to offer competitive or better options to attract the big names, but for the average Facebook user uploading a video directly to Facebook is a desirable option.
Whitney Grace, August 4, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Elsevier and Its Business Model May Be Ageing Fast
July 13, 2015
If you need to conduct research and are not attached to a university or academic library, then you are going to get hit with huge subscription fees to have access to quality material. This is especially true for the scientific community, but on the Internet if there is a will there most certainly is a way. Material often locked behind a subscription service can be found if you dig around the Internet long enough, mostly from foreign countries, but the material is often pirated. Gizmodo shares in the article, “Academic Publishing Giant Fights To Keep Science Paywalled” that Elsevier, one of the largest academic publishers, is angry about its content being stolen and shared on third party sites. Elsevier recently filed a complaint with the New York District Court against Library Genesis and SciHub.org.
“The sites, which are both popular in developing countries like India and Indonesia, are a treasure trove of free pdf copies of research papers that typically cost an arm and a leg without a university library subscription. Most of the content on Libgen and SciHub was probably uploaded using borrowed or stolen student or faculty university credentials. Elsevier is hoping to shut both sites down and receive compensation for its losses, which could run in the millions.”
Gizmodo acknowledges Elsevier has a right to complain, but they also flip the argument in the other direction by pointing out that access to quality scientific research material is expensive. The article brings up Netflix’s entertainment offerings, with Netflix users pay a flat fee every month and have access to thousands of titles. Netflix remains popular because it remains cheap and the company openly acknowledges that it sets its prices to be competitive against piracy sites.
Publishers and authors should be compensated for their work and it is well known that academics do not rake in millions, but access to academic works should be less expensive. Following Netflix’s model or having a subscription service like Amazon Prime might be a better business model to follow.
Whitney Grace, July 13, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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