Our Links section has been updated to include more of the sites we’re interested in over here, and where a lot of our link blog updates are directed.

New Additions:

Celtx Blog
Celtx, the screenwriting software we love, also has a great blog where they cover updates to the software, user projects, and other goings-on related to Celtx and screenwriting.

Copyblogger
An excellent site about copywriting, offering tips, tricks, and case studies to improve your writing.

Creative Commons
Because new media creators tend to be interested in new distribution models and issues of copyright. Ourselves included.

Jane Espenson
She’s written for Buffy, Firefly, BSG, and more, and she blogs to help you write better.

John August
Writer of Go, Big Fish, and The Nines, John August is a forward-thinking, tech savvy screen writer who regularly updates his blog, offering advice and answering questions.

Lawrence Lessig
Creative Commons pioneer Lawrence Lessig has posted about pertinent issues relating to copyright and CC, and now he’s focusing on government corruption.

MAKE: Blog
Because DIY is what new media and participatory culture are all about.

Michael Geist
Copyright is important, okay?

Revision3
Home to some of my favorite video podcasts.

Robert J. Sawyer
The Canadian sci-fi author’s main site has over one million words to help your writing. Oh, and he’s currently writing a trilogy about the WWW gaining consciousness.

Instead of actually competing with online encyclopedias, according to sci-fi author Robert J. Sawyer, Britannica’s resorted to the tactics of porn sites. They appear to offer a free 1-year subscription to Encylopaedia Britannica Online on the package, but that’s not what you really get.

“No, it’s a free one-year trial of Britannica Online that auto-renews at $49 if you don’t cancel it before the end of the year. You have to give a credit-card number to claim your “free” subscription, and if you don’t cancel on just the right day you either (a) get charged more than you paid for the effing DVD in the first place, or (b) get something less than the year you were promised because you canceled early.

F*ck that noise. In its quest to beat Wikipedia at its own game, instead of taking lessons in how online access should be done, they’ve copied the ploys used by porn sites, Classmates.com, and other shady dealers. When will they ever learn?”

Sawyer is less than impressed, calling the move a “bone-headed stunt.”

Link.

Comparing them to Classmates.com is no small insult, either, as Sawyer’s also written about his distaste for their tactics. The first sentence of which is “These bastards suck.”

Photo credit: Carolyn Clink 

Unlike the useless Marvel Digital, which offers comics online six months after publication, “Myspace and Boom! Studios teamed up to release each issue of the new comic North Wind simultaneously with the release date for brick and mortar stores.”

This is great for comics fans who want to catch up on the series, or simply missed an issue. Cory Doctorow explains why the usual system (no online availability, or Marvel Digital) sucks:

“The trade paperbacks help here, but usually there’s a 2-3 issue gap between the collection and the singles. That means that if you’re not a Comics Person and you walk into a bookstore and buy the first collection of Thrilling Underwear Pervert Stories (issues 1-6) get hooked, and decide to brave a comics store for the first time to pick up issue 7, you’ll generally find that they’re up to issue 9 or 10, and that 7 and 8 aren’t for sale and can’t be ordered.

The result? You go back to the bookstore in a couple months and look for the collection — maybe. If you remember.”

Hopefully Boom!’s idea will catch on. If not, well, at least Boom!’s fan base is likely to grow.

Link.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

I feel kind of weird recommending this one because, if you watching vidcasts, of course you’re already watching BBtv, right?

Right?

Just like anyone in their right mind already reads Boing Boing itself, if you’re at all interested in vidcasts, you positively must be watching BBtv. It’s covers the same kind of weird, unfamiliar yet utterly captivating side of the Internet and the world that BoingBoing revels in.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vimeo, a video sharing site I have reviewed in the past (and personally endorse for all my video content) has released an update to their player that supports native resolution HD in Flash.

Needless to say, the update is being widely embraced by the video community and beyond, getting coverage in Motionographer, Kottke, and many others. Although I’m no Flash expert, I’m guessing this is using Adobe’s new “Moviestar” technology because

1. Flash Player 9, the latest version, is required. Found this out the hard way when I was using a crappy old Windows PC with outdated software earlier today.
2. Jakob Lodwick, Vimeo’s founder, wrote about the Moviestar technology at his personal blog.
3. Really, how else could they do it? Current Flash tech doesn’t support high def video (at the codec level, like H264 does), and certainly streaming video with the VP3 codec at a high def size would kill your average server.

Why do I care if Vimeo is using Moviestar? Mostly I’m just curious, but I also am interested because this would be the first major real world application of the technology. If so, props to Vimeo; this is a very strong addition to their recent series of changes that have turned Vimeo into a world-class video sharing community.

Vimeo have launched version five of their people-driven video sharing tool. The site, owned by Connected Ventures (and through a few levels, IAC), was originally created by Jakob Lodwick as a resource for sharing his short videos with friends and family. The idea grew, but the mission stayed the same - make it easy to share video you create with people you trust.

The new site

The changes are obvious with the new home page, which distinctly lays out options to register or log in, clips that the Vimeo staff features, stuff that you have brought to Vimeo, and a new area, “Vimeo Obsessions”, an area where, presumably, the Vimeo staff finds the latest trends and links to a short video that fits the trend. I’ve seen the “Five Vignettes” meme and the “LibDub” trend both displayed in the Obsessions area.

The video player is new as well, featuring a more boxy and cleaner layout. It feels faster and more intuitive than the previous player, which was sometimes a bit tough to control. The color has also switched away from a red/green to blue, part of Vimeo’s extensive redesign. No stone was left unturned!

Different strokes for different folks

Jakob Lodwick, Vimeo’s founder, has been very vocal in his stance against the increased influence that YouTube’s traditional media partners have on the network’s organisation and structure. In a post to his tumblog (which was extracted from an instant message which was a copy/paste from an email) he writes:

YouTube is oscillating between the chaos of automatic, popularity-based rankings and the stability of old-school, owner-controlled editorial. Both are lame and you can see the miserable effects of either in every media outlet that exists today. I would bet everything I own on a third alternative: user-controlled editorial.

Lodwick’s point is confidently prescient, but it makes sense. We are in an era of user generated content - who is to say that the users cannot decide what content is showcased? Vimeo is making efforts to ensure that the community defines the community; they do not want this to be another stop on the marketing tour. Everything about the site puts the community at the forefront, even the ads are Amazon affiliate ads specially designed by Vimeo to fit nicely into the interface.

Will this new release be enough to convince YouTube users to make the switch? Time will tell, but I think initial prospects are incredibly promising. Vimeo not only has a great product, but a visionary path (unique in this world of a million YouTubes, Google Videos, Metacafes, etc.). Hopefully this vision can carry it to success.

Check out Vimeo version five by visiting http://vimeo.com/