The Wall Street Journal had a terrific feature article in yesterday’s edition about the business of scraping data from web sites. Amazingly, as the article highlights, this practice is not just the domain of shady characters, as respectable companies are making money from gathering data, without permission, from others’ web sites, analyzing it and reselling it in various forms. It is not just the data that is published by the author that is vulnerable, but the comments made by readers. Some of these companies even have algorithms to identify who made a comment, even if the comment was anonymous or published on a private site under a pseudonym.
Last week, we experienced a word-by-word scraping of this next article. Other than a very subtle link to the Viodi web site, one would have thought that this pirate web site is where Alan Weissberger published his latest article.
Exponential Growth in M2M Market Dependent on Important Network Enhancements by Alan Weissberger
IEEE ComSocSCV and NATEA held a very successful workshop on M2M and Smart Grids at SCU on Sept 25th. Attendees heard presentations about standards for Smart Devices, open M2M platforms from AT&T and Sprint, and mitigating noise in the "connected home" network (the new end point of residential M2M connections that extends beyond "the last mile"). This article is a follow up to that well received mini-conference. Click here to read the entire article and view the comments.
The Tablet and Smart Phone as an Input Screen and as a Product Finder
M2M could be a big driver for LTE networks, as shown in Alan Weissberger's latest article and as evidenced by a conversation I had with one network provider last week at CTIA . Although I never made it to the CTIA showfloor last week, I did see some interesting exhibits at a pre-CTIA press event. Two items at this event that caught my eye were a mobile app that essentially turns an iPad into a remote screen/entry device for one’s PC and another that enables self-help at the retail level. Click here to read the rest of this article.
What Careers Does the Internet Create?
Bill Genereux of Kansas State University at Salina, KS poses an interesting question on Twitter, that has me stumped and that is worth more than a Twitter-thought. “Looking for examples of careers that couldn't exist without the Internet. My students want to know.” Other than jobs in datacenters, webmasters and maybe Jet Blue Call Agents (and other call agents), what job has been created by the Internet? Even the Jet Blue Call Agents really aren’t new jobs, as the Internet just changes the nature of how and where the job is done.
It seems like the Internet doesn’t really create new jobs, it just reduces frictions and eliminates jobs by reducing intermediaries and making tasks that would have been prohibitively expensive possible. I am interested in others’ thoughts on this topic, so please comment here or on Bill’s Twitter feed. Also, be sure to check out his enlightening blog that deals with the rural digital life.
Beam Me Up AndroidUsing your phone as a way to discover videos and send them to other devices, whether your own PC or someone else’s device, is what the latest generation of the Twonky server from PacketVideo promises. The latest version of the Twonky server includes a feature that automatically copies content from one’s phone to web-enabled devices in the home for viewing and/or listening on the big screen, PC or stereo. Rick Schwartz of PacketVideo provided an overview of an earlier version of this application in a video interview we filmed at Parks Associates’ 2010 Connections Conference in Santa Clara. Click here to view the video.
An Interactive Look Behind the Curtain at the Media and Innovations Summit
Walking the walk is what OpenTV did earlier this week by implementing their interactive television technology to enhance the Media Innovations Summit at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. Their approach allowed the audience to vote and state opinions using smart phones, text messages, tablets or lap-tops. It was an honor for Viodi to be part of the video capture part of the production. Click here to view the video and read the rest of the post.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts
- Sony's Crackle Launches First Full-Length Movie and Television Service for Android "- More ala carte TV for ChromeTV?
- Google's new developer web site for GoogleTV – OCAP/EBIF should have done this while they were still ahead.
- Ellis Named 2010 Women in Technology Award Winner: Communications Technology -a little late, but congratulations Leslie.
The Korner – 3DTV and More – Too Much Content for One Workshop
Roger Bindl put together a truly original take on local content at OPASTCO’s Tech and Marketing Symposium last week in Minneapolis. As evidenced by this picture, he entertained the audience with 3D video content produced by the Sony Vegas 10 editing software. Although 3DTV may seem to be in the distant future, local HD production was non-existent when we started the Local Content Workshops, and now, it is common.
A 2-minute compressed version of Bindl ‘s 2-hour presentation can be seen by clicking on the following video. Bindl covered a great deal of content in this session. Amazingly, there is more that he did not cover.
For instance, we discovered some real-world differences in camcorders when we filmed the Media Innovation Summit a couple of weeks ago, as evidenced by this video.
The set-up for that conference and the things we learned from producing two days of a of live and interactive event is more fodder that we would like to discuss our upcoming Local Content Workshop held in conjunction with the MTA.
Another topic for consideration is how we deal with web scrapping of the hundreds of videos we have produced through the years. So, if you are going to the MTA Video Forum, we would love to hear from you as to what we should put in the agenda.
Feel free to comment in the "Reply "section on the Viodi View web site or, if you are concerned your comment might be scrapped, please shoot us an email.
