Digital Media Strategist

iPod-Touch? - OR - iPhone upgrade?

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:34:31 -0700

I purchased an iPod-Touch (iTouch) last Friday on September 21, 2007. I boasted that it would be 'the' ultimate portable media experience. I thought it would be the 'end all device' of all devices, but boy was I sooooooooo wrong. I posted a blog a few days ago titled "The iPod-Touch my 17 year quest." Basically its my personal 17 year journey exploring different ways to minimize my physical carrying load. The post started out talking about how I used to carry two book-bags and a portfolio case. It moved on to discuss about how I wanted to maximize my mobility by optimizing all my media and organizational data into a pocket sized device. I really thought the iTouch was my answer, but within 24 hours I capitulated and upgraded to an iPhone.

Let me backtrack for a bit... before we get into the iPhone, I want to talk about the differences between the iTouch and the iPod Classic. In a nutshell the iTouch is a touch screen mini computer. Its an entirely new kind of device experience. I guess the only thing you can equate it to is a pocket sized Tablet PC. Hhmmm did I hear someone say Tablet Mac???

All iPods to date have a 320x240 viewable screen, but this new iTouch has a 480x240 viewable area. You can surf the web off of any available WIFI network, which in my city New York, thats pretty much any block. The iTouch has innovative tactile navigation feature's, a lot of double tapping, pinch resizing, and scroll pushing with your fingers. It also offers a single physical 'home' button that gets you back to your main setup. This is truly something yet to be experienced in the mass computing market. Its so refreshing, that even the non techies seem to be geeking out over its utilitarian and futuristic qualities.

The iTouch has everything I need, video, audio, internet and easy to access data. As a portable media strategist these are the key features I need to test, access and showcase my content. The iTouch is truly a remarkable device and will please a bunch of people, but for my personal tastes, I feel its a dud.

First of all there is a $389 price tag with Apple Care and It has an 8 GIG media capacity, far below what most people have come to expect for that cost. Other tidbits: no email client, no bluetooth, no ability to take photos, no SMS, no ability to type notes, and no application hacks. On top of all of that, its 3 months behind the iPhone with consumer and expert testing. Other things Ive discovered, the video playback is not as crisp or clear as the iPhone and an active iTouch will need to be charged more frequently than an equally active iPhone. The iTouch has been striped of numerous features unnecessarily, to accommodate a slimmer and a slightly lighter feel, as a result there were no external protective iTouch cases on the market at the time of this writing (in other words its too small for an iPhone case). I have been waiting for Apple to create this all in one phoneless PDA internet device for about seven years now. Though I am terribly disappointed, I do think that if you want to see a proper upgrade of this product wait till the annual Mac World Expo in January 2008.

As I was saying earlier in this post, I took back my iTouch the next day and purchased an iPhone (btw It was a $30 restocking fee). Actually I've mentioned many aspects of the iPhone in this post, if you want a more comprehensive breakdown of the device check out this iPhone website link. One thing that I forgot to mention is that there are some external extras on the iPhone, that the iTouch lacks. There is a volume control in the upper left side, a silent/vibrator switch and on the back in the upper right corner there is a camera.

I have tons of geeky pals that also have iPhones. I have seen some of them use no protective case and it looks practically new. Others like me have hard core cases. I personally have a Crystal Jacket Set that comes with a film protector for the touch screen area. I have also read articles about how you should maximize the battery's life span. For the past 3 days I have been putting my iPhone to the test and I must say that I am so overwhelmed with geek lust that I feel the need to retract a statement I made referring to the iPhone, back on June 29th, 2007

Being a tech and mac geek I tend to have a first round adopter mentality but a second round adopter practicality. I think I am going to have to sit this one out.

I really really really tried hard to fight the iPhone craze, but I can't deny that Its a shockingly functional device and I'm excited to say that I actually do need it for my work. As prices come down and other mobile carriers come on board, people will swarm over to iPhones just as they have with iPods. People want an all in one user friendly lifestyle device to help entertain, capture and manage parts of their lives. Oh lets not forget that they also want to connect and communicate with others.

Apple has already shook up the entire music industry and the major media networks. Now they are taking on the cell phone market. The telecoms should be nervous because they will no longer be able to push off half assed inferior technology and services. Apple has raised the bar and now the the manufactures will feel the pressure to meet or exceed the Apple standard. The fact is Apple is preparing to double their iPhone shipment for the fourth quarter. Already there have been numerous reports of over 1 million iPhones sold in less than 3 months. I believe that this device will take a HUGE chunk out of the cell phone market in the next 3-5 years. But hey what do I know... all I know is that I no longer have to carry 2 bookbags and a portfolio case and thats plenty to celebrate about.

- bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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iPod-Touch my 17 year quest

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:49:20 -0700

In the 1990 my freshman year at college I used to carry 2 book-bags and a portfolio case. In one book bag I carried my books and a Kinkos Customized Notebook that included my To Do List, Calendar, and Notes. In the other book-bag I carried music cassettes. Yep you heard it cassettes not CD's!!! In the portfolio case I carried all of my graphic art work. It was all ridiculously heavy and I began to gripe about my mobility. I wanted a more compact mobile lifestyle.

In November 1999, I was among the first to get a Handspring Visor. Negating from Apple's Newton it was the worlds first official multi-platform PDA on the market. It was 2 MB and I was absolutely geeked to finally get rid of my custom Kinkos notebook and manage my To Do List, Calendar, and Notes. I was finally able to micro-organize my life. Since 1999 I have gone through 5 Handsprings and 2 Palms.

On August 16, 2002 I was among the first to purchase the worlds first ever 20 Gig iPod. I specifically held out for the 20 GIG because I was looking for a pocket sized device to store my files and applications. Not to mention listen to my 150+ GIG's of music. Since 2002 I have gone through 3 iPods.

On July 7, 2005 I was among the first to purchase the Palm LifeDrive Mobile Manager. It was the first of its kind. I was specifically looking for three things with this device: 1). It was the largest PDA on the market, 4 GIGs 2). I wanted to play music 3). I was looking to showcase my video portfolio and visual art graphics. The photo and video capabilities was key because it took 15 years for Palm to create my ultimate dream device. Alas the PDA was buggy and eventually died within the year. Foolishly I did not have the extended warrantee. Even worse lack of support that Palm provided. Three months later the video iPod came out and lacked some of the major features that the Lifedrive had. I was disgruntled once again and that was the last device I purchased until now ...

On September 21, 2007 at approximately 7PM, yet again I am among the first to purchase the worlds first iPod-Touch. I somehow avoided the long line brewing at the Apple store on 5th Ave and got there 1 hour after it went on sale. It is now 9PM. For the past 17 years I have been searching for this very Apple specific pocket sized device: PDA, Video, Photo, 8 GIG Storage, Bluetooth, Wifi/Web capable dream machine. I believe I've met my match.

I admit that I am a gadget geek, I admit that I love being on the bleeding edge, but first and foremost I aim to make my life simple and efficient. No longer do I have to carry 2 bookbags and a portfolio case, everything is at my fingertips. I am a digital lifestyle junkie and I wish to communicate to the world as I open the box and unleash it from its plastic underpinnings ... Stay tuned!!! I will have a full report sometime next week.

- bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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Video 2.0 Meetup Group - Web 2.0 StartUPs!

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 11:45:31 -0700

Two days ago I went to the Video 2.0 Meetup group hosted at For Your Imagination Studio on 27th and Broadway NYC. It was the first time we met in that space something like 200+ members attended, a great turn out. As far as I can tell its the largest tech related meetup group in NYC. The topic of discussion was on Web 2.0 start up companies. This is great because I'm always looking for new web technologies to make my world a lil easier and efficient. Plus I love spreading the word about whats up and coming.

The first presenter Ben Weinberger CEO of Digitalsmiths in Durham, N.C. You can call them an ad insertion company or "digital deal makers," but the goal of Digitalsmiths is to be the Google AdSense for video. I watched the presentation and thought it reminded me of those MTV pop up trivia videos. In theory pop up ad insertion is an interesting idea and I can see how it could be very useful in some niche markets. For mass video consumption I think it would be intrusive and annoy the hell out of people. I have a bunch of ideas on how they could proceed with this, but this is not consultant corner ... Those of you looking to bring in advertising dollars its worth a look

Next up was Rami Rinot visionary of Chic.tv. The company was created to address the needs of the "chic and savvy consumer who wishes to access lifestyle information in a new form of media, primarily, video on the internet, iPod and cellphone." Basically its a 24-7 lifestyle video magazine focused on recipe's, dining, art, books ... in New York City. The presentation was quite incoherent and I was having a hard time following; however, I did learn a lot by going to the site. It appears to have a bunch of content that will be interesting to the chic and hip minded individuals.

Max Haot, Founder and CEO of Mogulus gave one of the most outstanding and efficient 10 minute tech presentations I've ever seen. Mogulus provides users with the "power to create live, original television programming, all done on their own broadcasting channel." Its like a virtual TV station based on the .flv video spec. You can do real-time collaborative remote video publishing or mashups using hard media (like DVD's or tape), Youtube, or other video sources. I really thought the remote collaborative was an excellent feature, I can see a lot of potential with this.

The last presentation was by Yuxt, a video bookmarking widget based application. Yuxt is an indexing service like delicious but exclusively for video. You can call up Youtube, Metacafe, Crackle (formally known as Grouper) ... videos by typing in the search field for whatever you are seeking and it will pull up the video files. From there you can drag the video files into a custom folder that you create and drag it to the specified folder. Actually, sites like delicious could learn a thing or two from Yuxt with regards to organization and ease of use. This site is primarily for people seeking a user friendly solution for video bookmarking.

- Bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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ZAGG Inc, makers of the invisibleSHIELD, introduces the RockStic

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:38:46 -0700

Because I blog and podcast about technology I always get on the mailing lists of these up and coming products that are just hitting the market. Yesterday I received an email from the SheieldZone Corp. Last year I did a review of their product, the Invisible Shield.

The Invisible Shield is a thin protective covering that you carefully stick on your iPod, cell phone or other techie device. They claimed that with this protective covering that the device would not get scratched. I naturally was skeptical. They took an iPod with the shield on it... and dropped it in a box full of nails and bolts and shook it up really hard... I shook it up really hard. Not a scratch, actually the only parts that were scratched were the areas that they intentionally left open to show the effectiveness of the product. Lets just say I was astonished at how well it worked and purchased one on spot. I currently have an invisible shield on a standby iPod that I take on the road, it gets handled a lot and its held up beautifully.

Now that you know the story ... back to the email:

"Recently, we changed our name to ZAGG. Today, we change the way you listen to music. To all of our loyal invisibleSHIELD customers we're proud to introduce the RockStic. The RockStic is a powerful iPod speaker system. It is compact, versatile, functional and is compatible with other MP3 players. Despite its small size, its speakers pack a punch, making it ideal for parties and travel. The RockStic charges your iPod® too! The RockStic is available in black, silver, and vibrant pink. Order yours today and save $20 with our introductory price."

That was the email and here is a link to the Zagg website. It looks pretty slick and cool. I am creating a new category for Products in my del.icio.us bookmarks.

- Bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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Technorati Profile

Casey McKinnon gets extra credit...

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 22:12:31 -0700

Earlier today I read a message in my Pownce account from Casey McKinnon stating... "My first published article EVER!" I was proud to hear that a fellow media producer was getting featured in The Gaurdian, a prestigious UK newspaper. Cassey and Rudy Jahchan produce the hugely popular online show(s) Galacticast and A Comicbook Orange. For those of you who don't know, Galacticast is a weekly comedy that parody's sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comics, and video-games. Let me just say that the shows are hilarious and they do a great job green screening and making entertaining fun episodes. It look like a small production house may have been fooling around and creating little snippets on set, but the reality is that Rudy and Cassey do it all from their humble apartment.

Back to the article... Cassey eloquently touches on the topic of the television networks and media industry buying out and not providing credit to the new content produced online. She highlights the decrease in big budgets and the audience moving away from mainstream TV and how independent producers are being edged out of their intellectual properties. "Like any company, we need a lawyer to look over our contracts to make sure that we retain our rights," says Cassey. I am not doing her article justice by taking pieces from it, I feel its an excellent well written piece, and I just created a del.icio.us bookmark for it. I strongly suggest checking out the "Give us credit" article and pass it along to your colleagues and friends.

- Bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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Bayete and Bendrix video captures the NBA's attention...

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:38:01 -0700

This past weekend I met my brother Marc Williams, in Springfield Massachusetts. We were there to work with his client Bayette Gordon, the NBA hopeful, 5'6'' point guard with the talent, heart and discipline to make it pro. Mark's company Demarc Entertainment arranged a shoot at Spalding's headquarters, where I kept my camera trained on Bayette as he showcased his amazing ball handling skills. The NBA was there, as was the local paper, which ran a front page article in its Sunday Edition (Springfield Republican, July 23).

Two weeks ago, we entered Miller Lite's Go Pro Challenge. The rules were to create a 3 minute video testimonial showcasing your skills. Our video got a lot of buzz, from the NBA camp because it featured Rick Barry and Nate Thurmond, 2 of the NBA's top 50 legends speaking on Bayete's behalf. Aside from the star appearances and his dribbling dynamics, the story about the 5'6'' point guard has peaked some interest from some undisclosed media outlets. Out of 400+ entries, ours was one of the 30 selected, winning Bayette a chance to try out for the NBA's Pre-Draft Camp at Arlington, Texas, July 28-29.

The second part of the contest judges the 3 most popular videos. The top prize is $30,000; $15,000 for second ,and $7,500 for third. Today, July 23rd, Bayete is in first place. I think voting ends this Thursday. Please go to the following link below, watch the video, vote for "Bayete Gordon" and make sure to tell your friends. Vote at this NBA Go Pro Link

- bendrix

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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Ratatouille doesn't spoon feed you, it...

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:23:20 -0700

RATATOUILLE REVIEW

Since 1995 Pixar has dazzled us with groundbreaking award winning animation. But its not just the animation that captivates us, these films have a soul. Ratatouille follows in the Pixar tradition by delivering impressive atmosphere layered under a tabooed yet endearing story.

Lets face it, American animation films are overwhelmingly bland and mind numbingly half-assed. Heres the typical plot: several big name actors do voice over work, for several key characters from the film. There's lots of obnoxious potty humor and tons of clichéd references from mainstream entertainment. Whats worse is that the movie trailers show just about every comedic punch-line and action sequence from the movie, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Which brings me back to Ratatouille, I saw a 30 second trailer about a year ago. I was scratching my head thinking... Another kid movie about a talking animal? A RAT at that! How distasteful can that be? Pixar has this strange formula that only seems to work for them. A year before a film is released they present a seemingly unfinished concept trailer. It would appear to be counter productive, but somehow it works! The original trailers for Toy Story (I & II), The Incredibles, Cars, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo all used this tactic and each time I wrote them off as failures even before the project was complete. As it got closer to Ratatouilles release , I saw a clip of the same rat telling a story about his desire to be a chef. This time I was intrigued, because they really had refined the concept. This trailer was intelligent and it captured the true essence of an exquisite cliffhanger narrative.

When the movie came out, I was totally feeling optimistic about it, so a group of us went to catch an evening showing, which was packed with parents and their kids. Oh boy! {rolls eyes} Not only was the movie smart, it was absolutely hilarious, even more surprising was that the kids sat there silent and engrossed.

I was enchanted. Ratatouille captured the atmosphere and vibe of Paris. Its a spectacle not to be missed on the big screen. The animators payed special attention to the keen details that are generally overlooked by most animation studios today. The film also touched on subjects like trust, family obligation and following your dreams. Hey its still Hollywood, but somehow it manages to deliver the story in such a way that even puts traditional films to task. For most of the movie you suspend the disbelief of a rodent preparing food. Its a masterful rewiring of our prejudices, maneuvering an embracing sentiment towards accepting rodents in the kitchen. Its really some intense wizardry I tell you, but there are a few unsettling scenes that transport you back to reality.

I give this movie 4 3/4 stars out of 5, for the sheer fact that the film is based in France yet all the rats and the main character Alfredo Linguini spoke good ol' American English. That was the only real weakness of the movie and to be honest its not really a distraction, its just me being nit-picky. The characters: Remy (the little chef) and Alfredo Linquini (the garbage boy) have a wonderful chemistry as chef and marionette puppet. Gusteau (the deceased master chef) is a jovial ghostly head that pops up in Remys mind from time to time as the voice of reason and his inspiration. The exchanges between Remy and Gusteau provides much of the comedy relief thorough out the film. Colette Tatou (the tough female chef) seemingly a hardcore feminist, plays mentor and good friend to the inept garbage boy. I really dug her character. Anton Ego (the harsh food critic) was an striking depiction of snobbery to the highest order; I mean you really want to hate this guy. Im not going to spoil it, but Ill just say that he has one of the most memorable scenes in all movie history, towards the end.

Ratatouille doesnt spoon feed you, it makes you think, it entertains you, and doesnt talk down to any generation or group. Almost all Hollywood films both animated and traditional, taste like Burger King or Mc Donald's; but, Pixar films taste more like Iron Chef gourmet meals. This movie is for kids, adults, and snobs. To me Ratatouille represents the essence of a true family movie experience because the parents can actually feel stimulated and their kids can become enriched by this dynamic moving story that interweaves artful storytelling at its best.

- bendrix

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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Google Acquires Grandcentral. Get Excited!!!

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 09:23:00 -0700

On Monday July 2nd, I received a phone message about a new Google offering. I ignored it... On Wednesday July 4th I got that same message but this time in the form of an email... Still ignored it. So earlier today I finally checked both of these messages and it appears that I am a little late with the news, but I certainly won't be the last to blog about it.

You see I have this huge Google fetish and I love it whenever they come out with a new beta application or acquire a new company. Well there happens to be this company called Grandcentral and it was acquired by Google sometime within the past week or so. This is truly awesome news because I have been testing out Grandcentral since November 14, 2006. I absolutely love the service and brag about it to friends and colleagues all the time; but don't take my word for it, because once Google gives the stamp of approval to something then you know its got to have some value.

Grandcentral is this online application that allows you to input phone contacts and keep that information hosted on their server. Why is this cool? Suppose you loose your phone or your computer dies or you loose your little black book? If you don't have a backup plan, then you're out of luck. Several months ago both my computer and my cell phone died around the same time and I lost all my contact info (well I still had the business cards).

Another good reason to join, free phone forwarding. When you first sign up for the service you must choose a city and a virtual phone number... This virtual number can be linked to your home, cell, work, or any other phone you choose (up to 7 numbers). If someone calls you, you can send them directly to your virtual voicemail. You can be listen to messages on your phone, through your Grandcentral web page, or via. email. Another reason why this feature is cool is because you are no longer tied to your home or business office. Lets say you have several employees who all have cell phones, all you have to do is input all their numbers at the Grandcentral site and elect to access that number. That number can represent your main office number and any one of your employees can either answer the call or let it go to voicemail. There can be many ways to implement the technology in the home, the office, or among groups, this is just one example.

Another awesome feature is that you can record your conversations. The average person may find this an unnecessary feature, but to a podcaster or a video blogger this could be the killer interview application they have been looking for. Its an all in one solution, no extra's or burdensome instructions. You just inform the party on the other end that you are about to record them... when they consent... just press the number "3" button on your phone... talk, talk, talk... and when you're done, just hit the "3" button again. Its that easy and the audio files reside on your Grandcentral profile page in the form of a downloadable MP3 or you can listen to the steam from the page itself.

Go see for yourself. My prediction: Grandcentral will be among 'the' hot new web technologies for 2007.

- bendrix

_________________________________________________________________________
Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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Bendrix iPhone clip featured on the Jetset show

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:07:56 -0700

On Monday July 1st, I was sending a clip to my good buddy Zadi to show her the madness over at the 5th Avenue Mac Store in Manhattan, and she wrote back... "that's insane! Hey -- if you'd like, we can probably feature a part of it on jetset this monday."

I was flattered by the offer because I did not expect to be featured in the show. Jetset happens to be one of the few shows that I check out regularly. For those of you who do not know, Jetset is a show created by Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf. They conduct interviews and showcase whats hip and cool on both online and offline. For me I watch to see coverage of the newest online applications and to see what is interesting on the web. They also touch on the music scene and there are some very funny skits throughout the 5 min episodes. Oh did I mention that Zadi is a real hottie, (oh and yeah Steve is a dashing young devil as well). But Jetset is so much more because they are an "Internet and pop culture show for young adults featuring cool, weird, fun, geeky, underground, true-to-life, curious, quirky things and people found online and off." I also wanted to mention that Jetset has accumulated rave reviews from the online community by winning Vloggie and a Webby awards and they just have a growing number of fans world wide.

I highly recommend the Jetset Show and hope you will watch the clip below and go to the following links to support the Jetset movement: website, youtube, mix.jetset

_________________________________________________________________________
Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

Subscribe to our: Podcast Feeds | Google Videos | Youtubes | Delicious
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iPhoNe DiarY(s): MadNESS 5th Ave, New YoRk Pt. 2

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 05:02:27 -0700

On Friday June 29th I traveled to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York City to witness the pandemonium over the iPhone. I have been present at both the SOHO and 5th Ave Apple Store grand openings, about 9 Mac World Expo's, and a slew of Apple product release events Let me just say that this was a crowd that stretched a full city block and the largest police presence and gathering of news teams that I've ever witnessed at an Apple event. So why all the madness and what exactly is the value of this product?

Some people are interested but think the $600 price tag is steep. Others ask what's the big deal over a stooooopid gadget that is nothing more than an indulgence. Others are griping about the exclusivity with AT&T.

The significance of this event and this device marks the beginning of a Telecom revolution. Just like the iPod+iTunes and now AppleTV are revolutionizing digital downloads and the way we view our entertainment the iPhone will do the same. Apple will make the cellular networks and device makers step up their game - forcing them to offer services and innovations long over due. I will be blogging more on this topic over the next few weeks... stay tuned and check out the mayhem on the video clip below.

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

Subscribe to our: Podcast Feeds | Google Videos | Youtubes | Delicious
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June 28th Iphone Madness at the Apple Store SOHO NYC

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:47:52 -0700

Yesterday I traveled down to the Apple Store in SOHO New York City and saw the first line brewing for the iPhone. Its absolute madness, in order to be first in line you would have had to have been there on Tuesday June 26th before noon. Some people have been camping out for a few days, but today Friday June 29th is the release date of the long awaited iPhone. The revolutionary device that I predict will change the face of the telcom industry just like the ipod is doing to music, and what iTV is about to do the broadcast and film industries.

Being a tech and mac geek I tend to have a first round adopter mentality but a second round adopter practicality. I think I am going to have to sit this one out. I am very interested in the iPhone but at a $600 price tag and the AT&T carriership, its just not exactly what I'm looking for. Actually, I'm not really the phone that excites me... its the video capabilities, the touch screen simplicity, Bluetooth, and the internet.

I will be taking a trip to the Apple store 5th avenue within the next few hours. I gather the madness is probably more intensified there... The real geeks go to SOHO the wannabe's go to 5th Ave thats gonna be my theme over the next few days... stay tuned and check what I post over the next 48 hours and peep this exclusive clip below

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

Subscribe to our: Podcast Feeds | Google Videos | Youtubes | Delicious
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French Maid and Tubes going for a Youtube Record?

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:41:15 -0700

French Maid TV just posted a video clip on Youtube yesterday (6/26/07) and it was downloaded or viewed over 700,000+ times in less than 2 days. The clip titled "Sexy French Maid TV - How To Share Photos" is a 6:20 minute "provocammercial." What I find utterly remarkable is how it was presented and how it craftily worked in a smart sales pitch for a new company called Tubes.

For those of you not familiar with French Maid TV, its a series of viral video "How To's," taught by sexy French maids. Its the type of entertainment that you pass along to friends and they to their friends' friends. The video clips are reminiscent of Benny Hill skits minus the Benny and the lil old man. Tim Street the mastermind behind French Maid inspires the hell out of me; as a new media producer, I admire what he has done with his brand and his marketing tactics.

This particular clip was brilliant because the title "How To Share Photos" cleverly showed you how the photo feature of Tubes worked then went on to briefly mention how it was a personal sharing network "that lets you instantly and simply share photos, music, video and documents with everyone you know."

There have been numerous advertising and marketing agencies that jump on the Youtube or Myspace bandwagon and believe that they are "in the know" with the online media space. They need to take notes because Tim and his team are leading the way and changing the rules of the game. I say give the man a Wikipedia slot already. Oh yeah... don't tell anyone this, but its the first time that an online "vidommercial" has actually convinced me to buy into its product... damn did I mention that its a PC product. It looks like a great lil filesharing app. Too bad because, there will be tons of mac users who would be interested in this product.

I've posted the clip on my blog so you can see for yourself.

Provocammercial © and Vidommercial © are my lil copyrighted sayings as of June, 27th 2007

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

Subscribe to our: Podcast Feeds | Google Videos | Youtubes | Delicious
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Rebranding and Rebuilding Codedsignal.com :)

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:40:13 -0700

Last month codedsignal.com had its two year anniversary as a blog site. I created this site as an informational blog on managing and producing digital media, but it later blossomed to include media coverage of events, comics, music, entertainment and a host of other programming.

People have been asking, what the heck is codedsignal.com, Beneath the Beat, Digital Media Tips N Tricks and what does it all mean exactly. It didn't make any sense to people and up until now I did a so so job at communicating what we were all about. After two years the new website is looking good and making sense so swing by and find out about codedsignal.

Technorati Profile

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

Subscribe to our: Podcast Feeds | Google Videos | Youtubes | Delicious
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My Podcast Developer Bill Bercik passed away

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:19:43 -0700

I am in deep mourning because my RSS and Web Stats provider Bill Bercik died on May 2, 2007. I never met Bill face to face, I purchased his webpasties.com service back in September 2005. Bill and I have been working together since then to make his service a viable alternative for podcasters and video bloggers. Webpasties is the best RSS and statistic analysis application that I've located since I began podcasting.

I called Bill several times a month, soon our tech talk evolved into a friendship. I really enjoyed his gentle nature and I admired his innovative ideas. Bill was a MAJOR influence in my career, because it was his service that enabled me to podcast and he mentored me on several career altering pursuits. I am deeply saddened by his passing and offer his family and friends my condolences.

"Bill" was born on April 14, 1964 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and passed away on May 2, 2007 at the age of 43.

Bill graduated from Spartanburg S.C. High School. He received a B.S. degree from Clemson University and attended graduate school at California State University in Chico, Ca.

He was employed for 20 years as a computer programmer at the U.S. Navel Air Station in Patuxent, MD., the Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey, Borland, Corp in Scotts Valley and was presently working as a consultant Bercik Software. He published 2 books on computer languages and was a member of Theta Chi Fraternity.

Bill is survived by his parents Robert and Mildred Bercik of Stuart, Fl and Dulthe, Ga., a sister Mary Bercik and two brothers, John and Jim Bercik and his two beloved nieces, Bailey and Samantha Bercik.

Bill was an adventurer. He loved to travel and biked throughout Europe, North America and Central America. He loved sailing, wind surfing and hiking. He was happy in California and loved his friends, family and 2 birds "Gus and "Greta", and his beloved companion April Hyder.

A Memorial Service will be held on May 8, 2007 beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St Santa Cruz, Ca.

He was dearly loved and will be missed. In lieu of flowers, friends may donate in his memory to their favorite charity.

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

Subscribe to our: Podcast Feeds | Google Videos | Youtubes | Delicious
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Spiderman 3 Review!!! A memorable experience?

ben@codedsignal.com (bendrix) — Sun, 06 May 2007 13:44:24 -0700

If you wish to skip the adventures leading up to my review, I suggest jumping to the bottom of the page.

Thursday 7:00PM I'm geeked up and ready to trek over to the IMAX Theater in Manhattan on 68th and Broadway. I walked to the store got my "yum yums" and proceeded to walk up the block ... I thought "ooh damn I just missed the bus." I don't want to wait 25 minutes for the next cross town bus... "its a beautiful day let me just walk."

7:45PM Midway through Central Park Its dark, "all of these hills, valleys and discontinuous paths are confusing me, where the heck am I." Its taking me 30 minutes longer than I expected. "DAGNABBIT!!!" I thought "i forgot my allergy medication," as I'm sneezeN, wheezeN and gaspN the entire way. Oh did I mention the weight of my mono-pod and camera equipment inside... I was set to podcast the pre and post movie goer responses... I have been planning this for about 3 months now.

8:30PM I arrive at the theater great no lines no people downstairs ... I go get my fandango ticket out of the machine... I go upstairs ... "WOW the line is already forming and its about 30 to 40 people deep... not bad not bad" I just get a spot.

8:45PM I assembled my video camera and went to various people in line and asked them questions like "what their expectations were for the film" and "what time they got there" I got about 8 people on camera. then go to the front of the line... two cuties are sitting in front. I ask them how long they were there ..."since 7PM." Asked them if they wouldn't mind going on camera saying that ... they declined.

9:00PM The manager of the Theater comes out and says "Please leave the building... No cameras in the building." I said "I'll just put it away..." He says "NO Please leave the building..." I'm like "but I paid for this ticket 2 weeks ago I won't have time to go home and drop the camera off and come back and I'm here early in line..." Basically I had to take my camera somewhere other than the theater because he said that they could not hold it and could not be held responsible for it. I went to pack my camera up and left... lets just say I worked something out and came back upstairs to get back in line.

9:20PM One of the group of guys in the front of the line that I was interviewing, invited me to cut the line and hang out with them. I thought it beat the alternative of having to go to the back of the line, which was now 100+ people deep. They were cool kats we had jokes and fun and I was hangN tough with them like we were old time buddies

10:00PM They let us in the theater to sit down. The group I was with was able to secure about 15 seats in the back row, the best seats in the house. All but 2 seats were taken in our row. People kept coming around asking if they were taken and my guys were just shooing them away.

10:30PM Because the IMAX theater is so huge the movie attendant makes an announcement via megaphone... "anyone in the theater holding seats needed to release them and move closer to the middle." Some people moved but my boys continued to hold their seats. Some {{Knuckle-Head}} actually forced his way into one of the seats and insisted he was entitled to the seat. The guys who made me part of their crew were like "YO my boyz are getting popcorn..." after much grumbling the {{Knuckle-Head}} got up and left.

By 11:00PM It was a crazy scene, some people were literally getting booed by some of the seated ticket holders, all because they pleaded and begged various people to move over JUST ONE seat when they found an unoccupied seat. I have never heard of people getting booed by a theater crowd before. Though funny the first time it got old after the 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th time(s)...

11:30PM In between all the booing and cheering at random crowd activity there was another announcement that movie attendants would be coming through the rows to identify IMAX ticket holders... they said "if you didn't have an IMAX ticket you would be asked to leave." I thought this was highly irregular. In all my movie going years I have never had anyone come to verify tickets once I occupied a seat in the theater. As they were going through the rows... "MY boyz" the same ones that held down 14 seats ... just up and ran out... it was a total scandal. I couldn't believe they got in in the first place and had the nerve to hold down all those seats LOL.

11:55PM All these people jump in the newly vacated seats and the {{Knuckle-Head}} from before comes back and practically pushed this girl out of the way and jumped in the last two seats... The girl was absolutely pissed - not because he jumped in front of her but because the {{Knuckle-Head}} avoided having someone check his ticket. This fool was orbiting the seating area from above when the attendant was coming through... and when she left and the seats opened up he took his chance to jump right in just a few seats away from me. Anyway the girl brings a movie attendant and her boyfriend back with her ... the {{Knuckle-Head}} and his friend protest and get up because NEITHER of them have a ticket. The {{Knuckle-Head}} insults the girl - the boyfriend gets pissed - fight almost breaks out... The boyfriend was huge too and madd as hell and the {{Knuckle-Head}} was a scrawny kat and the friend was a lil on the slobby side. I"m not one for drama and certainly not so close to me. People are shouting ... ITS ONLY A MOVIE... luckily the fight didn't break out. By this point

12:05AM everyone is seated and watching the movie ...

2:30AM I was the third person to escape the theater. It was a shame because I had planned many months ago to get the post Spidy reviews and podcast them, but by that time the whole Pre-Spidy 3 experience and all the excitement and thrill of the opening had left me quite agitated. As my allergies continued to flare up.

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SPIDERMAN 3 REVIEW

Let me first warn the Spidy Comic Book fans and those who dug the first two movies... if you want to really enjoy the movie please lower your expectations. It's not the greatest movie of all time like many of us expect. As far as "American Cinema" goes: in my opinion the original Matrix is the best action hero movie of all time - Spidy 2 is distant second. OH yeah... go see this at the IMAX Theater.

Not as good as Spidy 2 but on par with Spidy 1. I fault the studios for taking short cuts and trying to get as much bang for their merchandizing buck. All in all I feel the actors all gave solid performances considering it was a typical hollywood script. Warning some of the scenes are so hokey and so overtly dramatic it comes off as comedic sloppiness instead of its intended sentiment. The dynamic between Peter Parker and Mary Jane are off target from the last two films. Aunt Mae is a cross between a seasoned Catherine Hepburn and Yoda. Jay Joanna Jameson is wickedly funny as always. There are way too many high caliber bad guys for Spidy to be handling in one movie. The story feels very rushed and lacking character development in many parts.

That Said... Although rushed I will say that it is easy to follow and a few scenes had me geekN out. Without giving away too much; I will say that I absolutely dug the back-story of Sandman and how they established the character. I also really liked the evolution of Harry Osborn as the second Goblin. I personally think he was much more interesting than the first Goblin in Spidy 1. The black costume on Spidy really should have been the black costume from the comics. The execution of the costume was not as developed as it should have been... should have been a second movie. The CGI is evident in many places, but 'WHO THE HELL CARES!!!!" Some scenes are truly monumental and memorable in their own right. Overall a fun and entertaining piece, some of the action is just mouthwatering, for that alone its worth a viewing. I am going to take another trip to the IMAX to see it again.

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Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

Subscribe to our: Podcast Feeds | Google Videos | Youtubes | Delicious
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