The top Google searches for 2007

Entertainment and technology topped Google’s top searches in 2007, with the iPhone grabbing the No. 1 slot on a list of the fastest-rising search terms in the United States, the company said on Tuesday.

“iPhone, of course, is a word very few people typed in a search box in 2006,” said Marissa Mayer of Google, an Internet search engine. “It didn’t exist.” Apple rolled out the iPhone, which is a mobile phone, music and video player and internet browser device, in the United States last summer.

Four social networking sites made the top 10, including Webkinz, which grabbed the No. 2 slot. Webkinz is a stuffed animal that customers can register and play with online. Celebrity news Web site TMZ ranked third, while transformer toys took the No. 4 slot.

Transformers are the wildly popular toys that shift their shapes, for example from cars to alien robots, and they got a big boost from the 2007 hit movie “Transformers.” “There’s a lot of interest in the celebrity culture, television and movies,” said Mayer.

YouTube, the video-sharing Web site, grabbed the No. 5 spot while Club Penguin, a networking site for children, came in No. 6.

Social networking site MySpace took the No. 7 slot. Heroes, Facebook and Anna Nicole Smith rounded out the top 10.

1) iPhone

2) Webkinz

3) TMZ

4) Transformers

5) YouTube

6) Club Penguin

7) Myspace

Heroes

9) Facebook

10) Anna Nicole Smith

Read more here at my official blog at the location below. YOu will find more tips on searches and patterns and how to make money online from Google searches. Based on these visitor patterns you can customize your blog to a great extent and even make more money. I hope this tip helps you to add more popularity to your blogs and drive more visitors.I use following tools listed in the order of my preference to analyze what my vistors came searching to my blog:

1) Google Webmaster Tools

2) Google Analytics

3) Google Adsense Reports

4) Blogcounter Stats

5) Feedburner Stats

Source http://ghostrider30.blogspot.c om

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TV 2.0 – The Future of Television, and the Genesis of a New Entertainment Form

Entertainment is undergoing a paradigm shift. How, where and when we watch movies or television programs is changing. In the next decade the integration of traditional entertainment platforms with the web will transform our lives just as TV itself did more than a half century ago. For the television industry, especially, panic and worry have already set in despite the fact that they currently hold the same monopoly on our entertainment choices that they’ve enjoyed for decades. Perhaps they suspect the coming transformation in entertainment won’t be of their own making?

Because of this, some people fear the television networks are facing extinction, or at the very least are facing a challenge from the web much like TV posed the motion picture industry in the 1950s. However, any eulogies over the death of TV are most likely premature. What’s happening to television, and to a lesser extent to motion pictures, is similar to what happened to the music industry several years ago.

Viewing habits are changing, made possible by rapid advances in digital technology, and an increasing degree of interaction with the internet. Predictably, some of the power and control that the networks have traditionally had is shifting away from them and to the consumer, just as it has with music. How the networks confront this shift will determine the shape of entertainment in the coming years. They can embrace and nurture these changes, transforming themselves and securing their place in the entertainment markets of the future, or they can resist them as the record labels did, and reap equally disastrous consequences.

For the music industry, the future is already here, and its arrival several years ago was swift and chaotic. The ease with which consumers are able to digitize music, put it online, and share files – bypassing both the record labels and the record stores – literally changed the industry overnight. The labels and retail chains reacted poorly to the challenge of a digital world and to a new consumer they failed to understand. At first in denial of what was happening, the record labels became aggressively resistant, suing consumers for file sharing, and then reaping the consequences – a great deal of animosity from the public. Most of the retail chains failed to develop their on-line businesses quickly enough, and suffered ever-declining CD sales. Some venerable institutions, like Tower Records, have simply ceased to exist.

Apple, once strictly a computer company, was largely responsible for pulling the rug out from under them. As of July, 2007, Apple claims it’s iTunes store has sold over three billion songs – that’s billion – making it the third-largest music retailer in the U.S. in just over six and a half years. Music downloads overall were up eighty-five percent in 2006 compared to 2005, comprising eleven percent of worldwide sales. Meanwhile, CD sales for the same period dropped another five percent, the seventh straight year for decline. Warner Music Group, one of the world’s largest recording companies, posted a seventeen million dollar loss for the third quarter of 2007. Letting go of old business models, especially for companies as entrenched as the entertainment giants, has proven a challenge.

In hindsight, though, how difficult could it have been to foresee where the music business was heading? Sure, details are always elusive when predicting the future, but the explosion of P2P file sharing, the ease of burning your own CDs, and the introduction of the massively popular iPod in 2001 had to have given them a clue. The trouble wasn’t that the record labels couldn’t see the future coming, it was that they were determined not to give into it. Today’s consumer, however, will not be dictated to. Digital technology and the web have given them an unprecedented degree of control and it will be difficult to wrest this away. The consumer wants choice and flexibility – “my music when I want it, where I want it, and how I want it” – and in today’s marketplace, they can have it.

So how can NBC, CBS, Sony Pictures and their brethren avoid making the same costly mistakes the music industry did just a few years ago?

Video on the internet has been slow to take hold. In 1998 when I started working for the motion picture division of Getty Images, a supplier of stock photography and video, quality moving imagery on the web was considered a pipe dream by many. Computers didn’t have very large hard drives back then, RAM was limited, and distribution wasn’t easy since most people outside of large businesses still relied on dial-up. Couple this with the fact that video encoding technology was still pretty primitive, and… let’s just say the images were small and they didn’t look very good. As with music, however, some people were using their imaginations. They saw a future of faster, better computers, greater bandwidth and crisp, clear moving imagery on-line. It’s turned out these visionaries were right. Though it took time, the technology and hardware to make quality video transmission practical on the web has arrived, and it’s rapidly transforming the entertainment experience.

In March of this year, Magid Associates released a new survey on the growing popularity of watching videos on the web, and the results were surprising. The online audience has increased fifty-six percent over 2006, with fourteen percent of 12 – 64 year old Americans watching daily, compared to just nine percent last year. Most of what they’re watching are amateur clips as found on sites like YouTube. However, there’s an increasing amount of copyrighted content – clips from motion pictures and television programs – showing up on the web. Similar to what the music industry experienced several years ago, the studios and networks now find themselves facing an onslaught of piracy, and a realization that control over their product is rapidly disintegrating.

When a pirated clip shows up online, cease and desist letters are sent, lawsuits are threatened and the video is pulled from its hosting site – only to pop up again hours later. A simple web search will show that clips from a surprising number of films and TV shows are available in some form on the web. For the most part, no one is making a profit from putting these pirated clips up, but by doing so someone’s favorite TV moment can be shared with others, and can be seen anytime, anywhere. The consumer isn’t concerned about copyright, and never will be. As with music, what the public wants now is choice – access to a wide range of content, where and when they want it. This is why online piracy is happening, and because of this, there’s no doubt that the web is tied to the future of video entertainment. How it’s connected in the long run, however, is a source of very hot debate.

Some see programming shifting away from the television set and onto computer screens, iPods, and cell phones. They see the portability of these devices and the lack of network scheduling restrictions as the future of TV. By downloading a viewing application onto your computer from one of many emerging web TV portals, you’ll be able to watch programs just as you would on your set, only with greater flexibility. Others see web TV as simply vast libraries of programs available 24/7, with the web as a go-between for the content and your traditional TV set. Plug your computer into your TV, download that company’s software, and you can watch what you want when you want it. These are vastly different strategies, and the traditional media companies are scratching their heads trying to predict which represents the future. There is one thing, however, that both visions have in common, and in my opinion this is the pivot on which the next generation of entertainment will turn.

As I stated above, what the public wants now is choice, and the web enables them to have it despite whatever the television networks or motion picture studios may do to try and prevent it. Variety and flexibility are the future of television, and to a similar degree, motion pictures. The companies that can deliver this adequately to the public, in much the way iTunes has delivered it for music, will win the coming battle over the evolution of entertainment. Cable companies and satellite networks are capable of meeting this demand with the right adjustments to their technologies and infrastructures, which means that you don’t necessarily need your computer to enjoy these services. However, by integrating TV and the web we can address head-on the needs of a new consumer, and get to the heart of why video piracy is becoming such a problem. This is where things get interesting for both the existing networks, the cable providers and their emerging web competitors – all vying with one another for dominance in what the trades are already calling “TV 2.0″. And just how would this work?

Let’s say I’m in my office and I’m telling some co-workers about an especially funny part of a program I saw last night. Access to television on the web will allow me to pull it up, find the exact moment I’m looking for, and then show it to my friends. Together, we can share a laugh, and then go about our work. Later on, let’s say I’m riding on the subway, or I’m sitting in an airport lounge. I’m curious to know what the weather’s like at my destination, or maybe I’m bored and have a little time to kill. I can pull out my cell phone and get the latest weather report, watch the news headlines, or see a movie trailer. This will be great for commuters and travelers, who often have time to kill between destinations, or for students who are waiting for a class to begin.

However, do I really want to watch “Lawrence of Arabia” or “Spider-Man 3″ on a two-inch cell phone screen? Probably not. I wouldn’t want to sit the family around the dining room table and watch “Finding Nemo” on my laptop, either. What I would want to do is stretch out on the sofa, dim the lights, and watch a great feature film or the newest episode of my favorite sitcom on my big screen TV, complete with 5.1 surround sound. I might also want to watch an older movie or TV episode. What I want is to access an ever-expanding video library, and to be able to find the program I’m in the mood for immediately.

What iTunes has done for music is to put an enormous catalogue of artists and recordings online, and make it available 24/7. This should be the future of TV – everything as video-on-demand. Not just new programs will be available, but old ones, too. Maybe tonight I want to see Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, or a particular episode of “Law and Order” from 2001. TV 2.0 will allow me to do that. Right now, though, I don’t have this freedom, and this must change.

*

In the scenario I’ve outlined above, the internet and the traditional TV set have access to the same programs, but my utilization of each is different. There are times when I want to see a program on my laptop or cell phone, but at other times I want to watch it on my television set. It’s kind of like having music on a CD, on my computer, in my iPod and in my cell phone. It’s about freedom, and portability. To me, this seems self-evident, but this is not necessarily the future that the cable companies or the various web TV start-ups are planning for. The traditional cable companies, much like the record labels before them, seem to be resisting change. They’re still bundling channels into various packages, and chaining us down to network schedules that may or may not fit in with our lifestyles. Yes, there’s TiVo, and VOD is getting better on most cable services, but it’s still shy of what I’ve outlined above.

The web TV developers have a bigger part of the picture in their sights. They recognize the need for both accessibility and portability, and they’ve ditched the old broadcast schedules for complete VOD all the time. Better yet, these services are currently free. However, most web TV services require that you download a proprietary application to your desktop. You can only view videos via these programs, and the selection of content is pretty slim on most because the motion picture and television companies are waiting to see which service sticks before licensing out their product.

As with music, Apple seems to be making the best progress. A fair selection of television shows and movies – everything from last season’s blockbuster to old “StarTrek” episodes – are available for purchase trough iTunes. By synching iTunes up to their new Apple TV hardware, and then connecting that to your TV, you have access to a limited version of the future I’m envisioning. The only problem here is that there are a lot of steps in this scenario, and downloading what you want to watch, one program at a time, is thrilling for its novelty now but could become a nuisance pretty quickly.

Truth be told, for opening up traditional television to a future of all VOD all the time, the traditional cable companies are in the best position to make this happen, but the cable providers are reacting slowly, and the networks seem to be caught up in the idea that “Ugly Betty” is going to jump ship from your living room to your office. Simply platform shifting content from one screen to another, however, doesn’t adequately address the issues. It’s a quick fix – a band aid, at best. What’s called for is integration, and when that integration occurs I predict that the screen in your living room is still going to be the primary way in which you watch television and movies. The computer screen and the cell phone will serve as additional routes, for sharing or for when you’re on the go, but won’t replace the big screen experience. Buying trends support this.

Plasma and LCD screens are getting cheaper by the day, and more and more we see people creating home theaters in their living rooms. Currently, it’s estimated that about thirty-four percent of the nation’s households have high-definition sets, and they aren’t too ahead of the curve. By February 17, 2009, all domestic stations must stop broadcasting analog signals. So watching television, whether it’s movies or sitcoms, will increasingly become a luxury experience. Given this trend, I feel that while smaller screens may offer convenience at certain times, they will never compete with the allure of HD and home theaters.

So how does the web fit into the future of television? Apart from providing secondary, and generally specific viewing opportunities, the internet won’t replace TV. It will enable television to do things it hasn’t done before. It will expand its reach, and may even provide the back-end support necessary for the vast video library I’m envisioning, but the coming revolution has been over-hyped in relation to the web. Rather than just extend the reach of traditional TV, or serve as a go-between for your screen and the libraries of content providers, the web has the potential to become a new medium, with its own unique formats. Just as your televisio

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Movie predictions: The Bourne Ultimatum

What I liked about the first Bourne were the amazing action sequences and how the movie transformed an ordinary looking Matt Damon into a believable, one-man killing machine. Move over, 007. Jason Bourne is here. I watched the second Bourne and was not disappointed since I know what to expect anyway. There’s something about one man’s battle with a powerful government agency that appeals to moviegoers. Plus the movie packed a lot of what action movie fans want.

Enter Bourne Ultimatum, the third film of the series. I expect to see the usual car chases and knowing Bourne, motorcycle runs as well. The in-your-face fist fights that are prolonged and a tad bit brutal. Loud explosions here and there and the stunts shot to look like climbing down a building or jumping from one to the next is child’s play. Yes, I think that’s just about it. It is interesting how they can continue to write a script about an amnesiac spy and the government agency that can’t seem to get the job done. Don’t make me start with the dispensable and seeming inexhaustible supply of hired guns either. What you have is tinsel town’s recent formula for blockbusters.

What else can one expect from the latest installment of a series? More of the same, I’m afraid. I don’t think we can reasonably ask for anything new. It will be Bourne and his killing prowess and admirable command of five or so languages. They’ll send one assassin after another but Bourne will be left standing.

Frankly, I’m getting tired of the fact that movie studios keep rehashing the same characters and plots and still make a killing at the box office. After the disappointing Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3, I vowed never to fall for this brand of movie-making again. As to my prediction: It’s bound to earn more money for the studios which would in turn encourage them to make movies with second, third, (gasp!) fourth sequels in mind. I’m pretty sure my steering clear of this movie won’t make a dent but I sure hope movie makers would stop doing sequels because it’s so darn tired.

If anybody else out there is feeling the way I do about tiresome sequels of the same plot, I am appealing to you. Please stay away from these movies. Until we do, studios will continue to churn out movies with at least three sequels. What will stop them from making an otherwise entertaining movie character into a tiresome franchise?

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Latest campus shootings: Are violent TV, movies and video games to blame?

“Of course they are! Everyone knows that kids these days can’t think for themselves. This is why the media is able to pander to them so easily!”

If this were really true wouldn’t more people have been killed by now? Violent images have been available on Tv, in the movies, and in video games for decades (well, maybe not decades for video games but you get the picture). By now we should have had a few more mass murders on our hands. So far, I think I’ve seen a total of four or five of these “media inspired” killing sprees in the past ten years. We are way below the quota that our moral leaders tell us we should be at.

This reminds me of some statistics I saw a few years ago when some religious leaders were saying that all D&D players will go crazy and kill themselves. A study of teenagers showed how many played role playing games and how many committed suicide. The suicide numbers were much lower than the D&D players. I guess they needed more of them to kill themselves to help make them feel happier about their statistics.

Look, anytime something happens the media, parents’ groups, and religious leaders are all in a hurry to blame whatever pop culture icons that they do not understand.

These days, it’s games like Grand Theft Auto, Tv shows like “24″, movies like “Transformers” that people think that somehow drive children to violence.

In the 90s it was thought that Marilyn Manson, games like “Doom”, and any movie with Samuel L. Jackson inspired kids to go on killing sprees.

The 80s gave us metal bands like Metallica and Motley Crue inspiring kids to cut themselves and Tv shows like “Miami Vice” or “The A Team” were causing kids to shoot up every drug dealer they saw (if only they really were).

The 60s and 70s had all these hippies making music about peace and everyone knows nothing is worse than peace music in a time of war!

Before that there was this Elvis character that was ruining the moral fiber in which our nation was founded on.

We can keep going to the evil influences of Jazz and probably keep going all the way back to the days when the cave parents were upset that their kids were banging those rocks together too loudly.

It all comes down to this: The only reason kids tend to shoot up folks around them is because people aren’t paying enough attention to them. Parents tend to dismiss kids that are depressed as a random mental condition and they just cram medication down their throats instead of actually TALKING to them.

Most of the time these things can be avoided, but unfortunately, Tv, movies, and to a much lesser extent video games have become replacement for parents, therapists, and teachers. So, perhaps for this reason I guess they could be blamed.

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Movie predictions: Ratatouille

Ratatouille will be Pixars 7th film. And just like all the others, it’s going to be a smash hit. The reasoning behind this nothing to do with luck, simply put, Pixar takes it’s TIME making films. Each step is unique, and perfect to the plot development. Pixar doesn’t make movies based upon already thought of ideas ie: “Transformers”, “Batman”, and “Spider-man”. They create new works of cinema magic, adding to the wonder and excitement of the people who will be watching the film. People who saw the trailer for Ratatouille probably said “Wow, that looks interesting.” or “that looks funny”. Or simply put, “Oh, it’s Pixar, it has to be good”. Ratatouille will win Pixar some major awards, I predict best Animated Film for this Oscar Season. Why do you think most other animated films such as “Shrek the Third” are getting horrible reviews? It’s substance over style. Pixar CREATES new STORIES! Ratatouille is one of them!

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Movie reviews: Mr. Brooks (2007)

The success of the new Kevin Costner serial-killer film, “Mr. Brooks,” hangs on two misconceptions. First, Costner hasn’t made a good movie since 1993s “A Perfect World” (2005s “The Upside of Anger” was good, but it wasn’t billed a “Kevin Costner” film), and second, the serial killer genre died with Hannibal Lectre and John Doe (Kevin Spacey) from “Se7en.”

I have news for you. Throw all your false impressions out the window and give “Mr. Brooks” a chance. Like me, you will be genuinely pleased.

Costner stars as Mr. Earl Brooks, a successful businessman, generous philanthropist, loving husband to his wife, Emma (Marg Helgenberger) and a doting father to his devoted daughter, Jane (Danielle Panabaker). He is a true pillar of the community. Even the Portland Chamber of Commerce bestows him the title, Man of the Year.

Indeed, everyone’s calling Mr. Brooks Mr. Perfect, but he harbors a deep, dark, sinister secret he’s a serial killer with an insatiable desire to murder, known as the infamous and never-caught Thumbprint Killer (he leaves his victim’s thumbprints, in their own blood).

“The thing about Mr. Brooks is that he could very well be someone you know,” says director Bruce Evans, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay with his long-time partner Raynold Gideon. “We all have our dark side, but Mr. Brooks acts on his to an extreme.”

Mr. Brooks’ dark side takes shape in his cunning, nefarious alter ego, Marshall (wonderfully played by William Hurt). Though recently inactive from serial killing (he even goes to AA meetings to fight his addiction), his urge to kill is inflamed by Marshall.

So Mr. Brooks goes on his one last hunt, but commits his first great mistake. A mistake so huge, that he unwillfully succumbs to the wishes of a petulant blackmailer, Mr. Smith (the surprisingly good Dane Cook). This last crime also unleashes a persistent detective, Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore in top form) who’s on a mission to solve the real identity of the Thumbprint Killer once and for all.

I walked in on the film’s screening with low expectations and walked out of the theater enamored by the great acting duo of Costner and Hurt. They perfectly captured a conflicted serial killer’s clashing yin and yang, his id and superego, and his dueling conscience and evil impulses.

Although the movie’s first half is a pedantic cat-and-mouse thriller, the second half, after a major plot point is revealed, transforms the film into an intelligent crime-saga full of unpredictable but satisfying twists and turns. You’d be interested to find out more about Mr. Brooks’ and Marshall’s future, twisted adventures.

After watching Spider-Man battle three villains, Shrek questioning fatherhood, and Captain Jack Sparrow reaching the world’s end, I welcomed Costner’s understated performance as a charming serial killer in a movie with hardly a special effect.

I recently experienced Costner’s charm at a press day for “Mr. Brooks.” When I asked what made him attracted to the project, he said, “the story is dark, it’s smart and you laugh ten times out loud despite or because of the scariness. I thought it was a really compelling tale created out of a very hard subject.” I could not have said it better. And for that, “Mr. Brooks” gets 3 bloody kisses

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Christmas 2007: Hottest new action DVDs – Part 7

The new millennium has produced some great action movies that will define this generation of action stars. Btu, let’s be honest, it has also produced some movies that are destined for the action movie discount bin. It’s unfortunate because we are at the cutting edge of special effects where virtual actors can turn in as mesmerizing a performance as our finest actors. And martial arts wire work can produce some of the most beautiful fight choreography imaginable. Here’s my list of favorite action movies from 2007, followed by a list of films that shouldn’t be on anyone’s list.

Casino Royale is the best of a fantastic series. Daniel Craig is as good an actor as Roger Moore, capable of equal if not better humor. He’s also almost as tough as Sean Connery, although that is hard to imagine. This James Bond is a kid just getting his double-0 chops, but he is determined and passionate. But what about the action? The urban chase scenes which exhibit the artistic grace of the best urban gymnastics is first-rate. The gun play is cool. There’re plenty of pretty girls and knock-out fight scenes. This is a sure-fire answer to the lethargy of some of the later James Bond films.

Transformers is a fun movie. Its CGI effects are seamless and the film is fast-paced and vigorous. It does suffer a bit from its cartoonish origins in a plot that is just plain silly, and characters that never really survive long outside of the Saturday morning cartoon crowd. But the directors take this into account and focus on the parts that we all will enjoy most. Leave the fakey sci-fi out. Leave out the annoying professional wrestler banter. Instead, the film wallows in incredible fight scenes filmed using tight shots, close ups and pull-aways that are usually reserved for live-action films.

Pirates of the Carribbean: At World’s End is the last of a fun action trilogy. Ignore the plot, please. But the action, the CGI and the acting makes this a fun movie. If you judge it in comparison to the other films in the franchise, it falls to third place, but if you watch it for sheer enjoyment, it stands against the best 2007 has to offer. The sword fights are poorly choreographed this time, and the CGI are sometimes so stunning that they leave the viewer a bit bewildered. The less said about plot, the better. So what makes this film so good? Sheer fun. The climactic battle scene is a ballet of swashbucklery that I can guarantee you have never seen before.

Blood

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Christmas 2007: Hottest new action DVDs – Part 5

Boom! Whizz! Bang!

Whether it’s the screen-filling explosions or the mystic battle of wizardry, this year’s movies are really awesome. It’s true, this Christmas will be a good DVD treat! A lot of people love action or action/adventure movies. In my opinion, they are really good. But do all explosions blow the building? Or do some feel like a soft breeze?

Here is a list of action DVD’s I suggest you get your action-loving family or friends:

Bourne Ultimatum-this is the third part of this awesome series. Jason Bourne is back, and with a lot of cool stunts and tricks. In the Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy, there are a lot of high-tech tricks and this new chapter is no let-down. This action movie packs a punch!

Spiderman III-this movie is also a third. In this movie, Spidey has to battle a lot with himself and the darkness of revenge, all the while learning to put your lover first. He also must learn to keep friends to ultimately battle two foes, in a spectacular fight of four super heroes and super villains. This movie is a must-see!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-this one happens to be a fifth installment. Based on the series by J.K. Rowling, this movie does make you wish you had your own wand and magic power. We meet Ron and Hermione along with a new, cruel yet pink Professer Umbridge, and a wide range of other characters. Enchantments and spells everywhere, the climax of this movie is edge-of-your-seat stuff! You should definitely see this one!

300-this movie has a lot of blood and gore, but is great. It is rated “R”, so I really wouldn’t recommend it for younger family members. With a lot of intensity, 300 is a pretty good movie!

Transformers-a totally awesome movie! If you haven’t heard about it, don’t think that this is just little animated “kid” stuff, if you will. Kids will like it, but it’s not just intended for them. There really never is a dull, boring moment. It has awesome special effects and a good, fluent, script.

I really love watching movies. This Christmas season, I recommend getting some of these DVD’s!

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When Fate Comes Knocking

There are many forms of accident that can result in death. Vehicular death has been portrayed in folk songs on more than one occasion. “The Drunken Driver” tells the story of two small children who were killed as they walked along a state highway. One of the deceased children turns out to be the drunken driver’s son. “The Fatal Wreck of Bus” is the true tale of mass death when a bus goes over a cliff. Last week, both my son and I had just left the house to go to a store so he could pick up the “Transformers” movie that had just been released. He always has to have the latest damned movies that come out for whatever reason that may be.

Unbeknownst to us until an hour later, three people were killed in less than 15 minutes from where we had just driven…..approx. 5 minutes from my house to be exact! On our way home, I could not for the life of me figure out why there was a sudden back up of traffic. The road we go down to get to my home is never that full of traffic. After all, I live in the ouskirts of town, not downtown and NOT in a large city. We heard over head helicopters and my son said they were television news copters. Oh great! An accident! I’m less than 2 miles from my house and CAN’T get there because of a car accident. We could not get close enough to find out what was going on. After realizing the traffic jam was going to be for HOURS, my son had a revelation that he knew a back way home.

Okay….I turned around and back tracked. His “short cut” to our home took me nearly 45 minutes out of my way because we had to go back and around through a very winding, country road that scared the crap out of me for more reasons than one! While some people would take in the beauty of such a road, I on the other hand have visions of “Michael” from Halloween awaiting darkness to fall and for my car to run out of gas so he can Knife me to my horror! I panic! My car was low on gas…it was getting dark and I was on some damned country winding road I had never been on before and my son is suddenly telling me he FORGOT which road we were suppose to take to get us the back way to my house! Oh MY GOD! My mind is playing reruns of horror flicks….you know the ones! I don’t even have to mention them….Texas Chainsaw massacre….Halloween…..yeah…all of them! My son is laughing because I’m freaking out saying how he knew I hated roads like this and how I absolutely hate being out on such roads when its getting dark especially when I don’t have a full tank of gas to even begin getting lost. (I hear your laughter so calm down people! I can’t handle horror movies at all nor do I watch them!)

Well, 45 minutes later my son figures out what road we were suppose to turn on and we finally make it back home. I was sooo upset that I couldn’t even breathe a sigh of relief of finally making it back home. My son still laughing was like “See? What are you freaking out about? I told you I knew the backway home!” Oh man…..you deserve a punch in the face kid! (he’s an adult so don’t go calling social services just yet!) When I get inside, I immediately turn on the tv so that I can see why the hell I nearly had a panic attack and having to possibly meet my death through an ax weilding killer…perhaps an escape convict just waiting for a woman and her son to be sitting in the dark, out of gas on the side of a long, country winding road…I don’t know….I said my mind fills with horrific fantasies when I panic…..

Unfortunately three people were killed just 2 miles from my house. One man, who lives not far from me died when 3 men in a pick up truck from Tennessee swerved straight into him and hit his truck head on. There was only 1 survivor in the truck carrying three men from out of state. Wow! It made me sad to think that all of these men got up that morning….had their usual day planned out…since it was later in the afternoon, they had spent all day doing whatever it was they were doing and then suddenly, now they are dead. Poof! Their life taken just in a blink of an eye. It really hit home with me too because we had just driven in the same direction just 15 minutes BEFORE the accident, on the very same road. Then it made me wonder about death in general. How it is we come to no longer exist and how it is we suddenly find our fate on the same trail as someone else. None of these men knew each other and yet, fate brought them together at that very point in time to exist no more. Heavy!

I had a revelation about that accident and that was that as people in general, we should appreciate each and every day that we have because we never know from the moment we get up out of bed what fate has planned for us. A simple trip to the store could be deadly. This man who died and who lived not too far from me, was just coming home from work. I read the next day in the newspaper (it was the biggest thing that had happened here in a long time) that his friends actually saw the accident on the news and immediately got into their trucks and tried to get to him at the accident site. Police held them at bay. He was airlifted to the hospital but died on the way. I am sure, like each and every day, his wife was waiting for him to get home from work and more than likely had supper on the table waiting for him. Many people here in our area are country folk who still have traditional values. So many people around here own cattle and farms in our area. This gentleman was a plumber and was coming home from from a hard days work. I am sure the men from Tennessee were heading toward the interstate that would carry them to I-40 that would take them back home if they were just visiting. Who knows what their travels were.

But as I said, the accident left me with things to consider where death is concerned. Life is very short and we never know when our day will be the last. We should always appreciate those around us and always be thankful for the things that we have. Stop taking life so damned serious! Accidents, or unintentional injuries, accounted for 106,742 deaths in 2002, more than HIV, assault, and suicide combined. Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are responsible for nearly half of all types of accidental deaths, far outweighing all other causes.

This year multiple new traffic safety laws have been implemented to help lower the amount of deaths caused by MVAs, which in 2002 resulted in 43,354 deaths. Some laws are aimed at limiting in-car distractions, such as the use of television or video screens that are in the driver’s line of vision, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Even still, I am confused as to what made the truck who was traveling on a highway going in the opposite direction to swerve into the man who lived not far from me. Did he take his eyes off of the road for a few minutes? Was he looking for a cell phone? Trying to dial on a cell phone? Chatting with his son who was sitting behind his seat and who was the only survivor in the accident? We’ll never know what caused the accident but one thing is for sure……we all need to appreciate each day that we are given. Each and every day is precious.

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Imemories White Paper Part -i

One of the hottest trends in social media today is online home videos, which often involve an extra step up front to first transform the older physical media (reels and tapes) to digital format before posting and sharing online. In order to understand both the scope and future directions of this trend, it is helpful to define the term “social media.”

As explained on www.wikipedia.com, social media are the online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other. Social media can take many forms, including text, images, audio and video. Examples include blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs (video logs).

As testament to the popularity of social media, Time magazine designated “You” in their Dec. 25th, 2006 issue as their Person of the Year, noting that “the new Web is a very different thing. It’s a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it’s really a revolution.” The Internet has become a tool that facilitates the contributions of millions of individuals in a way never before seen.

Several Elements Converging

How did this occur? Several technological, economic and cultural developments have converged to create this phenomenon. First, there was the availability of inexpensive broadband capability to individual homes, a veritable “last mile” of Internet highway to facilitate digital video with the appropriate fidelity and resolution. Instead of 15 frames per second, the new cost-effective broadband now permits the broadcast television standard, 30 frames per second.

Second, computers continue to become faster and cheaper, with high performance processors that facilitate online video. Older computers in contrast struggled to keep up.

And third, the audience has increased both in their Internet savviness and age range, with users now including anyone from pre-teens to seniors.

Popularity with Teenagers

Journalists are divided on their opinions regarding the worth of such social media, but they do agree that it enables mass consumers to claim their 15 minutes of fame. As Gary Nelson of the Arizona Republic described it, YouTube, for example, is one of the sites “devoted to the postmodern world’s insatiable narcissism. MySpace.com is an online temple of self-adulation, a bottomless well of hopelessly average people desperately seeking attention, deluding themselves into the idea that having a Web profile somehow equates to genuine accomplishment.” [Arizona Republic, Dec, 2006]. As the Time article pointed out, “Web 2.0 harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom.”

Statistically, the majority of users of mass social sites are younger and often seeking their 15 minutes of fame. They represent the so-called Generations X, Y, and the Millenniums. A Parks Associates study on the digital media activities of Internet users ages 13 and over, for example, shows that approximately 1 in 3 (33%) play online video games and watch online videos (31%), while 1 in 4 (25%) use a social networking website and upload digital photos to websites (23%). [“Digital Media Habits,” Parks Associates, Q3/2006].

Lack of Filters Levels the Playing Field

For the first time, the lack of “editorial” filters has leveled the playing ground so that anyone who has a digital camera or cell phone camera and access to the Internet can participate. PR guru Richard Edelman noted in his blog on Dec. 8, 2006 (http://edelman.com/speak_up/blog/ ) that the older, more traditional form of media was the “top down model of communications, where the news agenda was determined by elite media (the TV network news, the top newspapers, newsmagazines, and business magazines). It [was] a one way flow of information, from the top of the pyramid of influence down to the mass audience….” Today, however, anyone can be the first to “break” the news, and on a global scale. Connecting with others and generating content on one’s own have clearly become easier.

Older, Mature Users Have Different Needs

It is tempting to categorize all social media video into the same niche as well-known sites such as YouTube, Grouper, or Jumpcut. But there are very clear and distinct differentiators between the users of these sites and those who seek private sharing of home videos online. In contrast to the YouTube audience, which is made up of teens and twenty-somethings, there is another group of older yet still Internet-savvy users who are motivated by completely different goals.

These Baby Boomers seek a digital environment in which they can share old home movies with a secure, private, and most important, self-filtered network of family and friends. They want to convert and post longer-form videos that were originally captured in older “physical” media such as 8mm and16mm films and VHS tapes.

The subject matter of these old reels and tapes, particularly the films from the 1930s – 1970s (videotape became popular in the 1980s), is most often of sentimental moments: a birthday, an anniversary, a family gathering, or a special trip. During those years, the cost of film materials was prohibitive, thus videographers had to choose very carefully which moments to film. Their motivation was primarily to record for posterity, as opposed to pure narcissism. Similarly, when it comes to digitally mastering and posting these older home movies online, videographers want to share them privately with family and friends as a testament to the enduring family legacy.

iMemories Customers Are Microcosm of this New Market

The feedback from iMemories’ customers reflects this focus on sentiment and posterity. Many customers found themselves with old reels of 8mm or 16mm film taken by their parents in the 1930s and 40s, and no projector on which to view the footage in the 21st century. Many of the old reels weren’t even labeled, so customers had no clue as to what treasures might reside within the frames.

Stumped by the problem of getting the movies into a format that could be viewed easily by family members spread across the country, they put off the task and filed the reels away in boxes in basements, attics, closets and garages. It would often take a precipitating event, such as a reunion, relocation, or illness in the family, to spur them to look further for a solution like iMemories. Suddenly, it became important to find a way to digitally master their old physical media into a form that would halt further degradation as well as promote widespread sharing.

Mark D., for example, became the administrator for a relative’s estate, and discovered many reels of 60-year-old home movies that he never knew existed. He came to iMemories to have the reels transferred to DVD so that he could both share and preserve family history that he thought had been lost forever. “My children and I were excited to view family gatherings and the good times that our relatives experienced before we were even born.”

For Marge R., the illness of her father was a wakeup call to find a solution. She happened to attend an event near the iMemories headquarters, and found her solution that way. Her goal was to convert old family movies into a format that her entire family could watch. She had initial fears that the old 8mm film might have been damaged to the extent that a final transfer wasn’t possible, but with sophisticated equipment and specialized software, the miracle of digital is undeniable. And unlike the videos posted on popular sites like YouTube, the home movies converted to digital format are meant to last another 100-200 years.

Jay M., another customer, had several old 16mm film of high school sports from the 1970s in his possession. Jay was motivated to get the conversion completed in time for a reunion of his high school buddies, and used iMemories’ services. “The last time I had viewed the footage was in 1971,” says Jay. “I found it fun to view it again in 2006. Back in the 70s, we had prided ourselves on being so athletic. Looking back now, however, sometimes we looked like pro’s and sometimes we looked like a Pop Warner team.”

It is the passing of time that motivates home movie users, who appreciate the value of these extraordinary moments more as they grow older. They want to capture the images and preserve them in a format that halts further degradation. And they want to ensure that future generations within their family as well have access to these memories as part of their heritage. The sense of their own mortality is heightened by the existence of older home movies with images of older relatives, many of whom are now long gone.

The next generation or iteration of online video is consequently expanding from a preoccupation with the comparatively frivolous and transient content of younger users to encompass the more enduring content of the older users. In other words, as older users become more comfortable with the Internet model and take the reins of online videos from their younger counterparts, the scope and dignity of the Web content are being re-asserted. While perhaps a less-flashy version of the popular social sites, online home videos nonetheless promise to bring the respectability and wisdom that are too often lacking in the younger generations’ rush to their 15 minutes of fame.

Future Trends in Online Home Video

Given how rapidly home movie editing and sharing online has exploded in growth in 2006 within the larger context of social media, what more can we expect technologically, economically, and culturally in the next few years?

We know that consumer electronics typically draft behind the entertainment business, as movie studios go digital and companies build rich experiences for the home theaters, the distribution channels become more ubiquitous. Families can view videos anywhere now. And with new developments such as Apple’s iPhone, multiple technological devices are consolidating into one portable device. Pretty soon, every home will be down to just a few simple devices: a handheld for every individual family member for its portability; a high definition TV/DVD player for its clarity, and a PC or Mac for its powerful processing. Next generation gaming devices will also continue to contribute to the market for high end audio and visual quality.

The comfort level with using video to record a moment has increased dramatically. It is interesting to consider what the outcome would have been had the JFK assassination occurred in this age of consumer-generated content, rather than in 1963. It has taken experts years to piece together from different photos and film taken what actually happened in Dallas, Texas. In the technological transition from physical film to digital cameras in the 90s however, there has been a corresponding social effect on picture-taking. Today, there is almost nothing that occurs in the world that isn’t caught on camera from every angle, and subsequently uploaded to the Internet and shared.

Technology has also created an environment where people regardless of their generation connect more frequently with each other, and in a multitude of ways that are all designed to be instantaneous and cost-effective – instant messaging, text, e-mail, cell phone. The addition of video makes the communication that much more powerful – a picture says a thousand words. iMemories will facilitate that trend to an audience who wants it to be fast and easy to connect with others by sharing home movies.

Conclusion

Social media, by which people share their insights, experiences and perspectives with each other over the Internet, has exploded and is represented by the growth of online video sites as YouTube and myspace.com. An important market within this category is home movie archiving and sharing online. While benefiting from the same technological advances that helped companies like YouTube grow, online home movies have a different purpose, and are designed to last for the next 100 years, not the next 15 minutes. Their content is meant to be more enduring. Consumers want their content on DVD as well as on online, so that it is not only preserved, but able to be shared at home on their TVs in the highest fidelity format. Future generations will rejoice that there is so much information documented in digital format for generations to come.

About iMemories

iMemories is a leader in the dynamic Web 2.0-generation of Internet services. The company transforms old-media memories into crystal-clear digital files that consumers can enjoy and share—whenever and wherever they like.

In iMemories’ 8,500-square foot fiber-optic studio, production professionals use state-of-the-art technology and techniques to convert old home-movie films, videotapes, photographs and slides into organized archives and full-length digital productions. Memories that were deteriorating in the dark are preserved forever on optical disc—and easy to edit, organize, store and share worldwide through iMemories’ private, secure online user experience.

In a market crowded with audiovisual houses and small firms offering basic video-transfer services, iMemories’ technology and expertise enable it to deliver a premium product efficiently and affordably. Founded and led by new-media entrepreneur Mark Rukavina, iMemories is privately held and based in Scottsdale, Ariz. To learn more, visit imemories.com or call 480-767-2510.

©1998-2007 iMemories. iMemories name and iMemories mark are trademarks of iMemories, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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