unBoxing On Seesmic

Crowdfire Share the concert experience

I wanted to do a story on Crowdfire but boingboingtv.com beat me to it! This is a good piece about a new way of sharing the concert experience. Look for a cameo by the Seesmic raccoon in the second half.

I went to Outsidelands Festival this summer. If you didn't hear about it, Outsidelands was a 3 day music extravaganza in Golden Gate Park with names like Radiohead, Beck, Tom Petty and other amazing performers. I took a lot of videos with my Flip and uploaded them to the site because I was curious about how it worked and I wanted to send what I saw to friends who couldn't make it. I wasn't prepared for how this media sharing would make the concert more fun for me. Sounds silly but it's true. I put the videos on the site each night after the concert and sent the link to a friend here and there. What surprised me was that a lot of people looked at my videos and a few commented on them to. One person said they were standing somewhere near me when Tom Petty and Steve Winwood were playing together and thanked me for the video memory. Another person commenting on my video of Vienna Teng. I just discovered her at Outsidelands and he was a longtime fan who told me where I could see her play locally.

The Crowdfire site also had a simple editor page where you could do mashups of the event. I did this one just by dragging my clips into the editor and pressing a couple buttons.

video remix

Recording devices aren't usually welcome at a concert. In fact the week after Outsidelands, I went to see Beck at the Independent. No cameras allowed. It was incredible to see Beck, I stood about 15 feet from the stage, the sound was incredible, the band was dynamic but I felt disappointed that I had nothing to show after. Without a doubt, the Crowdfire experience keep the feeling and excitement of Outsidelands going for weeks after.

Highlights from the Demo Pit

I spent a good part of this week in a place called the "Demo Pit" at TechCrunch50. If you're a startup,  Silicon Valley and beyond, TechCrunch50 is the place to unveil your innovation. The Demo Pit isn't the main attraction of TechCrunch50, it's actually the second stage. It's where 100 startups vie for a single spot on the mainstage so they can pitch to industry leaders and venture capitalist. This is where I spent my 12 hour days walking the convention floor and talking to the innovators. Here are some highlights:

Highlights from the Demo Pit This video is just a quick peak at the companies I met and here is a list of the links:

• SocialMedian
• Seminar Feed
• NutShellMail
• KallOut
• OpenZine
• Zuora
• Zivity
• Kangalope
• Twonq
• Virsona
• PicMe
• Politics 4 All
• Mint

Like I said this is just the beginning! I have short highlights of about 25 companies from the Demo Pit I'll be posting in the weeks to come. Many of them also want to invite the Seesmic community to be Beta testers for their startups.

Because of Seesmic I will never have to eat alone again.

This may be the first time I've seen my Seesmic friends more excited about Thai food than gadgets! I waited to open a prize I won in a raffle at TechCrunch50 this week so I could do it with my Seesmic people. Here's the actual unboxing of the gadget... look at the beginning of the thread and you'll see why my dinner was so popular.

Here's the UnboxingI won this at TC50 from: http://kangalope.com/!

TC50 is over but this is just the beginning.

I found this Animonto video today and was surprised at how many faces I recognized from the three days I spent in the Demo Pit at TechCrunch50. Some might consider a tech conference to be a little bit of a bore but to me it was 3 days of heartfelt pitches, hope and optimism from people who had spent months and sometimes years preparing for this event. If you didn't get a chance to see any of my videos from the "pit" let me explain a little about my job there. I decided to be a one man band shooting and interviewing the innovators myself. Originally the plan was for me to shoot with an N95 using Seesmic's beta mobile client. That plan was quickly stalled due to the major issues with internet access and availability. (I'm not even going to go into what a challenge it was to post while in the most "tech" event of the year.) In the end I wandered around with a flipcam and had a great time learning about the startups and the people behind the innovations. TechCrunch50 is over but I am just getting started. Over the next 2 weeks, I'll be posting and "Unboxing" these interviews and contacting some of the innovators to come on Seesmic and talk more about their ideas. In the meantime you can see some of our coverage on the Seemic TC50 blog. 

Meet the Innovators and TC50

       

The Seesmic office is a buzz these days getting ready for TechCrunch50. If you're into tech you may know TechCrunch50 has quickly become an important place for innovators, investors and entrepreneurs to mix and mingle. This is considered a glitz and glam event I've been told, big investors roaming the halls and striking deals while hopeful start-ups try and get noticed. Panels and workshops lead by successful web stars will advise and nurture the next wave of start-ups. It's also worth mentioning some traditional "celebs" will be on scene. Apparently Ashton Kutcher is presenting his new site.

While the star factor is very exciting, I'm actually more excited about the innovation. I'll be roaming around the convention floor where early stage, often unfunded business will show their ideas. The top 52 ideas are presenting on a main stage and 100 others will be in a "Demo Pit" pitching to whoever comes by. I'll be roaming around meeting these folks, who's blood, sweat and tears is bringing them into the eye of the storm in Silicon Valley. This is a life changing opportunity for these start-ups and I want to know how they made it there.

Of course I'll get the pitch but I also plan to post. I pledge at least 5 innovator interviews on Seesmic a day. I plan to include the Seesmic Community in this event, so as I hit the floor, I'll send you messages and I hope you will respond back. Encouragement and questions are welcome.

I'll also be Seesmicing while on the go using one of Seesmic's latest innovations a mobile client. More on this topic later. In the meantime what do you want to see and know from the floor of TechCrunch50?

TechCrunch50 Roaming ReportsI'll be at TechCrunch50 September 8, 9, 10. If you have questions for the startups and innovators, in the Demo Pit post them here! I'll be roaming, reporting and talking to innovators. http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/the-demopit/

Extreme Pogo

I had the chance to demo Vurtego pogo stick and meet the man behind Vurtego, Brian Spencer in person. If you're on Seesmic you probably recognize Pogo Brian as the cool Southern California dude that enriches many conversations with his views on spirituality, life and of course extreme pogo sticking. Brian's pogo brand is Vurtego and I think it's safe to say this ain't the pogo stick you might have ridden as a kid.. not even close. Vurtego sticks use pneumatic technology to power the pogo, that means it's air pressure instead of a spring. When you get a Vurtego the first thing you have to do is pump it up like you would a bike tire. The amount of air is depends on your weight so it's a very custom experience.

Using the pogo is not easy. I'm not going to lie, it took me more than an afternoon of practice to finally bounce 7 times in a row. While that might not be a measure of great success for some of you, for me it was good, mainly because I got a kick ass workout just trying.

Here are a few things I learned that I think are important to pass on to you.
It's really important to wear the right shoes, especially if you are new. It's very likely that you will fall off over and over again and when your feet hit the ground you need something to absorb the shock.
Hold the pogo stick pretty close to your body. I noticed my natural inklig was to curve my body and kind of lean away from the stick. What Pogo Brian taught me was that it's a lot easier to stand up straight and confident, hold the stick close to your abs.
Eyes up not down. If you snowboard or ski, you'll recognize this technique. Basically look up and where you want to go. The pogo will follow. 

To my surprise since I discovered Vurtego I've learned I know a lot of "grownups" who have wished for an adult pogo stick. If you're also in that group, Check out Vurtego and let me know what you think!

If you want to know more about what Pogo Brian is up to check out his show on Guy's Guide TV.

       

Who loves their Chumby?

People keep talking about this thing called a Chumby and I can't for the life of me figure out why it's so cool. Is this a device for the ultra geeky? Is it for people who have money to throw around? Is it super useful and I'm just too skeptical? The video below has come the closest to making the Chumby seem relevant in my life but that could be because I just think anything David Pogue says is magic...

This weekend dstrack tried to help me figure out why the Chumby is cool. He has one and he seems to find great use from it. I believe in the wisdom of the crowd, so now I want to talk about it on Seesmic. I may not get one, I'm still too poor to get the iPhone but if there is a cool gadget out there I want to be knowledgeable even if I can't have one.

I am an ungrateful yogi

Today I unboxed a prize I won at Blogher. 

It's a yoga mat. I really don't mean to sound ungrateful but the mat has a giant Boca Burger Logo on it. I can't imagine what would happen if I showed up to Bikram class with that mat. For one thing, I know I would be preoccupied through the entire class thinking about Boca Burgers and how soon I can eat one. Let's not even mention what my fellow yogi's might think.

Truthfully I am a big fan of Boca Burgers and the ones I tasted at Blogher were really good. One thing I didn't see when I unboxed the mat on Seesmic is that they included 5 coupons for a FREE package of Boca anything up to $3.99. Do you want a coupon? Send me an email at unboxing@seesmic.com. I'll mail one each to the first 5 people to send me a note.

Top picks: iPhone Applications

Today I saw a story on an Indian TV news program about the iPhone's anticipated arrival in India and realized people might be rocking the iPhone in India before I get one here in SF. My delay is simple, my Verison contract is still in effect and I'm really not that excited to be stuck with AT&T. Regardless I still want it... and part of the way I continue to torture myself is by talking about it on Seesmic. The latest discussion is on applications. You know, the add-ons that make the phone even cooler than it already is. 

Since this conversation began, it looks like one of the most popular apps the Phonesaber, which basically lets your phone sound like a Star Wars Lightsaber has been taken off the apps list because Lucas wasn't happy.  I'm not surprised, but I'm bummed, because it was easily in the top 5 favorite apps by me and quite a few people that contributed to the conversation.

Here's a few others that were mentioned:

If you've got a second, listen to corvida because she's got a lot of great favorites. My favorite of her favorites... the Wooo! Watch the first 5 or 6 videos in the conversation above and you'll see why. 

I hadn't talked to katiefellows in a while but she stopped by to talk about a few of her favorites. She mentioned Pandora which is a great free web radio program I love that you can now get for the iPhone. If you get a chance look for Bhangra music on Pandora.

Thank you to banannie for suggesting Koi Pond and Check Please. Koi Pond, because I need all the help I can get to relax sometimes and just the sound from Koi Pond made my shoulders feel less tense. Check Please will be very useful because who is good at math splitting the bill and figuring out how much tip to leave after dinner and drinks? Not me!

Ok, when documentally comes around and posts something on my thread, I take notice! This time he was talking about his current favorite iPhone app called Life Cast. He's already casting his life across the internets and now I can also watch him via his life cast called the Documentally Files.

There seem to be quite a few apps for musicians. Tinnion demoed Band and even did a little rap in his a video. Dude, if you ever read this, I think you should know I'm impressed by the demo, you are by far more musical than I am. Another great app for musicians is Karajan. This is recommended by Kevsong who I've discovered knows a thing or two about guitar and music.

And last, I'm not into World of Warcraft but I appreciate this program created by my friend iStarman called Warcraft Stats. Just like I'm crazy about chocolate, people who are into Warcraft are crazy into that and here's an app to help them check stats of players on US Servers. Good job Mike.

Hawaiian Chronicles

I've been to Hawaii a number of times. My sister moved there when I was a freshman in High School, so I've gone to visit more times than I can remember. There is something really special about being on the islands, I've heard it referred to as the Aloha Spirit. Well I was enlightened to what that exactly means this time, when a tweet up was organized by my new friend @hawaii. The is a definite tech buzz in Honolulu and the sheer number of tweeters that showed up proves that they are a passionate and fun group. I've also learned the Hawaiians are going to have their own version of PodCamp happening in October. If you have plans to be in Hawaii, make sure to visit then. I wonder if I should ask Vinvin to send me to PodCamp Hawaii...

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July 31, 2008

I'm meeting DJ Rekha this afternoon. She is one of the hottest names in Punjabi club music. She's in Honolulu for a fundraiser at the Academy of Art Museum in Honolulu (which is part of the reason I'm in town). I'm gonna try and show her Seesmic tonight.