Blast away web ads (for fun)

Best thing ever? No, don't be stupid.

It's pretty fun though.

Today I was told about this lovely bit of JavaScript which lets you zap-shoot-fly-blast your way around your internet browser.

It's brilliant.

Visit your favourite website (or any website) then visit this web address (ie. copy and paste the below as you would a website address and hit enter):

javascript:var s = document.createElement('script');s.type='text/javascript';document.body.appendChild(s);s.src='http://erkie.github.com/asteroids.min.js';void(0);

And away you go. Arrow keys to move about, space to shoot, Esc to quit. And don't worry, you're not blasting away important stuff, just refresh the page (F5 in most browsers) to get back all that stuff you destroyed. And yes it's safe, it's just fun web-stuffs.

YouTube's audio transcriber needs some work...

If you're on a YouTube video, in the bar at the bottom is 'CC'. If you click it you can turn on closed captions - but you can also choose audio transcribing.

If you choose that, YouTube will try and recognise the words being spoken and put them into speech. Try it. It's hilarious.

I just tried it with this video I made about horses - and here are my favourite bits that got lost in translation:

What should have been 'come back' came out as 'Vietcong pat'. Well done for trying, but I won't be recommending it for any hard-of-hearing friends just yet...

WHAT WAS SAID (YES): Where are you going?

WHAT THE SUBTITLES SAID (NO): Are you going to Taiwan?

YES: You used to dream of having...

NO: Used to dream of housing...

YES: ...ANYTHING...

NO: ...PIMPIN'...

YES: I've always thought I'd like to do a Rubik's Cube

NO: But quite often to will be executed

YES: Why would you play with a Rubik's Cube?

NO: Want to go over the movie excuse protests?

YES:More than what we seem.

NO: More than...greasy.

And so on. Pick a video you like...turn it on...it's funny.

Here are the horses (you'd have to open it in Youtube to turn on 'cc'):

Green screen tips

Yeah, ok, it's just "look at me I'm by the seaside but I'm NOT REALLY!".

But there's something satisfying about being able to green screen myself to pretty good effect, just in my bedroom.

Fortunately someone decided that my bedroom walls should be green...



If you're ever in the mood to go green (or blue - those two colours work best) screen yourself - here are a couple of tips I learned from making this:

- Take the time getting the green screen right. If you have something mostly green, with patches of other colour...it just won't work as well.

- The lighting is really important. You want the green screen to be lit, so I just put a couple of lamps behind me and just out of shot. Then you want to be lit - but without casting a big shadow behind you. So I just upped the ambient light in my room with the main ceiling light.

- Don't wear the same colour clothes as the screen! I wore a green jumper, which made it more difficult. Oops.

- Getting the screen and shot right is the most important bit - the rest you can edit later. As for the actual editing - there are plenty of Youtube tutorials! I used Chroma Key. And no, you can't do it in 'Windows Movie Maker'.

Lincolnshire Roadtrip

Sunday afternoon = impromptu roadtrip. We chased down a cloud factory, and saw some cows. And documented it.

It was the first time I'd really just fully relied on the on-board sound of digital camera I have - and further to my earlier post where I mention thinking about sound quality - and I think it did a pretty good job. GOOD JOB.

Google Buzz Lawsuit

This is a slightly extraordinary email from Google regarding it's mess-up after launching it's 'Buzz' service.

Read the full email to Buzz users below:

UPDATE (March 2011) - Google has now changed their privacy rules as a result

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Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an exception to let you know that we've reached a settlement in a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz (http://buzz.google.com), a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.

Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz users and recently reached a settlement in this case.

The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users' concerns. In addition, Google has committed $8.5 million to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more people know about privacy online, the better their online experience will be.

Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the agreement on January 31, 2011. This email is a summary of the settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or comment, are available at http://www.BuzzClassAction.com.

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This mandatory announcement was sent to all Gmail users in the United States as part of a legal settlement and was authorized by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Google Inc. | 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway | Mountain View, CA 94043

Buying a video camera on a budget

I used to be in this video club thing when I was at school. We'd borrow this knackered old camcorder and film some stupid stuff, then try and edit it together with a voiceover using two VHS machines. It was good for what we had - but ultimately pretty awful.

Making stupid (and serious) videos is something I've always wanted to do – but something which has always been out of reach because of cost. 'These days', I think that's changed a lot.

I finally decided on a DSLR (ie. a digital camera not a camcorder) to make videos – I've only used it for a couple of silly ones so far. Here's the latest one I made, with some things to consider if you're thinking of buying a camera below it:

*to see the video in full quality - you need to set the video resolution to 1080

Low resolution/low budget can be ok

The vast majority of people still have computer monitors which have a low enough resolution that video from a modern cheap digital camera, or a smartphone, can look pretty good. Even on big, widescreen HD monitors, it can look absolutely fine, depending on what your video's purpose is.

It totally depends on the audience for your video. If you're just wanting to practice, film for fun, do a video blog and so on – the current smartphones and £100-ish digital cameras are really good. There are other options like the Flip Cam – HD video in a really portable gizmo with a flip-out USB port.

Think about how people will view your content. If you're doing a personal video blog on Youtube – it's unlikely people will ever maximise the window – and if they do, does it matter that the image isn't crystal clear on their HD monitor? No, probably not. But then, if you're doing a vlog because you want to work in the media and are hoping a future employer will spot it one day...perhaps you want it to be the best quality it could reasonably be.

High resolution doesn't mean high quality

Don't get suckered into thinking something will give you a perfect 'movie'-quality image just because it's marketed as 'HD'. It's increasingly a strap-line camera companies are keen to put on their products – but 'full HD' isn't the be all and end all.

Full HD just means it can capture a certain number of pixels. If each pixel in your video is incredible quality because you have a really great camera, then it'll look amazing. If you have an awful camera, the fact is can capture 1080 pixels of rubbish won't make the final picture look much cop.

So High Definition doesn't matter?

Well – again, it depends on your audience. But if you're specifically aiming to produce quality video – perhaps you're a journalism student, short-film maker or a freelance video producer – then you might want to think about HD.

The future market is all about HD. Having an HD digital camera means the content you make is already a little bit 'future-proofed'. All new TVs, the online video-world of Youtube and Vimeo – it's increasingly about HD. As internet speeds increase, so will the importance of online video quality. As people buy larger, higher-res computer monitors, older, non-HD film will begin to look worse.

What am I using?

I shot the above video with a Lumix FZ100. If you're running around a lot and wanting quick, unplanned point-and-shoot moments left right and centre then a DSLR probably isn't going to be as easy as a conventional camcorder, but if you want something more affordable, controllable and in many cases versatile, a DSLR can give you full HD video (and a fantastic stills camera!).

Think about what you need it for. If you want to film yourself jumping out of a plane, an expensive but complicated and fiddly camera isn't going to be much help.

Incredibly popular on the DSLR front is the Canon EOS 550D - I nearly went for that. I went for the FZ100 for the following reasons (and I'm not saying it was the right choice or a better camera...just some things to think about when looking!):

- the on-board sound is better

- it's simpler to use

- it's got a pull-out/swivel screen on the back. This has proved indispensable for shooting low shots, or shooting myself from a tripod

- it comes with a built-in super-zoom lens (cheaper and easier, but less flexible)

As I say – I'm not trying to sell the camera – just highlighting things you might want to think about.

Certainly if you have the cash – you'll get better quality picture from the Canon – a big advocate (and he knows what he's talking about far more than I do) is Adam Westbrook – see his latest thoughts on the 550D.

Sound sound sound

Whatever you do, don't forget about sound. Again – if you're going cheap and cheerful, for fun videos, it doesn't matter so much.

But if you're paying more for better video quality, that's going to be put to waste if you don't have good sound to accompany it. For better quality sound, you'll either want to to plug in an external microphone or record the sound separately and sync it with the video later on. If you're plugging a mic into the camera – check it comes with an external mic socket! And - don't forget to budget for all of this.

Sexy Video Editing

I don't know what you were doing last night.

But I can tell you what I was doing. Being sexy. With my new camera. I had a play with it around the house. It does full HD video, which I think comes out ok.

Sexy-time.

Google Instant: first thoughts

I've just been trying out Google Instant. It's amazing.

What strikes me most is how its launch this afternoon marks the start of a new way we search the internet. And there hasn't been one of them for a while. That's really significant.

What is it? Google Instant, quite simply, displays search results as you type. The more you type, the more accurate those results become. With Google guessing what you're about to type, this often means you don't have to type much at all to be given the result you want.

For, example - before, if I had wanted to look up the film 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', I would have probably typed 'girl dragon tattoo' in a search engine and hit enter. Now, as soon as I've typed 'the girl'...the top result has already come up with the IMDB link I was after, right there on the screen. It partly works based on what's popular; if I type 'w' - results come straight up for weather forecasting sites.

We've come to expect so much from the internet and from Google - when you first use it, it seems like a pretty natural, normal, simple step. But the engineering behind it must be staggering, and it's arrival, I believe, signifies the next big step in searching the internet.

I only did a few searches with it. Then I went and did a 'conventional' search and already this feels antiquated. I believe that once people give it a go, there won't be any turning back, and with Google promising Instant for mobile devices later this year, it won't be long before everyone is using it.

Other search engines will have no choice but to try and follow suit, but with fewer resources from the get-go than the Google-giant, you wonder if this will push Google even further out in front.

Yes there will be the debates on privacy, the personal data Google need to make this work and the way in which the company is taking over our lives. That aside, I think this afternoon will mark an important change in the way we use the web.

Try it here: Google Instant

Middle Class White Boy

It's about time I got better at editing video.

So here's a song I made a few months ago. This morning, we filmed a bit of footage to make a video for it, and this evening I taught myself some basic video editing. I think it worked out ok!

Yes, I felt like an idiot recording the footage for it and yes, it was fun to make.

Hoax Emails

In the news today is a warning about a new scam involving a fictitious ‘dislike’ button on Facebook.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10987725

It’s still amazing how easily people can miss the warning signs in scam emails, clicking their way into potential malicious virus-traps or spam-bots which in turn spam all the victim’s contacts.

If you’re reading this because you got here by clicking a link in an email – I might be talking about you!

I mocked up a spam email, including plenty of warning signs that you shouldn’t click the link in the email. I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone actually did click on it… There weren't many people in the newsroom, but within a few minutes more than a dozen had clicked on it, no question. About three colleagues did ask me if it was genuine.

Below is the email, and beneath that, I explain some of the warning signs, and tips on how to spot them.

Subject: LOL - heres one for you!

Alright?

Ok this might seem to good to be true but Ive set up a fun charity page for homeless children in London. PLEASE READ you don't have to do anything and it wont cost you A SINGLE PENNY.

Ive copied my charity appeal link below, for every time a user clicks on my link the company will donate 2p to the charity. That doesn’t sound like a lot but IMAGINE if i can get enough people to click it with the power of the internet…….we could raise THOUSAND OF POUNDS!!!!

Please it only takes a moment of your times and you can help the homeless in London:

http://bit.ly/charityappeal

Please, please forwardthis mail to at least ten of your friends and together we can make sure these children sleep well at night!!

Here are the warning signs that it’s a scam email:

1) The subject. So often scam subjects just look wrong. Would the person who sent you the email write like that? I never write ‘LOL’…and I’m normally good with apostrophes. Scam subjects are also designed to hook you in – so you might be suspicious if it instantly seems too good to be true.

2) Use of capitals and punctuations. This isn’t always the case with scams – but so often they’re written very badly. You should be wary if there are too many capitals, exclamation marks, and badly spelled words all over the place. Again – does it read as you would expect it to read from whoever sent it to you? If not, and they’ve blindly forwarded you something…again, be very suspicious!

3) The link. You have a strange forwarded email with a link in it. Here’s where you stop and never, ever click that link. If in doubt, just email the person back to check it’s a genuine email. People won’t mind you being suspicious. Even if you can see the link is for what looks like a reputable well-known website, still be suspicious.

4) “Please forward this email to friends”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an email that instructs you to forward it to as many of your friends as you can that isn’t utter rubbish (with the rare exception of friends or colleagues who might be doing genuine fundraising, etc). If you’re already suspicious…and then you get to the bit which tells you to forward it on…delete it!

5) I haven’t personally signed it off, which also suggests I haven’t written the email.

If it’s too good to be true, it is.

There are some really good scams out there – and if I’m ever in any doubt, I just copy and paste a sentence from the email, and stick that into Google with the word ‘hoax’ on the end. You’ll quickly see in the results whether other internet users have flagged it up as a hoax, and how dangerous it is.