Category Archives: News

News

YouTube Direct: good news for citizen reporters?

Leave a comment

YouTube have just launched a new service called YouTube Direct. It’s an extension of the existing API designed to enable news websites to take advantage of the increasing volume of ‘citizen reporting’ content being published on YouTube.

The main elements:

1. Embeddable uploader

You don’t have to leave the page – the customisable uploader sits on your news corp site (or wherever). Users with an existing YouTube account can log in to YouTube through it and then choose to submit an existing video from their account or upload a new video, as demonstrated in the screenshot.

2. Moderation Console

Does what it says on the tin – it’s a fairly straightforward looking moderation system that allows you to keep track of submitted videos, preview, approve and find out more about each video submitted. Here’s a video demo of it:

Some of the big FAQs answered on their FAQ page:

Q: Who owns the videos submitted via YouTube Direct?

A: The user who submits the video on your site via YouTube Direct owns the video. The video is uploaded to his or her YouTube account and is automatically made public on YouTube.com. By submitting it through your site, the user may grant you a license to use the video according to a set of Terms of Service that you set forth, assuming it does not conflict with YouTube’s Terms of Service.

Q: What happens if the user decides to remove the video?

A: If a user decides to delete a video after he or she has submitted it to your site via YouTube Direct, then this video will be removed from YouTube, and thus will no longer play anywhere on your site that the video has been embedded or linked to. When this happens, there will be a flag visible in the moderation panel indicating that the video is not longer live on YouTube, and any reference to it on your site should also be removed.

Q: How much does it cost?

A: YouTube Direct is free, but there may be a small cost associated with your Google App Engine account, depending on the amount of traffic being served.

Looks tasty. Will be interesting to see who will use it from both content creators and broadcasters. Read all about it at http://www.youtube.com/direct

News

Point Blank, Red Hot & Brass – Absolut Fringe 09 is on!

Leave a comment

I had the pleasure of seeing two fantastic shows on Saturday night as part of the opening weekend of Absolut Fringe 09 – Point Blank at the Project Arts Centre and Red Hot & Brass at the ever lovely Spiegeltent. The two shows were poles apart in pretty much every way but that’s the beauty of Fringe!

Point Blank

A remarkable show centred around 19 year old Nada and her quest to find the path in life she wants to take. She travels taking photos of complete strangers observing them often for days to see what they do and if this might be the life for her. I’ve put a review up on Culch.ie and highly recommend you go check this out if you can.

Red Hot & Brass
 Red Hot Brass solo! @dublinfringe
Well it pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin – they were hot, sassy and very much brassy! I haven’t danced as much in a long time and they had everyone in the Speigeltent on their feet on Saturday night – a fantastic start to fortnight of some hopefully equally brilliant performances.

Check out www.fringefest.com for a look at what’s on over the next 2 weeks. See you out there!

News

Dublin Bus service cut-backs kick in

2 Comments
via breakingnews.ie
via breakingnews.ie

According to BreakingNews.ie there will be 120 less buses on the roads of Dublin and the surrounding commuter belt from tomorrow Monday April 26th. The cut-backs at Dublin Bus are in response to the downturn in the economy and the need to cut their losses this year.

29 routes have had schedule changes while some ‘low frequency services’ have been withdrawn but it appears that they’ve forgotten to list them on the website, or maybe I’m reading it wrong:

Screengrab of Dublin Bus web page
Screengrab of Dublin Bus web page

Routes with new timetables include the following: 

14, 14a, 18, 27, 27x, 37, 37x, 38/a, 39/a/c, 39x, 41/a, 46c, 46d, 47, 48a, 51, 51d, 51x, 77, 77a, 77x, 84x, 84x*, 116, 118, 128, 150, 161, 210

New timetables are online at www.dublinbus.ie. According to news reports on TodayFM this morning, there’s a dispute over some of the proposed changes at the Harristown garage and some bus services from that garage are affected this morning.

Apps, Events, News

‘How Much Is It On Amazon?’ new iPhone app

Leave a comment
How Much Is It On Amazon?

How Much Is It On Amazon?
Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with developer Dave O’Reilly last week & he showed myself and few of the X Comms crew his iPhone app called ‘How Much Is It On Amazon?’.

Essentially, it’s an app that plugs into the Amazon web service to give you instant prices on anything that’s for sale on the site with the option of purchasing as you would on the Amazon site itself, read customer reviews & find out more info on products.

Link to the app in the iTunes store. A welcome departure from the sea of crazy useless muck that’s in the app store these days & one I’ll be popping on the iPhone for sure. I’m waiting on Dave to give me a link or email or somewhere to send feedback & correspondance, will post it when I have it.

Happy bargain hunting!

Events, News

Tour de Burren 2009 – on yer bike!

5 Comments
Views of south Galway on the Tour de Burren
Spectacular views on the Tour de Burren

Aillwee Cave Family Loop The annual Tour de Burren cycle is taking place on Saturday June 20th and is tipped to be the biggest gathering yet with hundreds of cyclists expected to take part. The cycle is this year being sponsored by An Post as part of the An Post Cycle Series which is taking in Cork, Sligo, Waterford and Meath this summer.

There will be an extra route on the list this year with 3 routes to choose from:

  • Aillwee Cave Family Loop (10km)
  • Corkscrew Challenge (60km)
  • Burnin’ Burren (120km)
Getting ready for the road
Getting ready for the road

The cycle has grown hugely popular over the past 6 years and is complimented by visiting participants every time on the excellent organisation and support given to them during the trips. It’s also a chance to take in some of the most beautiful scenery the west coast has to offer. 

For full information including maps of routes, fees, refreshment stops, places to stay, sign-up info and of course the all-important post-cycle barbeque, check out the Burren Cycling Club website at http://burrencyclingclub.com/