DaVe’s Musings

The WordPress software is pretty impressive. So far, I have been able to do everything I have wanted to either with the sofware itself, or with a plug-in.

These are the plugins that this site is currently using:

• WP-Stats: statistics page
• Front Page Categories: only show certain categories on the front page
• Search Pages: advanced search functionality
• AMM: Amazon Media Manager
• WPG2: embeds Gallery within WordPress
• FlvPlayer: sets up a page to play Flash videos on your site (see my post on how to install it properly)

This week I was given a presentation by Micronets on their patented video streaming technology and I have to say I was impressed. Micronets is a B-to-B-to-C company that provides companies with a YouTube like interface for hosting their user’s videos. They provide a completely hosted, skinnable web interface for Flash video streaming and hosting. Ok, so nothing too exciting there, right?

Well, the exciting thing comes in with some of their patented technology that has not yet been seen on the web.  This includes:

• Inserting still image frames of the video into the progress bar on the regular Flash video player. This allows the user to more easily move to the section of the video they want without having to remember where to go
• Having the ability to insert ad content directly into the video stream. No longer do you only have ads as a pre-roll or post-roll options.  You can insert a banner, commercial, logo, or other animation directly into the video at any point.
• Vtags. This “tag” system allows a user to take any video on the system and “chop” out a portion of it for their own use. In the YouTube model, it allows any user to take a portion of any other video and “mash up” the content how they want to.  The original video stream is never modified - that user just has the snapshot of the video they want.

Pretty cool stuff… I’ll be sure and give you an update as it progresses.

As CIO of Track Entertainment, I see a lot of great new technologies and get to investigate a number of both open source and commercial software packages. Every day I am presented with the challenge of maintaining and updating existing systems, investigating new technologies, launching a web site, or solving general IT issues.  I do not have a bias in terms of open source versus commercial - I just need the best solution for the job.  We run RedHat Linux and Microsoft Windows, MS SQL and MySQL, Apache and IIS, commercial and open source software packages.

Sometimes the process of finding the best solution for the problem takes a lot of time and effort. This section of my blog is dedicated to taking all of my research and sharing it with the world…  Hell, I did all the work, so why shouldn’t someone else benefit?  Look for my reviews on the best commercial and open source software, reviews of new technology, great deals I’ve found, and more.  I hope that it helps some other people in doing their job or building their pet project.

The Sounds - Dying To Say This To You (Released 3/21/06)
Another Swedish rock group on my favorites list (along with Shout Out Louds, Sahara Hotnights,  and others), I was first turned on to them by the single “Song With A Mission” on Sirius Alt Nation, and have to say the entire album is very strong. We had a chance to catch them at their sold out show at Irving Plaza last week (4/12), and they also put on an amazing show. Unfortunately, Morningwood did not do that much for me as the opener.

Track listing:
1. Song With A Mission (mp3-quicktime) (mp3-windows media) (video)
2. Queen Of Apology (mp3-quicktime) (mp3-windows media)
3. Tony The Beat
4. 24 Hours
5. Painted By Numbers (mp3-quicktime) (mp3-windows media)
6. Night After Night
7. Ego
8. Hurt You
9. Much Too Long
10. Running Out Of Turbo

More soon…

Well, as the President and founder of Clubplanet.com, I’d have to say that I know a thing or two about nightlife. As for music, I’m just an avid fan and frequent concert goer. (Headed to Coachella next weekend!)  This section of my blog will contain some of my top new music picks and nightlife updates, focusing both on alternative rock and dance.  Hope you enjoy and stick around for the ride!

Ok, so I knew I should have had a blog for awhile now, and I even tried to set one up a few times before, but I never found any software that I really liked all that much…until now.  I just found WordPress and I have to say, I’m impressed. So far, the software is great! Still playing around with it all, so I’ll let you know what I think, but it seems to do a great job. I’ll be sure and let you know more of my thoughts on it later under the Tech category.

Plus, it really was time to get rid of my outdated, old site…

This section is not yet finished!