Some of my favorite days at my job are the days when we deploy changes to our Production code which enable a compelling feature set.  These are features such as our Interactive Media Player, our REST/SOAP architecture, our major updates to our Templating language.  On these days all the hard work really pays off and everyone who uses the ONEsite platform (users and developers) are in for a better experience.

Because ONEsite runs as a Software as a Service platform all of these new features can be leveraged across all of our partner sites.  Some networks may never utilize the advanced web services or the template customization, but they're there when needed.  We have more customization options, more integration options, and more resources on hand to assist partners in creating their custom communities than any other company.

We're in a great position to not only remain the leading white label social networking provider in 2008, but to actually have comparable (and often better) featuresets as the large destination sites.  It's going to be a great year.

I spent 90% of my time on the computer in one of three types of programs:

Web Browser (Firefox, Safari, IE7, etc.)

E-mail (Outlook or Outlook Web Access)

Unix Shell

Firefox is my browser of choice. On the e-mail front it seems (unfortunately) as though nothing will ever be good enough to replace Outlook.  However, I really think there is room for a little bit of innovation in shells and ssh clients.

On Windows I love Putty.  I tend to have a dozen Putty sessions open at any given time.  However, Putty lacks tab organization and my Windows Vista taskbar gets awfully crowded even when I have the programs stacked on top of each other.  Wintabber helps organize Putty windows but it often has odd flickering issues and Alt+Tab issues.  Putty would be damn-near perfect if it just added tabs natively.

On OSX the Terminal is pretty darn good.  But it lacks some simple Putty features like the ability to double click on a word/line to copy it to the clipboard.  Furthermore, it lacks the ability to auto-paste upon a right-click.  Maybe I should just use the keyboard more, but just those simple Putty-like shortcuts would make the experience so much nicer.  I've yet to find a way to enable them.

Today is December 8th, 2007.  It's been exactly 27 years since John Lennon was shot dead in New York.

Yoko has put up a letter to her husband on the ImaginePeace website.  The website is also featuring the video of War is Over! (If You Want It)

John has always been my favorite Beatle.  I recently bought the DVD-Audio version of Love, the Beatles compilation album George Martin produced recently.  It is amazing in surround sound and a testament to just how many incredibly beautiful songs the band created.

 

 

Ever since Hulu was announced I have wondered why NBC and News Corp decided to waste time and money building a combined video destination.  I understand their fear in the fast-changing online media landscape.  They obviously have no love for the reigning video behemoths of YouTube and iTunes.  However, YouTube is hardly a threat to professional quality streaming television and it seems as though iTunes could better be combatted by allying with its competitors such as Amazon's Unbox.

I am apathetically awaiting my Hulu beta membership.  To their credit the video player they demo on their blog does seem awfully slick and is much more elegant than CBS's Innertube player.  However, if I am in the mood to watch Heroes I just can't see myself going to an arbitrarily named video website.  More than likely I'll use my favorite search engine of the moment (currently Ask.com) and type in the word Heroes.

I am not loyal to one television network and thus I have no patience to memorize from which video websites my favorite television shows are available.  Hell, I'm not even loyal to YouTube as a video destiantion--I tend to only watch a video when its linked from Digg, and these days the video is just as likely to come from Break.com or a similar destination.

Ultimately I don't think online video distribution is going to revolutionize broadcast television.  The long tail will definitely somewhat weaken the grip the major media companies have; however, it'll also empower them to find more original shows cheaper and quicker so that they may put the minds and actors behind the shows under contract.

Five years from now I may turn on my tv and have my Series 4 Tivo present me with a compelling array of entertainment to consume.  There will surely by indie viral shows recommended to me by my friends on the ONEsite social networks.  Some nights I may even choose to watch these shows, and view an advertisement or submit a micropayment.  However, if its Thursday night I will undoubtedly instead feel the lure to flip on NBC and watch the latest episode of The Office.

I will watch The Office live (or nearly live) and I will watch it not because I love NBC, but because I trust NBC to reward my loyalty with consistently good programming.  Plus, nothing beats the provervial water cooler conversation sparked by a widely-shared favourite television programs:  "Dwight uses Second Life!  Finally we know someone who uses it!"