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By Dave Lee:
Associate Editor

Thanks for coming back to NetCast Studio. I hope you enjoyed last week’s post in which I talked our new live streaming content, our idea of reporting in the digital age, instant replay in the EPL, and AT&T’s decision to cap bandwidth. I have some fresh content here for you to absorb. Come on in, comment, and join the NetCast Studio community.

One-Third of World’s Food Wasted

The New York Times recently cited a new study from the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization that indicates at least 1/3 of the world’s food supply is lost or wasted each year. This translates into 1.3 billion tons annually. It is without question that food is wasted in industrialized countries, but a fair amount of that total is wasted in third world and developing regions. What role may technology have in this, positively or negatively? In developing nations, the low level or lack of technology in the fields of bioengineering, biotechnology, harvesting techniques, processing methods, supply management, and distribution systems are playing a major role in the loss of food. The study found opportunities to reduce food waste with more attention given to farmer education, better storage facility, and better cooling technologies to lengthen the life cycle of food. What do you think can be done in regards to technology and food waste?

Lady Gaga & FarmVille: What a couple!

Lady Gaga is finding new methods of reaching her fans. She has teamed up with Zynga, the social gaming giant known for creating FarmVille. Essentially, players have to complete specific tasks to hear one exclusive new Lady Gaga track per day. The event runs from May 17^th to the 19^th and FarmVille currently has nearly 46 million people playing the game worldwide. Zynga is also working on the details to bring free concerts tickets and signed albums from Lady Gaga to those people playing the popular Words With Friends. This isn’t the first time Zynga has teamed up with a mega-music star. In Decemeber, Dr. Dre and Zynga collaborated to release a track from his latest album for the game Mafia Wars. Musicians have experienced the success of allowing their content to sit on various media platforms – television, gaming consoles, soundtracks, etc. Could this be another viable option for delivering content in the business of music?

Hulu & Networks Confirm Deal

Many Hulu fans have been nervously awaiting the announcement of contract extensions from the major networks (Fox, ABC, and NBC). By the end of next week, contracts should be signed and in place. This is great for both parties: users of Hulu continue to get the content they want and the networks can deliver the content that is wanted. Plus, all of the major networks providing content have ownership stakes in Hulu so it is in their best financial interests to work out a deal. The details of the new agreements remain confidential at the moment. However, All Things Digital suggests that the presence of Hulu will remain in its similar state with a free, ad-supported service with paid subscriptions for additional programming options. Quick question – I hear that Hulu Plus works great on Xbox Live and not so well on Kinect. Is this true? Anyone with details, please let us know.

NetCast Studio – Online Media for Today’s Society

By Steve Lee
Editor

Streaming, Reporting, Evolving & Capping

Thanks for coming back and reading my second blog in recent weeks. I hope you enjoyed last week’s in which I talked presidential campaigns and online media, the NFL Draft, environmental awards, and a health tip regarding heat illness. Come on in, comment, and join the NetCast Studio community.

NetCast Studio: Steaming Live

I would personally like to welcome Telestream.net to the NetCast Studio family. Wirecast powers all of our podcasts. Produce, stream, and record professional looking broadcasts from your computer! Be sure and see all of their great products at telestream.net. We are looking into doing major things with our live video streaming and Telestream.net is going to offer us that chance. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for live recording dates and times. We love the chance to interact with our listeners, our friends, and our colleagues.

Are we all reporters in the digital age?

I found out about the killing of Osama Bin Laden via Twitter, as many of you did. Others may have heard through Facebook, text message, other 2.0 tools, or any of the major news media apps that are out there. It got me thinking – are we all reporters now in the digital age? We all witness events throughout the day that we find to be newsworthy. We all experience different situations that cause us to send out tweets & status updates. The very popular CNN iOS app has a feature in which you can upload video of events you just witnessed and share them with other users. Let us not forget that individually, you and I are being watched and probably reported on throughout the day as well. This sounds creepy but it is very true people. Remember…it’s more than a simple two-way street on the digital highway.

The English Premier League & Instant Replay

Football, more commonly known around that world as soccer, is the only major sport that has yet to climb on board and buy into the instant replay model. The NFL led the way, followed by the NBA, NHL, MLB, and the NCAA. Each program has its own strengths and weaknesses to their system. At least they have a system in place, flawed or not! The EPL, MLS, and the World Cup continue to refuse the acceptance of modern technology into a game that so desperately needs it. As many witnessed, goals that are not goals are counting and non-goals that are goals are being discounted. It’s time to move into 2011 folks. Incorporate instant replay. Evolve. Adapt.

Bandwidth Capping: A Consumer’s Nightmare

If there were one student in your class misbehaving, would you punish the entire classroom? In essence, AT&T is doing this. Instead of limiting, monitoring, and charging those users that use a tremendous amount of bandwidth, they have implemented a company-wide policy on capping. The limit of 250G sounds like a lot, but it’s not. With constant and normal activities such as computer updates, online gaming, photo uploads, web surfing, and instant HD streaming, it’s easy to see where you could rack up serious usage in a short period of time. This means another number we need to follow, another stupid rule that will be forced upon us, and the setting of a new industry standard. It screams of net neutrality. AT&T – I hope you lose millions based on your capping decision.

NetCast Studio – Online Media for Today’s Society