Viddler

K.I.S.S.I.N.G.

First comes love. Back in September of 2007 while Jason (friend: jwaldrip) and I were at Podcamp Philly, enjoying the unconference with the few hundred attendees and helping to sponsor the free event, we were getting asked by nearly all who were there if Viddler was supported by TubeMogul.

It was obvious that a large percentage of the video podcasters were aware of, and using, TubeMogul’s excellent distribution and analytics network to make their jobs as producers easier. TubeMogul makes it dead simple to upload your video file, distribute it to multiple networks, and track the statistics from each network in one spot. A genius idea that we knew we had to add support for, just as soon as we could.

Then comes marriage. There was just one problem. Viddler didn’t have an open API for TubeMogul to use to do its thang back in September of 2007 so we began to build one. Now that we have our API, and it’s been used for multiple projects, we were confident that team TubeMogul could begin integrating Viddler into their system for not only our community, but theirs also, to take advantage of.

The team at TubeMogul has really been fantastic during our integration process. Like us, they are a small team of talented people that can only get so much done in a short period of time. They were willing to set aside some of the other things they’ve been working on to include support for Viddler - and we’re really impressed with what they’ve accomplished.

Then comes baby in a baby carriage. Today both teams at TubeMogul and Viddler are really proud and excited to announce that you may now take advantage of TugeMogul’s tools and be part of the Viddler community. This morning they released a press release in which Brett Wilson, co-founder and CEO of TubeMogul, was quoted “People are asking for Viddler, and we are excited to integrate them.”.

We are too Brett.

So go check out TubeMogul and all that they have to offer. If you are a first-time Viddler, and you’ve come from TubeMogul, we welcome you with open arms and look forward to seeing your hard-work shared with our community. Thanks to team TubeMogul and to the Viddler engineers for a job well done.

Our friend Robert Scoble (friend: scobleizer), who graciously treated me to some great BBQ in Austin, Texas about one year ago, has the inside scoop on Sun Microsystems acquisition of MySQL earlier this year.

I think it is great that Robert has access like this. A real, unrehearsed, sit-down conversation with the Jonathan Schwartz (CEO of Sun) and Marten Mickos (CEO of MySQL) that definitely gives you a clear picture of why they acquired MySQL and what they plan to do.

Thanks for sharing Robert!

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

Do you know who Paris Hilton or Britney Spears are? You probably do, but are you sick and tired of hearing about them? Reading the news everyday only to see the that the Hollywood starlets have stolen the biggest headlines, can get annoying.

Pop17 (friend: pop17) is here to ask: Do you know your Internet celebrities? Here is the very first episode with host Sarah Meyers.

I thought this was a good first episode to set the tone, and the pace, for the episodes to come. Are there any Internet celebrities you would like to know more about? Watch Pop17!

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

Back in late January, we asked you to test an idea we had for a video commenting plugin for Wordpress.

Since that time we’ve privately released nearly nine versions of the plugin to about 50 beta testers. From their feedback, we’ve been hard at work creating what I’m excited to be able to release to you today: The first public version of our plugin called the Video companion plugin for Wordpress.

Not just for comments anymore

Commenting with video on any Wordpress-powered blog is a lot of fun, and more and more people are trying it out each day. But, our plugin isn’t limited to only enabling video comments. After the first few versions were released, we saw an immediate need for the same functionality to be available from within the Wordpress administrative area - directly on the Write post page. Now you’re able to record with your webcam or include a video that you’ve already uploaded to Viddler, right from our blog’s administrative area, into a new post with speed and ease.

Talk about a time saver! We think you’ll really like it.

Test it out!

Want to kick the tires? You can download a copy for yourself from our wiki page for this plugin, or - you can try it out on a few of the blogs that already have this plugin installed. Here is a short list of only some of the great web sites that have already installed and tested our plugin for us.

• cdevroe.com
• leoville.com
• mattbrett.com
• robertsandie.com
• dangerouslyawesome.com
• indyhall.org
• thesirdanny.com
• marialanger.com
• edwinvillanueva.com
• idoitdigital.com

Want to show off your installation of the plugin? You can do that by adding your site to the growing list of web sites that have installed. All you have to do is edit this page. Aren’t wikis great?

Thanks to our beta testers!

I’d like to personally thank all of the beta testers that helped us get to version 1.0 of the plugin. I had a great time working until the wee hours to get it setup correctly for your site, and releasing a few versions a day sometimes. It has been fun.

So - go grab the plugin (you may download it here too)!

The other day Chris Masto (friend: masto) and I were doing a video conference through Apple’s iChat. He was showing me his Eye-fi, and has since put up a review about it, and I have to say that I’m really interested in picking one up now.

From what Chris showed me, and from what I see demonstrated in his video, I can think of a lot of ways I’d be able to use an Eye-fi for both fun, and useful tasks.

This is the type of innovation that will slowly begin to eliminate the need for so many wires on our desktops. As wifi connections get faster and faster, I can foresee this same type of functionality with video cameras as well, though I believe that to be at least a few years off. Chris does ask that Eye-fi, and/or Viddler, work on a solution for video… which I’d love to see, so who knows, maybe we’ll work on something soon!

Thanks Chris for sharing this video - making me want to spend even more money on fun gadgets!

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

We’re making some progress on SXSWvideos.com. We’ve been making small adjustments, fixing bugs, and adding more features to the site over the last few days. We’re going to continue to do this until, and perhaps even during, the festivals in Austin, TX. starting next week.

To catch you up on some of the things coming today, and for the rest of this week, here is yours truly with a quick update.

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

You decide!

Viddler BradyDale found a little something waiting for him in his mailbox. It is, what he is calling, junk mail that was intended for his roommate - and he’s dubbing it the most elaborate junk mail in history.

You make the call.

I think the best part is that he was so looking forward to being able to smash the cigarettes - and then he wasn’t able to because there were none. I too was a little surprised that Camel would send cigarettes through the mail, at first.

So, it is obvious there was a fair amount of work involved to mail this out to Camel customers - do you think it is the most elaborate? Maybe you can all share your elaborate junk mail stories in the comments.

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

I remember it like it was yesterday, Viddler held the MealToday contest at the same time IndyHall held their grand opening party in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Now, in what seems like a blink of an eye, IndyHall has recently celebrated 6-months of coworking!

Here is Alex Hillman (friend: alexknowshtml), one of the co-founders of the IndyHall coworking space, to catch you up on some of the things going on there.

Thanks to Alex, and the coworkers at IndyHall, for continually supporting Viddler and helping us grow along the way. It is great to see coworking, and IndyHall, getting recognition from the news media also. I’m hoping to see many more years of coworking in great spaces like IndyHall in Philadelphia!

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

Our good friend and fellow Viddler Chris Tingom (friend: chris) goes for a Hot Air Balloon ride in North Phoenix, Arizona. I’m constantly jealous of Chris’ adventures! I’m jealous of this adventure for two main reasons: 1) I have never, ever been in a hot air balloon and so I look forward to one day being able to do so, and 2) all of my friends that live in Phoenix get to do these types of activities in February!

I’m stuck up here in northeastern Pennsylvania while Chris is floating around in beautiful weather in a hot air balloon. Tell me how this is fair? Thanks for sharing Chris, great job capturing the ride. Can a brother get an invite?

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, which I’ve heard is extremely economical, Viddler has recently launched SXSWVideos.com - a site we hope that people attending SXSW this year will use to “capture the scenes of south by”.

Who did the first interview? None other than Viddler iJustine, here it is.

I didn’t know Steve Jobs goes to SXSW? I should make it a point to give him a Viddler shirt. Maybe if I gave him a black one he’d consider wearing it during his next keynote? I know, I’m living in a dream world.

Are you going to SXSW? Stay tuned, because we’re going to be calling on you to help us capture the scenes of south by!

Don’t forget: If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.