Cable a-la-carte? Google brings you the next best thing.

In a huge contracted deal with Sony Pictures, CBS, Stars, MGM, Lionsgate, and the BBC, full-length movies could be featured on YouTube in the near future. I suspect Google's famed video-sharing site is trying to step up the competition on video streaming sites like Break.com, vimeo.com, and DailyHumor.com by adding official Hulu.com-like content into the fold. Deals with Sony Pictures means I don't have to sign into Playstation Home and sit my character in the theater to watch movies with slow download rates and shady resolution!

Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, also hinted at some time of pay option and subscription service for access to YouTube in the works. Details have not yet been discussed, but one can only speculate what that may mean. Google's YouTube is extremely expensive to run--Space ain't cheap! It currently runs off the funds from advertisements, but there will come a time when YouTube is going to need a little more to generate some revenue.

Hopefully, they still keep a limited free account option so I can continue posting stupid videos of my roommate for the world to laugh at.



Source [ CNet ]

Mobile Media Research Participants Wanted!

Assistant Professor Yi-Fan Chen is conducting research on student cell phone usage and reliance on campus. The purpose of her study is “to understand mobile media use in everyday life.” Her anonymous survey is available to all ODU students and some Communications students may even be able to take the survey during class. The survey consists of over a hundred questions about making mobile phone calls, texting, approximate use, and even questions about using your MP3 player.

Assistant Professor Chen will post her preliminary findings on April 1, 2009. For more information, please contact Yi-Fan Chen at y5chen@odu.edu

Combing the Desert of Student Body Knowledge About Communication Technology

Everybody is talking about President Obama’s e-mail addresses and BlackBerry, but here on the ODU campus, e-mail and smartphones rank low on the list of options that students are willing to take to stay connected to campus events. Organizations offer to reach students through electronic and print media daily, but a recent survey of several students (majoring in communications) says that students still rely on print media and word of mouth for information on campus events.

The University sends out a “Student Announcements” e-mail daily (it usually hits my Blackberry around 1:45AM), which provides a summary of current and upcoming campus events. Not surprisingly, many students set their inboxes to filter this announcement out as spam and find out about campus events through the PAW Events printed flyer posted on bulletin boards, in the Mace and Crown and on the Webb Center and Residential Hall doors. A small number of students (coincidently, the same number of students that responded to the survey through e-mail) said that they find out about campus happenings through Facebook events.

As far as online dating and social networking, many communications students still prefer traditional means. “I meet people through other friends and my classes,” one junior classmate responded.

Students also have mixed views on currently technologies and use of technology on campus. “Unless its new computers in the Art labs, I don’t care,” says one junior art major. Others say that they keep current with new technology by “purchasing the newest iPod.”

To my knowledge, Old Dominion University does not currently have its own Campus events RSS feed available to the public, but it may be too soon to implement such a convenient technology.

Survey conducted through face-to-face interviews and e-mail surveys of past and present classmates.

Student Journalism 2.0

I Photoshopped my Old Dominion University Press Pass so I can gather information from a real-time "on-the-go," student media perspective. I am the resident geek and will attempt to make an awareness of the certain technological culture that comes with new media and my writing will cover technological innovations that can help Old Dominion University students stay connected. I will also incorporate Old Dominion University campus events and news will come in as little or as often as there is something to talk about and will be delivered to you in a lovely, Laurynized fashion. Think of it as The View, but smarter with a realistic feminine geek chick edge.

I am a graduate of Tidewater Community college where I accomplished an A.A.S. in Information Technology with an emphasis in Web Design. Recently, I started a freelance business venture where I construct websites for local entrepreneurs. My personal blog is currently moving domains, but you can currently find it at laur[y]nomaly.net.

My technical expertise landed me a local job performing technical support for a large camera corporation, which catalyzed my passion for film and digital photography. I enjoy photography of all kinds--studio/portrait photography, events, sports, and news media. I shoot with Canon equipment and print with Canon colors.

I am continuing my education at Old Dominion University and working on a Bachelor's of Science in Communications. I will have to wait until my two-year-old son is older to run my own new media publication, but I plan on establishing experience at a reputable publication until then.

I am fascinated by movies, technology, [apple] computers, geek culture, video games, photography, intellectual conversations, classical literature, politics, unique areas of feminism, and satirical approaches to mass communication.

Stay tuned for more awesomeness.