I’ve been a bit lazy about posting this and it’s about a week old, but here it is, and guess what, you can steal it and repost it on your blog, go ahead:
TechTV fans rejoice! Your one time favorite network (you know, before Comcast screwed it up and and got rid of all the good shows and people) is coming back, sort of. That’s right, Undo.tv, which is a new project by Leo Laporte and Chris Pirillo that aims to bring tech programming to fans of the old TechTV and just about anyone interested in tech via the net. Fans of TechTV will recognize many of their favorite hosts from the network in Undo’s content. Viewers will also be able to create and upload their own content that will be eligible to become part of Undo.tv’s official lineup of shows. Currently the online network is invite only, and you can sign up to maybe get and invite, or at least that is what Leo Laporte said when I spoke with him the other day. He feels that “At the very least it’s going to be a central place where listeners can find quality tech content from the extend TechTV family.”. And although he cannot be certain, he says that it could turn out to be the online rebirth of TechTV. Leo is more than capable of running such a network, as he is no stranger to the online media business. The TWiT podcast (or netcast, as he insists it be called) network is one of the largest with hundreds of thousands listeners each month. They record new episodes for their many podcasts every week. Almost everyday! He speculates that, ” It won’t be very long before people start getting their TV programming from the Internet” and that ” IPTV is just around the corner”. He says that the internet is probably the best way for he and the other TechTV hosts to distribute the type of tech oriented programming they specialize in, and he may be right. Although no official announcements have been made he said that Undo.tv is expected to launch in January. So sign up now!
OK, so this really isn’t blog related but, who cares? Anyway, in case you have been living under a rock or you’re just slow, you probably heard that Google bought YouTube, the new tube on the block for that ridiculous sum in the title of this post. Why?
Well, many reasons. Google thought that if they owned youtube they will gain its community. This will probably happen, and this community will hopefully start using all the other Google-owned services. If this happens Google will have a chance of escaping from (insert competitor here) shadow.
Google probably also wanted to improve upon, or replace their own video service, and who better to do this with than the leader.
I’m going to stop here before this becomes a Valleywag post, and because writing on a Nokia 770 is hard (I still love you Nokia). I will continue this unfinished thought on a later date, and maybe on a different blog…
Earlier today (actually just a few minutes ago) I got the chance to interview Ze Frank. I was riding a bicycle at the time hence, the title of this post ( I would prefer not to tell why in this post, but If you ask I will tell.) Mr. Frank is the host of the show over on his site, which has become a huge hit.
I first asked why he decided to start the video podcast in the first place. He wanted a new way to communicate with the fans of his already popular site, because the regular release of his video shorts and and fun flash apps had slowed and he need something new. He was also interested in the who video blogging concept ( It might have something to do with the fact that he isn’t a very good typist, or so he says 
and he also thought there wasn’t many of them out there, so he started one. He now had a community of views who very active in the show ( see Fabuloso Friday ).
I then asked how the show is produced and if he was a mac user, something I was curious about I turns out that he is a mac user ( I knew a saw a pre-aluminum cinema display behind him! ) which made me very happy. It was no big surprise to hear that the show is created using iMovie, and that he put those clever and catchy tunes together using Garageband. What was interesting, to me at least, was that he uses a little florescent lamp as lighting for the show. I think this style of using what is avalable to you is one reason why the show has gained som much popularity other than it being really really awesome.
One of the last few questions I asked him was why ducks? An odd question, I know but It was something I had been curious about since I started watching the show. He said, “There are many reasons.” The reason he gave me was the way they defend themselves from their predators. Needless to say, I rather liked this response.
Next, I asked if he had any plans to release a DVD or a CD, something views of the show had been curious about. On the subject of a DVD he felt that If he made a DVD it would be less enjoyable because the viewer may not remeber the issues discussed in the episode. I agreed with this statement but said nothing because I was riding a bicycle. As for a CD, it seemed that this would be more likly but in their current state they would be too short or as Ze said, “They would be over by the time you push play.” He would need to revise them in order to make it worthwhile to produce a CD.
The last question I was going to ask him was an amazing, well thought-out, and thought provoking one, but… I forgot it so I just asked him what’s with the League of Awesomeness ( which according to spellcheck is a real word ). The LOA is like the UN says Ze Frank. They control what Ze and what happens on the show and he must listen. That is why this week is Happy Week on the show, which has so far challenged the crafty viewers or Sports Racers to dress up their mom’s vaccum ( When I called Ze was busy judging such vacuums). Happy Week was a request made in the the show forums asking Ze to take a break for a week from all the “non-happy” political news and current event he usually covers, This request was then forced upon Ze by the LOA ( He has to do everything they tell him ).
At that time I felt it was a good time to end the interview as I was out of questions and I had to go out to dinner ( and my legs were getting tired ).
I would like to thank Ze Frank for his time and his amazing show, Thank You.
P.S. Do you know Ray?
It appears the guys over at Engadget ( Well, Peter Rojas and Ryan Block at least ) are working on something that is set to launch tomorrow.
On his personal blog during a rant about the seemingly endless slew of product announcements this week Ryan Block said, “Especially when our publications may have news to announce ourselves. See you Monday.”
This is way more exciting than any Apple Event.
I’m sorry.
From the Comments: Ryan Block says “it’s probably not as interesting as you guys think it is.”
**UPDATE** Go check out the new site!
