David Cameron On Social Media
July 30, 2009
I guess I should not be surprised that the leader of a political party should contradict himself. It happens all the time. In the case of David Cameron and his twitter comment though..“Too many twits make a twat..” It doesn’t seem that long ago that Mr Cameron was extolling to me the virtues of social media.
I’m not sure how we can believe anything he said in the Audioboo interview when he is now so keen to slam tweeters.
Twitter at the moment is the mainstay of all the social media I’m involved in and I think others use it in a similar fashion. It’s the back bone, the spine of cross platform conversations. Interesting how Cameron says “Politicians do have to think about what we say..” Perhaps they should also think about what they have said..
Maybe he just wanted to reconnect with his ‘Base’.. Maybe he still just doesn’t understand social media at all.
UPDATE: The comments that follow this blog post have become way more important that any statement I made in my original hasty proclamation.. Please make sure you read them.
Kodak Zi8 1080p HD Video Camera
July 29, 2009
So here is what the fuss is all about. Finally a low cost hand held HD video camera with a microphone input. I’m yet to get my hands on a Kodak Zi8 for a proper test but I had a quick fondle for a couple of minutes behind the Kodak stand with Jenny Cisney at NYC 140 Conference.
In the dark shadowy corner I shot this very quick video in 720p as the SD card I had to hand was not high speed and couldn’t cope with the fat data rate of the 1080p setting. The camera feels good in the hand. Well made and similar in form to the Zi6.
Already I can see the low light ability is better than that of the previous two models but more importantly I am looking forward to plugging in an external mic and seeing what kind of audio quality is possible.
The specs are as follows:
• Full HD 1080p video
• Built-in image stabilization
• 2.5” color LCD
• Swing out the USB arm to upload, share, and charge
• 5 MP 16:9 widescreen HD still pictures
• Built-in software for editing and uploading
• Compatible with PC and Mac
• Record up to 10 hrs of HD video (20 min per 1 GB at 720p HD at 30 fps) with SD/SDHC card up to 32 GB
• Face tracking technology
• External stereo microphone
• HDMI cable included
I’m thinking that finally camera producers are beginning to understand the importance of decent audio.. more important than picture quality in my opinion. It’s too soon for me to express anything other than relief at the mic input with the Kodak Zi8, but I feel with devices like the Zoom Q3 on the horizon (which is effectively a high quality audio recorder with a camera on it), I feel the goal posts have been moved and video blogging devices are entering a whole new era.
If you suffered watching the video with all the beeps in.. Now you can watch the uncensored version.
There is more information on the Kodak Blog.
Something New From Kodak
July 22, 2009
Here’s a strange blog post. Just a video really.
While I was over in New York at the 140 Characters Conference I got the chance to have a sneak peak at a new Kodak device that I can’t talk about. (They made me sign some seriously legal scary stuff). That said.. It doesn’t mean you can’t speculate as to what it might be in the comments below. Anyone that knows me, or has seen me speak about what I do will probably have a idea about the kind of Kodak device that excites me. But for now, like i said. I can’t talk about it. 
The original Kodak blog post where this video and another from Steve Garfield is linked HERE
