The number of websites that provide videos are exploding. This is made possible because of the drop in cost of bandwidth for content providers (Netflix is an example) to deliver it and an increase capacity and demand from the end user to access it. Many devices (roku, PS3,Xbox…)in the last two or three years are capable of connecting to the Internet as a medium, with Wifi leading the way, and more and more are able to show video. This combination provides more choices for the viewers.
Asides form popular websites like YouTube and Hulu, or Blip.tv, we now have websites like PBS (see Video.PBS.org) that provides their programs online.
This got me thinking:
How does the ability to access the videos, whether for entertainment or informational purposes, affect us? Are we better for having watched these videos or not?
How can we use these video contents to shape our world, our particular communities, and our own lives so that life is more meaningful and enriching?
I have been with my current host for almost four years now. I am pretty happy with the service provided given what I pay them for. The control panel is very easy to use and powerful. I think it’s much better than Cpanel. If you are looking for a webhost, look no further.
Consider signing up with DreamHost? Why not get a $20-Off discount when you enter the promo code “DH4VIETNAMESE“?
Got an email from a friend today about a wonderful storyteller and artist name Kseniya Simonova. She is the winner of the Ukraine’s Got Talent 2009 (Україна має талант 2009) with her performance of “Sand Animation”. What an inspiration to watch!
(The description below is in Vietnamese. If you know the source, please let me know)
I was talking to my 8-years old sister Marie this afternoon. She mentioned to me about Susan Boyle, a singer on “Britains Got Talent 2009” who sang “I Dreamed a Dreamâ€. My little sister reminded me not to judge other people based on how they look, but for who they are.
You can view her performance on Youtube: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
It’s incredible how this has taken off on the Internet. As of this writing, there were 45+ million views on YouTube. An article on the World Food Program’s website noted how the Internet can be an instrument to effect change (good in case).
¸¨°º¤ø„…ø¤º° ¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨
¨°º¤ø„¸ GO! Susan !! ¸„ø¤º°¨
¸„ø¤º°¨ From CHICAGO,IL`°º¤ø„
¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø„¸¨°º¤ Susan Boyle, you rock! ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫
I posted here before about a FreeRice.com
Today, while searching for a water filter system, I came across FreePoverty.com
Just like FreeRice.com, you can test your knowledge and help others at the same time.
Here is what they have to say about the history of poverty:
“Every day, at least 30,000 people around the world die from poverty; most of whom are under five years of age. They die because they are undernourished, and do not have enough food or water to survive. More than 800 million people go hungry every day. This is 13% of the world population. How can you help? By playing this game on FreePoverty.com, each answer you get correct, 10 cups of water will be donated. Somewhere in the world, someone will receive it. And it will make a difference to their day.”
For less than 3 minutes, I donated 48 cups of water and reviewed my geography at the same time! What a win-win situation. Why don’t you give it a try? Be the change you want the world to be.
I have been exploring a number of programs/systems in the area of communication during the past few years. I am always eager to learn effective means of communication. I am ever curious as how to find the proper method to keep in touch and work collaboratively, as cheap and as easy as possible. With the explosive growth of the OpenSource movement, some very powerful projects came forward to challenge more expensive proprietary ones. Here, I would like to name some of those projects and you can explore more yourself:
I hope that my school in Chicago, Catholic Theological Union, a graduate school of Theology, will adopt some of these powerful opensource tools. I am more interested in the integration of these projects together, like using DimDim for classmates and professors to meet virtually. Others have used Alfresco to manage their contents and use it along with Moodle, or allow users to update document changes straight to the server within MS Office (see example below).
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On a side note, I am trying to learn more about Asterisk and other software/hardware combination that will allow the members in my community to connect with other sites for free or cheaply. I am interested in Unified Communication systems. An interesting project named SARK integrates an SMB/SME (Small to Medium Size Business/Enterprise) Server and a PBX. Other open source systems include DRUID and Elastix. Check it out yourself. If you know or use other projects, please let me know and I would be happy to share it with others here.
Stay tune…
If the new Skype‘s “unlimited” (10,000 minutes max/month) plan that allows you to call 38+ countries does not fit your bill, try DialSimple out. I think their way of mixing VOIP with traditional method will replace the traditional phonecards that we were used to:
