Hunter Weeks and his friend Josh Caldwell quit their cushy 9 to 5 job so that they could follow their dream, which was to get a sense of America and today’s American Dream. The way Hunter and Josh planned to accomplishing their dream was to travel across the U.S. (from Seattle to Boston), but instead of walking, driving, or flying, they decided to do this journey on a Segway.

Hunter and Josh did this journey with very little money and because of this they struggled. But this didn’t stop them from them reaching their dream, they kept at it and figured things out on a shoe string budget. They turned their weaknesses into strengths by leveraging the media, which allowed them to get press in outlets such Wired, LA Times, Washington Post, The Pheonix, CNet, Boston Globe, and the Denver Post. Instead of complaining and making excuses these two individuals accomplished their dream while becoming somewhat famous.

Via QuickSprout

A startup officially debuting at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston next week claims it has software that can significantly improve the quality of Web video across a range of devices from cellphones to servers and digital TVs. Ipera Technology Inc. aims to license its algorithms which run on ARM and x86 processors.

The startup conducted the first demos of the software a few weeks ago and is now ready to ship the code. Ipera charges a flat licensing fee, non-recurring engineering fees if users need customization of the code and a royalty based on the type and volume sales of the product using it.

The code has been optimized for an ARM 926EJS for use enhancing video playback in devices such as cellphones and digital cameras. It can provide enhancements to quarter VGA resolution video on handsets running on a 150 MHz or slower processor. It can also run on an ARM7-class CPU for lower-end feature phones.

More info via EE Times

Not to be outdone by Silverlight, Adobe has announced a beta version of its Flash player with the ability to play high-definition video. The new player adds support for H.264 – as used in the Blu-ray and HD DVD standards – plus High Efficiency AAC audio.

The company’s Premiere Pro and After Effects software for content creators already supports H.264 encoding, and support for the standard will also be added to Adobe’s AIR platform for rich Internet applications. Get the beta Flash Player here. The final release is expected during the next few months.

Fred Wilson posted Here that Howard Lindzon got on a plane, went to NYC, hired a couple of awesome video producers named Adam and Jeff and a wonderful host named Lindsay. He set out to make a funny short video about Wall Street five days a week for less than $1000 per show. Adam and Jeff figured out how to do that and they’ve been online every work day since October 16th of last year. 10-months later = $5 Million deal..!!
Congrats are certainly in order..

So you are off on the big trip… or maybe you are planning the big trip; or maybe you just returned from the big trip. How are you going to document, edit and then share your vacation fun times with your friends and family?

This is the guide for what you need to do before you go on your trip, how to capture and document it, and then, how to share it via the net.

Meanwhile, there’s a few thousand more examples to watch on the tube

Ok.. we’re outta here.. cya sometime in August..

After 11 years, Slate has decided to become a parent. So, light up a cigar and say hello to Slate V.

That’s “V” as in video, not the Roman numeral for “5.” The new video magazine will deliver original features, compelling documentary segments, and buzz-worthy video clips culled from the far reaches of the Web.

On the site you’ll find familiar Slate franchises such as “Explainer,” “Dear Prudence,” “Damned Spot,” and “Ad Report Card”—now in living color!—alongside newly created segments about politics, culture, business, technology, and [oh soooo much] more.

The new RealPlayer, due at the end of June, will seek to regain popularity as the best and most useful media player on the Internet. It’s great news for Real, and great news for consumers. Real have said they believe their software is operating within the law, but video providers may not agree.
[No kidding.. ya think? -- eds]

RealNetworks are billing it as “the first media player to make it one-click simple to download online videos from thousands of Web sites”, allowing you to save most types of video that haven’t been marked as copyright or non-downloadable to your computer, and then burn them to CD as a with the free Real Player and by sharing the video links with friends as is more commonly done.

It’s too early to know if action will be taken, but chances are that the legal implications are under discussion by multiple parties in multiple companies as we speak, and if it’s planned, we’ll all know soon enough.

via: IT Wire

The Pixelodeon event will feature keynote addresses from speakers bridging the divide between traditional media and new media, and those dealing with issues such as copyright and file sharing. Two dozen curators, including notable new media content creators Amanda Congdon of ABC News, Veronica Belmont of C|Net, and Bre Pettis of Make Magazine, selected videos from the Internet to illustrate themes for one-hour theater screenings starting at 12PM until 6PM each day.

“The current media landscape is changing so fast that these up-and-coming creators have a chance to help define its new foundations,” said Ryanne Hodson, co-founder of Pixelodeon, as she announced speakers, curators, and a line-up of over 300 videos for Pixelodeon’s first annual Web video screening festival to be held at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California on June 9-10.

L.A. We Love It..

via: Social Computing Magazine

A new lightweight camcorder designed for easy video uploads is coming from RCA, the Small Wonder weighs about 5 ounces and operates without tapes, discs, cumbersome batteries or complicated instructions.

The camcorder has a built-in Memory Manager video sharing application that lets users save, compress, edit, e-mail and upload video files, or select any paused frame and save it as a .JPG or .BMP image.

To promote the new camcorder, RCA is sponsoring a Wonder Woofs contest for dog owners. Bark for your dinner!

via: Killer App.

Microsoft has outlined its vision for the web at its Mix 07 event in Las Vegas. In his keynote speech, the corporation’s chief software architect Ray Ozzie summarised his vision for the future of the Microsoft-powered internet. He gave further details on Microsoft Silverlight, the corporation’s answer to the well-established Flash tech for web video delivery.

Ozzie said it will “change the game” for web video before introducing Silverlight Streaming. This free service will store and stream video clips into Web pages.. astounding!

via: Tech UK