Friends Imagined

At LifeBytes I have seen a DVD for Imaginary Friends, a Phoenix Media Production. This will be shown in an Imaginary Lounge, somewhere near the Phoenix, and there may be other stuff as well.

This got me thinking about my own imagined friends, people on the other end of an email address for example. When will I get a reply? Why do I get so much junk from people I don't know?

LifeBytes is a base for video production on Windows. Mostly Mac at the Phoenix but this level of detail is for a future post. The event was that I was recently described at LifeBytes as a "video blogger". This may be to identify what I do as not connected to the properly edited, well lit, carefully planned content on Exeter TV. In the past few months I have given up on waiting for someone to edit my video. I now either record in three minute chunks or else am gradually learning enough Premiere to take out small sections. I do get some help on this, just enough to stop me demanding a proper editor.

So "video blogging" I think of as an extension of text blogging. YouTube can be embedded. I am not sure if people find the sequences in the video on YouTube. I will try out some more later on this blog.

I often link to other people. There is rarely a "Creative Commons" statement on YouTube but links are ok anyway. The audience have to choose the order of viewing. On Flickr I search for Creative Commons only and then may edit. So over the next couple of months I hope to link to various sources around animation, music and imagined friends. This post is an outline of some topics.

Starting with the Hunky Mouse, part of the Newswireless site. A few years ago he wrote that he would buy readers a drink if they turned up at a pub near Olympia after a wireless tradeshow. Then it turned out this pub closed down months previously. Did he ever repeat the offer? With some actual friends we have offered to buy him a drink after other shows but he is yet to turn up. The IMS show for example. The techie bit at the back of Online Information. He once thought about it and then decided that IMS meant something else. Anyway there is a graphic which could help in a video and also newswireless offers confidence that something like "wi-fi Exeter" may work out eventually.

This blog however could be in slower time. Instant wifi over the city is a nice idea. Something written up over a few weeks is more likely.

http://www.bristolwireless.net/news/?p=347

Bristol Wireless is more of a reality. They do reply to email every so often. Where it gets more imagined is around the D.R.O.I.D. event from last year and the continuing events on Second Life. I do get emails about this but don't have the bandwidth at home so rely on what turns up on YouTube.

Dirk Schooner has also posted something more restful. Is this animation or what? Need to develop camera skills in Exeter.

Last year I tried to do a script linking events in Exeter and Bristol. Pipsi Bracken could have given away dance steps at the Trinity. This year I just hope for some video and will work out the script later. There was a relay from the Phoenix basement to Phoenix bar so the possibility was demonstrated.

On Flickr I am a friend of BennyBen who also has a blog. Hello Ben. What chance an actual link over Second Life or Twinity or something? Including a superstar from Cornwall and/or link to Bristol? With a relic on YouTube later for people who go to bed early and have limited bandwidth.

Target dates 14 Feb,6/7th Mar, or fake edit later.

I am a friend of Drifter Rhodes in Second Life but finding the equivalent in the Phoenix is not easy so far. There is a desk where you can leave hard copy messages.

I still think there is a connection between the early computer animation shown as "A New Canvas" and the demoscene as shown at Sundown. Not sure I have the right email address for Greg Kurcewicz. I did meet him a couple of times but festivals are busy times so I failed to persuade him to watch demoscene tv instead of what he came for. Actually I think it was all on a laptop, there was no demoscene tv at the time. Anyway I will continue to imagine Greg as a link to the world of curating official art. Any news on how to contact him is welcome.

Dotwaffle is someone who turns up once a year at Sundown. Going out of time might be ok. Imagine Sundown as a sign of spring.

Somewhere in the background will be the technology issues and the debate around copyright and business models. There are some people online who I have never actually met. Well I did meet Michael Jahn at a trade show but he was under contract to talk about a product so I did not learn much extra about him. He is an "evangelist" but about what can change. He tends to listen, and will offer an answer to questions. We follow each other on Twitter but I don't think I have the hang of this yet as I post about once a month.

I first found Steve Carlson through Now Europe in an earlier version. Recently this concentrates East. Might have met him in London once but meetings clashed. Maybe some of what happens in Exeter will connect.

Another background issue will be the way journalists need to change to work online, or else just object to online anyway. I may discuss this with my friend Victor in Twinity Berlin but I am not sure how often he is there and I can't get the software to load at home. It will install at LifeBytes but they delete everything overnight so that is why I find email and blog, text in general, is still ok.