Smile! You're on Candid (Web) Camera

Last week, we talked about the "micro blogging" phenomenon and Twitter. But if sending text announcements isn't good enough for you, you might be ready to move up to the next step: video micro blogging. The premiere web service for that seems to be Seesmic, which some call the "Twitter of video." You can partake of this visual twittering at
http://www.wxpnews.com/MLVRY3/081125-Seesmic

The idea is that you record short videos and post them for your "followers" in much the same way you post short text messages on Twitter. There's a public timeline, as on Twitter, or you can send videos directly to other users who are registered on Seesmic. You can also record a video reply to someone else's video post.

So how does it work? Well, the site doesn't have a lot of information about that, so you just have to plunge in and play it by ear. Luckily, the interface is pretty intuitive. Of course, you need to have a web cam and a microphone (either two separate devices or a web cam that comes with a built-in mic) connected to your computer. You can record directly with the web site interface, you can record your video in another program and upload it to the site, or you can post a URL of a YouTube video on one of your social networking sites.

You'll need to create an account, and you can select what sort of license you want to grant to other Seesmic users for your videos (how they are allowed to use them). Your options range from "all rights reserved," which means you retain the copyright and no one can legally use your videos without your permission, to "attribution," which means others can copy, distribute, display or perform your work and derivatives based on it, but they must give you credit for it. You can also prohibit derivative works or restrict use to non- commercial purposes only. Read the details about the various types of licenses at
Seesmic (alpha) - Creative Commons Licenses

You can configure your account so that you'll be notified by email when someone replies to one of your videos, when someone sends you a direct video, or when you acquire a new follower. You can also block individual users so that their videos will no longer be displayed to you.

It's always a good idea to examine the "rules of the road" before you engage in a new activity. In this case, that includes both the traditional Terms of Service (ToS) document and a set of "Community Guidelines" that are posted on the site and accessed via a link at the bottom of the main page. First, you must be 18 years old or older to use the service, and you are asked to acknowledge that "you may be exposed to content that might be offensive, harmful, inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate material, or in some cases, postings that have been mislabeled or are otherwise deceptive." The company, of course, disclaims any liability for any harm you might suffer as a result.

The ToS is fairly standard; the above disclaimer notwithstanding, all users must agree not to publish anything that's false or misleading, an invasion of anyone's privacy, obscene or offensive, bigoted or racist or that violates anyone's rights or any applicable law or regulation. You'll find the full ToS here:
Seesmic (alpha) - TERMS OF SERVICE

The guidelines are less formal, and can be boiled down to a few basic tenets. The overriding one is "be nice." That means stay on topic, don't steal content, don't spam, don't harass anyone. Oh, and no nudity, please. You can read the guidelines here:
Seesmic Community Guidelines

Of course, Seesmic is by no means the only forum for video blogging (which is also called vlogging). Many of the videos posted to YouTube are, in essence, video blog posts, and several of the most popular content management systems like Joomia and Wordpress allow you to post video content, too.

Some folks go all out in the production of their videos, setting the stage and using high quality digital camcorders to do the recordings. Most use web cams made specifically for computers. You can buy a cheap web cam for around $20, or you can spend $79 to $100 for a Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, which most reviewers seem to agree is one of the best in terms of value and quality. It uses Carl Zeiss optics, which results in sharper pictures than the run-of-the- mill web cam. It also has a built-in microphone so you don't have to worry about dealing with two separate devices.

Many laptops now come with built in web cams and some of these are surprisingly good. The camera in our "NewTank," the HP dv7-1175nr desktop replacement that we recently added to our computer family, provides very clear video and you get good sound quality with the built-in mic.

Most web cams come with some sort of software for recording and distributing your videos. If you want to stream video, look for web cam software with a high frame rate. Fifteen frames per second (fps) should be the minimum; 30 fps is better. There are free web cam programs that you can download, such as YAWCAM (Yet Another Web CAM) at
Yawcam - Yet Another Webcam Software

Another common way to record videos for uploading is via your cell phone. Most mobile phones on the market today come with cameras and more and more of these can take short videos as well as still photos. Some of them are specially configured to record video in the correct format for YouTube. Cell phone video capability makes it easy for you to grab a visual recording wherever you are. The quality of the cell phone cams varies, though.

Of course, not all uses of the web cam are quite so public as Seesmic and YouTube. Many grandparents today delight in being able to see their grandkids in real time as they talk to them using Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Skype or one of the other IM or VoIP programs that supports video chat. More sophisticated programs allow you to hold videoconferences with multiple people at the same time, and as travel budgets have been cut due to the soft economy, and more and more businesses are using them for virtual meetings.

You can conduct web-based video meetings through services such as mebeam.com. It's probably the simplest implementation: you don't need to install any software on your computer or sign up for an account. Just go to the web site and type in a name for a "room" that you've shared with other participants. You can also join a random room, but be careful with that as you don't know what the other "residents" of that room may be broadcasting.
MeBeam, Video Chat.

You can also get software that will turn your web cam into a home surveillance tool. Watcher is just one example; it can monitor your home or office continuously or use motion detection to trigger capture, and you can set it up to email you, dial a phone or even play a sound file (such as that of a barking/growling dog) when motion is detected. With its accompanying RemoteView program, you can connect to it over the Internet and see real time streamed video from your web cam while you're away, and the stream can also be saved to the local hard disk. System requirements are minimal and it will run on XP, Vista and even older operating systems such as Windows 2000, NT and Windows 98.

Of course, to transmit or view streaming video, you also need a fast Internet connection. Folks who live in areas without broadband access, or who can afford only a dialup connection, won't be able to enjoy good quality video.

The first known web cam was located in the computer science department at Cambridge University in 1991. The technology has come a long way since then. Be aware, though, that there is malicious software out there that a hacker can use to activate your camera without your knowledge. If you have a web cam attached to your computer, you might want to cover the lens or turn it to face the wall when you aren't using it, as an extra precaution.

And there's another dark side to the web cam phenomenon. After all, one of its first uses was to distribute pornography. Child predators may expose themselves to children and teens via web cams, or convince their victims to transmit unsavory videos of themselves. Several people have killed themselves while others watched online. Just last week, a college student in Miami committed suicide live on camera:
Strange record of Florida teen's Web suicide persists online | Technology | Los Angeles Times

It could be even worse. In a recent movie, Untraceable, a serial killer tortures and eventually kills his victims while broadcasting live video of the deaths online. The villain also spies on the family of an FBI agent by tricking the teenage daughter into installing malicious software on the family computer. Could it happen in real life? A Trend Micro representative says yes (with a few caveats):
Business Technology : Untraceable Murder Web Sites Really Could Exist

Of course, almost any technology can be used for good or evil purposes. Some people are afraid that ubiquitous web cams built into computer monitors could be used by the government to monitor what we're doing and saying in our homes, as foreshadowed by George Orwell in 1984.

How about you? Do you have a web cam? How do you use it: for private video chats with family, for public postings on YouTube or Seesmic, for keeping an eye on what's going on at your house when you're not there? Do you visit other folks' web cam sites, watch homemade YouTube videos or follow video conversations on vlogging sites? Do you think video is the future of the Internet, or will it remain a niche application? Is there a clear and present danger that web cam technology will be misused by the government and/or hackers? Tell us what you think about web cams by writing to feedback@wxpnews.com

And here's another question: would you like to see this newsletter expand its scope to use more of the social networking tools? Would you like to see more interactivity on the web site? Do you want me to post a weekly video discussion starter? Would you like to have the opportunity to interact more with fellow readers, via a discussion forum and/or video discussion threads? Your opinion counts!