Daily Smarts

It’s blatantly obvious that I enjoy a good bout of The Daily Show/ Colbert Report. Besides nerdy History Channel & Discovery Channel shows, these two Comedy Central staples complete my TV repertoire. And thankfully, I never watch the network news. It turns out (surprise!) I’m smarter for watching Jon and Steven. According to a recent study, Fox News viewers aren’t up to par when it comes to current events.

And... one would have hoped the Internet would have spewed out a bit of enlightened knowledge on the American public, but sadly, only 69% of people today can name… the Vice President. Apparently, Cheney is really good at keeping information from the public.

But thanks to wikipedia, we can all ooze our vast and unending knowledge into the “free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” Your wikiality is my wikiality. But who’s wikiality is bigger, you ask? Katie Holmes or Oliver Wendell Holmes? And don’t ask if they mean the Poet or the Supreme Court Justice. Test your knowledge here.

Talk isn't cheap.

Apparently, I made a $17.10 phone call to a friend in Fort Collins, CO. It lasted exactly 38 minutes. Now, I’m no math wiz, but that’s about 45 cents a minute. Yesterday, I discovered that my work related daytime phone usage has more than tripled my cell phone bill. I think it’s time to switch plans.

Luckily, I found this, the aptly titled article: “Tips to End Your Existing Cell Contract”

And yes, I’ve considered switching to AT&T, you know, so I can get an iPhone. A cell phone that will do anything and everything you can think of! I can’t wait until I’m able to say “iPhone, earl grey, hot”, and for a simple $3.00 transaction fee, Starbucks will teleport a steaming cup of tea to me. Ideally, one would hope this next generation technology would be free... but we all know how the world works.

However, even though I’d love to watch YouTube, order sushi, and read the NYTimes on my cell, I think I’ll save my $500 to pay off my existing cell phone bill.

Seeking Internet Genius to Waste Time on Really Bad Idea for Free

Everywhere I look there's a new Web 2.0 start up that's going to "change the way the world looks at the Internet." Not only are there a bazillion new IPTV channels, but companies everywhere are looking for people to join in... for free. Let's just say they haven't recieved their Venture Capital yet.

Eitherway, this craigslist post sums it up perfectly.

We gotta hand it to him.

See, anyone with two hands can make a video.

(stick with it... it gets pretty good)



If you love hands, you'll love this old ad:

If anything, it started a discussion.

Whatever your opinion on the war in Iraq is (or as Jon Stewart would say, the “Mess O’ Potamia”), one thing is certain: TeamJaded’s “San Francisco Die In” will be on Current TV. There’s no telling when this event will actually occur, but viewers around the world will someday be able to watch on TV hundreds of protestors lying dead in the middle of downtown San Francisco.

Sound exciting? We thought so. Which was why, on a whim, TeamJaded decided to shoot the spectacle. What came of it was the following video:




Uploaded to Current’s website (as a straight up network purchase was shied away from- Al Gore’s network doesn’t want to look too lefty) the video slowly but surely made it’s way to the top of the leaderboard. And thanks to the votes of friends, family, and random people from the Current Community, “SF Die In” won the #1 spot on June 11th.

It was nice to see so many people voicing their opinion after watching the pod. It started a discussion (or texting feud), and even though we shot this with no motive, it was cool to see the emotion it provoked. Thanks to everyone who voted for this pod!

It's All Happening.

So it’s crazy to think that in our mid-twenties we’ve started our own company. Now, this might not seem too crazy for anyone who knows Jeremey. He’s been Jaded for years. A skateboarder, DIY-er, “I made my own ‘zine” guy, it’s not too hard to imagine him going full-force with an independent venture. I, however, have been a corporate glom-on since I left college. Yes, I wasn’t going to ‘sell-out’ after I left college radio, but guess what? I worked for the Number 5 Fortune 500 Entertainment Industry company, Viacom… right next to Number 6: Clear Channel. And thanks to my University’s Writing Dept, anyone who has ever googled my name know’s I’ll never get a job there.

But even though the views from the 48th floor in Times Square were beautiful, there was something missing. Maybe it was a few of my brain cells, but I knew that I needed something more. I guess “more” meant flying across the country to go work for Al Gore… More appropriately, Current TV. It was here in San Francisco that I learned the world is changing; and not just because of Global Warming (thank you Inconvenient Truth). But the world in which we consume media is changing. From Cable to On Demand, from YouTube, AppleTV, and Milan… it’s all happening. Almost anyone can own an HD Camera (albeit you definitely need some funding), and Final Cut Pro is basically available to the masses.

TV production is no longer for the elite. It no longer is in the hands of the few. Those with the money may have the connections, but they don’t control the content and the distribution anymore. Things are changing and Jaded Multimedia will be apart of it.

In his blog “Video on the Net” on BuzzMachine.com, Jeff Jarvis says it best:
“The first and more important lesson: We now have the tools to control not just the consumption but the creation of media.”

So as we start this new adventure, we’ll continue to work with innovative TV companies (like Current TV), and foster new relationships with amazing IPTV stations (see the links!). Our hope is that we can create meaningful content, that’s fun to watch, and has a positive impact in the world.

Now I’m done being cheesy. It’s time to get crazy.

We’ll be updating this blog daily. Random stuff. We’ll discuss anything. From wack stats, to rad artists, and random news, we’ll be throwin it down. And we’d be pretty psyched if ya’ll joined in the conversation. Stay tuned.