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Wishing you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holidays and the very best for your New Year!
Listen: Silent Night – Performed by Douglas E. Welch
Author Archives: Douglas E. Welch
A new entertainment industry is coming and inevitable
We writers often kick ourselves when we don’t act on an article idea and someone else beats us to the punch. That said, today’s article in the Los Angeles Times entitled, “Striking writers in talks to launch web start-ups” re-states exactly what I have been telling my WGA-member wife and anyone else who will listen. Basically, it is time to look outside the tired studio system that has evolved around network television today and start exploring alternatives that allow writers to take some control over their own destiny once again.
It is easy to see now how the consolidation of studios and television networks has led to a de facto monopoly over entertainment in the US today. Studios own the productions which then air on their networks and are distributed by their corporations. This monopoly has led to a progressively lower and lower common denominator of quality in network shows. Despite a few shining highlights, television over the last 10 years has been a race to the bottom – with stupidity, ugliness and near-pornographic shows becoming the norm. America, fed a continuous diet of “more of the same” has become numb to any real choice in entertainment. Even with the coming of TiVo and other PVR’s, it matters little if you can time shift your entertainment when there is so little of worth to record.
One could say that this monopoly has been one important factor in the overall stagnation in the television and movie industry today. The studios have refused to change the way their do business despite falling revenues and fewer viewers being reported each quarter. Instead they desperately try to hold on to some remnants of their existing business model, praying that the Internet will just go away. As we have already seen with the music business, though, the Internet is not going away and will change the face of the entertainment business in a thousand different ways.
For the first time in history, the distribution stranglehold has been broken and creative workers – writers, directors, actors et al – need to exploit this new found freedom in whatever way possible. They need to win back the long-lost ability to be able to produce not only what they wish, but what their audience craves.
Furthermore, each article on the “new television” model takes pains to express doubt about the viability of this new model. It should be clear to everyone, though, that there is certain inevitability about the coming changes to the entertainment industry. It is not a question of whether or not the changes will occur, but only a matter of when and how.
In the early days of the Internet, there was a saying that outlined its robustness and flexibility, “The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.” Replace the word censorship with monopoly, greed or unilateral control and the quote shows its true power. Let’s all “route around” the current studio system and develop a new entertainment industry to serve us better in the 21st Century.
It’s not crap — It’s communication!
I find myself facing a constant flow of arguments, both online and in person, along these lines…
“Everything on (insert Internet service here) is crap and nothing but idiots jabbering to idiots!”
Comments like this say much more about the commenter, than the actual usefulness of any online service. The commenter doesn’t find something useful so, to make themselves feel wiser and/or more important, they decide that no one should find it useful. Surely, once they have deemed something unworthy, everyone should see the light , turn off their browsers and get back to work.
Unable to find any value for themselves in a service, they try to make themselves feel better by declaring it useless for everyone else, despite the fact that thousands of people find a service useful every day. Their not crazy, everyone else is, of course!
I can’t imagine where civilization would be if we had ever listened to the nay-sayers like this, who seek to dictate a world that perfectly meets their specifications. Luckily, we seem to be intelligent enough to understand the true nature of their complaints and simply ignore them. Still, it grows more and more tedious every day to constantly face their onslaught. I would guess we would still be working with stone tools and wearing skins if they had their way. Surely there isn’t any value in reading, writing, philosophy or higher learning. What has it ever done for them?
There is an important lesson here, though. Internet services, no matter how inane the content might first appear, succeed at a more fundamental level — they foster communication — the basic building block of progress throughout the ages. When people communicate, problems gets solved, wars are ended and civilization takes another bold step up the evolutionary ladder.
I will wade through 100,000 stupid YouTube videos or a million Twitter posts, because I know that each and every one of them is another conversation — another attempt to communicate. If the nay-sayers truly want to make a difference then I challenge them to engage in the conversation — or simply go away. The rest of us are busy communicating — and walking into the future, together.
What’s on My Wish List #10
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
I love the look of HDTV and would love to have one of my own. Of course, I would love to see some reduction in the costs of these units. I also see the ability to plug my computer into the screen as a big plus over older televisions.
#09 Western Digital My Book Premium 500 GB External Hard Drive
As I continue to make more and more video content I am eating up hard disk space at an alarming rate. In this case, I couldn’t wait any longer and bought this for myself today, but it, or something like it has been on my wish list for a long time. Expect more videos now that I have the space to edit them.
#08 Sennheiser HD 25 Dynamic Compact Professional Monitoring Headphone
I spend a lot of time wearing headphones, with all this podcasting work I am doing lately, so having a nice set of headphones would certainly be an improvement. Not only must headphones sounds good, they have to be comfortable, too, and Sennheiser tends to make headphones which are both.
#7 Moleskine Large Ruled Notebook
There are certain gifts that will make people happy regardless. For my wife, it is coffee, chocolate and books. For myself, coffee, wine and a nice Moleskine Journal like this. I always carry a book around with me wherever I go and the Moleskine books hold up better than anything else I have owned. They keep their covers, they have that nice elastic band to hold them shut and the paper quality is top-notch. Get one for yourself…and pick one up for me! (SMILE)
#6 Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset- Black
If any of you have talked on the phone with me, you know my current Bluetooth headset tends to pick up everything in the room. Enter The Jawbone, with its high-end noise cancellation features. You can see a great demo on their web site.
Items #01-05
#05 Victorinox 10-Inch Chef’s Knife
#04 TomTom GO 720 Navigation System
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
#02 iPod Touch
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
Video: A Presentation to the Orange County Podcasters
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Wednesday night I spoke at the regular monthly meeting of the Orange County Podcasters on “What’s Next and What Needs to be Next in Podcasting.”
As is typical with podcasters, they were a great group of people and I had a great time, both during the meeting and later at some after-meeting time at the local WingNuts. Below is a link to the audio from my presentation and the following Q & A session.
Click the small TV icon to view full screen
Watch: A Presentation to the Orange County Podcasters (MPEG 4)
Presentation to the OC Podcasters – December 12, 2007
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Last night I spoke at the regular monthly meeting of the Orange County Podcasters on “What’s Next and What Needs to be Next in Podcasting.”
As is typical with podcasters, they were a great group of people and I had a great time, both during the meeting and later at some after-meeting time at the local WingNuts. Below is a link to the audio from my presentation and the following Q & A session. Video should be available by tomorrow.
Listen : Douglas E. Welch presents to the Orange County Podcasters
[audio:http://welchwrite.com/cip/audio/2007/cip-ocpodcasters.mp3]
What’s on My Wish List #09
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#09 Western Digital My Book Premium 500 GB External Hard Drive
As I continue to make more and more video content I am eating up hard disk space at an alarming rate. In this case, I couldn’t wait any longer and bought this for myself today, but it, or something like it has been on my wish list for a long time. Expect more videos now that I have the space to edit them.
#08 Sennheiser HD 25 Dynamic Compact Professional Monitoring Headphone
I spend a lot of time wearing headphones, with all this podcasting work I am doing lately, so having a nice set of headphones would certainly be an improvement. Not only must headphones sounds good, they have to be comfortable, too, and Sennheiser tends to make headphones which are both.
#7 Moleskine Large Ruled Notebook
There are certain gifts that will make people happy regardless. For my wife, it is coffee, chocolate and books. For myself, coffee, wine and a nice Moleskine Journal like this. I always carry a book around with me wherever I go and the Moleskine books hold up better than anything else I have owned. They keep their covers, they have that nice elastic band to hold them shut and the paper quality is top-notch. Get one for yourself…and pick one up for me! (SMILE)
#6 Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset- Black
If any of you have talked on the phone with me, you know my current Bluetooth headset tends to pick up everything in the room. Enter The Jawbone, with its high-end noise cancellation features. You can see a great demo on their web site.
Items #01-05
#05 Victorinox 10-Inch Chef’s Knife
#04 TomTom GO 720 Navigation System
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
#02 iPod Touch
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
Start Podcasting in Minutes using Utterz.com
I have been playing around with a new, free service called Utterz.com and I quickly realized that it can be used to create an instant podcast by anyone who wants to try a podcast without jumping through a lot of hoops. Here’s what to do:
- Create an account at Utterz.com and follow the instructions to connect it to your cell phone or landline
- Call in and make your first post
- After you make you first post you can upload text, video or pictures from your phone or the web site to annotate your post
- People can subscribe to your Utterz, either though the web site or using iTunes by subscribing to the RSS feed listed at the top of your MyUtterz page
What could be simpler than that?
Of course, if you already have a web site, or accounts on social networking sites, like Facebook, you can have Utterz post your Utterz automatically, so all your friends can find them wherever it is convenient for them.
If you have ever wanted to try out podcasting, for free, take a look at Utterz and have fun!
What’s on My Wish List #08
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#08 Sennheiser HD 25 Dynamic Compact Professional Monitoring Headphone
I spend a lot of time wearing headphones, with all this podcasting work I am doing lately, so having a nice set of headphones would certainly be an improvement. Not only must headphones sounds good, they have to be comfortable, too, and Sennheiser tends to make headphones which are both.
#7 Moleskine Large Ruled Notebook
There are certain gifts that will make people happy regardless. For my wife, it is coffee, chocolate and books. For myself, coffee, wine and a nice Moleskine Journal like this. I always carry a book around with me wherever I go and the Moleskine books hold up better than anything else I have owned. They keep their covers, they have that nice elastic band to hold them shut and the paper quality is top-notch. Get one for yourself…and pick one up for me! (SMILE)
#6 Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset- Black
If any of you have talked on the phone with me, you know my current Bluetooth headset tends to pick up everything in the room. Enter The Jawbone, with its high-end noise cancellation features. You can see a great demo on their web site.
Items #01-05
#05 Victorinox 10-Inch Chef’s Knife
#04 TomTom GO 720 Navigation System
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
#02 iPod Touch
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
Douglas E. Welch on “The Struggling Entrepreneur”
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Frank Castaneda had me on his show, The Struggling Entrepreneur, this week. We talk about working as an independent in high-tech, writing and new media.
Struggling Entrepreneur
15- Doug Welch- From Writer to High Tech to New Media EntrepreneurIn this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we have an interview with Douglas Welch. I had the opportuntity to meet him in person at the Podcamp Arizona unconference in November, 2007. Doug is a high-tech consultant and recent New Media Entrepreneur. Coming from a corporate IT environment and also being a writer, Doug shares with us his road to becoming a successful entrepreneur. As a family man, he does this in concert with his wife and her career, as well. What is interesting are 2 areas that are mentioned in this 40-minute interview:
1. The need for the entrepreneur to be aware of the obstacles with affordable health care; and
2. How being a successful entrepreneur can enrich your personal and family life by “buying yourself time” for a quality life.
What’s on my Wish List #07
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#7 Moleskine Large Ruled Notebook
There are certain gifts that will make people happy regardless. For my wife, it is coffee, chocolate and books. For myself, coffee, wine and a nice Moleskine Journal like this. I always carry a book around with me wherever I go and the Moleskine books hold up better than anything else I have owned. They keep their covers, they have that nice elastic band to hold them shut and the paper quality is top-notch. Get one for yourself…and pick one up for me! (SMILE)
#6 Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset- Black
If any of you have talked on the phone with me, you know my current Bluetooth headset tends to pick up everything in the room. Enter The Jawbone, with its high-end noise cancellation features. You can see a great demo on their web site.
Items #01-05
#05 Victorinox 10-Inch Chef’s Knife
#04 TomTom GO 720 Navigation System
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
#02 iPod Touch
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
WGA Writers – Produce Thyself! – Free podcasting session for striking WGA members
Are you or do you know a WGA member who is on strike?
Do you/they want to learn about podcasting, producing and distributing their own work on the Internet. Comment on this post or send email to cip@welchwrite.com to help me put together a free session for WGA members.
I am looking to gather up a group of interested folks for a free presentation on the Why, What and How of Podcasting.
Douglas speaks at OC Podcasters – Wed, December 12 @ 630 PM
Come on down to Aliso Viejo and hear me speak on “Podcasting: What’s Next!…and What Needs to be Next!“.
Orange County Podcasters December Meetup
When: Wednesday, December 12 at 6:30PM
Where: Corpus Christi of Aliso Viejo
27231 Aliso Viejo Pkwy
Aliso Viejo CA 92656
You can find complete information on the OC Podcasters web site.
I will be recording both audio and video for later podcast in case you can’t make it, but why not stop by if you are in the area?
Writers! Produce Thyself!
Do you know a WGA member who is on strike? Do they want to learn about podcasting, producing and distributing their own work on the Internet. Have them send me an email. I am looking to gather up a group of interested folks for a free presentation on the Why, What and How of Podcasting.
What’s on my Wish List #06
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#6 Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset- Black
If any of you have talked on the phone with me, you know my current Bluetooth headset tends to pick up everything in the room. Enter The Jawbone, with its high-end noise cancellation features. You can see a great demo on their web site.
Items #01-05
#05 Victorinox 10-Inch Chef’s Knife
#04 TomTom GO 720 Navigation System
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
#02 iPod Touch
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
What’s on my Wish List #05
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#05 Victorinox 10-Inch Chef’s Knife
I love to cook and I would really like some nice knives to speed my way through onions, potatoes and other raw ingredients. Most knives cost an arm and a leg, but recently Cooks Illustrated Magazine and America’s Test Kitchen television show and book rated this knife as one of its top recommendations. Cool! Good AND cheap. Who can complain with that? Heck, for that price I would buy 2 or 3.
See also:
Victorinox Stainless-Steel 8-inch Chef’s Knife
#04 TomTom GO 720 Navigation System
I have a pretty good sense of direction, but I also like to know where I am going and how long it is going to take to get there. I have been drooling over these high-end navigation systems for a while. Good to see some of them are starting to come down in price.
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
Heck, I’d settled for nearly any SLR-based digital camera at this point, but this one caught my eye in some ads in Sunday’s paper. Time to step up in my photo quality, I think.
#02 iPod Touch
If can’t get an iPhone I would gladly “fallback” to an iPod Touch. It has many of the great iPhone features,, but without the relatively expensive cell phone contract. It also has more storage than the current iPhone for podcasts and video.
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
Always-on web connectivity, cell phone, music/video player and PDA in one. Who could ask for anything more? Especially since the big price cut a few months ago.
What’s on my Wish List #04
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#04 TomTom GO 720 Navigation System
I have a pretty good sense of direction, but I also like to know where I am going and how long it is going to take to get there. I have been drooling over these high-end navigation systems for a while. Good to see some of them are starting to come down in price.
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
Heck, I’d settled for nearly any SLR-based digital camera at this point, but this one caught my eye in some ads in Sunday’s paper. Time to step up in my photo quality, I think.
#02 iPod Touch
If can’t get an iPhone I would gladly “fallback” to an iPod Touch. It has many of the great iPhone features,, but without the relatively expensive cell phone contract. It also has more storage than the current iPhone for podcasts and video.
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
Always-on web connectivity, cell phone, music/video player and PDA in one. Who could ask for anything more? Especially since the big price cut a few months ago.
Elsewhere Online: A Tool to Help You Analyze Your FeedBurner Feed Statistics
Problogger points to this web site which allows you to gain some more stats from your Feedburner feed data. Averages, monthly trends and more. Don’t ask questions you don’t want to really know the answer to, though. You may not want to see that negative trend in your data. Use at your own risk! (SMILE)
A Tool to Help You Analyze Your FeedBurner Feed Statistics
Blog Perfume has put together an interesting blog tool that is designed to analyze the data that Feedburner provides publishers and to put it into a more useful (and pretty) format.
(Via ProBlogger Blog Tips.)
What’s on my Wish List #03
Instead of my typical holiday guide, this year I present a selection of items that I would love to receive for Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#03 Nikon D40X, 10 MP SLR Digital Camera
Heck, I’d settled for nearly any SLR-based digital camera at this point, but this one caught my eye in some ads in Sunday’s paper. Time to step up in my photo quality, I think.
#02 iPod Touch
If can’t get an iPhone I would gladly “fallback” to an iPod Touch. It has many of the great iPhone features,, but without the relatively expensive cell phone contract. It also has more storage than the current iPhone for podcasts and video.
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
Always-on web connectivity, cell phone, music/video player and PDA in one. Who could ask for anything more? Especially since the big price cut a few months ago.
What’s on my Wish List #02
Instead of my typical holiday guide, I present a selection of items that I would love to receive this Christmas. Although I am a big technology hound, I don’t often buy it for myself, so many of these items are sure to remain “wishes” for another year. — Douglas
That doesn’t mean the you might not find these items a great gift for yourself or someone you love.
#02 iPod Touch
If can’t get an iPhone I would gladly “fallback” to an iPod Touch. It has many of the great iPhone features,, but without the relatively expensive cell phone contract. It also has more storage than the current iPhone for podcasts and video.
# 01 Apple iPhone and iPhone Accesories
Always-on web connectivity, cell phone, music/video player and PDA in one. Who could ask for anything more? Especially since the big price cut a few months ago.
A Christmas Carol – A LIVE reading featuring YOU! – Dec. 22, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007 at 6 pm, I will be hosting our 2nd Annual LIVE reading of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol LIVE on Talkshoe.com. This is a service that allows LIVE call-in talk shows with audience participation.
You can join us in reading the story by visiting http://talkshoe.com and setting up a FREE account. Now you can JOIN IN for free, using just your computer.
I will be joined by my wife, Rosanne, some friends and anyone who calls in and wishes to read a section of the story. We will be using a condensed version of A Christmas Carol, created by Dickens for his own public readings.
If you think you might like to join us, as a listener or a reader, please RSVP to douglas@welchwrite.com, so I can get a feel for how many core readers we will have.
Link: Download the script now