Mothballed on December 13, 2005

In the news...

Amanda Congdon of Rocketboom fame appeared the other day looking like she had Praying Mantis eyes. Seems that she had lasik surgery, so we'll probably never again see her funky black spectacles

In any event, she turned in her usual sterling delivery despite the googly eyes.

And speaking of Rocketboom, the tech news site Red Herring has published a story on vlogging, using Rocketboom as an example of "the only vlog to make it big so far."

What will be the next vlog to make the must-see list?

Vlogging tools

VideoEgg Publisher is out to "revolutionize the way videos are captured, edited, and published – removing technical complexity and empowering communities across the web with easy video publishing tools."

The software is described as a Web site plug-in that enables users to "capture, edit, encode and post digital video online," using any of hundreds of devices and reading "dozens of formats." VideoEgg Publisher produces video in Flash format.

The start-up company has hooked up with TypePad publisher Six Apart to make the two tools work together. VideoEgg currently is available only for PCs. A Mac version is promised soon.

Vlog It!, from Serious Magic, creates vlogs with "no editing" by dragging and dropping photos, audio and video clips into a bin where Vlog It! assembles the final product. The software has its own teleprompter as well as "TV-style transitions and sound effects" and green-screen capabilities. Output may be published in Windows Media, Real Player or Flash formats. There's free hosting for personal, non-commercial vlogs. A free beta download is available for Windows 98/2000 machines. Retail release, said to be imminent, will be priced at $50.

And more news...

Need more techie news? There's a vlog for you -- The News Show.

Unlike most vlogs, this one has some corporate muscle behind it. CMP Media, publisher of Information Week, Byte and other hardcore print mags, has turned loose 20 journalists and reinvented them into vloggers. Executive producer and host is John Soat, formerly editor of Information Week. Each vlog runs about seven minutes.