Freyburg

The Vancouver Sun is running a story about how local videobloggers are using the medium to drive up sales and otherwise reap profit. While I have no doubt that some new voices are being heard and in fact reaping the rewards of putting themselves out there. All very well, and Reachd is providing a valuable service by teaching people how to use video on the web, no matter how they end up using it. But the Sun seems to think that videoblogging consists of real estate agents putting their videos onto sites designed to sell house. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that as a form of expression or commerce, but blogging it ‘aint. At the very least, they could have gone to Miss 604, who has a couple of popular audio podcasts and covers Vancouver obsessively. So do Uncle Weed, Megan Cole, and myself, to name but a few. But once again the mainstream media has gleaned what it can from the surface without really delving into the excellent work being done by Vancouver bloggers and podcasters, which is a real shame.

(Full disclosure: Reachd is running a contest in conjunction with Techvibes for their next seminar, and I occasionally blog for Techvibes.)

After five years and countless Iraqi and American deaths, progress is finally being made to pacify a raging insurgency and bring battling Shia and Sunni factions closer together. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki, previously viewed as weak and ineffectual, has succeeded in pacifying Basra using Iraqi forces, and in the process marginalized Shia firebrand (and likely backed by Iran) Moqtada Al-Sadr. Al-Malaki had previously been tenuously allied with Sadr, and whether any of this actually lasts is another question. The Atlantic has all the details.

Gas prices are creeping ever upward, a trend that makes me happy that I don’t own a vehicle. But according to Wired’s car blog, Autopia, the rising price of fuel isn’t a temporary phenomenon. Demand from China and India, a tightening supply, and a slowing American economy are all to blame. And then there are speculators who will likely keep prices high, even if other factors ease off. Bottom line? Get a bicycle.

Japan, it has been noted time and again, is a weird place. One of the stranger aspects of their culture is the quasi-legitimacy of the organized crime organization known as the Yakuza. Reporter Jake Adelstein, who was the first gaijin to work at the Yomuiri Shinbun’s Japanese edition, covered the Yakuza for more than a decade and is now under constant threat from the shadowy villains of Japan’s underworld. But that hasn’t stopped him from telling the Washington Post about the unique relationship between the Yakuza and the Japanese government, or how deep into Japanese society the mob’s tendrils go.

Vice Magazine is a snarky and somewhat pretentious rag that’s funny for about ten minutes, but gradually becomes annoying after you’ve read the tenth faux-rebellious article about hipsters or some band you’ve never heard of, wedged up against an ad for some expensive perfume. VBS.TV, Vice’s video arm, VBS.TV, is a different beast entirely, with great documentaries that delve into the world’s hot spots and go past the usual surface gloss of the Six O’Clock News (no surprise there, since no-one under 40 watches the nightly news anymore.) This report on the gun markets of Pakistan is particularly decent.

Friday night… an edgy East Vancouver club/gallery/skatepark… after the DJ finishes a two-hour set, the crowd of hipsters eagerly awaits Vancouver’s own faux-Brit powerpop punk bad The Tranzmitors’ live show… and pockets of Internet geeks nervously eye the crowd while checking out… the Microsoft Zune?

If it sounds like a strange scene for a Microsoft product launch, it was indeed, but then, the Zune is an odd product, a hardware device from a (mainly) software company, with hobbled wifi (for limited file sharing only!) and DRM incompatibility with Microsoft’s own PlaysForSure standard for music players.

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We never go into a new RFS wishing to slag the living hell out of the latest episode of what is, after all, our favorite program…but we were left with little choice after “The Doctor’s Daughter,” which had such potential but fell far short of the mark. Our anger was tempered by the usual news, diversions, and a shout out to our new friends at Tachyon TV….but ouch, here’s hoping for better fare from the BBC next week. Still, our balderdash is as engaging and filled with bon mots as ever.

 

 Radio Free Skaro #82 - The Doctor's Disaster: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (24)

Current TV is hosting a really interesting documentary on Chongqing, one of the “megacities” springing up in China’s feverish push to become the dominant economic power of the 21st century. Definitely worth a watch.

We here at Radio Free Skaro are always happy to pimp another amusing Doctor Who podcast, but the pickings are rather slim. Surprisingly, nerds devoted to a whimsical British scifi program can be a humorless lot. Not so with Tachyon TV, a pack of sarcastic ne’er do wells from England who bring the funny in a big way, as well as running Behind the Sofa, an equally funny Who blog. What are you waiting for? Check it out!

I’ve been working as an editor on a video podcast featuring Vancouver Adobe evangalist Duane Nickull called Duane’s World. The show is all about coding, tech, music and Duane’s unique take on the world, and is hosted on Adobe TV, a central hub for shows about all things Adobe. Check it out!