After publishing my last post regarding the want to cross-post stuff to Twitter, Pownce, and Plurk, I was reminded by a reader of the site HelloTxt by a reader, as it now has support for Plurk. I’d signed up there a while back but never used it. The main reason I never went back to it was because there was no desktop app to let someone post something to all the sites it supports without having to go to the actual site. (There is a Facebook app, yes; but it doesn’t count. ;))

Until now.

Now enter Grrrgregg8tr, an Adobe AIR app created by Rev. Dan. Problem solved. Squee! :) (If you have an account at HelloTxt, go download the app and try it out!)

I swear; if I see one more post on the internets by someone in a panic over the Orphaned Works Bill, I will be very tempted to ram my fist through my monitor. Or scream bloody murder.

For the last month, I’ve seen posts on either deviantART, Livejournal, or Polanoid where the basic sentiment has been, “ZOMG! Orphaned works bill means legalized art theft! Quick! Must. Strike. Law. Down! And paying beaucoup dollars to register every single piece we have created sux0rs!”

THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, PEOPLE! YOUR ARTWORK IS NOT BEING THREATENED!

For the good stuff, gotta go beyond the cut (regular blog + LJ readers).

Continue reading ‘much ado about nothing ~ the orphan works bill’

Well, kidlets; it turns out Flickr is now more than a place to show off your photos (and art, and screenshots). Now, Pro users can add 90-second videos.

I’m not all that thrilled. Here’s why…

1) Bandwidth. It may be just 90 seconds; but come on. Video takes more bandwidth from a site than pictures or text. What would happen if all of the site’s bandwidth were sucked away due to all the videos? Those of us who want to upload photos and connect with other users we know there would have to wait until the following month to do so. Things can get lost (if you will) in the shuffle, you know?

2) Potential for abuse. Say this takes off; and the Flickr heads decide to loosen the restrictions on video — e.g., open it up to free accounts, extend the time limit for videos, et al. This would not bode well at all.

3) “This ain’t what I paid for!” Like lord-knows-how-many pro users, I paid for the ability to share my photos (and, to a lesser extent, screenshots) with people. I did not pay for video. Besides that…

4) It won’t work out. Why would someone pay $25/year (or $48 for two years) to upload 90-second videos to Flickr, when they can upload longer videos to Youtube, Dailymotion, Veoh, et al for free?

5) Myspaceification. Need I say more?

6) No way to filter out vids from contacts. So far I’ve yet to see this option. If Flickr did this, maybe I’ll feel a bit better about the whole thing.

Overall, though: I joined Flickr and got a pro account (currently at no cost via Verizon Yahoo) for the photography, not for videos.