A message to YouTube, iTunes, and web 2.0

I'm trying to send a message to all of the video services neglecting the hearing impaired community. So I'm starting a viral campaign by posting videos on YouTube and in my podcast. If viewed enough times maybe it could make a difference, though the podcast version will only attract attention if downloaded through iTunes.

If there are more interested in this concept who would like to contribute videos I am willing to start a new podcast feed and website for the cause.

On a side note, if you are looking for closed-captioned videos on the web, check out http://www.harkle.com/ who have a search engine and listing for the like.

Joost N it

Hey I finally got Joost. If you haven't heard of it yet (seriously, you haven't heard of it, have you been under a rock?) it is a program developed by those guys that made Skype and Kazaa as their solution for IPTV or Internet Protocol Television.

So far I watched a National Geographic documentary on Everest. It was good, well what I saw of it, for some reason it cut out in the middle and wouldn't play anymore (it is still in beta, some kinks have yet to worked out). So I changed channels and watched some Snowboarding.

It works fairly smoothly and has some neat features like widgets so you can IM using your gmail or jabber account, chat with other people viewing the same channel, or have a clock on the screen; all of which are semi-transparent so that you can still watch the screen behind it.

So far there isn't a whole lot of content but Joost have been striking deals with the likes of Viacom so that could change soon. Currently Joost is made up of mostly Music Channels, National Geographic with a few knock offs, a Independent Movie channel, and some sport channels of "X-treme" nature.

I look forward to see where this is going since all of my video content now comes from the net. It has the potential to supplement what iTunes, podcasts, and Netflix can't give me, surfing (oh and channel hopping too).