Live streaming video of OKC roads
If you haven’t already, check out NewsOK.com/live. It’s a pretty cool tech mashup.
Live video, live chat, live blog updates, two live Twitter feeds, live Flickr photo feed, updated traffic reports for OKC and Tulsa…
 David Jones |
 Tim Money |
Isn’t this what the Internet is supposed to provide? Instant information. On demand. Live.
So here’s what we’re doing:
David Jones and Tim Money are driving a silver Jeep Cherokee around the streets and interstates of Oklahoma City.
Honk if you see them.
We are using a Sony Vaio, a mini laptop.
 
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We’d like to experiment with a netbook, which are pretty cheap these days. This Vaio is running Windows XP, and we’re making it work. We’ve plugged a wireless card into the Vaio for mobile Internet access.
We have a Sony HVR camera (similar to this one) placed on the dashboard, using a Firewire connection to the netbook. We are using Adobe Flash for the actual encode before it goes to Mogulus, which is then embedded onto the template of newsok.com/live.
Very simple. But it’s working very well.
Yesterday morning, I met with Jones about this idea. We decided to go for it and see what level of quality we got. We’ve used the wireless cards in Norman during our live Campus Corner Pre Game Shows. The quality hasn’t been this good. But, we’re not using any audio on purpose to save bandwidth. We suspect this may be helping. Also, we are not running into thousands of people using their cell phones like at the game day situations.
So the live video has been successful. We had a steady audience of about 300 people on Monday watching the afternoon drive. Today’s crowd was been lighter as expected. Fewer people are actually in the office.
Then we embedded a smaller Mogulus player on the NewsOK home page. We’re around 500 viewers, lurkers, voyeurs this afternoon.
Jones is using his iPhone to Twitter updates of their location. We created the #OKice tag and are pulling that onto the page. Jones is also using bit.ly to shorten his geo location from his Tweets.
But it’s not just the video. It’s the whole mash up of technology. Right next to the video feed is an embedded live chat. We use CoverItLive. It’s free (there is a new premium version) and works well. We used it on game days, primaries, election nights and for the Thunder basketball games.
I kidded Mike Koehler about being our virtual Magic 8 Ball. He has been monitoring the chat room, feeding stories and information from the NIC and moderating the online discussion. But he’s also been asked for advice, which shows the power of the mash up to generate conversation. I asked him what I should consider for dinner.
If you scroll down, you’ll see the traffic map of OKC and Tulsa and more Twitter feeds. We also pulled in a Flickr feed for user submitted photos.
Yesterday this page was visited more than 5,000 times. We are promoting our live coverage page from the top of the home page of NewsOK.com.
Where are you going this year?
NY Times has a list of 44 places to go this year.
How many of these places have you been or would like to visit? I’ve been to a disappointing five from this list, something to work on I suppose.
American Airlines has mobile boarding passes
Here’s something cool. I would certainly use it – mobile boarding passes. American, which I’ve had no shortage of bad luck with, is rolling out its Mobile Boarding Passes program, according to mobilecrunch.
American Airlines has hopped on board with the launch of their Mobile Boarding Passes program. If you’re flying out of Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), or Orange County (SNA), you’re given the option to send a digital boarding pass to your cell phone via e-mail. The boarding pass contains a QR-code-ish bar code – security will scan this, and you’re on your way.
Judging by the comments on the mobilecrunch site, other airlines – Alaska, Lufthansa – already have something similar in place.
State lawmakers praise Bush’s move to lift ban on offshore drilling
- Oklahoma lawmakers praised the move by President Bush to lift the executive ban on offshore oil and gas drilling Monday, but the political stalemate over expanding domestic production showed no sign of ending.
- Money Magazine’s annual list of the 100 best places to live in the United States came out yesterday. norman ranked No. 6. Edmond, No. 52.
- Jack Money reports Quest Resource Corp. owns about 78,000 new acres in the Marcellus Shale natural gas field in the Appalachian Basin in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
- And Don Mecoy reports more than 2,000 foreign investors may have been swindled of up to $45 million in a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a Tulsa oil and gas company, plaintiffs alleged Monday in court documents filed in Tulsa County District Court.
- Today in OKC: another typical summer day. Highs around 90. Winds around 10 mph. Highs increase to the mid 90s later this week.
DnA: Budget travel
Wife beaters and flip flops. Showering at the… truck stop? This video conversation covered ground.
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American Tourist visits the Wild, Wild West
Last Saturday, Travelers Aid held its 8th annual charity fundraiser called American Tourist. Each year it’s a different theme. This year’s theme: American Tourist visits the Wild, Wild West. WWW. My kinda event. Held at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, over 400 people attended the event, raising money for the poor and homeless.
Travelers Aid and Homeless Assistance Center serves the homeless and impoverished by providing case management and stabilizing resources to meet basic social needs. The ultimate goal is to assist individuals and families to reach their potential with the ability to support themselves and contribute back to their community.
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Immigration lawsuit update
A federal judge Wednesday blocked enforcement of employer-related provisions of House Bill 1804, the state’s controversial immigration law.
The Oklahoman’s Jay Marks and Devona Walker report U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron in Oklahoma City ruled those sections likely interfere with federal rules regarding the hiring of unauthorized workers. In granting the injunction, she said a pending lawsuit against HB 1804 has “a substantial likelihood of success.”
Continental Airlines Inc. said today it is cutting 3,000 jobs and reducing capacity in the fourth quarter by 11 percent, citing record fuel costs that have pushed the airline industry into a “crisis.”
John Sutter reports the state secretary of agriculture asked the governor Wednesday afternoon to start the process of classifying the Oklahoma Panhandle as a disaster area because of an extreme drought. Here’s how it’s affecting farmers: Crops are failing in the western Panhandle, and farmers are running out of grass to feed their cattle.
Your OKC forecast: Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 90s. Southerly winds 25 to 35 mph. Twenty percent chance of thunderstorms, with some turning severe late in the afternoon.
Most popular travel sites
NY Times had a list recently of the Web’s most popular travel sites. As you might expect, the usual suspects top the charts.
I used TripAdvisor when searching for hotels in NY for my trip in December.
Site, Property, Time Spent
1. Expedia, 14.1, 14:26
2. Travelocity, 13.0, 14:11
3. Orbitz, 12.8, 11:38
4. Yahoo! Travel, 9.4, 3:30
5. Southwest Airlines, 9.2, 26:44
6. American Airlines, 8.0, 57:06
7. TripAdvisor, 7.9, 7:24
8. Marriott, 6.9, 16:22
9. Priceline, 6.8, 14:05
10. Hilton, 6.7, 18:09
3 Things: Happy Birthday Brooklyn Bridge
Here’s the story on the wires this morning: It was so singular a marvel, so ambitious a feat, that its opening drew the president and a crowd of thousands. A leading national magazine said it stood poised to become “our most durable monument.”
Some 125 years later, the Brooklyn Bridge remains a powerful symbol of engineering might and imagination, and a revered fixture in the landscape of the nation’s largest city.
And it can still draw a crowd. Thousands of people are expected at the bridge’s 125th birthday blowout Thursday, with fireworks, a Navy flyover, a colorful new lighting scheme and the debut of a tribute song scheduled to honor the storied span. It opened on May 24, 1883.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hits the silver screens today. And the reviews for the fourth installment of the adventure series are mixed. The Oklahoman’s George Lang – check out his Static Blog on NewsOK – gives it a 3.5 stars, saying it follows formula and entertains. Find your movie times at Wimgo.com.
Facebook is about to undergo a redesign. Why? Because like all Web sites, it becomes cluttered. Facebook is looking to add tabs to contain all your customization. The facelift for Facebook is set to debut in June.
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Bike to work week fun video
Yes, really.
One of The Oklahoman’s business reporters, Don Mecoy, approached me with a video idea last week. He and his fellow reporters from the Biz desk were working on alternate methods of getting to work stories. With gas prices high, people have options: bike, bus, walk (ok, maybe not walk) and other stuff.
So Don Mecoy, who has a couple nice bikes, decided he would bike to work from Edmond. Read his account here. Jim Stafford would ride the bus.
David Jones and Kyle Roberts shot Mecoy as he rode to work, about 10 miles. Stafford took a hand held camera on the bus as he rode from Edmond to downtown – past The Oklahoman’s office – to catch the right ride to the office.
Kyle edited together a classic piece. Mecoy and Stafford were great sports and good to work with. It’s not your routine gas price package.
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