Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Michelle Obama Speaking In General Terms - Sun Times and AOL Being Evil

Someone over at CNN said to me that the media loves to make controversy of nothing. Here's an example. Michelle Obama was taking up a theme that the Senator himself started on Father's Day: the responsibility of men -- black men -- to their families. She's making a basic point that you have to have your family life in order if you're going to run the White House.

For anyone to spin that to a Clinton issue is just plain retarted. AOL's trying to do this, but then AOL's been trying to tear down Obama since he entered the race. So has the Sun Times, which has two reporters that do nothing but write stupid drivel aboout Senator Obama.

Tribune's Carl Stewart Is Wrong - Raiders Line Was Never Bad To Start

Hi Carl,

I have to correct you on your column. The Raiders Offensive Line was never so bad to be so good. It was poorly coached,
and that was why I called for Tom Walsh to be fired on August 15th of 2006.

Take note. That was preseason.

Preaseason.

And here's what I wrote:

Fire Tom Walsh

I continued the drum beat each week, and through the season. The reasons were based on my knoweldge of technical football. In other words, I can see just one game and tell you how an offense in going to perform for the rest of the year, in general terms.

The Raiders of this year use a more contemporary run blocking scheme, one that is exactly like the Denver Broncos in execution and design. For example, Lamont Jordan's 30-year second quarter run was a classic indictment of my claim. The line stepped to the left to get the defense to move that way, then fire blocked in zone fashion.

The result is that the whole defensive front seven moves that way, even though the running back does not. Thus, the back can see the blocks develop, then move toward the cutback lane. The weakside linebacker moved into the backfield too far, and didn't stay home.

Thus: a big run.

The Broncos are the master's of this. But note that the line isn't making a whole via brut muscle, it's just coaxing the defense to move in a certain direction.

It's this, and other techniques, that the Raiders are employing this year and why their offense is better and why I believe they'll go 9-7.

In closing, I ask that all reporters improve their ability to understand the technical aspect of the game, so they can see -- in one game -- what an offense is doing and why.

Thanks,

--
Zennie Abraham, Jr.

YouTube Launches InVideo Ad Platform - Media

YouTube Launches InVideo Ad Platform

by Tameka Kee, Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007 6:00 AM ET

GOOGLE'S YOUTUBE UNVEILED A NEW ad model, offering advertisers like New Line Cinema and BMW the option to run rich media and video ads within both professional and user-generated content.
The YouTube InVideo Ads are semi-transparent overlays that appear in the bottom 20% of the video player. The rich media animations show up 15 seconds after the chosen content begins, with the overlay lasting up to 10 seconds. The overlays also have interactive functionality, allowing users to click through to an advertiser's linked URL--or to launch a new player within the original window that will run a video ad and bring the user back to the content at any time).

Advertisers have the option to target users by age, sex, geography, daypart, and video genre. YouTube is selling the InVideo Ads on an impression basis, with $20/cpm as the baseline, but YouTube also provides click-through data to ad partners. The overlay, once it appears, counts as an impression.

If users choose to engage further by watching the actual video ad, YouTube will provide advertisers with info in percentage quartiles on how much of the video is viewed. Based on tests, YouTube estimates that some 75% of the users who elect to watch the player-in-player ad will view the new video in its entirety.

With YouTube one of the most trafficked online video communities in the U.S., speculation has continued to grow as to how Google would monetize its $1.65 billion investment. According to Shashi Seth, YouTube's group product manager, the advertising team has been experimenting with a number of models, testing and gathering both marketer and user feedback.

"For the past three months, we've run millions of impressions to see how users react to the different models, and we've taken away the models that don't work," said Seth. "For example, we know that users don't want to be interrupted at the start of a video, which is why the overlay doesn't start until 15 seconds in."

Seth added that about 20 advertisers are currently running InVideo Ads, including New Line Cinema and BMW, and the model will be available to a wider base of brands in the weeks and months ahead. As to whether YouTube will become overwhelmed with InVideo Ads and overlays, Seth added: "I certainly cannot see that happening. Advertisers can reach a large number of impressions even if we are a little conservative in terms of how much content we monetize. And our users are not shy about telling us what they like and what they don't--so it behooves us to be careful."

Hillary Clinton - NeoCon: "The Surge Is Working" As 14 More Americans Die In Irag



More and more Senator Clinton's looking like a Neo-conservative. First she tries to slam Senator Barack Obama for taking a liberal stance on two foreign policy matters -- Bin Ladin and Third World Leaders -- that she herself took just earlier this year, and now, before a group of Vets, she says the Iraq surge is working!

And this as 14 more Americans pass on in Irag!

We're seeing a clear pattern emerge and it's not pretty. It's a Senator who will say anything to get a vote and so often that her real stance isn't clear. At present, Senator Clinton looks like the kind of Neo-conservative we already have in the White House.

Maybe she'll so anger Cindy Sheehan, she's run against her instead of Rep. Pelosi! Whatever the case, this latest news has caused a firestorm, and will negtively impact her California Primary plans.

Geez.