Rachel Sears: Pro Triathlete Runs At The Escape To Alcatraz Triathlon

Rachel Sears: Pro Triathlete Runs At The Escape To Alcatraz Triathlon

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Rachel Sears is a professional triathlete, friend, and SBS Personality who's been through a lot over the past two years. She's been hit by a car, attacked by a pit bull, and beset with injuries that have caused her to make the "continue or quit" decision many times. She continues, carrying out an ambitious racing schedule that had her at the annual Escape To Alcatraz triathlon.

This race starts as the contestants dive into the waters of the San Francisco Bay from a ship stationed near Alcatraz Island, hence the name of the event. I caught Rachel long after she emerged from the waters of the San Francisco Bay, and as she entered the Bike In, Run Out transition zone, then as she finished the run portion of the "Escape" with a sprint to the finish line, and a wave to the camera guy.

Rachel's a premier coach of triathletes at all age levels. You can reach her and her partner Phil Casanta at HyperCat Racing: http://www.hypercatracing.com

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

"I'm Late" - My Trip To Fantasy Studios In Berkeley

"I'm Late" - My Trip To Fantasy Studios In Berkeley

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I've been a member of a film festival screening committee that meets at the legendary Fantasy Studios in Berkeley for about five years, now. Our 2006 movie screening season kicked off on the day this video was made. As it happened I was running late for a 3 PM screening of what turned out to be a very weird and terrible film, with some of the most interesting camera angles I've ever seen.

At any rate I decided to film my trip because I was late! Fantasy Studios is the home of the Saul Zaents Film Center, where such famous flicks as "The English Patient" and "Out of Africa" were conceived and produced.

Saul Zaents and Fantasy Studios are featured in the new book "Cinema by the Bay" about Bay Area movie studios and their famous founders -- George Lucas, Saul Zaents, Francis Ford Coppola, Steve Jobs and Pixar -- who've had such an amazing impact on Worldwide cinema.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Vloggercon: Introducing Ben "Bendrix" Williams Of www.codedsignal.com

Vloggercon: Introducing Ben "Bendrix" Williams Of www.codedsignal.com

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Ben "Bendrix" Williams is quite simply an expert at not just making podcasts, but distributing them. The head of codedsignal.com is one of the headline presenters at the upcoming "Podcast and Portable Media Expo" September 29-30 in Ontario, Ca. He will talk about "Viral Promotion Tips N Tricks for the Video Blogger and Podcaster."

Ben's available to develop podcasts of conferences and events. Visit http://www.codedsignal.com

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Vloggercon: Introducing Randy Man Of "Live From Lowell"

Vloggercon: Introducing Randy Man Of "Live From Lowell"

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Being a newbie to Vloggercon and vlogging in general, I didn't know all the players. So I had no idea that my table mate -- Randy Man -- was the host of "Live on Lowell" until I teased him about his preferred attire: a New England Patriots jersey and a Boston Red Sox hat. Both raise the ire of any good Oakland Athletics or Oakland A's fan.

Randy told me how he thinks the New England Patriots are going to do -- 5 wins, 11 losses -- and that the Red Sox will continue to win, but lose to the Yankees.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Why do Players think they are unbreakable?-an editorial

I think Big Ben is lucky to be alive right now. He and the Steelers front office staff should be thinking more about doing something about motor saftey then worrying about when he could take snaps fron under center during a workout!
last year's injury to Kellen Winslow jr. should have been a wake up call to Ben and every other player who owns a bike that nothing in life is risk free, and if you are going to ride a motorcycle, any motorcycle, you need to wear saftey gear,no matter what the state law says.

I never rode a "street" bike the size of the one Ben crashed. In my younger days, i owned and rode 2 different Bikes.
one was a "combo" that i mostly rode on the trails of the pocono mts. in Eastern PA. the other was a Honda 550 that i rode for two years when i just couldn't afford normal 4-wheeled transportation. My Brother-in-law rides some kind of monster bike(a Honda Nighthawk i think) back and forth to work each day while working for the government of the town he lives in.
In nearly 30 years of riding, he tells me he has never had an accident, and never has ridden without a helmet.

I quit riding myself 15 years ago when i got into a minor acident on the Taconic parkway in upstate NY with my Honda. I might have been riding slightly over the speed limit when i hit a depression in the road known as a POTHOLE, and went flying arms first onto the grass on the side of the road. It was an act of god that nothing was broken. That was my last ride on a Bike of any kind with a motor. But i digress.

My prayers are with Ben right now. Even though we know he will recover according to the most recent reports, Prayer still helps. But I also hope that Ben has realized what a foolish mistake he made riding without saftey gear. I hope he will use this pause in his life to address this, and use himself as an example of what not to do with a powerful vechile under you.

Ava Lowery: 15-Year Old's Political Vlog A Hit At Daily Kos Convention

As one who's worked for several elected officials, I can tell you many don't understand how to use the Internet to advance a campaign, and rely on the old standard, print media.

Indeed, in the Oakland, Ca, the three newspapers that cover political events -- The SF Chronicle, Oakland Tribune, and East Bay Express -- all failed to sway Oakland voter opinion in the California Primary election -- especially notable was their poor perfomance in the Mayor's Race, the District Two Council Race, and the Assembly District 16 Race. In the case of the Oakland Mayor's Race, I wrote that the SF Chronicle was smoking crack. I was right.

Here's evidence that the World has changed. Ava Lowery, A 15-Year Old Alabama student, was the hit of the recent Daily Kos Convention with her poltical vlog.

Here's the vlog:

Vloggercon: Introducing Neo-Fight.tv

Vloggercon: Introducing Neo-Fight.tv

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If you remember "Cat's Clicks," a show hosted by Catherine Schwartz on TechTV -- which became G4 Tech TV -- then you'll catch on to "Neo-Fight.tv" an online show that compares tech products. Ben Freedman is the co-host of the show and plays opposite Tiffany Young in a debate over tech products.

In the presentation Ben explains that Neo-Fight is more than a vlog; it's an online show in the form of Rocketboom. Indeed, the program's webpage -- like Rocketboom's -- gives the video viewer a menu of viewing options from Quicktime to Bit Torrent. Moreover the show itself has one set that does not change from episode to episode. So really it's more a TV show than a video diary, with co-hosts, a standard script format that changes only with respect to the kinds of products reviewed, episode names and numbers, and even its own theme music.

I think this is the next wave of vlogs, and I don't hesitate to use the term "vlog" here because one can offer commentary on the video, and the image is presented on a website. I can see a future where the most popular sites are like Blip.tv in that they promote vlog shows in a network. I'm not prepared to write "Move over CBS, NBC,and ABC, because they've got enough content firepower to make a significant dent in the vlog industry. My only question is do they have the courage to take this leap?

A good entrepreneur should not wait for these large bureaucratic firms to figure it out; that could take forever.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)