As you probably know - there's a blog that reviews web 2.0 companies and determines if they pass the test. It's called TechCrunch, and being 'crunched' can be a good thing, if you're ready for the scrutiny and the traffic.

So when Michael Arrington said he was ready to take a look, we were excited, but - heck - a bit on edge. So... we're happy to report that We've branded: "Magnify.net Different Than The Rest Of The Video Crowd"

*grin* Ok, we've always known that - but it's nice to have folks notice. Here's the Arrington review, it's a fun read....

Magnify.net Different Than The Rest Of The Video Crowd March 31 2007

Magnify.net is a new video startup that is different from the rest of the crowd. Unlike YouTube and dozens of others, it isn’t focused on building a portal around user-uploaded videos. Instead, they are allowing website publishers to create their own video channels, and populate it with videos from other sites (like YouTube, Revver, Yahoo Videos, etc.) that allow embedding.

The result is a highly targeted niche video site that integrates very well into existing content websites. To see it in action, see this channel that they created for [More]

Hey... it's spring. At least that's what it feels like today. And we want to go to camp. But being the geeks that we are - it's PODcamp!

Magnify.net will be at PODcamp NYC, sponsoring, speaking, demoing, and just hanging out.

April 6th 6-9 PM: Reception (Please RSVP)
April 7th 8:45 AM - 6 PM: Conference | Registration Open
The New Yorker Hotel | 481 8th Ave @ 34th St, NY, NY

Get Info Here

Should be tons of fun. Come visit and play.

Creative Commons & Magnify.net -

Early on we determined that we wanted to give creators a wide range of choices in how they share their videos on Magnify.net . We've talked in this space about our partnership with Revver for creators who want to make and monetize videos using the Revver system. But what we haven't talked about is the changing face of copyright, and the important work that the folks at Creative Commons are doing to provide new flexible and user-controllable terms for sharing terms and conditions.

If you've uploaded a video on the Magnify.net uploader - then you've seen this screen:



Chances are, you've noticed the CC - and maybe even know what it means. But for most casual users of the Uploader, the deftault share and share alike license is just fine.

But if you haven't dug deeper - you should. Magnify.net provides a whole array of license options (courtesy of the folks at Creative Commons) that allows you to define with great specificity the rights you are willing to share, and the rights you want to retain.

If you haven't explored what is going on at Creative Commons, its worth ... [More]

One of the early Channel Producers on Magnify.net is DC Smitty. His amazing YouSurfTubes channel has created a ton of buzz, traffic, and pushed the envelope on both community and content. So when he found out we were going to be in town, we knew we had to meet face to face. By day Dean is a shooter for the local NBC TV station. So at the VON show last week he was there to check out the show, but also just to get some hang time with the Magnify team. Almost from the moment he came up to the booth, he was surrounded by folks who wanted to know about his experiences creating a TV Channel on the web. And i have to say, he could have easily held his own with lots of the folks who were on panels at VON. Don't be surprised if you start to she him out front - teaching others and spreading the gospel of video on the net. He's a great guy, and we're proud to be part of the YouSurfTubes community. We are - to borrow a phrase - Stoked! :)

The folks who swung bye the both in the two days we were in San Jose all had interesting things to say about the evolution of video on the web. Jeff Jarvis is expanding his empire with two more video blogs to add to the already popular buzzmachine. PrezVid is his latest creation - and given the buzz around the remake of the Apple 1984 commercial staring Hilary Clinton as 'big brother' - it seems like Jarvis is in the right place at the right time. Jarvis even interviewed me for PrezVid! Nice to be on the other side of the camera for a change. Also with Jeff was James Marcus, who's the CTO of Nework2. Network2 is the latest adventure for serial entrepreneur Jeff Pulver (who puts on the VON show). What was fun was exploring how magnify could work with both PrezVid and Network2... great partners both.

VON 2007 was really eye opening in a number of ways. First, we had a chance to re-connect with old friends and make some new ones. Bart Fader at Feedroom, Dina Kaplan at Blip, and Bill Sobel at MEIG were all there in force. It's amazing to see that the connections in our lives span both time and industries. Bill and I go back to a barn and a time when Sony ruled the earth. Yikes. And Bart and I go back to a time when Boston was the center of the universe, and news was created on 3/4" portapacks. Yes -there was a day. Dina, well lets just say that BlipTV is a remarkable chapter in a story that is all about turning media into an empowering and grassroots medium. She'd blush if i said it in front of her, but she's really a pretty powerful change agent and we're lucky to have her in this space. That said, the connections at VON 07 don't stop there. Steven Starr was his amazing and inspirational self, reminding us all that's it's not about the money - it's about... [More]

An amazing week in nyc new media...

Wendnesday morning- Lauren Tooby from Media Bistro held a terrific breakfast of Internet Entrepreneurs from around the city. It was great to see Chris O'Brien from Motionbox, Robert Levitan from Pando, as well as Ester Dyson and Rob Tolmach of Change The Present. The breakfast was at Balthazar - a terrific place for dinner that seemed to find the concept of coffee a bit outside their area of expertise. That said, it was a great group - and very engaging.

Lauren did a great job as hostess, asking us all to share with the table some of our greatest challenges and successes. With a bit of a nudge, my table was off on a rather spirited discussion about the challenges of hiring in New York... which appears to be the single most over-arching challenge for New York Tech companies.

Then, next stop - a terrific briefing from the folks at Joost. Joost is one of those things that seems both theoretically impossible and at the same time... almost inevitable. Joost is peer to peer cable TV. Thinking back to Skype, the founders back then knew that folks were ready for a new paradigm in telecommunications. And, they knew that folks increasingly were paying for both an internet connection and a p... [More]

During my Magnify channel travels I discovered a channel that I had to share with everyone, www.YouTreadTube.com

YouTreadTube is full of messy, muddy, mayhem but that's only the off road videos you'll see. This is one good-looking channel. Not only did I find it visually stunning but also the home page layout and content design really make this page standout.

My curiosity of this fine channel lead me to reach out to Damon LaRose, the creator and programmer of You Tread Tube.

This is what Damon had to say about and his channel:

“Why off road motor sports? well I'm personally new to it and on a learning frenzy and would prefer the info I was seeking would be more packaged, an easier discovery base and media reach which most "forums" are lacking and also be inclusive with manufactures. So with Magnify I built that place I wanted and continue to grow it.”

And why did Damon choose Magnify?

Magnify was “the 'thing' I was wanting and waiting for, a place and infrastructure that allows me to focus on what I do, edit and produce content. “Magnify feels like the early days of cable and satellite broadcasting - focused content and a very good business model where everyone is on th... [More]

VON, is short for Video On the Net. It's a conference in San Jose that brings together thought leaders and all kinds of cool folks to explore the futue of Video. The speakers list is a who's who of web video mavericks. Our Partners Steve Starr from Revver and Dina Kaplan from Blip are speaking. And other industry notables such as Andrew Barron from Rocketboom, Steve Garfiled (videoblogger), Niklas Zenstrom from Joost, Shelly Palmer from NY NATAS, Jeff Jarvis from Buzz Machine, and Jeff Pulver who's the brains behind the whole thing. It's March 19th - 22nd in San Jose, and we're looking forward to seeing all our friends there. Magnify.net is a sponsor (our First sponsorship - pretty exciting)... and I'll be speaking about the power if verticle video. We'll have a booth in the Expo, and of course we'll be at all the parties and festivities. So if you're planning to be at VON, and want to talk about becoming a channel producer, or just brainstorm web video- we'll be there - ready to explore.

For the past three months, we've been incorporating feedback from users into a series of new tools and features for Magnify.net. Some are under the hood, some are changes in process, but the last big UI change that's been in the works for a while is the video player. Now, we've gone live with a new player that exposes more of our sharing and peer review features. And, if we say so ourselves, it's pretty cool! There's a new tool bar that allows visitors to access a whole array of features while the video plays: and there's a whole sharing menu that allows for embedding and forwarding of videos . The graphic design was done by Yana Kuzin-Ilan, who was really pretty in tune with the spirt of Magnify.net and the look and feel of the player we were trying to implement. Congrats - great job! So go play with the new toys and see what you think.

The crowd at the TED conference in Monterey is accustomed to seeing rock stars. So when folks on the normally low key line cued up to enter the main hall for the announcement of the TED Prize, folks joked that people were lining up to see Paul Simon. While there was some truth to that - Simon was on the program - the crowd was lining up to see President Bill Clinton present his 'wish'.

Ok, some history may be necessary here. The TED Prize is awarded to three extraordinary individuals each year - and each winner is invited to invent one wish that the TED community of influential Designers, Internet Exec's, Venture Capitalists, Scientists, and Entrepreneurs will endeavor to help make come true. In its third year, the TED prize has had some pretty amazing honorees... including Bono and The Google Foundation's Larry Brilliant.

But even for a room accustomed to Rock Stars, the Clinton appearance was pretty electrifying. Clinton arrived and everyone in the room was looking for significance in both what he said and what he didn't say. He wore black jeans, and a black polo. ... [More]

here are some great blog posts:

http://www.billionswithzeroknowledge.com/2007/03/08/ted-2007-has-endless-love/

http://www.joshspear.com/item/ted-2007-day-1-highlights/

http://mp.blogs.com/mp/2007/03/s_7.html

http://classv.typepad.com/home/2007/03/greetings_from_.html

http://www.mynameiskate.ca/2007/03/open_for_busine.html

The first day of TED is designed to get you up to speed, see friends, and get in the "TED Head". It's a pretty fast transition... complete with Rock Stars (both literal and figurative) and mind blowing ideas. My memories of the day are a bit of stream of consciousnesses... Standing in lobby of the Portola Plaza and watching Forrest Whitiker hanging out with Jeff Skoll and Lawrence Bender - and realize the number of Oscars between them - was cool. (photo: TED curator and Magnify.net investor Chris Anderson with Magnify CEO Steve Rosenbaum)

But the handful of faces you recognize from Hollywood is quickly overwhelmed by the time honored practice of namebadge reading... Nobel Laureate's Murray Gell-man, Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the amazing data storytelling of Hans Rosling. Rosling last year amazed the crowd with a way ... [More]

I'm packed, and off to Monterey. The New York Times yesterday had a big piece on the conference, and how it's changed in the past three years. It was pretty insightful, and I think helped capture the passion and excitement of these three days. I know that, while I go to many industry events each year, TED is the one event that I really do feel like I need to clear my head for. I'm sitting here looking at the speakers, and all I can say is wow. Philippe Starck, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Hans Rosling. And that's just a handful from Wednesday. Often, for me the biggest revelations come from people I haven't heard of - in disciplines I hardly engage in. So for example, Jeff Han I first saw in a small room at a TED Salon in NY last year. He showed a gesture-based interface for managing images and content on a computer screen. Now it seems like the Apple iphone's two finger control is based on his work.

We'll have a few links, and we'll add other video blogs and blogs as we find them:

http://tedtv.magnify.net/
http://stevesvideoblog.magnify.net/

I'll be excited to see what he's presenting. Also on Wednesday, Murray Gell-Mann, Nobel Laureate... [More]

It's not often that a Jazz Legend and Video Visionary stops by the office. But yesterday Jon Hammond swung buy to talk about the early days of local access, his lifelong love of jazz, and his radio show on KYOU in San Francisco.

Check out Hammondcast on Magnify.net - and crank it up! Hammond is a true impresario - and the tunes on his channel are so fresh, you really do end up turning up the speakers. Few bits of news from Jon - he's been in media his whole life, but the last two years have been full of big changes... he is hosting his own radio show in San Francisco (a lifelong dream to be a DJ) and he bought his first computer just two years ago! How cool is that - that a guy with the chops this guy has is jumping into the video blogging game and turning his passion into publishing. Even before we met, I was a fan of Jon and his music - hey, who can't love the man playing the Hammond Organ named Hammond! Here's the email he sent us before he swung by:

"It's really a great thing you're doing there. I di... [More]