Skypecasts: massive multi-chatter audio chat sessions

von Roland Hachmann | Juni 13, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture

A couple of weeks ago I noticed skypecasts for the first time. An amazing concept. You create a skypecast to which up to 100 people can join in. As the moderator you can decide who gets to speak (you could also decide to have a monologue for 2 hours – might be your last cast that people join).

In theory, this opens the door for massive multi-chatter audio chat sessions (MMCACS – a term I just made up 😉 )

Skype already lists pages of Skypecasts that anyone can join – Irish language chats, church-casts, business briefings and tech webcasts. It’s like call in radio on the web – and the advantage is that the host can record the conversation and post it in podcast format to iTunes or their blog. (PSFK)

Now PFSK calls it „call in radio on the web“ – but the true fascination will come from topical chat sessions, where 20 people can discuss, say, a worldcup game, for example. Just like the Italy vs Ghana as I watch now.

It might get too noisy, as people try to grab everybodys attention. But then again, people will get to learn some „conference call etiquette“, as it is already common in the business world. And those who do not play by those rules will be kicked out of the chatsessions.

Can you already hook up Second Life and Skype(casts)? I think this would be the next logical step.

Here is some more info .

And here is how it works.

The Kinsey of Clicking

von Roland Hachmann | Juni 12, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture

The Kinsey of Clicking is a very interesting research into todays love&web culture by Wired author Momus.
He asked the readers of his blog a few questions, which he gathered and summarised in a report later published at wired.com.

His questions were:

• What are the effects of information addiction on your life together?
• Is the internet age less cozy and communal than the TV age?
• Do today’s couples cuddle on the sofa when they’re surfing, legs entangled, laptop lids touching?
• Might the „virtual personal space“ of a laptop screen be a lifesaver for a couple crammed into a too-small physical space?
• Is surfing solitude or a new form of sociability?
• Do couples mail each other interesting URLs, do they text message each other even when they could be talking face-to-face?
• What about „asymmetrical addiction“ — does the first one to be bored online dictate offline activities, or does the one who wants to stay online longest make the other one click around aimlessly for hours?

Like the intrepid Dr. Kinsey himself, I didn’t hold back from darker questions, either.

• Do couples use domestic Wi-Fi to look surreptitiously at porn?
• Are they flirting with other people, using the internet’s weird ability to make the absent more present than the present?
• Can jealousy, that primitive monster that sleeps inside us, distinguish the threat of human sexual rivals from the threat posed by the winking green LEDs of the very machines that bring them into our living room?

Check it out. Or even look at the full material at his own website.

German Chancellorette has her own Video-Podcast

von Roland Hachmann | Juni 8, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, has a video-podcast since today. Her first vidcast was FIFA Worldcup message, no surprise.

Now that has got to be a first. Or is there any other country whose Nr. 1 politician has a video-podcast?

The first time in a long time, that I actually really appreciate something my government has started!

Apparently, this will be a regular vidcast (or: „rather“ regular, as she said). Let’s see if the next one will actually have some more information other than a cheer for the worldcup.

One thing she did, though, in a very 2.0-ish fashion: she asked us for comments. She would like us to send her our opinions via email. I wonder if she will read out some of them during her next vidcast. If she does – and if she answers them informatively, then: wow!