And the Gold Medal Goes to...

Well, maybe our client Vision Research won't be on the medal stand in Vancouver, but their technology will be helping American Olympians and the American viewing public to better understand just what goes into a winning performance.

NBC, which is covering the Olympics, has enlisted the Vision Research ultra-high-speed Phantom camera to "slow down" the action of Olympic athletes, giving them and their coaches information that can lead to a winning edge.

At the same time, the television viewing public gets to see amazing details and things that give a far greater appreciation to the physics of sport.

Check out this report (click here) from Lester Holt on the TODAY Show, breaking down how US Olympian Julie Chu generates so much velocity to her slap shot.

Vision Research cameras serve a wealth of important functions, slowing down even the fastest motion to allow the analysis of motion that is far too fast for the human eye, and even beyond the capabilities of traditional film and video cameras.

I don't know about you, but I think this stuff is REALLY cool! For a gallery of ultra-high-speed video shot with Vision Research cameras, click here.

When "10 Times as Slow" is BETTER!

Here's a very interesting article about what the NFL is doing to promote itself.

The cameras used to produce the striking images in this campaign are made in the USA by Vision Research -- one of my clients. The cameras have been used in the past two Super Bowls by the CBS (Giants win over New England) and the FOX (Steelers last year) production crews -- with amazing success. The ultra slo-mo of the Giants' David Tyree catch replay was called "the most replayed highlight of the year" by ESPN. And if you remember last year, two different scoring plays were ruled on by slo-mo from Vision Research Phantom HD cameras.

The military routinely uses a series of Vision Research cameras, sometimes shooting 1.4 MILLION FRAMES PER SECOND to record and analyze weapons systems.

To see some astounding non-sports footage, go to www.visionresearch.com, and click on GALLERY at the top.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media

David Griner, a social media strategist for Luckie & Company in Birmingham, AL, just published what I see as the definitive outline of rules for beginning -- and more importantly -- continuing and profiting from a social media program.

With the very catchy title "The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media," Griner's article is both fun to read and a real eye-opener. So click on it here and let me (and David!) know what you think!

Rupert Murdoch "Gets It"

Newspaper maven Rupert Murdoch just appointed Jonathan Miller, recently of AOL, as his head of digital operations. This includes a wide range of products, including MySpace, Photobucket, and Hulu. Miller's job is to make sure Murdoch's News Corp.'s online assets are "central to, not separate from, the enterprise."

Instead of newspapers bitching about how the Internet is killing them, perhaps they'd do better to look to the vision that Murdoch seems to possess. Yes, old Rupert "gets it" -- media convergence is here to stay.

Now you tell me: if a 78-year-old Australian can figure it out, why can't the New York Times?

Newspapers that think their old tried and true model (sell ads, build subscription base, take money to the bank) will work in the 21st Century are sorely mistaken. And, no, it's NOT enough to just put your content up online and sell a few Internet banners. It's time for a fully integrated strategy. Newspaper content has always been superior. How about starting THERE and leveraging that as an advantage?

If Facebook Were a Country...

...It would be the 5th most populous on the globe!

Yes, Facebook just passed the 200 million (!) mark in active users. For those of you who STILL think Facebook is the 21st Century equivalent of passing a note in study hall, it's time you shifted your thinking.

If you are NOT on Facebook, you might want to give it a try.

Time to Stop Using "Time" in My Post Headlines

Just looked back at my blog and noticed that I seem to constantly be telling people what time it is. If you are depending on me for this, perhaps it's time you bought a watch!

Time for Newspapers to Charge for Online Content

Rupert Murdoch said last week that he thought that newspapers would have to begin charging for their content for economic survival.

Now isn't that a novel idea -- actually charging for your work!

The New York Times website is one of the most visited, quoted, linked to, and credible sites on the Internet. People all over the world seek out their content. And why not? For all of the bellyaching of the far right, the Times is still the "paper of record" in the United States.

And yet, The Times is losing money.

It's time for newspapers to adopt an economic model that makes sense. Just about nobody this side of Rush Limbaugh wants to see newspapers go the way of the dodo bird. If we need to pay a little for our newspaper content -- especially important papers like The Times -- then I say let's go for it!