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Star Wars extreme fans sought for video contest

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fanboys.jpgDailyMotion, a video sharing Web site, and The Weinstein Company are running a new fanboy video contest announced today to find the ultimate Star Wars fan. The winner of this online contest will win a walk in role in the upcoming comedy Fanboys, as well as having his or her video promoted on the Fanboy Web site and included as a special feature when the feature film comes to DVD.

Contestants will need to submit their videos through the official contest Web site. The competition, which runs from July 25, 2007 to August 31, 2007, will find Dailymotion users voting for their favorites throughout the competition. The producers will choose the winner from the 10 finalists that received the most votes by the users.

Fanboys is described as a comedy which “follows a group of young friends on a cross-country quest to break into Skywalker Ranch and see Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace before it is released. The film stars Sam Huntington (Superman Returns), Chris Marquette (Joan of Arcadia), Dan Fogler (the upcoming Kung Fu Panda), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) and Seth Rogan (Knocked Up).”

Originally posted on July 25, 2007 @ 5:42 pm

NowLive user broadcast service adds widget

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nowlive.jpgNowLive, a relatively new online service which combines social networking and user-generated broadcasting, announced a new widget today for making it easier to get a talk show noticed by the online masses. This widget can be plugged into a variety of Web sites.

The NowLive Talk Show widget lets anyone with a social networking profile on sites such as MySpace or blog sites like LiveJournal, Blogger and TypePad embed their own live talk show directly into their personal profile. NowLive in general works by letting one dial a local phone number to create voice streams for his or her new talk show. Talk show hosts can interact with listeners through a variety of tools and the shows are later made available as downloadable podcasts.

“Bloggers, podcasters and anyone who wants to be heard can be on the air in less than 60 seconds,” said NowLive Co-founder & CEO Kevin Bromber. “But unlike traditional radio, a social broadcast lets the audience actively participate in the show from their computers and cell phones.”

Originally posted on July 23, 2007 @ 3:36 pm

Selfcast lets you conduct live Web video broadcasts

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selfcast.jpgPeer to peer streaming technology firm RawFlow announced today the availability of a new online broadcasting portal for user generated content called Selfcast. Selfcast had initially been running a limited beta but is now open to all.

Selfcast requires users to download software with which to create broadcasts. This software allows anyone to broadcast live to the world for free using a Webcam, PC and Internet connection. Friends can then be invited to watch via built-in instant messaging tools such as Skype, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, and MSN. A user can also invite friends to watch via email.

Viewers are allows to interact with the broadcaster via submitted comments or particpation in a live chat feature. Next up for Selfcast will be developing widgets which allows users to implement their channels into other social networks and websites.

Originally posted on July 18, 2007 @ 1:47 pm

New people directory PeekYou claims 50 million profiles

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peek-you.jpgPeekYou, a people search engine, emerged from stealth mode today with the goal of being an open source directory of every individual online. The site seems to be off to a large start, claiming more than 50 million built profiles.

Each individual on PeekYou has their own personalized page and a PeekYou profile that will include bookmarked links to all information available about the target person. The site, as an open source directory, allows users the ability to edit, add or remove information, links, photos, and tags associated with their profile or other PeekYou user’s profiles. In addition, PeekYou provides human created search engine results, reducing nonspecific and incorrect matches.

“People searching is one of the most popular online exercises, but until now it has been a largely inefficient and often confusing experience,” said Michael Hussey, founder of PeekYou. “PeekYou is a true Web 2.0 ‘people search’ – we discover and map where people exist online, almost like writing a biography about your life on the net. In doing so, we are building the ideal engine for individuals to monitor their own online identity.”

Originally posted on July 17, 2007 @ 3:10 pm

HubPages launches Q&A feature

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HubPagesHubPages has recently launched a Q&A feature to its site today, the HubPages Requests.

HubPages is an online publishing community where HubPage authors earn money by publishing content-rich Internet pages on topics they know and love. Members get recognized through a community-wide HubScore ranking system. To spruce it up a little, and to encourage more involvement among members, as well as create more ways to give information about specific questions through community effort, HubPages Requests come to existence.

This latest development in HubPages allows users to generate a page around a question, which can be answered by members in the form of a blog or an article. Much like Yahoo Answers, yes. HubPages Requests allows users to include images and videos into their “answers” as well.

Originally posted on July 4, 2007 @ 8:58 pm