Media

A newly launched company is offering HD-quality TV programming over the Internet. But here's the rub: Before customers can watch their favorite shows, they first have to wait for them to download.

Instant Media, a company started by Buy.com founder Scott Blum, says the company's patent-pending cache technology will enable customers to download in 720-pixel resolution. The company has kicked off its new service by offering two shows in high definition.

Scores of companies are trying to find a fast and inexpensive way to send video files over the Web. Full-length films require sending up to 500 … Read more

Steve Vaught, the once 400 pound man who's been walking across the country to shed weight and gain a new outlook on life, made it to his New York City destination last night. He was greeted at the George Washington Bridge by a crowd of fans and reporters, some of whom were from international media outlets.

Also known as "The Fat Man Walking," which is the name of his popular Web site, Vaught, began the trek last April from Oceanside, Calif. He walked almost 3,000 miles in 13 months and lost about 100 pounds along the … Read more

I use four instant-messaging programs, and in addition to getting tired of signing into each of them, I often need to send IMs from computers where my IM software--or some IM-unifying program like Trillian--isn't downloaded. Well, a start-up called Meebo has solved my problems.

Meebo is offering an alpha (early test) Web-based service that lets people use multiple IM programs and accounts in one unified location using a Web browser on any computer. It uses the AJAX programming technique and so it requires no downloads or plug-ins, like other IM unifying programs.

So far, I'm not the only … Read more

Web cameras produced by digital toolmaker Logitech are making more news: some good, some not so good.

First, the good: The mushrooming popularity of video-upload sites such as YouTube, Break.com and AddictingClips.com appears to be spurring sales of Web and digital cameras.

Back in March, a 17-year-old girl altered her appearance with whacky cartoon features in a video clip she posted on YouTube. The video ignited a buying frenzy for Logitech's Quickcam Orbit MP, the camera used to shoot the clip.

With a click of a button, Bowiechick, the filmmaker's YouTube user name, switched from wearing … Read more

George Clooney may be mad at the Gawker Stalker celebrity map mashup Web site, but other stars don't mind being spotted and are even helping create mashups of where they can be found. Microsoft launched a CelebFavorites.com mashup Web site on Thursday that pinpoints the restaurants, stores and other spots eight celebrities list as being among their favorites.

For instance, actress Brittany Murphy waxes poetic about her home state of New Jersey: "If you don't have the time or the resources to travel the world, then come to New Jersey. It's is a microcosm of … Read more

John Battelle, founder of print publications Wired and The Standard, is ramping up a new online publishing network of blogs. Late Wednesday, his venture, called Federated Media or FM, launched a test version of an automated advertising tool for buyers who want to appear across a network of blogs, including the well-known blog Boing Boing and humor site Fark.com.

The Sausalito, Calif.-based company said that the network of author-driven blogs attracts up to 70 million pageviews a month. Here is the announcement.

Apparently MySpace, the social hot spot for 65 million on the Web, changed, then changed again, its terms and conditions giving it broad rights to the content posted by members even after they removed that content from the Web site, according to a child advocate Web site and a report in The Register.

After a complaint that MySpace had added rights to user material in perpetuity in terms revised in March, parent company News Corp. apparently reversed the decision. Versions of the various terms and conditions can be seen here.

MySpace didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.… Read more

The producers of the documentary "The War Tapes" are looking for a few good videos. Plus audio, photos and plain text, too.

The Web site for the 94-minute film, which premiered over the weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival, wants to be more than a piece of online promotional material. It's also intended to serve as "a place for citizen soldier video, audio, and words," according to the site's FAQ.

To what end? "We believe that the internet can change the way we experience everything, but especially war," the site says.

The … Read more

Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert is one of the Internet's hottest acts this week after video of the comedian skewering President Bush spread rapidly on the Web.

Colbert made news Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Association annual black-tie dinner by making fun of the president's falling approval ratings, as well as his record on the Iraq war, and possible use of illegal wiretaps.

On YouTube.com, the leading upload site that lets users showcase homemade videos, at least a half dozen clips of Colbert's performance were posted following the dinner. The video, first broadcast by C-SPAN, … Read more