Video Vortex Reader II: moving images beyond YouTube

266 Video Vortex Reader II Moving Images Beyond Youtubetechnological approaches267microphones streaming 24/7 from different countries and continents. The Streambox is abox into which one merely has to plug in a microphone, internet and electricity in order tobe ‘on-air’.Long-awaited mobile streaming is around the corner using open codecs, and the Androidplatform is a step ahead of this process. Current mobile devices offer enough computingpower, and accessing enough bandwidth on such networks has become the main objectiveof those who profit big time from the internet (Google and telephone operators). We will soonsee higher data transfer rates capable of supporting video on a consumer scale type of contractwith the telecom operator.Meanwhile, from our silent and underdeveloped world we play with IRC bots hooked to micro-controllers,43 a remote control achieved by way of chat messages, and a webcam locatedat the other side of the planet. This game takes place under the name of halfBro and half-Bro4500, and was deployed and tested during the transmediale festivals in 2008 and 2009.For the ‘Utube’, the ‘twitler’,and the ‘fakebook’, the ‘social’means opportunisticcrowdsourcing. Alternatives?There are many, from transmission.ccto miro, indymedia,archive.org, current.tv,politube, and enagemedia.The question is: Why do wehave to work for free for theImages of halfBro and halfoBro4500.corporations that gain profitsusing our content? Pirate Media, Protest Media, Reclaim Media. This is not about a politicallycorrect attitude, nor is it about designers from Brooklyn uniting for another revolution. This isa simple ethical turn, since we are made out of what we read, see, eat and use.We have the option to operate and remain in a grey zone, to leave untrackable traces or, whatis certainly more fun, misleading ones. Do avoid reading this as an attempt to completelyinsulate oneself from all networks; to some degree it is perhaps a voluntary exclusion, withthe spirit and intention of sheltering online video so that it may grow deeper roots into oursocial layers.Last day of streams for Transmediale 2009, closing the counter with my brother in arms Adam Thomas.ReferencesDeleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, trans. BrianMassumi, London: Athlone Press, 1988.Foucault, Michel. ‘The Confession of the Flesh’ [1977] interview with Michel Foucault, in Colin Gordon(ed. and trans.) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, Brighton, Sussex:Harvester Press, 1980.Kluitenberg, Eric. ‘Distance versus Desire: Clearing the Electrosmog’, http://turbulence.org/blog/2010/11/29/distance-versus-desire-by-eric-kluitenberg/.All images are courtesy of Alejandro Duque, and are available as public domain.Respeto y admiración a todos los desarrolladores que hacen posible el uso libre de sonidoy video en la red.43. arduino comparible: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino.