Very Useful DIY: How to Embed Video Using HTML5

So how do you embed video on a Web page using HTML5 syntax? It’s simple:

<video id="sampleMovie" src="HTML5Sample.mov" controls></video>

That’s it! That’s all you need to add a video player to your site without any third-party add-ons or embedded code from other sites — just one simple tag.

If only it was really that easy.

The complexity of HTML5 arises not from the syntax, but from browser support and video encoding. Web developers are used to struggling with browser compatibility, but you also have wider-than-usual disagreement among browser vendors regarding codec standards. In order to build a successful HTML5 site, you’ll need to take into account how modern browsers like Chrome 4, Firefox 4 and Internet Explorer 9 implement HTML5 video Web standards as well as how to handle how users view video in legacy browsers.

read the long detailed post on htmlgoodies.com

BBC tests adaptive HD streaming to connected devices | News | Rapid TV News

BBC tests adaptive HD streaming to connected devices

Editor ©RapidTVNews | 22-06-2011

As it looks to support to support a wider range of connected devices for iPlayer streams, the BBC has revealed that is has embarked on testing high definition HTTP adaptive bit rate video streaming.

The aim of the test is to provide a better service for iPlayer over the top (OTT) online video users and make its infrastructure simpler and more efficient and according to a blog by Andy Armstrong , Technical Architect for Programmes and On Demand, adaptive bit rate HTTP streaming may be the candidate technology that supports this aim.

The test will be based on  feeds of the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the BBC will be  using Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming supporting bit rates of 416k, 624k, 944k, 1408k, 2112k and 3168k and a maximum resolution of 1280x720 (720p HD).

Live events, and sports particular, is regarded as a good test bed for such activity given that the media player has to adapts to the available bandwidth and display the highest possible quality video without lagging too far behind the live action as it tries to buffer downloaded video.

The BBC has been testing the adaptive streaming technology since February and has now advanced to the stage where it needs an external representative audience to conclude its findings. To this end it has constructed a test page from which it is welcoming feedback.

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Roadshow for iPad saves videos for offline viewing | iPad Atlas - CNET Reviews

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By Rick Broida (excerpt):

"The laws of nature indicate that if there's no Internet connection, you can't watch streaming videos. Roadshow for iPad defies that law, downloading videos to your tablet for offline viewing.

This is exactly as awesome as it sounds--though let's get the bad news out of the way right now: Roadshow doesn't support YouTube (owing to Apple's App Store restrictions). So much for saving all your favorite cute kitten videos.

You can, however, pilfer clips from other sources, including CollegeHumor, Funny or Die, The Onion, and TED Talks. In fact, all four of these sites are conveniently bookmarked in Roadshow's built-in browser, which works more or less like Safari.
The difference is that when you load a page containing a compatible video, Roadshow pulls a thumbnail up to its "video shelf." Tap that thumbnail and the clip gets downloaded on the spot. It's all very quick and easy.
For any video you save, you have the option of not just watching it, but also viewing its source Web page, e-mailing it to a friend, and sharing it on Twitter...."

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-20073268-243/roadshow-for-ipad-saves-vid...

Roadshow for iPad saves videos for offline viewing | iPad Atlas - CNET Reviews

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By Rick Broida (excerpt):

"The laws of nature indicate that if there's no Internet connection, you can't watch streaming videos. Roadshow for iPad defies that law, downloading videos to your tablet for offline viewing.

This is exactly as awesome as it sounds--though let's get the bad news out of the way right now: Roadshow doesn't support YouTube (owing to Apple's App Store restrictions). So much for saving all your favorite cute kitten videos.

You can, however, pilfer clips from other sources, including CollegeHumor, Funny or Die, The Onion, and TED Talks. In fact, all four of these sites are conveniently bookmarked in Roadshow's built-in browser, which works more or less like Safari.
The difference is that when you load a page containing a compatible video, Roadshow pulls a thumbnail up to its "video shelf." Tap that thumbnail and the clip gets downloaded on the spot. It's all very quick and easy.
For any video you save, you have the option of not just watching it, but also viewing its source Web page, e-mailing it to a friend, and sharing it on Twitter...."

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-20073268-243/roadshow-for-ipad-saves-vid...

Whoa! & Whoot! Harry Potter to live on in internet treasure hunt game | Children's books | The Guardian

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Two cool games in one week!

"...It is thought Rowling's new project, due to be officially launched on Thursday, will be a Potter-based treasure hunt entitled Pottermore, after an apparently secret memo emerged.

The new project is reportedly an online game that gives users clues which will lead them to prizes hidden in the real world. Aspiring wizards the world over can hope to find an undisclosed number of magic wands stashed throughout the UK and US, and possibly other countries. It is not yet clear if the treasure hunt is Pottermore itself or a marketing drive for another product, and details about the game remain hazy.

News of the project emerged after the Times appeared to have been sent a memo by mistake, although it is not known if it was sent as a marketing device. PR company Adam & Eve appears to be behind the project, and has, in the past, conducted online treasure hunts using Google maps. Last year it created LittleBigMap, a game designed to promote the video game LittleBigPlanet 2, which encouraged users to find new markers on the map by following clues...."

RSA Film's & USA Network team for USA Character Project :: Any one catch the special screenings?

Character Project is an ongoing artistic initiative committed to celebrating America's characters – the interesting, dazzling, and distinctive people, from all walks of life, who make this country extraordinary.

Inspired by USA's "Characters Welcome" brand, Character Project launched in 2009 with a focus on photography. For its second act, USA has partnered with RSA Films and Ridley & Tony Scott, to once again turn a lens on America's characters, this time through the medium of the moving image. Together, they commissioned seven talented filmmakers to each explore the theme of character from their own unique perspective. From lost loves to loyal friends, private heroes to public personalities, the subjects of these short films – some real, some fictional – show the courage, connection, humor, and hope that give shape to the American character. After all, characters are what make us USA.

Click here to read the official press release.

Screenings of the Character Project short films will be available to consumers through a multi-day touring exhibition beginning in New York City on Friday, May 13th and visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Audiences in these cities will be invited to visit customized screening capsules as unique as the films that inspired them. Creatively adapted from shipping containers into state-of-the-art screening rooms, these 18-seat, fully air-conditioned spaces will offer the comforts of a mini-theater with the sleek style and spectacle of a contemporary art installation.

Thomas Dolby Debuts The Floating City #Transmedia Game | via iPad News Tracker

"...Completely free to the public, The Floating City is a casual game that hooks you into building a whole story world with your tribe — as deep as you want to go. It runs on a standard web browser, smartphone or iPad without additional software installation. It is targeted at players of all ages, regardless of whether they are familiar with Thomas Dolby’s catalog. But diehard fans of the five-time Grammy™-nominated songwriter will be delighted to find that The Floating City integrates characters, places, and objects named in every one of his albums going back to the beginning of his career . . . and before.
“The Floating City is set against a dystopian vision of the 1940s that might have existed had WWII turned out a lot differently,” says Dolby. A global energy experiment went haywire, the Earth’s magnetic fields have been reversed, and the planetary climate system violated. Science has betrayed us: now what must the species do to survive?
Survivors explore a fictional Google map, forming tribes and trading relics amidst a bizarre sea-going barter society. As they struggle to unravel the enigma that isThe Floating City, players can haggle over merchandise and music downloads — including brand new songs from the much anticipated CD A Map of the Floating City, Dolby’s first album in 20 years, which will be released following the climax of the game.
“This is a brilliant concept,’ said writer/economist Steven Levitt. “It’s a cross between Freakonomics and Burning Man, with a back-story that would have made J.G. Ballard proud.”

Read more: Thomas Dolby Debuts The Floating City Transmedia Game | iPad News Tracker http://www.ipadnewstracker.com/2011/06/thomas-dolby-debuts-the-floating-city-...

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial

Thomas Dolby launches #Transmedia Game: The Floating City - gorgeous visuals - Interview

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Story by John Voket
SoundSpike Contributor
Published June 22, 2011 03:09 PM

"New wave '80s artist and electronica pioneer Thomas Dolby has launched his new "transmedia" game dubbed "The Floating City," which will also serve as a platform to expose his new music.

"Based on a crazy idea I have been nurturing since I began my new album nearly two years ago, it is the fruit of several months' hard work by a dedicated all-star team of developers and writers, and it's the prelude to my album 'A Map of the Floating City,' which will follow as the game reaches its climax," Dolby said in an advance.
Dolby said "The Floating City" game is open for registration via its website. Players from around the world will form tribes and collaborate to earn free music downloads, merchandise and concert tickets.
Completely free to the public, "The Floating City" is a casual game that hooks participants into building a whole story world as they form or join an already established tribe, Dolby explained.
"It runs on a standard web browser, smartphone or iPad without additional software installation," Dolby said. "It doesn't matter whether you're familiar with my catalog. But hardcore fans will be delighted to find that 'The Floating City' integrates characters, places, and objects named in every one of my albums going back to the beginning of my career."

A few days earlier, Dolby announced that he will be making several concert appearances at the end of July along with his collaborators, The Pirate Twins, playing short electronic sets featuring some '80s classics and possibly a sneak preview of a brand new track from "A Map of the Floating City."..."

play here: .