I've been coding in earnest, off and on, since about 1991.

Took a Pascal class at the university on the way to an English degree that I never got. Was working for a company at the time that was building mainframe databases using NATURAL and that was my backdoor to the programming world. Worked for them for a few years. My strength at that time was pseudocode, because I was pretty good at talking to the client and figuring out what they wanted.

Did some pretty cool VBA stuff for a long while, then VB/SQL systems for about five years to the point where I can't stand to look at it any more. I destroyed my VB6 and VB.net disks kind of like a madman burning his ships.

Starting my own biz and I'm sticking to the web standards: Javascript, PHP and MySQL. Still not very eloquent where my code is concerned, but I've figured out AJAX and I can usually hook or crook my way into making something work.

I'm one of those people who thinks web-based applications will be "the thing" to come in a big way.

I'm also heretical in that when I get rich, I want to start a project that puts the browser inside of Flash.

Want to do more ActionScript stuff and Flash, animation in particular, but I can't seem to stay off this one cool video site that I know about long enough to make headway.

We have a few that are led by dominant brand name too. We used to call any powdered cleanser Ajax, because it was the only of it's kind for a long time, now we call it Comet. We still call facial tissue Kleenex and those feminine products Tampons, and cotton swabs Q-Tips. There's probably a lot more and corporate sales are always trying to break us from those habits.

That's some very, very moving imagery. And brilliant photography to boot.

The famine pictures in particular make me bloody angry, as it just shouldn't be, and yet it is. You can do all the donations you want to relief charities but it still really burns that the problem could be resolved with just a fraction of the money spent on defense budgets.

Oh, and from a geeky standpoint... I WISH sites like this would use AJAX or flash, as it's damn annoying having a million pages in your history to wade back through to get to where you came from.

I won't comment on your post since I'm undecided about the whole dupe thing but if you were going to do something new would it be nice if you have videos paired up side by side for diamonds to view? Then have a big button and some of that crazy AJAX animation going on.
Now lord knows how you would get them paired up in the first place but I'm just thinking out loud here. Don't hate me!

Thanks a lot for the info!
Interesting stuff.

In reply to this comment by GeeSussFreeK:
The main advantage is that Java script runs as an application in each browser tab. Normally, a browser and all its tabs will freeze for any java application. So, if you have some intense java application on one tab, and it locks up or is running slow, it also locks the other browsing tab sessions. With chrome, each tab is its own application block, so if one process freezes up or is just otherwise slow, the other tabs are relatively unaffected.

Java is evil, but it isn't going anywhere. Chrome was developed with those of us in mind that have moved into a world of AJAX everywhere. I work from home mostly, and the applications I have to run are mainly java variants. The ability to run multiple java apps without fear of one locking up and losing all my applications at once is a real nice thing. That said, Google is abusing their "don't be evil" philosophy with this move I think. Only time will tell, but there are some signs of Google getting into some areas best left to others.

That said, I still run firefox for recreational browsing. Its extensions are really useful.

In reply to this comment by burdturgler:
Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand what benefit there is in switching from firefox to chrome. Regardless of this video.

The main advantage is that Java script runs as an application in each browser tab. Normally, a browser and all its tabs will freeze for any java application. So, if you have some intense java application on one tab, and it locks up or is running slow, it also locks the other browsing tab sessions. With chrome, each tab is its own application block, so if one process freezes up or is just otherwise slow, the other tabs are relatively unaffected.

Java is evil, but it isn't going anywhere. Chrome was developed with those of us in mind that have moved into a world of AJAX everywhere. I work from home mostly, and the applications I have to run are mainly java variants. The ability to run multiple java apps without fear of one locking up and losing all my applications at once is a real nice thing. That said, Google is abusing their "don't be evil" philosophy with this move I think. Only time will tell, but there are some signs of Google getting into some areas best left to others.

That said, I still run firefox for recreational browsing. Its extensions are really useful.

In reply to this comment by burdturgler:
Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand what benefit there is in switching from firefox to chrome. Regardless of this video.

Awesome work Lucky — you rock the house!

A few buglets I've noticed so far:

• I have the same issue with the voting AJAX (Firefox 3.03 on Ubuntu 8.10)
• There are no vids listed under the Playlists tab (which by default seems to be Group Playlists) even though there already are some group playlists.
• When inviting people to a group playlist, some of the pageviews showed everybody's checkboxes, rather than the usual "Invited, still waiting for response" message for those who hadn't accepted the invite yet.

I'm already enjoying all the great new features I've tried so far — thanks again!

*bug: I'm using Firefox 3.0.3 and when I go to upvote a video, it doesn't automatically refresh the page as it used to with the AJAX (i.e., showing the new vote count and removing the up/down vote arrows).

>> ^MINK:
he said the predictive search AJAX thing is the same in all browsers, right?


It works the same because it is all just javascript. The point he is making is that chrome isn't any more secure than the other browser, and in fact, has some insidious elements to it.

he said the predictive search AJAX thing is the same in all browsers, right?

>> ^jmd:
Spoco, uhmm... does flash count as a plugin? Cause yea flash could do it. Although maybe you wouldnt need flash.. web cams have supported HTML controls for panning/tilting for many years now.. althought its not nearly as graceful as you would like.

I definitely count flash as a plugin if they're talking doing this on phones. Yes you can get flash for phones but it can't be assumed to be installed. Also, you can't say that it doesn't need a plugin if you need flash, that is a plugin, just one with huge penetration (tee hee).


Why is there point of view changes? uhmm..why not? MOST rendering engines of this calibure support such features, its actually practically done in hardware. Would you normaly in this type of application? No not really, but its pretty clear the controls were not "final" in anyway.. infact there was no interface which probably means hes using a bunch of developer functions to move around. This also gave him easy access to adjusting light sources.

But you're missing the point that there's NO consistency between the various bits of video, some have full on HDR, bloom, focus effects, high detail, the works... these are the pre rendered stuff that took artists a seriously long time to create and then a seriously long time to render. Then there are some still shots for no good reason other than to try to show some more detailed environments that a system like this could never hope to do.

Check out OTOYs website itself... it shows the sort of quality they currently claim to have with their tech, which is pretty nice unto itself, but NOTHING like the pre rendered portions of this vid.

To say that current online worlds already look somewhat like this ignores the point that all of those worlds are rendered by EACH person's computer... the rendering is handled 1 to 1, 1 pc to 1 user. The servers just need to keep track of where everyone is and what they're doing, and they need HUGE numbers of servers to handle just that.

Now, put on top of all of that the need for the servers to ALSO render scenes 'server side', and it really doesn't sound very plausible.

Now, I just tried to run the OTOY demo 'city' (which I'm guessing most of this Liveplace thing is taken from), and in Firefox the page did nothing, and in IE it tried to do an ActiveX install, and then failed (running vista here).

And on top of that, the info pdf states

OTOY 2.0 is currently in beta testing and is scheduled for deployment
in Q2 2006.

So... yeah... kinda a long way out of date there.

Right at the end of the pdf it states:

virtual runtime tools - enables OTOY content to stream onto thin
clients using either AJAX, Flash or Java - no binary plug-in required.

So, Flash and Java are plugins, and there's no way you're getting scenes anywhere near the first part of this video via AJAX...

However the mustard is cut, it's going to require horsepower on the user's machine.

In that same pdf:

cinematic rendering using 3D hardware on systems with Shader Model 2
cards (i.e. DX9 cards introduced in 2002 or later), including Intel
integrated graphics chipsets which account for nearly half of 3D
hardware enabled systems. (All screen shots in the gallery are direct
captures of the engine rendering in real time with no post processing, using shader model

ie. the machine itself needs the processing power, not the server.

>> ^NordlichReiter:
I use AJAX toolkit panels, but that's me.


I don't care how it's done, I just want it implemented! lol

I use AJAX toolkit panels, but that's me.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'zlatan, ajax, football, soccer, holland, sweden' to 'zlatan, ajax, nac, football, soccer, netherlands, holland, sweden' - edited by Eklek

I am reflecting on my past year as a member on the Sift (and 2 years of using VideoSift) and the sections and functions I frequent...
Sorry about the length. Hope you guys find this useful.

I know there's a lot of wild stuff, but instead of self-censoring/limiting, I thought I would put it all out there and see what can happen.

Suggested Changes:

• disable the number verification code after a user is no longer Probationary
  
• Long as a channel
  
• Change right pane (see below)
  
• Remove the mid-page blocks like 'feeds' or something. (Are there stats on the use of these things? Are they effective?)
  
• "Subscribe to user", they show up on your "Your VideoSift" page

Suggested Commenting functionality

• I'd like to see a toolbar of clickable in-text invocations (maybe using a logo?) that can change by adding more or less depending on the user star level. (Perhaps even a basic GUI?)
  
• Power Points in-tab (on the top) moved to above the comment fill-in box with a number to say how many you have left, gets updated. The invocations (like *.beg and *.promote) would grey-out if there are not enough power points left.

Suggested Ajax add-ons:

• Integrate a "Quicklist" functionality
  
  • Like adding videos to a temporary playlist "play queue", lasts for 2 days, with option to save. (I am always adding tabs with videos I will eventually watch...)

Suggested Right pane management:

• Allow for users to specify what blocks appear, check boxes? Ajax/movable boxes (à la Drupal/iGoogle?)

Suggested Main menu tab list:
It's growing - and maybe facing growing pains, but some of these items are similar.
I see sift-related tabs, community-supporting tabs and user-specific tabs.
Perhaps a two-rowed tabs would be better?
I know there is already a pseudo-2nd row there right now...these items (Submit a video, Support) should be gathered into a box in the right pane as they do not change with the tab (gives a false sense of tab-specific functionality)

I suggest the following break-down of 4 Main tabs (more like 3 + search) and tab-specific Second tab menu hierarchy:

• "The Sift"
  
  • Home (default)
    
  • Unsifted (sorted by:)
    
  • Date (default)
    
  • Dynamic dropdowns: Votes: From:(1-9) to (2-10)
    
  • Users in my friend list
    
  • Top
    
  • Hot
    
  • "ReSift" (Beggar's Canyon)(The beggar's canyon is difficult for newbies and even commoners to fully grasp. Plus I can't see how having the word "Beggar's" is good on any collaborative/community site)
    
  • Channels (form drop down list in the menu section, and a page with boxes of the channels and the usual Personal+Overall Top Channel)
    
  
  
• "Open an account!"
  No sense in having public users access the community if they do not have a user account, right? Plus also it just may confuse anonymous/public users to see playlists and the talk pages and the blogs when all they want to see are videos.
  I suggest anonymous/public users see a tab that says "Open an account", and when they do, they see the following two tabs:
  
  
• "Community"
  
  • Playlists
    
  • Talk
    
  • Blogs
  
  
• "Your VideoSift"
  
  • Playlists
    
  • Blog (if applicable)
    
  • Comments
    
  • Account
    
    • Settings, etc.
    
    
  • Submit a video
    
  • ...
  
  
• "Search"
  (this is always good to have everywhere)

Stars Ranking order names (The "Second-to-last section, I swear" section)
This may be just opinion, but I think the stars ranking can be more logical. If using the theme Bronze, Silver, Gold,, then continue as such: Bronze Diamond, Silver Diamond, Gold Diamond, Bronze Crown,. I know, it's just the Gold 100 that throws it all off, but I wonder if there are others scratching their heads as to whre the Gold Diamond is.

Bonus! Last section! Siftbot!
Perhaps added invocations, using a separate invocation character (#perhaps?) for users with stars Gold and above to request information on a video from Siftbot. Like #dead to find out if the video has been dead before, how many times, and when was the last.
Perhaps there should be a dynamic drop down (uses css:visible call) for users to 'sift-out' invocation responses from Siftbot. These can be lengthy.

OH NO! Another one? Please stop! [Facebook thumbnail]
Gotta fix the thumbnail embed when people post on Facebook. I share stuff on Videosift with friends on Facebook, and VS (or Facebook) never gets the thumbnail right. It's a slew of other videos, or I can use the VS logo. If this could be fixed, I (and others I'm sure) wouldn't have to get the original YouTube URL (or whatever source) to share on Facebook (and perhaps other social networking sites?).