Monday, July 10th, 2000
12:30p new anapix up
:) www.anacam.com/anapix
1:23p article about big brother that mentions me: http://www.business2.com/content/channels/technology/2000/07/10/13877
here's the article, and after that our email correspondence so u can see what i REALLY said:
Must
See Webcam TV
"Big Brother" has unwittingly become the first offline incarnation
of the good ol' Webcam, giving hope to thousands of homespun content providers.
"We would really like the $500,000," says one Webcam host.
Posted on July 10, 2000
Eric Mack
Last month, an early morning fire gutted the infamous San Francisco "Real World" house, site of an early season of MTV's wildly popular experiment in manufactured-yet-reality-based TV. Ironically, the house's current residents were part of a familiar premise: Seven strangers living together in a house with the world watching their every move-only this time the broadcast went out over the Web on Spotlife.com. With their cast suddenly homeless, Spotlife went on hiatus, prematurely concluding yet another chapter in America's continuing voyeuristic obsession, the Webcam.
Now, rising from the ashes like a phoenix riding on the gilded wings of CBS and AOL (AOL, info), comes "Big Brother." Unlike "Real World," "Big Brother" is live, not relying on editing and post-production for its story line and sheen. What's more, though the television component appears only five times a week, the show is beamed 24/7 via its Website . Sounds a lot like what Ana Voog of Anacam and countless others have been doing for years in the Webcam community. In many ways, "Big Brother" has become the first Webcam with a TV component.
Some veterans of the Webcam and Webcasting communities are hesitant to welcome "Big Brother" to their ranks. Nerdman's Webcam site, for example, boasts a total of eighteen cameras between work and home. "I think 'Big Brother' compares more to a show like 'Real World,' than it does a true Webcam site," says Nerdman. "As much as the promotion pushes 'all live, all unscripted,' it's still your typical Hollywood production."
"I actually thought of trying to get on the show myself," says Anacam's Voog. "But it just seemed all too complex to leave my life behind for three months."
Understandably, both CBS and AOL claim that the "Big Brother" Website is ancillary to the television broadcasts. But the premise is remarkably similar. "We don't have anybody going back through the day and picking out the highlights to edit together a show tape," says CBS Spokeswoman Diane Ekeblad. "Nothing can be fabricated, jumbled, or taken out of context. There would be no way to do it because anyone can see the whole thing on the Net."
In America, one of the more well-known Webcam hosts, and one of the few with a publicist, is DotComGuy (that's his legal name). DotComGuy's concept is to lock himself in a house for a year with a network of cameras and a production crew filming his every move. The only stipulation-like that of "Big Brother"-is that DotComGuy can not leave the house. He is currently six months into the experiment, spending much of his day in the DotComGuy chat room, conversing with viewers and taking polls on what he should order for his next meal while proudly declaring, "Our stream looks better than 'Big Brother's.'"
DotComGuy is excited by the possibilities "Big Brother" presents, and isn't shy with his hopes to parlay his online notoriety into a shot at offline stardom. "I think the concept [behind "Big Brother"] is fantastic," he says. "We have been exploring opportunities in this area for some time and expect to branch out into a number of offline mediums in the near future."
Voog harbors no such aspirations, and recently took it upon herself to speak about "Big Brother" for the entire Webcam community. "We in the old-school Webcam community look upon this newest development with great joy, disgust, childlike curiosity, envy, and happiness that we are not them-happy that we control our own lives and can edit our lives the way we see fit."
"But,"
she added, "We would really like the $500,000."
---------------
ok, and here's what i REALLY said:
On
Thu, 06 Jul 2000 10:12:15 -0600 emack@imaginemedia.com (Eric Mack) writes:
> Ana,
> My name is Eric Mack, I'm a reporter for Business 2.0 online
> who first met
> you at SXSW in Austin in March (congrats on the awards). As one of
> the
> most popular webcam owners on the web I wanted to get your reaction
> to Big
> Brother, the new CBS show that premiered last night which features 4
>
> streaming webcams in a house where 10 strangers are living a la the
> Real
> World.
hi :) glad u thought 2 write me :)
Is this a good thing for the future of webcams or a sad
> manipulation
> of the medium?
people
really need to stop lumping all cam related things together into one big "thing"
think of cams as a medium like writing or painting or making music. is someone
in the writing field decides to write a trashy novel, this will not "take
away" any credibility from the medium of "cams...as in it will not
make "catcher in the rye" become less of a good book. do u see what
i mean?
and there are so many cam related things and they are all so different. like
streaming video ( the kind that is fluid motion instead of a still picture
every few seconds ) is a completely different medium than the still picture
kind. it's photography versus film. they are realted yet two very separate
entities.
the future of webcam possibilities is as vast as there are people with webcams.
it's all about intent. not everyone uses the telephone in the same way. whenever
there is a new medium introduced into our society it seems that there is always
a lot of fear and confusion. like when the telephone was brought abnout, or
television. it's all about what u intend to do with it.
some people use cams as a way to stay in touch with their family and friends,
some use it as a way of surveillance, some use it as a way to be exhibitionists,
and i was the first one to choose 2 use it as a way of artistic expression.
the way that big brother chooses to broadcast their cams onto the net is nothing
at all how i choose to use mine.
firstly, i am in control of my cams and i choose what 2 point them at. i am
not not a game or big business. my cam is not about getting lots of people
together that will perhaps have some difficulties getting along.
the only way i can foresee bigbrother changing the future of my cam is that
i might get more media attention :) like when the truman show i got a lot
of media asking me if i was like the truman show. which i'm obviously now,
'cause i am aware of my cams and in control of them and anacam is not about
surveillance, it's about communication
so will bigbrother change the furure of my cam? not in how i use my cam. not
in my intent.
i can only speak for the future of my cam. others will evolve how they decide.
i don't see big brother as sad. i think it's pretty darn interesting, and
i plan on watching the whole thing because i am just fascinated with psychology
and human nature and all that. i love seeing people stuck together in a difficult
situation ( that they CHOSE to be a part of ) working things out and learning
about other people that in their normal lives they never would have met or
hung out with.
i guess in that way there is a similarity to anacam , because i definitely
have met hundreds of people i would have never had the chance to get to know
in my life without the internet. and that has only been a very positive and
good thing.
i think we can all learn a lot about ourselves by observing other people.
so i have high hopes for big brother. but then, after that show is all said
and done, ask me again, and i might very likely have a completetly different
view. there is just no way i could possibly judge it yet , since it hasn't
even hardly begun.
i actually thought of trying 2 get on that show myself :) then it just seemed
all too complex to leave my life behind for 3 months. and i did hear that
the german version got pretty brutal, but i don't know the details, so that
kind of scared me away from it. we certainly do live in an interesting age.
i'll say that :) sorry i can't be more "sound bitey" for u :) hehe
:)
How do people in the old school web cam community
> feel
> about the idea of a webcam with a network television compenent?
"old school" , now THAT is funny :) yes, we old timers over here...ummmm....
:) did u know that i have streaming video with sound just like big brother
? go to www.anacam.com/stream :)
i will now channel thee entire "old school webcam commmunity" and
come up with a mass statement for u...
*goes into trance rolling eyes into my forehead*
"we, the old school webcam community, look upon this newest evolvement with great joy, disgust, childlike curiousity, envy, happiness that we are not them, happy that we control our own lives and can edit our lives how WE see fit....but we would really like the 500, 000 :)"
i
guess that' all for now ;)
u could probably get a whole ton of interesting replies if u posted your questions
on my bbs nad got answers from people who watch all sorts of cams every day,
the url is:
http://www.fetik3.com/bbs/ana.html
:)
peas,
ana
I'd
> love to
> hear your answers to these questions and any other opinions you
> have. The
> deadline for this story is tomorrow (friday) and it will be online
> at
> business2.com on Monday.
> Thanks so much for your time. If you haven't seen it yet, you can
> check out
> the big brother site at bigbrother2000.com.
> Eric Mack
> Reporter, Business 2.0
> emack@imaginemedia.com
1:28p and here's a link to my anarchy bbs post where it contains the article
and the actual email that i sent the reporter so u can see what i REALLY said:
2:59p i am playing the whole uncut tori interview on my streaming and lots
of od hilarious tapes of my homemade videos and live performances and tv things
:) anacam.com/stream
Tuesday, July 11th, 2000
3:45p i need 2 get outside and go 4 a walk and get some food. it's hard 2
get motivated 'cause when it's hot like this ( altho today is MUCH better,
78 degrees) i have 2 have alll the blinds down in the livingroom so the sun
doesn't make it even more hot in here. so then it's hot and dark and the combination
of that makes me so lethargic. not 2 mention the wondoiws closed so there
is less oxygen and it's hard 2 get air currents going in here even when the
windows are open. so less oxygen, dark, hot, humid, and the sound of 7 humming
computers, a printer and 2 hubs and refrigerator=dissonant noise not of the
good kind....but of the kind that workd against your body and makes u feel
agitated. i can't wait until finally i can have a house and i can put all
the noisy things in a sound proof room, and i can have a balcony or yard.
i'm going 2 get my extensions put back in soon. maybe thursady. or maybe monday. i hope thursday because i can't bear 2 go a whole nother week with really bad stupid hair. if my hair idn't right, i just don't feel "myself" which makes me feel really off and icky.
extensions extensions extensions!
so...i am going into the kitchen now 2 see if there si even one thing 2 eat..but i don't think there is. if not, i'm gonna get dressed and get outside.
oh, and i gotta get into the thing room and look for more cheques. i'm out of cheques and i need 2 write some bills that i am very late in writing. ack.
sorry i am just in
such a pitiful mood lately! as charlie brown would say, good grief!
3:46p oh, and btw, jason really likes his new job :)