Youtube is adding a lot in the way of features lately. Its "test tube" section with the Adobe "Remixer" is a good enhancement (though it would be better if you could remix videos uploaded by other users). But one change they just made is very troubling. In fact, it has ruined Youtube for me.
For a while now, it has been my habit to visit Youtube and view recent, popular videos in the "News & Politics" category. Youtube gave me the ability to browse videos in each category by organizing them by "most recent" "top rated", etc. I could further organize the results by using the buttons for "today", "this week", "this month", or "all time".
The latest change in Youtube's interface has disabled the ability to browse videos by category. Sure, the "Category" tab is still at the top, but now the page for each category (example) only shows "featured" videos, which have been selected by Youtube editors. There is a small "see more" link at the bottom of the page, but when clicked, it simply reloads the same page! Now it is impossible to find popular or recent videos in any category. You can only see the videos Youtube editors have selected!
This is an awful change that severely inhibits the ability to find relevant videos on the site. It also makes it very difficult for up-and-coming content creators to have their work seen, since only "featured" videos can be seen in each category. I am afraid it may part of an effort to "pretty up" the site, since it is now to be featured on apple tv, etc. But this change has made the site useless for me. Unless they bring back the ability to browse videos by category, Youtube is just ruined.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Too many of us...
Are there MILLIONS of artworks on Deviantart.com? I sometimes find myself getting depressed about the meaning of making an artwork in a world where we are overrun with countless images... almost all of them just trying to sell us something... In such a world, it becomes literally impossible for any artist to make any kind of image that could have any kind of impact on society at all... or even be noticed.
When I look through DA, perusing the millions of heartfelt artworks of so many, many artists, I think each one deserves to be looked at and contemplated... Yes, there is a lot of "bad" work here... but even that work deserves to be looked at and taken in. There is merit in even the worst artwork. But there is not time. There is so much more art than there is time to look at art.
So I rush by, clicking and clicking, stopping only when something really catches my eye... having to ignore so many others. And I only peruse artworks because I am an artist myself. People who aren't artists would never come to DA... much less go to a gallery and really look. The TV shows and commercials give them plenty of imagery, and they can't be convinced that art would do them any good at all. There was a time when art was an important part of society. Now it seems like its nothing more than an empty caricature of what it used to be.
Art has been paralyzed by commercialism... What can we possibly do about that?
When I look through DA, perusing the millions of heartfelt artworks of so many, many artists, I think each one deserves to be looked at and contemplated... Yes, there is a lot of "bad" work here... but even that work deserves to be looked at and taken in. There is merit in even the worst artwork. But there is not time. There is so much more art than there is time to look at art.
So I rush by, clicking and clicking, stopping only when something really catches my eye... having to ignore so many others. And I only peruse artworks because I am an artist myself. People who aren't artists would never come to DA... much less go to a gallery and really look. The TV shows and commercials give them plenty of imagery, and they can't be convinced that art would do them any good at all. There was a time when art was an important part of society. Now it seems like its nothing more than an empty caricature of what it used to be.
Art has been paralyzed by commercialism... What can we possibly do about that?
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Well, I FINALLY figured out how to get the rss feed from my blog into my webpage... I had to use this gadget someone wrote to do it. So now I can finally just post to this blog instead of adding entries to my website. Googlepages is great because it's free... but it could use some work. Anyway, hopefully some better posts are on the way, since I'll get more visibility by having the posts in multiple places.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Well, this is the last month before Daniel is born. He could be born sometime this month too... I just keep worrying about whether or not I'm ready to be a father. Also, this job is starting to really get to me. I thought I would love having a lot of time late at night to work on things, but it ends up being really hard to make myself create art this late at night. I just end up wandering the internet... and it's getting really old. I really feel the fact that I haven't made any art in a long time... I need to figure out a way to start making some art and then just MAKE it. I have to make these nights more productive.
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