Dear Google

Hey Google, it’s me Basta. Just wanted to drop in and give you a little advice.

You see, there’s this huge “war” over HTML5 video formats going on. Apple and Nokia are pushing H.264 (which is a beautiful format, don’t get me wrong) and Mozilla and Opera are pushing for Ogg Theora (which I have very little experience with, mostly because I have zero reason to interact with it). We all know Microsoft is going to vote for Windows Media Video format or uncompressed AVI or some dumb shit like that, so nobody even asked for their two cents. So now it comes down to you. Sure, you share a bunch of code with Apple and Nokia (WebKit) and you probably won’t end up paying the five million dollar licensing fees to use H.264, but everybody loves open source! And Theora is free regardless!

Now internally, you’ve got your YouTube guys saying that Theora would crash the internet, but at the other side of your offices, you push for open standards and a more open web. That’s a tough choice to make: on one hand, you’ve got a beautiful, efficient codec, and on the other, you’ve got your principles and community-centric values. Tough choice indeed, my friend.

Ah, but wait! Didn’t you just spend an exorbitant amount of money on…what’s that…a video codec company? Google! You sly bastard you! Now, you’re sitting here with the format that you could only hope to ever possess; the holy grail of video codecs! VP6! It’s the same guy that powers Flash (flv), which just so happens to be the driving force behind YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler…hell, even Xtube uses your new toy.

Back on track: I’m certainly not the first person to think of this, though I may have foolishly assumed I was. It’s simply genius. You’ve suddenly come into possession of THE SINGLE MOST POPULAR CODEC EVER TO BE CREATED, and you just so happen to be in a war which will effectively DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF VIDEO ON THE INTERNET FOR THE REST OF THE CENTURY. Now I’m no Howie Mandel, but I know a deal when I see one. Here’s the plan: make VP6 an open source codec. No charge to consume it. You’re already charging boatloads to implement encoders for it; why charge to actually consume it?

And not only do you have VP6, but you also have VP7 and VP8, On2’s latest codecs. They apparently do a kick-ass job (Skype is using VP7 for video conferencing and ABC and Fox are using it in their episode players) so far, so I wouldn’t doubt that they would make good choices for open sourceability. Let people use them. Consider how quickly you’d become the dominant force in online video! Adobe would surely implement VP7/8 if given the right to freely. Now you’ve got Adobe using the codec of your choosing in practically every browser on the planet. Apple and Nokia would KILL to have those codecs made available to them, so you can count on their video element tags supporting your new toy.

Mozilla and Opera will likely be more wary. Mozilla is a big fan of “open” stuff. Theora is “open”. Somebody owns a patent for it, but they promised not to sue anyone. Did you know, though, that Theora was once actually On2’s [now defunct] VP3 codec? That’s three versions behind what Flash uses (and tweaked to hell by open source devs), but it’s still a load of once-On2-now-Google code! Convincing these two guys that the new formats are better to use than Theora shouldn’t be a problem at all

So what would happen here? Well, first off, you’d have all the HTML5 goodness that you could possibly want (well, there’s still IE…but come on. it’s ie). Second, you’ve got yourself a stake in practically every browser on the planet. Third, every video production platform suddenly wants a license to encode the ON2 codecs. Sure, Apple’s going to be a little pissed now that H.264 is done, but it’s not like they have bigger problems or anything.

Anyway, good luck with your decision, Google, and give me a call when you get a chance.

With love,
Basta

Life Achievements

So today I was thinking about a video that I’m making for the father-in-law of a friend of mine. He’s being honored with a lifetime achievement award, which got me thinking: what exactly quantifies a person’s achievements in life? What would make me happy to walk away from life having accomplished?

What I came up with was kind of a multi-part response. I think first off, everything you’ve done in life can be divided into four classifications:

1. Class 1: Unimportant - Something that you’ve done that is inconsequential to the betterment of the human race. An achievement that doesn’t affect others.
2. Class 2: Noteworthy - An action, role, or status that you’ve invested yourself towards, though has no lasting effect on the other people involved. i.e.: Your position could be filled by a replacement with little difficulty.
3. Class 3: Important - Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and roles that define you as a person. Your position could not easily be filled by a replacement and you have permanently left your mark on the role.
4. Class 4: Critical - Something that others dependent on. Your position could not be replaced, the well-being of others rests solely in your hands. Your absence would be deeply unsettling for others.

Class 1 items on my scale are the small things: you helped someone out in math class, you made honor roll, you learned to ride a bike. Stuff that nobody else really cares about but means a lot to you. It might be important to you, but it doesn’t define you in any larger sense. These achievements are sought by the vain and the petty.

Class 2 achievements are more substantial. Perhaps you had a job where you pushed papers. Surely your role helped to improve the quality of life for others—you’ve helped to better the company as a whole. You haven’t really done anything ground-breaking in a class 2 achievement, though.

I would imagine that a lot of people consider class 2 achievements to be “a big deal,” and they would be partially right: to go through life without experiencing the “small stuff” effectively results in one missing a lot of what life has to offer. Perhaps it’s something as simple as getting a promotion, placing well in a sports event, or helping a friend through some hard times. You’re doing something at least a little worthwhile and that’s something to be proud of.

On the flip side, these aren’t important enough to land you in any history books. In fact, chances are, they aren’t even likely to land you in any written records whatsoever. Think of these things as the tiny, metaphorical finish-line tapes that you run through. They don’t mean much in the end, but they’re not much more than symbolism.

Class 3 achievements are rare—the average person only achieves a handful of these throughout their life, if any. These are the big ones: working your way to the top of your company or organization, becoming a leader in your community or region, making a significant contribution to a worthy cause. These are the things that define a person’s character in the biggest ways. Your name might not be a household word, but you won’t be forgotten easily.

The last class of achievements is class 4. A class 4 achievement might just be the easiest (or most difficult) to attain: start a family. What’s more sacred than your genealogy? To start a lineage, to have dependents and raise them right is fundamental to our nature as humans. On the flip-side, though, if you raise your children badly, then it isn’t much of an achievement, is it? Anybody can pop out a kid, but it takes a dedicated and sensible person to teach them how to function in today’s world.

In the interest of being brief, I’ll close up with this: as it stands, I feel like I’ve got plenty of class 1 and 2 achievements, and who doesn’t? Anybody that’s done something with their life (up to the age of 20) should have a few under their belt. I don’t know if I’ve done anything 3 or 4-worthy. A lot of that is stuff that comes later in life, I would think. Obviously having a child is something that anyone that’s gone through puberty can do, but doing it responsibly is another story. I’ll just have to wait and see how the rest of my life turns out to know for sure, I suppose.

Quick Takes

Just thought I’d throw this out before I head off to dinner. Just a short list today.

• Just like my disdain for the term “webmaster,” I’m also opposed to “power user.” In my experience, power users are people that try to do things for themselves or think they know “a lot” about using computers. Fascinatingly enough, they also seem to come to me to fix their computer more than the average Joe. Why? Because the average Joe is scared out of his mind that he’s going to frig something up. Power user Bob isn’t afraid to attempt an upgrade of his BIOS during a thunderstorm.

  Also, it seems like the only individuals that actually use the term power user are the ones that need emotional reinforcement: they were probably something special back in the days of Windows 3.1. Boy oh boy, they could navigate those DOS prompts like no other. But today, when their biggest tricks involve making your computer faster by doing a “defrag” or “clearing the prefetch,” they’re all washed up.

  If that’s truly the case, then I guess I do feel a little sorry for these guys, though. They’re clinging to their power term like a right-wing nutcase clinging to the sanctity of marriage.

• I cried my eyes out during the House’s season four finale. I’ve never cried that much over a TV show in my life.

• Every week, I get an email from Mint telling me how much money I have left in my bank accounts. I never look forward to it.

  Anyhow, every time I look at it, I cry a little bit and think, “Where is all of my money going!?” And then I realize that I’m paying for my own health insurance and feel only slightly better. Obama Care cannot come fast enough.

That’s all, folks.