This is kind of funny... and surprisingly useful as a reminder of some techniques that were getting a bit rusty for me. Not much more introduction is needed. Here it is. Thanks to Stephen Lenz for the forward...

Another company with a name that looks like a typo.

Apture is a killer new publishing application that lets you hook interactive multi-media modules from the Web onto your editorial. It has to be experienced to be really understood, so, for example, if you were writing a blogpost on the Aurora Borealis and wanted to provide definitions, pictures, and video from top sources like Wikipedia and YouTube, you could do so with just a couple of clicks. And then your audience gets to experience multi-media and related content on your website.

It's rare I say "wow" these days since I'm steeped in the Web all the time, but I have to say that this particular capability is stunning in its implications. Now ANYONE can have a site that is supported by some of the Web's top content providers (the Web 2.0 ones, that is).

Here are some examples of media stitched into a sentence (overdone for effect):
"The Summer's reigning blockbuster is still Iron Man, with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hot on it's heels. Me, I'm now rooting for The Incredible Hulk. And Will Smith's Hancock has yet to take a bow."

OK, the sentence is bad, but the multimedia in-page is really differentiating. Only real flaw is if there is no great content on any of those properties accessible within the application. For this type of interactive plug-and-play experience I can sure live with that.

I love this little video expressing the value of twitter as "real life". It's simple communication around a not-so-simple topic for many. Clicking more at the end of this video will take you into a primer on "social networking". Hey, not that most people reading these words need this type of thing, but the simple cut and paste paper approach is really engaging as tutorial. And sometimes we just need a reminder that not everyone lives and breathes this stuff like we do. Thanks for Geno Yoham for passing it on.

I am sooooo tired of my mouse. Move-click-move-click-move-click-move-click-click-move. We've been using mice for almost 25 years now while movies like Minority Report have shown us a glimpse of a future where all you have to do is wave your hands around a bit to get the job done (OK, you also have to live with Tom Cruze in a distopian future (OK, some might argue that we already are living with Tom Cruze in a distopian future)). Yes, there are some extremely big expensive systems thate promise to do some cool things, but we need something cheap and portable.

The portfolio for Publicis & Hal Riney are taking us into the future with a Flash site that allows you to navigate with hand gestures using your Web cam. Just move your hand over certain "hot spots" in front of your computer (shown in a handy mini-window on the bottom right of the screen) and you can move around their portfolio to see their ideas, news, and examples of their work. It may not be replacing your mouse anytime soon, but it's still pretty cool.

Congratulations to the Dulles team that pulled off this year's Superbowl adverts package. I have to say it is the best year yet and we have been packaging these Madison Avenue mini-epics for years. Enjoy.

I also have to say it is a relief to not have to live through incessant pre-roll commercials (imagine seeing commercials before commercials?). Moving through this type of "pre-roll free" environment you really get to understand why the industry needs to move on to new advertiser integration models that are less disrespectful of the consumer's time and patience. Stay tuned on that score.

Elizabeth Bruneau (Head Photo Editor for AOL Music) and I recently interviewed Photographers Smallz and Raskind to chat about musicians they have shot for AOL Sessions. The boys are our most prolific shooters, documenting a hodge-podge of musicians ranging from girly pop acts to dirty boy bands. Check out the video below for insight into the artists we have featured, and some exclusive photos you wont see anywhere else on AOL.

The Freakanomics blog, part of the New York Times website, is a fantastic source for irreverence... and brilliance. I recently held a video marathon of Freakanomic's collection of three minute shorts, covering such poignant topics as the evolution of abs and ridiculous shwag. The videos are oddly hilarious while basking in the crudeness of presentation. I recommend taking a half an hour to participate in this idiosyncratic enlightenment.

Whether or not you dig the music of pasty Icelanders Sigur Ros it is hard not to be stunned by the images of landscape and dreary still life worked into this fascinating concert movie trailer. The cinematography here is sublime (as is the music in my opinion). Find the biggest monitor you can and fire it up at HD (1080p) quality. Then crank the volume and prepare to soar. I never wanted to go to Iceland before now.

As far as the film itself: how often does Rotten Tomatoes show 100% compliance with the vision?

The Key Experiences team recently launched the My Favorite Artists widget on the Facebook platform, you can select your top 10 for the list of a 100 artists from AOL Music. This is our first outing on the Facebook platform, but this definitely takes a lot of the thinking and customization we put into all the widgets we produce and delivers a great experience including photo and videos in compact form factor.

We are now working on an AIR version that will be desktop based and will include all artists on AOL Music. These smaller vehicles are great ways for us share our content creating a more intimate relationships with our users with content that they choose to engage with.

These widgets are free and if you have a Facebook account add this to your profile page, it's free, customizable and fun. For more information and to see a full suite of the desktop and web based apps click here.

From the people who brought you Kazaa and Skype, comes Joost , a new P2P video distribution system. Now, don't groan and assume they will be sued out of existence by the end of the week; this isn't Napster or BitTorrent or any other kind of open file sharing system like those. Instead, it is only used to distribute licensed programming controlled by Joost. Although Joost claims to have over 15000 shows, this is mostly comprised of some music videos, some B & C-grade sci-fi re-runs, and seemingly every episode of "CSI" ever recorded (which probably accounts for about 14000 of the 15000 shows mentioned). There are also some sports programs, National Geogrphic documentaries, cartoons (including "Ren and Stimpy"), and other miscellaneous content but, unless you are into Australian cooking, most of it is pretty lame.

Joost is not browser based, but is instead an Internet enabled desktop application. Although still in Beta, you can get it in Windows and Mac flavors with a Linux version on the way. The video quality is decent and can be played in a small window or at full screen. The ads are not too obtrusive (short interstitial segments between programs and the occasional pop-up ad in the bottom right corner of the screen). But where Joost really scores big is with the interface. It works like a really good TV interface (imagine an even cooler Tivo). Most importantly, the video starts playing almost instantaneously, with just a little lag-time for buffering. Joost isn't just the TV metaphor on your computer screen, though; you can bring up widgets with news tickers or to chat with other people watching the same program. You can put together your own playlists and share them with friends. Although not a robust social networking platform, it's moving in the right direction.

On the down side, the text in the interface is a tad too small for reading from the sofa (I have a 20" iMac and was sitting about 6 feet away), and I've gotten reports from other users that the video can skip if you are on a less than brilliant high-speed connection. Oh, and did I mention the programming is pretty lame? That said, Joost does have a sugar daddy in the form of Viacom backing them up, which explains why most of the content comes from CBS, MTV, and Paramount pictures. Almost as important, Joost also has already signed a slate of Major Brand advertisers including Coke, Nike, and Microsoft.

Overall, I really like what Joost is trying to do. The interface is simple enough to use and I'm a fan of video on demand in general. Right now, cable TV has the market cornered for video content, and that probably will not change immediately with the arrival of Joost. The content needs to be beefed up before I'll be turning to Joost before I check out what's on my "traditional" TV set. However, there is still enough good programming here that I'll be checking in regularly, if for no other reason than to watch "Ren and Stimpy" re-runs.

Our AOL Television team really nailed great coverage of the 2007 Emmy's this year. Page views were stellar for the package. As usual the primary mode of engagement for consumers was around the consumption of photos. This is probably not a huge surprise but the level of engagement for photos vs. videos continues to be in direct opposition to the hype that we consistently hear in the media regarding video online. Simply truth is that if your metric is around page views, ad impressions and engagement, then the primary tactic to drive engagement is the humble photograph. I believe this has to do with the simple fact that photos provide INSTANT GRATIFICATION, that there is an immediate and relatively reliable payoff for every click. Even as ads refresh often in various areas of the page, the consumer is never actually greeted with a 15 or 30 second pre-roll spot to break them from the task at hand--again, INSTANT GRATIFICATION. ("IG" is actually one of the primary value drivers of the Web itself.)

In a future post I will discuss the value of "time spent", where video certainly plays a bigger part.

The Emmy's package included the opening night of our latest dynamic gallery module as well. This latest release provides the opportunity for a more "endless" experience, tempered only by the attention span of the audience. Where, in a curated gallery, the consumer may click through 12 photos and move on, we can now deliver streams of 70--and often far more--quality images to provide a more comprehensive experience than previous. The combination of editorially-curated galleries and dynamically-generated galleries provides the right balance and scale to generate new levels of engagement and cover more aspects of a large event in Programming.

The interface design of the galleries is pretty slick as well, with built-in sharing, thumbnail navigation and related galleries functionality. Let us know what you think.