Kingsnake.com Jeff Barringer Video and kingsnake.com March 3, 2007 PHFaust: The founder of kingsnake.com, Jeff Barringer is a former webmaster and international network engineer for Compaq Computers (now H-P) Networking Products Division, where he helped design and develop some of the computer giant's first websites. In 1994, Jeff, an avid field herpetologist, launched an internet technology demonstrator called The Alterna Page, which is recognized today as one of the first pet-oriented websites. Based on the popularity of this test site, in 1997 Jeff left Compaq and with little more than his last paycheck launched what turned out to be one of the first and most successful pet communities on the internet, kingsnake.com. In years to come this expanded to include a family of pet websites under the PetHobbyist.com umbrella, and also in 2006, its alternative music and culture site, Club Kingsnake. Jeff will discuss the future of video on kingsnake.com, including both kingsnake-produced and user-produced video. PHFaust: Thank you so much for joining us, Jeff, and welcome! PHFaust: Would you like to explain what is the future of ks.com with video tech? jeffb: howdy ya'll jeffb: Well..... as you know there is this little video site called Youtube, as well as a handfull of others. jeffb: What they are doing right now is building a baseball feild to see if you will come and its obvious that you came. jeffb: the problem is how to pay for it, how to keep it clean, how to keep it safe how to keep it legal. jeffb: We started looking at video back in 2000, started doing soime basic filming, asked the same questions along with some others and decide at the time it wasn't right. In the meantime technology got bigger better faster, bandwidth got cheaper and dot coms got a second wind aorund the ideas of social networking, something we ohave been doing since 1997 BTW. jeffb: Anyway... the costs to produce and deliver video content are not what they were 7 years ago and for the last year we have been using our music web site to explore some of these new ideas and technologies... jeffb: To get an idea of what we could do now and what we could do in another 10 years. We have released a few basic raw videos so far and we will do so for a while at least to the online site. jeffb: BUT we are shooting everything in HD and will look at releasing some HD content either over cable/sattelite or through HD/Blue Ray disc. We will probably spend around another $20,000 in video technology hardware this year and will really hit the bricks sometime in 2008. jeffb: That's to produce our own videos. jeffb: For videos YOU produce, We plan on implementing several different features and tools that will allow you to do some neat stuff like embediing your videos in your forum posts and classifieds, creating a forum for the discussion of videos, and setting up a user submitted video page that will allow you to submit you videos to be listed. jeffb: We aren't prepared to make the big step of acutally providing hosting services yet jeffb: So we will rely on liinking and embedding from 3rd parties for now, like youtube and myspace and others. jeffb: We will be meeting with representatives of several video hosting companies during next weeks SXSW to see what we can do to partner with them jeffb: Today we see 500 channels on cable tv in 10 years streaming HD video will put 500,000 channels in your living room and we plan to be one of them. PHLdyPayne: How will we make sure none of the 'crap' gets into these videos as they are hosted or linked to kingsnake.com? jeffb: Unfortunately we will have to rely on user reports PHLdyPayne: WIll there be moderators (ie Volunteers) screening these videos at some point? jeffb: We won't expect our moderators to review each and every link/ ig_daddy: What file formats or sizes restrictions do you think there will be? jeffb: The only things that will be pre-screened will be videos linked by staff memebers as on the user submitted video page. videos posted to the clsssified or forums will not be screened. jeffb: We will look at the defaults offered in the embeds by the major video hosts and restrict it to them. as technology gets cheaper and faster they will increase their quality and so will we. jeffb: We are currently reviewing editing software now and looking for a video editor to join our staff. We could use an audio editor as well. snake_gal: Will there be a limit to how many vids an individual can post? jeffb: We haven't gotten far enough to develop the rules structure for these systems yet so I don't know. loconorc: Who are you planning on interviewing for the next video? loconorc: like tell hicks, don soderberg, etc loconorc: Any plans for new people? jeffb: We will be releasing the new version of the web site in April and it will be probably a month before we are ready to start implementing the new systems loconorc: Maybe Mike wilbanks or something loconorc: New version of the site? jeffb: I was scheduled to intervoiew them all in Arlington but we ran out of time and I hhad to run home early to nurse a sick dog loconorc: oh loconorc: Before i go, are you going to MARS or daytona? jeffb: Jim Pether should be interviewing them in Hamm Germany next week and we will see those videos soon jeffb: Daytona PHLdyPayne: Even though you don't currently have the rules structure figured out completely, will it be similiar to how the photo gallery is set up? As in, a certain amount of space available free, with additional space having a fee attached? jeffb: Oh no - that would be if we hosted them. PHLdyPayne: oh dah, right...what was I thinking LOL jeffb: We won't be hosting them only making them and offering more tools and features to link to other people hosting them. snake_gal: Will you be able to bring back a gallery for reptile artists? Any other new sections for the site you are planning? jeffb: I enoyed the gallery as well, but artists are, well, artists and our expenses to run it far exceeeded our gross sales. jeffb: If we did we would bring it back as something that is part of the phot gallery but after we closed it I swore that I would never want to ever sell something that had to be shipped again. snake_gal: There is already an art part of the photo gallery... jeffb: there you go... jeffb: :0 ig_daddy: These animal videos and interveiws you are making, will they be available as video downloads (DiVX or something), or as a video podcast? jeffb: Eventually yes when I satisifed I have produced something that is worthy of more than Youtube ;) davidtobler_nr: Does this mean you'll be handing out free tshirts that read "I was on ks.com before it sold out!"? jeffb: Probably not - after 10 years if there was anyone serious aboout wanting to buy us out they would have approached us by now. The only time I could forsee selling is when I have to retire, at this point. davidtobler_nr: As long as the tshirts are still free, I'm good. NewVisionDragonZ: For your next video do you think you could go to Frank Retes Goanna Ranch :) or in the near future? cause I know there's tons of people that would love to see his setup and his monitors. jeffb: I will probably end up at quite a few neat places. As you can imagine I can get some pretty interesting access. Probably first on the visit list is going to be Kerry King I haved been waiting for him to get off tour and and for chat week the SXSW to come and go then I was going to fly out to video him and his herp collection. I also have plans to visit the Barkers, Tremper, Chad, Kevin McCurley as well as going to some zoos and getting back out in the field. jeffb: I will try not to get eaten, bitten, or stung NewVisionDragonZ: lol PHAlex: lol PHLdyPayne: More important, is the new site fully compatable with FireFox? I can't stand Internet Explorer and really really don't want to have to use it to check my kingsnake forums. jeffb: That is our goal, to have it function, full screen, in every web browers. PHLdyPayne: excellent :) DemonFrog: Jeff, is there any chance you could make a photogallery section for small terresterial snakes? They don't fit into any other section. jeffb: Please send that as a suggestion to the photo gallery editor on the contact form. DemonFrog: They aren't exactly garter snakes is all. DemonFrog: Thank you jeff. jeffb: Things, especially emails, get lost. PHFaust: Did anyone else have any questions for jeff on the video technology of the site DaveyFig: Will there be a bare bones version of the site too, for those of us on ancient connections who can't wade through very fast? jeffb: I don't know Davey, probably not DaveyFig: k, thanks jeffb: The good news is we will be reducing the number of banners on each page by 2 and that should reduce your load time over what you have today. loconorc: Are you redoing the other PetHobbyist sites? They seem a bit inactive, maybe redoing them as well would attract more people. I go to the bird, fish, and exotics ones sometimes. jeffb: Some of the sites have very active cultures, some of them are rather sleepy little burgs. loconorc: Well the bird one for example. So are all of them being redone or just KS? jeffb: Generally the way we do it is prototype it on the music site, take it to the reptile site to see if it breaks, and once we are satisified doing all the other sites. loconorc: Oh ok, thanks, i look forward to it :-) loconorc: In April, correct? jeffb: Yes, not April 1st. PHFaust: I think that was everything jeff, would you like to say anything in closing? jeffb: If the page looks strange then its for a different reason. loconorc: lol jeffb: Am I the last guest of the whole chat week? PHFaust: Yes you are...per your request jeffb: I dunno something elequent like - See you next year? PHFaust: On behalf of Kingsnake.com, Jeff B, and myself, I want to take a moment to thank Jeff Barringer for being part of our chat week. Jeff, thanks for taking the time out to chat with us on new ks.com Technologies. jeffb: I hope everyone had fun. |
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