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.
