Viewpoint

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a new segment to the Conundrums Blog. It's called Viewpoint. It will be your outlet to express yourself to the community. Viewpoint is an opinion program whereby you can say whats on your mind. There is one catch though. You must say it into a camera! You may use Viewpoint to express a theory, discuss current events or simply rant if you wish. Whatever is on your mind.
Of course there will be some rules. You may not slander anyone and you must be civil. Present your idea in a brief and understandable way. This is not a "slam someone" show, it's a program slot where you can present your opinion of anything going on within the community or share your theory on a specific subject. With the proliferation of easy to use digital cameras you probably already have the tools to submit a Viewpoint. Just point the camera at yourself and start talking! Your viewpoint will be posted here on the Conundrums blog after we review it.
After you have recorded your Viewpoint simply connect your digital camera to your computer and email the video clip to staff@cryptovideography.com. We will prepare the file for Internet streaming and post it in a special section on this blog.

Here are some simple guidelines:
• Keep your viewpoint under 10 minutes.
• Do not libel yourself, no name calling, hearsay, or slanderous comments. Viewpoints that contain such will be rejected.
• Stand or sit close enough to the camera so you capture yourself and your voice clearly.
• There is no need to 'edit' the piece, we will do any necessary editing before it is posted. {i.e. we will cut out the parts when you start and stop the camera, we will not censor or edit out any segments or add content. }
• Express yourself! You can describe or show any materials that support your theory or idea.
• Do not show any copyrighted materials or trademarks in your video. (T-shirts with ad slogans or logos in the background)
• Your Viewpoint is your opinion so you are responsible for it's content. We will have a disclaimer on each entry. (You are protected under the constitution to voice your opinion.)
• Do not curse.
• Take notes and have your thoughts together so you can discuss the opinion or subject of your viewpoint.
• You may enlist a friend to operate the camera if you need too.
• If you have technical questions email us and we will try to help.

Viewpoints will remain online for a limited time. Up to 5 days. Opposing viewpoints will be welcome too. Again, civility is necessary.
It is not our intent to have flaming wars or arguments back and forth using this program. This is simply a venue for you to express yourself, talk about issues or theories and garner discussion of the subject matter, without the fear of trolls hiding behind screen names. It is an open and honest platform without censorship to express yourself and your ideas.
Frankly, you could do this on your own blog. But if you do not have a web site or blog, or do not know how to build one then you still can have a voice in the community through this opinion program. All you need to know is how to press the record button and attach a file to email.

Viewpoint is an experiment.
Too many times it is not possible to write a lengthy post on a forum or have a place to express your thoughts in a concise and easy to understand manner. The written word may not convey the emotions you want to express. Or you may not be able to show related materials you need to accurately get your point across. Video can do this easily. You already have the tool to do this, your digital camera. Almost all digital still cameras will record a few minutes of video. There have been many issues within the community that could easily have been avoided if the interpretation of the written word was what the author intended. Viewpoint is your vehicle to present concepts, ideas and opinions without the risk of misinterpretation. In many cases it is simply easier to just say what you want to convey.

All Viewpoint entries remain the copyright materials of their creators. Cryptovideography nor myself retain any copyright to your submissions. We simply will host it here. We will be handling the technical stuff so you don't have to. All we will do is put a graphic on the beginning and disclaimer on the end then upload it. Also, to be honest a program like this will draw viewers to our blog so we will get some much needed traffic too.

Of course Viewpoint may never get off the ground. We realize that most people may not want to be seen on camera, or are uncomfortable with expressing their thoughts. It is much easier to write them on a forum or blog, or call a radio show. But the venue will be here for any takers. We will begin the show with our first submission.
We will probably get a few folks that want to rant about some community issue. That's okay too if it's done in a civil and nonthreatening way. If you just want to bash someone you are wasting your time, but if you have a point then its likely others may agree with you.
It's your viewpoint, your entitled to it.
J.
Some technical info you really don't need to worry about: If all of this is Greek to you, ignore it. Just email us your video clip. :-)
If you are computer/camera savvy then we prefer your entry to be 320x240 resolution. AVI, MOV, MP4, ASF, WMV or any file type is acceptable. Keeping your file small will reduce the time it takes to email it. So if you have the option, send your file in WMV, MP4 format or a compressed format.