tech.gadgets.video.geekculture.gaming.kittens.
The first full episode of Mahalo Daily is up today! Wow, that’s a goofy screengrab. Anyhow, thanks to everyone who has watched it and has given their feedback: we’re still just a baby podcast, so we still have some tweaking to do. Which is why feedback is so important! I just love tomorrow’s episode, it was probably one of the most fun shoots I’ve ever done.
But there’s been lots going on lately, so let me catch you up. Ryan and I did TWiT 120 yesterday, I was on G4’s Attack of the Show on last Friday, and I’ll be on Tekzilla this week talking about Guitar Hero III. PHEW! More shooting this week, should be lots of fun!
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76 Responses for "“Mahalo” to everyone!"
Remember, Remember, the fifth of November.
how fitting.
That was excellent. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the upcoming episodes. You did a great job and this just further proves that you belong in front of the camera.
Loved the show Veronica! Just wanted to point out a few things you should fix (or my gripes
).
I didn’t really like the transitions for the next “chapter” of the episode, to me they looked a little cheesy.
Also, the camera should be of a higher resolution (think about offering what other daily video podcasts offer, GeekBrief.tv for example, offering their shows in iPod format only, medium format, large, and finally HD). I’m not saying you have to go HD and all, but at least offer a format that’s large enough for computer viewing and should be able to work on iPods/iPhones, etc.
But man, V, this show looks like it has a lot of potential. I’m sure to be watching this show everyday. You were meant to be on camera!!
I really enjoyed it. How much is the Tesla?
It’s really well done. But because you asked, here are a few suggestions for the podcast:
1) Create an mp3 feed as well for those of us who can’t or don’t want to download the video. This way you get more subscribers.
2) Add comments below each episode. It’s always fun to read them. Create an RSS feed of the comments as well.
3) Start each episode by stating what it is, like Buzz Outloud, date and number. This way when listeners are clicking through their podcasts, they know what they are listening to.
Great show, wasn’t really sure what to expect, but you delivered, great content and well presented!
Great job! I enjoyed watching it.
Really good stuff. Great start!
I agree there might be a few too many transitions… and shouldn’t there maybe be more of a tie-in to Mahalo.
I notice the Tesla page on Mahalo has the video, but it might be cool to have occasional on-screen links to particular concepts as they’re mentioned. Otherwise, those of us that just subscribe to the video may never even visit Mahalo.com
Really good start though.
Great Job!!! Veronica, I love the show, I enjoyed watching it.
But I do have one observation, I noticed that the many you were interviewing was at least 12″ taller than you. It looked kind of weird, otherwise it was a great start.
Opps… Sorry… I wanted to say, the man you were interviewing… :-/
Awesome job, it was worth the wait that preceded. Although I have some suggestions, I don’t think there was anything really wrong but just to nit pick:
I think making the main page the episodes just in a list/blog fashion so I can scroll up or down through them rather than making them separate pages. Having to go to a different page for every episode is a bummer, besides if I miss a few days then I would have to click back.
Its Belmont (or should I say Berlmart) overload. Either that or I am exposing myself to a very limited set of media!
Ummmmm……at the risk of sounding like a hater (which I certainly am not) I would like to offer my opinion:
1. The intro vid from a few days ago set the bar REALLY high V. It totally jazzed me to think that I could have a fresh new vid podcast format to subscribe to. Very funny and edgy.
2. Although todays (Nov 5) vid was cool and informative, I honestly couldn’t help but to think, “hmmm..more of the same stuff, like all the others, delivered in a nice, but all to familiar way”. It was (to be honest) a mild let down.
3. I fear that my expectations require far too much time in the editing room to suffice for a daily podcast. So I’ll back off.
Positives:
You looked GREAT! Very happy and chipper. Hair style still working great. You were very clear and concise and conveyed a good amount of info delivered with enthusiasm. I feel comfortable mentioning the negative items above because of the immense amount of talent that you and your coworkers have! I know it’ll be great once the bugs are worked out. I’m still in for the long haul.
I loved the first show! You’re a natural V, born to be the V in Video!
awesome, just awesome show. I can’t WAIT for more to come. Video looks ok to me playing in Miro. Perfect length for the show too, not too long, not too short.
Couple of suggestions and observations:
1. Sound is “buzzy” to me. Might be my sound card, but seemed almost too buzzy during music.
2. I love the transitions, maybe just have the Mahalo daily logo “wipe in” the transition.
3. Definitely need more facts in the video. Maybe instead of a scrolling thing, every once in a while slide in on the side a little fact/tip sidebar, maybe show a keyword to get right to a page on Mahalo that could help explain more. I realize that the show was meant to be viewed on the website, but if you’re going to have rss video feed, you want to drive traffic to the site.
4. Maybe an intro showing that we’re watching Mahalo daily.
I know this is only show #1, and it’s friggin awesome so far. These are just ideas. Even if you didn’t change a thing about the show, I’d still watch it. I can see only amazing things coming from this show, and I really think it will help Mahalo grow into a competitive “search engine”. Not to mention, it’ll take what BOL did for your career and magnify it x10 IMHO. Not knocking BOL or CNET, but this seems a little better for you to showcase more of your talents.
Oh…one more thing… PLEASE don’t keep the topics just about geek stuff. I really think this show is going to be great for expanding my horizons in life and learning all kinds of new stuff about anything and everything.
Can you feel the pressure? LOL, j/k.
Veronica,
Great job I loved your first Mahalo Daily show.
Great job. The production looks great.
Can you tell me a little bit about your studio lighting kit? I know there hasn’t been any videos in the studio yet, but you know what I mean
Uh-oh… is that the WallStrip theme I hear in the video? You’re really trying to get back at Lindsay, aren’t you?
Great show, but what’s up with auto-running video on daily.mahalo.com? That’s so 2005 ;D
Great show V – nice to have you back.
I would like to second the suggestion for various resolutions.
Currently the .m4v feed is 480×356 which I guess is to it will play in full resolution on your iPhone
Unfortunately other phones that play H.264 video (Like my NOKIA N95) does not play H.264 in resolutions higher than the standard 320×240 (which is also the standard iPod resolution).
My suggestion would be to have 3 version:
1. PC/AppleTV version at highest possible resolution (your native recording res.)
2. iPhone / embedded version at the 480×356
3. Mobile/iPod version at 320×240
Keep up the good work.
Love
Peter The Dane
Really looking forward to seeing what you guys do over there. Congrats on the launch!
Great first show. Can’t wait to see more.
Veronica!!! Wear your seatbelt!!!
Congrats on the first episode and nice topic!
@Joe – if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
Video was a bit jerky showing in Firefox. Not sure if that was the video or my computer.
Looking forward to future episodes, keep up the good work.
Sound and video were great…didn’t even look bad on 24″ fullscreen. I would like to add a vote for HD…come on, if rocketboom can do it
I also noticed that you didn’t mention the price of the Tesla. after a little searching from the mahalo links, $85000!!!! holy crap.
Really loved it Miss V… commented on my blog, of course, posting the video there too… I’m really looking forward to seeing what you get up too…
Side note, what sorta coffee does Jason Calacanis make you? *points to craft services title*
I will just add the same thoughts as I posted to the other thread:
A few comments on the new show:
First, very good job, interesting and fun.
Second, the sound definitely was out of sync for me on the Mahalo site version.
Third, you really need to get Jason to put the show link right up top, just below the “Mahalo” on the main page. Burying it at the bottom will not attract anyone and you will have to rely on word of mouth and iTunes. If he takes the show seriously, he needs to give it some respect and push it up top.
Fourth, why are the comments turned off?
Can you guys do an audio feed of this too? As cool as the video is, a lot of us pull daily audio feeds to listen to on our commute. I look forward to watching the show develop. A lot of fun it looks like! Hmm that sentence sounded like yoda.
eric f.: Actually the Tesla bases at $98,000. The next version (white star) is going to be somewhere around $50,000-60,000. Then there will be a 3 tesla at the mass consumer market.
Check out their website at, http://www.teslamotors.com
Awesome! Any word on when these are supposed to hit the market
Good Job Veronica B!
Oh my, how beautiful!! ….and the car looked cool, too. Great first (real) episode..! I’m excited for the future of this show. I would however, like to see a more Revision3-style, multi-format download option.
Other people have said the points (higher bitrate, more facts, different/less wild transitions) I thought about. The subject was great! I want a Tesla.
On a personal note – I have looked forward to see you in action again V. I’m a littel behind with BOL and just heard #593, where you come in at the end… nice.
Very nice! Lighting was a tad on the dark side for my taste, but the video was good, otherwise.
I want a Tessla. Very much bad.
Pax,
N.
Are you short or is he tall?
@Todd – I’m 5′7… he’s about a foot taller than me!
roflmao veronica trying to do yoyo tricks totally made my day
I second the suggestion for an mp3 feed. I drive a lot and listen to podcasts on the road and don’t want to waste time downloading vids that I will only listen to. As for suggestions, while I think I have heard elsewhere that you hate to see lower thirds used, having some sort of ticker at the bottom powered by mahalo of couse with factoids at least in some eps would be useful (perhaps with a voiceover on the mp3s-I am sure you have plenty of time for that. Its something to do in post and could fill in gaps like how much is the roadster, interesting tidbits about EV cars generally, etc.
I look forward to more!
P.S. Tell the truth, you were actually shopping for Ryan’s Christmas gift with the big bucks that Mahalo is paying you.
Great episode! I think that the screengrab is more creepy than goofy. It makes the Tesla guy look like someone from Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” kidnapping an unsuspecting 15 year old. Which is probably not fair because he seemed decent enough in the video.
Will each daily episode focus on one item? I would like to see a few things each day, but I know you are just starting out and will improve with time
I really liked it– loved the sort of tech, but more “everyman’s” reaction to this new but real, high end technology. Here are some comments:
I disagree about adding tie ins to Mahalo– you can do that outside the video with appropriate text. Ditto the MP3 format– this stuff is short.
You have a lovely range of style which is your strength. Smart, literate, critical, nice smart ass (not quite like Ryan), and able to focus on the keys. But you are also Veronica– air guitar champ, the Veronica who laid an egg on CNET, the zany and funny (you are definitely both the sharpest wit and the funniest Web personality). Continue to show that (like the Jetta trade in– btw, I would throw in your Iphone too)– keep that as much as possible because it is wha makes you original!!
Drop the transitions for something simpler (one possible “style point” for the transition– back to your face for a reaction– smile, frown, quizzical, etc.)
great job, I am reallt happy to see you back on line.
one thing that this particular content left hanging was product cost and comparability to similar existing ones… I know it it might still be prototype level, with high entry cost, but showing some numbers would help… such as how much the first units are expected to cost, versus the other future releases. Also, what much $$$ would charging the car would kick in utility bills. Just give some paramethers so we (consumers) can kind of have a better perception on how affordable it would be. Later,
Aha! I see that the Mahalo Daily now has a it’s own featured spot on the home page. I am sure it was in the works and just took time to get up, but I will still take full credit since I did all the hard work of, well, asking for it!
Love the show, Veronica! Unfortunately, episode 2 never made it to the iTunes feed, and there is nowhere on Mahalo to submit comments. Is feedback not wanted?
Ep 2 was just as good as Ep 1. I think you’re on to a winner.
Your job appears to be the audio visual equivalent of http://www.mahalo.com/Special:Random
I guess you’re not going to run out of content ideas any time soon.
Mahalo daily is really good! I’m really starting to look forward to watching it. Your expression watching the yo-yo guy was great.
haha i loved it! i find it funny how the tesla dude says, “one of our more popular colors” and he forgets what it’s called
I loved prizefight and crave. Now I’m learning to love mahalo daily. Watching daily.
Andrew G: I meant to say $89000. got it from this page: http://www.mahalo.com/Tesla_Roadster
Hillary, Obama or Gore?
meh.
Belmont in ‘08! Woo hoo!
OK, you must have kicked Jason’s butt as directed to get him to put Mahalo Daily up on top of the main Mahalo page, so now I have two further instructions:
1. have a minion update that button to give the current show title each day.
2. open the comments!
BTW, TWIT was very good, but Ryan seemed a bit grumpy or “put-out” throughout the show, was he irritable because of the heat (as he describes in his blog)? You both had some very good input, though.
A car…..yoyo’s and now political polls?….. huh??
Ummmm….. you lost me. Seriously, the trailer video to Mahalo daily was a much more enjoyable (and fresh) format than the current. Right now, I dunno. It’s just….meh.
Sorry V.
Okay, I need to say this. I just watch day 2 of Mahalo Daily, and WOW. That was freaking awesome. I loved it!!! I can’t stop laughing. Do that again, and again, and again. LOVE IT:):)
Sorry you don’t like it, Fats! Can’t please all of the people all of the time, but overall the reaction has been really, really positive. And that makes ME happy!
Fats, remember that Veronica is doing a very personal show, with no particular angle or genre, just whatever strikes her fancy that she thinks folks might find interesting or entertaining. With such an eclectic mix of topics, there is no way everyone will find every show up their alley. So, it may be that the first couple are not things you find interesting, but by covering so many topics, she will eventually hit on stuff you like.
Having a “button” for the show on the front page of Mahalo with recent titles is a great idea, since we can see what the topic for the day is and decide whether it is something we want to check out. Some of us are just fans enough to watch anyway, but others can pick and choose and that is fine as well.
So, Fats, just keep an eye on that Mahalo front page and see what she is covering and click when it sounds interesting, and pass when it doesn’t.
WOW! What a hot car! I suppose I never thought about the problems with charging them up on a road trip. Installing charging stations at Rest stops along major US Highways would be a significant plus. Not everyone stays at Hyatt hotels, but EVERYONE goes by rest stations along the highway.
I must have missed the list price on the Tesla. Of course, that high end of a car is out of my reach at the moment, but you never know what life has in store down the road!
Nice job! Great highlight!
Cathy C
I hear ya Vance, and no offense Veronica. I admit that I didn’t realize that it was “whatever subject was on your mind”. So, I suppose I could keep watching with that in mind. And I do know that you can’t please everyone….
Please understand, I’m really a big fan of yours (Veronica….not Vance :O)…. Like I mentioned earlier though, I just thought the edgy and hilarious trailer was a sign of things to come. It’s NOT that what you’re doing is not good….it’s just that imho, the format in which you are doing it has been done to death. That’s not a flame or anything. If anyone can pull off a killer NEW format, it’s you and your team there. The trailer is evidence of that.
ANYWAY, just trying to be honest and constructive. I didn’t want to let my fandom blind me to the fact that I thought it could be a little better is all. Sorry if I come off to strong. I’m just not one for false praise.
So, what format did you think the show would be? Did you think it was a sketch comedy show? I’m curious.
4 mahalo dailys and 2 stand up sets a week please.
thank you, that is all.
so jealous. though reading back, in shock at first, to someone not liking it?!?! but i s’pose Fats makes a good point in that the trailer does make it seem that it would be more comedic. but then again i just took it to mean that it would involve the internet and the random internet world that we are all so familiar with =P
Enjoyed the first Mahalo Daily.
Still really confused by the whole Mahalo thing though. Apart from searching for our Veronica fix, who actually uses Mahalo for anything???
Aloha from Hawaii! Heard bout your show from TWiT, then forgot about it, then remembered The Sword And Laser plug you did on TWiT, signed up for that, then found this site thru there. hehe.
Yah, that screencap is creepy.
right off the bat, the opening graphics were pretty slick. of course, being from Hawaii (as well as a graphic designer), im kinda over the bamboo, plumerias, and burning torches, but it’s appropriate.
thought the piece was OK. i was sort of expecting a primer kind of podcast where youd be explaining what you were trying to do, or a little bio or background info on yourself, that sorta thing. didnt think id be seeing an electric car review, but it was entertaining nonetheless. the tesla guy was a bit stiff, but I think your enthusiasm is going to be the star of this ‘cast, anyway.
i do like the idea of Mahalo.com (reminds me of classic Yahoo!), but I’m not sure where your podcast fits in to all of it. i havent watched the subsequent episodes of MD, but as a suggestion, perhaps you should mention links, or queries at the end of each segment, maybe guide people to Mahalo.com to look them up, kind of like a mini map of the podcast. or like how Sesame Street’s shows are bumpered by the letters and numbers they discussed on the episode. hehe.
anyway, it was a cool little ‘cast. look forward to seeing it grow. Mahalo for listening!
Personally, I like the way the whole show is setup, I enjoy the variety of topics covered so far. I kind of figured that this would not be a hi-tech gadgets show, since Cnet has been there and done that already, I think a sketch every now and then is a good thing, but keep it at that; I like the way the show is now.
Keep up the Great Work! Veronica.
LOL….. no, not a sketch comedy show. I’m not sure there is a label for it. I don’t think it’s the content so much, but the editing. Lemmie splain:
- In your trailer there were quick cuts (in the midst of the overall flow) when you expressed various thoughts or frustrations or whatever. It was fun (& funny), fresh and somewhat edgy. In the comments everyone flipped over it. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m sure it took a ton of time in the editing room to accomplish that, so it’s likely not realistic for a daily show. Still, a lighter version could be done.
- As opposed to the more linear approach that you guys went with. The net is awash with that sort of straight forward, slightly stilted, interview style video.
Look, I’m no authority on video podcasts, and I feel awkward saying all of this on a blog, but regardless of the idiot you probably think I am, I think you rock and have an awesome wit, personality and knowledge base that can only benefit the web community. Anyway, I’ll back off for now as I fear that my comments may not be taken in the spirit they are intended. It’s difficult to express fully realized thoughts in blurbs on a blog.
Best of luck V. You’ll always have fans (Including me) whatever your endeavors. Peace.
Had to stop watching since it buffered every other word. Hope that I can check it out soon.
Great show, hope to see it in High Def. soon.
i’ve been watching….. so far, i don’t get the flow. it seems very random (like my blog) when i expected a more consistent theme or or focused method. i guess it *does* need to have a wide range of content since it’s for a content directory, but i would like to see the episodes tie together somehow.
I call it “Random Acts of Video”, you never know what you are going to get, which I find interesting.
ya, ya polizie…
Ya ya. Awesome show, V et al! Do not, and I repeat do not lose the transitions or the “random topics”. We have far too many over-produced, overly-polished, bland shows out there already!
Your smart a** attitude is really so friggin cool to watch (that goes for the whole production crew (V, I think you may be sneaking into Mol’s territory!))
Great show Veronica! But, were you not wearing a seatbelt in the Driving scene?
http://tylerhowarth.com/blog/2007/11/09/mahalo-daily-some-thoughts/
just did my own write up on this new deal you are doing veronica!
greeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!
Saw that Tino was in Hawaii– I live in Hawaii, but work coast to coast, SFO to Boston. I like the Mahalo theme.
My thought on format is like others– you do not want it to be over produced. Your range from geek, to critic, to wide-eyed everyman(woman), from providing information to criticism done in an ocassionally zany way that still makes a point is great. Keep it up. I liked it that when you had the guy from Tesla on you let him tell his story too, and you took a ride in it too. Perfrect.
super car this tesla! but fyi the next step will be not electrical ! >> http://www.mce-5.com
have a look!
cheers
i’ve enjoyed the mahalo daily video podcasts… they’re a lot of fun, i think it’s better than we expected! keep it up!
I have criticized the video podcasts in earlier post and I would like to apologize after watching the first episode. It’s pretty good.
Love MD. As much I love to see Veronica’s smiling face, I wish you would have talked more about the sedan, and the viability of eCars.
Keep up the good work!
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