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Net Soup: Frank Beacham
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Frank Beacham is a New York City-based writer and producer. Visit his Web site at www.frankbeacham.com. E-mail: frank@frankbeacham.com.
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The MPAA Makes A Big Mistake
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by Frank Beacham, 3.26.2008
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This is a story about a big mistake. It’s also about numerous educational institutions in this country too afraid to confront their suspicions. In both cases, it represents a very sad state of affairs.
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When TV Cameras Bite Back
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by Frank Beacham, 1.09.2008
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Over the past decade, those of us who live in big cities have seen a remarkable cultural change enabled by the combination of the video camera and computer networks. This change is being sold in the name of public safety—another tool against terrorism. I’m not so sure it’s not a new form of tyranny.
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Find a Way to Use ‘White Space’ Spectrum
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by Frank Beacham, 10.17.2007
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Spectrum “white space” is an incredibly valuable public resource that could provide wireless broadband access for as little as $10 a month. For that reason alone we must find a way to work out any technical flaws that might block its quick deployment for unlicensed use.
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Apple’s iTunes ‘Privacy’ Transcends Music Piracy
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by Frank Beacham, 7.11.2007
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Privacy is one of those issues that tend to separate old codgers like myself from the children of the digital era. Most young people tell me to forget about it—the concept of personal privacy is long dead and who cares anyway?
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Phone Recording: Essential Knowledge
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by Frank Beacham, 5.30.2007
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In the course of one’s daily work, basic skills are acquired. Once learned, it’s easy to forget that this essential knowledge may not be widely known by others. Thus, a new generation struggles to reinvent the wheel.
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Question for Broadcasters: What Do We Get for Our Spectrum?
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by Frank Beacham, 4.02.2007
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With the demise of analog television fast approaching, over-the-air broadcasters have made a lot of noise lately in favor of educating America's television viewers about the digital transition.
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Corporations Co-opt Citizen Journalism
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by Frank Beacham, 2.07.2007
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Advertising forecasters predict double-digit growth for online media outlets in the new year.
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Television News: Version 2.0
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by Frank Beacham, 12.06.2006
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Within days of NBC Universal's recent announcement that it would eliminate 700 jobs in its broadcast operations, a "Career Fair" for job seekers was held at NAB New York, an expo and series of conferences billed as an East Coast "content creation" show.
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Can the Internet Save News Reporting?
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by Frank Beacham, 10.04.2006
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When I began working in the news department at an NBC affiliate in the late 1960s, ratings were never discussed and no one cared about the hair style of reporters. The most important thing was accuracy-getting the facts straight.
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A Decade Later, 'Net Issues Remain the Same
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by Frank Beacham, 8.09.2006
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It was 1996, almost exactly a decade ago, when I wrote a column for this publication posing some questions about the future of the Internet.
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Revisiting a '50s Audio Classic
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by Frank Beacham, 7.26.2006
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In the rush of new production technologies that constantly come and go, it's easy to forget valuable tools that have been around for a long, long time simply because they do a single job very well
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Videography Is More Than Wielding a Camera
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by Frank Beacham, 5.24.2006
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A few months ago--in a New York City coffee shop that I frequent--a waitress deposited her brand new $6,000-plus HD camcorder on just the spot I had been expecting my breakfast.
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News at the Crossroads of Multimedia
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by Frank Beacham, 5.10.2006
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At about the same time television news sold its soul to the devil, a savvy Internet innovator was standing at the crossroads to salvage the wreckage.
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Broadcasters Engulfed In 'Perfect Storm'
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by Frank Beacham, 4.24.2006
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America's over-the-air broadcasters are facing the threat of a new kind of convergence--this one consisting of a volatile mix of right-wing politics and alternative distribution technologies.
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Digitizing a Box of Media Assets
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by Frank Beacham, 3.08.2006
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Over the past year there's been much news about the distribution of television programming over the Internet. However, a revolution in the work habits of those who use the 'Net to research stories and collaborate in the making of films and television programming has been less visible.
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Sony Produces an Instant Podcast Classic
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by Frank Beacham, 1.11.2006
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As a child of the 1970s "Portapak" revolution, I'll always have a weak spot for Sony--the visionary company that fired the engines of the portable video revolution.
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Here's to the Visionaries!
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by Frank Beacham, 12.07.2005
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When I began working in broadcasting in the mid-1960s, most of the equipment in the local radio and television stations was from the Radio Corporation of America. The cameras, microphones, audio consoles--even the "on-air" lights--had that distinctive RCA logo.
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Making Podcasts More Personal
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by Frank Beacham, 10.05.2005
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Podcasting arrived out of nowhere, knocking the wind out of the "expert" prognosticators.
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Collisions Along The Internet Timeline
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by Frank Beacham, 9.07.2005
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A dozen years ago, in articles for this publication, I wrote of the great dispute over whether the Internet should become commercial. Yes, younger readers, there was a time when a substantial number of idealistic people, including myself, fiercely argued that the Internet should be free of all advertising.
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FiOS: Telco Rolls Dice on the Big Pipe
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by Frank Beacham, 7.06.2005
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FiOS, Verizon's new fiber-to-the-home network, is where Internet rubber meets the television road. Its success--or failure--stands to have huge implications for the direction of American communications throughout the remainder of this decade.
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