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TIME CHANGE ALERT: We need to start a few minutes late today because of a scheduling conflict
Please join us here at 3:10 p.m. ET for our weekly roundtable discussion. I know we've got a lot to talk about, from awesome iReport stories on CNN to new solicitations and questions about the ibastadobbs iReports.
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I wish I could be here but I'm off to work now. Have a great conversation!!
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the late start. We wanted to make sure everyone could be here today.
Hello friends
Howdy folks
Whats up everyone.
Hey there
hi guys!!
I for one want to hear why ibastadobbs was able to post thousands of Ireports
hello all
Happy Thursday
@WausauFamily -- Glad you can make it. You've been doing some great work. Thanks
Hello one and all
i guess noone is here. but im curious why the spammer wasn't banned?
Present
very cool! Thanks... getting lucky.
@Jayberdz -- We decided not to pull the ibastadobbs reports, because each post was unique and represented a different person's point of view.
Hi everyone!
I'm really excited about some free music sources I found recently and wanted to share them. One is from Taylor Hayward who plays piano and says this on his site:
The music on this site is: free to download and play, free to rebroadcast in any form for any purpose, free to play in public, free to publish for profit, and free to sample.
There is no copyright on this music.
If you can think of a creative way to use this music, you have my full support.
His site is: www.taylorhayward.org
Whats up with that goofball?
The individual posts did not violate our community guidelines.
David, I thought that might be the reasoning. I am all for free speech but the volume of it was overwhelming. The comments were made by individuals at a different web site , not by each person directly on to IReports
Hi everyone.
I see. A good point.
@davidw God they drive me nuts. And I'm from a Spainard and Colombiam background.
The other is Kevin MacLeod and his site is: http://incompetech.com
You can make a voluntary donation.
I'm very excited about this because I think music adds so much to the videos. I hope this is useful to other iReporters too.
The posts did violate our ability to post, have them seen without getting lost.
I think there should be a limit to number of posts a day.
But they were all automated posts from one individual quoting others. So now theres a blueprint out there on how to hijack Ireports to keep presenting one person's view points time after time
This person made superstar?
What's the point then?
So, what's new in the wonderful world of i Reports? I thank you guys for using my "M" for the Alphabet song.
What a wild week in hardcopy news.
Greetings from Inverness, Scotland. I can only stay for a little while, but I wanted to check in since I haven't been around much lately.
hey, joyfulgypsy! how's scotland? taking lots of photos? :)
Hello, Scotland is it cold enough for you there yet?
You're quite welcome @adriana71 :)
Great to see you @JoyfulGypsy
@adriana71 where is the alphabet song located I could not find it
Adding to Adriana71's comment, I enjoyed the Sesame Street montage. Great job to all who helped put that together.
@ky42 here's the link! http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/ireports/2009/11/10/irpt.sesame.street.cnn
it turned out really well -- thanks to everyone who contributed!
Any future Holiday assignments you can share yet?
I'm having so much fun and taking so many pictures. I'll share some pix when I get time to download them all. Meeting some very interesting people, too.
And, the weather hasn't been so bad. Beautiful, rainbow filled day today.
Last I checked it was under the Sesame St Section. @ky42
Welcome @WLAEgyptian!
brr, last time I was in Scotland it was Jan. and it was freeezzing.. worse then NYC it Feb.
Perhaps the next time someone uses Ireports like ibastadobbs did one of the moderators can post something to the effect that the repetition issue has been examined and allowed to be be used.
@Ryn -- The superstar badges are awarded based on an algorhythm that is based on site activity.
We definitely want to improve it and make it more meaningful for you.
Why don't we make that one of the topics of next week's roundtable.
Hi Ryn, going to grab your first two questions.
iReports getting "lost" has been a concern raised since we launched iReport, and that actually had a big impact on how we redesigned our new homepage - where we try to showcase your great content.
Your idea about limiting posts is an interesting one. We've thought about post-limits before - but we're concerned with limiting one person for sharing incredible images - especially during a breaking news situation.
I'm curious - what would be a good limit?
When will photo club be available?
@davidw Is that a hint?
I have a technical question...how is the image (the icon) chosen from the video? I assume it is automatic, since it seems kind of random. Is there a particular second of the film that is used? Any possibility of changing it some day?
@Ryn - We're cooking up some great ideas for Photo Club and for some other fun assignments. Photo club was always an experiment, so it's in the works.
I think when someone uses an automated program to keep posting it takes away from the purpose of Ireports, that of humans reporting things directly instead of through the filter of the news media. Is 50 a day a reasonable limit? Maybe less.
@Jayberdz -- That's a good idea. I don't think I did a good job of explaining our decision to you all. We'll work on that in the future.
In hindsight, I think that if we'd explained everything upfront it would have saved some hurt feelings.
@ rachel8 that link takes me to a man pulling a bus
BTW, my grandson loved making the Sesame Street Tribute to the Letter G. The best part was when he saw it played back and said, "Wow, everybody loved it, right?" He was referring to the sounds of children cheering at the end of the video we made. He didn't know it was just a sound effect I added. So cute! :oD
Hi @alisonv - the image chosen for the video is automatic, based on a certain number of frames from the beginning. If you've got ideas about how to improve the process, we're all ears!
I understand that.
This person's posts were spam.
If each individual commenter posted their own opinion, it would be different.
This had to be automated posts.
hi kids...sorry i'm late!
David, I think that is a good idea.
Tyson, In a breaking news situation, maybe someone with an iPhone or something might need to send up lots of different posts, but normally, no. Maybe a number like 20 or 25 to give enough for emergencies...50? What do other people think?
@JoyfulGypsy It was an awesome video. Ian my 3 yr old loved it,we watched it several times.
@ky42 that's probably just the ad that plays before the video, i think. i double-checked the link, and it's working for me...
All the Sesame Street posts were ABC fantastic!
I think 50 is a good number for posting Ireports and after that threshold is met a moderator can decide to allow more posts in a day. That should be technically feasible.
@Jayberdz -- I think post limits is something to consider, but we need to give it a lot of thought.
CNN iReport is here to allow people all over the world to share their stories. I don't want to accidentally stifle something amazing because of an artificial limit.
@alisonv and @davidw She is right, to a degree there's no way to put this back into the box. People now know there is a way to "spam" i rpeorts.
Freedom of speech should know no limit, but this was finding infringing on others rights. Where does one draw the line? Very interesting. Will posts submitted during this frenzy be checked out for vetting? Thanks for fixing the return click too.
@Ryn @JoyfulGypsy -
No surprise, we LOVED doing that Sesame Street assignment too. Thanks so much for helping it turn out so great.
We're hoping to have many more collaborative assignments. Anyone got the next great idea?
@ rachel8 when i click the link now it takes me to super hipster city ?
Lol Jayberdz on my busiest posting day I didn't come near
50 posts, maybe 10, maybe.
@lila, Youtube has an option where you can choose the thumbnail. Maybe that is something iReports could look into?
Lila, I don't know what the technical issues are, so I don't know if it is feasible to let the iReporter choose a frame or give the Reporter a choice of 3 random images from the post to choose from like You Tube does. The way it works now, sometimes the image is great, and sometimes (Like the one I did today) an image comes up that gives no idea of what the story is about--and may even be a transition from one frame to another. What is possible with the technology you have?
David, I see your point but as this recent ibastadobbs showed such repetitive postings can chase away other Ireporters who are afraid your network has been hacked. So theres a danger of stifling if you go without limits too. I agree thought has to be put into it, I hope a reasonable decision is easily found.
@David & rachel, in regards to the posting limit, i'm not so concerned with the articles themselves as with the comment system. Some users are heavily abusing this to rack up comments, and while everyone has their own preference for how they view the site (i prefer looking at most commented because it means theres a discussion going on that i might like to join) so it becomes annoying to me to click a possibly interesting article only to read the same person having posted 50-70% of the comments, each of which with little to no content.
I'm also looking forward to the Photo Club's return.
@Adriana72 - Thanks. He just turned 3 last month.
@alisonv - I agree. There should be a limit.
hey thanks, @WLAEgyptian and @alisonv - very good ideas, and something we'll certainly put on our roadmap. I agree it would be better for the thumbnails to give a snapshot preview of the story inside the video.
@Jayberdz -- I think that's where better communication comes in. Should this happen again, we will try to do a better job of explaining what's going on.
Other technical questions. Is it ever possible to delete reports? I put one on yesterday that I didn't notice had some glitches when I converted it to quicktime.(Usually I check before.) So I fixed them and uploaded again. But I now have two of the same (or very similar) Any possibility of deleting in the future? I don't want to spam accidentally!
@Twheat The 12 days of Holiday celabration.
David, I think this will happen again. When is the question.
@WausauFamily - We have definitely vetted some very compelling images the past few days, such as these from El Salvador which were made into a CNN.com gallery - http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/11/11/elsalvador.floods.irpt/index.html
Also these videos/photos of the Nor'easter in Virginia -
http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=27799
Hey @alisonv
We don't offer the ability to delete on demand - however, if you upload something and you want it removed - or in this example - replace it with something better - simply send a note to contact@iReport.com and request it be taken down.
I also am curious about whether there is a "best" format for iReports. I've been using Quicktime. In the past I used Flash. But they both really compress the video a lot which makes it lose quality. Also I sometimes see little jumps or stalls when I play the video on the site that are not in the Quicktime one I watch on my computer. So I'm wondering if you have recommendations on format.
Very cool Hank. I'm going to check them out. Thanks!
Tyson, thanks for that tip.
@adriana71 Wow - a 12-day assignment? That sounds like it has a lot of potential. So how would it work? What could folks do for 12 days?
Share photos that represent the items in the 12 Days of Christmas song?
Ok, Tyson, I'll do that. Thanks!
@WeyrDragon -- I'm afraid that limiting comments would cut off some of the spirited discussions that are so important to our community.
That's why I think that we should find new ways to recognize people in addition to the superstar so that people don't feel like they have to rack up points.
Hopefully, we'll come up with some ideas next week.
I like that new format (at links sent)Hank. Notice something new each day. Thanks
@Tyson - I have a really slow connection backstage at a concert hall here in Scotland. I just wanted to say that I have some ideas for collaborative projects. I'll share them soon, since I keep timing out here if I type too much.
That's cool adriana!
@JoyfulGypsy that's so cool - how's the show?
hhanks, the ones from El Salvador are really amazing.
Thanks JoyfulGypsy, I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas.
We're cooking up a few new assignments we think you're going to like, including bringing back some fun "Weekend Assignments" - plus our collaborative art project is going to launch soon. Stay tuned for that
@Twheat Yes, we also could use the 8 days of Chanukah and Kawanza.. what family do to celebrate the holidays. Through photos and videos.. hmm?
Yes @alisonv --- thanks @JamesCalder for those
@everyone -- One thing I'm going to try to do starting next week is to open the roundtable by posting links to all of the notable stories from the previous week.
A lot of producers at CNN.com are using iReports in their stories and featuring them on their sections.
Tyson, I love the weekend assignments! I usually like to take some time to plan and shoot assignments and so having a weekend to do it is really nice.
@davidw thank you, that would be very nice:0)
@david, I'm not referring specifically to limiting amounts, but perhaps putting in a comment timer on a per topic basis, such as 5 minutes or so. I think this would serve multiple purposes to 1. Reduce comment spamming. 2. Allow people a chance to reply to a post directed at them without missing any additional information that gets posted by the same person while they're typing. 3. Allow people to actually think about what they're going to post, because lets face it... some comments are completely nonsensical.
David, I've noticed more and more iReports popping up all over CNN. Nice work!
@alisonv -- It's the iReporters that deserve the credit for posting such great stories.
@adriana71 -
here's a holiday idea we were tossing around just yesterday. What if we challenged iReporter to find and celebrate a holiday that you've never celebrated before.
The goal would be to pick a holiday, try to celebrate those traditions as closely as possible, and in the process learn something new about a culture or nationality.
@davidw Thank you, but without your team, we wouldn't get the time of day.
@Lila - The shows are going very well. :o) I'm here with my husband, who's business manager for Ladysmith Black Mambazo - on tour of the UK.
Gotta go now. I'll check back later.
Have a great day, everyone.
Interesting.... goal.
Thanks @all looking forward to more great iReports!
Thanks, everyone for a really great discussion as always. Talk soon.
@everyone- I'm sorry to cut things short, but we've got to run to a staff meeting.
If we missed anybody's question, please shoot us an email at contact@ireport.com, or PM me or email me at david.williams@cnn.com.
Take care and thanks for everything.
Thanks everyone, see you soon
@David, cosign what Adriana said! Will also add that the reports do seem to be getting better and better. I'm still trying to get used to the new format to find reports but I've seen some excellent posts lately.
ok, ciao a tutti!
Thanks I got late I wish I was here earlier I will read the comments thanks Larena I will have to stay with my questions re hackers
i just got here but nice seeing all this ideas... ty team ireport
What a crock. Others, like b00mer1 were banned for doing exactly the same thing. Over 2,000 posts from one person is ridiculous.
Wow. Truly disturbing. So, anybody with a web site can forward to iReports with an automated report generator. That is stupid. Automated report generation should not be allowed. It is spam of the worst kind and in no way represents reporting.
sad
sure...we'll look into "it"..."let's talk about it next week"..."cigarette smoking doesn't contribute to health problems"..companies don't like to discuss their problems out in the public...let's discuss Sesame Street some more...and week-end/holiday projects..oh what fun it is to dance and sing while the ship goes down...
How about reviewing all the new posts and comments first like all the other major sites do. That way all the "unclaimed" garbage, spam and abusive language can be weeded out. Five posts per day per person should be more than enough. Then maybe people will stop uploading their entire camera disk with 50 pictures of their trip to the beach or grandma's into only 5 posts of 10 images each.
I'm sorry that I missed the 'live' roundtable. After reviewing the comments, I'm not sure that all of the questions, concerning the overloading of the site with Ibastadobbs' rhetoric were answered. At least not to the satisfaction of I-reporters such as myself. It seems as though Jayberdz kept trying to ask intelligent and very pertinent questions,with regard to the disruption, but was not able to get real answers. Look, if all of those comments, posted to a different site, were from people INTENDING to enter debates or to voice their opinions on I-REPORT, this discussion would be over. They were not. Those people commenting on a petition, presumably were unaware that their comments would be transported over to I-report, Those comments were pirated by 'ibastadobbs' to overload this site with his/her own agenda.
Now, CNN you have allowed this once. What happens if everyone starts to repeat this lunacy? This site will be destroyed. Some of us believe that it was allowed for ulterior motives.
Seems as if this is travelling under the radar.
The Jon Stewart piece.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-november-10-2009/sean-hannity-uses-glenn-beck-s-protest-footage
The original Hannity piece from Fox News.
http://video.foxnews.com/11340644
The original Beck segment
http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/26338507/9-12-protest.htm#q=beck+rally
Nice eathquake Saturday night at 11:54 almost midnight.
DO DOGS KNOW? November 14,2009
WHAT A WAY TO FINISH A NIGHT .
WELL THIS IS NOT A FUN WAY TO GO TO BED WHEN SITTING WATCHING TV. MY FIRST thing is when the dog is upset about a hour before they may have a feeling this is going to happen.
My dog wanted in the worst way to sit by me and wanted to be near me. Wasn't going to give up till did I believe they know when have one coming.
thanks for sharing,
Jackie Hibbard -
California
hi my name is ali iam from the state of kuwait,i have a story and i would like to share it with everybody can somebody please help me and tell me how?thank you