02
Sat, Nov
2 New Articles

Let the Games Begin! (But Let's Watch Them on PCs)

Analysis of News Events
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

The two hallmarks of the 2008 Olympics are that all TV broadcasts will be in high definition and that all events will be streamed live to our computers.

 

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games begin in Beijing today, and the event marks several technology milestones, not the least of which is that it will be the largest television event in the history of the medium.

 

For the next 17 days, NBC Universal will provide around-the-clock high-definition TV coverage through its affiliates and cable networks. Of interest to technophiles, it also will be streaming thousands of hours of live broadband coverage over the Internet to computer users in the United States using Microsoft's new Silverlight technology. (Adobe has contracted with CCTV.com for Olympics Web coverage of the Games for distribution in China using Flash technology).

 

NBC has revamped its 75,000 square foot International Broadcast Center to be completely high definition, and it has built a state-of-the-art Web transmission and production infrastructure for NBCOlympics.com. The company is switching from its workhorse Sony HDCAM tape to Sony XDCAM HD optical disc for electronic newsgathering and acquisition. NBC is offering a free download-and-play service that will allow people to watch the Olympics at home, at work, or, in some cases, on the go through certain mobile phones. Once you pick the events you want to watch, they will automatically download to Windows Media Center as they become available.

 

According to the New York Times, "NBC thinks that a lot of viewing may well be done in the workplace."

 

This could be of interest to network administrators at companies with limited bandwidth, who may wish to set guidelines about viewing the Olympics on company equipment. Instead of sending a few emails to their friends promising to get together after work to watch highlights of the games, it's a certainty that once employees realize they can watch the Olympics live on their computers at work, they will be trying to steam live video from the events directly to their desktops.

 

NBCOlympics.com will be providing approximately 2,200 hours of live streaming broadband coverage of Olympic competition that will allow users to choose from among 20 streams of video covering some 25 events. It also will offer another 3,000 hours of on-demand video, including highlights and encores. The benefit of watching the Olympics on your computer versus the TV is that you get to watch whatever event you choose rather than what the network decides is of greatest appeal. Users can see up to four screens of live feeds at once or have a picture-in-picture feed on their computers.

 

Users of mobile devices can sign up for text updates and event alerts and download schedules, results, articles, and photos. T-Mobile, for instance, offers users a special icon for downloading mobile content to their BlackBerries from the NBC Olympics Mobile Web site. Mobile device users also can text "OLYMPICS" to 51515. Subscribers to AT&T, however, will have the real deal: "a TV channel on their cell phone."

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched a special YouTube channel (not available in the U.S.) exclusively in 77 countries and territories where NBC or others don't have broadcast rights. Also, a service sponsored by computer-maker Lenovo Group Ltd. and Internet company TV Tonic allows users to download full-length videos of events overnight and watch them on a laptop later.

 

Olympics 2008 will be the first Games that truly celebrate social media. Several advertisers have come up with ingenious branding efforts using social networking Web sites or blogs. The Coca-Cola Co. is inviting users to design new Coke bottles. They can build their own bottle artwork galleries, display their creations within the Coke gallery, or post them on their personal Web pages. Visit Design the World a Coke to try your hand at bettering the classic Coke bottle.

 

Millions of Olympics fans across 100 countries already have tried the McDonald's alternative-reality game, The Lost Ring, that challenges players to solve Olympics-related mysteries.

 

Lenovo has created blogs for some 100 Olympics athletes. The selected athletes, however, will post a "Lenovo 2008 Olympics Blogger" badge on their sites showcased, but not hosted, on the Lenovo Web site. Numerous other companies are engaging in social media branding experiments. Panasonic is sponsoring a photo contest; Samsung Electronics offers a photo and video torch-relay contest; FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co. devised a Honk for China contest based on participation from people as the Olympic torch passes through their towns. Others include PepsiCo, Nike, and many more.

 

IBM, the company that since the 1960 winter games at Squaw Valley provided computers and technology for the games, this year is handling only the security surveillance solution in Beijing. IBM ended a 40-year partnership with the IOC after the Sydney, Australia, games due to differences over marketing. IBM wanted exclusive marketing rights on Olympics.com while the IOC wanted to be able to offer a consortium of companies the right to display their brands on the Olympics Internet site.

 

The role IBM is playing at the games this year, nevertheless, is important. The threat of terrorism lingers over the games like the smog hangs over Beijing. Already, religious separatists are believed to be behind the killing of 15 Chinese police in a remote village last week, and reports are that plans have been found indicating some have been plotting to disrupt the games.

 

The response that the Chinese have made to longstanding security threats is nothing short of massive. Since 2001, when Beijing was awarded the Games, China has spent an estimated $6.5 billion on security just in the Beijing area. Most of the money is for an extensive video monitoring system that is planned to stay in place after the games. It's the most comprehensive and sophisticated surveillance system ever developed. While analysts suspect it likely will be used to spy on dissidents after the Olympics are over, the technology brings a whole new meaning to the term "IT security."

 

Using IBM technology, the Chinese will be using a sophisticated computer system to scan video images of city streets, looking for anything or anyone that hints of making trouble--or terrorizing people. Called Smart Surveillance Solution, or S3, the system uses analytic tools to index digital video recordings. It issues alerts when certain parameters are breached and can be used to alert security guards if someone enters a secure area or a vehicle leaves a parking zone. The same system is also being tested in lower Manhattan and integrated into Chicago's existing surveillance infrastructure for emergency response.

 

Conceived in 2006, the surveillance system started as a research project in IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center. The company's service group has been diligent in trying to move it into a profitable line of business, and it has gained traction with retail and banking customers, including Italy's UniCredit bank. It can use both analog and digital cameras, making it possible to integrate into existing infrastructures that IBM supports with cameras, sensors, servers, networking technologies, software, services, and analytics. The system is designed to reduce costs and improve operations as well as improve security and safety.

 

With the world's marketplace becoming global, the Olympics are proving to be an ever-growing showcase for a number of products and ideas. NBC is expanding its audience measurement techniques beyond just the Nielsen TV ratings and now plans to measure viewers on computer too with a "total audience measurement index," or TAMI.

 

The Olympics today and probably forevermore has become more than a platform to display a few clever ads touting consumer products. It is now a venue to present today's state-of-the art technology, a symbol of a nation's accomplishments in achieving modernization.

Chris Smith

Chris Smith was the Senior News Editor at MC Press Online from 2007 to 2012 and was responsible for the news content on the company's Web site. Chris has been writing about the IBM midrange industry since 1992 when he signed on with Duke Communications as West Coast Editor of News 3X/400. With a bachelor's from the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in English and minored in Journalism, and a master's in Journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Chris later studied computer programming and AS/400 operations at Long Beach City College. An award-winning writer with two Maggie Awards, four business books, and a collection of poetry to his credit, Chris began his newspaper career as a reporter in northern California, later worked as night city editor for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and went on to edit a national cable television trade magazine. He was Communications Manager for McDonnell Douglas Corp. in Long Beach, Calif., before it merged with Boeing, and oversaw implementation of the company's first IBM desktop publishing system there. An editor for MC Press Online since 2007, Chris has authored some 300 articles on a broad range of topics surrounding the IBM midrange platform that have appeared in the company's eight industry-leading newsletters. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: