* wallflower magazine *

This week in my Online Mags class we were “joined” by guest lecturer Eric Nakamura via Y!Live, Yahoo’s new livestreaming service. Nakamura, who once worked for Larry Flynt, is co-creator and editor of Giant Robot magazine, an ode to the best of Asian pop culture. GR, which began as a hand-photocopied ‘zine, has now expanded into a national brand including stores, restaurants and an art gallery. Despite some technical difficulty, he actually had some pretty interesting stuff to say about Web 2.0 and the challenges of starting and running a magazine. It was super interesting and I am really loving the way this class challenges the traditional boundaries of a classroom.

But a bit more about Y!Live… The service was launched on February 7th amid Microsoft’s bid to take over Yahoo. Combining the best of the early explorers of livestreaming, including Justin.tv, Ustream and Mogulus, Y!Live allows users to broadcast to up to five people with a multi-camera viewing panel so that you can see what everyone is up to.

However, upon opening Y!Live discovered that it had a major capacity deficit. Users reported that when the user count broke 800, they received a error message. Another drawback of the service is that the videos are not archived, meaning that it is a one-time view kind of thing. And beware because sign up involves an opt-out privacy policy, simply asking if they can access your webcam, then immediately publicly broadcasting as well as placing your channel on the homepage and in the directory.

“Y!Live was dreamed up as a way to make it possible for anyone to create their own live video experience. Broadcast the concert you’re at. Webcast your own live DJ set. Lifecast. Build your own live video speed dating application. We’ve created a website and an API that lets you do all these things and many more.”

For additional reading on Eric Nakamura and GR, visit:

1. http://www.giantrobot.com/blogs/eric/
2. http://www.nylonmag.com/?parid=679&section=article

For more info about Y!Live, visit:

1. http://venturebeat.com/2008/02/07/yahoo-live-goes-live-thendies/
2. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/yahoo_live.php
3. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/07/yahoo-launches-live-a-live-streaming-video-service/
4. http://blog.laptopmag.com/yahoo-live-is-here-and-full-of-creeps
5. http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/02/yahoo-really-does-live-er-yahoo-live-lives.html