MsKitka.com

I started reading Fleshbot on and off at the beginning of this year and one thing I never liked about it was the fact that they didn’t allow for any comments. Well, yesterday Fleshbot finally launched their comments:

While conventional wisdom holds that looking at pornography is generally a solitary activity, a recent report we just made up here at Fleshbot Central suggests that a substantial majority of our readers are tired of furtively clicking through acres of skin on their monitors by themselves and long for the sort of companionship and interaction that only sharing their most intimate thoughts about bukkake and celebrity breast exposure with hundreds of thousands of strangers can provide. So we’re pleased to announce that starting today, you’ll find a “Comments” link at the bottom of every post on Fleshbot.

If you’ve already received an invitation to comment on one (or more) of the fine family of Gawker Media sites, you know how our comment system works; if you haven’t, check out the Fleshbot Comments FAQ for more information. We’ll be sending out our first batch of invites this afternoon.

And never let it be said that we don’t care about you. Because we do.

So naturally I was quite excited to see how Gawker Media sites regulate their comments system and went to check out the FAQ. It turns out that they have a priority system that only allows comments from certain people who have been directly invited by them or who have been referred by one of the invitees. Now, I can see how this worked for Gmail, but comments on Fleshbot?

Does anyone care enough about leaving comments on Fleshbot to e-mail all his/her friends and ask who has an invite to get a refferal? I highly doubt it. What kind of comment would you leave on Fleshbot besides “nice tits/ass!” anyways?

All I can say is- too little too late.

I believe that comment systems should be open to the public. Sure, the blog owner should have every right to delete derogatory comments where they see fit, but why should comments be monitored to a point where they are only open to certain users. I can understand that perhaps this is a precaution to prevent comment spam, but there are other ways to ensure you don’t get that kind of junk.

There is nothing I hate more than visiting people with blogs and going to leave positive feedback only to find out that I can’t leave a comment because I don’t have a Blogger account. Do me a favour people, if you have a blog… open your comments to the world!

So, now that you’ve read Part 1, you’d like to know the technical details of what you will require to make your video-podcast or vlog…

Software (for compression and editing) – You will require software for two main reasons: editing and compression.

For editing, Windows Movie Maker is acceptable and affordable for those of you with shallow pockets. If you have incredibly deep pockets, there is much better software out there for you to buy, but it will depend on your budget (and how professional/amateur you wish your podcast to be).

For compression, you will have to figure out what formats you wish to present your show in. I used to think that Windows Media Player was universal and good quality until I started making Kitkast. If you only want to put out one format, the best software to compress your media files to is Quicktime. Here is my reasoning:

• Windows Media unsynchs the video and audio after about 5 minutes. This is fine if your video-podcast is under 5 minutes, but if you plan to put out something longer… forget it.
• Sam Sugar from SugarBank once told me that people in the jizz biz prefer Quicktime.
• Quicktime is more universal since it is used on both Windows and Mac operating systems.
• Using Quicktime is another way to tell Bill Gates to go take a flying leap…

Actual compression is important because otherwise it would take forever for people to download your vidcast. My ten-minute episodes of Kitkast are approximately 40mb each and take about ten minutes to download. Rocketboom puts out a podcast less than half the length of mine at the same size, so both broadcasts take about an equal amount of time to download. The faster it is to download, the better.

Hosting – If you market your show the right way you will probably have a lot of traffic and will need to make sure that wherever you choose to store your files, you have unlimited bandwidth.

Kitkast is hosted by LibSyn and my package (Podcast Advanced) gives me 525 mb of storage space for $20/month. There are other packages if you think you require more or less space on a monthly basis.

RSS Feed – If you want a regular audience of people subscribed to your podcast, the next thing to do is to make sure you have an RSS feed.

While LibSyn and others offer their own RSS feed for your files, Zod has set me up to use Feedburner. Kitkast has a feed on Feedburner for every type of format that it is available in (Quicktime and Windows Media).

Publishing – The way Kitkast publishes/distributes each episode is by making a blog post with media enclosures via WordPress at mskitka.com. The enclosures are key to distribution since it is these enclosures that are downloaded through iTunes, iPodder, etc.

In order to differentiate the mskitka.com feed from the various Kitkast feeds, Zod created his own code available here (open source): Hacking WordPress for Podcasting different Media.

Helpful Hints – For detailed information and tutorials on formatting and compression, check out freevlog.org. Although their main focus is to influence people to put out personal video-blogs, you will certainly be able to find a lot of helpful information. Zod and I got most of our guidance for Kitkast from this site in the beginning.

Part 1: Creative Planning
Part 2: Technological Planning
Part 3: Filming
Part 4: Editing (Coming Soon)
Part 5: Marketing (Coming Soon)

Research – Do your research to determine what you want from your podcast. If you’re not sure how you would like your video-podcast to turn out, go to some podcast directories and watch what other people are putting out. If you want your show to be like everyone else, follow the herd, if not, try and figure out how to express your individuality.

When I started Kitkast I didn’t know a lot about podcasting. I had been watching Rocketboom on and off for several months and listened to Podnography on a regular basis. I believe that both of these shows inspired me to make my own show… a sarcastic news programme with sex-industry news and interviews.

Genre – Brainstorm to decide what kind of genre you would like to make: news; documentary; comedy; drama; etc. Always remember that if you’re putting out video footage, the show will likely not be very long due to its size, so either try and make something that tells a story or presents a full package in one episode or make it captivating enough to keep people coming back.

Although I appear on Kitkast in my underwear, I believe that it’s the sarcasm, sci-fi references and interesting stories that keep people coming back. If you want to develop an audience, do what you can to make it fun in the little time you have to present it. This may not mean stripping off into your underwear and talking about sex, but usually the more popular podcasts are the ones that offer some sort of comedy. If you want to make a soap opera, it may be difficult to maintain an audience if your subject matter is serious… sarcasm is a great tool for developping an audience (especially if your production quality is not… professional).

Vlog vs. Topic – Decide what sort of content you would like to put into your podcast. You can do something different every week and people can love you for your personality only or you can cater to a specific subject. The good thing about choosing a subject is that it lets people interested in that subject know that they would like this video-podcast. TV shows are labeled in categories for a reason… If I hear a new sci-fi show is out, my ears perk up like a dog getting ready to fetch his favorite ball. The only negative about this is that if you don’t continue to create fresh new entertaining content on that same subject, people could eventually get bored.

There was a discussion on a Yahoo message board a few weeks ago about how Kitkast’s subscribers had surpassed Steve Garfield’s Video Blog subscribers very quickly after its first or second episode. The reason for this was probably thanks to being mentioned on Fleshbot, the most popular sex blog on the Internet which boasts approximately 100,000 unique viewers per day. Steve Garfield, however, is one of the Godfathers of vlogging and his show(s) have amazing production value (the man is a real pro…). The Yahoo thread basically said that Garfield was beaten by the boob, which may be true but, like I said, I prefer to think that people come back for the stories and sarcasm. I must admit, I didn’t know who Garfield was before Zod told me about the Yahoo thread, but now I visit his site on a regular basis.

So, a subject or theme is not overly important, but it may help attract like-minded people. The truth is, if your video-podcast has adult content it probably will do quite well… who doesn’t love sex?

Boundaries – Set boundaries for yourself. If you are podcasting video, know that the video can have repercussions. Showing nudity in the US is usually translated as porn, so be careful. My own boundaries include not showing nipples, naked ass or snatch. Partly because of my dream to pose in Playboy and to take it all off there first. It’s true that I have plenty of outtakes at home with me shoving my nipples back into my lingerie, but those outtakes will not be shown on the Internet without censorship. Remember, your parents and grandparents might be completely inept at using the computer, but they can still find you.

Writing – Depending on the style of video-podcast you have decided on, you may need to write a script or talking points. Remember that you probably don’t have a monitor feeding you your lines like on the evening news, so you will need to know what you’re saying in advance. Sure, you might like to do stuff on the fly, but it doesn’t work well for everyone. If you’re not incredibly cute people may not want keep tuning in to watch you stutter. It’s true that a lot can be fixed in editing, but do what you can to prepare before filming.

Personally, I don’t have a lot of time to memorize before filming. Since I often try and get the most up to date news stories possible, I finish writing on Wednesday afternoon and film on Wednesday evening. I make a lot of mistakes, but thanks to editing it’s not as noticeable (not until the Kitkast outtakes episodes come out over the holidays!).

Helpful Hints – No matter what format or genre you choose, always remember to do what comes naturally to you. Remember, you should do your best to create fresh good-quality content on a regular basis, so make sure it’s something that doesn’t make you tear your hair out on a weekly basis.

Part 1: Creative Planning
Part 2: Technological Planning
Part 3: Filming
Part 4: Editing (Coming Soon)
Part 5: Marketing (Coming Soon)

Above: A postcard from the front lines of the war on porn

Thank goodness I don’t live in Iran:

Tehran, Iran, A man was publicly hanged in the town of Qazvin, west of the Iranian capital Tehran, a state-run daily reported on Tuesday.

The unnamed man was accused of running a brothel and producing pornographic videos along with his wife, the daily Iran Newspaper wrote.

The couple had both been sentenced to 10 years in prison, five years in exile, 80 lashes and execution for running the prostitution ring and being found in possession of alcohol, drugs, and illicit CDs.

The man’s sentence was carried out in front of the judge that sentenced him in one of the town’s squares on Monday morning, while his wife had been executed in February 2004, the report said.

I find it interesting that the man was ‘accused’ for running a prostitution ring, but there is no talk of him being found guilty. The only proof the authorities seem to have on the man is that he was found possessing alcohol (big whoop), drugs (how very Canadian) and illicit CDs (in American, that translates as ‘Gangsta Rap’).

Every country has a different way of treating pornography. While it’s banned in India, and those caught watching are punished with humiliation, the United States and Thailand both declared an all out war on it this year.

Contrary to President Bush’s declaration, there has not been much action taken against the industry. When Bush declared a war in Afghanistan, he struck immediately. The same goes for Iraq. So, why did Bush even bother declaring anything at all?

There has always been talk in the US of putting a sin tax on pornography. Utah did this in 2004 and in July 2005 Kansas State legislators were interested in imposing a 25% tax on such products/services. I remember thinking how ridiculous this tax would be especially since I don’t consider it sinful or wrong. I read an even more radical proposal the other day, though, where a columnist proposed a 100% sin tax on pornography. Great deal… one for the price of two.

And so the question emerges: why bother talking about taxing something if the president has already declared a war against it? Should he be leading the struggle to eradicate it?

When it comes to regulating pornography, the US government is all talk and no action. Both the greatest weapon and the weakest target known to man is the human mind. Greatest weapon because it can misinform and instill fear in the hearts of men and weakest target because it can also be on the receiving end of such lies and fear.

It’s times like these when, although I hate the winters in Montreal, I’m glad that I live in the pot-smoking tree-hugging same-sex-marrying nation of Canada.

Many have asked questions about the production of Kitkast and Zod has often said that he will write a big post to tell people what steps we took to make it. Well, it’s officially been a month since our first episode has aired and Zod has been too busy to even blog much on his own site, let alone at mskitka.com. As a result, I have decided to take the task upon myself to write a series of entries to inform others how to set-up, make and market their video-podcasts.

Each part will focus on one aspect of production/marketing and will link to previous parts for easy accessibility. This is a technique I picked up from SugarBank, the greatest sex blog this world has ever known.

Additionally, since I will be traveling during the holidays I was originally thinking of making Kitkast #1.10 into an outtakes episode and taking a two-week hiatus. However, I have decided that in order to keep supplying my viewers with entertaining content during the holidays, I will release two bite-sized outtakes episodes which will be posted through the same feeds as the usual Kitkast. These three to five-minute mini-Kitkasts will become available for download on December 24th and December 31st respectively.

Stay tuned…