The Unknown Studio

I received word today that one of my favourite local television personalities, Global Edmonton’s Lynda Steele — host of the Early news co-anchor of the News Hour — has abandoned her popular Twitter account. No reason was immediately given by Steele or Global. And as someone with a vested interest in social media, as someone who fully recognizes the value of these tools, I can’t help but feel that Global Edmonton has more or less entirely missed the mark.

Mack Male quoted another prominent social media citizen, Chris LaBossiere today regarding this whole issue: “Organizations don’t have conversations. People do.” Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 100% [?]

As an avid Star Trek fan, my hope is that the show’s creator — Gene Roddenberry — will be proven a prescient mind and that humanity will divest itself of the shackles of money. That we will unite under a banner of unity and common progression. That our food will arrive out of thin air, and a drunk who resembles James Cromwell will invent faster than light travel…

Then I look around at the devastation exacted upon the planet and human beings by other human beings, and that future seems pretty far off. Except in the world of media. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 22% [?]

Some of you may have noticed that Adam is a man who loves the more… colourful parts of the English language. Truth be told, the man is a walking vulgarity engine, with a wonky self-censoring circuit. Don’t misunderstand, it’s not that he’s incapable of restraint, he just doesn’t bother with it. Because it’s easier to let me restrain him. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 23% [?]

This week, we have a very special guest edition of FML Friday. I asked some of the Unknown Studio’s pals on Twitter to contribute their one FML responses, and we have two from our fans.

@trevolutions and @mspixieriot join me this week in taking the mick out of some of the sad sacks who feel the need to share their woe-is-me views with the world. The sort of sharing that makes you shake your head and not feel pity for these people, but instead experience the sensation of rage.

Before I write more poorly constructed sentences, let’s get on with this week’s edition of FML Friday! Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 21% [?]

If you haven’t heard the name Eduard Khil or been the victim of the newest and possible the most hilarious internet meme since the Rick Roll, then you’ve probably just emerged from a cave in some strange blighted landscape.

Eduard Khil is a Russian singer. He recorded a video for a song called “I Am Glad to Finally Be Home” in 1976. It’s a bizarre vocalization set to music. No lyrics. I’m not exactly certain why there aren’t lyrics, though I’ve heard tell it has something to do with the fact that the words were censored by the former Soviet government in the 70s. Here’s the video of the meme everyone’s talking about (popularized by Stephen Colbert and Christoph Waltz), often referred to simply as Trololo Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 32% [?]

The City of Edmonton is very fortunate to have the knowledge economy contributors that we can call our own. I might even argue that many of the people who have come onto the Unknown Studio as guests are among the pillars of this new wave.

We spoke to one of those pillars in our most recent episode, which you can download below. Hi name is Ken Bautista, and he’s officially one of Edmonton’s “big deals.” Here’s some info on Ken from his website:

Ken Bautista, 32, has over 10 years experience in the interactive industry as an entrepreneur and creative director.

He founded his first interactive development company, Hotrocket, in 2001 after graduating from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. In 2008, the company’s interactive services division was acquired by RED The Agency, one of the fastest growing independent marketing agencies in Western Canada.

Ken is currently working on his second start-up seekyourownproof.com, an online community for kids ages 8-12 where they’re challenged to investigate science and history as agents of a fictional agency called the “Central Institute for Exploration”.

Ken’s also involved in ArtsScene Edmonton, Startup Edmonton, and TEDx Edmonton.

Scott and I picked his brain for a good hour on the projects Ken’s working on, why he’s still living in Edmonton, and what the future holds for yet another of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL STILL SPONSORS THE UNKNOWN STUDIO
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It’s true! After so much joking and tongue-in-cheek referrals to Edmonton’s newspaper of record on our show, the Edmonton Journal decided to put their money where our mouths are, by sponsoring the Unknown Studio this month!

We’re helping EJ to promote their Blackberry mobile launcher. You can check it out by clicking here on your Blackberry browser. If you have any comments about the mobile launcher or the Journal’s mobile site, let us know and we’ll pass it along!

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Download the episode 20 of the Unknown Studio directly to your computer.

The Unknown Studio is a proud member of the League of Extraordinary Media.

Thanks to Mack Male for allowing us to use one of his photos for this post.

Popularity: 36% [?]