The sound rumbles in about 25 seconds into the launch. Yes, for the first 20 or so seconds you hear absolutely nothing while witnessing one of mankind’s greatet achievements rocketing free of our home planet on a pillar of fire as bright as the sun. Then you hear it: a sustained thunder that rolls in, followed by chest thumping crackles that beat any fireworks display you’ve ever experienced.

Read more about my NASA experiences at CTTechJunkie.com.

NASA once relied on big networks and even bigger names like Walter Cronkite to help carry its message. But now NASA is broadening its reach to social media. The agency recently invited 150 of its Twitter followers to a space shuttle launch “tweetup” event, giving people like math professor Joel Glickman – and his live streaming iPhone – access that was once reserved only for the media’s elite. But this is more than a fan appreciation day. NASA officials estimate that the videos, photos, blog posts and tweets will reach more than 1.8 million people, an audience size that rivals most cable networks in primetime. NASA knows all too well what happens when the public’s interest goes elsewhere. A Saturn V Rocket, once destined for the moon, now sits in a museum at the Kennedy Space Center – the result of budget cuts in the 70′s. With the Space Shuttle program set to conclude in 2011 and no immediate replacement vehicle ready, NASA hopes reaching the public through its most enthusiastic supporters will keep interest in the program strong during this critical transition.

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, we’ll also remember the great narrator of the 20th century.

Today I am excited to announce the launch of a project that has been in the works for the last few months. It’s called LocalOnlineNews.TV.

The concept is simple: Experienced, professional video journalists report on issues and events that impact local communities. Our reporters will focus on a single community and file reports every day or two on hard news and other events taking place around town.

Each story consists of a 2-3 minute “package” (similar to the evening news), as well as ‘extended content’ with complete, uncut interviews with local officials and newsmakers.

This week we officially kicked off coverage in West Hartford with reporter Anna Stonestreet. She’s filed four reports already with more on the way. Content is posted at http://www.localonlinenews.tv as well as every major video hosting provider. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too.

We’ll be expanding coverage over the next several weeks with additional reporters that you’ll be hearing about soon.

While I work to build a viable business model, the editorial component will be developed by my co-founder, former WTNH reporter/anchor Anna Sava. Anna is an Emmy Award winning television journalist who brings a tremendous amount of expertise to this effort.

The idea for this endeavor came to life earlier this year after my hometown lost three of its four news sources. For many towns in Connecticut these losses are especially troubling because by law important public policy matters (like school and municipal budgets) are voted on in public town hall meetings and/or referendums.

There is a real need (and demand) for timely and objective information on important local issues. The question will be how new forms of local media will fill the gap being vacated by traditional sources.  I believe the time (and technology) is right for professionally produced online video at the “hyperlocal” level.

I look forward to your input as we develop this new business!

My friend Antonio brought over some Numi flowering tea and we decided to do a time lapse video. You can find the HD version on Facebook.

Music by Tim Stewart. Numi’s official blog can be found here.

Some Nikon cameras, like the new Nikon D90, have an interval feature that programs the camera to do some limited time lapse captures. In this case I set it to shoot a photo every fifteen seconds starting about 12:30 p.m. this afternoon (right when the snow was about to start). It collected 730 images (before the battery died) that I later stitched together to make about 12 seconds of video.  The camera limits captures to 999 images, although connecting it directly to a PC or Mac will give more flexibility.

Quicktime is an excellent tool for the stitching operation, it was almost too easy!  Special tip of the hat to the Inside Aperture blog for the inspiration and instructions.  I set the camera to shoot high quality, full res JPEGs and loaded them into Quicktime with the image sequence option.  The file was enormous (2.9 gigs for 12 seconds!) but it gave me a ton of resolution to do that motion zoom on the BBQ.

You can find a better quality version on my Facebook video page.

You can also download the full 720P Quicktime by clicking here.

And the video update:

When I blogged the 2004 convention in Boston, the most I could do was some text and photos. Now we’re in the age of YouTube, faster bandwidth, and nearly unlimited storage. Which means more content and more equipment!

Canon VIXIA HF100:

The HF100 is an outstanding high definition camcorder that shoots to SD card.  See my full review here.

Sony HVR-A1U

There’s probably something newer out now, but this is great piece of equipment.  Lousy in low light but the audio inputs (two balanced XLRs) make up for it.

Nikon D300

You know you want one .  If you’re getting serious about taking pictures, this mid-range camera is well worth the investment.  Very fast, very responsive, and with the right lens amazing output!

Litepanels “Micro” On-Camera Dimmable 5600K LED Video Light

It’s a little on the blue side, but this is a very bright and energy efficient video light.  Runs on four AA’s for hours with absolutely no heat.

Gorillapod SLR-Zoom Flexible Tripod

Whoever invented these things I hope is getting very wealthy.  The gorillapod is a tripod with flexible legs that can be wrapped around objects very securely.  It’ll mount a camera to just about anything.  A great thing to keep in your bag.

Apple MacBook Pro

It’s amazing how much you can do on a laptop.  Apple’s game changing technology is not just limited to iPhones and iPods.  And to make the most of it you should be sure to install:

Apple Final Cut Studio 2 (Mac)

Final Cut Studio is the exactly the stuff that the pros use.  And it’ll run on your Macbook Pro.  Amazing.

Sennheiser EW100ENG G2 Wireless Microphone Kit

Good video requires good audio.  This is an affordable but professional wireless mic kit.  Excellent sound quality and built like a tank!

Shure SM58

They call it ‘legendary’ for a reason.  It’s unidirectional meaning it’ll pick up your subject and not all of the background noise.

Plenty of video blogging coming from Denver!  Stay tuned.

You will need the latest version of Flash to play this as it is encoded in h.264.

I brought my Macbook along and was able to broadcast the event live on Ustream.tv. For the uninitiated, Ustream is essentially a live version of YouTube. It takes video running off of just about any PC or Mac and creates embeddable flash players that can be placed on any website just like YouTube lets you do. Amazing tech.

Congressman Murphy:

Congressman Larson:

I managed to find myself a great spot for the announcement and taped it for all to see. Here’s a little YouTube video I put together from last night’s festivities:

Don’t see the video? Click here to watch it on YouTube directly.

An audio version, including speeches by Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, can be found by clicking here.