Justin.tv

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Justin Kan during an interview.

Justin.tv is a website created by the founders of the calendar Web site Kiko.com. The site uses a mobile camera (not a webcam) attached to Justin's cap. The camera streams continuous live video and audio of what Justin Kan (one of the founders) is seeing and hearing.

Justin.tv went live at midnight on March 19, 2007, and, according to the site, Justin will wear the camera "24 hours a day, 7 days a week."^[1] It has since reached a peak simultaneous viewership of 19,000 viewers. Justin.tv has been compared to Edtv and The Truman Show.^[2]

Justin.tv is different from previous projects featuring 24/7 live streaming via the internet, such as DotComGuy and JenniCam, in that Kan is mobile. Using four wireless Evolution-Data Optimized networking cards and a laptop in a backpack^[3] the video is streamed at 10 frames per second from Justin's location.

Justin describes what he is doing as "lifecasting." [1]

While Justin.tv claims to be live 24/7 the stream frequently goes down, and Justin takes off the camera at night (switching to a camcorder on a tripod) and is often not in the shot at all.^{[citation needed]}

On Monday April 2nd, 2007 just hours after appearing on NBC's Today Show, Justin called senior news woman Ann Curry a "bitch" while expressing his displeasure with the line of questions she asked him during his appearance on the early morning show.^{[citation needed]}

1 Equipment
2 Pranks
3 References
4 External links

Equipment

Justin wears a hat, on which is attached a camera and microphone. These are in turn connected to a computer in a backpack he wears, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack that lasts approximately 8 hours. The computer is responsible for taking an encoded video stream from the camera, and sending it to the main website via four Sprint EVDO modems. The backpack and system was developed by Kyle, one of the Justin.tv founders.

Pranks

Justin.tv has been the subject of many pranks. Because the site has openly released its call-in number, a user was able to spoof the caller ID on phone calls, using an IP Relay service. On March 21, 2007, a user called the San Francisco Police Department and filed a false report about a stabbing in the apartment. Hundreds of viewers witnessed two police officers literally breaking through the door of the apartment live, just minutes later. The following day, someone reported a fire at the apartment. Six firetrucks immediately responded, but because this occurred outside, it was not caught on camera. The San Francisco emergency services have since put Justin.tv's number on a list which requires a confirmation call before responding to any emergencies.^[4] Justin has since changed his number, and has not announced the new one publicly.