Here's a very technical review of "Popcorn Hour", a media center box that will connect your TV to your computer's collection of video and audio files. By all accounts, "Popcorn Hour" works just great and is compatible with films downloaded from Caachi.

For filmmakers, especially those overseas, who have wanted to send their films to us over the Internet (to save time & money) -- you can now do it with no file size restrictions.

Before, we were using Pando, a software program to send files simply over the Internet. The only problem with Pando was it capped the file size to 1GB. That's no longer a problem since we ditched Pando for Podmailing.

Podmailing basically does the same thing that Pando does but it has no file size limit. So if you wanted to send us a 2GB, 3GB, 4GB etc., file, you can now. Uploading times haven't changed so it may take some time to upload, depending on your connection. We've added these simple instructions (scroll to the bottom of the page) for sending large files to us using Podmailing.

Good luck but let us know if you run into any hurdles.

Caachi users may want to check out Orb. Orb allows you to connect your media devices (such as your laptop, smart phone, Xbox, etc) over a wireless connection to your PC to watch the downloaded film that are on your PC. So you could be clear across the world and gain access to your downloads that are on your computer in San Francisco or wherever you call home.

The drawback to this offering is that its only for PCs (yeah, Macs always get screwed, but apparently the hard-working Orb folks are working on a Mac offering) and the WiFi connection will have to be strong enough to transfer the big video files from your PC at home (or work) to the media device your using to watch the videos. Still, I thought this was sort of cool and I'm sure we'll be seeing more technology solutions like this in the near future.

Tim Wu from Slate has a good piece differentiating piracy of Hollywood blockbusters and Sundance indie films. His conclusion supports Caachi's position that piracy for indie filmmakers isn't really a concern and may at times be a welcome piece of marketing for some filmmakers. Tim says:

"Film piracy, the conventional wisdom goes, is a threat to the film industry at all levels. That's certainly the sense at the Sundance Film Festival, where both the festival and distributors invest heavily in anti-piracy measures, including undercover agents who attend screenings to capture illicit videotapers. But it turns out that they may be wasting their money. Sundance films, present and past, simply do not register in the online pirate world—unless they are one of the few that have already made it big (like Clerks or Little Miss Sunshine). This proves two things: When it comes to content piracy, obscurity, not security, is the best defense. It also demonstrates that movie pirates are fundamentally parasitic, not predatory."

Why this result? The simplest explanation is that it takes a critical mass of interest—lots of people who want to see a film—before it will get decent pirate distribution. There are a number of reasons for this, but, crucially, every step of the piracy distribution system relies on knowing that the film exists at all. Moreover, to get effective, fast distribution on a peer-to-peer network, you need lots of reliable peers—enough people willing to share the burden of distributing the film online.

In the end, it's a numbers game. How many people want to see the film? Of those, which will get access, break the protection, and put it online? How many will download it, and of those, how many will share the burden of allowing others to download it? These numbers determine whether a film is online at all and mark the difference between a BitTorrent download that takes one hour, and one that takes five days or doesn't work at all.

What this suggests is that film pirates are not predators but parasites. They do not roam around looking for new and unknown films to eat, but rather prey on big films with name recognition."

[Originally saw this on Scott Kirsner's CinemaTech blog].

We haven't spent enough time looking for funding. Not because we're not interested or don't need to. Basically because we've been underwater and have barely enough time to come up for air. Now, we need to get started with the fundraising activities so that we can provide better services for our filmmakers and users.

We've started to get out more leaving our computers (yes, there's definitely some computer withdrawal issues) to meet and greet investors and other entrepreneurs. There's no place like San Francisco and Silicon Valley to do that (though arguably, LA may be a better place for a company like Caachi).

Just recently we were invited to present at VCtini, part of the Web 2.0 Expo, where select companies presented to both investors and other Web.2.0 Expo attendees in a cocktail reception environment. The event took place at an art gallery in South Park in San Francisco and it was pretty chaotic at times because multiple companies were presenting at the same time at different iMacs while everyone was drinking. Imagine what the room began to look like towards the end of the four hour presentation & drinking fest.

In a couple of weeks, we'll attend the Startup Camp, an unconference with other startups. You may be asking yourself what a Startup Camp has anything to do with indie films. Events like this help Caachi stay informed about new technologies to deliver the best possible experience for the indie film community.

We've also been selected to present at the Plug & Play Expo in San Jose, which will be basically for the investor, corporate venture arm and media audiences. We're looking forward to both, just need to figure out how to do those things while also attending the San Francisco International Film Festival and keeping Caachi moving forward. In the end though, things somehow end up falling into place and working out.