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Archives for March 2006

Television Without Potty

March 24, 2006 by Jim Connelly

A couple of Time-Warner companies are going to great lengths trying appease the FCC, who — running scared from (or worse, in cahoots with) anti-free speech groups like the American Family Association and the Parents Television Council — continue to levy unprecedented and quite possibly unconstitutional fines at the drop of a skirt.

First of all, Time-Warner Cable is bundling a bunch of hopefully non-offensive channels into a “Family Tier,” which they also hope will stave off the call for a la carte programming.  No problems here with a “Family Family” tier, though the skeptic in me figures that the tiers are a way to end up charging more for those channels.  Also, one of the “family-friendly” channels is the Food Network, which is 100% about stimulating the senses in every way possible. Watch it with the sound down and it’s a whole different experience.

[Read more…] about Television Without Potty

Filed Under: Television

The Daily Loper – March 23, 2006

March 23, 2006 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

  • MTV, Rolling Stone Join for Reality Series
    One of the ‘lopers is dying — dying, I tells ya! — because they didn’t do this 20 FRACKING YEARS AGO! The other ‘lopers just snicker at him.
  • Kevin Smith Plants Another Flag in Cyberspace
    He’s using MySpace as a place for viral marketing for Clerks II, duh. But as it gets more friends, he’s going to post more exclusive stories and exclusive clips.
  • Bonds shifts his stance: Athlete to talk steroids on his ESPN skein
    Let’s all guess what he’s gonna say.
  • YouTube: Natalie Portman Rap Search
    This morning’s (09:05AM 03-23-2006) search on YouTube for “Natalie Portman Raps” returned 3 results, but only 1 was actually viewable.
  • Europe Declares Pipe Organs Health Hazards
    Absolutely no ‘loper value, except, sheesh, is nothing sacred anymore?
  • Do we want our MTV any more?
    Canada, uh, gets its MTV. Again. Because its so relevant in this day and age.
  • iPod IPhone appears on the way: here’s a mockup
    You’ll be able to call everywhere in the world! Except for France, of course.

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

My TV, Anywhere

March 23, 2006 by Jim Connelly

The Slingbox — that cool little device that allows you to watch your TV anywhere that has a computer with a broadband connection — has just taken a huge leap forward into the world of anything, anytime, anywhere.

They’ve created a version that will send the contents of your TV to Windows Mobile palmtops and cellphones.

That’s all. 

And yet that’s everything. This trumps all other TV content made for mobile devices for one simple reason: it’s your own TV.  It’s “your own” content. It’s content that you’ve chosen to record.  

So cool that it almost makes me wish I had a use for it in my real life.

  • TV Here, There, Everywhere

Filed Under: Hardware, Television Tagged With: sling-media, slingbox, windows-mobile

The Daily Loper – March 22, 2006

March 22, 2006 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

  • Service backs up your digital tunes
    Remember when this what MySpace did? But with storage prices dropping faster than bandwith speed is increasing, will anybody use this?
  • Ay Caramba! ‘The Simpsons’ Extend Record Run
    Have you ever loved something so much that you hoped that it would never go away? And then it doesn’t?
  • YouTube: Natalie Portman Rap Search
    This morning’s (08:20AM 03-22-2006) search on YouTube for “Natalie Portman Raps” returned 2 results.
  • No Copying From First High-Def Players
    Reason #5998 as to why you probably shouldn’t even bother with this right now.
  • YouTube: Television’s New Frenemy
    As we’ve long suspected, people who work at major studios are really out of touch. How is poor little YouTube supposed to toe the line when they receive a “Thank you for publicizing our work” and a cease-and-desist on the same day?
  • Disney’s Iger: No Net Neutrality Laws Needed
    Surprise! He’s also against a-la-carte programming. Apparently what’s good for the consumer is bad for Disney. Of course, us consumers have known that for years, haven’t we?
  • Companies that fought against Wi-Fi now rush to join in
    Like the record companies and downloads. The whole of the law shalt be: hop on or get left behind.
  • MTV Show Chooses Cast Based On Merit
    Looks? Uh, who needs ’em. This show is all about finding the next Lester Bangs.
  • RIAA Says Future DRM Might ?Threaten Critical Infrastructure and Potentially Endanger Lives?
    And they’re fine with it, so you should be too. Seriously, once content is digitized it should be protected at ALL costs.

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

La Polémique De Apple

March 22, 2006 by Jim Connelly

While I love my Nano, and I enjoy using iTunes, the one thing that cheeses me off are the hoops I have to jump through to play iTunes music I’ve legally purchased on non-Apple products. For example, I recently purchased the entire first season of “The Ricky Gervais Show” podcasts from Audible (cos I’m a latecomer, which is defined in weeks anymore), and I had to waste 6 CDs converting it to .mp3. WTF? That ain’t right.

[Read more…] about La Polémique De Apple

Filed Under: Apple, DRM, iTunes, Music, Unexpected Results Tagged With: Apple, downloading, emusic, France, iPod, iTunes, Johnny-Depp, Pirates

Radio Killed The Radio Star, Part Two

March 22, 2006 by Kassia Krozser

Part Two: The Role of The Curator, Or Why Disk Jockeys Could Be More Relevant Than Ever

Continuing analysis of the SXSW panel called “The Future of Radio”. Panelists included moderator Kevin Smokler, Celia Hirschman of Downtown Marketing and KCRW, Roman Mars of WBEZ, Elise Nordling from SomaFM, and Tim Westergren of Pandora, bringing together lifelong radio listeners, public radio professionals, Internet radio stars, and purveyors of social networking applications. Part One is here.

New services (like, oh, Medialoper) are designed to help consumers sift through the mass of media being thrown their way. In the past, disk jockeys served as curators of music. In today’s world, the increased level of programming makes the curator process even more important. This means aligning consumers with trusted sources of information. A trust relationship develops between the two parties — without that trust — in taste, quality, integrity — the consumer goes away.

[Read more…] about Radio Killed The Radio Star, Part Two

Filed Under: Marketing, Mediacratic, Radio Tagged With: CARP, Celia-Hirschman, DMCA, Elise-Nordling, Future-of-Radio, Internet-Radio, Kevin-Smokler, Pandora, RIAA, Roman-Mars, SomaFM, Sound-Exchange, SXSW, SXSWi, Tim-Westergren, WBEZ, WFMU

TV Shows on DVD I’d Like To See

March 21, 2006 by Jim Connelly

One of my favorite niche sites out there is Gord Lacey’s TV Shows on DVD, which is exactly what it claims to be: a place where you can learn about TV Shows on DVD. It’s essentially a compendium of news/rumours/release dates (Battlestar Galactica 2.5 is coming out in early September?!?), reviews, and a place where you can vote for shows that haven’t quite made it to DVD.

Anyways, just for the hell of it, here’s my list of shows that I’m still waiting to see on DVD (or On-Demand) (or even downloadable):

[Read more…] about TV Shows on DVD I’d Like To See

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: DVD, Televison

The Daily Loper – March 21, 2006

March 21, 2006 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

  • A guide to Beck and Scientology for journalists and fans
    OK first Isaac Hayes and now Beck?! That’s it, I’m heading to the Celebrity Center for a personality test.
  • FBI, you’ve got mail — NOT!
    The FBI can’t afford email. Uh, where the hell is all of our tax money going?! Maybe they should just use GMail.
  • "South Park" Keeps Chef
    After watching Matt and Trey on Letterman I’m convinced this Chef thing is some kind of hoax.
  • What’s eating Bill Gates?
    Sounds like he’s given one BillNote too many.
  • YouTube: Natalie Portman Rap Search
    This afternoon’s (12:37PM 03-21-2006) search on YouTube for "Natalie Portman Raps" returned 2 results. You begin to wonder if this little excercise has any point.
  • A Bit of Paid Stuff, For Free
    Congoo is new service that lets you preview normally paid content or pay for the whole article. Two questions: will anyone remember the name of this service tomorrow and why do I need a special toolbar just use it?
  • Lunch with Ben Bradlee: From Guadalcanal to Iraq
    Reporting on the death of newspapers may be premature — which is why ours has gone unread for weeks now.
  • Cable TV Producers and Union Quarrel
    SAG says strike (maybe). Hollywood should be happy that the guilds are focused on basic cable. It’ll give them a little breathing room before the next big (really big) strike threat.
  • SanDisk Confident About Taking Market Share Away from Apple
    Nice looking player from SanDisk. If only they had some sort of iTunes Compatibility Kit.
  • Audiences Offered New Way to Buy Products They See on TV & Film With Launch of StarStyle; ‘American Idol,’ ‘Real World Key West’ Among Initial Shows
    Meanwhile, in Hell, Satan just laughs and laughs . . .
  • Report: Microsoft Working on iPod, PSP ‘Killer’
    Origami?! That’s last week’s news.

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

Press Room? I Said Rest Room!

March 21, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

You’d be hard pressed to find a more digital savvy group of people than the ones who attend SXSW Interactive. The vast majority of conference attendees are armed with laptops and logged onto the ubiquitous wireless available throughout the City of Austin. Most of the attendees have at least one blog that they post to on a regular basis (I think the average is actually 2.32 blogs per attendee, but I’m having trouble fact checking that number). It’s like an army of field reporters have descended on a conference to provide coverage from every possible angle.

Don’t believe me? Check out:

  • Stories on this year’s SXSW on Technorati
  • Photos from this year’s SXSW on Flickr

All of this just makes the fact that there is still a SXSW Press Room seem that much more archaic. What the hell happens in that room? Seriously, what sort of special accommodations could “real” reporters need that aren’t already available to every attendee?
I’ve racked my brain on this one and the only things I can come up with are:

  • Comfortable chairs
  • Fax Machines
  • D Cell Batteries

On the last day of the 2005 conference renowned CSS Guru Eric Meyer was called to task for daring to take photos of his friends without proper press credentials. I guess security hadn’t notice the 9,000+ session photos uploaded to flicker over the previous four days. Meyer played along and was ultimately granted a press pass for his camera. Apparently media credentials are now just a bureaucratic formality.

Meanwhile, the SXSW Press Room lives on, like some kind of vestigial organ completely out of place in the 21st century.

Filed Under: Medialoper Tagged With: Eric-Meyer, Journalism, Medialoper, Newspapers, Press, SXSW, SXSW2006, SXSWi

On CBS’s Verizon

March 21, 2006 by Kassia Krozser

Our in-house CBS analyst tells us that CBS has put a rare right foot forward in its new deal with Verizon Communications. Like all new cable channels, Verizon’s Fios TV (yes, that’s really the name) needs content. The solution? Pay CBS approximately fifty cents a subscriber for the privilege of, yes, broadcasting network content.

Though both parties are mum on the actual fee structure, Leslie Moonves is chortling and rubbing his hands together. Verizon is a little more subdued:

Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe wouldn’t confirm that the company is paying fees. “Value flows both directions,” he said.

Unlike ABC, CBS is standalone company — no cable network behind it to provide back rubs and rebroadcasts. Since lost advertising dollars are into production money, Moonves and team needed to get creative with cash flow in order to produce more product (also, bump up executive bonuses, but that’s probably a side consideration, this being Hollywood and all). Getting cable networks to pay on a per-subscriber basis for content is, actually, a pretty smart move (so smart, CBS is negotiating with AT&T in the same manner). Whether other cable operators fall for the same trick remains to be seen.

Verizon will pick up CBS-owned stations in various markets, approximately 18 stations.

  • Verizon Will Pay to Run CBS Shows on New Service

Filed Under: Mediacratic, Television

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Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2578: Supergrass – “Sun Hits The Sky”
  • Certain Songs #2577: Supergrass – “Alright”
  • Certain Songs #2576: Superchunk – “If You’re Not Dark”
  • Certain Songs #2575: Superchunk – “Endless Summer”
  • Certain Songs #2574: Superchunk – “Reagan Youth”

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