Medialoper

We're Not Who You Think We Are

Archives for May 2006

Ode To The Simple Television

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First, let me just say, “Warner Brothers, I salute you.” Damn, Dukes of Hazzard reruns, any time I want. Now let me say, “Warner Brothers, I curse you.” I’m getting so confused and adding BitTorrent to the mix ain’t gonna help.

I am writing this from my comfortable place: the couch in my living room. Across from me is my television. For a long time, we, me and the television, did not have a comfortable relationship (being a book person, I disdained the moving picture on the smallish box; it was one of those faux intellectual things that I now laugh about), but now I understand the beauty of TV. Even the dumb shows sometimes have purpose.

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The Daily Loper – May 9, 2006

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Today’s links of interest:

What About eBooks?

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It’s no secret that the traditional media companies are overwhelmed by digital convergence. If the record labels, film studios, and television networks actually had a coherent plan for the future Medialoper wouldn’t exist.

But what about the publishing industry? While electronic media companies scramble to provide content in digital formats, the publishing industry seems to be mostly oblivious to the revolution that’s taking place.

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TiVo’s Ad Finder

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OK, this seems weird: TiVo, which has long helped its users escape watching commercials, has rolled out a service that will allow its users to instead find commercials.

It’s not a full 360 — they aren’t forcing anybody to watch commercials, like Time-Warners’s “Start Over” service, or that evil TV & DVR idea patented by Philips which skips commercials only for those who pay an extra fee — but it still initially seems counterintuitive.

But maybe not.

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Riding The New Innertube

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said I was going to watch an ABC program online and I will. I promise. But I’m kind of in the mood for something different tonight, and Kirk promised me that CBS’s “Innertube” was going to work just fine. I’m trying to remember if he’s ever lied to me before.

Okay, step one. Go to CBS site. Luckily, I remember two days ago and recall the name of the feature. Because things are rotating and I got distracted, the front page has changed (Innertube was the featured item when I started, now it’s something else that seems like it’s what I want but is really something called “CBS On Demand”, which is not what I want). So I click on the menu item for “Innertube”.

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The Daily Loper – May 7, 2006

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Today’s links of interest:

The Weekly ‘Loper – May 7, 2006

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While you spent your week dissecting Stephen Colbert’s speech at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner joke-by-joke trying to determine if it was funny and hit a nerve (it was and it did), here’s what we were looking at:

What’s In A Name?

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What’s in a name? Well, if yours is Jay Black, it might be worth up to a half a million dollars.

Altogether now: who? Did you say Jack Black? Frank Black? Lewis Black?

Nope. Jay Black, the lead singer of the very very little-remembered 1960s band “Jay and the Americans,” may have to give up his name in order to help pay nearly $500,000 in back taxes.

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