Sandro emailed this to me earlier in the week and I meant to post it here… Have to give it a shot when I get a moment.
Mac OS X Hints: Record and playback high definition TV signals from cable. [Hack the Planet]
Advertisers disappointed in HD
I’ve had an HDTV for a longtime by HD standards… almost 4 years. I can’t say I watch more TV, in fact probably less (and even less now with a Baby) but not because of the programming, but rather how I choose to use my time.
I got the set for the future, so we could watch DVDs and enjoy HDTV when it eventually came to cable. We’ve watched our share of sports (Superbowl), prime-time (24) and cable (Sopranos) all which have been great. There are few if any commercials which scale or are shot in HD (probably based on cost) so when a commercial kicks in, it’s clear you are no longer in HD and the experience has been reduced. I don’t know whether a regular 30 sec. spot in HD is going to captivate me or anyone else any more than they do now…
We’ve been watching even less (like zero) HD since November which is when Hannah arrived. It’s impossible to watch anything without a pause feature and until we get an HD DVR, we’ll be keeping our viewing in standard DVR mode. Soon enough… though then we’ll be skipping the commercials when we’ve got the cache as we do now. 😉
The Washington Post has an article with some disheartening comments on HD from a broadcast business standpoint. Here are the key ones:
“”I don’t think high-definition is a panacea,” said Kenneth Schanzer, president of NBC Sports, which also plans to broadcast the first all-high definition Summer Olympics from Athens in August. “It will certainly enhance the viewing experience for the fan. But I don’t think it generates any new viewers or any new revenues anywhere. In my heart of hearts, I don’t think it will increase ratings.” Pretty strong words from a pretty important source – the President of NBC Sport. [U P R E Z]
Steven Saunders – Terrorist – used the OQO!
So they get all the toys is that it… The OQO made its primetime television debut tonight on 24. Carrying no influence from the user… I really would love a full sized computer that manages to fit in my pocket. The OQO was very cool. Saunders casually slid it open to type a quick command and the reviewed video status, I presume via WIFI as he made his escape.
Nice product placement, but wish Jack Bauer had the toys… he has to settle for his own private helicopter.
Daily Show On Spam – Rob Courddry Fights Back
This is hilarious! I was waiting for Lisa to post the clip so I could blog it here…
This is a brilliant little piece by Rob Courddry that provides first hand commentary straight from one of the world’s large-scale spammers. [On Lisa Rein’s Radar: Daily Show On Spam – Rob Courddry Fights Back]
Britney live… I’ll pass
So we just finished a movie (Intolerable Cruelty) and decided to tune a bit before bed and discovered that Britney’s show is on again “Live”…
Hard to call it live at all. Sure she’s on stage (and yes I know it was really last week), but it is a lame performance. The music was less than… the dancing was far from entertaining and the overall show was just bad. It was kind of like watching a car wreck though… just had to know how much worse it could get – at least for a few minutes. After two songs (don’t know either one, not a fan if you could not tell) we’d had more than enough.
One final thought – If you know you are not going to sing and just lipsync, you should try and work the kinks out with the soundsystem so when the camera zooms in really close, you at least try to trick us into thinking sound is coming from your mouth.
BW: TiVo’s Growth Picture: Still a Little Fuzzy
I’ve certainly commented on this before… TiVO is a great product and while I am a fan and was an early customer, our home has switched over to the Time Warner DVR for a few basic reasons.
First, it integrates perfectly with our fantastic interactive program guide. Time Warner services and installs the box and and will swap it out when the HD-capable version is ready for our market within a few months. There is no cost for the box itself… only a monthly fee which is comparable to TiVO.
So far, cable operators have been a tough sell. And though they are growing increasingly fond of the TiVo concept, viewing it as a way to differentiate themselves from competition, they now have their own efforts in the works. Says Rowen: “Companies were fighting DVR and now they’re embracing it.”
TimeWarner (TWX ) is selling recording capability through its digital-cable set-top box, which is made by Scientific Atlanta (SFA). Charter Communications (CHTR ) offers a product through a startup division called Digeo. Comcast (CMCSA) just paid company Gemstar-TV Guide International (GMST ) $250 million for access to its interactive programming guide. “It seems reasonable they will explore that partnership to the fullest,” Arenson says. The cable companies’ offerings, he adds, “don’t preclude a deal with TiVo, but it makes it a harder battle to fight.”
The Elegant Universe
Brian Greene’s book The Elegant Universe was turned into a 3 hour show for Nova by PBS and the entire program as well as a massive amount of supplementary content is online.
I’ve watched the first hour (in 8 parts) streaming in Quicktime… Very cool stuff and certainly gets you thinking.
When you see things as well done as this website, you realize what the potential of quality on demand content can really be. This is one of the best examples I can think of on how to maximize the experience for an audience. I missed the show when originally broadcast, but my small screen now experience far surpasses what it might have been if you only watch on TV. Amazing that PBS of all places (and I say that not to slight PBS but in surprise that none of the commercial networks have done so) is leading the charge.
I guess not having to worry about selling ads can really make a difference…
EchoStar to Yank Viacom Channels (AP)
If you’re a Dish subscriber… ouch!
AP – EchoStar Communications Corp. plans to remove channels from Viacom Inc., including local CBS affiliates, Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon, from its DISH Network satellite system in 16 markets because of an unresolved dispute over programming fees. [Yahoo! News – Digital Video/TV Technology]
HBO in HD
I wonder how many people have HD just for the Sopranos…
That’s how we love to watch (not why we got it btw..), but with Hannah we have to take a more standby approach and watch through the DVR cable box in order to hit pause for when she needs us… getting her to bed can be a longer than expected process, involving a few steps.
Within a few months the HD DVR should be here so we won’t have to reduce the visual quality for DVR capabilities…
He’s Rich, Biatch!
Wednesday Nights 10:30 EST on Comedy Central – Set your DVR!
Why is Dave Chappelle’s malice so winning? [Slate Magazine]
A challenge, though, when watching Chappelle’s Show, is to resist the temptation to grant it—because Chappelle is black, and because he deals in harsh racial caricatures, and because you’re laughing your ass off, and because you want to believe you’re a progressive person—a political significance that it doesn’t have. New York Press film critic Armond White, for example, credits Chappelle’s Show with “subverting racism, sexism, and the clichés you might call blackism.” But Chappelle doesn’t “subvert” these things—he exploits them. That is, he takes eager advantage of an obvious double standard: White comedians have either to avoid race or treat it with exquisite caution, but black comedians like Chappelle are able to extract laughs from America’s racial hang-ups, not necessarily from a solemn underlying commitment to racial justice, but often with an unfettered and indiscriminate comic malice. I’m not complaining, though. At least somebody gets to do it.
Some Like It Hot
OK, P2P is ‘piracy.’ But Hollywood, radio, cable TV and, yes, even the music industry all sprang from different forms of thievery. By Lawrence Lessig from Wired magazine. [Wired News]
Car Chase!
We just saw an amazing car chase on the news…
The story broke through live and we watched the chase for about 15 minutes (the whole chase was about 25 minutes). The driver who turned out to be an older looking man, was wanted for aggravated assault and decided to run. The guy ran all through Jersey City and finally ended up in Bayonne. The news is estimating that he ran for about 30-40 miles…
If you’ve seen Cops or America’s Scariest Car Chases (you know you love it) it was just like that, only live! This guy blew through traffic — constantly challenging people coming in the opposite direction, pedestrians (unfortunately hitting at least one person), yards and the police over and over and over. We watched him evade the cops and at one point he was almost boxed in… the Cops had guns drawn and he still kept on running!!
In the end, the police were finally able to hit his car hard enough to get it disabled in someone’s driveway where is casually stepped out and started walking away. At least 20 Cops swarmed him at that point ending the adventure. Whoa!
Comcast bids to merge with Disney!
Whoa Whoa Whoa!
Comcast has made a bid to merge with Walt Disney in a stock swap that the world’s largest cable operator said values Disney at $54.1 billion. The merger is hinged on broadband synergies, according to the statement released by Comcast. Comcast said the combination would create the world’s No. 1 entertainment and communications company with a presence in all top 25 markets in the U.S., and would “propel broadband forward.” The combined company would have an “unparalleled distribution platform and an extraordinary portfolio of content assets.”
In an open letter to Michael Eisner of Disney, here’s what Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast wrote: “In addition to serving over 21 million cable subscribers, Comcast is also the country’s largest high speed internet service provider with over 5 million subscribers. As you have expressed on several occasions, one of Disney’s top priorities involves the aggressive pursuit of technological innovation that enhances how Disney’s content is created and delivered. We believe this combination helps accelerate the realization of that goal-whether through existing distribution channels and technologies such as video-on-demand and broadband video streaming or through emerging technologies still in development-to the benefit of all our shareholders, customers and employees.” [PaidContent.org]
Home Media Madness…
I can’t stop thinking about some technological additions to our setup at home. I guess the idle time not working is starting to work on me…anyway here’s what I am thinking…
I’d like to get a used G4 tower to run as a server/media box under our desk. This would become the hub for quite a few things. First it would house the direct firewire connections to some external drives we use for music, video and backups. Second it would also run our SliMP3 server software and another server I use for a private share with friends. But last and most important it would serve as the base for a computer based DVR. I’ve been looking at both the Eyehome as well as the Formac which seems like the leader in my review so far. I found a nice comparison on the Formac site after coming to my own conclusion, but it serves as a nice competitive overview even if it is from one of the companies on the list. Seems that the products listed are not totally current or accurate, but still a good overview.
This would take a nice load off the iMac, which will be nice, but not necessary. I think it will be good to have a dedicated box for the DVR stuff so it does not get in the way of the everyday computing we do. Mostly this is to avoid any conflicts with my wife over why the computer is acting slowly…
My main issue (money aside) is that I will have to add a monitor to my setup in order to support the additional computer. The obvious choice is a flat panel, but they are more expensive than I would want to spend. I have seen some good systems which include 15 or even 17 inch flat panels on craigslist, so I’ll just need to keep on looking as I get closer to thinking about a purchase.
In addition to the capture device, I will also want to add some new cables to enable additional recording from the Time Warner DVR connected to our TV. This is across the room and will require about a 6 meter S-Video Cable (no digital out) and a similar length RCA set-up to get the audio. I’ll probably record different things on them as the TV will still be the main place we watch. It will be nice to edit commercials and digitally archive shows and movies.
I’d love to hear what other people do like this or even just think about this stuff…
VOD over Broadband…
Well – not exactly, but pretty damn close. With the help of a high speed connection and some handy applications it is very possible to download tv programs and movies. Sure this is not new news to many technical users, but in the past week or so, I’ve been experimenting and the results are quite excellent.
I use Poisoned, which beats the pants off most P2P apps I’ve tried as it lets you use giftd, FastTrack, Gnutella and OpenFT all at the same time. I have not heard of a few of these but searching them all at once in one app is great. I’ve grabbed episodes of The Simpsons, South Park and Larry David, Curb your Enthusiasm and am pulling down a bunch of the more recent episodes of Alias as well. I actually forgot to record last nights key episode and am currently searching it out…
I’ve been trying to use Bit Torrent now as another source which is great if you can figure it out. Bit Torrent seems to be intentionally complex which makes it less desirable to use, though the content that seems to be available is amazing. The way it works is you search on google for Torrents – there are sites with trackers for these as well as single files. These are like bookmarks to the real files on the network. By opening them with Bit Torrent, you then connect to a few sources like in a usual P2P manner and download the file or files.
While Quicktime can handle the usual .Mov or .Mpg files I highly recommend VLC which will more easily play .Avi files encoded in Divx which many of these files are. VLC works like more like the Apple DVD Player than Quicktime, with a floating controller and a playlist manager. You can easily load up a few episodes in succession and watch them all in a sitting. VLC is a very slick free piece of software…
The more I’ve used this system, if you can call it that, the more I’ve realized how much a video iPod would be a killer unit. Sure, you don’t get the instant gratification like you on iTunes since the files usually take a fair bit of time to download, the end result is the same.
I should add, that what I am doing is a bit gray legally speaking. In my mind, however, I could capture the video myself with a DVR or a VCR and transfer things to my computer. I could even use a computer based DVR top make the transfer process much faster. The point is that I don’t need to since many others have already taken the steps for me. I can focus my time on searching for the files instead, which suits me just fine.
A Growing Number of Video Viewers Watch From Crib
Many babies and toddlers are now immersed in electronic media for hours every day, according to a new study. [New York Times: Education]
Thought this was of particular interest as my wife Ashley is now in her 9th Month!!!!
24
Hard to believe that a third season of 24 has begun… in fact it’s hard to believe that they have been able to manage 3 seasons of what seemed like a one season special in year one. This series picks up where the last one left off, though 3 years later… Jack has clearly had a rough go and the President is still recovering from the assassination biological attempt which ended the second season in the final twist! I won’t reveal anything else here if you have it time shifted and are planning to catch it later.
There is generally a high degree of product placement within the show and this first episode was not unique in that regard. The entire hour was presented commercial free thanks to Ford and the F-150 Truck which was a nice bonus for viewers in my opinion. Usually commercial breaks count against you in watching as the show is seen in real time – literally. Dell seems to be a new addition with laptops, security scanners (was that a tablet they touched to ID themselves at the prison?) and work stations. Jack and some Presidential staff seem to be continuing with the Apple tradition. Jack seemed to have a 17″ Powerbook G4 as well as a G5 behind him with what appeared to be a 23″Cinema Display.
Overall a great start to what continues to be an extremely solid show.
Digital Sports Tiers: 1’s and 0’s, X’s and O’s
On Nov. 19, 1.4 million Time Warner customers in New York and New Jersey will see the latest permutation in sports programming: the digital sports tier.
For $3.95 a month, viewers with digital cable will be able to buy a package containing NBA TV, the Tennis Channel, Fuel (Fox’s new extreme sports network) and Fox Sports Atlantic, Central and Pacific [New York Times: Business]
Interesting… doubt I’ll buy, but will be looking to check out the NBA channel before it goes pay. We’ll get a 3 week window to check it out
NBC launching attack on competitors by tweaking PVR owners?
Note the time of the Scrubs premiere show. It starts at 8:32PM. huh? Coupling is a new show that also sports an odd time slot: 9:27PM-9:58PM. ER starts at 9:59PM that same night. Friends runs for 47 minutes and is followed by a 39 minute long Will and Grace. What in the hell is going on? My TiVo is currently reporting these start times as the actual slots for this Thursday and next Thursday’s line is mostly back to normal, but ER starts a few minutes early as well.
It appears that NBC might be doing this to tweak PVR owners wanting to record CSI or Survivor over on CBS opposite their shows. If you had a season pass for both CSI and ER (both shows would likely have audiences that overlap) and you wanted to record ER you wouldn’t be able to tape CSI during the preceding hour, thanks to the minutes of overlap that would produce a conflict.
[PVRblog]
Good thing my DVR box has two tuners…
A Hero for Today: He’s Super Techie!
This exciting new UPN series chronicles a thoroughly modern spy who lucked into his job by turning bionic. [New York Times: Business]
With his white pocked forehead, sticky hair and delicate features, Christopher Gorham, the star of the new UPN series “Jake 2.0,” may be the actor that television needs most right now: a persuasively awkward tech-support geek who can become, as if by a trick of the light, an equally persuasive action hero.
Might not actually suck. The preview looked pretty interesting… have to set the DVR.