Feb 21

Google if Jack Black ran it

Google, TV / Movie, Tech with tags: , No Comments »

Google Sweded

Jack Black’s movies can be friggin funny, or too weird for me.

I hope that Be Kind, Rewind is a good one, and at least I now know what Jack’s Google interface would be like…. I wonder what it would be like working for him ;)

Jan 29

Virgin Diggnation

Comic, TV / Movie, Tech with tags: , 3 Comments »

Virgin Diggnation

Diggnation, and other Revision3 content will be shown on select Virgin American flights.

I think this is great. I remember watching a show on technology awhile back. It was called “Something World” where Something was the guys last name. Apparently he made a mint from that show.

I am really glad to see Revision3 continue to grow. I got to see their studios and they are top notch. It was fun to see how they do their thing and use bleeding edge equipment. I have no doubt that they will continue to grow.

The cartoon itself was just a bit of fun, picturing your grandma turning on Diggnation :)

Jan 09

BBC: Let me give you money.

British, TV / Movie, Tech with tags: , , 10 Comments »

BBC iPlayer

I listen to BBC radio all day. It skews me, as I end up knowing about the traffic issues in Guildford but have no idea that 101 is mucked up.

I love that I am able to keep up with radio via the internet, but my blood boils whenever I login to hear:

We are sorry but we are unable to broadcast this as you don’t live in England mate and we don’t have the rights

Or, something like that.

If I was naughty, I could try to get a friend to open up an ssh connection over the pond and try to tunnel through to trick the system, but I would rather be good. I with that I could pay, and see if enough people would feel the same, and then the BBC could get the rights for online broadcasting. Please.

I would also love to pay for BBC TV shows. Let us do micropayments and subscriptions so you can choose exacly what content you want (instead of hundreds of crap cable channels). This will also have the great effect of putting evolution into the system, and we would see survival of the fittest. Only content that people want will be shown.

Erm, wait, but that scares me too. What if the populous wants crap? Oh no.

Oct 11

Small Print, Disclaimers, and Lawyers

British, Personal, TV / Movie 1 Comment »

The small print is really getting quite bizarre. Every year the small print seems to infringe on the actual content. Whenever I am back in England I try to work out what has changed since my last visit. These changes are often impossible to detect when you are living there every day, as they are too subtle.

London 2012 Logo

One of the random observations is courtesy of the BBC news. Before every bit of video footage the anchor would say something along the lines of: “There is some light in this footage, so be warned”. It is as though the country has all become epileptic and any flashing lights would result in gibbering wrecks. Do we really need to tell people that there is a bit of flash photography? It seems like the culprit is the awful London 2012 Olympics logo that has been known to flash.

Of course, the US tends to be king of the disclaimer. Why do shows on radio and tv has to always tell you that whatever is being said, it isn’t necessarily the opinion of the station owner. Nooooo. Really? When you show Sadam at his trial, he isn’t speaking for the station? Wow, thanks for making it really obvious.

Where does it all end!

Oct 10

Pam has changed her status to “It’s complicated”

TV / Movie with tags: , , , 1 Comment »

In Wired they have the section on items that go from Wired » Tired » Expired. As I got a chance to catch up with The Office last night I realised that I had one of these in front of me:

  • Wired: TV characters on Facebook (or Twitter)
  • Tired: TV character video podcasts (e.g. Mel on Flight of the Conchords)
  • Expired: TV character blog (e.g. Ah Dwight)

As the TV networks realise that they need to have shows break out of just primetime boobtube action they create rich worlds for them to live in.

We have had blogs and podcasts, but how about having the characters join Facebook? I would love to “friend” Pam and Jim from The Office. It would be so funny to watch them update their statuses: “Jim is screwing with Dwight yet again”. It would have been cute to have seen them start dating on the show and updating the fact that they are “in a relationship”. Chances are the show will have to have them break up at some point, so then it could get “complicated”.

The line is going to blur between the real and the fake. These characters will feel more real than the muppets on the reality TV shows.

Maybe it is time to start a company that offers services to TV shows to “be the characters 24/7/365 online”.

ps. Could you imagine the Facebook craziness of Ross and Rachel back in the day? “Ross is on a break”

Oct 02

Channel 4 + 1: The brits way of dealing with time shifting

British, TV / Movie, Tech 4 Comments »

I couldn’t quite believe it when I saw an ad in the tube announcing a new channel: Channel 4 + 1:

channel4 1.png

That’s right. It is the SAME channel, with a one hour delay. I guess we have kinda the same thing in the US with HBO East and West, but that is a touch different. The entire UK is on the same timezone!

I love how instead of using something like TiVo, you should have another channel that gives you ONE more chance to watch a show. Of course, many people have Sky+ which has PVR functionality. I can’t wait for Channel 4 + 2.

It was also funny to see a couple of yanks taking pics in the tube…. and then take a second look and realize it was Matt Mullenweg and Om Malik (who are both speaking at the Future of Web Apps).

Jun 11

Sopranos: Finales are really hard but sheesh

TV / Movie 3 Comments »

It isn’t amazing directing to end that way. It is simple. It doesn’t answer any of the fun questions. Anyone can turn off the camera after a “normal” episode with some weird lighting.

Wow, I am disappointed. Tony showed that he isn’t the friendly bad guy after what he did with Ade and Christopher. He deserved worse. I really hope that a movie doesn’t come out.

Jan 04

Top Gear: A show I miss

British, Personal, TV / Movie 7 Comments »

There are only a few shows I miss from England. Just like everywhere, most content on TV in the UK is crap just like it is here.

There are some gems though. One that has come up a lot in the last couple of weeks is a classic: Top Gear.

I am not even an autophile yet still find it a great show, and would think that the US public would really enjoy it too, since they seem to be easily as into cars.

topgear.png

Nov 02

Good night, and good luck

Politics, TV / Movie 53 Comments »

I was fortunate to go to a screening of “Good night, and good luck”, hosted by the Capital Times, a fantastic local paper in Madison.

The crowd was full of people who were around in the McCarthy era, and their faces were stern, and you heard “deja vu” a few times.

The fear of that time was quite palpable.

It is no mistake that this film is out at this time. The parallels to the current fear-mongering, and lies, are quite apparant.

John Nichols, who writes for the Cap Times as well as The Nation, started off the evening talking about why we were all there.

I hope we can turn things around. I am hopeful, especially as friends from the right are acknowledging that the current regime does not match them as republicans, and more and more lies come out.

Oct 17

Dumb TV Question Pattern in Britain

British, TV / Movie 2 Comments »

Every tv show over here seems to have a text-in question, where you can win something.

The questions are ridicously dumb though, such as this:

What is the name for the Japanese delicacy of raw fish?

  • Sushi
  • Tandoori
  • Cornish Pasty

Why do they make them so obvious? Because each text message costs money.

TV is already dumb enough, but do you have to keep putting random idiotic question on the screen to make a few bucs. Argh!