Definition of Irony

In trying to pull up the 'Gift Exchange' ad (the one with the PC guy gifting a C++ GUI Programming Guide to the Mac guy) in QuickTime from the Apple website, my PC crashes.

Every time.

No, I'm not getting a Mac for Christmas.

Don't Expect a Wii for Valentine's Day Either

Video game console shortage could linger into '07

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Shoppers are standing in lines to snap up Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii video game consoles as they become available, and some analysts do not expect shortages to ease until March or later.
Shoppers are finding lots of PlayStation 2s and Microsoft
Xbox' Xbox 360s, expected to do well as substitutes for the newest machines that are in short supply.
One employee at a Target store said the retailer issues a memo a couple of days in advance of Wii and PS3 shipments and passes the information on to shoppers, who sometimes stand in line to secure their booty.
As he spoke, shoppers snapped up PlayStation Portables and Apple Computer Inc.(Nasdaq:AAPL - news) iPods.
American Technology Research analyst Paul-Jon McNealy said that since Sony (6758.T)(NYSE:SNE - news) shipment numbers include units in transit or in warehouses, the company's target of 1 million could translate to 600,000 to 800,000 units at retail by year end.
McNealy said investors and game makers tempered their forecasts for the PS3s since initial numbers fell short. He added that the PS3 will likely remain scarce through the June quarter.
"They have to launch in Europe, and they're stretched," said McNealy.
Wii shortages could ease in the March quarter, he said.
Workers at a dozen Southern California stores, including Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - news), GameStop (NYSE:GME - news) and Target (NYSE:TGT - news) outlets, said PS3 shipments were small and sporadic this shopping season, ranging from as few as 1 or 2 to 25, and that shoppers snapped up consoles as they arrived.
"We get 1 or 2 every week to week and a half," said a weary Los Angeles GameStop employee.
Nintendo's (7974.OS) Wii was selling out fast but reaching stores in greater numbers than the PS3, store clerks said.
The $250 Wii, known for its motion-sensitive controller that can be swung like a tennis racquet or a sword, and the high-end $600 PS3 both launched in the United States in mid-November and take on the year-old Microsoft Xbox 360 in the new generation video game console battle.
Sony's PS2, which has sold more than 106 million units globally, is expected to be a top seller this season.
Toys "R" Us said its 587 U.S. stores expected more than 6,000 PS3s, thousands of Wiis and over 30,000 Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) Xbox 360s in the week leading up to Christmas.

Satellite Movie Downloads

(from engadget.com)

DISH Network looking offer movie downloads via IPTV?

Posted Dec 20th 2006 12:07PM by Darren Murph

With all the zany competition going on in the television world, it's not too surprising to see DISH Network hopping on the (quickly growing) movie download bandwagon. Apparently, the satellite provider is readying an IPTV service to offer "SD and HD quality movies, music, adult programs, entertainment news, and other services such as CinemaNow." While some of the content would presumably be free, other things like download-to-keep films would demand a one-time charge, and while the on-demand offerings could be accessed whenever you desire, "certain programs such as international channels and music services will be streamed in real time." Of course, the eventual success (or failure) of the program will likely depend on how zany (or reasonable) the pricing structure ends up being, and if all goes as planned, the service will reportedly go live on February 15th, 2007

Handheld Computing

I've been waiting for the first truly viable handheld computer -- something that bridges the gap between a Blackberry and a laptop and could also serve as a gaming device and MP3 player. Is the Sony UX it? It sure looks like it could fit the bill, as the specs are well within reasonable expectations for a laptop:

Intel® Core™ Solo Processor U1400 (1.20GHz).
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
4.5" Wide SVGA LCD, Touch Screen 1
Integrated WLAN, WWAN, and Bluetooth® technology
1GB3 RAM and 40GB4 (4200 rpm) hard drive

The device is about the size of two decks of playing cards. The keyboard slides out instead of the typical clamshell design for a laptop, which leaves the screen exposed at all times and would seem to prohibit comfortable use on a lap or tabletop. The device seems to be designed to either be held or to lay flat, which doesn't seem ergonomically ideal to me (YMMV).

The integration of wireless communications appears to be a key design feature -- the UX is ready for use with Cingular EDGE WWAN, WLAN and Bluetooth. Indeed, the most practical use for the computer may be web browsing and e-mail capabilities, but the bells and whistles (camera, fingerprint sensor, stylus etc.) don't seem to push it over the edge to make it more than a glorified (and pricey) Blackberry.

Internet Explorer 7

Pros:

Tabbed Browsing
RSS Feeds
Search bar

Cons:

Menus are hidden

Welcome to the Social

The Zune is here. Apparently there are many cool features to make it more than an iPod rip-off.

Back from Hiatus

I am back, hopefully to post on a more regular basis.

Plug 'n' Play

UK firm to unveil wall-socket PC

Colin Barker
ZDNet UK
May 31, 2006, 13:45 BST

Newcastle-based Jade Integration will launch one of the smallest thin-client computers available in the UK to date, the Jack PC, next month.


Containing all the electronics needed to run as a low- to medium-power PC, the Jack PC, as its name suggests, will fit into a standard size wall socket. The entire PC sits on two layered circuitboards. It contains an AMD RISC processor to help reduce power consumption and heat output.

Wow.

The End of Pilot Season

Pilots That Crash

Forbes.com
Lacey Rose, 05.15.06, 6:00 AM ET


New York - A single mother turned bounty hunter. A small town facing a natural disaster. A man who loses his memory for an hour every day.

Sound like compelling television? Network executives thought it did--or at least they did five months ago. But there's a good chance viewers will never get to find out for themselves.

This is the week the broadcast networks put on their "upfronts" in New York City--a series of hype-heavy presentations where they parade their wares in front of advertisers in hopes of convincing them to spend billions.

But though the networks commission some 100 pilot episodes of new shows every year, at a cost of more than $300 million, they will only end up adding 30 or so to their 2006-07 schedules. That means shows like Julie Reno, Bounty Hunter, which News Corp.'s (nyse: NWS - news - people ) Fox ordered up this year, Jericho, which CBS (nyse: CBS - news - people ) commissioned, and Sixty Minute Man, which The Walt Disney Company's (nyse: DIS - news - people ) ABC paid for, may never be seen by the viewing public.

Seems like a big waste of money. What if the failed pilots were available for download? How about a cable channel dedicated to failed pilots and short-lived series?

iLoad

Should your computer be nervous?



From the product's website:

"iLoad devices connect directly to the source of your media: CDs, cable TV or satellite box and cell networks and allow you to easily take that content, along with all music, album and video data, directly to the iPod without using a computer or requiring an Internet connection."

Guilty Pleasure Movies

Dumb and Dumber
Caddyshack
Starship Troopers
Airplane!
The Bad News Bears
Not Another Teen Movie
Wild Things
Armageddon
The Breakfast Club
Conan the Barbarian
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
The Wedding Singer
Die Hard
The Brady Bunch Movie
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Dude, Where's My Car?
There's Something About Mary
American Pie
Joe Versus the Volcano
Last Action Hero

Idea Before Its Time?

Portable DVD Player with a (virtual) viewing area larger than a deck of cards



Connect to your PC, laptop or video game console





Stylish and Sleek?




"able to project an image equivalent to a 52-inch television viewed from 6.5 ft away"


Why didn't these personal video displays catch on when Sony and Olympus tried to market them a few years ago? They weren't cheap, but they weren't outrageous compared to many new gadgets before and since then... reviews from the time weren't stellar, but I've seen worse for far more popular products. With some sort of proven market, there would have been successive generations with improvements addressing key complaints (fair picture quality, short USB cable, "not immersive enough" -- black areas to the sides of the viewable area meant the experience was more like sitting close to a big screen TV than sitting in an IMAX theatre).

Only one manufacturer seems to be making and selling these devices -- the iVisor. Don't know if they are worth the $999 price tag or not...

Video iPod 2.0

As Apple retools new video iPod, release rolls back

(from ThinkSecret.com)

By Ryan Katz, Senior Editor

April 13, 2006 - The roll-out of Apple's forthcoming video iPod has been delayed substantially after the company encountered problems with the display and touch-screen interface, Think Secret has learned. As late as early February plans were in motion for Apple to deliver the most innovative iPod to date in April, possibly a tie-in with its 30th birthday, sources said. Instead, Apple's birthday came and went without fanfare.

...

The larger, widescreen display will deliver an improved video viewing experience and herald the arrival of feature-length movie sales as the iTunes Music Store. In hindsight, the fact that Apple remained so far from striking a deal with two leading Hollywood movie distributors, as Think Secret reported in March, suggests the company might have been aware of technological problems facing the new iPod at that time and saw no need to aggressively push for an agreement.

Multiple sources have stressed that Apple will not launch the video iPod without a movie agreement in place, and that a movie store will not open without the video iPod. The impasse in negotiations lies in the terms of sale: Apple wants to sell movies affordably a-la-carte as it does with music, but Hollywood wants a subscription deal.

Sounds like the invisible controls on the touchscreen might have been too good to be true after all. Touching the viewing surface seems like it would have to be an invitation to smudges and scratches...

iTV

Networks Rush to Offer TV Shows Online

Friday April 7, 9:31 pm ET
By Gary Gentile, AP Business Writer
Networks Rush to Offer Individual Programs, Season Subscriptions Online As TV Viewership Drops


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- These days, there's more than one way to get "Lost," visit "The Office" or keep "Law and Order." Six months after ABC struck the first deal to sell commercial-free TV episodes online, networks are rushing to offer everything from individual programs to season subscriptions.

...

Analysts say networks have little choice but to try multiple strategies as viewers watch less TV in primetime and embrace technology that lets them watch shows whenever and wherever they want, including on computers and portable devices, such as an iPod.

Studios also want to offer a legal alternative to the many file-swapping services that offer pirated copies of shows.

"Technology is moving ahead with or without them, and if they don't try to find a new business model, they're going to be stuck with the old business, which is in decline," said Harold Vogel, media analyst and author of the book "Entertainment Industry Economics."

"The problem is nobody really knows what the new business model should be yet," he said.

In its deal with Apple Computer Inc.'s online media store iTunes, The Walt Disney Co. has sold programs from its ABC and ESPN networks and the Disney channel for $1.99 each. Revenue from those sales has been minuscule compared with advertising sales for television.

...

ABC said it has learned important lessons so far about offering online content. Among them is that TV ratings of hit shows haven't been hurt.

"We've only increased overall media consumption for some of our hit shows and some of the shows we're trying to promote," said Albert Cheng, executive vice president of digital media for the Disney-ABC television group.

One analyst said digital delivery can be more valuable for promoting shows than generating revenue.

...

The growing online availability of TV shows and original video produced by Yahoo, MSN and other sites has led some to predict the demise of traditional TV watching.

But some analysts aren't ready to write off network TV.

"Five years from now, we'll have a much better idea of how it will shake out," Vogel said.

Lemur

Should your mouse be nervous?



I'd bet that just about anyone who has used audio, video and/or photo editing programs such as ProTools or Photoshop has wished that they could just reach into the screen and tweak the controls directly instead of fiddling with a mouse. The Lemur touchscreen is an interesting device which graphically recreates the controls of digital audio workstation programs in the configuration specified by the user. While this is designed for a fairly specific and narrow use, it does give an interesting view into a possible future direction for the graphical user interface of many types of programs -- if this type of touch-sensitive screen were to be merged into the actual display screen, the need for a mouse should be reduced quite a bit, and the experience should seem more direct and satisfying. Even better would be a virtual 3-d display which could respond to hand movements within the display area.

Or a holodeck.

OK, I want one

So this is the video iPod, eh?

Engadget Posted Feb 10th 2006 2:28PM by Ryan Block

Ok everyone, what do you think the odds are that Apple so nonchalantly let loose some images of the full-screen iPod video the very day after ThinkSecret's supposed confirmation on the video iPod hit the wires? Did we mention the Photoshop metadata in the images' EXIF tags? No, we're not at all prepared to call this a "leak," but we'll definitely attest to this being a very nice rendering of what we hope could be the 6G iPod.

Indeed.

Why I don't buy gadgets within the first year

money.cnn.com/2006/03/21/technology/apple_ipod/index.htm

Analyst: Apple's 60-gig iPod 'at risk'
Company may phase out 60-gig Video iPod, which retails for $399, in favor of a new model, analyst says.
March 21, 2006: 10:20 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Apple may be phasing out its 60-gigabyte Video iPod, according to one analyst who tracks the company.
The company has told its distributors that the 60-gigabyte iPod, which launched in October and retails for $399, is "at risk" until the end of April, meaning that it could be discontinued or replaced, according to Shaw Wu, an analyst for American Technology Research,
Apple launched its video iPods in October
...
In a note to clients, Wu said he believes the company is readying a wide-screen video iPod with Bluetooth headphones that could be ready as early as the June quarter. The analyst said his checks indicate that Apple is working on such a product.

This just has to drive people nuts... the coolest and latest toys seem as exciting as yesterday's soggy breakfast cereal within a year or less.

MovieBeam

A New Way to Avoid the Video Store

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG and KATHERINE BOEHRET

After a long day at work, there's something calming about filling a bowl with popcorn and watching a movie at home. But the experience can be diminished if you have to drive to the video store to rent a DVD. And it's worse if you get there only to find that the film you want is out of stock.

Even if you subscribe to a DVD-by-mail service, like Netflix, you may have to wait for the most popular films, and the movies you have on hand at any one time might not fit your mood. Plus, you have to pay a monthly fee.

Now, a new company called MovieBeam is aiming to ease those DVD issues. It is selling a $200 digital gadget prestocked with 100 movies -- some in high definition -- that you can rent at the click of a remote-control button for as little as $1.99. There's no drive to the video store, no chance of a movie being out of stock, no monthly fee, no waiting for the mail.

I don't get it. This device/service adds another box to your Home Entertainment setup (many potential customers probably already have a DVR/Tivo, a DVD player, a video game console and/or a cable set-top box) which at this point seems limited to a (smallish) selection of movies falling between the DVD and pay-per-view windows. No mention of an iTunes-like selection of TV programming, even though the device's developer (Disney) was the first company to offer video to iTunes.

Not to mention yet another remote.

Lost in 'Lost'

Interesting blog post about one of my favorite television shows...

Finding Lost

...Narratives by definition work by withholding information about future events; you tune in to find out what will happen next. But with Lost, the mystery lies in the present tense: half the time, you have no idea what's happening right now.

No wonder I enjoy the show so much... half the time, I have no idea what's happening right now.

Movie Reviews and the Selection Bias

This does make sense...

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-02-23/#5

What Critics Don't Write About Speaks Louder Than Words, Says Study

A Duke University study has concluded that many movie critics, faced with a huge number of films that that they are required to watch, often avoid writing reviews of the bad films they've seen while others avoid writing reviews of good films if other critics have already given them "thumbs up" notices. "Our model demonstrates that the fact that an expert is silent about a product may imply a positive or a negative review, depending on the expert," the study said. The study appraised the work of 46 critics and what they had to say -- or didn't have to say -- about 466 movies. One of the researchers, Peter Boatwright, said later that he and his colleagues did not take into account the fact that many critics mentioned in their study have little say about the selection process, since they are assigned movies to review by their editors, and that in the case of many major newspapers, a lead critic is expected to review the films that attract the greatest pre-release publicity.

I have wondered why it doesn't seem as though Roger Ebert and other leading critics write really bad reviews, and this seems like a plausible explanation. Out of curiousity, I looked up the reviews for one of the worst movies I could think of ("Eye of the Beholder") -- the list of reviews on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes had fewer recognizable names than normal.

Movies on PSP

A pause in the action


By JENNIFER NETHERBY, SUSANNE AULT

Sony's PlayStation Portable isn't turning out to be the hot new movie platform many in the biz had hoped. With sales falling below expectations, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video are cutting back on movie releases for the PSP.

While comedies that appeal to the core young male gamer demo are doing well, execs say other PSP movies simply aren't selling. Sony handheld device plays games, movies and music.

In a bid to boost the format, execs from SPHE and sister unit Sony Computer Electronics America, which sells the PSP, are touting a new adapter that would allow a user to watch a PSP pic on a TV. If it's successful, that could overcome widespread criticism that consumers have to buy two separate copies of a movie to watch on PSP and TV.

Execs plan to visit other studios to tout the adapter in the next month.

"It would be a huge boost to (PSP movies) if we can arrange for the disc to play on TV players," said SPHE prexy Ben Feingold.

Most people who would be likely to own a PlayStation Portable already have a DVD player, and probably wouldn't relish the idea of connecting another device to their TV set. Once the novelty of playing movies on a portable device wears off, people catch on to the fact that a platform-specific version of a movie probably isn't the best investment. A DVD can be played on most newer-model PCs or laptops, a portable DVD player (some of which are less than PSPs), and a DVD player connected to a television, but the PSP disc has one use only.

The model of the future needs to a personal license to a given film (or TV show, video, etc.) which is independent of the platform. You should be able to buy the rights to say, 'The Island' and be able to download it to your iPod, your PC, burn it to a DVD, copy it to a PSP disc, or whatever else makes sense.

Obligatory 'What's in my iPod' Post

My favorites based on iTunes' play count...

Song / Artist

Possession - Sarah McLachlan
Crucify - Tori Amos
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Crazy - Seal
Born of Frustration - James
Vapour Trail - Ride
Piano Lessons - Porcupine Tree
Precious Things - Tori Amos
Such a Shame - Talk Talk
The Freshmen - The Verve Pipe
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Wonderwall - Oasis
Gravity Eyelids - Porcupine Tree
Monkey Gone to Heaven - The Pixies
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
In Dulce Decorum - The Damned
Gong - Sigur Ros
Lined Up - Shriekback
Saeglopur - Sigur Ros
The Other Side - Paul Van Dyk
Who Am I - Peace Orchestra
Into the Lens - Yes
1999 - Binary Finary
Blackest Eyes - Porcupine Tree
There's No Other Way - Blur
Insomnia - Faithless

Top 25 Favorite Movies (at the moment)

In no particular order:

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rear Window
Gattaca
Donnie Darko
Animal House
Office Space
The Sound of Music
Brazil
Blazing Saddles
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Vanilla Sky (or Abre Los Ojos)
The Matrix / The Second Renaissance pts 1 & 2 (The Animatrix)
Vertigo
12 Monkeys
L.A. Confidential
A Clockwork Orange
The Sting
Toy Story 2
The Sixth Sense
Monty Python's Meaning of Life
Scarface (1983)
Trainspotting
Groundhog Day
Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Titanic

First Post

The blog title means nothing, which was the point of the lyrics to the song which inspired it.