A reader writes: "Will the internet replace broadcast TV as the primary launching pad for new show concepts?" Yes. I've been seriously thinking of getting rid of my cable and just keeping my broadband, for a while now. I live alone, so watching TV on my computer isn't a hardship — actually, being a web … Continue reading Will The Web Destroy Cable?, Ctd
India's Health and Family Welfare Minister has a creative way to control overpopulation in his country: “If there is electricity in every village, then people will watch TV till late at night and then fall asleep. They won’t get a chance to produce children,” [Ghulam Nabi Azad] said. “When there is no electricity there is … Continue reading TV As Contraception
Now you can calculate whether you are losing money with Netflix.
We’re a Netflix-and-beagles marriage so it occasionally behooves me to point out those few occasions when contemporary movie comedy rises above the usual Sandler dreck. I don’t know why the critics were luke-warm toward Burn After Reading. Dish readers will love it. But, seriously, I don’t know why my stoner readers did not let me … Continue reading Two Comedy Recommendations
Kottke discusses the Netflix prize, a $1 million check for "the first team to improve upon Netflix’s default recommendation algorithm by 10%."
There may not be too many presents this Christmas, according to the company newsletter: In the Travel and Entertainment category, you will find that fewer requests to eat in restaurants will be approved, and requests for desserts in restaurants, particularly, will not be approved (unless they are included in the cost of a kid’s meal). … Continue reading A Memo From Dad
As I find myself barely able to function this weekend, I did manage to go for a bike ride, walk the dogs, and catch up on a few Netflix projects (finishing off John Adams, "The Savages", the rest of Season 11 of The Simpsons). What is this I’m feeling? Yes, it’s clouded with Prop 8 grief. But it isn’t euphoria. I haven’t felt that since O-Day. It isn’t redemption: I don’t expect that from politics. I realize what I’m feeling is relief.
Megan has some good news: TiVo and Netflix finally announced that they would be partnering to deliver instant streaming video. If you have a Netflix subscription (and a TiVo, of course), you can stream all the video you want at no additional charge. The deal makes a lot of sense: both companies are struggling, competing … Continue reading Bring Out Your Munchies
I realize that perhaps the greatest secret pleasure of married life is doing nothing together. As you can see, I’ve been manically blogging for months now and dealing with the Palin terror as best I can. She haunts my dreams, sends my stomach sinking at odd moments, terrifies me in the morning, cracks me up in the afternoon, but, if it weren’t for Ambien, wonderful Ambien, would keep me awake at night.
By Patrick Appel Chris Hayes profiles MoveOn. A sample graf: In many ways MoveOn’s relationship to its members looks a lot like a business’s relationship to its customers. If a product isn’t selling, they take it off the shelves. For activists rooted in an earlier generation of social movements, which tended to prize long, disputatious … Continue reading Non-Shouter Ethos
