There’s been a lot of talk about the end of television lately. You’ve heard it all. But one simple fact I heard today reminded me today of why television is doomed.

The end of the ratings period.

Yep, that old chestnut. But let’s stop and think for moment what it means and the legacy issues associated with the concept of the rating and non-rating periods.

It was something television could do. It could ‘have a holiday’. It could do this for one simple reason, it had no real competitors. TV broadcasters justified their actions too. They told us that their TV stars needed a break. They told us they were getting ready for the new season with great new episodes and shows. They told us we could enjoy our favourite re-runs. Sure we could go down the the video rental store, but it was much harder than turning on a television and a poor substitute at best.

Today, the end of the ratings period is a continued legacy which proves that broadcasters still don’t get it. We don’t care what time of year it is, we don;’t have to. We still spend money. The economy keeps churning. We still want current, new, exciting information and entertainment. Good news for us is that now we can go elsewhere to get it. And it’s more convenient than TV. It’s on demand, and uninterrupted. The fact that the ratings period still exists today has me flummoxed.

And as long as the television broadcasting industry thinks it can get away with it’s ‘holiday’, it is yet to understand what is happening. It alone is proof TV as an industry, is doomed. This little thing, the non-ratings period, is proof they don’t believe that is the end of their cosy little attention monopoly.

Good bye television, hope you enjoyed your stay.

Check out this awesome fan-made New Moon video made by our video vixen, @RayneAtTwilight!

Last week we were joined for some work experience by Matt Lloyd, an illustrator fresh out of Bath Spa Uni.
He really impressed us with his stop-motion work on Vimeo (click here to watch Hand Drawn Evolution) that we set him a challenge – to create one for jelly!
With only a few days and a light-box, Matt (with a little help from our in-house IT wizz-kid, Sam) created an 11-second stop-frame animation which we’re excited to now share with you.

PC World’s Top 100 Products
8 November 2009

PC World has announced its’ top 100 products of 2009, including websites, hardware, and software:

PC World – 100 Best Products of 2009

It’s quite an extensive list, and if you only care about one specific type of product, then it’ll take a while to siphon through.  Here are my favourite products from the list, that aren’t obvious like Facebook and the App store:

Websites:
95. NinjaVideo (video-playing service, free)
- I’ve used this service for a couple years now, and it’s absolutely amazing.  Fast, high-quality streaming, and impeccably organised.  It has every range of shows, documentaries, movies, and even high profile events and an extensive archive of seasons per show.

89. Wordnik (online reference, free)
- Move over Dictionary.com, this site offers more relevant and practical application of dictionary words, with a Twitter feed showcasing modern usage of the searched word.  The only problem is that if you put in a typo, it still shows you examples of typo-usages…  So make sure you know how to spell the word first, or type it right.  Screw it, maybe I’ll go back to Dictionary.com.

62. Google Books (online service, free)
- It depends what you’re looking for, but Project Gutenberg is also a great book resource for novels.  Google Books has definitely saved me hundreds of trips to the library, however, with it’s previews and scans.  So what if I miss the main argument… I can infer that from the previous passage, right?

Hardware:
61. RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630
- I’ll give it to Jim Balsillie here, this one’s a beauty.  But as they say, beauty is only skin deep.  When my stone-age Sony Ericsson has WiFi capabilities and this baby doesn’t?  Not impressed. That’s a lie, I’m still impressed.

50. Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1TB (portable storage drive, $199)
- Anyone who owns a computer and uses it for more than web browsing and e-mail should probably own an external-hard drive… One terabyte for $199?  What.A.Steal.

41. Canon Vixia HF S10 (digital camcorder, $1300), 8. Canon PowerShot SX200 IS (digital camera, $350)
- I’d sell my first born for Canon camera and camcorder products.

37. 3M MPro120 (digital projector, $349)
- If you’re a poor student, pretty much forget about buying a TV, watch your movies and TV shows through NinjaVideo, and project it onto your bare, poster-less wall.

32. Alienware M15x (laptop, base price $1499)
- Cool designs… But I wouldn’t sacrifice my computer for one with a huge buzzing from the fan due to Alienware’s overheating problem.  The day Alienware figures out how to eliminate wasteful heat energy…well…  they’ll probably win a Nobel Prize.  But it’s also the day I’ll buy Alienware computers!

20. Kodak Zi8 (digital camcorder, $180)
- I may be a Canon fan, but this camcorder is so sleek and compact, it deserves mention.

15. Amazon Kindle 2 (e-book reader, $259)
- Call me old fashioned, but I still like the idea of real books.  There’s something unsettling about sitting in your hot tub with your chlorine-wet hands clutching your Kindle.  I also like having a pretentious book shelf filled with books I’ve read books I intend to read to showcase to all visitors.  But, to each their own…  I think it’d be sick for news papers and magazines because I recycle those.

Software:
58. Google Chrome (browser, free)
- Yet another fantastic programme coming out of Google with the only problem being… it’s a product from Google.  So to hide all the information feeding through Chrome to the Google Empire, make sure you install a privacy guard.

42. Mozilla Firefox 3.5 (browser, free)
- I’m partial to Firefox, mostly for privacy and aesthetic reasons.  I like the browser to have some extra space between the top header and URL bar, and I’m not a fan of tabbing at the top.

11. Microsoft Windows 7 (operating system, prices vary)
- I know I said nothing too obvious, but I’m liking this too much.  I’m a Mac user, but  I had always intended to put Windows on my Mac…  and then Vista happened.  So now here’s Microsoft round 2.  Fingers crossed!

Great work PC World!  Pretty much the hardware section can double be your Holiday shopping list.

But here are some other products that missed the list, which I frequently use and feel are very useful:

Other products

1. Video2MP3 (http://www.video2mp3.net/)
- Changes YouTube videos to MP3 files, but can also convert other video files like MySpace and DailyMotion among others.

2.  The Daily Beast (http://www.thedailybeast.com/)
- Former Editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker Tina Brown tells you what’s important today.  Very American news focused, but has everything you need to know now.

3.  Media Converter (http://media-convert.com/)
- Fairly self-explanatory, but it converts most of your files into whatever you want it to be.  Word to PDF?  No problem.  Random sound file to MP3?  You got it.  The only problem is changing .docx files to .doc files, but that’s easily solved by uploading it to GoogleDocs.

4.  Online Banking
- Anyone?  Well, I think paying my Visa charge the day after it happens is marvellous.

5. VLC Media Player
- If you’re on a Macbook (Pro), it fully utilises your speakers and makes movies that much louder.  It also plays .divx files from NinjaVideo.

6.  Sony Vaio X Series (http://www.sonystyle.com)
- My room-mate has possibly the most portable computer of life.  While I truck around what feels like a semi truck in my backpack, my room mate carries this ultra-light Vaio.  One major problem is the heat issue, but when your battery life is realistically 9 hours playing movies and it’s lighter than a bottle of water?  Sign me up.

Minggu lepas beberapa hari tak dapat ber-online. Agak hebat juga la aku dapat bertahan lebih daripada 2 hari tanpa simptom-simptom withdrawal. Hehe.

Lappy aku memang dah uzur. Awal tahun aritu aku format lappy, mamat tu install Windows 7. Konon nak test ringan ke tak. Awal-awal memang la best serta laju, tapi lepas tu… berhuzil. Windows 7 pasang kat lappy yang menggunakan DDR, do the math la kan.. Isnin lepas lappy makin buat hal. Wireless sekejap detect, sekejap tak. Tension la macam ni. Sebelum ni aku online guna direct connection. Cucuk kabel ethernet je. Tapi disebabkan ada satu malam tu aku ‘gatal’ on lappy masa tengah kilat menyabung kat luar, lappy aku terus tak detect kabel LAN tu. Terpaksalah online guna wireless. Huhu. Akhirnya, bukan setakat lappy lembab kalah siput, asal online je, terus hang. Hoh. Dah geram sangat, alang-alang Mama nak hantar PC Angah format, aku suruh format lappy aku sekali.

Abah yang mendengar, terus berkata suruh technician kat opis Abah je yang format. Nak hantar sekali dengan PC Angah, lambat pulak siap nanti. Aku no hal je la. Memang cepat la siap. After lunch Abah bawak lappy aku gi opis, petang balik bawak lappy aku jugak. Tukar Windows XP. Bahagia aku. Tapi bila cuba, wireless still bengong. Online pun hang jugak. Malam tu aku melepek depan TV. Respon yang diterima dari orang ramai…

“Buat cepat biar kamu boleh online. Tapi tak dapat online jugak ye Lang.” – Mama
“Patut la depan TV, laptop tak boleh online.” – Angah

Along yang MC kerana sakit mata pun terseksa sebab kena berebut TV ngan aku. Huhu. Dari hari Selasa sampai Jumaat, hari-hari Abah bawak lappy aku pergi opis. Setting balik wireless. Hari-hari gak bawak balik untuk aku testing, tapi tetap tak boleh. Asal online je hang. Jumaat tu aku dah terasa desperate tak dapat online. Sabtu Kechik balik. Dia letak beg je, aku terus keluarkan lappy dia nak online. Malam tu orang lain tidur, aku online sampai ke subuh. Hoho.

Hari ni dah dapat lappy balik. Wireless memang dah tak dapat dibaiki. Kena online guna external wireless saje. Sah la lappy dah uzur gila. Sedih sedikit. Tapi bak kata Sue, janji buleh online~ Orang lain pun berlega, sebab dah tak perlu rebut TV ngan aku. Hu hu hu.

Dalam pada aku tak online beberapa hari tu, ada la juga member yang perasan. Iza siap antar SMS lagi tanya aku sihat ke tak. Hihi.

* V.I.P = very important penganggur
sumber: Cik aRthz

Unfortunately, this is not the reason in my current situation.
Though I wish it is, then it will be worth it. At least.
LOL.

Love the choreograph at “Love, Love, Love, Love” part.
I prefer this version than Craig David’s version.

Just when you thought it was all over…Here’s more coverage from Fashion Week!!!!!!!! (Click the links below to access the videos.)

Paris Fashion Week Wrap Up
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xar6n9_paris-fashion-week-spring-2010-its_news

Chanel – Spring Fashion Week, Paris 2010
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xar6lc_chanel-spring-2010-paris-fashion-we_lifestyle

Lanvin – Spring Fashion Week, Paris 2010
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaq2po_lanvin-collection-paris-fashion-wee_lifestyle

New York Fashion Week Wrap Up
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xak2qk_spring-fashion-week-2010-its-a-wrap_lifestyle

Project Runway Stars Talk Hair and Makeup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD1ReSz9-zY

Oral Care Tips from Celebrity Dentist Dr. Kourish Maddahi
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaqwkv_oral-care-tips-from-celebrity-denti_tech

& following on from that wish to see Prince work with Erykah Badu…

Here’s a live film clip of Prince covering Erykah Badu’s “Didn’t Cha Know” song, also  featuring Rhonda Smith  on vocals, recorded live in 2002:

See the clip on this video link:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xal6sk_didnt-cha-know_music

Everyone knows being single in New York is hard. I find myself pondering daily, “Where have all the cowboys gone?” This reel, which I suspect has been hidden from the internet for fear of a bombardment of email responses, is exploding with a montage of the best bachelors out there. What’s that you say? It was made in the eighties? Don’t worry, I have a feeling that all of those men are still single.

Except Fred. I am really digging the viking hat. It reminds me of Mystery’s method. As you all may remember, Mystery was the star of VH1’s the Pickup Artist, and best-selling author of How to Get Beautiful Women into Bed. One of his pillars is “peacocking,” or as I call it, a “piece of flair,” a conversation starting accessory that men should wear to intrigue women, such as a furry black hat or aviator glasses (you should only have 1 because you don’t want to clutter your look). Did Mystery steal this from technique from viking hat Fred? I smell a lawsuit. 

As for the other men, I DO like cats. And I like having fun too. Weird! And I like pizza. This is getting serendipitous. Ladies, let me know which bachelor you like best, and if you think the data processing guy looks like Seth Green too.

Dating Montage by smithy00101

I have no comment. I have very few words. But I have much laughter.

[H/T: BG, WMHM]

Tatau nak letak tajuk pe. Huhu.

Malam tadi sebelum tido, buleh pulak terdetik di hati – azam tahun baru tahun ni mungkin perlu dibawa ke tahun depan. Macam takkan tercapai tahun ni je. Ha ha ha.. Parah ni. Simptom-simptom desperate sudah manifest. LOL.

Lately, fandom sangat la slow down. Tak ramai yang update fanfic. Dalam dua minggu pon dalam se-bab dua saje. Bosan. Bosan. Tatau nak buat ape. Aktiviti seharian adalah merenung skrin laptop. Padahal nothing interesting pon.

One can only dream…

Hey there. If you hadn’t noticed, and lets be honest, nobody has, I added some new links. These are all links to Rob Pattinson fan sites that I love. and follow on twitter. If any of you want me to remove the link, no problem. Just let me know.  I’m also working on a new video. 4 more minutes of drooling fun. I can’t seem to get it quite the way I want it. Guess I’ll ponder a little longer and start reading New Moon again.  Just because I feel like watching it again,  here is the link to my first RPattz droolicious “glorified slideshow”

Ahad aritu berhempas pulas siapkan report. Tak tido satu malam. Akhirnya jam 1 tengah hari baru siap. Padahal bajet jam 10 pagi dah leh siap. Maka lepas lunch Isnin tu, bergegas ke kolej menghantar report.  Jumpa Cik Fad saje. Geng lain tak jumpa. Sempat membeli burger sedap di kolej. Hu hu..

~*~*~*

Ulangan untuk yang ke-1717171717 kali – “Bosan gile dok umah sekarang ni. “

~*~*~*

IM atau SMS dari Kechik kebelakangan ini adalah ayat-ayat yang berbunyi seperti:

“Bagaimanakah keadaan si debab ku?”

“Badan Ebab panas lagi ke?”

“Ebab n Emeyh sihat?”

“Pesan kat Angah jangan lupa sikat Ebab n Emeyh.”

Bertuah sungguh. Kucing-kucing jugak yang diconcernkan oleh si Kechik. Bukan la nak tanya bonda dan ayahanda sihat ke tak. First thing, kucing. Mama tak call dekat 3-4 hari pon dia tak heran. Hoh..

~*~*~*

When desperate, we tend to ‘main tangkap muat’ je..

Does this apply in LOVE too?

~*~*~*

Okay, aku dah decide. Lepas ni jangan tanya lagi dah. Huhu. Dah habis undergrad ni, aku nak keje. Sambung master tolak tepi dulu. Meds sekarang mahal okay. After umur 21 tahun ni dah takde FOC.

~*~*~*

Owh, tajuk di atas sila baca dengan suara dan intonasi Shin Chan seperti di awal episod. Angah buat tone di atas sebagai message tone beliau. Maka dah terselalu mendengar. Kadang-kadang aku pulak yang mengulang ayat itu di kala kebosanan. Eheh~

*Please share this video!

BECOME A FAN OF THE LIBERAL MINUTE:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Liberal-Minute/27282477868

A Liberal Minute with Jason Lamarche.

In this episode I speak with Michael Geist who is one of Canada’s most outspoken supporters of Network Neutrality. Here Michael talks about what NN is and why Canadians should take action by visiting http://SaveOurNet.ca

Enjoy!

http://LiberalMinute.ca

For more info visit these websites:

http://SaveOurNet.ca

http://NetNeutrality.ca

On savait que Freeman était très énervé contre Akhenaton, mais on ne savait pas que Freeman avait de graves problèmes psychologiques. Dans son dernier clip (je m’excuse auprès de tous les réalisateurs d’utiliser le mot “clip”) intitulé “B.Boy“, la cinquième roue du carosse marseillais a complètement perdu la raison et le sens commun.

Je crois qu’il vaut mieux que je vous laisse apprécier par vous mêmes le stylisme d’une autre planète, les lunettes de Scott Summers du bled déguisé en Afrika Bambaataa, les 35kg en trop qui tentent de craquer les vestes, les invités majestueux, les breakers d’un autre temps (j’avais pas vu de canard et de scorpion depuis au moins 9 ans) le name dropping final invraisemblable, les scratches ignobles ou les paroles d’une naïveté surréaliste (il n’y a que toi qui ne comprend pas pourquoi ton art n’a pas de prix poto).

La liste pourrait continuer indéfiniment et je pourrai parler du fait que les comments sont désactivés sur Daily Motion (pas fou le bougre) et qu’il y avait 0 vues sur YouTube jusqu’il y a peu, mais je vous laisse passer un grand moment musical, comme on n’en espérait plus depuis 1994. Booba avait raison: que le Hip Hop français repose en paix.

This past weekend I was invited to speak at an Open Internet Town Hall meeting hosted by SaveOurNet.ca

Some of the other guest speakers included:

*Jacob Glick – Canada Policy Counsel, Google Canada

*Rocky Gaudrault (CEO, Teksavvy Solutions Inc.)

*Libby Davies – Member of Parliament (NDP)

*Steve Anderson (Co-founder, SaveOurNet.ca)

In this episode I speak about Network Neutrality and the lack of discussions regarding the government’s accountability and commitment to a free and open Internet. With the political uprisings currently taking place in Iran and China; I think that North Americans should begin an honest conversation about what Network Neutrality really means.

My personal definition of Net Neutrality would sound something like “The free and unrestricted flow of information on the Internet with no private or public manipulation of the speed, quality, or access to any website.”

Of course I’m thrilled with Liberal  MP Marc Garneau’s comment in the House of Commons last week that the Liberal Party of Canada supports Network Neutrality! This is a step in the right direction not only for Canada, but for the entire world as our ideas and relationships transcend the physical limitations of traditional one-way communication channels like radio & television.

Long live content consumers & content producers!

Watch this short Youtube video for a quick explanation of Network Neutrality!

Now that the transition from analog to digital has officially taken place, it seems there are a lot of people still confused as to either what has happened or how to work the new technology. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as at least half the people I know still don’t have a clue how to operate their VCRs and/or DVD players. And truth be told, many of them would be fine if they weren’t so damn intimidated by it all. I’ve talked friends through how to work their DVD player, made them do it with me there, only to get a call a week later that they don’t know how to do it. I guess some people’s brains just don’t think in technological terms. Computers, TVs, you name it, it’s a mystery to them. But with technology only advancing, they better get past their intimidation and learn how to read the instruction manual. Either that or give up on movies and TV and get back to reading books. Nothing wrong with that.

According to the Associated Press:

Nearly 800,000 calls were received by a federal hot line this week from people confused about the nationwide move on Friday to drop analog TV signals and broadcast only in digital…

The Federal Communications Commission said that about 317,450 calls went into the help line, 1-888-CALL-FCC, on Friday alone, the day analog signals were cut off. Another 102,000 came in Saturday by 6 p.m. Eastern time…

About a third of Friday’s calls to the FCC were still about federal coupons to pay for digital converter boxes, an indication that at least 100,000 people still didn’t have the right equipment to receive digital signals…

And while we’re on this subject, another thing that irks me… people with widescreen TVs who watch “flat” programming stretched. What’s up with that? Can’t you see that everyone is suddenly short and fat?

Again, read the manual, learn how to use your television. But I guess it’s just not that important to some people. The same way letterboxing wasn’t important. The average Joe or Jane didn’t care if they were missing huge chunks of the image. Hell, they aren’t even aware that movies are made in more than one aspect ratio. For the love of god, half the people I speak to still think the actors are making up their lines as they go along! Anyone ever hear of a writer?! Well, it’s true, in Hollywood they try not to…

And now with Blu-ray–which is everything it’s hyped up to be–there’s a whole new experience for people to mess up and be confused about. 420i, 420p, 720i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p… If your TV doesn’t handle 1080p, then you’re not reaping the full benefits of Blu-ray. But even if your TV does handle it, many don’t have a clue how to access it or set it up. So they hook their Blu-ray players up incorrectly and wonder why the image doesn’t look any better than standard def DVDs. Then I get the phone calls about how much Blu-ray sucks and what a waste of money it is.

Ahhh, that feels better. Needed to get that off my chest.

So, for those of you either with cable, satellite or a digital to analog converter box that they know how to use, enjoy TV in all its digital glory. For those that still don’t have a clue what I’m talking about… Please refrain from calling me.

And for you home theater/DVD lovers out there, take a look at this funny rant about DVDs from the folks over at Daily Motion.

pinklove

zap

these 2 melt my heart

This video is just beautiful. The Rose & Her Prince from Hearts Revolution is soo eerie & strange. I can’t wait for the new album to drop in Sept. Lo’s style is so fun & sweet…click play & melt.