Or maybe some sort of iCortical implant so I don't have to bother carrying about a phone or use a computer anymore. I'd also go for food in pill form and some way to eliminate the need for sleep. I've got it down to 4-1/2 hours, but I still feel pretty groggy.
But no matter what the years holds, there is no way I would let Elroy Jetson wash my car. (Link via Least I Could Do.)
Hulu is coming to Canada! Ok, not really, but there is a step towards offering online TV called RODO — Rogers On-Demand Online.
The site will launch November 30th with approximately 1,500 videos and 15 content providers, but I've had a chance to poke around it a bit. The content is limited for now but they plan to add one new content partner every week for the next 12 months. The videos stream with ease and have an ad at the beginning of the show or inserted in it — which is a relatively minor thing.
The drawbacks? It is only for Rogers customers, only in Canada, and there is no option to embed shows on blogs or other sites. Hopefully that will come in time.
I've never seen Hulu, being geo-blocked, but I had hoped Rogers announcement was going to be a partnership with Hulu. No luck, but this is at least a move towards the cable companies and broadcasters loosening the reins on content and letting consumers have some choice. I'm willing to give it a shot.
The Simpsons are debuting a new opening sequence tonight to make their grand entrance into the world of high definition. It is the first full, permanent revamp of the show's opening titles since its premiere in 1989.
There are a quite a few additions from the show's ensuing decades, including the decapitation of Jebidiah Springfield, Lard Lad, Krusty O's and Mr. Sparkle and Tomacco Juice at the checkout counter, Sideshow Bob, Apu and his octuplets and a fabulous end sequence that I've already paused through numerous times.
Update: So Fox is back to its usual ways. After having over two million views of the opening sequence and untold free publicity they have demanded the clip be pulled from YouTube. Of course you can see it on their Simpsons site where, of course, the full episodes they have available are for U.S. residents only. Because The Simpsons is ONLY shown in the U.S. You can search for another version on YouTube, and you'll find it. I'll leave the Fox link to you.
It is getting tiresome watching these big media companies continue to misunderstand both online users and fans. Has nothing been learnt from what happened to the music industry?
From our robotic ancestors, including a steam-powered Tyrannosaurus Rex, to modern-day humanoid robots, I have absolutely no idea what this German company is advertising, but I'd like to buy it. (Link via Geekologie)
The buzz product (so far) at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is LG's wrist 3G phone — which has fanboys all dreaming about talking into their wrist a la Dick Tracy. Wait, does anybody even remember Dick Tracy? I remember the terrible Warren Beatty movie from 1990, which makes it older than most of the people at CES.
OK, I just looked and it seems somebody is still drawing Dick Tracy, making the police gumshoe a spry 77. Who knew?
Anyway, now that brilliant scientists have gotten around to recreating comic strip gadgets, there are a few inventions I'd like them to get to work on...
Star Trek: Tricorder — Scan alien lifeforms/plants, diagnose your health, vehicles, etc. And I'm talking the real, looks like a bulky Pentax version, not some iPhone app.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Babel Fish — Instantly understand any language in real-time translation. Just stick it in your ear. Sure, there will still be massive cultural misunderstandings, but at least you'll know what they are yelling at you.
Jetsons: Flying Car — Who wouldn't want a flying car? A sky full of drivers, what's the worst that could happen. I suppose a Transporter would be more efficient, but like Dr. McCoy, I'm not ready to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space.
Futurama: The What-If Machine — A gadget that will tell me, in a humorously detailed fashion, how all my decisions will turn out. Of course, I'd settle for a Finglonger.
Addendum: If you are ever looking for images of the Jetsons, make sure you have SafeSearch turned on. I've seen things I can't unsee.
Survivor is my one reality show addiction — I've been watching since its inception back in 2000 and 17 seasons later I'm still hooked. It's like comfort food, you know what you're going to get.
The PVR has been a great boon in allowing me to keep up with the show — I just set it and forget it, watching when I have time. Such was the case this past weekend when the season finale of Survivor: Gabon aired on Sunday. Except it got delayed by a football game and the recording is tied to the time slot and not to the program itself (why, I have no idea), so we missed half of the show.
Sigh. OK, we figured, we'll just watch it on demand. Rogers has been promoting that, so we'll pony up the $0.99 and get our fix. Ooop, after 24 hours, its still not available.
Sigh. OK, we'll go to the Survivor site and watch a grainy, streaming video version. Oh, wait, CBS is blocking Canadians from viewing any of their videos. Fine, off to Global, Survivor's simulcasting partner in Canada. Hmm, they don't even have the episode, just a promo video.
Sigh. OK, off to Hulu, surely they will have it online. Oh, wait, it's another site that geo-blocks Canadians. What are we, terrorists? Let's work this out, networks! When you sell a show to a foreign broadcaster, don't make the online rights a separate deal — insist on bundling them together. And if you can block Canadians, surely you can tag them so you only serve up Canadian advertising.
Sigh. OK, it looks like Rogers has gotten it together add added the finale to the on demand lineup, but oh no, the service is down and it won't play.
Sigh. Finally, it plays and we watch the finale 72-hours later, which is a letdown as I'd already seen who the winner was all over the interweb about 70-hours earlier.
I'll concede that a few years ago of you missed an episode, you we're mostly out of luck unless a friend had taped and saved it, so things have improved, but it seems the networks still have a ways to go before TV is truly personal.
Often the hardest thing to do in pop culture is to keep up with music. You can always catch up with new movies and TV shows, but finding new music is tough, which is why most people tend to settle in with a particular decade, leaving new music for "the kids."
Where do you find new music, especially if you like listening to the radio? Your local radio station is terrible — Top 40 is painful to listen to, DJs are annoying, the ads endless. Even in a city like Toronto, there are many stations, but little choice. Soft rock, classic rock, dance, country, meh. Unfortunately, I still love the format, the chance of discovering a new song, or hearing a new band.
When satellite radio was introduced I was intrigued — multiple, ad-free channels in all kinds of styles. It sounded ideal, but it was pricey and you'd only have it in your car or house, neither of which was enough play time for me to justify.
So when I was approached by Matchstick to review XM satellite's XMp3 player, I jumped at the chance. Portable satellite radio seemed like the answer to a lot of my concerns. For the most part, it has been.
The unit itself is small and lightweight, just slightly larger than an iPod Nano. Its reception has been great - I've only last contact while in the grocery store and in the subway (of course), but you need to get a separate adaptor for the car, which is a pain. The upside of downtime is the record function. Anytime you're listing to a song, there is a one-click button that will record it for playback later — like a PVR for the radio. I'm already collecting a nice mix in there.
The winner for me has been the station, Sirius XMU, which I think is a shared station with the merging (but not really in Canada) XM and Sirius satellite outfits. It is described as North America's indie rock station and I've picked up a couple of artists I'd never heard before (The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, The Virgins) and some I had but had never really listened to (MGMT, LCD Soundsystem). Not too shabby for a month of sporadic usage. In fact this has mostly replaced my iPod for that time, mostly because I was hankering to hear something new. Now if they would only add CBC Radio 3 to their lineup, we'd have a winner. Of course they do have 130 other channels, so there is bound to be something for everyone. If I had a remote interest in sports this would be a gold mine, or so I gathered when I showed it to a hockey-mad friend.
Anyway, it's a fun toy, but like any tech it comes at a price. The player is going for $199 and a month's subscription is another $14.99. Not cheap, but not horrific either. Depends on how much you want it.
As this was a marketing company that approached me, they of course have a survey. Knock yourself out.
You'd think that being surrounded by such great talent, some of it would rub off on me. Here's a roundup of what some of my friends are up to in culture and online:
Karen Henricks has designed Canada Post's stamp for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It had never occurred to that there are designers for stamps, but it makes perfect sense to me now. Karen — do you get to go to the Games now?
Another university friend, Richard Gilmore, is part of the photography exhibit 21 Days of Black Rock City until Aug. 3 in Petaluma, CA. Ricky is a fabulous photographer and often shoots fire-dancers. You can see examples of his work here.
Last, but not least, two of my friends have been named to NxE’s Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers list. Amber MacArthur of commandN (among other things) and Rachel Sklar, the editor of Huffington Post's Eat the Press have both deservedly made the grade.
Star Trek: Tricorder — Scan alien lifeforms/plants, diagnose your health, vehicles, etc. And I'm talking the real, looks like a bulky Pentax version, not some iPhone app.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Babel Fish — Instantly understand any language in real-time translation. Just stick it in your ear. Sure, there will still be massive cultural misunderstandings, but at least you'll know what they are yelling at you.
Jetsons: Flying Car — Who wouldn't want a flying car? A sky full of drivers, what's the worst that could happen. I suppose a Transporter would be more efficient, but like Dr. McCoy, I'm not ready to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space.
Futurama: The What-If Machine — A gadget that will tell me, in a humorously detailed fashion, how all my decisions will turn out. Of course, I'd settle for a Finglonger.
Survivor is my one reality show addiction — I've been watching since its inception back in 2000 and 17 seasons later I'm still hooked. It's like comfort food, you know what you're going to get.
Often the hardest thing to do in pop culture is to keep up with music. You can always catch up with new movies and TV shows, but finding new music is tough, which is why most people tend to settle in with a particular decade, leaving new music for "the kids."
You'd think that being surrounded by such great talent, some of it would rub off on me. Here's a roundup of what some of my friends are up to in culture and online:
