Winter Movie Draft, Triage, Transparent (201), Fargo (209)
00:50 – Winter Movie Draft
05:02 – Triage (Movie Draft)
07:33 – Triage (The Leftovers)
10:09 – Transparent (201)
15:55 – Fargo (209)
DTNS 2646 – Compression and Chill
Netflix plans to reduce data consumption by up to 20% by intelligently compressing every video and maybe every scene. They say we won’t even notice. Todd Whitehead and Tom Merritt discuss.
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A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
Cordkillers 100 – Cat Video Stink
How YouTube could win a Golden Globe and why Mystery Science Theater is genius.
CordKillers: 100 – Cat Video Stink
Recorded: December 14 2015
Guest: Hammond Chamberlain
Intro Video
Primary Target
- 23% of Households Will Be Cord-Cutters by 2019, According to eMarketer
- The Future of Television: More Choices and Greater Quality
- Cord-Cutting Is Accelerating
-The total number of households that don’t subscribe to pay-TV by the end of 2015 will be about 17% of U.S. households.
-Analyst eMarketer estimates 23% US hh w/o trad. TV by 2019
– WSJ says 20.8 mm by end of this year 17%
– Logan Hill WSJ interview on future of TV
– President of AMC Josh Sapan “Before the current generation, the term “TV show” meant something a little dumb. And so you can say there are too many shows relative to the economics of the old system, but with the new system, I would not say there are too many shows.
– Maker Studios President Ynon Kreiz “No matter what device you use, the big advantage is the freedom to make those choices. I see a golden age of television that’s less about apps or channels, and more about the when and where.”
– Lachlan Murdoch, Executive chariman 21st Century Fox “In a world of limitless choice, mediocrity is death”
– Max Cohen, head of Mobile at Oculus Rift “ Down the line, we’ll get full-length VR movies, where you’re the star and interact with all the characters. We’ll get a 360-degree camera at the end of the piano at a Billy Joel concert, where it feels like he’s singing to you. “
Signal Intelligence
- Amazon and Netflix land a dozen Golden Globe nominations
- Cord-cutting services net huge nominations at Golden Globes
– Amazon (5)
– Transparent (Best Comedy)
– Mozart in the Jungle (Best Comedy)
– Gael Garcia Bernal – Mozart (Best Actor Comedy)
– Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent (Best Actor Comedy)
– Jusith Light – Transparent (Best supporting)– Netflix (8)
– Robin Wright House of Cards (Best Actress – Drama)
– Orange is the New Black (Best Comedy)
– Uzo Aduba OITNB (Best supporting )
– Idris Elba – Beasts of No Nation (Supporting actor)
– Narcos (Best Drama Series)
– Wagner Moura – Narcos (Best Actor Drama)
– Aziz Ansari Master of None (Best Actor – Comedy)
– Lily Tomlin Grace and Frankie (Best Actress Comedy)– Hulu (1)
– Casual (Best Comedy)
Gear Up
- Everything You Need To Know About the New Apple TV App Store | App store Intelligence from appFigures
- Apple Publishes Best of 2015 App Store Lists for Apple TV
- Apple TV update to let Siri control music
- Apple TV remote app with Siri
- Why Apple Walked Away From TV (For Now)
- Mythical Apple TV service still on hold
- BBC iPlayer comes to the Apple TV
– Apple TV cornucopia of facts
– more than 2,000 apps in Apple TV app store
– About half apps are games (appfigures tracking)
– Mostdownloaded are entertainment 38 of top 50 (games, news sports)
– 39% are paid, majority $2.99 or less
– Apple’s app of the year for TV HBO Now (2nd: Rayman Adventures)
– Siri now supports music
– Eddy Cue says app with Siri support coming 1H 2016
– BBC iPLayer now on Apple TV
– Apple TV Service
– Les Moonves says “pressed the hold button” but “will happen” eventually because “people will not be spending money on channels they don’t want to watch.”
– Peter Kafka, ReCode says it’s a fight over bundles
Front Lines
- Verizon Fios will let you stream from your DVR when you’re out of the house
– Verizon Fios TV service customers can now stream “Nearly all of their DVR-recorded shows” anywhere with an Internet connection. So nearly as good as setting up a slingbox. Verizon likes things that are almost something. Like FiOS TV’s director Maitreyi Krishnaswamy saying on a TV of Tomorrow conference panel that she has “pretty much cut the cord.” She was talking up Verizon’s Go90 service. - AT&T to Launch Mobile Entertainment Service, CEO Says
– AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson told an investor conference last week that AT&T is planning to launch its own mobile entertainment service. He also said that in January AT&T will launch a ”premium content” package that will offer “mobile stacked content together with a really robust wireless asset.” He also said they would offer “proprietary content” through DirecTV or mobile and possibly in cooperation with joint venture Otter Media which has a majority stake in Fullscreen. DIGITAL! - Yahoo Launches A Video Guide App For Cord Cutters
– Yahoo wanted cord cutters so bad it paid for a whole season of Community.It’s latest effort to win your love is a new app called Yahoo Video Guide for iOS and Android. You look for shows to watch and it will find them among services you have installed, like HBO, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, and even launch the apps for you. - That Mystery Science 3000 Theater Kickstarter Just Set A New Record
– Mystery Science Theater raised a record-breaking $5.76 million on Kickstarter towards 14 episodes including a Christmas special. The new MST3K will star Felicia Day, Jonah Ray, and Paton Oswalt and Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland are tapped to write! - Sling TV adds local content to its Latino streaming service
– Sling TV’s spanish-language package Sling Latino is adding local broadcast feeds from Univision and UniMas. (Univision’s own service offers local news in New York, Los Angeles and Houston) - Google Play Movies and TV gets AirPlay support, but Apple TV app still missing
– Google updated it’s Google Play app for iOS to include airplay. So you can now send your Google Play videos to your 3rd or 4th generation Apple TV.
Under Surveillance
- The Leftovers Was Just Renewed For a Third (and Final) Season
- Netflix Is Using Adam Sandler to Beat Hollywood and Rule the World
– Adam Sandler’s Ridiculous 6 movies is available on Netflix all over the world in more than 60 countries. The satirical western, which also stars Taylor Lautner, Steve Buscemi, and Rob Schneider. - Trailer out for Netflix’s 10-part documentary “Making A Murderer” about Steven Avery. Shows start streaming December 18th.
- Brian: Fargo (209), Transparent 201
- Tom: Fargo (209), Doctor Who, Michael Buble Christmas Special, Star Wars:Rebels, Arrow, Flash, Graham Norton, Transparent (201), Once Upon a Time
- Hammond: Man in the High Castle, Flash, Arrow, Jessica Jones
- On the Lookout: Interstellar is now available to Hulu and Amazon Prime subscribers
Dispatches from the Front
Dear Cord Killers,
My email should be reaching you in time for the last episode before the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I’m sure that you’ll be going to see it on release day, and so I need to ask you for a solemn promise: PLEASE. DO. NOT. SPOIL.
Personally, I’m waiting until I am back home with my family, so I won’t be seeing Star Wars until around Christmas. I’m aware that other places and people will be throwing spoilers left and right, but I’d like you to set the standard: Please keep spoilers to Spoilerin’ Time, at least for the first two weeks.
Please (and I’m looking at you, Brian) try to avoid dropping little tidbits here and there as you skirt around important plot points. If you liked it, or you hated it, I’m fine with that, and by all means say so, but I don’t need to know why right now.
Or, if you don’t think you’ll be able to contain yourself, please tell me now, and I’ll hold off on watching Cord Killers until the new year.
See you on the other side!
–Karl
Hey Brian & Tom,
With the release of The Force Awakens just around the corner, I thought I’d share my view on the craziness surrounding the premier of this movie.
I’m 23, I’m a geek, and I love sci-fi and fantasy stuff. That being said, I’ve never been in to Star Wars. My parents where never really in to it, and when the prequels came out, I was still a bit too young to really notice or care on my own. I actually hadn’t even seen a Star Wars movie the whole way through until 2013, when I decided I’d finally sit down and watch all the movies.
I hate to say it, but I was really underwhelmed. I’d had basically everything spoiled from me from the ridiculous number of references in pop culture, and that certainly contributed to my indifference, but besides just that, it seemed like any other cheesy 70’s sci-fi movie. I wanted to love Star Wars as much as I see everyone else loving it, but I couldn’t understand the hype surrounding this franchise.
So I thought about it for a while, talked to some of my friends about it, and I think I understand why it seems like so many people love it and why I personally can’t get in to it: Nostalgia. Everyone 30+ seems to LOVE everything Star Wars, but when I speak to people around my age about it, they respond with the same passive interest as me. No one hates it, but they don’t love it either.
I think a lot of the hype surrounding Star Wars comes from the fact that people grew up with it, and as children we’re much more forgiving and think things are much cooler. My generation actually has something similar to this: Harry Potter. It comes up in like 90% of conversations we have, we get super hyped for anything new in the series, and we look back on it with fond memories. My friends and I are even trying to plan a trip to Harry Potter World in Universal Studios. On the other hand, I don’t think Star Wars has come up more than a handful of times in conversation, even with the leadup to Episode VII.
It’s been an odd experience watching the hype build for The Force Awakens. It seems like 50% of the news stories are related to it in some way, podcasts are dedicated to it, no one seems to be able to stop talking about it. I’m not complaining, and I’m not asking you guys to stop, I just think it’s interesting from an outsiders perspective.
Of course I will go see the movie when it comes out, and I do hope I like it enough to start getting in to this series a bit more. Just thought I’d share. “””
– Jacob
How can we make an argument for ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX to stream their programing on demand? Now we record their shows and blow by the commercial with the 30 second forward button. Streaming on demand we are forced to watch the commercials. Try to fast forward and they make you watch another commercial. Would that not be a good selling point to their clients?
Best Regards,
– Stan
If NBC wants me to fork over $4 a month for their streaming comedy service Hoo-Ha* there is only one way for them to make it happen. Stream all of David Letterman’s Late Night and his morning show and I will gladly subscribe.
* Hoo-Ha may not be the name for their service but it should be.
– Mark
Just wanted to share a thought on YouTube Red after hearing you talk about the value of it. I have to admit, I was definitely one of the people that saw no reason why I would ever pay for YouTube Red (since YouTube is free after-all) but after using it, unbeknownst to me, since the day it came out I don’t think I will want to go back to the days of free YouTube with ads.
Google/YouTube made the smart move of including this as part of the Google Play All Access membership. I signed up for a great music service and ended up with a great ad free video service as well.
I was also pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly it all appeared on my devices. Roku, XboxOne, and obviously my phone all gave me the YouTube Red logo at the top of the app on day one.
The way they did this reminds me of when I had my 4 disc a month Netflix account in college that then introduced streaming, and eventually lead to my streaming only account. Or my Amazon Prime account that I started for the shipping that also lead to yet another streaming account I use on most of my devices.
Have you being using Red? Thoughts?
Cheers!
– Byron
Nile Says: I think Brian asked about this, but it might have been someone else on one of Tom’s other shows. I never speed up the playback of a podcast I’m intimately familiar with, because the change in voices messes with my head. HOWEVER, when I start listening to a new podcast, I’ve been in the habit of playing it at around 1.25x so I get the efficiency, and my mind thinks the hosts voices sound that from the very start. Thanks for the show guys!
– Nile
Links
DTNS 2645 – Startup Wars
Should the Army act like a startup? Silicon Valley has its roots in military research so what can it do to help Defense get more agile? Peter Newell has some ideas and Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt ask him about them.
Using a Screen Reader? Click here
Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
Weekly Tech Views 22 – Dec 13, 2015
Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.
65 degrees in mid-December in Ohio? Perfect. Some say it doesn’t feel like the holidays, but I always say there’s nothing more festive than wearing shorts and a t-shirt while listening to a little Christmas music and reading some bogus tech-story analysis.
???
A study indicates that text messages ending with a period are perceived as less sincere than those with no punctuation. Exclamation points, on the other hand, indicate more sincerity than no punctuation. In nine states, semicolons are grounds for divorce.
Can It At Least Help Me Get The Name Right?
Google and NASA jointly purchased a quantum computer two years ago. It has proved to be 100 million times faster than a single core computer in solving a particular type of problem.* Unfortunately, that problem was not “what the hell should Mike get his wife for Christmas.” Which means she’s probably looking at another gift card to that Bed Bath and Body Works and Beyond place.
Welcome To The Big Apple-tini
Amazon Prime members in Manhattan can now take advantage of one-hour delivery service for beer, wine, and spirits. “Found something for my Wish List!” said hard-to-buy-for uncles.
From Amazon Prime liquor delivery page: “People who ordered 2-liter Badinov Vodka also purchased… Orange Juice… Aspirin… 30-lb Tin of Beef Jerky…”
What do you want to bet that Amazon Prime booze delivery comes with a 5% off Amazon.com coupon code, valid for four hours from the moment the drinks are dropped off? (Guys, guys… you know what would make this apartment super cool? A PS4 in every room! Yeah! P-S-4! P-S-4! Done! Think I can fit a fifty-inch TV on my bedroom dresser? Oh no? Only one way to find out!)
This Could Really Mess With My Live-Tweeting Of Real Housewives
Twitter is experimenting with displaying tweets in non-chronological order…
…
…
…
Sorry; my brain couldn’t quite process that. What methods are they considering? Alphabetical? (“aaaaaaand here’s what I think…”). Dewey decimal system? (Ask your parents, kids). A roulette wheel replacing the Moments icon? (I’m listening…)
I Can Finally Move My Laptop Out Of The Half Bathroom Nearest Their House
Australia is investing nearly a billion dollars to make the country more inviting to tech startups and reduce its reliance on the mining industry. In a related story, I’m grudgingly investing $40 a month on an ISP to make my house more inviting to internet access and reduce my reliance on my neighbors’ non-password-protected WiFi. They don’t seem in any hurry to upgrade to the 30Mbps tier, and right now when they both get on to play Battlefront it’s almost pointless for me to use their Netflix log on credentials.
Too Bad, I was Hoping For YaBaHooBa
Yahoo has decided to keep their 15% stake in Alibaba, known as the Ebay of China, and instead spin off the rest of Yahoo into a new company. This is apparently a Google/Alphabet type of restructuring with various complex balance sheet advantages making the company more attractive to shareholders.
It does raise an interesting financial question for Wall Street insiders: In the story Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, is Ali Baba a hero fighting the thieves or is he the leader of the thieves? All I remember is “open sesame,” which, to be honest, I really remember better as the cartoon version where Popeye is standing in front of a blocked cave saying, “Open, says me.” Anyhow, if you’re selling things, do you want to be associated with thieves? Questionable branding, if you ask me.
But I guess I shouldn’t let my ignorance of eastern literature make me question an obviously successful business. I think I’m just nervous my thousand (minimum order) Death Star ice cube molds aren’t going to make it here from China in time for our Star Wars marathon party on Thursday.
You Say Sharing Like It’s A Good Thing
Google is introducing Shared Albums to Google Photos, allowing users to send an album to others, who can add their own photos to the album. Nice idea, with one problem. You have to trust the people you’re sharing with. “So just share with people you trust,” you say. A reasonable response, except I don’t trust anybody. Sure, I’d trust my family with my car or my house or my life, but with a photo album? Right.
I guarantee that if I share an album from our family reunion with ten other family members, they will each add a hundred pictures, and somewhere in those thousand shots will be a hilarious series of Uncle Paul seven beers in and trying to make out behind the shed with Aunt Sally’s sister, Mindy (Aunt Sally being Uncle Paul’s wife). On his way to second base with Mindy, Paul abruptly disgorged approximately one cubic foot of hot dogs and three-bean salad on Mindy’s shoes. A laugh riot. Except my face will have been swapped in for Paul’s in every photo, and I’ll be the one dealing with Mindy’s fuzzy, drunken memories.
Hope I Don’t Crop Myself
Speaking of photos, a Twitter update is going to allow uncropped photos in timelines. This may mean facing a hard truth on my part, as I’ve been telling myself that everyone’s been saying my Twitter photos were “a bunch of crops.”
I’ve Heard It Both Ways
Uber has been blocked in China from using the messaging app WeChat, a severe hindrance for a company dependent on communication with potential riders. This brings up one of those funny language idiosyncrasies you occasionally run across, like “Aloha” meaning both “hello” and “goodbye.” The explanation for Uber’s ban can be translated from the Chinese as “malicious marketing activities” or, more loosely, “WeChat is owned by Tencent, an investor in an Uber competitor.” Weird, huh?
It’s Been 20 Minutes, So Here’s Adele’s “Hello” Again
Apple is now supporting 100,000 songs in their $24.99 iTunes Match, up from 25,000 songs. Assuming an average of three-and-a-half minutes per song and sixteen waking hours a day, this would allow you to listen to your music for a year before you heard the same song twice. “How much to store twelve songs?” asked every pop music radio station ever.
* I don’t know. Something about “using quantum annealing for an optimization problem involving 945 binary variables.” I’m pretty sure not all those words are real.
Thanks, as always, for reading the Weekly Tech Views Blog, and additional thanks to everybody who picked up my collection of WTVBs, The Internet is Like a Snowblower (And 200 Other Things I Got Wrong About Tech This Year).
FREEBIE ALERT!
If you have already made that commendable purchase, or haven’t, but find yourself at Amazon browsing books about, say, internets and snowblowers, why not take a minute to pick up a free (starting Monday) copy of the holiday classic-in-waiting The Christmas Napkin.
This short story has nothing to do with technology, but is at least as ridiculous as what you read here. The origin story of that most beloved of holiday icons–The Christmas Napkin–is free Monday, December 14 through Wednesday, December 16. If you are reading this after Wednesday, it will also be free on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
See you next week (and beware the Beast of Brymlar!).
Weekly Tech Views Blog by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Today in Tech History – December 12, 2015
In 1896 – Guglielmo Marconi amazed a group at Toynbee Hall in East London with a demonstration of wireless communication across a room. Every time Marconi hit a key a bell would ring from a box across the room being carried by William Henry Preece.
In 1973 – Founder of LinkExchange, CEO of Zappos, and promoter of customer-centric business, Tony Hsieh was born.
In 1980 – Apple’s stock was initially offered for sale. Regulators in Massachusetts prohibited individual investors in the state from buying the stock, as it was deemed too risky.
In 1991 – Paul Kunz set up the first website in North America. It searched particle physics literature at Stanford.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
DTNS 2644 – SHAnanigans
Tokyo’s metropolitan police have a drone squad out to net illegal drones. Literally. They use a note. Darren Kitchen and Tom Merritt explain.
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A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
DTNS 2643 – Pay-ple of Walmart
Also, Comcast says data caps are just the same as paying for fuel and Verizon wants to let sponsors pay for your data caps. Are data caps here to stay? Tom Merritt and Justin Young discuss.
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<!–Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.–>
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
PIDASW Ep. 06 – Return of the Jedi
Luke and Anakin finally get some family time together but Palpatine messes it up. We meet the mini-bears who help out the Rebels. And SPAAACE BATTLES! Tom Merritt’s attempt to forget everything he knows about the Star Wars universe and embrace the story in episodic order.
Big thanks to Ryan for the graphic.
Get the music! Live from the Cantina at more from andrewallentrio.com.
DTNS 2642 – Leaking Mr. Bitcoin.
We know who invented Bitcoin. Yahoo is selling itself. Apple TV service canceled. These three statements are inaccurate. Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson tell you why.
Using a Screen Reader? Click here
Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!