Just read about NBC and News Corp the other day. I find it funny that they are both forced to work together and develop a site that will compete against YouTube, now owned by Google. I don’t think NBC and News Corp truly understand why YouTube is so successful. The whole idea behind YouTube is a concept based off of sharing and open content, if NBC and News Corp think that by merely developing a site the mimics the idea of YouTube, they are seriously mistaken. Even Google Video failed where YouTube excelled which is why they purchased the web 2.0 video site in the first place. Silly television stations … video is for everyone now.
News Corp. and NBC are trying to stem the seepage of advertising dollars from their own Web video sites to Google Inc., which bought YouTube last year.
In the United States alone, online video is expected to draw more than $800-million (U.S.) in 2007 and much of the Internet traffic for streaming video finds its way to YouTube.
The alliance also comes as Google faces a $1-billion copyright infringement lawsuit by Viacom Inc. — owner of networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon — and other media players are upset over Google’s reluctance to share revenue.
The new site will be supported by advertising dollars and is expected to launch this summer.
Well this week has been rather tough so I think my mind has “zonked” out for the most part this weekend. I was going to attempt to finish off some homework for my programming course but my mind can’t seem to get into to the mode. I think the mode button is now beaten up and needs replacement.
Luckily thanks to Darren Barefoot, I encountered his latest post on his blog about a new game that has been addictive to many. I can’t say that I found it that addictive although it was definitely a pretty spiffy little game if you want to waste some time. Soo… I guess I’m wasting some more time …
Planned laziness is always a good thing. If you know yourself and understand how you work or how long it takes you to do specific tasks, incorporating a fair amount of time for your lazy mode is a good thing. I’m not saying to throw in a month of laziness or something, but rather if you know you’ll drift off into la-la land for a good 15 minutes sometimes, factor that into your time if you have to present a deadline.
Anyways here’re a couple of shots of my attempt at the game:
Setting up the defences…
A huge swarm of enemies
After getting a score of 3801 … almost at the end too, this was my strategic play.
Only a Gordon Korman fanatic like myself would understand that phrase. Particularly if you read Korman’s book No More Dead Dogs
You would probably hit the fan too (or something along those lines) if you went through what I’ve been dealing with lately. I’m not an IT guy, I just happen to be somewhat knowledgeable in that area so of course as a generalist, I found myself knee deep in issues that needed to be sorted through at work. Here’s where there is a lesson to be learned.
So finally we get computers but of course something has to go wrong. That’s Jardine’s luck, another GK-ism. Even when you get the new computers, don’t be absolutely satisfied with what has been accomplished until the software that you are transferring from the old computers will actually install on the new computers! We had purchased three Dell computers with Windows Vista Business installed on each one and after setting up two of them, we realized that Microsoft had somehow screwed us again. The OEM software (i.e. Microsoft Office Basic 2003) that was installed on the older computers were not recognized as valid on the new Vista.
The problem was not Vista. The problem was the fact that we were trying to transfer over OEM software. Because this software came with the original computer, it refused to be installed on the new Vista primed PC. Ugh.
Note to self: Don’t buy any OEM software if I own a business.
So what now? We may have to return the computers if Dell won’t let us buy the Microsoft Office Basic 2007. That’s of course after spending five billion years waiting for the customer care call centre to actually forward calls to the right person. Thank you Microsoft and Dell for making my life that much more difficult and wasting my time. To be continued…
A great tribute from Linux to Microsoft
I guess this is why Dell’s support sucks…
This fellow wrote a pretty amusing blog post about his experience.
People nearly brought it down. Microsoft is still battling lawsuits in Europe. In the meantime, Apple’s monopoly grows.
In order to buy a Mac, it has to be through Apple in some form of manner. In order to run Apple’s operating system, it has to be run on a Mac. In order to purchase music or video from iTunes, you technically need an iPod or else there really isn’t much point. Now Apple is introducing the iPhone (assuming they can get the name). In addition, Apple is producing its own creative software applications, against Adobe’s Creative Suite.
Does no one notice that this is leading to a strengthened monopoly? People have argued that a monopoly is required in order to preserve the quality of the Mac. I have to argue otherwise. Third party manufacturers could easily reproduce the same quality (and design) for a lesser price while paying a percentage back to Apple. The whole idea behind the Mac is to force people to pay a premium price for hardware and software that can easily be reproduced. The only thing that makes the Mac different is the operating system. Remind you of a particular company? Most people will likely respond to me with the fact that there is nothing wrong and that they really enjoy using their Mac. That is fine, but that is not the point.
I don’t hate Macs, I don’t hate PCs, or any computer. What I don’t like are monopolies because in the end, people lose out. Microsoft controls the operating system, office software (as well as other applications), but not the computer. We’re not letting them get away with that. Why are we letting Apple get away with more than Microsoft?
A number of years ago if you had asked me whether or not I supported the migration to web applications from the typical desktop software, I would have been vehemently opposed to it. I think many people were back then when Microsoft had suggested their .Net applications. From my perspective, I have grown to endorse web applications more and more because of the potential that will unleash the ability for all people to use software without paying an arm and a leg for the computer and the software. In addition the open source software initiative has been very successful and the model continues to evolve with proprietary business models, changing the way we think and the way we do what we do on a day to day basis.
I just read on ZDnet that Adobe will be taking Photoshop online. Nothing drastic, but I guess with all the other web applications out there for photo editing, Adobe probably figures it is time to get in on the action. Some people will not like it, others will endorse it. My perspective is that web applications or rather “shared” applications will be the future as businesses, individuals and organizations are looking for alternative methods of spending on information technology and related creative applications. The company I work for is currently re-investing heavily in computer equipment and software right now … wow is it ever tough to manage the acquisition of hardware and software based on a budget. Top that off with demands on all sides and management questioning every move you make. But this is beside the point.
Ultimately, my guess is that Adobe will want to utilize their “Photoshop Online” version to help market their complete software. It would be the smart move to make. Read on about Adobe and their new hybrid and online software. Online versions reduce the amount of money businesses have to reinvest at one time, but rather spread their investment over a period of time. This model will also allow for Adobe to constantly provide updates or changes while having a constant cash flow coming in from their subscription-based product. Of course there is always Google to worry about…
As Adobe introduces more online multimedia features and products, the company intends to use its expertise in products such as Photoshop and video-editing suite Premiere Pro, and to combine it with the Web development savvy it gained through its acquisition of Macromedia.
Remix, for example, was written using Flex, the development environment for Adobe’s Flash Player.
Chizen noted that Google’s wealth of technical talent in Web development makes it the most likely candidate to challenge Adobe as it offers hosted media-editing applications. He indicated that Adobe is still weighing its options in regard to how it will deliver hosted, ad-supported services.
I thoroughly enjoy animation. All kinds of animation. Why? Because there is so much more imagination involved! Imagination that I lack and I figure this serves as fuel for the imaginative soul…
So when I heard that the Animation Show would be coming to Waterloo, I am jumping on the chance to go!
My friend and I went to check out the first year when the Animation Show was only showing at the ByTowne Cinema in Ottawa. Think of it like the Bloor Cinema in Toronto. Smaller independent theatres essentially. Anyways, it was a big hoot when we went to check it out, pretty inexpensive too and popcorn was reeeally inexpensive by comparison to Cinplex Odeon or Famous Players. Since Year 2 didn’t make it out to the golden horseshoe area, we never had the opportunity to see it, but now that Year 3 is moving inwards to Waterloo … I figure we can’t miss it this time around!
I’ve always been a fan of various types of animation, but not necessarily Japanese anime … that is until one of my friends (Dan) introduced me to Hayao Miyazaki’sPrincess Mononoke which is a fantastic film with a very serious environmental and social critique. Don’t get scared by that because it is actually quite the fun film to watch. After I had the opportunity to watch it, I could honestly state that I am officially a fan of all types of animation!
If you have the opportunity to check out the Animation Show and see some independent animated shorts from around the world, do so. It is worth seeing at least once.
Sometimes I wonder if heading out of the house 2 hours in advance really does me any good. No matter what I seem to do, the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission for those who don’t know about Toronto) appears to be some sort of great equalizer that somehow eliminates as much time as possible between me getting out of the house up till the point I get out of Union Station. Today I managed to get delayed twice while sleeping on the subway. Normally I don’t notice this since I’m dozing off on the subway but today was different. We had to stop at Davisville because someone had pressed the emergency alarm. Automatically people began to panick as the train was delayed and started flocking out of the train as if the world was about to end. The funny thing is that after about 5 minutes, the subway operator announced our train would be ready to leave as soon as the paramedics took the ill person off the train. Of course people began flocking back into the train only to have the operator announce yet again that we would not be departing until the train behind us went first. This of course, led to people flocking back out like there was no tomorrow. I could not help but smile at the silliness.
This has made me decide to start yet another a new blog about the TTC, the people who ride the TTC and have a few people join me in discussing ideas and whining (some prefer the word critiquing…) about daily life on the TTC. I guess technically Spacing Magazine does a pretty good job of discussing the TTC, but I don’t read magazines very often (no time) and Spacing Magazine really is much more activist-like than I am, so this blog will just be for the average person. So … let me know if you’d like to join in on the ruckus.
So aside from my rather silly TTC story, I was studying for my midterm today and I happened across of old goggles. Not just any pair of old goggles, but this pair is classic just because it really illustrates graphic design back in 1995. Not that this relates to graphic design at all, but ask yourself, what were you doing back in 1995? Here’s a shot of it below:
I can’t remember if this was for Chemistry or Industrial Arts…
So you’re probably wondering why I have a pair of these goggles? Actually I don’t, I was looking for Goggles for a photo shoot that I will probably work on tomorrow at Dundurn and I figured it’d make a good prop? Maybe I’ll post them later.
And while I was pondering about life back in 1995 … I recalled a discussion over the weekend about The Littlest Hobo and I figured what better way to honour the past with the intro to one of the best tv shows ever to come out of the Golden Age of Canadian television … well almost. I have a couple of episodes still on VHS although the quality is dying, sadly enough and I have photograph of London. In case you didn’t know, London was the name of the dog in the show. It’s amazing how many people on YouTube still fondly remember the show so well.
I enjoy snow. Very much so. I wish we got more. In fact, I wouldn’t mind a snow day now and then. Although, that’d be good only if it didn’t count as a sick day. It was nice when Toronto almost shutdown due to the snow. I wonder if it will happen again. Would be nice for a change wouldn’t it? ha!
Just a imagine…
Here are some snow-filled-fun photographs:
The Trees were covered with nice nice snow. But that lasted only an hour.
Only time, I have ever seen and heard, lightning, thunder and snow?
Even the people at the Hockey Hall of Fame were covered…
You can really see the snow fly by… look, it’s the two mailboxes that we stuff full all the time! The street is really deserted at this point.
Latest Comments
RSSEhren, Erin
Ehren, Tess, Tales from the Subway Rider » Blog Archive » Thank you for your patience, an operator will be with you shortly…, Packed At The Doors, Empty In The Middle., thedailycommuter, How the Toronto Transit Union Failed their Customers at one little cog, Shey, Ehren, Shey
Wasting (even more) Time at one little cog
Wasting (even more) Time at one little cog
Ehren, laura, Melanie, Ehren, Mark, Erin
Gerochi