This week we dive into our (non-spoilery) thoughts on the Witcher and get excited about a movie based on Ted Chiang’s story and a TV series based on George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards. But Brad poses a question about how one tells if they’re reading too much.
DTNS 2834 – Now With More Lasers
We talk travel tech with Chris Christensen of the Amateur Traveler podcast.
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Show Notes
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Daily Tech Headlines – August 16, 2016
Intel launches a VR headset, Xbox wireless controllers come to PCs, Google launches its Facetime competitor.
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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 theme music.
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Show Notes
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Cordkillers 133 – Big Fig Leaf for That Package
Cable subs are falling. Now what? ESPN’s online-only service is not what you thought. With special guest Andrew Zarian.
CordKillers: Ep. 133 – Big Fig Leaf for That Package
Recorded: August 15, 2016
Guest: Andrew Zarian
Intro Video
Primary Target
- Cable TV Revenue to Drop by $2.7 Billion in Next 10 Years
– Cable falling
– SNL Kagan forecasts cable revenue will drop 4.7% ($2.7 Bn) by 2026 from 57.7 Bn to 55 Bn.
– Basic video subscriptions are projected to drop from about 53 million today to 45.4 million
– Cable prices will rise. revenue per user from $90.84 to $100.02
– Net advertising revenue is expected to grow at a 4.3% compound annual growth rate
– Q2 2016
– Estimate total loss 812,000 subs, down 1.4 mn. (1.4%) yoy
– Cable TV penetration is at an all-time low of 78.6% in US
– ISPs rising
– The $2.7 bn. drop will be made up for in a rise of $11 bn. in broadband revenue (+13%) (subs increase 8m mn. to 71 mn.) - Every major cable TV company lost subscribers last quarter
– The 11 biggest pay TV providers in the US lost 665,000 subscribers in Q2 according to Leichtman Research
– That’s more than the 545,000 in 2015 and twice the losses of two years ago
– DirecTV gained 342,000 but ATT’s U-Verse lost 391,000 for an ATT net loss
– Q2 is always the worse quarter because students and snowbirds move
– In May the 17 largest ISPs in the US, representing 95 percent of the market, gained nearly 1.1 million Internet subscribers in Q1
Signal Intelligence
- Disney is making an ESPN streaming service without ESPN’s best content
– The rumors were true, Disney announced Tuesday that it has made a $1 billion investment in BAM Tech. BAM Tech powers streaming services from MLB to HBO to the WWE. The deal also lets Disney acquire a majority stake in BAM if it wishes. Disney also confirmed that BAM Tech on an ESPN-branded sports streaming service to launch sometimes before the end of 2016. The service would uses sports ESPN has licensed but does not air on its main channels.
Gear Up
Front Lines
- Twitter and its live NFL games might be coming to Apple TV
- Amazon is introducing 1-Click food purchases inside its own Prime Video shows
– Nikkei reports Amazon is producing a series of shows on Japanese food that will let viewers click to purchase featured products from within the video app. The four 40-minute shows will be made in partnership with Yoshimoto Kogyo feature comedy team aka and Toshi with foods from their native Hokkaido. - The New Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer Has Finally Arrived
– The second trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came out Thursday. It shows more details about the planets and ships involved and a smidge of Darth Vader. An international trailer reveals even more. The movie comes out Dec. 16. - Millions of people have already watched ‘Stranger Things,’ and it’s one of Netflix’s biggest hits
– A startup called SymphonyAM which claims to track Netflix ratings says 8.2 million people watched Starnger Things in the first 16 days making it the third most popular recent release behind Fuller House and Orange is the New Black. Netflix does not believe SymphonyAM’s data is accurate. Symphony pays people to install an app on their phones and laptops which monitors what they watch in part using the phone’s microphone to recognize what’s on TV.
Under Surveillance
- Luke Cage is coming to Netflix Sptember 30 and it looks like one to put on your list if you like fighting.
- Brian: The Get Down 101, Mr Robot 206, Preacher finale, Justified 305, lil’ bit of Olympics. also: rewatched all of Stranger Things
- Tom: The Get Down (101), Mr. Robot (206), Justified (305), Olympics
- Andrew: Stranger Things is awesome!
- On the Lookout: The 1975: Beats 1 Live in LA
Dispatches from the Front
Hey guys!
A few weeks back you did me a huuuuuuge favor, by relaying my call for help with starting a Streaming hardware show…
Well, the community responded, and The VOD Squad was born.
We will be streaming our first episode this Wednesday at 9pm CST.
Come check us out live on diamondclub.tv
Thanks again for everything you do for the community
I can only hope, to someday have bosses as awesome as yours!
– Clyde
Enjoy the podcast. For me so-called “skinny” bundles are a non-starter because they include channels i have no interest in. if I can pick the channels in the bundle so that i get only the channels i want … then maybe. we cut the cord over a year ago and now are are very selective about what we watch. for us the paradigm has shifted and the old, traditional model is dead. the “new” way is far superior – no commercials, bingeing entire seasons, no long contracts, more reliable equipment, and lower cost rules. skinny bundles, as currently implemented, are just not gonna make us interested in the services that offer them.
– Dave T.
I would like to recommend a show called BrainDead. It’s a goofy little show about alien space bugs that eat brains and are trying to take over DC. It stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead of 10 Cloverfield lane. It seems like a show that should be on syfy not cbs. It is also streaming on Amazon prime. This is the first time I have seen a prime time show available on prime. [[Similar to CBS/amazon deal on Under the Dome]] Check it out. One of the best part of the show is the musical previously on before each episode.
– Dave E.
(Hey Brian, I’m going to make it easier for you and write this in 3rd person!)
And here’s an email from Andy . . .
He thought they had killed the cord for good, but last week it was revived. When they went off cable, they added Hulu, CBS all-access, and also started buying some TV episodes. All that added up to about $25 a month in costs they didn’t have while on cable.
Here’s the trick AT&T used to get them back. They offered DirecTv for $50 a month (only a $25 increase after they cancel those subscriptions) guaranteed for the entire 2 year contract, a $200 reward card, and they now get UNLIMITED DATA on their AT&T cell phone service.
The cool thing was, they don’t even have to wait until the dish gets installed to start authenticating apps and watching live TV on their phones. That was all working the same day he called to order. Andy’s kinda considering calling and asking if they can just indefinitely delay actually installing the satellite dish!
Andy also submits the term Cord Reviver to those who bring their cord back to life.
-And that’s from Andy in Taylor, TX
Hi guys! Check out this Harrus poll on brand recognition, etc.
Netflix #1. Amazon #2. Hulu # 5. RC cola- oh how far you’ve come!
————————-
2016 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Rankings
Using an academically vetted brand equity model with elements like familiarity, quality, and consideration, brands create powerful connections with consumers.
The stronger the brand, the greater the bond. The Harris Poll EquiTrend® study benchmarks how deep those bonds go and honors the highest ranked brands in each award category.
2016 Harris Poll EquiTrend®
Video Streaming Subscription Brand of the Year
1. Netflix
2. Amazon Prime Instant Video
3. Twitch.tv
4. HBO GO
5. Hulu Plus
6. Vevo
Other Video Streaming Subscription brands in study ranked below category average (alphabetically): CBS All Access, Crackle, Funny or Die, HBO NOW, MLB.TV, NFL Game Pass, Playstation Vue, Redbox Instant, Showtime (Subscription Streaming TV Service), Sling TV, The Blaze, WWE Network, You Tube Red
– Scott in CT
Links
DTNS 2833 – Skintegrated Circuits
MIT researchers demonstrate gold tattoos that turn your skin into a touchscreen. Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt discuss whether that’s something we want.
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Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Follow us on Soundcloud.
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!
Daily Tech Headlines – August 15, 2016
Google has a new non-Linux OS, Twitter gets into sponsored stickers, and Tesla changes autopilot in China.
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Follow us on Soundcloud.
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 theme music.
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!
WEEK 2 LINES
Hello Everybody:
Once again it’s Mitzula here, the Milky Way Galaxy’s Ambassador for Shecky Greene’s Intergalactic Sportsbook & Cantina. Our sincerest apologies for not having Week 1 lines for Season 6, with the Intergalactic Gaming Commission allowing us to book the Olympic Games in every Galaxy this year we’ve been a little overwhelmed. With out any more delay, here are your FSL Week 2 Lines.
Bet Early & Bet Often!
DTNS 2832: As A Man In My Late Thirties
Twitter will be sold in six months, Instagram’s Snapchat a Success, and The Australian Census, what went wrong?
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Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Follow us on Soundcloud.
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!
FSL Tonight Week 1 – No Joke, er…
With the stars benched or missing, the Senators still have a plan to win the war. Is Arkham even ready for the big leagues? Or are they just a bunch of jokers?
Weekly Tech Views (The Tech – No Logic Blog) – August 13, 2016
Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.
I hope this week’s issue is coherent (as coherent as usual, anyway), what with my attention being pulled to the Olympic track and field events. I can’t help but watch, as it takes me back to my own glory days of running track. No, I did not run track for my school or any “official” organization; it’s more that I’ve run on a track when members of the actual track team weren’t using it. But I have vividly imagined narrowly winning hundreds of races, so I’m pretty sure I know exactly what these Olympians are going through.
Sales On Store-roids
Microsoft proclaimed that the Xbox One was July’s top selling console in the US, ending the PS4’s eight-month reign. Raucous chants of X-B-1! X-B-1! filled the Redmond headquarters, but those came to an abrupt halt when officials announced that the Xbox team was under investigation amid claims that three price cuts over the last two months was certainly evidence of the use of PEDs, or Performance Enhancing Discounts.
If We Were Supposed To Write By Hand, God Wouldn’t Have Made Keyboards
Researchers at the University College London have created an algorithm that can duplicate anyone’s handwriting style. Of course, it hasn’t met me. I’m willing to bet that, given a sample of my handwriting, it would choose to spit out either a) a random set of jagged lines, swirls and squiggles, knowing that anyone looking at it would be forced to shrug and say, “could be,” or b) print a message–in a crisp 12-point Times New Roman font–stating this algorithm is designed to replicate a human’s handwriting style, and it does not appreciate its time being wasted with the output from a defective Etch-A-Sketch operated by the arthritic feet of a deranged chimpanzee.
Samsung Pain
At hacker convention DEF CON, vulnerabilities were revealed in mobile payment service Samsung Pay, chief among them the ability to intercept the “token” that stands in for a credit card number and, more disconcerting, the lack of a 50-volt charge delivered to my hand when it reaches for yet another fantasy football magazine.
But Getting Ripped Off Might Be Cheaper Than The Food Bill
In more DEF CON news, researchers showed how twelve of sixteen home Bluetooth smartlocks tested could be wirelessly hacked. When confronted with this news, only one of the companies responded, and their response was (this is not a joke) “We know it’s a problem, but we’re not gonna fix it.” The good news is the researchers were unable to hack locks by Kwikset and August, nor, as I expected when I bought them, three noisy, hungry Dobermans.
My Name Is PS2, And I’m A PlayStation
Sony will present their PlayStation Meeting on September 7. It’s expected that the new PS4 Neo will be formally welcomed to the group, after which The Meeting– a support group for various iterations of the PlayStation–will commence. They used to get some real work done dealing with feelings of inferiority of the lesser-processor models, but now it’s mostly everyone complaining about why gamers “can’t pick up a damned napkin” between the Cheetos bag and grabbing their controllers.
iPhone Se7en
Also on September 7, rumors have Apple announcing their new phone, the iPhone 7. It will get a fun unveiling with Tim Cook delivering the first boxed retail version of the 7 to the stage while Brad Pitt screams, “What’s in the box? WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!”
“I Swore Being Able To Draw Pictures On Your Watch Would Be Worth $350”
Apple is also expected to come out with two new watches this year, one a minor upgrade to the original with a better processor and slight waterproofing improvements, and another heralded by Apple executives as “maybe the one people will use.”
Numbskully
The founders of Skully, a company that promised to produce an augmented reality motorcycle helmet that would give you “eyes in the back of your head,” are being sued for spending company money ($2.5 million of which was raised on Indiegogo) on personal expenses–including groceries, apartments, a strip club, and the rental of a Lamborghini while on vacation. “Okay, the food and apartment were over the line, but we can’t exactly claim to be the ‘Lamborghini of motorcycle helmets’ without experiencing a Lamborghini, now can we? No, we never officially made that claim. But we could have. Probably would have; you can’t read our minds. Plus, do you know how impressed the strippers were?!”
Advantage–Ads. Wait–Ad Blockers. Wait…
Facebook wants you to see its ads. It is making a concerted effort to circumvent ad blockers by detecting how blockers identify ads, and then changing their code to take away the identifiers. What they somehow failed to count on, however, was the ad blockers not agreeing to sit idly by and congratulate Facebook on its strategy. Less than forty-eight hours later, ads were being blocked again. Twenty-four hours later Facebook produced new code. Twelve hours later AdBlock Plus was blocking ads. Six hours later Facebook stopped them.
Ironically, as the coding battle intensifies, Facebook is bound to become even more popular, as people log in solely to view an ad get beaten to a pulp and fall to the bottom of your screen in a crumpled heap, only to push itself up Rocky-like from the mat, valiantly refusing to be denied the opportunity to tell you about the incredible deals on hotel rooms in that city you visited a month ago!
Flash Flush
Chrome will continue to de-emphasize Adobe Flash Player content. In September, Chrome 53 will start blocking Flash in favor of HTML5. In December, Chrome 55 will make HTML5 the default unless a site only supports Flash, in which case you’ll be asked to confirm that you specifically want to enable Flash. Then, in Chrome 57, confirming the activation of Flash will likely need to be accompanied by notes from your mother, your physician and special dispensation from the Pope.
Plus, The Avatar Gets A Cool Blue Vest
Walmart is acquiring online shopping site Jet.com. Jet will retain its own brand, but upon logging in, customers are expected to notice certain Walmart signatures like low prices and being greeted by a chatbot that retired from its previous job but really missed interacting with people.
That’s all the hard-hitting tech analysis for this week. Inspired by the finish of the Men’s 10,000 Meters, I’m now going to follow the winner’s example of running hundreds of miles per week for the next four years to become the best athlete I can be… no, that’s not right… by collapsing splayed out on the floor in exhaustion.
Movie Draft
Jennie and Tom rocket into second place. Does the rocket have enough to reach first? Follow along in the CRUMDUM.
It’s a plug!
More tech news butchering (200 stories!) can be had at Amazon for just $.99.
Weekly Tech Views (The Tech – No Logic Blog) by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.