Movie Draft Update, Mr. Robot (5-8), The Shield (701) Rick and Morty (204)
00:45 – Movie Draft Update
03:30 – Mr. Robot (5-8)
11:13 – The Shield (701)
16:17 – Rick & Morty (203)3
DTNS 2561 – That Old Shoe Facebook
Patrick Beja and Allison Sheridan filling in for Tom who is on assignment. Facebook’s overhaul of Notes, more AppleTV rumors, and Google’s new wifi router
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Show Notes
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Cordkillers 84 – Adequate TV
The FCC hands cable companies a weapon, Comcast wants to unseat YouTube, why you shouldn’t buy that Android box.
CordKillers: 84 – Adequate TV
Recorded: August 17, 2015
Guest: Hammond Chamberlain
Intro Video
Primary Target
- The FCC could soon give more power to cable companies. Here’s how.
- Upgrading media rules
– The FCC is considering two rule changes governing how cable and broadcast networks can behave when negotiating retransmission fees in the US
– 1. Lift a ban on rebroadcasting blacked out shows from another city’s TV station.
“In this item, the Commission takes its thumb off the scales and leaves the scope of such exclusivity to be decided by the parties.”
– 2. Undertake a “robust examination” of what it means to negotiate in good faith. This could make broadcasters less likely to risk blackouts.
“The goal of the proposed rulemaking is to ensure that these negotiations are conducted fairly and in a way that protects consumers.”
–In layman’s terms:
– 1. Let cable companies have another option when fighting a blackout if they can convince a neighboring market’s station to let them have their content instead of the more local station. So in Austin if CBS in Austin is blacking out it’s channel a cable company coul try to convince a Houtson or San Antonio station to let it have that programming instead.”
– 2. Basically the FCC currently has a hands off approach to interfering with negotiations unless something extreme happens, which has benefited the broadcasters who have the content. Hard to say what they mean here for sure but they definitely are trying to scare broadcasters into being more favorable in negoations with cable companies
Signal Intelligence
- Comcast to partner with buzzfeed
– Business Inisder has a source that is telling it more about Comcast’s new video platform we’ve heard rumored
– Called “Watchable” but that name could change
– Allegedly partnering with Vox (which it owns a stake in), Buzzfeed (which it is purchasing a stake in) AwesomenessTV, Refinery29, and The Onion, news sites like Mic and Vice, as well as legacy brands like NBC Sports —Full list still being determined.
– Deals are non-exclusive
– Positioned as a rival to Verizon’s forthcoming service
– Come first to X1 cable boxes then to iOS and Android
– Wants to be digital video advertising leader
– While Comcast still has the predominance of video viewing in the home it wants to become the tastemaker for digital video
Gear Up
- Let’s clear up this whole Android TV box mess
- You see a lot of this crap
– We constantly get emails from people asking “Have you seen this XXX box that prmisies loads of free video for the price of a cheap piece of hardware?”
– Many companies are throwing open source Android on a cheap processor with HDMI and preinstalling something like Kodi on it and maybe a few other apps and promising “access to free TV and movies.”
– Most use older ARM processors (Often Cortex A9) and GPUs that are affordable but still handle 1080p
– Generally include 1GB or 2 of RAM and 8 GB of storage., mostly just for buffering and apps
– They try to differentiate themselves with different remotes and cables. Remotes often don’t work well
– You’re just as well off buying an Ouya, Nexus Player or even FireTV and rooting them. Or you can connect your phone with a cable.
– Really you should just buy a Roku or Apple TV.
Front Lines
- Hey that Apple TV service that’s always rumored coming and then rumored delayed, it’s back to being rumored delayed again.
- Sesame Street Will Air on HBO For the Next Five Seasons
– Sesame Workshop has struck a five year deal with HBO to increase from 18 to 35 episodes a year. HBO will get new episodes of Sesame Street 9 months before they air on PBS. - TV’s Next Headache: Football Is Flat
– Last year NFL viewership dipped slightly from 205 million in 2013 to 202 million in 2014. Just a blip in an otherwise steady 200+ million a year over the last several years, or the beginning of a landslide away from traditional TV EVEN for football? - DC Comics Workplace Comedy Lands At NBC With Pilot Production Commitment
– NBC has reportedly committed to a pilot of Powerless, a half-hour single camera comedy about normal people working at a very bad insurance company, set in the universe that has DC superheroes. Ben Queen, writer of Cars 2 is on the project. - BBC Three’s TV channel set to disappear on March 1st 2016
– UK Broadcast network BBC Three will officially stop broadcasting over the air and become an Internet-only network starting March 1, 2016.
Under Surveillance
- Netflix’s newest original film pairs Christopher Guest and professional mascots
– Christopher Guest will bring a feature-length movie called “Mascots” to Netflix in 2016. The movie will follow the 8th World Mascot Association Championships, where a group of ‘unusual’ men and women, with big heads and furry suits, compete to win the prestigious Gold Fluffy Award. - Brian: Star Wars Rebels, Mr Robot (5-8), The Shield, Wet Hot American Summer (2, 3), Rick and Morty
- Tom: Attack on Titan (1-2), Clone Wars, Continuum (310 – 311), Mr. Robot (8), The Shield (702)
- Hammond: The Wrecking Crew, The Death of Superman Lives, Mr. Robot (1-5), Wet Hot American Summer 1,2, Behind the Mask
- Bryce: The Knick
Dispatches from the Front
Hi Tom, Brian, and Bryce,
I am preparing to leave the parents house finally!! I will not be getting cable so i was wondering which over-the-air antennas y’all think is the best and which OTA DVR that does not have a monthly fee is the best?
Thanks so much for the show!
– Lauren from Dallas
– Wineguard Flatwave supposedly has better range than the Mohu Leaf, Channelmaster
Hi Brian,
Just listened to this week’s Spoilering Time and was hoping for some clarification.
I always assumed that the red star ratings on Netflix were part of their “magical” algorithms and represent what they think you would rate something.
So in the case of “Hot girls wanted,” Netflix thinks that Brian will give it a 2 star rating after watching it. This of course being based on your viewing habits and what you have rated in the past that might be similar.
Therefore, critical reviews have no effect.
My confusion came when you stated the rating there was based on other Netflix users. Is this the actual case? Have I been giving Netflix too much credit with their ability to make recommendations based on my tastes? Am I gonna have change my discovery habits? Does Tom know? Is this really diet Dr. Pepper? Please help.
Your boss,
– Byron
I had a thought about a consequence of cord killing that maybe you haven’t talked about. Made y’all a little video:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57192/cord_cutting_complicates_money.mov
If .mov doesn’t work for you let me know,
– Allison
Tom & Brian,
Do you think this is the last time US presidential election campaigns that will operate in a traditional way? In 2020, with the assumption of massive cord cutting, campaign ads can’t run like they do now given limited ad space on hulu, netflix or cbs.com. How do you think that it will change if at all?
– David
I will never be able to convince my wife to cut the cord if I can’t reassure her that it actually works. I only have a couple digital movies, but two out of the last three times I tried to watch one I was unsuccessful because of DRM authentication.
One was on a wifi tablet while on a car trip, and Disney Movies Anywhere decided it needed to authenticate. No movie for you!!
Today, I wanted to listen to the Lego Movie while driving, but Flixter decided that it didn’t agree with my phone about what time of day it is. No movie for you!
These were both locally downloaded copies of movies I “own”.
Wtf.
Thanks for the show.
– Ander
Links
DTNS 2560 – Slamazon
Veronica Belmont and Roger Chang fill in for Tom who is on assignment. Amazon and Android will most certainly be discussed.
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Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org
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A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 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 Blog – 5 (August 15, 2015)
Thanks for visiting the Weekly Tech Views Blog. Give me five minutes and I’ll bring you the week in tech, without the annoying intrusion of facts or common sense.
For the week of August 10 – 14, 2015
Phone Maker Finds Silver Lining in Security Foul Up
Phone maker HTC was found to be storing users fingerprints in an unencrypted image file. Said an HTC spokesman, “On the bright side, this report does indicate that we sold a phone, so that’s a nice surprise. And while we will certainly be reviewing our protocols, I am frankly stunned that security was a problem, considering I need signatures from two supervisors and a week’s notice to get a stupid Sharpie from the supply room.”
Obscure Processor Flaw Convinces Gamer He’s Not So Pathetic
It was found that all Intel X86 processors since 1997 contain an exploitable flaw that could allow access to System Management Mode. I don’t really know what that means, but my take is that I finally have an excuse for never beating Quake 3.
Probably No Meal Service Either
A Dutch engineer is working on a self-flying quadcopter named Quadro (Dutch for “big-ass drone”) capable of carrying passengers. While he has so far been able to keep a rider in the air for only ten seconds, he has decided to continue development to extend the time aloft, rather than marketing Quadro as a really expensive way to cross a busy street.
Twitter to Popular People: Take That
Twitter removed the 140 character limit on Direct Messages, now accepting up to 10,000 characters. This is big news for anyone in the publishing industry who has accidentally set their Twitter settings to accept DMs from all users, as they will soon be receiving the first fifty pages of my novel Chrysanthemums in Winter, the story of a plucky young girl, who, after her negligent teenage parents left her in the woods in deepest rural Alabama at the age of three, grew up alone in a tiny abandoned shed, surviving on pine cones and iffy plants. Yet she was able to harness the never-say-die determination, that, as a young lady, led her back to civilization, where her “Gee, isn’t every day a glorious gift to be treasured and how could you complain about anything when you get to live in a big beautiful world like this” attitude… really got on people’s nerves. So she went back to her shed in the woods to grow old and die. Though “old” is overstating it; I mean, living on pine cones and iffy plants can only take you so far. Probably made it to her early thirties.
Hello, best-seller lists.
Card Game Wins the Internet
Reports have the digital card game Hearthstone making $20 million per month. In other news, I’m excited to announce Stonehearth, my wildly addictive build-your-own fireplace app. Imagine the thrill of playing a run of cards like FireBrick – Refractory Mortar – Fontainebleau Marble. Hoo-boy! Plus, choose from over 150 pokers (only 99 cents each), available in each of Crayola’s 120 colors, and select NFL, MLB, and NHL team colors.
Racing Drones Look to Nab NASCAR’s “Do You Think He’s Dead?” Fan Base
While the Drone Racing League is getting significant financial support, there is concern over how viewer-friendly the sport can be in person. Realizing that many NASCAR fans show up in hopes of seeing crashes, the DRL fears that unmanned drones may not provide high enough stakes, so when a drone does crash, the pilot on the ground–his or her image projected on a 400-foot Jumbotron–will be beaten around the head and shoulders with a bag of nickels.
From the Home Office in Mountain View, California
Google restructured this week, creating a new parent company named Alphabet. Publicly, this is being presented as the brainchild of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, but when you read the new essay by Dan Brown (author of The DaVinci Code), it becomes clear that someone behind the scenes is pulling the strings. That’s why I’m proud to present an exclusive, world premiere excerpt from The Dave-inci Code: David Letterman’s Quest to Own the Internet:
The creation of Alphabet was no simple restructuring on Google’s part. No, this was another step in a mission for one man to rule the online world. A man who spent 33 years in a position that allowed him to not only amass a vast, mid-tier-Kardashian-level personal fortune, but to simultaneously form relationships with the most powerful entities in show business, politics, sports, and zoo administration, not to mention ingratiating himself to generations of the world’s future leaders as they reclined on ratty sofas, eating pizza and drinking beer, in college dorm lounges across America.
If you are looking for it, the evidence of Mr. Letterman’s influence is almost comically obvious.
– Having existed for seventeen years, Google suddenly decides to “restructure” two months after Letterman “retires,” and chooses the name Alphabet. Why Alphabet? What sense does that make? Plenty, if the person making that decision is named LETTERman! Boom!
Did Letterman have a part in not just the formation of Alphabet, but in the creation of Google itself? It’s unproven, but consider…
– In a pre-Google era, Letterman, with millions of viewers as witnesses, dropped a computer from the top of a tall building just to watch it shatter on the pavement below, obviously symbolizing his disgust with, and his intent to revolutionize, the existing state of technology (he also seemed none to happy with the watermelon and guacamole-filled-balloon industries).
– Hinting at the world’s coming paranoia over Google trying to learn everything about everyone, Letterman subtly promoted a kindred philosophy via the antics of The Guy Under the Seats. This unsettling character was portrayed by prominent early member of the secret inner circle known as the Letterati, Chris Elliott, who would creepily peek out from beneath a trap door and proclaim, “I’m watching you… I’m always watching you.”
– Google, with its myriad ventures—self-driving cars, home automation, health research–has been seen as a company willing to throw ideas against the wall to see what will stick. Would it surprise you if, inside the those very walls at Google, this attitude was called Is This Anything? Or maybe Will it Float? No, I don’t have any proof that this was the case, but it sure wouldn’t surprise me, because both of these phrases were titles of regular segments on Letterman’s show! Hah! And, of course, Letterman, donning a Velcro suit, launched himself via trampoline at a Velcro wall to see if he would stick. Check-freaking-mate!
– What is YouTube if not a collection of Stupid Pet Tricks, Stupid Human Tricks, and Letterman’s pre-recorded remote bits? It then obviously follows that Viewer Mail was the comments section. Let me check my notes here… who owns YouTube?… Oh yeah–Google! Have you ever seen a puzzle fit together so perfectly?!
Basically, Letterman’s show was the internet before there was an internet, and now he wants to stake his rightful claim. And why? To what end? I think that should be obvious to everyone at this point. It is so that any time anyone Googles “Jay Leno,” the only result is a video of a monkey washing a cat.
I rest my case.
Thanks again for stopping by the Weekly Tech Views Blog. If you enjoyed it, feel free to send a friend or five this way. If you weren’t so crazy about it, we’ll just pretend this never happened.
Weekly Tech Views Blog by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
FSL Tonight Week 9 – Playoff Bind
Gallifrey makes a run at the playoffs. Do they have enough time?Cheyenne locks its chevrons on the championship.
DTNS 2559 – Robots– get ON my lawn!
Tom Merritt welcomes Darren Kitchen, fresh from Defcon and Black Hat, to tell us why we should stop worrying and learn to love the hacks. Plus Len Peralta illustrates the show!
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Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
Week 9 Lines
With only 2 weeks left in the season things are heating up. Shecky has decided to offer some additional regulation props for your betting pleasure. Here’s your week 9 lines and as always Bet Early and Bet Often.
DTNS 2558 – One Range to Rule Them All
Smart kitchens are finally moving past putting Internet connections in a refrigerator. Michael Wolf talks with Tom Merritt and Justin Young about whether tech can help you cook.
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Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
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Show Notes
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DTNS 2557 – Lenovo always has your back… door access
Twitter needs a permanent CEO. Doresey buys more stock. Twitter needs more monetization. API fpr brands to access tweet archive. Twitter needs more monthly active users. Limit lifted on DMs. What is Twitter good for? Scott Johnson, Anthony Carboni and Tom Merritt discuss.
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Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org
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A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 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!
(more…)