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Fri, September 30

The Coin vs. The Quan

This is about as close as I'm going to get to a discussion of pro football. I wasn't even athletic enough to pick up a coin and flip it. (Read more.)

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RDRR—9:30 AM

Google Image search for "robot boxers" 1 year ago:

Today:

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Thu, September 29

Spam—8:26 PM

Received the following by e-mail today. I guess I'm still on a mailing list for sitcom tapings since we went to see NewsRadio.

By far the worst offer I've ever received by unsolicited e-mail. It's frustrating to learn that they are still taping episodes of Whitney, but at least it's nice to know that they can't even give the tickets away.

It amazes me that there's such a thing as whitneytickets.com. If you want to be awesome, go there and create a bunch of fake ticket requests so they play to an empty studio. If you want to be a hero for life, actually use your tickets and then whip out a flamethrower as soon as the show starts. Let's make some art!

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Mon, September 26

What I've Learned

The Annual TiVo Gauntlet of New Fall Programming is not an exercise in entertainment. Not by a long stretch. So hopefully it is at least a tool for learning. (Read more.)

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Netflix vs. Copyright Robber Barons—2:56 PM

From Daring Fireball today, two very nice entries which tidily answer my question about the Netflix/Qwikster split. It comes down to bullying tactics by the studios that produce the content Netflix rents, and the differences behind what you can do with a DVD vs. what you can do with a digital stream of data:

It's the Content Providers, Silly [The Angry Drunk]
What's Really Behind the Netflix/Qwikster Split [Outside the Beltway]

Of course it is frustrating that movie studios see it as their primary business objective to constrain and restrict the way people who like their movies (or TV shows) can pay for access to the entertainment that has been made for the purpose of being enjoyed by that same audience. But we can hardly consider that astonishing at this point. (It definitely doesn't make you feel sorry for them when these arcane restrictions force you, as a last resort, to acquire something via unlawful download once in a while.)

These are the reasons I've always resisted video-on-demand, streaming media, and services like Rhapsody, Napster 2.0, and Spotify that give you access to something that resides "in the cloud" – you don't really actually have a thing. And without a thing, you're always at the mercy of someone changing the rules and taking away the value you're paying for. There's a convenience to Netflix Streaming (or, as it will soon be known, Netflix). It's great when I just want to watch some old TV shows or a silly movie. But when I want to see digital quality, special features, and know that I'm buying access to a reliable inventory, the only choice is Netflix. (Which will now be called Qwiskster.) (Presumably because ClownPenis-dot-fart was taken.)

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Wed, September 21

Forgive Me, Hank Azaria!

This column is late! September is the month each year when I housesit instead of working. I always think this will mean more time to watch new shows, though I'm always proven wrong. (If the thought of lovebirds, swimming pools, or TiVos create happy feelings in your mind, I'll keep my horrible week to myself and let you retain those fond associations.) (Read more.)

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Tue, September 20

The One Thing I Don't Understand About the Netflix Split—11:59 PM

It seems like a pretty terrible idea, and nobody seems to like it, but it won't cost any more (than it already does due to the price hikes this summer). My guess is that after the initial shock blows over, nobody will think much about it. As long as the streaming deals with content partners don't completely dry up, there will be some customers who sign up for streaming-only, some who prefer DVD-only, and some who enjoy both – just like today.

What I don't understand is dividing up the queue and rating functionality between the two services. Different brands and names, fine, but the ease of finding movies and tagging them for later viewing (whether you wait for the disc or just stream it) has always been the main thing Netflix has going for it. Hell, their ratings and movie suggestions are so important they spent a million dollars tracking down a better recommendation algorithm. Why diminish that benefit by forcing people to rate movies on two separate systems, and search two separate sites to find a movie they want to watch? The rest of this decision is boggling but not that big a deal – splitting up the review/recommendation and queuing process has the potential to create frustration and missed opportunities that may lead to an irrecoverable loss of subscribers.

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Wed, September 14

Unto You a Season is Born

(Yes, I have officially given up on coming up with clever headlines for these columns.) The TV season is starting! (Read more.)

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