Losing reasons to watch television…

September 26, 2008 By 1 Comment

I’ve previously blogged about how you can watch PayPerView TV via streaming sites without having to download any software, or fiddling about with P2P software and accidentally making your bank account details available.

But my time watching broadcast TV has shrunk to nothing. It seems I’m discovering new shows every week which are actually relevant and interesting for me, rather than being the ‘least worst’ of what the channels are broadcasting. Plus the Freeview reception where I live is worse than waiting for an online video to buffer!

Suddenly I’m discovering more and more ‘quality’ content on Youtube. (And I share any good Tech stuff, here)

And it makes my life much, much easier. Take the example of BBC tech show Click, which is mainly shown at 04.30 on a Sunday. Since I now have a baby son, I’ve actually caught the show at 06.45 on a Saturday – but it’s a short version. Presumably because of the 7am rush to see generic news. Online, I can watch the full version any time I bally well like.

Between Youtube, BBC’s iPLayer, and the likes of Qik, is there much of a point to broadcast television? And if you’re about to blame the BBC for being the most popular old media convert to aid the decline – my guess is they’re the best placed to survive successfully for a variety of reasons (including the TV licence fee in the UK), but mainly because they’ve done the best job of making their content available.

And that’s before we look at the likes of Joost, Hulu, Vimeo, etc. Let alone Seesmic and 12seconds.tv. Or Ustream. Or justin.tv.

It’s why I’m glad my broadband account with Zen Broadband actually has a sensible data limit even if it’s the same speed and slightly more expensive than rivals (the customer service is also ace – can I get a discount now?). And one cable to connect my laptop to my HD TV means broadcast TV really is in trouble. A percentage of geeks already spend their entire entertainment time in front of a laptop for text, music and video. Make that work on a 32″ widescreen TV and suddenly it’s a lot more mainstream.

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Why I love links

June 28, 2008 By 1 Comment

By nature, I’m a frustrated librarian and a compulsive hoarder. My music collection is in alphabetical and chronological order, and my loft is packed with old video consoles and other collections which I know fatherhood will stop me from indulging in, except as family heirlooms in 30 years time!

Part of this is a reluctance to lend CDs and books, even to close friends, for fear of them being lost, or being returned with the spine of the book broken beyond all recognition.

But now access to knowledge and entertainment is instantly sharable from the moment of discovery. From the almost infinite resource of online knowledge I can share findings via links, Del.icio.us bookmarks, or RSS. My tastes in music are logged, and accessible via Last.fm, and TV and videos get distributed from Youtube, the BBC iPLayer, or where ever they’re found. And it doesn’t matter if my friends lose them, and they can’t return them broken. In fact, even if, God forbid, I lost all my saved files and links, I could find most of the memorable ones that mattered in a few minutes with Google.

There’s a popular quote by author and broadcaster Leo Laporte which has spread via shared links:

“I’m less likely to read print lately because I can’t tag, bookmark, and share the stories. Info gathering has become a social process for me”

And it rings true. Print and physical copies are now back-ups, or objects for sentimental value. They’re for those rare occasions that you want to get away from it all.

And that’s why I love links!

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Scheduling your work with the ‘kitty litter’ method…

February 7, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Don’t worry, I haven’t decided to switch to blogging about my pets! There’s already enough people filling that niche quite nicely.

The reference to kitty litter comes from the fact that I quite enjoy doing all the stereotypically manly jobs around the house, like DIY, changing light bulbs, and heroically standing up to insect and rodent invaders. And that’s despite the fact I exude the aura of someone permanently bathed in the glow of a computer monitor, laptop screen, or videogame.

But the one task I do hate is cleaning out the cat litter tray, especially if I’ve let it go for a day or two. If it’s done daily, it’s not too bad. If it’s a day or two late – you can probably imagine…

And by the same token, I’m lucky enough to have a job I’m really enjoying, but it does come with some tasks that are either new, or things that don’t always fill me with joy. But the more I do them, and the more regularly I schedule them, the easier it is to get them done and then get on with something more enjoyable. Hence kitty litter scheduling…

In other news, I picked up a shocking story about the UK Government and plans for healthcare from the excellent Communities Dominate Brands. Trying to be impartial, I can see why increasing private sector healthcare makes sense for a Government run like a corporation. But it deeply offends me that the Government isn’t putting service to the electorate first, and seems to have ignored the problems that many people in the U.S encounter every day due to private healthcare. It certainly means I know exactly which party will no longer get a vote from me.

Finally, some other interesting tidbits:

BBC Iplayer drivers online TV in the UK.
General Motors is compiling it’s 100 year history via a wiki
And
A call to boycott writing for academic journals who refuse to allow open access
Proving that even the most exclusive and respected academic journals face the same problems as consumer media and newspapers – and in fact, may find it even harder to adapt to survive.

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