Thursday, September 28, 2006
Meet Blogitron
The concept is simple: blogs meet webring. A little new school and a little old school without too much studying. Van matched the look to that too: Web 2.0-y logo with a CGA-like look. Add yer blog and party like it’s 1986, 1996 and 2006 at the same time.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Love Those Blackout Rules
Blackout rules, those rules which don’t allow you to watch away broadcasts of your favorite team’s games or view them online have once again proved how useful they are for some NY Time Warner customers.
Time Warner Cable in Manhattan doesn’t have a set station for Yankees broadcasts. They have a couple of specials channels, and whenever there’s a game in HD, the channel changes from “Off Air” to the game. They generally include the pre-game and then a 7.5 hour block for the game afterwards. I’ve seen some people who are able to watch this specials channel all the time (it’s always YES), but I’m not one of them.
The Yankees and Red Sox are playing a double header today. The first game, 1pm start, was broadcast on Fox. For some reason the HD Specials channel had the game scheduled on the guide, but if you went to it, you saw nothing but a gray screen. So, even though it doesn’t look like Fox actually broadcasts the game in 720p like they do for their primetime shows, it’s still nice to watch it widescreen and I do.
Fast forward to 8pm. The second game is about to start and it’s not scheduled on the HD Specials channel - but the channel is still active from the first game, scheduled to go off at 830pm. A few seconds after my cable box blinked 830 the broadcasts freezes and the screen goes gray. I call TW and explain the situation to the person on the other end. They might have understood the situation in full at first, but after I’m put on hold and told others are calling in I know they do now. Doesn’t help any, it’s 1h20m later and the channel’s still not accessible (chances are someone just scheduled the wrong game for the specials channel).
Here’s where the blackout rules come into play: INHD has the game on. If that channel weren’t also gray right now, I’d be able to watch it, even if it’s just a simulcast of NESN HD, but MLB won’t let that happen.
I’m not completely in the dark. I do have the standard broadcast of the game, but the HD setup wasn’t free. This game is on three channels, and the two I want to watch aren’t available, one due to my cable company’s mess up, the other due to MLB “protecting” the local broadcaster (the same reason why I can’t watch the game online).
Thursday, September 14, 2006
The Potential of Wii
Jeremy’s down on the Wii, which is launching in two months.
I’m on the flip-side here. I have to give some credit to Nintendo. They’ve completely moved away from the “mine’s bigger/faster/prettier” thing that MS and Sony have going on and just concentrated on playing a game and having fun. I won’t make the same mistake I did with the DS/PSP choice. The DS continually puts out games I don’t recognize that well, but are really fun, and the Wii has the potential for the same.
I know I’ll be getting it, and early. The lineup does look “just ok” now, but I have a more open mind about what I might actually like after my experiences with the DS and hell, even the Xbox 360. The simple Live Arcade games sometimes keep me entertained more than the $60 blockbusters.
I think the Wii is going to be huge. More and more people have more than one console. This is where being #2 might turn into being #1.
While I think the Wii will have less games, it will have online play (Mario Party or Kart+online play might be bigger than anything we’ve seen yet) and the classics will be huge, even if the library isn’t (at first). I also think the price point is far from nearly identical.
As we wait and see how this plays out, I’ll be attempting to play my fair share.