Taking Over Television

Sorry, couldn't think of a much better topic. There's actually not much interesting news out there today, so this should be a relatively brief post. The founders of Skype are looking to develop a legal, ad-supported Internet TV network incorporating professional content from around the world. The thing is though, is there really a demand for this? I don't know that Fireant and Democracy are really growing that quickly, and people seem to be happy with their video podcasts. If they bring some really good content to the table though, it would definitely shake things up. I think there's a much stronger likelihood that bringing the Internet into the living room would find more success, which may make purchasing YouTube a decent idea, and there are a number of players poised to take over Tivo for this purpose. Google is likely the first to pop in most minds because they just acquired YouTube, but they can really afford another hefty purchase in the near future? Yahoo has shown some interest, but how much could they really bring to this market segment? Amazon has Unbox, but it would be a pretty bold decision to make such a bold move with a service that has not yet proven its full worth. I think the acquisition of Tivo by any of these companies with something to gain from digital media would be the biggest takeover in a long time, and some believe that this would lead to the Internet's hostile takeover of our living rooms as people's demand for on-demand content grows. I definitely think that within the next 5 years the network executives will lose a lot of power in deciding when people watch what shows.

People have begun receiving Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros, and it looks like they've come complete with a draft 802.11n wireless card. Plus, it seems that they're running quieter than their predecessors. In other Apple news, they've filed a patent for purchasing music wirelessly via the iPod. This could be more of a preventative feature against the Zune rather than a planned upgrade, but a good strategy nonetheless. I'm actually quite surprised that Microsoft never went for this patent to try and screw over Apple. If you want to know what direction Google is moving into, a paper detailing their goals has been leaked, but mostly pretty predictable stuff. They want to grow their ad revenue, push their communities, spread their tools, and focus on innovation, among other things. It really isn't anything too confidential, in my opinion, but I was hoping to see that they were looking for ways other than AdSense to make money. Lastly, Facebook has implemented social bookmarking, called Shares, that can act as a bookmarklet as well to share URLs and pictures and stuff with your Facebook friends. Out of all their random ideas, this is probably one of the best ones in a long while. It's quite simple and I'd say pretty useful. After all, sharing is caring.

Out of the blue, Yahoo Movies put up a teaser for Hostel: Part II, but it's really little more than a slightly creepy voiceover and a screaming man. We have the trailer for Bridge to Terabithia as well, and I was disappointed by it compared to how awesome the book is. I don't remember if I read it or not when I was little, but I definitely remember hearing great things about it. Will Ferrell is going to be in yet another comedy, this one called Semi-Pro about a washed up basketball player who comes back to coach a struggling team, but I don't see it as being all that great quite yet though. Stereogum has some pretty funny audio from Borat that I'd recommend checking out and maybe putting it on your mp3 player to spice up your next bus ride. Of course, you risk laughing out loud at random moments. Lastly, those crazy bunny animators finally made a Flash movie summing up Fight Club in 30 seconds, and it's quite a good little summary. If you haven't seen the movie though, you definitely should not watch this.

Now for Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
Create a new candle scent.
How about Mint Chocolate Delight?

Soup
Name one way you show affection to others.
Saying "sweet dreams" before they go to sleep. I obviously show affection in more ways than that, but it's different for different people whereas that one is a more general one.

Salad
What is your favorite writing instrument?
I used to like erasable pens, but I'm digging pencils more nowadays.

Main Course
If you were given $25 to spend anywhere online, from which site would you buy?
Definitely Amazon. They regularly have great deals on stuff that I want, especially CDs and DVDs.

Dessert
Are you dressing up for Halloween? If so, what are you going to be?
Yeah, I'm going to be Neo. I wanted to make my own costume, but didn't have the time. I'll come up with something better next year.

Have a great Halloween weekend everyone!