Writer's Block

Alright. It's been awhile since I've posted anything. So here we go.

I'm sure you know that a couple weeks ago the Writers Guild of America began they're strike and since then a sleu of popular (and not so popular) television shows have been put on hold leaving the tv grid packed full of their reruns. Initally this only affected late night shows like The Colbert Report, Late Show with David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live. Primetime shows like 24 and Kid Nation continue to air because production for the season is complete or partially completed.

I wasn't too bothered by this because I'm not really a big tv viewer and only watch (Tivo) a handful of shows (Dexter, Weeds, The Office, Heroes, and Scrubs; okay there's more but let's not get too personal). I wasn't bothered until now. Today an L.A. Times article was sent out at work that shows what the writers' strike holds for television programming in the coming months and new year. Production for several prime time shows have been or will be shut down leaving their seasons incomplete and fans hanging. This includes The Office (only 9 or 10 of 30 will be complete and and the finale season of Scrubs (12 of 18 will be complete). Get the full list here.

So now I'm a little dissappointed. But in a way this was also good news. Why? I work at a search engine marketing company and one of our clients is an american television network (guess which one). So while most seasons for shows are in limbo this may (hopefully) drive traffic to the(ir) websites. Why? Some people like reruns. Well on most tv network websites you can view past episodes of current seasons as well as extra video content such as interviews and unaired clips.

According to MSNBC, the networks will be out of new episodes by January 1 and will implement Plan B: reality tv shows. All that we can do now is patiently wait and watch (funny?). But remember, football season's not over yet.

F*ck Breast Cancer: Free Mammogram!

In lieu of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month here's your opportunity to participate and to give boobies a chance. Clickity click...

http://www.blogger.com/www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

Stephen Colbert To Run For President!

Yeah a little late but deliverable news nonetheless. Tuesday night Stephen Colbert announced on his prestigious show The Colbert Report that he will seek the presidential office. However he will only run in the South Carolina primary as Democrat and Republican so that he can lose twice; that's John Edwards territory. But there is still hopes that as a favorite son candidate he will succeed.
Just earlier this month Colbert's book was released, "I Am America (And So Can You!)". There's also the audiobook version which features Colbert as well as Jon Stewart from The Daily Show.
Audiobook cast and crew:

• Stephen Colbert as Himself and as Gil Honeycomb, oldest man in the world (ch. 2, Stephen Speaks For Me)
• Amy Sedaris as Dolores Greerson, old maid (ch. 1, SSFM)
• Raymond Whitman as Young Stephen (ch. 2, six-year-old's note)
• Evelyn McGee as Cow #L73NR, a cow (ch. 3, SSFM)
• David Pasquesi as God, maker of all that is seen and unseen (ch. 4, SSFM)
• Kevin Dorff as The Guy Sitting Next to You at The Stadium (chs. 5 and 13, SSFM)
• Allison Silverman as Your Soulmate (ch. 6, SSFM)
• Paul Dinello as Austin, a formerly gay man (ch. 7, SSFM)
• Brian Stack as Dr. Bernard Brunner, distinguished professor (ch. 8, SSFM) and as Thomas Bindlestaff, executive assistant to Mr. Stephen Colbert (ch. 11, SSFM)
• Jon Stewart as Mort Sinclaire, former TV comedy writer and Communist (ch. 9, SSFM)
• Greg Hollimon as Rev. George A. Lewis, ex-civil rights leader (ch. 12, SSFM)

Stephen Colbert has recently agreed to give the 2008 graduation speech at a Maryland high school, Quince Orchard. Located in Montgomery County, Quince Orchard High School has no true connection to Colbert other than the fact that many students frequently watch his show.

NBC Universal Plans To Acquire Oxygen Channel For $925 Million

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-nbcu-to-acquire-oxygen-for-925-million/
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-nbcu-oxygen-gaspin-digital-brand-will-remain-ability-to-cross-sell-with/

Verizon Wireless - LG's Voyager to Compete with Apple's iPhone

Good to see that Apple's iPhone is finally getting some competition. The Voyager flips open to reveal a full qwerty keyboard. The biggest feature that's absent is Wi-Fi capability (boooo!). Here are more specs and details on the Voyager VX10000:

Network:
Type CDMA dual band ( 800/1900 MHz)
Data CDMA2000 1xRTT/1xEV-DO rev.0
3G Support Yes

Size:
Resolution 320 x 240 pixels

Additional Display:
Resolution 240 x 320 pixels
Type Color, TFT
Colors 262 144
Features Touch-sensitive

Multimedia:
Video Playback Yes
Music Player MP3 format supported , Dual stereo speakers

Memory:
Memory Slot microSD (T-Flash)

Input:
Predictive Text Input Yes
Full Keyboard QWERTY

Connectivity:
USB Yes
Bluetooth Yes

Other Features:
PhoneBook Caller Groups supported, 1000-names capacity, Multiple Numbers Per Contact, Picture ID, Ring ID
PIM Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, World Clock, Notepad
Voice Dialing, Commands, Recording, Speaker Phone
Email Yes
GPS Yes

Article: http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/10/03/verizon.lg.voyager/

Craigslist: Beautiful Woman [Desparately] Seeking Rich Man...

Wish I knew who posted this. Check out this post from Craigslist. http://howardlindzon.com/?p=2725.

Class Action Lawsuit Against Target for Web Accessibility for the Blind

Spff... more like inaccessibility. Finally some attention brought to the importance of ALT tags other than SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes. Read more here.

Radiohead New Album Price: "You Decide"

Radiohead will release it's new album In Rainbow next Wednesday via www.Radiohead.com. Pre-ordering has begun for the digital download and the discbox*. However the most interesting aspect about this release is that pricing of the digital download will be up to the consumers to choose; so essentially it's free. If you buy the discbox you'll also get the digital download as well as some extras; it costs £40.00 ($81.68).

*THIS CONSISTS OF THE NEW ALBUM, IN RAINBOWS, ON CD
AND ON 2 X 12 INCH HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL RECORDS.
A SECOND, ENHANCED CD CONTAINS MORE NEW SONGS, ALONG WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK.
THE DISCBOX ALSO INCLUDES ARTWORK AND LYRIC BOOKLETS.
ALL ARE ENCASED IN A HARDBACK BOOK AND SLIPCASE.

MediaScrape GMaps International News

"MediaScrape, the 'Internet TV News Network' has just launched integration with Google Maps to help users find breaking news videos from around the world. MediaScrape is a Google News Map which is partnered directly with broadcast news outlets such as the BBC, CBC, Asia News International and 25 other outlets and has the ability to play some 35,000 news clips from its vast database. To get started click on a region to see top news clips plotted to a Google Map based on their specific location. You can also select 'Videos by country' to drill down to a specific country rather than by continent. Other video sharing capabilities such uploading, video management and site customization exists when you register for an account on the site."

Office Season 3 Premiere

If you missed the hour-long season premiere of The Office you're in luck because you can watch it at NBC's The Office website. Enjoy!

Tentatively Dated: Transformers 2

Neato! Of course this date can always change. Get a load of the clip below. Although they say this year's movie sucked in which I'd have to totally disagree, everything else is pretty funny.

Google Webmaster Tools Guide

Run a website or blog? Checkout how Google Webmaster Tools can help track and monitor site traffic, optimize for search, and improve site stats. Read more here.

Man Vs Wild Is Back - Sorta

Discovery Channel's Man Vs Wild. What can I say? It was a little disappointing to find out that most of the awesome scenarios were staged. The show's host, Bear Grylls, came under fire earlier this year for allegations that the show's content was fake and not genuine (article, article). These allegations were denied and Grylls admitted that the camera crew had on occasion left him to stay in hotels but he himself never did. Eventually the truth came out and videos (see below) surfaced debunking the show's authenticity.

But now the show's back. All episodes have been re-edited to include relative commentary. Bear's opening narrative still states, “I am going to show you the skills you need to survive this environment” but now he just adds, “But hell man, I AM NOT going to stay here tonight!”. The latter part of Season 2 is currently being filmed. You can checkout Bear Grylls' blog to keep up with the going-ons and progress of the filming.

Break Time: Games

Here are a couple of games that are simple yet very entertaining:
Use the number pad for this one. Find more similar games here.

Try to keep your mouse cursor safe for as long as possible!
http://www.onemorelevel.com/games/avoider.html

U.S. Traffic Bad And Getting Worse

I can believe it knowing that I live in the city with the longest commute time and the country's second worst in traffic congestion, Atlanta. According to this CNN report, the average driver wastes 38 hours per year in traffic. Yikes!

A College Course On YouTube?

Yep. If you're like most internet users, you'll watch a few YouTube videos per week. Now imagine if you could earn college credits while watching YouTube videos; only in California of course. Read more here.

The Sopranos Gets The Big One At Emmy Awards

My favorite HBO series had a big night out last night. The Sopranos won the Emmy for Best Drama for it's season series finale. The ending was a bit abrupt but I think it was just. Here's a little insight into the final episode:

"Ultimately, I think Chase deliberately packed the ending with all these clues to get people speculating about something that isn't relevant. The whole series was really about Tony's soul and whether he was capable of fundamental change and redemption, and that question was answered once and for all as "no" in the Christopher/Vegas episode. Which was the KEY episode of the entire series.

That's where he effectively died and where the audience was meant to stop caring whether he actually lived or died. The final three episodes were actually an epilogue and the final scene was just the writers having a little fun."

Now that it's over I'll have plenty of time for my other current favorites like Weeds and Dexter (Season 2 premieres September 30 at 9PM!). I plan on getting all the seasons for The Sopranos and have couch potato marathon. "Don't Stop Believin'"...

Happy Belated Mr. Redding

Singer Otis Redding would have been 66 years old last Sunday. One song he performed (and is probably most famous for) is a tune that was cowritten with Steve Cropper, "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay". He was born in Dawson, Georgia but when he was 5 his family moved to Macon, Georgia where he spent most his life. On December 10, 1967 Redding along with four of six members of his backing band, The Bar-Kays, perished when the plane in which they were traveling crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin.

"(Sittin' On the) Dock Of The Bay" - covered & performed live by Pearl Jam
"Satisfaction" - covered & performed live by Otis Redding

Check out this blog for a better biography on Otis Redding.

Led Zeppelin [Reunite] To Rock Ahmet Ertegun Tribute

A tribute for the late Ahmet Ertegun will include a very special performance by Led Zeppelin. The remaining members will reunite along with Jason Bonham, John Bonham's son, on drums. Mick Jagger may also pay tribute. Ertegun was co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records who died after being hospitalized from a fall he took while backstage at a Rolling Stones performance in late 2006. The tribute will take place in London on November 26. Read more about this from RollingStone.com.

There have been talks of Zeppelin to tour next year.

NE Patriots Go Paparazzi On NY Jets

A New England Patriots employee was caught videotaping the New York Jets' hand signals during their September 9 season opener. Read more from this Bloomberg article.

In The Snare Tonight

Interesting Cadbury promotion. I dig.
Check out Creativity Online to find more info on this beast as well as other advertisements and commercials.

Also, there's several interpretations behind the meaning of Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight". One being that Collins wrote it about witnessing someone drowning but not helping leaving them to perish. This and many other variations of this interpretation are false. "Oh! Think Twice..."

Here's a promo for ABC's Carpoolers that's premiering Tuesday, October 2nd.

Facebook's Public Search Listing Brings Profile Pages To Natural Search Results

Facebook announced yesterday that beginning next month its member profile pages will appear in search results. Viewing someone's full profile will be dependent upon how the user accessibility is set on that particular profile (set by the profile's owner). You can see that profile pages have already been indexed by Google.

Facebook explains:

"The Public Search Listing of a profile shows the profile picture thumbnail and links to interact with a user on Facebook. People will always have to log in or register to poke, message or add someone as a friend. A user can also restrict what information shows in their public listing by going to the search privacy page. For instance, if a user does not want their profile picture to be shown, they can uncheck that box under “What people can do with my search results."

DMOZ Corrupt?

Supposedly this individual was told to by a DMOZ editor to pay $5000 or they would remove their listing. They ignored it and their listing was removed.
http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/26/dmoz-extortion

Later, a DMOZ editor posted a comment offering help on that blog and shortly after their account was disabled.
http://www.joostdevalk.nl/the-dmoz-mob-strikes-again

For those of you who are not familiar with the Open Directory Project (ODP, aka DMOZ), it is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links owned by Netscape that is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors. It's simple; you submit your site to be listed (for free) and you're either approved or denied listing. Volunteer editors manage one or multiple categories.

So why would you want to be listed in DMOZ's directory? One word: Google. The ODP powers Google's core directory as well as several other search engine's directories including Netscape Search, AOL Search, and Alexa.

To dispute allegations it's been stated that "senior ODP editors have the ability to attach "warning" or "do not list" notes to individual domains, but no editor has the unilateral ability to block certain sites from being listed. Sites with these notes might still be listed, and at times notes are removed after some discussion."

Corrupt or not I've had to shoot many an email to DMOZ questioning why a client's site still has not been listed after several submissions. I've yet to get any reply. Who knows? Maybe they're just lazy, or understaffed.

Here's an interesting blog on Google and DMOZ's relationship.

RIP Luciano Pavarotti 1935-2007

F*ck [Pancreatic] Cancer!
C'mon!

Bridge School Line-Up

Just announced were artists who will perform at the 21st Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, October 27th-28th. The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. These concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi. Proceeds benefit the Bridge School, which assists mentally and physically handicapped children.

Performances are more than likely to be of an acoustic setting.

Neil Young
Metallica
Jerry Lee Lewis
Eddie Vedder with Flea & Jack Irons
Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet
John Mayer
Tegan & Sara
Regina Spektor
(Not necessarily in order of appearance. All acts are subject to change.)

Interesting enough this will not be the first time Vedder, Flea, and Irons have performed together. They tore up the stage earlier this year at the Hullabaloo Festival. It was nice to hear Jack banging the skins again; he hadn't played live with Ed since the 1998 Yield Tour (Pearl Jam). With Flea pumpin' the bass the unlikely trio rocked out a few PJ tunes like "Corduroy", "Better Man", and "Habit". However the main event were the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Checkout the videos below!



More Hullabaloo videos here.

Thunder, Thunder, . . .

THUNDERCATS?! There's a possible movie in the works. Atleast that's the word from Warner Brothers. There had been rumors years ago (I think this is fake) but perhaps it may finally happen. Read about it here, here, and here. imdb.com lists only a date but might have more details for imbd pro members, which I'm not. "2010 watch it go fire!" Thundercats, HO!

Happy Football!

Yep, it's that time of year again. I'm not much of a sports fan but I do like to watch me some college football. How 'bout dem dawgs!? Despite having a young and inexperienced line (they used 12 first-time starters) Georgia was able to defeat Oklahoma State 35 to 14. They stayed pretty consistent throughout the game. However both teams played well. "There were no turnovers for either team until less than 10 minutes left in the game, when Georgia safety Kelin Johnson intercepted a fourth-down pass by (Bobby) Reid."

Another highlight was Appalachian State's victory over Michigan. This may very well be the biggest upset in the history of college football. And what a game it was! All the way up until the final seconds when it seemed that Michigan (leading by 1) was about to punch a 37-yard field goal through it was blocked by Corey Lynch who then made a 52-yard return to the 18. The Mountaineers would seal the deal thanks to a 24-yard field goal by Julian Rauch. Final score: 34 to 32.

Oh yeah and Georgia Tech did alright too giving Notre Dame a blowout loss. Final Score: 33 to 3.

Happy Labor Day (Weekend)!

God Bless America! I'm off to the southeast of this great state for the long weekend. In the words of Cingular (now and once again AT&T), "Be Safe, Be Courteous".

Mike McCready of Pearl Jam closing the centennial celebration of Seattle's Pike Place Market with his rendition of Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner".

Firstees!

This is my first post on my first blog, ever.