Jeffrey McManus

The New Thing

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Entries Tagged as 'TV'

DialIdol Predicts Call-In Vote Winners

May 22nd, 2008 · No Comments · TV, Web/Tech

Link: DialIdol.com – Measuring the busy signal
DialIdol is a piece of software you can install on your computer that uses a modem to auto-dial call-in numbers for contest shows like American Idol. The interesting twist is that the software records whether it receives a busy signal each time it calls in to vote. The software [...]

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Writer’s Guild: “Why We Fight”

November 8th, 2007 · No Comments · Movies, TV

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Why Don’t More Writers Use The Net to Bludgeon the Studios?

November 6th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Movies, TV

I’ve seen a few posts about the writer’s strike in the past few days to the effect of "ha ha, those evil Hollywood studios and networks, this will be the last nail in their coffin." Maybe, maybe not. I generally sympathize with what the writers are demanding (of course they should get residuals on online [...]

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NBC To Launch Loathsome, Defective Video Download Service

September 19th, 2007 · 10 Comments · TV, The NY Times Valiantly Attempts To Report on Technology

The other shoe has dropped in the Apple/NBC divorce. NBC announced plans to launch its own online video service this fall (which suggests to me that they’ve been working on the service for some time now — without a doubt they had this plan in their back pockets during their negotiations with Apple).
I can already [...]

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New Futurama Movie Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

September 13th, 2007 · 1 Comment · TV

Eeeeeeee! The new Futurama movie that’s due out in November on DVD is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

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NBC to Sell New TV Shows on Amazon Unbox

September 4th, 2007 · No Comments · TV

Link: NBC to Sell New TV Shows on Amazon Unbox
"On Friday, Apple said it will not sell any of NBC’s programs for this fall season on iTunes. NBC and Apple have a contract that expires at the end of the year; Apple said NBC wanted to raise the prices for its content, a claim NBC [...]

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A Variation on the DVR, Without Ad Skipping

August 19th, 2007 · 5 Comments · TV, Tivo

Link: A Variation on the DVR, Without Ad Skipping
"’We have a particular sensitivity to the needs of business in every stage in the value chain, because we’re part of a diversified media company,’ Mr. Stern of Time Warner Cable said."

This fascinating new-economy corollary to "the customer is always right" must make Time Warner Cable subscribers [...]

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Viva New Jersey

June 10th, 2007 · No Comments · TV

Link: One Final Whack at That HBO Mob
"Alone among the cast, Mr. Van Zandt had been up close to a cultural phenomenon before. But one thing struck him. ‘I am having the experience two times in my life of doing something that makes New Jersey fashionable. What are the odds on that?’"

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Amazon Unbox: Day 2

March 14th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Amazon, TV, Tivo

We’ve watched our second free Unbox movie on Tivo and I have to say I’m warming up to it. I still don’t think it’s a better value than Netflix (we’re particularly missing DVD special features, which we enjoy mightily and Unbox doesn’t provide). But when I am sitting at my desk at 2pm and I [...]

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My Capsule Review of the Current Season of Battlestar Galactica

March 14th, 2007 · 1 Comment · TV

Too many people yelling at each other, not enough spaceships and robots and explosions.

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