Posts Filed under: Audio/Video

If You're Unhappy, You Probably Watch a Lot of TV, Study Finds

by Kaiser Hwang, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 1:03PM

Who doesn't love television. Happy people, apparently. This is the conclusion a team of sociologists at the University of Maryland came to, anyway, after studying a survey taken with 30,000 adults over the 30-ish years from 1975-2006.

Happy people tended to watch approximately 19 hours of television a week, while unhappy people watched closer to 25 hours a week. Additionally, the happy group was more socially active, attended more religious services, and, um, read newspapers more often.

While the study may in fact show these trends, is less than one hour more television a week a sign of... anything? There are a ton of factors that couldn't have been accounted for over time as well. For instance, there was no YouTube in 1975. Nor was there 'The Sopranos.' Or Xbox 360s. With new and interactive media being a huge source of information and entertainment these days, maybe all the happy people are just playing 'Bejeweled' rather than watching television. [From: Asylum]

Facebook, YouTube Serving as Hot Spots for Hate Groups

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 12:36PM

Ugh, the online thugs are at it again. Last week, YouTube executives have removed several videos that were made in tribute to the infamous Columbine school shootings of 1999 and the two boys who perpetrated them, the BBC reported.

In a recent investigative report, the BBC found that a small but thriving Columbine-obsessed community, both in the United States and Britain, was responsible for a large number of YouTube videos championing the Columbine shooters -- fan reenactments of the boys' own homemade videos were also found. After that BBC report brought these developments to the attention of YouTube executives, the offending videos, in clear violation of YouTube's terms of service, were promptly removed. Google UK executive Peter Barron explained, "We do not tolerate videos that glorify school shootings and have removed the videos that fall into that category".

Continue reading Facebook, YouTube Serving as Hot Spots for Hate Groups

'Naked Gun,' the 'Grand Theft Auto' Edition

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 3:35PM

Anybody who has ever been an adolescent boy will jump up and applaud this 'Grand Theft Auto' homage to the slapstick cinema classic 'The Naked Gun,' courtesy of Neatorama.com.

For those who might be too "sophisticated" to know much about that seminal Leslie Nielsen film, 'The Naked Gun' begins with a spoof on that archetypal 'Dragnet'-style scene -- a first-person perspective from a cop car rushing through city streets. Only, in 'The Naked Gun,' the officer driving the car makes a few bizarre turns.

We're all anxiously hoping the creators of 'Grand Theft Auto' have a full-on 'Grand Theft Auto: Naked City' sequel in the works. [From: Neatorama]

Canceled XM and Sirius Channels Rankling Merged Sat Radio Subscribers

by Will Safer, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 1:11PM

The Sirius Satellite Radio and XM merger is rankling more than a few of the service's subscribers now that many of their favorite stations have been eliminated in new channel line ups.

As with most mergers, the two companies are, at best, trying to remove redundancy, putting a positive spin on their new combined effort. In actual practice, that means switching some channels from one service to the other or eliminating programming. This has left some passionate satellite radio subscribers miffed.

Some, like long-time Sirius subscriber Stan Petrov, lament the loss of his NBA channels, which were moved over to XM. But why, you ask, do any channels have to be moved? Aren't the combined channel selections available to all XM and Sirius subscribers? The answer is no. Until now, XM subscribers had to use an XM receiver. Sirius subscribers had to use a Sirius receiver. The two receivers cannot make use of the satellite signal previously assigned to its former competitor. It won't be until next May that combined Sirius/XM receiver will likely be on the market.

Will the new XM/Sirius survive until then?

Continue reading Canceled XM and Sirius Channels Rankling Merged Sat Radio Subscribers

New Xbox Experience Now Available, Netflix HD Streams, Too

by Thomas Ricker, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 9:14AM

Microsoft's new Xbox Experience dashboard doesn't officially launch until Wednesday the 19th. But if you signed up for the preview (and who didn't?) with a valid console ID then it's available now according to Major Nelson. What's more, Netflix has confirmed its Xbox 360 launch details: more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes and 300 streaming HD titles. Remember, streaming is free for Netflix members who are also Xbox Live Gold members. The HD video streams will be limited to SD audio, however -- multi-channel audio is in the works as are additional HD titles. Now get outta here kid, NXE awaits.

[Via Joystiq]

Read -- Major Nelson
Read -- Netflix

HDTV Listings for November 17, 2008

by Richard Lawler, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 7:15PM

What we're watching tonight:

NBC (1080i) lines up 'Chuck' at 8 p.m. followed by 'Chuck' and 'My Own Worst Enemy'
CW (1080i) has 'Gossip Girl' at 8 p.m. and 'One Tree Hill' at 9 p.m.
ABC (720p) has 'Dancing With the Stars' at 8 p.m. followed by 'Samantha Who?' and 'Boston Legal'
TLC (1080i) packs in 'Little People, Big World' at 8 & 8:30 p.m. followed by ' Jon & Kate PLus 8'
Fox (720p) lines up 'Terminator: SCC' at 8 p.m. and 'Prison Break' at 9 p.m.
CBS (1080i) has 'The Big Bang Theory' at 8 p.m. followed by 'How I Met Your Mother', 'Two and a Half Men', 'Worst Week' and 'CSI: Miami'
USA (1080i) has 'WWE RAW' at 9 p.m.
ESPN (720p) presents Browns/Bills on Monday Night Football at 8:30 p.m., and the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon starts with UMass/Memphis at midnight
Versus (1080i) has NHL action with Bruins/Leafs at 7:30 p.m.

Wireless ButtKicker Kit Ready to Rumble Your Posterior

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 5:25PM

Earlier this year, we were fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on perspective) enough to get our rumps on one of the famed ButtKickers. For those unaware, these devices are meant for installation underneath a seat or sofa in order to provide chair-rumbling effects to help you "feel" the film. Now, the Guitammer Company is making them even easier to install by cutting the wires, bringing low frequency audio transducers just inches from your derriere without any cords necessary. The above pictured kit will go on sale next Friday (yes, that's Black Friday for you Americans) for under $300 on Amazon -- are you really ready to rumble?

Artist Wants Webcam Installed In Her Prosthetic Eye

by Engadget Staff, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 4:31PM

Tanya Vlach, a San Francisco-based artist, lost her eye in a 2005 car accident, and now keeps a blog chronicling the "monocular life." She's got a real-enough looking prosthetic peeper, but Tanya's a self-described "sci-fi geek," and, with the approval of her doctor, she's put out a call for engineers to build her a camera... for her fake eye. \

Likening her possible future self (the one with the eye-cam installed) to a cyborg, Tanya reasons that her aesthetic-only eye could become a source of "augmented reality," and she's got a list of possible specs up on her blog for would-be engineers to begin with. Just some of the things mentioned for inclusion are: DVR capabilities, MPEG-4 compression, a microSD slot, A/V out, and Bluetooth. In other words, Tanya Vlach is insanely cool. Emphasis on the insanely part. [Via Digg]

Tivo and Domino's Offering Pizza Via Your Remote Control

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 1:02PM

Clearly catering towards the wants, nay, needs of the average American couch potato is TiVo and Domino's Pizza, which have collaborated in order to bring on-sofa pizza ordering to broadband-connected TiVo subscribers. If you'll recall, this service was actually announced for Australia earlier this month, but users in the US of A get the first chance to indulge. 'Course, this is far from the first unorthodox method of ordering pizza, and the lack of a scheduled delivery option is certainly a weak point, but this widget does reveal that all sorts of differentiating applications could eventually find their way to a TiVo box near you. Feel free to give it a spin tonight, but don't blame us if that backlit remote gets dimmed from grease seeping into the crevices.

[Via ZatzNotFunny]

miBook Electronic Cookbook Offers Step-By-Step Video Recipes

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 8:57AM

miBook Drags Cookbooks Kicking and Sceaming into the 21st Century

Companies has been trying to dream up a "kitchen computer" for years. HP has been pitching itsTouchSmart as a cook-friendly information center, computers have been crammed into refrigerators, and we've even tried out the OLPC as a 21st-century replacement for the cookbook.

The problem is, all these items merely put words on a screen, and don't actually offer anything that a physical cookbook doesn't -- until now. The miBook (pronounced "my book," don't ask us) is dragging your culinary tomes into the modern era, and all without asking you to drop a month's rent on a new gadget. The miBook has a 7-inch screen for displaying video instructions to guide you through the creation of a meal and stops automatically after each step, giving you a chance to replay the action. So, if you don't know how to, say, chop peppers for some sort of dish, then you can just copy what the miBook's video shows you.

The miBook also offers "how-to" multimedia videos -- which come on a little SD memory card -- on gardening, home repairs, pregnancy, parenting, and travel. It's $130, though, which you'll presumably get back by saving money on all those cookbooks you won't have to buy (or so the theory goes....).

Continue reading miBook Electronic Cookbook Offers Step-By-Step Video Recipes

Older Posts →

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Apple TV update 2.3 released MacBook Pro users getting bitten by HDCP Give Good Food to your Mac, now with international cuisine	Markets in Asia sell-off, Japan off 7% Collectible Investments: 100-year old $20 gold piece up 65% in past five years Best Buy (BBY) may end up getting a lump of coal in its stocking
GTAIV 'Lost and Damned' DLC dated for Feb '09 X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: A Kingdom for Keflings Dead Rising vs Dawn of the Dead lawsuit dismissed	LA 2008: Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder unveiled LIVE LA 2008: Porsche reveals improved Boxster and Cayman Knight Rider: The Liveblog -- Season 1, Episode 8
Mosby's Confederacy released on Steam Colin McRae: DiRT 2 revealed New Nvidia GeForce drivers give some games a "big bang" in performance	Trent Edwards and the Buffalo Bills Are in the Middle of a Total and Utter Meltdown A Year After Boom King, NFLers Say: 'We Are Targets' and They 'Don't Know What Safe Is' Former Vikings WR Troy Williamson Is Still Mad at Brad Childress, Wants to 'Duke It Out'

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