Random Thoughts

This morning (first post of 2011 huh?) I got to thinking about what was wrong with Caprica.

Why did the Sy-Fy Channel cancel it?

Of course, they’ll site viewer numbers and say that people weren’t watching it. I think that would be partially accurate. People didn’t watch it because they didn’t know when it would be on. One of the common problems of networks in general is that they advertise the hell out of everything on their networks which means you have to be watching their networks to see when certain shows will be on.

At least, that’s how it used to work.

Now, I don’t watch any of your network nonsense. In fact, I didn’t watch a single episode of Caprica on Sy Fy. I downloaded the shows from iTunes. I never had any intention of watching Sy Fy to see the show nor did I ever do so. That makes me wonder if Sy Fy ever included those folks when they factor in the numbers?

What about Hulu or TV.com?

(Update: I just stumbled upon this great article about people leaving their cable and television providers in favor of internet based solutions.) The whole story link is here.

The proliferation of viewing devices — including a new generation of TV sets that connect to the Internet — could boost the chances that viewers will do what cable and satellite companies fear most: cancel their $70-a-month subscriptions in favor of cheaper Web options.

People want to watch your shows just like they always have except now they want it delivered their way and not yours.

They are not going to watch your channel but they do want to watch your shows and that is what you need to monetize.

As I said in a couple of paragraphs above, we never knew when the show was going to be on. That is bad. It’s the same rule for podcasts. People stop listening when you stop delivering your show on some kind of schedule. Caprica was horrible in this regard. Do you remember when TV seasons were about 24 episodes long and were fairly dependable? I miss those days.

I could write a big long post about this. Maybe I will.

An Apparent Misconception

Check this out.

People who watch funny videos on the internet at work aren’t necessarily wasting time. They may be taking advantage of the latest psychological science — putting themselves in a good mood so they can think more creatively.

That’s a great discovery except for one small factor…

…the “getting fired for screwing around at work” thing.

Other than that…solid.

This Week’s BS Award Goes To…

This Lifehacker Article that claims that idling your car is bad.

For those readers in chillier climates it’s a common to see people trudging out to their cars to warm them up early in the morning. It turns out all that idling isn’t just ineffective but a waste of money too.

The common belief is that you have to start a car ahead of time in cold weather or else the engine won’t be warm enough and you could damage it. It turns out that engines only require around a half minute of idle time to warm up; excessive idling decreases the life of your engine and unnecessarily kludges things up.

If you really want a good laugh at the expense of the author read the comments below the article. For example…

It’s not just your engine that needs a warm up. You want the fluids circulating freely through the automatic transmission and through the power steering system before driving off. They don’t need to be at operating temperature, but a couple of minutes to let the fluids flow and move about can save wear and tear.

The article is easily defeated by simple common sense.

Yes. The article was written with an obvious “green” bias.

A Podcast for Andrew

andrew-lawton21.jpg

As many of you know, my friend and a host on my network Andrew Lawton has taken ill.

For the latest updates, go to girlontheright.com

We’re doing a Brass Balls Radio show for him on Friday at 7:00 pm EST.

So far…

Mike Williams
Wendy Sullivan
Kathy Shaidle
Kimberly Haney

have confirmed and will be attending.

We have also opened up the phone lines for anyone who may not be able to participate but would like to pass along their well wishes.

717.892.0353

Again, for further details, go to girlontheright.com and Jimmie also is mirroring the updates and providing information over at his blog.

And please, pray for Andrew!

Update (12/18/10) – We recorded the show last evening. Actual attendees were myself, Wendy Sullivan, Jimmie Bise, Joe Guzman, and Kathy Shaidle. I would like extend a hearty “thank you” to Roch Bordanave (our announcer) for recording special VO material for this show on his day off. The show is currently in post production and show be released sometime tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who helped us with our Get Well Andrew Show!

Update (12/23/10) – Show link is here.

Is Condescension Ever Funny?

Check out this excerpt from Paul Carr at TechCrunch…

Rule One: The next time one of you asks the rhetorical question “why is this news?” I swear to God I will come round to your basement, gather up all of your Wil Wheaton action figures and melt them down into a giant plastic phallus. If you’ve ever seen the Miriam Karlin scene in A Clockwork Orange, you know what happens next. Save us both a trip and next time you find yourself asking “why is this news?”, instead ask yourself “why do I still live with my parents?”. It’s news because people better than you said so.

Fortunately for me, I am smart enough to decide what’s news and what’s not.

Some dipshit at TechCrunch sure as hell isn’t.

A Note for a Friend

I need to write this post for myself more than for anyone else.

This has been an emotional roller coaster of a weekend for me and those of you who know me, you know that’s saying something.

A young friend of mine was hospitalized in the middle of the week. In addition to being a friend of mine he also hosts two shows on my network.

I didn’t know much more beyond the fact that he had been hospitalized. I didn’t know what was wrong with him although I am aware he has had some serious issues in the past.

I got a call yesterday from an old friend of mine who informed me that his condition was worse than I originally imagined. In fact, whether or not he would live through the day came into question.

When I hung up the phone, my heart dropped. He is too young for this to be happening to him.

My heart goes out to his family and his friends.

We’ll all be praying that he makes it out of this.

Cool. Not.

bd1.jpg

This won’t work for the very reason that you see in the photo. Extending your arm to touch a screen has been proven not to work very well. It’s an un-natural motion that causes physical pain over time. Hell, try it for 20 minutes!

That’s why the iPad and other touch devices do so well. It’s easier to look down and touch a pad then it is to extend your arm and touch your computer monitor.

This is a horrible idea that obviously didn’t take real world application into consideration before designing.

Time Machine Rocks!

time-machine-icon.png

As I was going through my recent recordings of network shows we have recorded in the last few days, the unthinkable happened; I deleted a show segment.

At first, I panicked. There was just simply no way to get this show back. Getting hosts to gather round for a podcast can be very tricky at the best of times.

Then, it hit me. I have a Time Machine backup.

I went back a few days and lo and behold was able to recover the file I had deleted.

For you Mac users who use Leopard and above there just isn’t a good excuse to not use Time Machine. Buy a drive, plug it in, and that’s all there is to it.

Time Machine for the win!

Scientists Know Everything

Ok, maybe not.

A bacterium found in the arsenic-filled waters of a Californian lake is poised to overturn scientists’ understanding of the biochemistry of living organisms. The microbe seems to be able to replace phosphorus with arsenic in some of its basic cellular processes — suggesting the possibility of a biochemistry very different from the one we know, which could be used by organisms in past or present extreme environments on Earth, or even on other planets.

The article also says, “Oddball bacterium can survive without one of biology’s essential building blocks.”

Apparently, your essential building blocks thing is flawed.

I guess they don’t know everything.

Makes you wonder about global warming as well…

…doesn’t it?

Additional Rant Added 12.04 – The moral of the story is that scientists, more than anyone else, should not be dealing in “absolutes.” Time and time again they are either proven wrong or we find that what they believed to be an “absolute” truth is nothing more than a misguided idea predicated on erroneous data which leads to false conclusions. They then present these false conclusions as fact. Too much coffee is bad for you, red meat is bad for you, and “absolutes” of this nature are often repealed after later research shows a different result. Science is always evolving and we don’t have all of the answers. I believe that anyone who leans on the “absolutes” of science will soon find themselves flat on their ass.

Reverse Aging?

This is interesting.

A technique to keep the tips of your chromosomes healthy could reverse tissue ageing. The work, which was done in mice, is yet more evidence of a causal link between chromosome length and age-related disease.

Telomeres, the caps of DNA which protect the ends of chromosomes, shorten every time cells divide. But cells stop dividing and die when telomeres drop below a certain length – a normal part of ageing. The enzyme telomerase slows this degradation by adding new DNA to the ends of telomeres.