Mulled Marc

So I was able to Wii today. That sounds bad, maybe that’s not quite a verb for gaming yet (although Nintendo did ask for this with the name). I was able to game with Nintendo’s Wii console today. I’ve watched the announcements and read about the fancy controller and was ready to write it off as a joke. The features weren’t powerful, the controller seemed like a gimmick, it didn’t impress me. Then I played it…..

The controller is not a gimmick. It takes a little time to get used to it’s sensitivity, but it’s a very intunitive interface. The sports games that it comes with work very well with the controller and you can almost believe that you’re really participating in a sport rather than lounging at home playing a game. Dispite rumours, I did not almost knock over a TV while gaming, but had I actually been bowling it would have been a fault..

I didn’t get a chance to try out the classic controller, but it looks perfect for the downloadable classic games the Wii gives you access to. Buttons are laid out nicely, directional controller appears to be a nice 4-axis variety, although the colors could be more Nintendo-esque instead of Wii-like.

The fact that the console comes bundled with Wii Sports means that out of the box, this could provide a decent amount of enjoyment. $250 worth of enjoyment? I’m not sure, but there are other games and if Lucas provides a nice Star Wars light saber game, it might just seal the deal.

The joy in this depends a great deal on Microsoft’s pricing, but apparently Microsoft is planning on offering video downloads on Xbox Live. Not just trailers and game video, but actual network television shows and theatrical movies; Not just standard definition, mind you, but real High Definition beauty. According to engadget the TV Shows will be purchased and the Movies will be rented, all using Microsoft Points. I question the TV Show “ownership” without an archive ability, but they say you’ll be able to delete and redownload any TV Show you’ve purchased. Movie rentals will last 24 hours before they have to be repurchased, but can be viewed multiple times within that 24 hours….if you wanted to.

If Microsoft and the content providers can resist being greedy, this could become a big deal. We’re seeing more and more alternate distribution channels opening up for video content and the A La Carte, always available method Microsoft is setting up makes a lot more sense than broadcast networks attempting to program what I want to watch at 9:30PM every Friday night.

If anyone from Microsoft is reading this (however unlikely that is), here are the keys to success:

• Price – Even though the format is superior they need to price the TV Shows on par with iTunes. Consumers now have a precedent for what a single episode should cost and I’m not sure this brings enough for the average consumer to convince them that it’s worth more.
• Price – Allow a season pass type purchase of TV Shows. Ideally this would include a DVD Set automatically sent to the user at the end of the season.
• Teasers – This is more for the content providers, but they need to give free sample episodes to get people hooked. Remember that we’re not talking about just getting people who missed tonights episode, we’re trying to replace NBC and the other networks entirely. There needs to be a new way to get people to try new shows.
• Portability – Select a show in the video blade, choose “Send to Zune”, magic happens to make sure that the video can be viewed and is optimized for the Zune, the user is alerted that they can plug in their Zune to their Xbox to transfer the video. Obviously none of this can effect the usage of the Xbox so rather than on the fly re-encoding, perhaps there could be a non-purchasable Zune optimized version of all video that the Xbox could download when needed.
• Space – 20GB…..please
• Stargate – The announced Stargate SG-1 movies should be pre-released in High Definition on Xbox Live at least a week before the DVDs hit stores.

via engadget

AT&T has announced that they are creating a broadband service offering 20 cable networks to any broadband user (in the US, with Windows, using Internet Explorer). The service will run $20 a month and AT&T plans to add more channels over time. The service will be the same video service as cable with all of the commercials and AT&T has no plans for banner ads or special frames – the video can be made full screen.

While the first iteration of this doesn’t sound like it will have a great cost / value ratio, if they can pull it off it could be interesting for the whole net neutrality debate. I’ve gotta think cable companies won’t be too happy if people were to cancel video service from their cable company keeping only the broadband connection, then sign up for a video package from AT&T. To have any real impact AT&T needs to offer some kind of ala-carte programming at a reasonable price, a built in method to time-shift wouldn’t hurt either.

While it’s a small step, this is a necessary step to two previous theories of mine:

1. At some point in the near future everyone will have an IP address assigned to their ass. No home phone vs cell phone, no cable package, just an IP address that follows you wherever you go and allows you to view your video content, make and receive phone calls, etc. In the longer term, we’ll all be assigned IP addresses at birth by our robot masters to make our categorization and eventual enslavement more effecient.
2. The concept of cable television and television networks is doomed. This concept will be gone once television producers figure out that they can skip the networks and distrubute themselves using iTunes, online streaming, direct-to-DVD, etc. Perhaps you will still subscribe to a television “network” in the future, but it’s more like a playlist or one of Amazon.com’s “Listmania!” lists. I’m hoping that the producers of Stargate SG-1 fire the first salvo in this battle now that Sci-Fi Channel has canceled their show.

via TVSquad
Engadget
Yahoo! News

This isn’t new, but I had apparently missed it before. AMD has erected billboards in Times Square and in Silicon Valley that tracks cost of power wasted by companies using Intel’s Xeon chips instead of AMD’s Opteron chips. This followed AMD and others creation of The Green Grid, an organization aiming to reduce the power used by datacenters around the globe.

via Good Morning Silicon Valley
The Green Grid

Star Trek Inspirational Posters has a collection of spoof posters using the lessons we’ve all learned from Star Trek – including to never be the ‘extra’ in a beam down party.

via TV Squad

The Solar Tower is a project from EnviroMission to create renewable, clean energy using solar power to heat air, which is then funneled up a tower to power turbine generators. As they describe it:

The sun’s radiation is used to heat a large body of air under an expansive collector zone, which is then forced by the laws of physics (hot air rises) to move as a hot wind through large turbines to generate electricity. A Solar Tower power station will create the conditions to cause hot wind to flow continuously through 32 x 6.25MW pressure staged turbines to generate electricity.

There are also plans to use pools of water or other heat-holding substances to trap some of the heat, that would then be released at night as the air temperature cools.

via CNNMoney.com

The Independent has an artile detailing science experiments that you can try at home (though not always indoors). With each experiment they have a description of the experiment, the expected results, and the scientific principles that are at work. The experiments include making clouds in a bottle, making a lava lamp, and, of course, the infamous diet coke / mentos game.
via Make

Leo Laporte has announced on his blog that the attempts to create a TechTV reunion show may lead to something else – a new TechTV-like broadband channel. The details are rather sparce right now and they are still trying to get all of the TechTV Alumni to agree to use this new platform, but it could be very interesting for anyone greatly disappointed by what happened to TechTV. They are also looking for help coming up with a name for this new venture.

Had dinner at every posh restaurant in town, but still have about 8000€ burning a hole in your pocket? dinner in the sky will dangle you and up to 21 of your closest friends 40-50 meters above the ground so you can discuss whatever secret plans you have for global domination. There is room in the middle of the table for the chef, waiter, and entertainer, or you can have additional cranes made available for a full band or other entertainment.

via Oh Gizmo!