Microsoft Corp is not in talks to include Sony Corp’s Blu-ray high-definition DVD technology in its Xbox 360 video game console, an executive said on Wednesday.

The comments by Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, poured cold water on recent speculation that Microsoft could support Blu-ray after Toshiba Corp, backer of the rival HD DVD format, gave up when key movie studios and retailers abandoned the technology.

“Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience,” Greenberg told Reuters in an interview.

Seems that Microsoft is standing on belief that digital downloads will be the preferred method of movie watching – which begs the whole question was Microsofts backing of HD-DVD just a ploy to tangle up the next generation DVD formats to allow time for digital movie download adoption to increase? I say Hmmmmmmmm!

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Can’t wait until the next World Cup to get your football fix? (Yes I say football.) Busy in work but really wish you were outside bending it like Beckham? Well, the next best thing is to drag it like with Drag Soccer. Drag the “players” where you want them to go and they go, though you cannot control the shooting. After playing for a while I’m starting to really have fun with it. Now leave me alone, it’s tied 8-8!

Play It

An end to Hollywood’s long and bitter writers’ strike appeared close on Saturday, as union leaders representing 12,000 movie and television writers said they had reached a tentative deal with production companies.

The strike, which began Nov. 5, remains in effect until the governing boards of the two writers’ guilds gauge the sense of their membership this weekend and decide whether to end the walkout. The boards are expected to meet as early as Sunday, and the strike could be over by Monday morning.

A memorandum sent to some writers guild members summarized a four-hour meeting on Friday in which union leaders briefed a group of 300 strike captains. According to the memorandum, the guild boards and negotiating committee are expected to recommend the tentative deal unanimously, but they are withholding action to end the walkout until after Saturday’s scheduled meetings.

What do you think? What shows have you missed?

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In what could be a major move in ending the 2-month old walk-out of writers, David Letterman, famed late night talk show host and heir-apparent to the crown worn by the late Johnny Carson for over 30 years, has entered negotiations with the WGA that could allow writers to return to work on a network by network and studio by studio basis. Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” was quick to follow Letterman’s lead.

This new tactic could allow the WGA to totally by-pass the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an alliance of corporate entertainment businesses such as the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) General Electric (which owns NBC Universal), News Corporation, Sony, Time Warner, The Walt Disney Company and Viacom (the parent company of CBS/Paramount).

Although agreements with every production company could become VERY confusing, I’m glad that after two months cooler heads may be prevailing and that the major studios are loosing more of their death grip on the industry.

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YouTube

This isn’t terribly new, but politicians know about the YouTube. Why YouTube has become the political success it is, really is beyond me, but those wacky Republicans and Democrats have their own YouTube profiles now.

I’m thinking the word “Tube” is the real reason for its popularity, because the internet is not, in fact, a dump-truck, but a series of tubes.

Political tech-savvy varies. We all know for a fact that Al Gore invented the internet, while others think the internet fills up.

It’s funny because they’re supposed to be serious.

Even more than just putting up YouTube profiles, politicians need to realize that people use the internet for fun. If you want to teach children inside a Chuck E. Cheese, you should dress in something other than a suit. That probably makes no sense, but what does make sense is playing on what’s popular. It’s no secret that people get their news solely from places such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Some people may be surprised and even concerned about this, but it’s the reality, so you’ve got to roll with the punches. I personally get all my news from The Onion, but that’s a different story.

I could care less about The Sopranos, but quite a few people watch it. When they ended the series with an abrupt cut at the end of the final episode, people were talking and the Clintons knew when to strike.

While it’s not comedy, the entertainment value is there, you know, chuckling over them actually doing something like that.

Then came Mike Huckabee, playing on the popular Chuck Norris facts. Chuck Norris facts is a meme which consists of “facts” with questionable merit about the manly man, such as:

Some kids piss their name in the snow. Chuck Norris can piss his name into concrete.

Is there a potential problem doing something like this and being taken seriously? For the target demographic, probably not. Then again, why not have fun when nobody is going to vote for you? (I kid!)

Putting the You in YouTube

Aside from having an online presence, people like to get in on the action too. They want to give their opinions on the things they care about, as will be illustrated by the friendly comments on this post saying this has nothing to do with UNEASYsilence.

CNN will be having debates where you, the viewer get the upload questions to YouTube that will be “answered” or craftily worked around, if you will.

It’s a big, big world out there

Apparently politicians travel. A lot. America is a big place and they have to connect with all you people. But how ever will you know when your politician of choice is in the area when you’re always inside refreshing this site for a new update? By checking them out on eventful, of course. Hillary Clinton is like a rock star, so she has to have a site giving your her tour dates, right? Knowing when Barack is nearby is a search away.

Pics or it never happened

What’s traveling if you don’t have pictures to cherish the memories? Follow Barack and Hillary on Flickr. Now you can criticize politicians for their health policy and the the fact that they’re using the Nikon D40 and not the D40x which has more MP, thought it doesn’t matter since they’re use a better lens. Or whatever photogs go on about.

Witty Comment About Digg

Politicians are in the news, in fact they are news, so why not be their friend on the largest social networking website out there? Digg’s elections page allows you to be friends with any politicians savvy enough to have a profile. Maybe you’ll rethink voting for Chris Dodd after that hilarious comment he made on the “Don’t Taze Me Bro” video. You never know. Get your friend connection on digg here.

It’s interesting to see this approach to the new media, though it’s really no surprise politicians will do anything to get votes. Maybe now democrats and republicans alike will have closer connections with the people, fostering a better sense of caring for people and the issues that support them, thanks to the interactivity of the internet. Or maybe they’ll stop updating everything after they drop out or lose at the polls on election day. That seems more likely.

It’s easy to discount stories of Wiimote accidents as the hyperbolical ramblings of uncoordinated butterfingers– until you yourself get a bit too excited playing Wii tennis and send a white plastic projectile shooting across the room. Sure, there’s the new and improved thicker strap, but apparently that’s still not sufficient to prevent the clumsier of users from laying waste to their houses in a fit of Red Bull fueled bowling. To remedy this, Nintendo has begun offering free rubbery silicone grip sleeves to anyone who cares to ask for one. [via]

Determined to find the law that requires American citizens to pay income tax, producer Aaron Russo (”The Rose,” “Trading Places”) set out on a journey to find the evidence. This film which is neither left, nor right-wing is a startling examination of government. It exposes the systematic erosion of civil liberties in America since 1913 when the Federal Reserve system was fraudulently created. Through interviews with U.S. Congressmen, a former IRS Commissioner, former IRS and FBI agents and tax attorneys and authors, Russo connects the dots between money creation, federal income tax, and the national identity card which becomes law in May 2008. This ID card will use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips which are essentially homing devices used to track people. This film shows in great detail and undeniable facts that America is moving headlong into a fascist police state. Wake up!

via http://www.freedomtofascism.com/

Anyone who does research on any frequent basis can attest to the fact that pay-walls are the bane of their information-seeking existence. In a move sure to please not only lovers of info-pr0n, but regular users as well, the New York Times has decided to drop it’s pay-wall for accessing historical articles, Op-Ed pieces, and other special features. While this is all well and good, the move is a little less than altruistic on their part: they finally realized that the ad revenue to be gained from the locked-up content was greater than they could ever expect to get from subscribers.

Content wants to be free, and gets its wish tonight at midnight. [via]

The store will offer songs in the iPod-friendly MP3 format and give consumers who use the popular music player an alternative source for major label music besides Apple’s iTunes.
The current thinking on a launch date for the Amazon MP3 store is the week of Sept. 17. However, industry insiders aware of Amazon’s plan caution that it remains a moving target. Amazon has already pushed the timetable on the service’s introduction multiple times.

It’s expected to launch around September 17th with about 1 million tracks from Universal Music Group, EMI and independent labels excluding Sony BMG and Warner Music group. Albums are reportedly going to cost $7.99 and $9.99. It looks like the once invincible iTunes is seriously getting some competition.

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I understand the need for a company to make money, and I understand Apple’s desire to keep a universal price structure. But we have seen Apple has bent the rules when it comes to music pricing, so let them bend the rules for video pricing. If NBC wants to charge $50 an episode, so be it – then the consumers will flex their muscle in not buying the content.

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