The new port of XBMC not only makes the second-gen AppleTV one of the cheapest devices out there that can run XBMC short of a used Xbox, but it also adds some lovely functionality to Apple’s woefully slim-featured set-top box, including the ability to pump out 1080p video, play a myriad of codecs and web content natively, as well as install and expand your experience with new apps.
My original Xbox running XBMC was, hands down, the best media centre I’ve ever owned. It never once complained about codecs and it ran silky smooth. In fact, I still keep it hidden under my TV for emergencies. The only problem with it is the hardware itself. The Xbox is bulky, noisy, ethernet-only, and has no remote control, so when I use it, I’m forced to use the monstrously huge Xbox controller, with its cable draped across my living room.
I had been thinking about getting a Boxee box, but slightly went off the idea after reading Jon Hicks’ lukewarm review. The availability of XBMC on the ATV2 nails it for me. My next toy.
Sinead Duffy is a lifecoach (with her own company, Great Minds) who has set up the mother of all Twitter accounts. Called Greatest Quotes, it’s an auto-tweeting feed of… greatest quotes. Astonishingly, Greatest Quotes is growing by 10,000 followers per week. That’s almost as much as Ashton Kutcher.
Ah, you think – that’s a bit of a swizz. Sure, just set up a few RSS feeds and let it take off; that’s not a real account.
Think again. Because of this account, Duffy is getting business online. And it’s cash upfront. “I coach select overseas clients via Skype and charge through Paypal,” she tells me. “It’s mostly through Twitter that potential clients find me.”
Who’s laughing now?
Coaching. “Select overseas clients”. From a Twitter account that spews out ‘greatest quotes’.
Sometimes I think this recession hasn’t hit hard enough.
In fact, aside from the fact that Blu-Ray’s high definition picture is so ridiculously gorgeous, the whole format is demonstrably worse than what came before it. — Khoi Vinh
Agreed. I’ve only used Blu-Ray on a PS3, which is probably better than most standalone players, but all of the consumer-hostile “features” of DVDs — unskippable logos, previews, warnings, and disclaimers, long animation delays before menu activation, custom-themed interfaces that make everything more difficult — has advanced to new levels of hassles, delays, restrictions, and annoyances.
Granted, I probably own more Blu-Rays than I should (I’m slowly weaning myself off physical media), but each time I pop a new disc into my PS3 and wait the full three-to-five minutes for my movie to actually begin, I say “This is why people pirate movies”.
Although recently, I’m noticing a disturbing trend in the pre-movie junk. Where there used to be the “You wouldn’t steal a car” warning, some studios are now putting a message to say “Thank you for buying a legitimate copy of this movie”. Except the whole thing is done in a comedy voice, kind of like the E4 announcer, which makes the whole thing seem really insincere. Which is a step in the right direction, I suppose – at least they’re no longer treating consumers as potential criminals – but it’s a long way from what consumers actually want, which is quick access to the movie they just bought.
The slowness of genius is hard to bear, but the slowness of mediocrity is intolerable
– Henry Thomas Buckle, after his chess opponent took so long to finish a move that Buckle had time to write two chapters of a book on the history of civilisation. Buckle won the game.
What does it say about a studio whose worst movie is merely great? It says that you can put together a fantastic 7-minute montage of great Pixar moments and still only have scratched the surface.
What does this mean? Well, naturally it means a tax (this is Italy, after all - some money has got to change hands). It also means that these sites will be obliged to prohibit access to content inappropriate for children in certain time slots. More importantly though, it means that the sites are now legally responsible for all user-content uploaded to them, meaning that if some half-senile old fuck who controls half the media in the country finds some of their content on there, he finally has someone to sue.
I have to be honest, if the owners of these sites decide that the easiest way to solve all these problems is to just block access from Italy entirely, I wouldn’t even be slightly surprised. That guy from YouReporter.it nailed it: “This is a legal absurdity and violence done to reality.”
johnke.me
