Warners left behind in a Netflix/iTunes/Apple TV world

by crawfish head

Warner Bros. execs find Apple’s 99 cent TV show rentals too cheap
[Via AppleInsider]

Executives with Warner Bros., producer of numerous primetime network TV shows, believe that Apple’s 99 cent prices TV show rentals need to be more expensive.

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So, they want $2-3 to buy an episode but will not rent it for anything less. INstead of doing some experimenting to see what a new business model might be – check out how Netflix has changed to make a better company for its customers.

Wb could be spending this time finding a model that will work. Instead, it will fall by the wayside when it is unable to adapt to changing market conditions. Netflix plus iTunes plus Apple TV (or Goggle TV) is a tempting model for me. Where does WB fit?

Will this be the last time we ever upgrade a cell phone again?

Verizon LTE in 30 cities by year end, AT&T aims for mid-2011
[Via Ars Technica]

Both AT&T and Verizon are moving forward with their 4G/LTE networks in the US, with one launching by the end of the year and the other going commercial by mid-2011. And, with the recent approval of the first LTE phone by the FCC, the door is opening for a trickle, then flood, of new LTE devices to hop on those networks.

AT&T Operations CEO John Stankey announced at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2010 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference this week that the company expects to give its LTE network a good kick by the middle of 2011, and cover between 70 million and 75 million users by the end of the year. Stankey did not specify which cities would get LTE first, but the company is already carrying out trials in Baltimore and Dallas, so those cities are surely on the list.

Why is AT&T waiting so long to roll out LTE when Verizon has already said that it plans to hit a number of major US markets by the end of 2010? The company apparently wants to milk its HSPA network as long as possible while it waits for the LTE market to “mature” (read: let someone else work out the kinks). In the meantime, AT&T is working on upgrading to HSPA+ this year with theoretical max data speeds at 56Mbps.

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So, the phone companies expect us to upgrade once more to get reasonable voice/data that they can charge an arm and a leg for. I can hardly wait until White-fi begins to reduce their influence.

White-fi + Face Time + iPod Touch = little need for a cell phone.

Marching backward to the glorious ages of the 16th Century

by mullica

The burning antivax stupid is hot within this one…
[Via Respectful Insolence]

Fresh from the comments last night:

I just want to say that JM nor Wakefield had anything to do with my decision not to vax. My doc in fact doesn’t recommend it. I have plenty of studies from CDC’s site that did the convincing for me. Maybe ya’ll should read it too, you may be surprised at what you actually find. I’d love to see the groups seperate if that’s what it has to come down to. If you vaxed folks start saying things like “Ew you’re not vaccinated, gross.” Then hey- you and your toxic children– who are shedding the viruses and causing new outbreaks–can go and live together in a bubble for all we un-vaxed healthy folks care. Then we can get a real study going on and see where the outbreaks truly occur and why.

Besides the fact that this commenter (Eli) posted on a thread that is more than a year old (damn the Sb setup that doesn’t let me automatically close comment threads after, say, 90 days), Eli is a master of utterly missing the point. The reason she can get away with not vaccinating her children is precisely because of those “toxic” children who are protected against disease by vaccines. It’s called herd immunity.

People like Eli make sometimes make me despair.

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Right. Without vaccinations no one would get sick. Has this guy ever looked at the statistics for pertussis, measles, polio, etc. before there was a vaccine available? We eradicated smallpox because of vaccination.

But confirmation bias can overcome just about everything if one has a closed mind – a mind that no longer wants to understand the underlying principles of the world around us.

Ignorance in today’s world appears to be the new intelligence. This commentor is not stupid. But their ignorance of the world puts many at risk, especially young infants.

Darrow had these people so nailed 80 years ago.

Anyone expecting a quiet hurricane season was wrong as records fall

by NASA Goddard Photo and Vid

Karl hits the Yucatan; two simultaneous Cat 4s in the Atlantic for 2nd time in history
[Via Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog]

The Atlantic hurricane season of 2010 kicked into high gear this morning, with the landfall of Tropical Storm Karl in Mexico, and the simultaneous presence of two Category 4 hurricanes in the Atlantic, Igor and Julia. Tropical Storm Karl’s formation yesterday marked the fifth earliest date that an eleventh named storm of the season has formed. The only years more active this early in the season were 2005, 1995, 1936 and 1933. This morning’s unexpected intensification of Hurricane Julia into a Category 4 storm with 135 mph winds has set a new record–Julia is now the strongest hurricane on record so far east. When one considers that earlier this year, Hurricane Earl became the fourth strongest hurricane so far north, it appears that this year’s record SSTs have significantly expanded the area over which major hurricanes can exist over the Atlantic. This morning is just the second time in recorded history that two simultaneous Category 4 or stronger storms have occurred in the Atlantic. The only other occurrence was on 06 UTC September 16, 1926, when the Great Miami Hurricane and Hurricane Four were both Category 4 storms for a six-hour period. The were also two years, 1999 and 1958, when we missed having two simultaneous Category 4 hurricanes by six hours. Julia’s ascension to Category 4 status makes it the 4th Category 4 storm of the year. Only two other seasons have had as many as five Category 4 or stronger storms (2005 and 1999), so 2010 ranks in 3rd place in this statistic. This year is also the earliest a fourth Category 4 or stronger storm has formed (though the fourth Category 4 of 1999, Hurricane Gert, formed just 3 hours later on today’s date in 1999.) We’ve also had four Cat 4+ storms in just twenty days, which beats the previous record for shortest time span for four Cat 4+ storms to appear. The previous record was 1999, 24 days (thanks to Phil Klozbach of CSU for this stat.)

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Atlantic hurricanes appear to be occurring over a wider area of the ocean than before. Not only 2 Category 4 hurricanes for the second time but Julia is the furtherest east Cat 4 ever. Hurricane Earl lasted much further north than expected.

Given that hurricane Karl is the strongest hurricane ever in the Bay of Campeche and you have a very potent hurricane season.

I wonder what else is in store for us this season?

[Listening to: Springsong from the album "Harvest Aorta" by Ephemeral Sun]

The worst summer in the Pacific NW in 30 years

How Bad Has It Been?
[Via Cliff Mass Weather Blog]

Another round of rain struck today and the grumbling has increased…

“The worst summer I can remember”
“I thought Septembers were good around here”

and other comments that cannot be repeated on a family friendly blog.

Looking at the temperature versus normal for the past four weeks, tells the recent tale (see below). Except for a few brief warm periods, most days have been below normal.
Today was particularly noteworthy: the temperatures hardly fell last night and the humidity was palpable.
Dewpoints were in the low to mid 60s today…which is very, very unusual around here. It felt like the East Coast during the summer! Here is a plot of dewpoint for the past six months (click to expand). Remember, dewpoint is a measure of the amount of moisture in the air…the temperature to which you have to cool it to get saturation. Yesterday, was the highest dewpoint in SIX MONTHS.

I asked UW staff member Neal Johnson to plot up the number of days equal to or greater than 70F from January 1 through September 15th for this year and all other years since 1948 (see below). The results?

(click to expand)

We had far fewer 70F days (55) than normal (72) and in fact this has been the worst year by this measure since 1980! Yes, the worst summer for three decades! No one younger than 35 can remember anything worse! 1980 was comparable, and then you would have to go back to 1954 and 1955, which were even cooler, believe it not.

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It is not supposed to be so humid in Seattle as to be uncomfortable but it has gotten close recently. September is usually the best month weather-wise. It gets us ready for the cloudy , dark and short days of the winter. Without some pleasant weather to look forward to, the depressing days up here will be much, much worse.

It may not be bad compared to areas with lots of heat – although few of us have air conditioning to =deal with hot, humid days – but it is what keeps us going through a winter when the sun does not rise until after we get to work and sets before we get home, where it rains during morning rush hour and during evening rush hour and the overcast skies prohibit seeing the sun even on weekends.

I am not looking forward to this winter, which, if it remains a La Nina one, will be pretty harsh up here.

[Listening to: Stranger In Your Soul from the album "Bridge Across Forever" by Transatlantic]

Only works in British Columbia so far

Apps for climate change
[Via All Today's News - Sightline Daily]

Answering a call for simple and accessible applications that promote climate awareness, software developer Herb Lainchbury created a web-based app that will figure out when you should water your lawn.

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I’d get this if it was available for my area.. I hope they won lots of money.

[Listening to: Stranger In Your Soul from the album "Bridge Across Forever" by Transatlantic]