‘Nightly’ going HD next week

Apparently this high definition TV thing is starting to catch on. Next week, NBC Nightly News will become the first network evening newscast to switch to HD. And Discovery’s upcoming series Planet Earth will become the most expensive HD nature series to date with a cost of $1-2 million per episode (the promos look incredible, BTW.) Meawhile, three dozen local TV stations now broadcast news in HD.

1 comment March 18th, 2007

‘30 Rock’ looks good for another season

It’s not official yet, but Tina Fey’s 30 Rock — one of my favorite shows — looks like it will be brought back for another season on NBC. Why is this worth a special mention? Well, there’s something about rooting for someone who is both writing and starting in her own show. Oh, and we geeks are big fans of Fey.

5 comments March 18th, 2007

Briefs: Adscape, Comcast, Viacom, MySpace

  Reuters: Google buys video game ad firm Adscape
  WSJ: Comcast is negotating with Microsoft for search
  NYTimes: Viacom’s full-court press for online advertising
  Reuters: MySpace launches an election 2008 channel

Add comment March 18th, 2007

Is Twitter worth the hype?

When Rex first told me about Twitter, I said something to the effect of, “That’s it?” In essense, Twitter lets you send out short messages that describe what you’re doing at that moment. You can text them or IM them or post them online. And your friends can read them on your blog or have them texted or IM’d to them. John Edwards is using Twitter to give short updates of where he is on the campaign trail. Stephen Colbert is sending out random quips. And I just signed up to send out little LostRemotisms like, “I’m trying to figure out how to blog in bed without paralyzing myself” (follow me here, if you dare. It’s also on my bio page with other random 2.0 stuff.) Anyway, while people scratch their heads over the value of Twitter — or its cousin on Google called Dodgeball, which lets you tell your friends where you’re hanging out — thousands of people have signed up for it and the Wall Street Journal is writing about it. So go figure.

I’m going to give Dodgeball a try next, which works in 22 cities. Let’s say you’re at a bar. You can text out a message to your Dodgeball friends that gives your location and asks if they want to stop on by. Friends of your friends who are within 10 blocks of that location will be alerted, as well. It also works on “crushes.” Cool, eh?

3 comments March 18th, 2007

YouTube to host virtual awards show

All this week, you can vote for your favorite videos on YouTube. The winners will receive a trophy as well as top billing on the site. “We wanted to call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition,” said Jamie Byrne, head of product marketing at YouTube.

Add comment March 18th, 2007