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Tag: media

  • Exclusive: Adobe on CS6, Creative Cloud, and New Focus

    Exclusive: Adobe on CS6, Creative Cloud, and New Focus

    On Monday, Adobe made some big announcements including the next version of its professional design software suite and a new cloud service for syncing, sharing, and storing files. Although there is always excitement surrounding news from the leading company in digital experiences, this week’s announcements were especially intriguing since they included 14 new products and 4 new Creative Suite additions.

    What do you think of Adobe CS6 and Creative Cloud? Let us know.

    Heidi Voltmer, Director of Product Marketing at Adobe Heidi Voltmer, Adobe’s Director of Product Marketing, spoke with WebProNews and told us that Adobe focused its efforts on 4 main areas with these products. As she explained, the company emphasized speed and performance, improving features in its tools, making sure that the content produced in CS6 is ready for devices, and enhancing the user interface.

    In CS6, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are all powered by Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine, which will dramatically improve the performance of the tools. Voltmer told us that Adobe wanted to make it “really easy for our customers to use our products and to focus on what they’re doing creatively in the tool… and not so much about where they have to find a particular item in a panel.”

    Photoshop CS6 is, of course, one of the big draws to the application bundle, and it is particularly noteworthy since this version is the first completely new release in 2 years. The increased performance it enables lets users receive near instant results in their editing.

    “Now, when you’re editing images or making changes, you’ll actually see them appear just really quickly on the screen instead of having to wait for it to redraw,” said Voltmer.

    Although the Creative Suite would have single-handedly been big news from Adobe, the company also announced Creative Cloud in which users can access its suite of desktop tools – normally $2,599 for a full license- for $49.99 per month. The cloud offering also adds online services for sharing and publishing content created through CS6. As a result, customers have much more flexibility using the software.

    This subscription-based service is also useful for customers that only need the software for a certain period of time. It also gives them access to all the updates Adobe makes to avoid having to buy the newest version every time it rolls out.

    “It’s not just like today, where you buy a single box and you don’t see anything new from Adobe for 12-24 months,” said Voltmer. “With the Creative Cloud, you actually get those updates on an ongoing basis.”

    Last year, when Adobe announced CS5.5, Scott Fegette, Senior Product Manager on the Creative Suite Web team, talked to us about the company’s first attempt at a new pricing model. The company wanted to give customers both long-term and short-term options.

    After listening to the customer feedback from last year’s pilot attempt at changing the pricing model, Voltmer told us that Adobe decided to take the model further this year.

    “We evolved the model to lower the price, first of all, and second of all, to add in additional value,” she said.

    In terms of video, CS6 includes major improvements to both Premiere and Flash. Incidentally, after a long battle with Apple over Flash’s significance on mobile devices, Adobe announced in November that it was re-positioning Flash for use, primarily, in premium video and hi-end gaming. While CS6 does include updates to Flash, Voltmer told us that Adobe really wanted to help bridge creators from Flash to HTML5.

    “We’re really trying to help our Flash customers to transition into animating and creating interactive activity with HTML,” she pointed out.

    With this greater emphasis on HTML5, Dreamweaver also received several improvements for incorporating HTML5 animations and more.

    With all these developments, Voltmer told us that Adobe ultimately wants to streamline complex workflows for creative professionals. The company recently combined its digital media group with its marketing group in an effort to support this goal.

    “By bringing those two pieces together, we offer a much more broad and integrated solution that not only sells to say, our customers in a creative department or an agency, but also people on the business side,” she said.

    According to Adobe, the new products will be available 30 days from its announcement on April 23, but the company is accepting pre-orders now.

  • Kevin Allison: Comedian Talks Podcasting And Social Media

    We always like to look at stories about how the web has changed (and continues to change) the media landscape, whether that be journalism, entertainment or anything else. When I was growing up, one of my favorite shows was MTV’s The State – a sketch comedy show that was simply too short-lived.

    Many of the actors from the show have gone on to appear in and write numerous movies and TV shows. One member of the comedy troupe, David Wain, for example, wrote and directed movies like Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models, and Wanderlust. He also Does Wain Days for My Damn Channel (which recently launched a new YouTube channel). You probably know Michael Ian Black, as well – another member of the state, who manages to keep Twitter interesting and humorous on a regular basis (in addition to his various movie and television roles).

    Both of those guys (and the rest of the cast) are great, but I don’t think many fans of The State would argue that Kevin Allison was one of the best parts of the show. And that’s who we’re talking to today. Allison isn’t as much in the movie and TV spotlight as some of his peers, though he does make occasional appearances. Kevin spends more of his time podcasting and focusing on his show RISK! – a live show/podcast he created and hosts.

    “I spent a lot of time telling stories as characters after the State broke up, but I had a breakthrough around 2008, when I started telling stories as myself,” Allison tells WebProNews. “I found that when I did that, I saw people’s eyes light up and it was much more like being in conversation with the audience. I realized that I had found my voice, which, it turned out, was simply my real voice all along.”

    “So I thought the best way to learn about storytelling was to do it in public constantly,” he continues. “I started the live show and podcast RISK!, where people dare to share stories they never intended to tell in front of a live audience. At RISK, I’m the host of the podcast and live show and I still tell a lot of true stories of my own.”

    Risk

    “If it weren’t for podcasting, my career would not be what it is today, because I am one of those people that doesn’t fit so easily into the stereotypical things that Hollywood or the TV industry is looking for,” he adds. “I’m kind of an oddball, an idiosyncratic characer. So, you know, a lot of comedians like me, who have not found their place in the TV or movie realm, are putting their truest voices out there by self publishing their stuff through podcasts.”

    As most podcasters will probably tell you, using the web as the medium of choice gives them a much different kind of connection with their audience that really wasn’t possible not too long ago.

    “RISK! itself and the way the show is run have developed largely because of interactions with fans on the web,” Allison tells us. “They’ll invite us to tour to places we never would have known about, or submit stories or songs, or make suggestions of other types of things they’d like to hear on the show. Even a great deal of the staff of the show were fans who contacted me online about coming aboard in real life.”

    “I feel like I can be more intimate and experimental with a public audience through this medium than I can through anything I’ve ever done before,” he says. “It really is a straight-from-the-artist-to-the-audience sort of experience, kind of like what happens in small room comedy clubs where there’s not a lot of oversight from some sort of corporation or standards and practices. And so it’s the ultimate in free speech and freeing up my own self expression.”

    Obviously YouTube has been a huge element in the web success of many, many Internet celebrities, and even for some who have managed to grow much larger than the “web celeb” status. Don’t forget Justin Bieber got his start on YouTube.

    “YouTube has been great for us because it allows us to share videos from our live shows with fans who otherwise might never get to know what our live shows are like,” says Allison. “It also helps us spread the word about what we’re doing, since when people look for people who’ve been on our show on YouTube, they’ll stumble upon RISK! videos.”

    Allison, of course also uses other social networks to promote RISK! and connect with fans, but he feels like there’s such a thing as worrying about too many different ones, so he mostly sticks to Facebook and Twitter.

    “It changes over time,” Allison says about Facebook. “Originally it was hugely helpful because it helped me to reconnect with dozens and dozens of comedians I hadn’t seen in years and friends of theirs who were also performers. Several years ago when RISK! first started, people paid more attention to event invites. I think facebook changes every couple of years because the site is trying to control how people use it, and so we have to adjust with their way of changing things, but I don’t know, it’s still very powerful for just saying what we’re up to and hearing back from people. It’s pretty necessary for an artistic endeavor to hear back from the people listening to it, positive or negative.”

    “Frankly I think it’s pretty much the same,” Allison says of Twitter. “Our fans on Twitter are always telling us what they thought of shows and retweeting our episodes and talking to storytellers about how much they loved their stories. It’s great for spreading the word about RISK!”

    “We’re not on google+ because we don’t know what it is supposed to be,” Allison says. “It’s kind of like facebook, right? After a certain point, you have to focus on getting your work done and not necessarily being on every single social network.”

    “We stick mainly to facebook, twitter and YouTube, as well as the RISK-show.com website, of course, and they’re all great for keeping in touch with our fans.”

    There may be some valuable advice for anyone in Kevin’s words. New social networks come and go all the time, and it certainly is a lot for people to worry about, and like he says. At some point, you do still have to get something done. You just have to evaluate the pros and cons of being on any of them, and determine which ones are worth your time and energy.

    The State may have gone off the air in the 90s, but thanks to the web, it has never truly gone away. Thanks to the web, people who didn’t even watch it back then, or even know it existed can enjoy it today.

    “Well, even though MTV constantly pulls the State content off YouTube, I think a lot of new fans were introduced to State sketches through YouTube,” says Allison. “And also it was web campaigns that finally convinced MTV to release the State DVD box set.”

    Here’s a classic (before MTV pulls it down):

    Note: While it’s great what the web has been able to do to keep The State alive, it’s never been like it was in the 90s. Unfortunately with MTV’s DVD release, the music in the sketches have been altered for the worse.

    “As for my connection to the State fans, because I was not doing big corporate work like the other State members after the group broke up, I kind of fell off the face of the earth, so it was good to find out through the web that some people still knew who I was and were rooting for me,” says Allison.

    I know I’ll be rooting for him.

  • The AP Links, But For Those Running AP Stories, It’s Up To Them

    This week, we ran an article about the Associated Press and its linking policies, which pointed out an article that seemed to be doing the kind of thing the organization has historically frowned upon from others – short articles based on someone else’s original reporting, linking to the original.

    While that was largely the point of the article, we also noticed that some of the sites running the AP story had bit.ly URLs, which pointed to the original source, but didn’t actually link. Rather than linking some anchor text, it just had the URL in parentheses, which seems odd to me. Anyway, some of the sites actually linked the URL and some didn’t. The AP pointed out to us that they link it on their own site, and don’t control whether or not the other sites link.

    Since backlinks are a pretty significant factor in building credibility on the web, I thought it would seem appropriate to make it a policy that sites running the AP’s content with links to other sources, be required to keep those links in tact. I asked Director of AP Media Relations Paul Colford why the AP does’t make this a policy. Here’s what he says:

    As a cooperative and as a provider of services to our members and commercial customers (that is, we deliver text, photos, video, graphics etc. to papers large and small, broadcasters large and small, plus websites etc., which then consider our goods for their own needs and presentations), we don’t dictate how they utilize the material, or deal with links for that matter. The choices are theirs.

    Moreover, I’m told that longer links have a tendency to break for any number of reasons; some links contain characters that transmit unevenly downstream. Which is why we also use bit.ly.

    The bit.ly thing I get, although it does mask the domain it’s referring to.

    Linking to your sources is common web etiquette. The AP gets this, clearly. They do it on their own properties, and incude the link (although I still don’t see why they don’t just link anchor text like most other news organizations). But apparently sites running AP content aren’t required to keep this etiquette in place.

  • Associated Press: You Can Link, But It’s Not Encouraged [Updated]

    The Associated Press and the Internet at large have had something or a rocky relationship through the years. The organization has not taken kindly to the direction web news has gone in…essentially since the rise of blogs. In 2009, AP President Tom Curley talked about how “even minimal use” of its articles online required licensing agreements, according to the New York Times. WebProNews covered this at the time as The AP’s Desperate Attempt To Outlaw Search Engine Links.

    The AP basically just wanted to be paid for any use of their content, even if that means linking. Besides search engines, Drudge Report was specifically named in a NYT piece on the topic. All that site does is link. Not even with snippets.

    With that in mind, it seems the AP would not be too keen on a blog or other news publication referencing an AP story on a topic, even with a link. But then you see the AP putting out something like this. I’d like to screen cap it, but I don’t want the AP to be able to say I’m reproducing their article. You can click the link and look at it if you want, but I’ll describe it.

    It’s a six-sentence-long article about a man suing the maker of Assassin’s Creed. It’s based on a report from The Carlisle Sentinel (which is much longer). It mentions the publication, and includes the URL in parentheses. It has little to no added value compared to the original piece. It seems like the kind of thing, that if the AP’s and Carlisle Sentinel’s roles were reversed, the AP wouldn’t be very happy with.

    A few interesting points about the AP’s linking strategy here:

    1. Why put the URL in parentheses rather than just link some anchor text like the rest fo the web does?

    2. The URL isn’t even a clickable link. The user would have to copy and paste it into their address bar.

    3. The URL is a bit.ly URL, so you can’t even see the site’s domain it is pointing to.

    At least when a blogger links to an AP story, it can potentially drive referrals to the original piece.

    Update: The AP points out that they do provide links in the stories on their own site. “Of course, the AP puts links in copy. They work on some downstream sites, not others, and they work on our own sites,” Paul Colford, the AP’s Director of Media Relations, tells WebProNews. He points to the referenced article on the AP’s site.

    Fair enough, though perhaps a policy requiring these downstream sites to link would be beneficial.

    Colford also makes a point to note that the “AP’s unique pedigree as a cooperative, owned by its 1,500 or so member newspapers, some of whose stories we rewrite for our state wires (and a tiny fraction of these, such as big exclusives, also end up in the online feed licensed by our commercial customers, including the portals).”

    The Sentinel’s piece has 0 comments. 0 tweets. 0 Facebook recommendations. The Yahoo News page featuring the AP’s version has 192 comments alone.

    We contacted the AP about its policy on linking. We asked: If a blog wrote an article, which was six sentences long, and one of those sentences was referencing an AP report (with a link), would this be acceptable to the AP?

    The AP’s Gloria Sullivan responded, “This is what I know…no wording can be changed in any AP article, no article can be summarized or altered in any way…but you can link to an AP article (say if you are referencing or referring to something).”

    “Of course, this is not encouraged,” she added.

    To clarify, we asked: Linking to an AP article when referencing or referring to something is not encouraged?

    “In all honesty, we don’t earn revenue when someone links to an AP article, so I don’t really go around posting a billboard for people to do it (if you get my drift),” she said. “But you have permission.”

    There you have it. The AP gives you permission to link.

  • Fox News Mole Tweets About His Encounter With The DA

    You remember that former Fox News employee that was doing recon for Gawker, right? Well, it appears that Fox News was serious about pursuing legal action. “Fox Mole” Joe Muto was apparently served with a search warrant this morning, according to a series of tweets.

    On April 10th, The Fox Mole debuted his first column with Gawker. He detailed how he had taken a job with Fox News as a resume builder, fully intending to use it to springboard to bigger and better things – at least things that “didn’t make [him] cringe every morning when [he] looked in the mirror.” He described how a particular article on Fox Nation, which he described as an “unholy mashup of Drudge Report, the Huffington Post, and a Klan meeting, had been the last straw for him. And with that, he began “John McClane-ing that shit,” working as a mole for Gawker. His first big piece of insider information was a clip of Mitt Romney and Sean Hannity talking before an interview, where Romney talks about his wife Ann’s love of dressage.

    The next day, he wrote another article detailed life at Fox News. On the same day, he outed himself as Joe Muto and told us that he’d been discovered and canned.

    A few days later, Gawker published a letter from Fox News attorney’s to Nick Denton. In that letter, Fox threatened legal action, saying,

    “Be advised that Muto’s admission are admissions of likely criminal and civil wrongdoing on both his and Gawker’s part, which will be the subject of further extensive investigation. Fox News will pursue its rights and remedies in the appropriate legal forums.”

    Oh yeah, and that article came with a nice picture of Bill O’Reilly on a boat with a topless woman.

    And today comes the search warrant on Muto:

    @JoeMuto
    Joe Muto    I just got search warranted at 6:30am by a very polite crew from the DA’s office. Took my iPhone, laptop, some old notebooks. 7 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @JoeMuto
    Joe Muto    According to the warrant, Fox News is apparently accusing me of grand larceny, amongst other things. 7 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Apparently, the leaked video of Romney talking about dressage horses pissed them off quite a bit:

    @JoeMuto
    Joe Muto    They’re pretty worked up over a clip of Romney talking about his horses. 7 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Muto later takes a swipe at some of the UK issues facing Rupert Murdoch:

    @JoeMuto
    Joe Muto    I should have done something more innocuous, like hacked a dead girl’s phone and interfered with a police investigation. 7 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Gawker COO Gaby Darbyshire told Poynter that Muto is still a Gawker employee and that they will be “will be providing him with legal support.” She said that Gawker doesn’t expect to be served with a search warrant.

  • Newsy Comes To Roku Today, Another Set-Top Box Later This Month

    Newsy announced that it is making its way into living rooms via the Roku player today. It’s part of Roku’s news and weather category.

    “Connected TV is an important part of Newsy’s strategy – we will be announcing our app for another set-top box later this month,” Newsy President Jim Spencer tells WebProNews.

    “We’ve been working to build content that is both relevant and resonates across multiple platforms – Newsy looks phenomenal on the Roku box and we are excited to hear our viewers feedback on Roku,” he says.

    Coming to Roku should greatly increase Newsy’s audience. With a bigger audience, Spencer tells us, Newsy intends to increase content output. “Yes, we are continuing to grow the team so that we can increase production – currently we are producing hundreds of videos per month across nine categories,” he says.

    Currently, Newsy enjoys the majority of its user popularity from its iPad app. “Our iPad app is very popular – Newsy is one of the highest rated video news app available in iTunes,” Spencer says. They do have apps for iPhone and Android as well.

    “Our multisource videos are also popular through white label agreements on some of our syndication partners (they haven’t been announced yet),” says Spencer.

    On how web video has impacted the news industry, Spencer tells us, “It’s had a huge impact as many people would rather watch than read and now they can do so on their mobile devices – research shows video growing very quickly on mobile devices.”

    “Search engines are often the first step for Internet users in their search for news and information and increasingly the results are from YouTube and other news video services,” he adds. “This trend has hastened the growth of news videos and helped grow demand for Newsy.”

    “Also, there has been an increase in news events that involved user-generated video, such as the hanging of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and that has helped to drive traffic to news and media websites,” he notes.

    With more original online programming finding more avenues into living rooms, we’re really at the dawn of a new era for video content. It’s like My Damn Channel CEO Rob Barnett recently told us. It feels similar to the early years of MTV.

  • The Glass Castle Movie Is On The Way, May Star Jennifer Lawrence

    Jeannette Walls’ 2005 memoir The Glass Castle has sold several million copies and stayed on the New York Time Bestseller list for over 250 weeks. It’s already achieved instant-classic status, and has been read by countless teenagers in schools across the country. And now, her story may finally see the silver screen.

    Deadline reports that Lionsgate studios has just acquired the rights to the film, and talks are currently taking place to have Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence hop into the leading role.

    Back in 2005, Paramount Pictures seized the rights to the film through a deal with Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B. The deal moved the company from Warner Bros to Paramount, and an adaptation of The Glass Castle was one of the first projects mentioned as in development. Obviously, it never worked out as it’s 2012 and still no Glass Castle movie, but it appears that now it’s on its way to being made.

    Gil Netter is attached to produce. His résumé includes The Blind Side, Water For Elephants, Marley & Me, and BASEketball. Marti Noxon is set to write the screenplay – you know her from Fright Night, I Am Number Four, and some episodes of Mad Men and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

    Jeannette Walls’ memoir is a hard-hitter, as she discusses growing up in a poor, dysfunctional family living in the mountains of West Virginia.

    Jennifer Lawrence, fresh off starring in one of the biggest films in recent memory, has already made her name in playing a role similar to this. 2010’s Winter’s Bone (based on a novel as well) has her playing a young girl weeding through the drug-ridden population of a small Ozark Mountain town in search of her missing father.

    What do you think? Have you read The Glass Castle? Would you be excited about a film adaptation? Let us know in the comments.

  • Howard Stern Weighs In On The Ted Nugent Scandal

    Ted Nugent has been under fire as of late for some particular comments he made about the 2012 election at a National Rifle Association convention – and that’s putting it mildly. Nugent, who has been an outspoken critic of President Obama for some time, went over the line with his most recent comments in the eyes of many.

    At the convention, Nugent was discussing his disapproval of the current actions of the government. He specifically mentioned the Supreme Court, and his feeling that some of the Justicies fail to understand the constitution. During this discussion, he said this about President Obama:

    “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

    And that’s what really stirred the pot. Many labeled the comments as “violent rhetoric,” and slammed Nugent for “inappropriate” comments. No matter what side of the aisle to sit on politically, it’s hard to deny that the comments at the least engender some sort of violent imagery.

    Check out the comments in the video below:

    “King of All Media” Howard Stern, no stranger to controversy himself, has weighed in on Ted Nugent. Here’s what the shock jock had to say on his Sirius XM morning show:

    I love that guy. He’s nuts…He’s one of those guys who kills deer, so he thinks he’s like, a tough guy…During the Vietnam War, he admits that he peed his own pants and s**t his pants for a week and went down there and got out of the draft. If he’s so tough, why don’t you go in the f***ing military…He talks about fighting for his freedoms. Who is he fighting,…deer? I mean who is he fighting? As far as I know he’s fighting deer…Why doesn’t he sign up for Afghanistan?…He should be playing Cat Scratch Fever at some fair, which is probably what frustrates him most…Just a big p**sy with a f***ing gun.

    Stern and Nugent aren’t strangers, either. Nugent has appeared on some version of the Howard Stern show numerous times and debated a wide variety of topics:

    Yesterday, we told you that Stern’s $300 million lawsuit against Sirius XM had been dismissed.

    As far as Nugent goes, he has a meeting with the Secret Service on his schedule. He said there’s nothing to worry about. “I’ve never threatened anybody’s life in my life,” he said. “I don’t waste my breath threatening.”

  • Where Do You Get Your News? [INFOGRAPHIC]

    Where Do You Get Your News? [INFOGRAPHIC]

    It’s an undebatable fact that the six o’clock evening news isn’t what it used to be. That’s not necessarily a knock on the quality of local or national broadcasts, but more of a commentary on how much the internet has changed the way we consume the news every day.

    The advent of the internet had an immediate effect, but it’s been the explosion of social media that has really turned journalism on its head. We can debate the merits of “Twitter journalists” until we’re blue in the face but the fact remains: stories that break on Twitter, Facebook, and even YouTube are becoming more prevalent with every passing day.

    The raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, Whitney Houston’s death, the Hudon river plane crash and the heroics of Sully – these are just some of the examples given in this infographic from schools.com. According to the graphic, 46% of people get their news online at least three times a week and over half of people say they’ve heard about breaking news on social media.

    Okay, they do get into the “accuracy” debate a little bit by going into some pros and cons of social media news. Of course, the best thing about social media (especially Twitter) is that it’s lightning fast. Someone sees something happen and BAM! You have breaking news in a few thumb movements.

    Of course, the biggest drawback is inaccuracy, which can be highly problematic. Who can you trust on Twitter? One tip I’ve learned: if someone is reporting that your favorite musician has died (especially in a freak accident), wait until you hear multiple confirmations before you light your candles and set up your shrine.

    Check out the full infographic on social media as a news source below:

    Social Media: The New News Source
    Courtesy of: Schools.com

  • Sarah Palin: Send Roger Ailes A Copy Of That Movie About Me

    Although she’s not a candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination and by her own account has no plans to pursue the job in 2012 (yet), Sarah Palin still seems to be one focus of the public’s watchful eyes. Whether it’s the part of the Republican base that dreams for a last minute Palin candidacy to spice up the ticket, or the folks on the other end of the spectrum who think she’s still as much of a joke as she was in years past, the point is that people are not forgetting about Sarah Palin.

    Part of that is spurred on by Palin’s own actions – her appearances on cable news shows, talk radio, and a recent stint on NBC’s Today Show. And part of it is due to outside factors – like the HBO film Game Change that received rave reviews from one side and pointed derision from the other.

    Still the media darling, Palin found herself in a bit of a weekend dustup with FOX News chief Roger Ailes. Last week, at a speaking gig at UNC, Ailes made an interesting comment about Palin, and it drew a lot of attention primarily due to the feeling that it was a bit of friendly fire. First quoted by Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine on Twitter, Ailes talked about the thought of a Palin presidency:

    (image)@gabrielsherman
    Gabriel Sherman    Roger Ailes says “Sarah Palin had no chance to be President.”
    #nowhesaysit(image) 3 days ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    That comments obviously turned a few heads, considering that Ailes has been reported to have said some disparaging things about Palin in the past. Ailes quickly clarified:

    When I hired most of the Republican contributors, none of them had any immediate prospects of becoming President —I wasn’t referring to any of their long-term prospects, including Governor Palin. I hired all of them because they made for good television at the time. Sarah Palin is young and nobody can predict the future

    Palin has responded to Ailes comment. In an interview with breitbart.com, Palin basically said that Ailes should realize that she succeeds in doing things that people tell her she can’t do. She also suggests that someone send him a copy of the 2011 film about her rise to fame:

    Maybe you guys should send him a copy of Steve Bannon’s “The Undefeated.” The theme of Steve’s film isn’t about me, but about the idea of not letting others dictate one’s path in life and never giving up when you’re fighting for something precious like our exceptional nation and our children’s futures. So, would you send a copy of “The Undefeated” to him?

    Do you think that there’s any way that Palin makes some sort of imprint on the 2012 campaign? Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Jim Gaffigan’s “Mr Universe” Launches Straight To Fans

    Jim Gaffigan’s “Mr Universe” Launches Straight To Fans

    Let’s call it the wave of direct comedy. Today, another high-profile comedian has launched their new standup special from their website, straight to fans, without any middleman to speak of. The eternally pale Jim Gaffigan’s special “Mr. Universe” is now available to stream and download for the now-standard price of $5.

    From his site:

    Mr Universe is my all new 75-minute stand up special which is available only here to stream or download. Mr Universe will NOT be available in stores or on television. For the cost of $5 worldwide paid via Paypal or Amazon Mr Universe can be yours. No DRM, no regional restrictions. You can play it as much as you want or burn it and then play it even more than you want. You can gift Mr Universe to anyone if you have their email.

    Gaffigan now joins Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari as comedians who have bypassed the networks and released their own product, free from the constraints of editorial control. Louis C.K. is credited with starting this trend with his $5 direct release of his special “Live at the Beacon Theater” back in December of 2011.

    (image)@JimGaffigan
    Jim Gaffigan    Thanks to everyone who has bought #MrUniverse at http://t.co/UHFmAmYx for $5. I really appreciate the support and all the tweets!(image) 14 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Three months later, Parks & Recreation star Aziz Ansari followed suit by releasing his special “Dangerously Delicious” on his site for, you guessed it, $5. He can be seen promoting Gaffigan’s special today on Twitter:

    (image)@azizansari
    Aziz Ansari    You should go get @JimGaffigan‘s new standup special #MrUniverse for $5 at http://t.co/ia4D8BQB(image) 16 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    We know how Louis C.K.’s experiment worked out. Well. He announced that he had recouped his cost of production in just 12 hours of release, with over 50,000 purchases. After a week of being available online, Louis C.K. had made $1 million on the venture. We’ve yet to hear exactly how Aziz Ansari did with his direct release.

    Louis C.K., Ansari, and Gaffigan are all very popular comedians. They will most likely succeed in this type of venture. But the real question is can other, less prominent comedians and artists do the same without the already-established fan base? Do they need the help of networks for promotional value and to take some of the risk?

    PayPal definitely thinks that this model helps artists:

    Inspired by Louis C.K., Gaffigan is making “Mr. Universe,” available to download today for just $5, representing another big step for the viability of independent distribution of artistic works. As we’ve said before, PayPal fully supports the direct-to-fan business model for a number of reasons – it helps artists maintain creative control over their work, it typically makes the products more affordable for fans, and gives the artists themselves a larger cut of the profits!

    We’ll have to wait and see as this trend (hopefully) continues in the future. Now, here’s some of the funny:

  • New Processors Could Be Made with Nano-Magnet Arrays

    New Processors Could Be Made with Nano-Magnet Arrays

    Scientists have taken an important step forward in developing a new material using nano-sized magnets that could ultimately lead to new types of electronic devices, with greater processing capacity than is currently feasible, in a study published in the journal Science.

    Now, researchers from Imperial College London have demonstrated that a honeycomb pattern of nano-sized magnets, in a material known as spin ice, introduces competition between neighboring magnets, and reduces the problems caused by these interactions by two-thirds. They have shown that large arrays of these nano-magnets can be used to store computable information. The arrays can then be read by measuring their electrical resistance. The scientists have so far been able to ‘read’ and ‘write’ patterns in the magnetic fields, and a key challenge now is to develop a way to utilise these patterns to perform calculations, and to do so at room temperature. At the moment, they are working with the magnets at temperatures below minus 223°C.

    Research author Dr Will Branford and his team have been investigating how to manipulate the magnetic state of nano-structured spin ices using a magnetic field and how to read their state by measuring their electrical resistance. They found that at low temperatures (below minus 223C) the magnetic bits act in a collective manner and arrange themselves into patterns. This changes their resistance to an electrical current so that if one is passed through the material, this produces a characteristic measurement that the scientists can identify.

    The scientists have so far been able to ‘read’ and ‘write’ patterns at room temperature. However, at the moment the collective behaviour is only seen at temperatures below minus 223C. A key challenge now is to develop a way to utilise these patterns to perform calculations, and to do so at room temperature. Current technology uses one magnetic domain to store a single bit of information. The new finding suggests that a cluster of many domains could be used to solve a complex computational problem in a single calculation. Computation of this type is known as a neural network, and is more similar to how our brains work than to the way in which traditional computers process information.

    Dr Branford, who is an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, said: “Electronics manufacturers are trying all the time to squeeze more data into the same devices, or the same data into a tinier space for handheld devices like smart phones and mobile computers. However, the innate interaction between magnets has so far limited what they can do. In some new types of memory, manufacturers try to avoid the limitations of magnetism by avoiding using magnets altogether, using things like ferroelectric (flash) memory, memristors or antiferromagnets instead. However, these solutions are slow, expensive or hard to read out. Our philosophy is to harness the magnetic interactions, making them work in our favour.”

    Although today’s research represents a key step forward, the researchers say there are many hurdles to overcome before scientists will be able to create prototype devices based on this technique such as developing an algorithm to control the computation. The nature of this algorithm will determine whether the room temperature state can be used or if the low temperature collective behaviour is required. However, they are optimistic that if these challenges can be tackled successfully, new technology using magnetic honeycombs might be available in ten to fifteen years.

    In experiments, Dr Branford applied an electrical current across a continuous honeycomb mesh, made from cobalt magnetic bars each 1 micrometer long and 100 nanometres wide, and covering an area 100 square micrometers. A single unit of the honeycomb mesh is like three bar magnets meeting in the centre of a triangle. There is no way to arrange them without having either two north poles or two south poles touching and repelling each other, this is called a ‘frustrated’ magnetic system. In a single triangular unit there are six ways to arrange the magnets such that they have exactly the same level of frustration, and as you increase the number of triangular units in the honeycomb, the number of possible arrangements of magnets increases exponentially, increasing the complexity of possible patterns.

    Previous studies have shown that external magnetic fields can cause the magnetic domain of each bar to change state. This in turn affects the interaction between that bar and its two neighbouring bars in the honeycomb, and it is this pattern of magnetic states that Dr Branford says could be computer data.

    Dr Branford said: “The strong interaction between neighbouring magnets allows us to subtly affect how the patterns form across the honeycomb. This is something we can take advantage of to compute complex problems because many different outcomes are possible, and we can differentiate between them electronically. Our next big challenge is to make an array of nano-magnets that can be ‘programmed’ without using external magnetic fields.”

  • Michael Arrington, MG Siegler Out at PandoDaily

    Out of the AOL / TechCrunch drama factory came PandoDaily earlier this year. The news site launched as one focused on startups and it looked a lot like “TechCrunch All-Stars.”.

    Part of the plan was to have TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington as well as fellow CrunchFund partner and current (sometimes) writer for TechCrunch MG Siegler jump (and stay) on as contributors – a plan that apparently went awry on Monday. According to a post on PandoDaily by Founder and CEO Sarah Lacy, Arrington and Siegler are out at the new site after shareholders voted to yank Arrington as a director.

    As of Monday, April 9 the shareholders of PandoMedia voted to remove Michael Arrington as a director. Given the change in relationship we feel it’s inappropriate for CrunchFund’s partners Michael Arrington and MG Siegler to continue contributing to PandoDaily. We thank MG for his many stellar contributions to date and Michael for his support in the early days of the company.

    The announcement was abbreviated and they disabled comments on the post. There hasn’t been anything more from PandoDaily’s end on the matter.

    But Arrington and Siegler both posted about the move, and they seem to agree on a root cause: their participation in TechCrunch Disrupt.

    Here’s what Arrington had to say on Uncrunched:

    This wasn’t a complete surprise to me, the company notified me last week that they weren’t happy that I and MG Siegler (my partner at CrunchFund) were going to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt this coming May.

    Part of the reason that I’m speaking at Disrupt is that I have a contractual commitment to do so as part of my break with them last year, which Sarah knew about before our involvement in Pando. But MG and I are also speaking there because we still love TechCrunch. And we both speak at many other conferences as well.

    Siegler echoed this on his blog:

    Lots of questions about the PandoDaily situation. To be completely honest, I’m a bit surprised by how this went down. I think Michael’s response is appropriate.

    The problem seemed to be us participating in TechCrunch Disrupt (and I assume more Michael than myself since I’m still a TechCrunch contributor). But we both speak at a lot of conferences. And I view it as valuable that we speak at a wide range of conferences.

    Both Arrington and Siegler also mention that they think PandoDaily has potential to succeed, even though neither will be a part of it. At this point, nobody seems to be shocked by any drama that comes out of this bunch:

    @nikcub
    nik cubrilovic    This whole Techcrunch/Pando/Arrington thing needs an infographic 11 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Mega Millions Winner (Fake, That Is) Plays April Fool’s Prank On The Press

    A man named Tom Kreft (if that is his real name) played an early April Fool’s joke on the press and the Internet at large, by claiming to have won the Mega Millions lottery jackpot that everyone’s been talking about all week.

    Wall Street Journal reporter Lauren Schuker tweeted:

    (image)@lschuker
    Lauren Schuker    According to sources, Tom Kreft of Baltimore County won the $640 million Mega Million jackpot via a ticket bought in a 7-11. #greatwhitehope(image) 8 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Interesting choice of hashtags, by the way.

    According to Business Insider, Peter Lattman from the New York Times tweeted about it too (though that tweet appears to have been removed). Business Insider shares a statement from Kreft, who says, “Sorry. It was an early April Fools Day prank. Sad to say I didn’t win anything but a little attention.”

    As pictured above, Kreft says on his Facebook page: “sorry, internet :P”

    Let the April Fool’s weekend commence. Be very careful in your news consumption. Chances are, someone is out to make you look like an idiot.

    For a more fun April Fool’s story, check out Google’s NES version of Google Maps.

  • MAD Magazine Laughs Onto The iPad On April Fool’s

    MAD Magazine Laughs Onto The iPad On April Fool’s

    It’s not a joke, but it might be a prank. We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, though, and tell you that Alfred E Neuman is about to land his goofy little face on your iPad.

    This year, MAD Magazine will celebrate its 60th birthday. which seems like a splendid time to go digital. MAD Magazine, the satirical heavyweight on popular culture is coming to your iPads on April Fool’s Day. This is fitting, says a blog post, because April 1st happens to be little Alfred’s birthday.

    The iPad app will be free, but the content won’t be. Without ponying up a little extra, you’ll only really have access to a free preview. Readers can pay an upfront annual price of $9.99, or you can pay on an issue-to-issue basis. New issues will run you $4.99 and back issues will be $1.99. If you’re already a paid subscriber to MAD, don’t worry, you’ll have access to all the iPad content for free.

    “We’re delighted to bring MAD to the iPad,” said MAD Editor John Ficarra. “We think the MAD app may be just the thing to turn the struggling iPad around and make it successful –though most experts think it may be just the thing that kills it altogether.”

    Cute.

    Here’s what you’ll be getting with the app:

    The MAD app will include interactive versions of all current issues, access to a library of back issues and books, animated covers and “fold-in” pages, promo videos from the hit Cartoon Network show, MAD, and a link to MAD’s popular blog The Idiotical. In addition to the regular issue interactive “fold-in,” digital issues will also include a second, classic interactive “fold-in” from a past issue. Fans of Sergio Aragones’ MAD Marginals will enjoy a feature that allows readers to “pop-up” the margin artwork for a larger, more detailed view.

    Like many magazines that come to the iPad, you can expect all the same content that’s present in the print version, with added interactive bonus features.

    Like I said before, this could all be an April Fool’s prank. But I won’t lose sleep over it. What, me worry?

    [h/t TUAW]

  • Is Cord Cutting Really Happening?

    With consumers continuing to be unhappy with cable providers, a trend known as “cord cutting” has quickly risen up. The concept has gained a lot of attention over the past couple of years especially since more Internet alternatives have become available.

    Is cord cutting actually a trend or is it simply a threat that consumers are sending to cable companies? What’s your take? Please share.

    According to a report from ISI Group, cable went from having more than 53 percent of the video market in 2010 to less than 50 percent in 2011:

    While it appears that cord cutting is a growing trend, a couple of other reports actually indicate the opposite. Bernstein Research found that pay-TV subscribers grew last quarter. Although the increase (0.2 percent) wasn’t significant, it’s enough to raise some questions about the so-called trend of cord cutting.

    What’s more, Business Insider Intelligence found that there was “no meaningful evidence to bolster the much-heralded ‘decline of TV.’” (Emphasis not added.) Alex Cocotas explained that, while cable has lost some subscribers, bundled Internet, telephone, and TV packages have grown.

    Bryan Gonzalez, Director of Social Entertainment Labs at the Entertainment Technology Center at USC It’s clear that a lot of consumers are unhappy with cable options, but these recent reports can’t help but make one wonder what is actually happening. According to Bryan Gonzalez, the Director of Social Entertainment Labs at the Entertainment Technology Center at USC, there are many challenges to cord cutting.

    Services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV can be very effective, but there is a downside to some Internet options. For instance, with March Madness in full swing, basketball lovers may not be able to find all their favorite games online. In addition, a lot of the Internet services don’t have current content, which is a problem for some consumers.

    As Gonzalez explained, many consumers are trying to get away from cable and are looking to Internet and satellite options instead. However, some appear, as the above charts suggest, to be going back to traditional content even though they aren’t completely happy with their choice.

    Time Warner’s CEO Glenn Britt, in a move to counter some of the negativity from consumers, recently laid out a plan for a low-cost package of channels to offer. This experiment has yet to be implemented but some, including Gonzalez, believe that it could be effective.

    “By creating these smaller, cheaper packages, you’re really gonna bring back some of the folks who might have gone away for a little bit,” he said.

    Another challenge to cord cutting is bandwidth issues. Unfortunately, this is a problem that is expected to increase as more devices such as the new iPad come out. With these types of devices combined with growing families, consumers are going to need more bandwidth.

    Britt also discussed a second experiment that Time Warner is working on that addresses bandwidth issues. According to him, Time Warner is testing a metered-usage Internet subscription plan in Texas, which means that tiered data cap could be proposed in the future.

    “As soon as you start to limit that, I think that they’re gonna run into that wall pretty quickly,” said Gonzalez.

    “You’re gonna see a lot of consumer pushback on that,” he added.

    Over on InverstorPlace, Anthony John Agnello issued a warning to Time Warner in regards to this experiment:

    “Time Warner needs to tread very carefully, though, or it will lose more than just cable subscribers. For years now, Web users have been vocal opponents of usage-based billing and attempts to cap data. Time Warner attempted to introduce usage-based billing in 2009, but consumer outrage prompted the company to abandon its plans. The same thing happened to competitor Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) when rumors swirled that it intended to start billing based on usage, but Comcast gave up those plans by December 2010. As reported by Stop the Cap, a consumer advocacy group devoted to blocking usage-based data plans and data caps, Comcast applauded Time Warner’s announcement but shied away from saying whether or not it would follow suit in the future.”

    In an effort to solve some of these challenges and bring cable and Internet streaming together, Netflix attempted to partner with Comcast but was rejected. According to FierceCable, Comcast issued this response to the offer:

    “We have no plans to offer access to Netflix to our customers through our Xfinity TV service, no matter what device,” said Comcast spokeswoman Alana Davis.

    The marriage of the companies was a puzzle to many since Netflix has, for a long time, distinguished itself as an alternative to cable. Gonzalez told us that, even though the companies did not reach an agreement, it was encouraging that an attempt was made. Furthermore, without Netflix’s existence, products such as TV Everywhere would probably not be around either.

    “Before Netflix, Comcast and Time Warner would have never offered that or thought about that,” he said.

    In other words, the advent of Internet alternatives has brought more choices to consumers. While the issue of cord cutting is still being debated, it is clear that these services will play a large role in the future of pay TV. In fact, Avner Ronen, the CEO of Boxee, told WebProNews that the trend toward viewing content online would increase going forward.

    “The transition toward more video over the top that’s coming over the Internet such as Netflix and Hulu and iTunes is inevitable,” he said.

    (Here’s the full interview:)

    Gonzalez agrees that Internet options will be significant but believes that consumers will ultimately gravitate toward some sort of combination of online and traditional services.

    “In the short term, I think cable and satellite and broadcast are still… the most effective way and efficient way to distribute video,” he said. “However, I see the future more as a hybrid.”

    What would you like to see going forward? Are online services the answer, or, do you still need what cable and satellite operators offer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

  • Google Consumer Surveys: “Super Important” For Publishers?

    Google has introduced Google Consumer Surveys, trying to kill multiple birds with a single stone. Those birds would be publishers looking for revenue sources and less-than-stellar market research.

    With the product, publishers can use this instead of a pay wall , so they can get something out of readers who may not want to pay to read an article, or even take the time to register.

    “The idea behind Google Consumer Surveys is to create a model that benefits everyone,” says Google product manager Paul McDonald. “You get to keep enjoying your favorite online content, publishers have an additional option for making money from that content, and businesses have a new way of finding out what their customers want.”

    He further explains on the Google News blog:

    Publishers get paid for hosting surveys. A number of publishers, such as the The Texas Tribune, the Star Tribune and Adweek have already started running these microsurveys on their sites.

    So what’s the point of these questions? From international brands to local food trucks, every business owner wants to make important decisions with their customers’ feedback in mind. That’s why we’ve created Google Consumer Surveys, a new business-facing product that makes custom market research easy. It enables companies to ask questions (the ones you’ll later see on your screen) and get back quantitative results quickly, accurately and cost-effectively. Companies have already been using it to research everything from online shopping behavior (Lucky Brand Jeans) to gluten-free baking mixes (King Arthur Flour), and to assess brand awareness (Timbuk2) and inform product development (479 Popcorn). Google shares the money these companies spend with our publisher partners.

    Google’s head of web spam, Matt Cutts, had this to say about the new offering on Google+:

    Problem: Newspapers and publishers want more funding options so they can produce premium, high-quality content.

    Problem: Market research is slow and broken in many ways.

    Solution: When a visitor lands on a page with premium content, they can answer a question to get to the content (much friendlier than asking people to pay for content directly). Publishers earn money and visitors get higher-quality content. Meanwhile, market research and polling gets easier, faster, and cheap enough that almost anyone can do it.

    I really like that this is a new option to help produce higher-quality content on the web. It’s like micropayments, but users don’t have to pay with money–they can pay with their time or opinions.

    Google’s Chris Messina says:

    It’s pretty straight-forward (shamelessly pulled from their site [1]):

    1. You create online surveys to gain consumer insight
    2. People complete questions to access premium content
    3. Publishers get paid as their visitors answer
    4. You get nicely aggregated and analyzed data
    I’ve watched this product grow from a kernel of an idea to a full-fledged product and think it has great potential.

    Google’s Chris DiBona says, “I think this is actually a super important product for writers and publishers.”

    At least we know Googlers like it.

    Here’s an example of one being used (from LimaOhio.com):

    Survey in action

    There’s a form publishers can use to sign up for the service here.

    Do you think this is a significant offering? Will it help fill a void in publisher revenue?

  • eHow Launches Tech Channel, Continues Down The “Expert” Path

    Demand Media has launched a new eHow Tech channel for tips and advice for consumers from “experts” on technology topics. The company refers to it as a “Tech 101” destination, where consumers can get info for “troubleshooting most tech conundrums.”

    “More than 71 million people visit eHow each month, and by analyzing user engagement, we know there is a growing need for online help that translates complex technology problems into easy-to-understand language and straightforward directions,” said Erika Nardini, SVP of sales and marketing at Demand Media. “Last month in the U.S. alone, more than 10 million consumers visited eHow for answers to their technology-related questions. We developed eHow’s new Tech channel as part of our ongoing mission to listen to consumers and provide content that meets their needs.”

    RadioShack is currently sponsoring the channel, and Demand Media is highlighting two experts who will contribute on an ongoing basis: Digitwirl.com founder Carley Knoblock and TechnoBuffalo.com founder Jon Rettinger. The former will offer tips on things like Facebook privacy settings, creating effective tweets, etc. The latter will talk about things like 3D TVs, universal remotes, etc.

    “Technology is increasingly such a part of our day-to-day lives, but people are just too busy to read lengthy manuals – we all want technology to just work,” said Knobloch. “At eHow Tech, we aim to shorten the learning curve for people with concise, clearly explained instructions and ‘how to’ videos. Through our collaboration with RadioShack, we want to empower users to tackle any curve ball the tech world throws their way and take the anxiety out of using these gadgets we all own and love.”

    These two may not be the celebrities that Tyra Banks or Rachael Ray (two other Demand Media partners) are, but it does continue down Demand Media’s path of forming relationships with “experts” in certain areas of interest, and less of the content farm free-for-all, which became quite the controversy for the company, and ultimately led to eHow getting hit by Google’s Panda update last year.

    I’m not going to get into all of that here. We’ve covered the saga rigorously for over a year, and you can read all about the Panda update here and Demand Media’s ups and downs here.

    The company did say during an earnings call last month that eHow has not been affected by a Google algorithm change since last July.

  • Hemlock Grove From Eli Roth: Another Original Series For Netflix

    Whatever damage Netflix did to its reputation last year is quickly fading, or at least the company is doing its best to make it do so, as it gets more into original, exclusive programming. So far, we’ve heard about plans for House of Cards, new episodes of Arrested Development and possibly Reno 911, and even seen the debut of original series Lilyhammer (which isn’t bad, by the way).

    Now, news comes that Eli Roth (pictured above: image from his Facebook Page, not the show), director of horror classics Cabin Fever, Hostel and Hostel Part II (not Hostel III), has a new show called Hemlock Grove on its way to Netflix, which Roth has deemed his “new BFF”:

    (image)@eliroth
    Eli Roth    #FF #HemlockGrove author @diegomcgreevy #CabinFever co-writer @randazzles #SpringBreaker @Bellekorn & my new BFF @netflix(image) 4 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    IMDB has little info about Hemlock Grove other than the listing of Roth as director and Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy as writers. It’s based on a novel by the latter. Here’s Amazon’s description of the novel:

    The body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.

    Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a foreboding biotech facility owned by the Godfrey family—their personal fortune and the local economy having moved on from Pittsburgh steel—where, if rumors are true, biological experiments of the most unethical kind take place. Others turn to Peter Rumancek, a Gypsy trailer-trash kid who has told impressionable high school classmates that he’s a werewolf. Or perhaps it’s Roman, the son of the late JR Godfrey, who rules the adolescent social scene with the casual arrogance of a cold-blooded aristocrat, his superior status unquestioned despite his decidedly freakish sister, Shelley, whose monstrous medical conditions belie a sweet intelligence, and his otherworldly control freak of a mother, Olivia.

    At once a riveting mystery and a fascinating revelation of the grotesque and the darkness in us all, Hemlock Grove has the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right—and Brian McGreevy the talent and ambition to enthrall us for years to come.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, it will star Famke Janssen and Bill Skarsgard, and the 13-episode first season will be available early next years to Netflix Instant customers.

    All I know is that fans of Roth’s work in film will certainly be interested in checking the show out, as a Roth-directed film has not been released since 2007, unless you count “Nation’s Pride,” the Nazi propaganda film within a film in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which he also starred in.

    Roth has been involved in production roles on a handful of films since then, as fans await film projects he’s hinted at in the past, which may or may not still be happening (Endangered Species and Thanksgiving).

    This isn’t the first time Roth has ventured into television (if Netflix counts as Television – which it should), though it is at the directorial level. He’s made numerous appearances on various TV programs, and recently hosted Curiosity: How Evil Are You? on the Discovery Channel.

    Netflix, by the way, has also been in talks to possibly acquire ABC’s The River.

  • comScore Ranks Top 50 Web Properties for February 2012

    comScore has released a report raking the top 50 web properties in the United States for February 2012. The data, gathered from the comScore Media Metrix service, shows some of the trends in web traffic during February.

    Not surprisingly, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! retained the top three spots. Google has 186.6 million visitors to its various sites in February, while Microsoft had 174.4 million, and Yahoo! sat in a close third with 173.5 million. Facebook was in fourth place with 158.7 million. Twitter was squarely in the middle of the pack, ranking 25th with 38.4 million. With tax time approaching, the IRS’s website made the list for February at 43rd place with 25 million. Check out the full list below:

    Top 50 US Web Properties for February 2012

    February also saw surges in certain kinds of traffic. Traffic to the IRS’s website grew by 54% from January to February. During the same time frame, overall traffic to tax-related websites grew by 48%, a trend that is likely to continue until April. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day drove traffic surges as well. Traffic to flower and gift sites grew by 28%, while e-card services saw a jump of 13%. The Super Bowl was especially kind to auto makers, who saw a spike in traffic of 17% thanks to their numerous Super Bowl ads.

    The full study can be downloaded from comScore.

  • Latin America Has Quite The Emerging Online Culture

    comScore released a teaser of their 2012 Latin America Digital Future in Focus today, a report that details the key digital trends in the region of the past year while pointing to their implications for the year ahead. One thing comScore did share from the report, though: the online life is a booming industry in Latin America.

    The report looked at significant trends in areas like social media, online video, digital advertising, mobile, and search and how those aspects are shaping the current marketplace for the upcoming year. “2011 was an extraordinary year for digital media in Latin America as more people than ever before went online and began adopting behaviors like social networking and watching online video with increasing frequency,” said Alejandro Fosk, comScore senior vice president for Latin America.

    Indeed it was, as comScore’s report shows that Latin America’s online population grew faster than any other global region last year, hitting 129.3 visitors at a growth rate of 16% by the end of 2011. Additionally, it looks like Latinos’ online habits mirror their counterparts in the rest of the world as Google Sites was the most visited brand with 123.4 million visitors in December 2011. Also, like the rest of the world, Latin America loves its social networking, so much so that time spent on such sites accounted for nearly 30% of all minutes spent online.

    Other key findings comScore hinted at today:

  • Latin America is home to five of the most engaged social networking markets worldwide. Internet users in Argentina averaged 10.7 hours on social networking sites in December 2011, followed by Chile (9.5 hours per visitor), Peru (8.7 hours), Colombia (7.6 hours) and Mexico (7.1 hours).
  • Entertainment sites continued to amass visitors in 2011, growing 14 percent to reach nearly 97 percent of all online users in the region. Peruvians, Colombians and Chileans spent the most time on Entertainment sites each averaging more than four hours per visitor at the end of the year.
  • Online video viewing grew rapidly in 2011 as total videos viewed grew by double digits across Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile, fueled by both an increase in viewing audience and a surge in videos viewed per viewer.
  • Fueled by the holiday shopping season, online retail visitation jumped 30 percent as more Latin Americans turned to the web to shop and purchase goods and services. Among retail categories, comparison shopping had the highest penetration with nearly 1 in 4 online users visiting these sites in December 2011.
  • Latin Americans continue to display a strong propensity for search. In 2011, the total number of searches conducted increased 38 percent to more than 21 billion in December. With an average of 173 searches per searcher, Latin America leads the globe in search frequency.
  • Mobile phones and tablets continue to account for a growing amount of digital traffic, with Puerto Rico leading the region with 7.7 percent of all digital traffic consumed away from a personal computer. Apple led across nearly all markets in share of non-computer traffic fueled by the iPhone and iPad.

    • The full report will be released on Thursday, March 22, along with a live webinar hosted by Fosk. However, if you plan to watch, keep in mind that the presentation will be en español.