Rant
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
by Jeff
Someone needs to tell Major League Baseball how the Internet works because they clearly don’t get it. I’ll try to be that person, but more than likely won’t get noticed by MLB. If I do get noticed by MLB, I’ll find out when I get their cease and desist letter for using their logo.
By now you’ve probably seen the adorable video of the little girl and her dad at the Philadelphia Phillies game. Dad makes a great catch of a foul ball and gives it to his little girl who promptly throws it back. Dad throws his arms up in the air, smiles, gives his daughter a big hug and all of Citizen’s Bank Park collectively awwwww’s. You can’t write a better commercial for Major League Baseball. Normally I’d embed a YouTube video of this for you to see yourself. Enter Major League Baseball’s ignorance.
The now classic MLB disclaimer comes into play here that you probably have memorized yourself by now: “Any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of this game, without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, is prohibited.” The father and daughter foul ball moment happens to be an account of an MLB game and so like a dog that refuses to let go of its bone, MLB is removing videos of that heart warming moment as soon as they pop up on YouTube. You can see it if you want to, but ONLY at mlb.com.
Who got written permission? Television. Specifically the Today Show among others I’m sure. You however have no permission to share it with anyone, even though that’s kind of how the internet works. When word around the office spreads of something great that someone saw on TV last night, do people rush to their TV’s to catch it in case they missed it? If they do they’ll be lucky to see it again. Not so with the internet. It’s bound to be easily found on YouTube.
Most businesses would kill to have a video centered around their project go viral. It’s free advertising! Who would pass that up? Major League Baseball. They won’t even allow the “official” video on mlb.com to be embedded to at least give it a chance to go viral. They want one place and one place only to see it. That makes as much sense as McDonald’s opening one restaurant in the entire country. Want a Big Mac? Just travel to Dallas Texas.
It’s really time for companies to loosen the choke hold they have on their product and content. You have people who are willing to spread your message for free to the masses. If you owned a business why would you not take advantage of that? Swing and a miss MLB. Sit down.
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
by Jeff
Can’t anyone learn their lesson from The Writer’s Guild strike from a year ago?
If you remember, the strike last November lasted until May and crippled television and to a lesser extent movies. The strike shortened television seasons, or canceled some altogether. Thanks to the writer’s strike one of my favorite shows, 24, hasn’t had any new episodes for a year and half.
What’s the issue? Actors want more money for work they do that is distributed on the Internet. It’s the same issue that the writer’s had, but they struck a deal. Now the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers want the actors to take the same deal the writers took. The actors don’t want it.
There’s a few problems I see with this. First and foremost, how will Joe Sixpack who just lost his job due to the tough economy have any sympathy for the actor who makes 500K per episode and now wants more just because his work is going to another distribution source?
I understand that not every actor in Hollywood makes that kind of money, but you won’t see those people in front of the news cameras pleading their case for SAG. You’ll see the Tom Cruise’s and the Steve Carell’s, and Joe Sixpack knows they make ridiculous amounts of cash.
The other problem I see is who really gives two squats how your work is seen? It’s 2008 and it’s a new media world. The lines between television and the Internet are slowly starting to fade. Just ask Tina Fey who was probably seen more at hulu.com playing Sarah Palin on SNL than she was on the live show.
Actors seriously want to get paid more because they’re on television AND Hulu? Hey SAG! Why don’t you zip it and go to work so that those of us who make less in a year than you make in a day can go home after 12 hour days and be entertained.
SAG members are talking about a strike – TV Squad
Monday, April 21st, 2008
by Jeff
I read this post on usatoday.com and had to double check the date to make sure it wasn’t April 1st. Nope, it’s not.
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain will all appear on WWE’s Monday Night Raw. Can these candidates dumb themselves down any further? They taped their appearances, uttering wrestling themed gems like these:
Clinton
Tonight, in honor of the WWE, you can call me Hillrod. This election is starting to feel a lot like ‘King of the Ring.’ The only difference? The last man standing may just be a woman.
Obama
….for the American people, I’ve got one question: Do you smell what Barack is cooking?
McCain
And whatcha gonna do when John McCain and all his McCainiacs run wild on you?
Ok I suppose even wrestling fans vote, but could you imagine Kennedy or Regan sinking to this level. I know, I know, different times. Onward we march with the dumbing down of America.
I think I’ll vote for Bob Barker as a write in candidate.
Clinton, Obama and McCain on WWE’s ‘Monday Night Raw’ – USATODAY.com
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
by Jeff
BEST LOCAL RADIO PERSONALITY
Dave Winsor and Michelle Taylor, WTHT (99.9 FM): 281 Joe Lerman, Jon Shannon and Annie Snook, WPOR (101.9 FM): 251 Yee-haw, it’s a battle of Portland’s country stations. Winsor and Taylor have won this five years in a row, on the strength of lots of zippy patter and funny stuff between country songs.
Ok so The Q Morning Show lost again. Big deal. I’ve never really cared to win The Portland Press Herald’s Reader’s Poll. I don’t need a newspaper that gets less then 2000 votes in their poll to tell me who’s the best in Portland radio. Besides, Dave and Michelle and Joe, Jon and Annie are all fantastic and well deserving of the accolades. We’re certainly not the best Portland has to offer.
However, Ray Routhier needs to shut up. Ray is the one who every year reports the results of the poll. Ray, this is the reader’s poll, not the Routhier poll. If it was, public radio would probably win every time. No one asked your opinion. I find your stuck up, snobbish, “I’m better then you” attitude you have every year with this poll pretty tiring.
One surprise was the number of national chains that placed high in the poll. But hey, the chains outnumber the local places, so it was just a matter of time before they started doing well in our poll.
That’s a surprise to you, but not to most people. The majority of Mainer’s drink Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, shop at Wal*Mart and eat at Applebee’s. It’s good and cheap, and that’s what we like in Maine.
We know Dunkin Donuts has good, reliable coffee and that Starbucks has taken over the planet, but the purpose of this poll is to tell your fellow Mainers about local options. So here’s some info on the third highest-vote getter in our poll, Coffee by Design. They’ve got great coffee and a cool, artsy vibe, with local art on the walls. Several Portland locations include Congress Street near Congress Square, Washington Avenue, and India Street near the waterfront.
Snob. To put this another way: “We know you all voted for Dunkin’ Donuts, but let me tell you what you SHOULD have voted for.”
The POR Morning Crew, as they call themselves, is a three-headed show, as a lot of radio morning shows now are. Personally, I find three-headed shows confusing, because I’m not sure who said what. I don’t know who to praise, and I don’t know who to fault.
Again Ray, we didn’t ask you. Three person morning shows are pretty common across the county, and they work. if you don’t know who to praise or fault, or who said what, you don’t listen very much.
BEST SKIING
Sugarloaf, Carrabassett Valley: 342 Sunday River, Newry: 243 Yes, those two Maine resorts are known around the world, but what about the other Maine ski hills, from Saddleback and Lost Valley to Mt. Abram and Shawnee Peak? For a more detailed look at Maine’s ski areas, go online at skimaine.com.
What is this? You said earlier the point of this poll was to point out local options. Just because Sugarloaf and Sunday River are no longer owned locally, they should not have won?
Ray, I think it’s time to either retire the Reader’s Poll or just name it something else. If all you plan to do is bitch and moan about what people are going to vote for, why bother having the poll in the first place?
22ND ANNUAL AUDIENCE READERS’ POLL | Portland Press Herald
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
by Jeff
You really know you’re a geek when you are excited like it’s Christmas expecting Apple CEO Steve Jobs to announce at MacWorld Expo a new software update for the iPhone. I’d never owned a single piece of hardware from Apple until I got my iPhone, so this was the first time I actually cared about Steve Jobs keynote at MacWorld. I cared so much that I was glued to my web browser at noon sharp clicking refresh until my finger was sore to get all the juicy updates from Engadget as they reported live from the keynote.
It didn’t take long to find out Jobs has announced what I was hoping for. The speculation was true. Apple was releasing a long overdue update to the iPhone software. I love most everything about my iPhone, but like every good piece of hardware, it has it’s little annoyances. Hopefully this update would fix those.
Here’s what the new software adds straight from Engadget:
- Maps: New hybrid view, same as Google Maps. Satellite imagery and street mapping available on a single view.
- Maps: Location triangulation. Uses nearby WiFi access points and GSM towers to roughly guesstimate your current location.
- Web Clips: Web bookmarks can now be saved as home screen icons, including zoom and location information.
- Home screen: Icons on the home screen can now be rearranged.
- Home screen: Up to 9 home screens can now be created and “flicked” between.
- SMS: A single text message can now be sent to multiple recipients; groups can be recalled for future use.
- iTunes: Movie rentals are now supported.
- iTunes: Support for lyrics.
- iTunes: Option to “manually manage” music and videos instead of synchronizing.
Ok, they added some nice features. Being able to add “Web Clips” to the home screen is huge, but even more huge is the location triangulation via cell towers. I thought this would be great, if it actually worked.
It took a while to get the update since the servers were busy chugging along sending the update out to the 4 million iPhone users, but finally it connected and installed. I immediately went to Google Maps, and crossed my fingers. My money was on the iPhone not being able to find me very well in good old rural Lisbon, Maine. I would have lost that bet. Sure enough, it managed to show the satellite map of right where my house should be. I say “should be”, because up until two years ago there were just woods where my house stands now. GPS? Bah!
Impressive. Most impressive. Here’s what’s not so impressive about this update. Apple needs to add several more things to make me completely happy:
MMS
Why I can’t send a picture via text message to a friend on the most expensive, tricked out cell phone on the planet is beyond me. Come on Apple! It’s no fun when I can’t play “Guess what this is a close up of” with my friends when I should be working.
Wireless Sync
I’m lazy. I don’t want to walk downstairs to the basement where my computer sits each night to dock my iPhone. It would be much easier to have the dock upstairs near the door, so at night I drop it in the dock while it charges and wirelessly syncs up with the latest podcasts and newest pictures of my son. If the Zune can do it, so can the iPhone.
Landscape Virtual Keyboard
This is the most annoying feature that hasn’t been added, especially since the iPhone can already do it! Why you can only hold the iPhone length wise and get the keyboard in the web browser is beyond me. It’s a hundred times easier to type when there’s more real estate for those virtual keys. Make it work everywhere.
Cut and Paste
A computer function that has existed since before I was using the TI-99/4A. Adding the ability to email the URL of a webpage solves half that problem, but let’s put this decades old technology to full use.
Third Party Apps
I’ll cut Apple some slack on this one. They’re coming this year as soon as Apple releases a software developers kit. Fair enough.
That’s a pretty short list of requests to make me happy. Paul Thurrott pointed out in a blog post on his gripes with the iPhone, that to own the iPhone for the two year contract that Apple/AT&T make you sign, costs anywhere from $2000 to $3000 depending on your plan. I think Apple owes me.
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
by Jeff
It’s snowing again. It’s not just a light dusting either. We’re supposed to get about a foot. Two days ago we got about 10 inches. There’s about 40 inches of snow on the ground right now. All this snow has arrived in less then a month. I’m tired of this.
I’ve lived in Maine all my life, and snow is a given for this state, but this is really getting out of hand. I don’t ski, snowboard, snowshoe, ice skate, or snowmobile. I don’t do anything in the snow but shovel. When I was a kid snowstorms were awesome. They meant a day off from school for sledding on "The Big Hill" across from Paris Manufacturing on Western Avenue in South Paris. Ironically, they manufactured sleds.
I’m 36 years old now, and sledding just doesn’t have that same thrill anymore. Now snowstorms mean shoveling snow, clearing steps, brushing off cars, scraping windshields, digging out mailboxes, salting walkways, tracking snow into the house and driving on slippery roads. I hate it. One big storm a month I might be able to handle, but this is crazy.
This moaning always produces the question, "If you hate snow so much why do you live in Maine?" There’s only two reasons. My family is here, and I have a good job. If either of those go away, I’m out of here to a warmer climate. Much warmer, like Las Vegas. Casinos have air conditioning.
Saturday, December 22nd, 2007
by Jeff
Strap yourselves in people, I’m gonna get all geek on you on this one.
The radio station I work for just launched a brand new website with a new designer and host. It’s another one of those turnkey corporate type deals, where everyone has the same template for their site, but the colors and logo are different for each. There’s a lot of things I like about the new site. Website technology moves fast, and our old site wasn’t keeping up.
However there’s one thing about this new hosting service that leaves me scratching my head. We are allocated a grand total of 1GB of server space. That’s right, one. I’ve got a USB thumb drive that holds more then that. The hosting service I use for thejeffparsonsproject.com allows me 300GB, and it’s cheap. For less then $100 a year I get 300GB of storage and 3000GB of bandwidth a month. So let’s do the math on that one. Big corporation with 170+ radio stations each get 1GB of storage space a piece. Guy writing his own little personal blog gets twice the space of 170+ radio stations combined. See how that math doesn’t make much sense.
We get told that this should be plenty of space. Well I’ve been creating podcasts for the morning show for over two years now. In fact I was involved in a conference call with the head of Top 40 programming a few years ago to teach everyone how to do this. Once again, we were ahead of the curve. Each 90 minute podcast is the entire show minus commercials and music. Works out to about a file size of 35-40MB in 64k mono at 44.1mhz. Very reasonable size for 90 minutes of audio in this day of high speed internet access, but you don’t need a calculator to figure out that I’ll burn through our entire storage space in less then a month with podcasts alone.
So to deal with this insane shortage of space, I’ve begun hosting the podcasts here on thejeffparsonsproject.com. I shouldn’t have to, but I’ve got an obligation to our podcast listeners. It’s really cool to get emails from people listening to our show on their iPod while they ride to work on the T in Boston. That’s a reach never before attainable in radio. Sure, I could have a small archive of only the last few shows, but what podcaster does that?
I don’t know the reasoning behind the lack of space. I’m guessing corporate got a cheap deal with limited bandwidth. Regardless, it doesn’t seem very well thought through. That’s ok though. I’ll just shake my head in disbelief and make it work. It’s what we do in 21st century corporate America.
Sunday, October 14th, 2007
by Jeff
You know what’s wrong with myspace? Here’s the list:
- Blinking gifs
- Songs playing automatically on pages (songs that usually suck
- Comments left that include a graphic that doesn’t get scaled down so now your page layout is all screwed up
- Backgrounds that make it impossible to read the text
- Text that you have to highlight to read
- Pages with 20 Youtube videos all playing at once
- People who use comments instead of email when asking personal questions
- The WORST blogging software ever made
- No widgets, gadgets or whatever else you want to call them
- Friends who thought that hot chick about to take her top off video that got sent to them would be so good that when they clicked on it and “myspace“said “oops you’ve got to be logged in to do that,” they went ahead and “logged in” and gave their password to some place that is now spamming me with Macy’s gift cards, deals on marijuana, and telling me that size does matter.
That’s just the short list too.
So I shopped around for my own web presence, one that I can be social with and customize without all the mess. Word Press was my first choice. I like Word Press a lot and am using it for other ventures, but I haven’t learned enough about style sheets to take full advantage of it yet.
Then I came across Windows Live Spaces. I was pretty skeptical, because Microsoft hasn’t exactly been batting 1.000 lately. Vista is a nightmare, and does anyone actually own a Zune? For all its faults, Microsoft does get a lot of things right, like the XBox 360, Windows Media Center, and now I can add to that list Live Spaces.
Spaces does have social networking features, but it looks a lot cleaner then any mypsace page. It’s also more customizable. Myspace doesn’t let me add widgets, or as Microsoft likes to call them gadgets. These little apps that you add to your page can do anything from showing you the weather to letting you play mini-video games. I’ve opted for using them to show my Xbox360 gamer card, the books I’m reading, and some other things I’ll add soon.
So I’ll try Spaces for a while and see if I continue to like it. If it turns out I don’t, I can easily keep this page and create another blog somewhere else and post to the same entries to both. So you all keep your silly little myspace. It’s so 2006.
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