Creative Comment Spammers!

You gotta give them credit for creativity. I have been getting comments, and instead of a list of obviously spammy links, there is a single link to a profile. These profiles are on sites like dailydumb (which I don’t recommend, by the way) or ITtoolbox which actually exist. But these profiles are not for a person, they have manipulated the text fields in the profile to display a blatant advertisement for designer handbags!! Even if I carried a designer handbag (and I don’t!) I wouldn’t click on a link after being deceived and having my time wasted. What a waste of creative energy and time.

Internet TV – how to do it right

So watching abc.com has become a major pain in the rear.  The ads are quite disengaging and you have to click to continue the show after viewing them.  However, I must say, that nbc.com, which airs the fabulous show “Chuck” has interactive ads you can play (love the snowball fight!) with and instantaneous progression to the show afterwards.  This makes it so much easier, for example,  to watch while on the treadmill.

I am almost to the point where I don’t want to watch any show unless it streams in HD.  I don’t mind downloading a bit of code to do it, either.  The picture quality is getting quite nice on my widescreen, and is making watching easier and more enjoyable.

I am not an average viewer, I must admit.  I don’t know when shows are on because I watch them on the net as I feel like it, or get them from iTunes, which leaves me with less of a network affiliated feeling.  I expect more out of advertisements than a skit with catchy music, or a flashing banner saying, “Hit the monkey.”  If I see another Viagra ad, I’ll unplug my router.  Most networks have such a beautiful interface, couldn’t you get someone to write a cookie so I don’t have to watch the same ads over and over?  Ad agencies, please, get people that know what the internet is and is capable of, for a good example, see Sprints adverts.

Major networks should be taking more advantage of the internet by letting viewers rate the shows in a more meaningful manner.  Maybe then we will get less channels with more to watch, instead of 600 channels with nothing worth watching?

And while I still feel like complaining, Fox – get rid of the auto refresh on your news site.  It is an annoyance at best and unnecessary.

Should Everyone Be Streaming?

The social video thingy is bad enough, now it has to be live streaming?  Can any good come of this?

Ustream.tv is LIVE INTERACTIVE VIDEO FOR EVERYONE. Ustream.tv quickly and easily allows anyone with a camera to broadcast to the world.

I only have a couple things to say about this.  First, I don’t think that the majority of the population should be streaming video, for reasons that are quite apparent.  Most streams end up a snorefest or stupid-palooza.  Second, this could be quite useful with some technological improvements, which inherently means that it will end up serving those with nefarious motives.  People will need to learn to set up decent lighting and sound before this will become a popular thing to do.  With video, you can edit and/or re shoot if it didn’t turn out.  But you’ll not get that margin with live streaming.

Where are the tech podcasts?

Have you ever been browsing iTunes Podcasts, and discover a really cool title, only to find out that there are absolutely no shows or maybe one or two shows from last year in there? So disappointing. This is one of the problems with a free service like iTunes Podcasts; people are quick to abandon them as soon as they are bored, get negative feedback, or have to do a little work. Too bad.

I tend to shy away from the ordinary and the sponsored, and look for those down-home, "doin' it because I love it" shows. These are so rare in the tech genre that I end up putting in considerable time to search for them. So I wonder how long the deadbeat shows are going to clutter my podcast directory and make searching for good shows a chore? Does iTunes automatically delete inactive podcasts? They probably should, seeing as how they are so numerous and it has become discouraging as well as bothersome to wade through the sea of nothingness to get to the few shows with content and the even fewer shows with up-to-date content.

Some frustration abatement:

Podcast Alley

Odeo