More TV's Shot to Death by Saints Fans

Let's be honest, Saints fans are a pretty cool bunch but they have some sort of destructive tendencies that causes them to shoot firearms at televisions.

In the above video, some Saints fans decided to shoot up some old televisions before their Super Bowl party.

The rest of the video is of their Super Bowl Party, so if you want to watch drunken Saints fans, peep out the rest of the clip.

(Courtesy of Sportress of Blogitude)

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NHL TV suggestion: how to televise the playoffs

Also at HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2009 and Sportsology, which is hosting live NHL Entry Draft coverage all weekend long.

No, this is not another rant about the NHL being televised on a network with the national penetration, or lack thereof, of Versus. That would be another piece for another time if everything there was to say had not already been said 1,000 times — because frankly, there’s another issue related to this one that is of more concern and is potentially more easily addressed.

Ever since leaving the ESPN family in 2005, the NHL has placed the bulk of their playoff games in the first two rounds on a premium subscription package that costs their loyal fans more money — and puts the games behind a firewall that casual fans will not choose to access. It is worth noting that they are alone among the four major sports in North America in this regard (although the NBA does put a few games on NBA TV, currently in less homes than the Test Pattern Channel). Few if any observers would dispute that the NHL is the sport most in need of reaching out to casual fans — and few if any would dispute that the passion and action of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are elements that can accomplish this feat.

Now, this column was inspired by memories of the rare occasions back in the day when ESPN would carry a firstround playoff doubleheader on one channel and ESPN2 would carry the night’s other two games. With staggered start times of 7:00 PM EDT on one network and 7:30 PM EDT on the other, fans could experience the nirvana of skipping between the games at intermission — or commercials — and missing a fairly minimal amount of action.

From there, that format germinated into the idea of how to consolidate the action into a single channel, inasmuch as Versus is the single present cable/satellite channel for NHL action and it cannot be assumed that the league’s next TV contract will include two channels worth of action even if Disney gets back in the game. Wouldn’t the league and the sport benefit from a March Madness-type of presentation with their playoff action? Is this presentation possible?

We believe that it is, under the following format.

For first-round action with four games in one night, a pregame show should air from 6-7 PM EDT, setting the table for the night’s action and recapping events of the previous day. The first game would start promptly at 7:00 PM EDT, with the next one dropping the puck at 7:25 PM EDT. This would allow for coverage to move fairly seamlessly between games, albeit with fairly minimal intermission analysis from the studio — but that would be the price paid for the frenetic action. The geography of the local markets would determine which game would take priority for the brief moments when the games overlap — and the network would also be free to utilize the split-screen when urgent sequences are occurring simultaneously. The third game would begin at 9:25 PM EDT, hopefully right on the heels of the first game’s conclusion, although admittedly the second game would still be underway — this concession to having some overlap would be necessary, though, in order to keep the evening’s overall conclusion time within some semblance of reason. The fourth game would start at 9:50 PM EDT and the second half of the evening’s action would progress in the same manner. A studio postgame show would follow the conclusion of the last game and ideally air from about 12:15 AM EDT until 1:00 AM EDT assuming the games are all on schedule.

For first-round action with three games in one night, everything would air in the same fashion except for the third game beginning at 9:50 PM EDT so as to decrease the chances of overlap between the early games and the late one. For first-round or second-round action with two games in one night, the format with the 7:00 PM EDT and 7:25 PM EDT start times could be retained if both games are in the Eastern or Central time zones; otherwise, fairly standard doubleheader coverage would air with start times of 7:00 PM EDT and 9:40 PM EDT.

Ideally, a network would air these games with their own broadcast crew instead of subcontracting out to local affiliates like Versus has done, but if a continuation of that arrangement were deemed necessary to make the finances add up for this package to take place, it would be a trade-off that is easily justified. While a number of parties might end up sacrificing financially in the short-term to make this system possible, the buzz that would be generated and the new and curious viewers enticed would surely make this a winner within a few years. There would not be extended commercial breaks available during the three-game and four-game nights, but sponsorships for the evening could be sold off in a number of creative ways. In short, nothing would bring the unparalleled excitement of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the masses like this idea would. Make it happen, NHL!

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The Image Of A Mobile (phone) World

Japanese commuters while away the journey by watching TV on their mobiles. Image Credit: David Sacks/Getty

The Image Of A Mobile (phone) World

Portable programmable electronic communication devices, which received their birth forty years ago with the release of the T58 & T59 by Texas Instruments, have come a long way and there is no better place on this Oblate Spheroid than Japan to judge and assess how far.

The key to this evolution comes down to having the handheld cellphone be an on-the-fly, symbology decoding, self-programming computer. A cellphone with a good processor, a camera, a printed symbology (ie. slang: barcode) and a strong infrastructure can deliver more interaction and information than a WiFi internet connection HotSpot on many applications.

The most amazing application that can be delivered through these means is that a person with a properly programmed cellphone can scan a “3D Barcode” (a colorized QR Code) and the phone decodes the image taken with the camera and delivers to the cellphone screen 20 seconds of video communication to the user. That’s right! … 20 seconds of the latest DVD release from “The Bourne Ultimatum” that might help one to decide to buy this DVD gift for Christmas – for example.

PM Code - Colorized QR Code that can deliver a 20 second video to the users phone screen without the need to be hooked-up to a WiFi HotSpot or incur cellphone call minutes. Image Credit: Content Idea of Asia (CIA)

Furthermore, the cellphone user did not have to use the cellphone radio towers or a WiFi Hotspot to have the handheld perform this amazing feat. The 20 seconds of video came directly from the “Barcode” that the user’s phone took a picture of … and decoded to display.

More mobility application news happening in Japan from The Guardian Unlimited -

Why mobile Japan leads the world
A combination of an urban lifestyle and infrastructure advantages mean that the fixed internet is being left behind by the mobile
Michael Fitzpatrick - The Guardian - Thursday, September 27, 2007

Yasuko San is aiming her mobile at a small, square tattoo on paper, clicking a little and peering happily at the result. Her prize? The latest novel written for the mobile, entitled "Teddy". Such serialised novels for mobiles are just the latest phone application that has caught the Japanese imagination, but - apart from neighbouring South Korea - few others.

Those printed square icons, however, made their debut in the UK earlier this month (to promote the DVD of the film 28 Weeks Later). Known as QR (quick read) codes, they have aided Japan's mobile revolution by making it easy to access a web page via mobile. Users can be directed to sites by snapping the codes printed in magazines, posters and even on biscuits.

PM Code Image as captured via the cellphone camera. Image Credit: Content Idea of Asia (CIA)

Mobile subscribers

Their British outing is a full four years behind Japan's adoption. In fact, we lag Japan in nearly every aspect of mobile use - except possibly in annoying other commuters on trains.

Lost in Japan? Let your mobile's GPS guide you. Bored? Download the latest manga comic or an e-book to read on the train, or go shopping and pay by swishing your mobile in front of the till, because the phone is also an electronic wallet.

You can also collect e-coupons, pay bills, play Final Fantasy, update your blog and pay and check into hotels wirelessly. Soon the airport check-in will be history in Japan, too, as the e-ticket in your phone becomes your boarding pass.

Nearly all are services based on the success of the mobile web in Japan, where in a nation of 127 million the number of mobile internet subscribers recently passed 100 million. Not for nothing are the Japanese now known as the Thumb Tribe - a tribe who, for the most part, prefer their mobile to the fixed internet.

Apart from the killer application - email - 80% say they use other functions too. Downloading music is popular (80% have tried it), as is TV for mobile - half of its subscribers use it regularly. Three quarters of users say they enjoy online clothes shopping with their mobile at least once a month. What they are less keen on is video calling: in Japan, as in the UK, 90% say "no thanks, never". And as for using the mobile as a modem - to link to the internet - that's very expensive in Japan.

It is no wonder those touting m-commerce as the next big web thing tell us Japan is the future blueprint. "Japan is the world's high-tech testbed for a wide range of consumer electronic devices and systems - many of which never see the light of day in overseas markets," says Daniel Scuka, keitai guru and consultant for publishers Wireless Watch Japan. "So keeping up with developments here is vital to knowing what's going to hit Europe and the US 24 months in the future; doubly so with respect to mobile and wireless."

By offering the Japanese a multiplicity of services - and, very importantly, some very cool handsets to use them on - the operators have created what every western mobile service provider is dreaming of: a mobile lifestyle culture that keeps millions reaching for the mobile rather than the fixed internet. But it does have its disadvantages.

Most us would feel miffed if we lost or damaged our mobiles. The Japanese would be paralysed without theirs: nearly half of Japanese confess to being obsessed with their mobile phones.

But why is such technology such a hit in Japan and not in other mobile-savvy nations such as Finland? According to the man who kickstarted the trend - the father of i-mode, NTT DoCoMo's Takeshi Natsuno - it is because of the Japanese genius for designing new technologies that can be adopted by anyone, especially techno-phobes. It's not about "bandwidth, nor standards, nor unique Japanese culture", he says. It is about "fun and convenience".
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Demanding consumers

The Japanese are blessed with some of the best-looking technology in the world. It has to be intuitive, simple and high-quality, not because the Japanese are so tech-savvy, but because they are the most demanding consumers in the world.

According to Scuka, more than 100 new phones hit the Japanese market last year as manufacturers tried out new ideas on the public. Some cultural factors, as with any other country, do play a part in Japan's willingness to take up some technologies such as TV on the mobile.

As in Europe, this was at first a washout, but as watching TV in public becomes more socially acceptable in Japan, the number of subscribers is rising. Au, the second largest mobile network in Japan, recently signed up its five millionth subscriber to the service.
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It is this urban lifestyle where convenience is the key which has necessitated the rise of the all-in-one mobile plus those very funky handsets. By comparison Apple's iPhone is a mere 2.5G plaything. In Japan, which is already into 3G and heading towards 4G, they make mobiles look good and work hard.
Reference Here>>

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