tingilinde

3d special effects before computer graphics

model making 

 

voices

The voices of Rocky and Bullwinkle ...

a tip of the hat to Jim

on rocky and bullwinkle

some history on the classic.  Wonderful if you were a fan.

 

a tip of the hat to Jim

 

resistance radio

Amazon recently launched a companion storytelling experience to complement their series The Man in the High Castle. Resistance Radio is a resistance radio station broadcasting news and re-imagined radio hits from the 60s in a world where Hitler won.  The songs are performed by current artists and are receiving rave reviews - here's All Songs Considered.

Apparently Trump supporters are upset because they think this is anti-Trump..

 

 

the audience is being watched

Really watched - current audience tracking techniques via The New York Times.

 

 

looking ahead to television

The future of television in the US as seen from 1946.

and as seen from 1929

 

 

just tops

A show so perfectly Japanese...

and one that could never happen in America
a tip of the hat to Bjarne

stadiums

There fine as long as they're privately financed - giving them tax incentives and tax dollars is insane.

John Oliver vents

a tip of the hat to Tyler

And one wonder what happens to pro and college football and basketball if ESPN implodes with cable cutting?

snip

...

Here are the ten most expensive cable channels according to SNL Kagan:

1. ESPN $6.61
2. TNT $1.65
3. Disney Channel $1.34
4. NFL Network $1.31
5. Fox News $1.12
6. USA Network $1.00
7. FS1 $0.99
8. TBS $0.85
9. ESPN2 $0.83
10. Nickelodeon $0.73

So if people start cord cutting -- the catch all term for individuals who decide they'd rather not pay for a cable or satellite subscription -- ESPN has by far the most to lose of any channel in the country. ESPN has become the most powerful sports company in the world because just about every single cable and satellite subscriber in the country pays in excess of $6 a month for ESPN. That's despite the fact that only 20% of cable and satellite subscribers would be willing to pay for standalone ESPN according to a 2013 Needham and Company report. As a result, four years ago ESPN netted somewhere in the neighborhood of $7.2 billion a year in subscriber fees when the network boasted 100 million cable and satellite subscribers. But something alarming has taken place in the past four years, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that ESPN has lost over 7 million subscribers. Even more alarmingly, the pace of cord cutting is accelerating, the past year alone has seen ESPN lose over 3 million subscribers. That means in the past four years ESPN's subscriber numbers have declined by 10%, driving down revenue projections.

...

Stand alone ESPN seeking to produce the same revenue would cost at least $30 a month, or twice what HBO costs and three times what Netflix costs a month. Some sports fans would still consider ESPN to be a bargain at that price, but keep in mind you'd also have to pay for ESPN2 and ESPNU and the SEC Network and FS1 and NBC Sports Network and whatever additional regional cable channels carry your favorite local team's games. The net result would be most sports fans would pay over $100 a month just for sports channels. If you're a dad, like I am, you'd have to pay additionally for kid's channels. Your wife probably watches different channels than you do too, add on those costs too. Pretty soon you're paying more for less. That's why a la carte isn't a great deal for sports fans. In fact, it's a worse deal. 

...

 

for the 14th

First is the New Horizons Pluto flyby.  This is likely to be the last first encounter of a well-known body space that happens in my lifetime.  I've been lucky enough to have been witness to all of them so far.  JPL has a visualizer for Macs and Windows machines to give a better sense of the mission.  There will be a lot of news online as well as in conventional media.  

We haven't been seeing many new images for a few reasons.  The distance means it takes over four hours for a light to travel from the spacecraft to rather sensitive antenna on Earth.  The weakness of the signal dictates a very low data-rate.  Most of the images have to be stored on the spacecraft and then transmitted over time.  A lengthy feast for planetary science.

Second is the release of Frank Wilczek's new book A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature's Deep Design.  I've seen pieces and it should be wonderful - an exploration of the cosmos as a work of art and a mediation on the beauty we perceive.

And finally a friend stars on a five part television series.  Colleen is one of four tall women on TLC's My Giant Life.  It will highlight the daily physical and social issues they encounter and hopefully will send a message that very tall women are just that - tall women - and not freaks of nature. 

 

 

making a tv

In the 50s and 60s films from manufacturers were common.  Here's one from RCA showing how a tv was made in the late 1950s...

 

and another from 1956 giving RCA's (very) biased history of television.  David Sarnoff's RCA was the formidable giant of the day.