There seems to be something wrong with my site setup at the moment… pictures arent’ uploading, things aren’t updating like they should.

Not sure if it’s a random problem, or something worse (my first incident with a hack came up recently), but it’s stopping me posting things I’ve wanted to add here (and pics).

More when I can actually fix this issue up…

Apparently…

(Yes, another web meme thing, but given the topic, I really couldn’t resist trying this one. Not a bad answer to see, really!)

Not in Australia (yet), but I’m really hoping it’s only a matter of time before Netflix gets in on the act locally:

Wii becomes third console to stream Netflix

It’s a triple crown for Netflix. Beginning in the spring, the Wii will become the last of the three current video game consoles to get instant viewing of Netflix movies and TV shows over the Internet.

Wii owners who have a broadband connection and a Netflix subscription that costs at least $9 a month will be able to watch those programs with no extra charge.

Nintendo Co. and Netflix Inc., which wouldn’t give an exact launch date for the service, were set to announce the deal on Wednesday.

More here

My take: They already have Netflix streaming on PS3 and Xbox over there, so it was only a matter of time before it got on the Wii. And the Wii is lower cost and has a far bigger install base, so this is big. But alas, no Netflix like service exists in Australia yet (and don’t say Bigpond movies: $10-20 a month to stream all you like? Not in Telstra’s lifetime), so we will wait a little longer I think.

But it’s rumoured that Netflix or someone similar will setup a real service of that nature here soon (all they really need are servers here, plus some rights issues), so it likely should happen soon. There’s a lot of rumours about the TV landscape changing here this year, so let’s keep watching…

Rupert: you ugly old luddite

In response to this recent news:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/09/2710281.htm

Murdoch warns Google: it’s time to pay

What we all really need to do is stop linking to News Ltd sites. Stop blogging about them, stop submitting to Digg, Stumbleupon, linking on Facebook, Twitter, whatever.

Murdoch appears not to want this… unless we pay, of course.

It’s a boycott of sorts, but clearly he doesn’t think that his content needs to be promoted — we all know it’s just perfect already, and we should all be immediately paying for it.

And in the spirit of the main article, Google must immediately remove all News Ltd material from the search logs. No one can be allowed to find it without paying. As usual, he seems to have completely lost track of how the Internet works… apparently News Ltd content will just stand out by itself now, because it clearly has no competition.

There is only one way I can think of this being good for Murdoch, and it involves finding at least one other big company to be very stupid. But that’s for another time.

For now, we really should just boycott News Ltd on the web. And as a Simpsons/Buffy/Dollhouse/Bones fan, let’s clarify and say News Ltd news content — because that will be HYSTERICALLY EASY

Well, that’s what someone asked me today. By complete accident, I was called by a Swinburne University Psychology department phone poll, which gave this very interesting opportunity to answer a bunch of questions about my Internet habits.

She told me it would take about 20 minutes, but in the end it took 45 minutes. But it just flew by, probably because I can talk for hours about the topic, and she was happy to hear it. I’m probably atypical of their poll results, but I don’t care.

Funniest moment came when she asked me about how often I look at “adult sites”, which led to the slightly odd semi-answer that my work leaves me looking at adult sites every day… but yeah, I do occasionally otherwise anyway. And we left it at that

And there was lots about downloading habits, and legal downloading and illegal downloading, and ecommerce and more. I like to think I gave some good answers and a lot of explanation.

Would be curious to know how I got roped in to begin with… must have been a totally random phone thing I guess. And I suppose that many would just say no… wonder if she expected someone with as much to say as me

You can see all about their study at this Swinburne site, which on my own observation now is actually more the site of the people carrying out the survey process, not the people who wanted the data… interesting. Oh well.

Well, only in a small way, but it’s nice to be wanted

My Yo Gabba Gabba review, on the State Sports Centre website… they contacted me and asked to reprint it, so they obviously figured I liked their venue:

http://www.sports-centre.com.au/sop/centre/137/Tell_Us

Because Will would insist I posted it here…

The first preview online for Toy Story 3, due June next year.

Really quiet weekend, almost entirely a strictly at home affair, which helped the bank balance, my health, and getting things done around the house.

Pretty poor weather as well, which has been a running theme all week, and since that’s been no good for my health, it was better to stay home as much as possible.

Worked on the office for the most part, taking the old desktop outside, trying to set up the graphics tablet on it, and generally getting things set up outside. Wireless reception is terrible (for the USB wireless at least), but I’m really liking the way it’s looking as an office outside. It’s what I’ve wanted for years really: an office separate from the house, with everything I want in terms of facilities, a good space, a big desk, all my gear. It feels professional, and it feels like I could do a lot of work there a lot of the time…

Which I hope to now, that’s for sure

Have finally been listening to The New Pornographers Recently. I’ve heard some of their stuff before of course, and got Carl Newman’s new solo album from emusic recently (and have heard some Neko Case works as well), but I finally grabbed a New Pornographers album from emusic too.

And it’s more magnificently done pure pop. I’m listening to Twin Cinema now, but will be grabbing more as soon as I can.

So many standout songs on this album, but I especially love “The Bleeding Heart Show”. An absolutely gorgeous song… especially the middle 8 refrain just before the first chorus. Just… wow.

The Bleeding Heart Show – The New Pornographers

This is what pop should be… if the entire music industry wasn’t so completely backward about everything, these guys would be top of the charts. As it stands, the charts are irrelevant now, and smart people know where to find good music. Thank goodness for that.

Another typical April Fool’s Day, with the Internet just a cacophony of jokes and attempted jokes that so thoroughly drown out some sites that you don’t even bother reading for actual news.

It reminds me of a few years ago when Google launched GMail on April 1. For a while you had to wonder if they were actually serious…

Bottom line is, don’t try to launch anything on April 1 (unless you’re Google, and even then…) because no one will believe you!