04.21.06
Posted in Entertainment at 7:49 pm by Jason Permalink
I am currently watching TV whilst working on my latest coding adventure and what do I see? A commercial featuring Lance Armstrong stating that that I could race the best of the world for his spot on the Discovery Cycling team. Sweet! I don’t see why I couldn’t win 
So I go to the url in the tv spot: www.race2replace.com you then have to click on this link to get to the actual spot talking about the terms of the race: Race to Replace Lance Armstrong.
OK… I read around and then I click the link labeled “Back to Main”…
hmm I don’t go back to team.discovery.com like the link says (which looks like the below image).
I go to a directory of links (may not want to click that one) and an endless supply of pop-ups!
Seems like the programmers over at discovery.com have gotten screwed by the open source movement. Silly discovery programmers… Don’t you know you’re supposed to audit the source of apps that you plug into your sites.
Oh, and BTW you might also want to remove your TODO lists from your production code…
Permalink
Spread the word:
bookmark it! |
digg it! |
reddit! |
technorati |
furl |
blinklist
03.31.06
Posted in Entertainment, Movies at 4:05 pm by Jason Permalink
As an avid movie renter I was dropping some serious coin at the local Blockbuster, so I finally decided to give online rental a go. I first tried Blockbuster.com and was quite happy with the service until they modified their ‘New Release’ list. For some insane reason they kneecapped it, and it began only showing a VERY small subset of movies soon to be released. This frustrated me so I wrote to them And they sent me some stupid reply that made no sense whatsoever. So, against the warnings of many of my friends and family who had bad experiences (the exact ones I was soon to enjoy), I switched to NetFlix.com.
At first it was GREAT! I had the 3 out plan and was tracking a very tidy ROI over my in-store expenditures… I had an average turnaround time of about 2 days (I staggered the movies). It was awesome. Then something odd began to happen. It started to take longer and longer to process my returns and get me the next movie in my queue. I sent them a note and got the same idiotic response that my naysayer friends had gotten “The movies must be coming from a distribution hub that is farther from your house”. Well sure that makes sense, but why on earth was my distribution center changed?? Being the data base guru that I am I started pondering the possibility that they may be discriminating against certain ‘active’ users. Perhaps people that were getting too good of a deal were being throttled to bring their rental patterns more into line with the average customer… No, couldn’t be
Well… I have had on a few separate occasions spoken with consultants who actually worked on this very system!! What the HELL!
Anyway, I switched back to Blockbuster.com before i had direct confirmation anyway. It began costing more per movie from netflix than my local blockbuster, defeating the whole idea of renting online. I overcame the deficiency of blockbusters ‘new release’ listings by using IMDBs instead, which is VERY comprehensive. I have never had a problem with Blockbuster throttling my mailings and they even give you free in-store rentals as well.
So screw NetFlix and take blockbuster.com, that’s what I tell anyone who asks and even some who don’t
Permalink
Spread the word:
bookmark it! |
digg it! |
reddit! |
technorati |
furl |
blinklist
03.30.06
Posted in Entertainment, TV at 10:09 pm by Jason Permalink
Why on earth do TV execs slot a new show only to move it half a season later? I mean I do understand the initial strategy behind slotting a new show like Courting Alex behind a successful show like Two and a half Men. It really helps build a viewer base from viewers looking for something to watch after their favorite show (I know that’s why I started watching). It’s been the bread and butter of TV scheduling for a looong time. Ok, that I get, makes perfect sense. Then they go and move the show to stand on it’s own before anyone has really gotten into the groove of watching it… A half a season is NOT LONG ENOUGH!! whoosh and the show is gone…
Poor Jenna Elfman… Another failed show in the making, in the string of many failed shows killed by the idiots running the networks.
I know, I watch Courting Alex. So sue me
Permalink
Spread the word:
bookmark it! |
digg it! |
reddit! |
technorati |
furl |
blinklist
