Is it safe to say traditional TV is dying? I say this because not only is streaming taking over, but the streaming field is getting crowded. There’s You Tube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO Go, and that’s just to name a few.
Netflix is winning the streaming war, but barely. In the last year, Netflix and You Tube have been neck and neck in competing for the hearts and wallets for a hungry streaming public. By November 2015, Netflix had a slight edge. But both Netflix and You Tube had a huge edge over competitors Amazon, Hulu and HBO Go. In the past year, 51% of Americans say they used Netflix. You Tube placed slightly lower. Less than 30% polled say they ever used Hulu or Amazon for streaming. HBO Go placed last. Around 15% of Americans polled said they haven’t used this service in the past year. The survey is conducted by RBC Capital Markets. Many credit Netflix’s top rise due to it’s original shows. Recently, You Tube announced it’s ad-free service called You Tube Red. For $9.99 a month, viewers can watch all the You Tube shows they want with no ads. Will it be worth it? I guess only time will tell.
Both Netflix and You Tube have unique things to offer. Yes, Netflix offers great shows like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. These shows have won big time awards. But You Tube offers something even greater: the opportunity for anybody to be a star! It offers the housewife with two crazy kids and crazier husband to become a household name. It offers gaming experts to teach the whole world that craft. You Tube has introduced us to many rising stars over the years. But then again, we watch shows by the season and catch up with Netflix; we also see really great new shows there. So who will win this streaming battle? Can’t we have both?
As many of you know, Ultimate Fighting Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey was upset by Holly Holm. Ms. Holm’s victory is called, ‘the greatest upset in UFC history’. What does this have to do with technology?
Days earlier, EA sports announced Ronda Rousey would grace the cover of the video game UFC 2. Then the undefeated champion got defeated. In June 2014, Jon Jones was considered the greatest of all UFC fighters. He made the cover of video game UFC that month. Shortly thereafter, Jones suffered an injury at practice. His match with Daniel Cormier was delayed. The press conference turned into mayhem. He tested positive for cocaine use and was stripped of his belt. Rising UFC star Alexander Gustafsson made the cover alongside Jones. Gustafsson hasn’t won since. In February 2012, Anderson Silva made the cover. The next year, he suffered a severe leg injury and tested positive for steroids. And then there’s Brock Lesnar. He made the cover of UFC Undisputed 2010. Months later, he lost his belt and suffered an injury that eventually caused him to retire from MMA. At least Lesnar found redemption. He went back to the WWE, won the WWE World Championship and broke the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania win streak.
Sports curses are nothing new. There was Boston Red Sox’s curse of the Babe. There is the Chicago Cubs’ curse of the billy goat. And why hasn’t the city of Cleveland won a major sports title since the mid-1960s? And other covers have been jinked as well. Look at the Sports?Illustrated cover. It’s often been linked with jinxes. For example, in 1987, the Cleveland Indians made the cover, with the title ‘Believe It!’. After the cover, they lost 101 games and finished last that season. In the 1950s, baseball legend Eddie Matthews was one of the first to make cover. A short time later, he was injured and had to miss a week of baseball. And there’s the NFL Madden video game curse. In 2004, Micheal Vick made the cover of NFL Madden. Guess what happened two or three years later? I rest my case. Are UFC video covers cursed?
New York Attorney General Eric?Schneiderman gave a decree. He ordered online fantasy sports businesses like Draft Kings and Fan Duel to stop taking bets from his state. He said such practices are illegal.
Note that Attorney General Schneiderman ordered this in a state where sports is king, and in one of the most populated states in America. On Tuesday, November 10, as news got out, Draft Kings countered. They sent emails to fantasy players telling them their right to fantasy sports is in danger and urged them to contact Attorney General Schneiderman to protect their rights. Schneiderman isn’t backing down. He claims fantasy online sports is a multi-billion dollar scheme to rip-off sports fans, and he doesn’t want it in his state. A Fan Duel spokesperson said fantasy sports were games of skill and legal under New York state law. Here’s how fantasy sports work: Fantasy sports players assemble their own teams based on professional athletes’ statistics and performance. Then they compete against other fantasy sports players. Often times, leagues are set. ?For example, if you’re constructing a fantasy football team, you’d want NFL quarterback Tom Brady on your team. If it’s fantasy baseball, you’d want a pitcher like Zack Greinke. Back in 2006, fantasy sports were legally sanctioned because they’re based more on skill than luck. But because multi-million dollar prizes are being offered, some legal and political leaders want to crack down.
Over 500,000 regularly play fantasy sports in New York state alone. So I dare Attorney General Schneiderman to tell a half million of his constituents they can’t play fantasy sports anymore. I’m sure they’ll appreciate that. Didn’t Congress deemed it legal? Than why is Schneiderman interfering? These fantasy players are grown adults who choose to play these games. Who is he to interfere? If the New York Attorney General wants to use this to warn against gambling addiction, that would be one thing. But I don’t like him telling people they can’t play fantasy sports because they might get ripped off. Is this a Big Brother Orwellian move here?
“We’ll get it right this time,” Danny Boyle and and Aaron Sorkin must have told themselves. They had high hopes for their biopic Steve Jobs. Those hopes are gone.
The movie Steve Jobs was discontinued in over 2,000 theaters due to low ticket sales. That’s more than any movie out in?theaters today. This past weekend, they made a dreadful $823,000. Some may say that’s not too bad. Well, compare that to the $73 million James Bond’s Spectre made in just one weekend. Compare that to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. They already broke records in ticket sales. And their opening weekend is a month from now! ?They hoped to make $19 million the first weekend, which was the weekend of October 9. It’s now November 10. They just crossed the $16 million mark. That’s little more than the 2013 Jobs disaster that starred Ashton Kutcher. Steve Jobs is already called one of the most disappointing movies of the year. Not even the supporting cast of Hollywood heavy hitters like Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen and Jeff Daniels can change that. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook criticized this project. As of today, Steve Jobs is playing in only 421 theaters in the US. So if you’re really itching to see Steve Jobs, check your local listings. Good luck with that.
Some may ask, “What went wrong?” On the surface, this movie had all the tools to succeed. It had a critically acclaimed directors and producers like Boyle and Sorkin. It had A-listers Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen. It had pretty good promotion. So what happened? According to many critics, the movie itself happened. Critics say so much focus was on the Steve Jobs of the 1970s and ’80s. This was the Steve Jobs who treated colleagues miserably, denied his own daughter and saw his company nearly end in failure. The movie stopped in the late 1990s. This was right before Jobs’ and Apple‘s turnaround. This was right before Jobs matured, became a better family man, and right before Apple turned into an international computer tech powerhouse we know today. That’s the problem. What Boyle and Sorkin failed to realize is that people love happy endings and redemption. And movie goers didn’t get it here. Would you see this Steve Jobs biopic?
Now you can with the Star Wars waffle. That’s right. For around $30, you can get a waffle maker that produces this breakfast staple in the shape of Death Star. Finally, you can begin your day with the planet destroying menacing military battle station staring at you. For no extra charge, you can imagine which Death Star you want to devour. Will it be the one destroyed by Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo or the one destroyed by Wedge Antilles? I’ll opt for the first one. So if a geek is at the breakfast table yelling, “Your lack of (syrup, Nutella, whip cream, strawberries, sugar powder, etc) disturbs me!”, you can blame it on the Star Wars waffle maker. But wait…there’s more. Why just have Star Wars in the morning when you can take the force all day? For you ladies, this is where these high heel shoes come in. You can be the envy of the club, party, or social gathering of your choice with these Star Wars shoes. They’re only $320 (you can hint the sarcasm there, right?).
The Star Wars waffle is something I wouldn’t mind trying. But come on: Can’t this waffle have more Star Wars icons to offer? This is one of the most successful movie franchises of all-time! They have countless icons to choose from. For example, who wouldn’t want to devour Darth Vadar before facing teachers, bosses, classmates and colleagues? That’s the way to start a day! But let’s talk about these shoes. These clownish, expensive shoes. Well, they’re great for Halloween and Mardi Gras. But would you even want to be caught in shoes like these in bed, much less out on the town?
It’s Halloween again. Still deciding what your costume should be? We at Computer Geeks are here to help with our top ten tech Halloween costumes.
10. Steve Jobs: With the biopic out, why not? He’s pretty simple to pull off: glasses, black turtleneck, New Balance sneakers, jeans.
9. Black/White/Gold Dress: Over the past year, this head-scratching color changing dress has been a social media icon.
8. Any Mortal Kombat X Character: It’s the top selling video game of the year and even more intense than it was 20+ years ago. This game is the reason why video games are age restricted. Get over here!
7. Emoji: Some say they’re cute. Some say they’re funny. Some say they’re annoying. But these social media icon faces will definately get you noticed.
6. Kermit the Frog Sipping Tea: Then there’s this social media phenomenon. You’re spending all this money on Halloween but forget Christmas is under two months away. But that’s none of my business.
5. Any Retro Video Game Character: Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, and others allow us older gamers to relive memories. They also teach the young folk about about how we used to play. Who knows what Q Bert is?
4. Astronaut: It’s classic, but always work. It’s a good way to honor these space and tech geniuses who paved the wave for us. You can even carry some Tang around.
3. Any Star Trek Character: Did you know we’re coming up on the 50th anniversary of this historic TV franchise? Beam me up!
2. Minecraft: They’re simple to do. All you need is a cardboard box, Minecraft printouts, glue, scissors and tape. It’s a ?budget friendly costume as well.
1. ?Any Star Wars Character: It’s back! Star Wars VII will be released in December 2015. There’re many Star Wars fans (sorry, I’m not one of them). How much Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, and Princess Lela ?will we see this year?
