INCOMING Playstation 4

Hey Everyone,

Playstation had their huge media event a couple weeks ago and the main announcement confirmed what the rumors had suggested for several months.  PS4 has been officially announced although not every detail has been released yet. 

The announcement revealed a collection of game previews along with the new controller pictured above.  The PS4 will focus primarily on gaming and will switch components and formatting to a more game developer friendly format. 

This new announcement is exciting but does leave a lot of information to be desired.  There hasn't been any reveal of the actual hardware that the console will look like, but we do know that the PS4 is set to arrive this year during the holiday season.  The information should give us a clearer picture of what the console will look like and what we can expect from the system. 

This announcement beat XBOX to the punch who is also set to announce their next generation console this year.  It should be an intense buying season and it will be interesting as it seems PS4 is going after gamers and Xbox is targeting home enteratinment and living room consoles. 

More to come, but it should be exciting to see where these new consoles are going and how it is effected by the new social gaming atmosphere and indie games that can be streamed online.

!!!!
if anyone wants to look in here is the entire 2 hour announcement 

Black Mirror is the Future Broken?

Just a check in wanted to mention an awesome UK Mini Series by Charlie Brooker called Black Mirror.  These are a collection of dark, twisted standalone segments that each run about 45min to an hour.
Each episode functions independently with no recurring characters from entry to entry.  In fact each episode features a new world and each is meant to show another way that our lives might be impacted by the natural evolution of technology.  Fair warning they are pretty dark stories, not overly violent or anything, but definitely not family viewing. 

The first three were released last year and were a huge success.  The second trilogy was released this last month and the 3 independent movies are just as good as the first year.  Again since each episode is their own story you can watch any episode in any order.  

EPISODE VIEWING GUIDE:

Personally I recommend all of them, but noticeably:
Season 1 Epidode 2 titled "Fifteen Million Merits" 
also this years 2nd episode was mind blowing titled "White Bear."  
 
Episodes 1.3 "The Entire History of You" and Episode 2.1 "Be Right Back" are both more focused on how technology could impact personal relationships between couples.   

Ep. 1.1 "The National Anthem" and 2.3 "The Waldo Moment" are more grounded in today's reality and have more to do with multimedia.

All six episodes are worth watching for a realistic human approach to where we might actually end up as a civilization. 

Here are the trailers for the first trilogy and the second trilogy.  These are sort of conceptual trailers each episode explores a different avenue of human nature and technology. 

Watch em.

Comcast Hijacking Your Internet?

That Picture above is an alert that Comcast will begin using as part of a newly implemented system to get rid and deter online downloading.  Users who are caught to be using BitTorrent and illegaling sharing media will be issued 6 reminders or alerts as shown above.  Got your attention yet? If you are one of the people who has downloaded movies and television then take heed.  The report is that Comcast will hijack or take control of your browser to prevent you from using the internet until you call in to their customer service line.  This control is said to be implemented after your 4th alert, but it should be interesting to see how this issue effects Comcast and their customers moving forward.

I for one don't think there are too many people who would switch internet service providers based on this, but you never know as time passes and alerts become issued this news should make more of a midstream impact.

Article on Comcast Hijacking Browsers
I am not a fan of the system, but with 4 reminders before the initial hijacking at least you should have plenty of warning and time to see it coming.  What about you guys? What do you think about this system and will it affect your downloading or mindset going forward?

Quick Oscar Ballot Predictions 

busy week, but with the oscars coming up I am going to take this oppurtunity to submit a oscar ballot for the award show.  I have accepted that these award shows choices seem to vary a bit from my own, but this is just a quick peek for who i think the academy will pick as winners win the votes are tallied. Predictions in Red Bold**

Best Picture:
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Lincoln"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Amour"
"Django Unchained"
"Argo"
Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Alan Arkin, "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"

Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Field, "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Amy Adams, "The Master"


Best Director:
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
Michael Haneke, "Amour"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Actor:
Daniel Day Lewis, "Lincoln"
Denzel Washington, "Flight"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

Best Actress:
Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Original Screenplay:
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Django Unchained"
"Moonrise Kingdom"
"Amour"
"Flight"

Best Adapted Screenplay:
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Animated Feature:
"Frankenweenie"
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"
"Wreck-It Ralph"
"Paranorman"
"Brave"

Best Foreign Feature:
"Amour"
"A Royal Affair"
"Kon-Tiki"
"No"
"War Witch"
Best Visual Effects:
"Life of Pi"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"The Avengers"
"Prometheus"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"
Best Cinematography:
"Skyfall"
"Anna Karenina"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
Best Costume Design:
"Anna Karenina"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Mirror Mirror"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"
Best Documentary Feature:
"Searching for Sugar Man"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Gatekeepers"
"5 Broken Cameras"
"The Invisible War"
Best Documentary Short:
"Open Heart"
"Inocente"
"Redemption"
"Kings Point"
"Mondays at Racine"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"
Best Film Editing:
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Life of Pi"
"Argo"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
"Hitchcock"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Miserables"
Best Music (Original Score):
"Anna Karenina"
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"
Best Music (Original Song):
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"
Best Production Design:
"Anna Karenina"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
Best Short Film, Animated:
"Adam and Dog"
"Fresh Guacamole"
"Head over Heels"
"Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'"
"Paperman"
Best Short Film, Live Action:
"Asad"
"Buzkashi Boys"
"Curfew"
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"
"Henry"
Best Sound Editing:
"Argo"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Skyfall"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Sound Mixing:
"Argo"
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

Netflix Making Moves..Next HBO?

Can Netflix Eclipse HBO? 

Hey guys, this week has been crazy, but I wanted to touch on some developments and topics associated with Netflix and their new original programing identity.  At the beginning of the month Netflix released their new original series titled House of Cards.  The show is a political thriller of sorts and stars Kevin Spacey as a Majority Whip balancing a political allegiances and power as he carries out a long-con scheme in the nation's capital.  Staying spoiler free I can say that I have seen the first season and am a big fan of the show which really picks up midway through the season.  The show had my attention from the first five minutes and consists of 13 hourish episodes.  

One of the big points of contention is the fact that Netflix released the entire season at once which violently opposes the conventions of general television programming.  I personally enjoy the format change and while most Netflix users can find themselves "marathoning" shows I think this could really catch on.  

The real question long-term is whether Netflix can become HBO before HBO can become Netflix.  With physical distribution on it's deathbed video streaming seems to be on the horizon for almost all media consumption.  Netflix and HBO both incorporate large libraries of movies with HBO providing high budget critically acclaimed shows. With Netflix stepping up their game with House of Cards and the upcoming "Arrested Development" season launching this year they could find themselves on the cusp of making a major move.  While HBO has a huge library of hit programming including Game of Thrones, Veep, Boardwalk Empire, Girls and more their is certainly some stiff competition.  

Looking at the general landscape between HBO, Netflix and the formidable up and comer AMC the next 5 years could go a long way towards establishing not only the pecking order, but the future of distribution.

Here's the trailer for House of Cards.

*Side note first 2 episodes are directed by David Fincher.