Peon's Place

Vizio looks to start where Logitech dropped off. The Google TV box sets weren’t exactly popular, for a number of reasons, largely including the fact Google had a hard time getting media companies to feed TV shows, movies, etc through.

At last week’s Consumer Electronics Show, the company announced the VIZIO VAP430 Stream Player. The new box doesn’t just stream any old web content. It actually adds the VIZIO Internet Apps Plus (V.I.A. Plus) smart TV platform and Google TV into the mix. That basically means that users can tap into a hoard of movies, songs, photos and more, as well as a Chrome browser. It also allows users to stream photos, music and video from any networked computer, hard drive or smartphone, as well as from cloud services. If you’re needing even more entertainment options, the box can tap into the Android Market.  Read the rest of this entry » Vizio + Google TV, built ...

V: [Evey pulls out her mace] I can assure you I mean you no harm.

Evey Hammond: Who are you?

V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.

Evey Hammond: Well I can see that.

V: Of course you can. I’m not questioning your powers of observation I’m merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.

Evey Hammond: Oh. Right.

V: But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace sobriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona.

V: Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.

[carves V into poster on wall]

V: The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.

[giggles]

V: Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Evey Hammond: Are you like a crazy person?

V: I am quite sure they will say so. But, to whom am I speaking with?

Evey Hammond: I’m Evey.

V: Evey? E-V. Of course you are.

Evey Hammond: What does that mean?

V: It means that I, like God, do not play with dice and I don’t believe in coincidences.

Read the rest of this entry » Remember, remember, the F...

The 25-year-old allegedly turned down an initial offer of $750,000 for the legendary men’s magazine, and agreed upon a figure closer to her initial asking price of $1 million. Nothing says “serious actress” like posing for a spread in Playboy. Her rep is neither confirming nor denying the reports, so at the moment, we live in a world where this is an actual possibility.

However, Lindsay’s decision doesn’t come as a total surprise. Lohan is not the most modest of celebs; we’ve seen A LOT of her skin as it is. The forum is just different here. There’s also the Marilyn Monroe emulation syndrome at play: Lohan has repeatedly aligned herself with the icon (and former Playboy model, herself). Her company 6126 is named for Monroe’s birth date, and remember when Lohan recreated Monroe’s last nude photo shoot for New York magazine?  Read the rest of this entry » Playboy + Lindsay Lohan =...

Yes, that’s the actual 3-month stock drop from Netflix current as of today. Remember when Netflix announced a 60% price increase? We all knew that would be a big mistake. Netflix tried to announce Qwikster, which of course failed. CEO Reed Hastings has apologized for nearly everything he has decided to do lately.

• September 2010: Reed Hastings says Americans are self-absorbed and ignorant of Canadian price disparity.
• September 2010: Reed Hastings Apologizes
• November 2010: Netflix raises their monthly price $1.00/month.
• September 2011: Netflix raises their monthly price by 60%.
• September 2011: Reed Hastings Apologizes and announces Qwikster.
• September 2011: Reed Hastings Apologizes.

It’s getting old, really, and Netflix has declined since faster than it has ever grown.  Their shares traded around $75 for the first time in 18 months, a 36% plunge Tuesday that continues a dramatic tumble that has erased about $12 billion from the company’s market value in just 104 days.  Read the rest of this entry » Is Netflix done?

Netflix has abandoned their Qwikster plans, and will now be on the Vizio tablet a few weeks after Hulu was added for additional movies & television streaming options. I had figured Netflix was already on the tablet as part of the original build, since the Vizio televisions with VIA (Vizio Internet Applications) all come pre-loaded. But now, it’s there.

However it’s too bad nearly everyone canceled their Netflix accounts due to the 60% price hike; and if you did keep Netflix around, I hope you’re enjoying fewer streaming options than you previously had.

Unfortunately, I’m one of those account cancelers. And to boot, they completely cleared my DVD and instant queues, leading to my decision to likely never come back.

So here we are, with Netflix plunging as I blogged before, Reed Hastings is flailing to keep customers. Oops. Reed sent me a personal e-mail (and to millions of others, I might add =p) trying to explain his vision in raising prices 60%, and then clearing out your DVD queues and forcing you to utilize a new website, Quikster.

Dear Jason,

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.  Read the rest of this entry » Netflix apologizes

Boy, am I sure glad I dropped my Netflix account earlier this month. Once Netflix announced its new pricing structure and plan options, their users understandably became disgruntled. So much, that the Netflix stock has dropped so rapidly that shareholders are wanting out, and fast!

You can see the Netflix stock dropping in real-time, right here! Google Finance – Netflix

Since then, Netflix has decided to split off into two separate companies — Netflix, which will handle the less demanding video streaming service, and Qwikster, which will handle the DVD portion. They have attempted to put out a fire of controversy over how its recent price changes by offering an apology and new name for its DVD-by-mail business. The wholly owned subsidiary Qwikster will add games to what it rents.

No more immediate price changes will result. The price changes announced over the summer effectively hiked subscribers who get both mail and streaming videos by 60 percent. Instead of one $9.99 charge, they now had two $7.99 charges. The company said this month that it lost 1 million customers since the price change, about 4 percent of its total. Netflix stock has plunged 19 percent since the subscriber loss was disclosed. The DVD unit chief Andy Rendich will be CEO of Qwikster.

The businesses will have separate websites and customers will be billed separately for each. “It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes,” Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings said in a note sent to customers. “So if you subscribe to both services, and if you need to change your credit card or e-mail address, you would need to do it in two places.” What a pain in the ass.  Read the rest of this entry » Netflix introduces Qwikst...

I canceled my Netflix after their 60% rate hike last night – yesterday was the start of a new billing cycle, and that’s when my $10 became $16 (more like $17-something after tax).

So what if I like to get a DVD every few days? I can actually grab a newer movie that Netflix doesn’t place on their streaming service, and not have to deal with the stupid bandwidth ever-changing and making it look as if I’m watching a VHS tape from the 1970s.

I checked out the Hulu Plus service for the free trial week, and we ended up watching like 4 hours of Dog the Bounty Hunter. I’m considering not signing up for the monthly membership, simply due to Linda’s ability to watch some of the stupidest shows around, in a non-stop intelligence-lowering chain.

But since Hulu also has an app on my iPhone, and i have my new Vizio tablet, which is the only tablet with Hulu installed, is still worth having? We don’t have a cable television service at home; it’s streaming, or whatever movies we have stacked around.

What do you think? Do you subscribe to Hulu, or know people who enjoy paying for the service? I loved Hulu back when it was free, and I was single, with oodles of more time on my hands.

Are you getting excited for football? (all you football haters, just ignore that question, as well as the remainder of this post =p)

A great way to pump up an audience is to briefly present them with a product that is roughly 50 times more awesome than the product they will actually be watching. To this end, Cleatus the Fox Sports Robot has been complemented with some terrifying football-playing robotic pals.

View the video!  Read the rest of this entry » Fox’s new 2011 NFL ...

Ever since CBS execs said that they would go ahead with production on Two and a half Men without Charlie Sheen, speculation began as to how they would make that happen. Now that Ashton Kutcher has stepped in as his replacement, details are being leaked as to just how the show’s runners are plotting to lay things out.

The show is said to begin with the funeral of Charlie’s character where all of his girlfriends will attend the service, and his house will then be put on the market. It is rumored that several celebrities will make cameos as potential home buyers, but that Ashton’s character, Walden Schmidt, an “Internet billionaire with a broken heart”, will eventually take ownership of the house.

We can all assume that creator Chuck Lorre will make certain that jokes at Sheen’s expense will be included in the show. The season premiere will be a two-parter that will air over the first two weeks. You can catch Two and a half Men on CBS when it returns on September 19th.