1FPS|by David Chartier

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Another winner from The Onion. I’m constantly impressed by the high production values of these segments. Definitely a step or two above the rest.

via iRockandRoll

I usually don’t touch politics here at 1FPS, but I feel this video offers a concise overview of the reasoning behind my decision.

Fucking awesome.

I’ve been thinking a bit about the ongoing writer’s strike and came to a new theory as to what’s going on and why. What if the writer’s strike is actually a strategic play by the studios to move more video into unscripted production and the online space?

Think about it: writers and real actors get paid a lot more than your average reality TV twerp participant. If anything, the strike could be playing directly into the studios’ hands by opening the doors for more reality TV that features nothing but nobody, wanna-be stars who get paid a fraction of their acting predecessors. By tossing out the script and dramatically slashing production costs, the studios can keep filling the (sadly) increasing demand for reality shows with silly premises and cheap participants.

Then there’s the broadcast angle which the studios can slowly begin removing. By moving their efforts online to their own video sites (Exhibit A: NBC’s Hulu) and community sites like YouTube, the difficulties, politics, and expenses of getting broadcast deals through traditional TV stations are all thrown out the window. Serving video over the web has to be cheaper than traditional channels, especially since the vastly popular YouTube and its competitors help out a lot with the hosting and serving costs. The other major benefit of internet-based video is that it is infinitely more trackable. Studios and community sites like YouTube can track every click, every view, whether the viewer finished the video, exactly how long the video is watched‚Äîalmost everything. Internet video also seems to be a lot more profitable, or at least it could be soon. Showing a few commercials in the middle of a TV show is one thing, but being able to display banner ads above, below, and beside video embedded in a website in addition to pre-run, mid-run, and post-run ads sounds like a virtual gold mine for advertisers and the studios.

I know, that last possibility makes me want to vomit a little too.

Of course, there are still plenty of shows that need writers, but even those might slowly be going extinct. Dave Letterman cut a deal with the WGA to get writers back to work, but the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, as well as Daily Show with John Stewart and Colbert Report are back without writers and seem to be doing just fine. There’s no doubt in my mind that the studios are watching those experiments closely to see whether they can continue producing and writing themselves, and whether that success could be duplicated with future offerings in the same space as those shows. Movies also seem to remain in the realm of written story, and a few other truly successful TV dramas could stand to retain writers. But aside from that, “reality” TV and other fly-by-the-seat-of-one’s-pants formats appear to be flourishing just fine without them.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that these ideas more or less terrify me, as I hate about 95 percent of reality TV and would jump at the chance to send a collective kick-in-the-pants to most of its viewers. I also am not entirely sold on the possibly of being required to get more of my TV from some shoddy living room internet/TV appliance, and I say that as a thoroughly satisfied Apple TV owner. While the potential for better tracking and accurate ratings that would yield better TV shows is appealing, I’m too afraid of the studios’ ability to warp these technologies to their overtly-controlling whim. After all, the music industry is all alone in its collective shedding of DRM. Video houses aren’t showing any sign of dropping the consumer-unfriendly technology; if anything, they’re using even more of it, as the new Blu-ray and its seemingly fallen HD-DVD competitor both have far more durable, restrictive capabilities.

So am I nuts here? The conspiracy theory certainly makes sense from where I’m sitting, but then again, that’s all it is: a theory based on not much more than observations of the industry’s moves over the past couple years, as well as this strike. I certainly do hope I’m wrong, and that talented writers and actors (and all other unfortunate persons caught in the crossfire) can soon get back to weaving their tales both on the TV and internet.

I’m done with the bi-partisan mud-slinging. I’m done with splitting this country in half. I’m done with the quietly intended practice of boisterously hating those on the opposite side of a fence that shouldn’t exist, simply because they’re on the other side of it. I’m done with the viral behavior of lying, cheating and stealing being spread by those in power who do nothing but lie, cheat and steal.

I’m not supporting either of the major parties because they don’t support us. At best, I’ll probably end up voting for the party that I feel lies and cheats the *least*, but that still isn’t saying much.

The last thing this country needs right now is lines drawn between its citizens, comrades, family and friends due to one belief or solution to a problem being different from another. Right now is a time to come together - that’s why I am showing my support for every citizen of this country by refusing to support a political process that no longer seems to support us.

Circumventing DRM (Digital Rights Management) is against the law. I’m not saying whether I’m for or against this fact - I’m just putting it out there for context. As the law stands right now, and as I understand it, taking measures to work around, break or otherwise defeat DRM is illegal. There are of course technical details involved and ways to bend these rules, but those aren’t at the heart of what I want to write about. I’m simply stating that, generally speaking, we live in a society that governs itself by laws, and we’ve agreed to abide by this system.

Obviously, this doesn’t make a lot of people happy. Maybe they’re pirating content and DRM pisses them off. Maybe they want to copy that DVD movie they just bought to iTunes or their PVR - an entirely legitimate desire, in my opinion - or maybe they’re simply idealists who believe that locking down freely distributable digital content is a violation of, well, one ideal or another.

Regardless of where the majority of opponents to DRM are coming from, a boatload of digg’s users revolted against the service last night and this morning for removing posts that contained a 16-digit code that helps to crack the DRM on HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. Users went nuts, calling out digg for ‘bowing down to the man’ and bitching that their right to free speech was being violated.

I’m not here, at least for now, to debate those issues since they both run very, very deep and we likely wouldn’t get much done. This topic amongst geeks and nerds runs about as deep in the vein as religion or politics, and each of us can get as stubborn on our stance as the next guy.

I am here, however, to present a different option for effecting change in this world of digital content and 21st century technology: put your ideas where your rebellion is. Most people who I see posting this code in a unified “F-U” to digg or the man also typically rant about how bad DRM is for the industry and how, in their opinion, it isn’t actually effective in protecting content. Again, I’m not here to agree with or argue against any of those points: I want everyone who is opposed to DRM to start offering some options on how to fix the problem and then start doing something about it. Organize a protest, call your senator, get on the news, kick up some dirt - but start using all this technology at our disposal to help things move forward. Is this a cultural problem? Do you hate DRM or these companies because you feel they charge far too high of a markup on their products? How can we help improve our situation? Who’s offices can we start emailing and calling? What TV news networks, radio stations and magazines will listen to our cause and give us time in the spotlight?

Free speech and the rest of our laws weren’t conceived simply to allow us the perceived right to post DVD crack codes on our blogs and bitch about what we feel is wrong. They were created to give us the power to combine our efforts as a society and effect change; to help make the U.S. and the rest of the world a better place.

So put your ideas where your rebellion is. Be a part of the change that helps move things forward.

[tags]DRM, digg, software, culture, politics[/tags]

These two videos below are statements from a juror detailing a recent case where a man refused to pay his taxes - and won. The discussions around how important taxes are to our country - as well as how depressingly abused they are - aside, there is apparently no law that states we have to pay taxes. While we obviously should, the implications here are somewhat interesting:

[tags]politics[/tags]

Call Me Fishmeal.: Thank God for George W. Bush

In eighteen days we have a chance to elect a majority in both the house and senate who will oppose Bush for the next two years, and stop this insanity. I am urging you to do what you can. Even just showing up and watching for voter fraud would help. Take a laptop to your polling place and blog what you see. We’ve had the last two national elections stolen from us, and if we let it happen again _we_ are to blame.

Stellar post. Agree 100% - please do something with this upcoming election besides turn it into an excuse to complain and whine about more crap you should have helped stop in the first place. Please.

Chevron’s profit surges to record
At least $3/gallon went for big oil’s a good cause. But hey, at least our administration sure are sure of their decisions.

Technorati Tags: big oil, Bush, Chevron, profits

“Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It’s certainty. People love the president because he’s certain of his choices as a leader, even if the facts that back him up don’t seem to exist.”

Stephen Colbert | The A.V. Club