Netflix Offline for 11 Hours, Shipping Delayed

Yes, I caught the news that Netflix was down for 11 hours yesterday (thanks for the tips!) and experienced it first hand. However, I had limited blogging time available and chose to cover the more significant Sirius/XM merger update. Site outages aren’t so unusual, though this Netflix one is notable for its length… AND apparently … Read more

Virgin America, SmugMug, and Free Flights

I generally fly into the Bay Area on a monthly basis and one of Virgin America‘s fledgling routes is Washington (Dulles) to San Francisco. Being a frequent traveler and a technology connoisseur, I made sure to get in on one of their early flights last October. Unfortunately, my extensive (in-progress) write-up was on a shared … Read more

Breaking: DOJ Permits XM & Sirius To Merge

After a long 13 months, the DOJ has finally approved the proposed XM and Sirius merger. Keep an eye on Orbitcast in the coming hours and days for continuing coverage. (Concessions…? FCC?) After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic round-up of relevant news… Every episode of South Park online: NewTeeVee Joost to launch browser-based video player: TV Squad Myka delivers BitTorrent direct to TV: Last100 CBC to release programming via BitTorrent: NewMedia Mike

Want $5?

Toyota’s got you (me) covered on TiVo with a $5 Amazon gift card bribe in exchange for…? I assume whatever email they send containing a coupon code will also contain Toyota Corolla advertising. Most of the spam I receive doesn’t offer anything worthwhile, so I’ll take the cash: The first 5000 people who do this … Read more

Mac TiVoToGo: Roxio Responds

Earlier this week Roxio released Toast 9, the only officially supported TiVoToGo decryption method on the Mac. I raised some concerns that v8 still seemed to have difficulty with some content transcoding leading to audio/video sync issues and wondered if v9 corrected or inherited these issues. I’ve exchanged a few emails with TiVo and Roxio … Read more

Where’s Dave?

It’s going to be quiet around here the next few days… Not only is it March Madness (Go Retrievers?), tomorrow’s the move. And I haven’t even finished packing, plus it’ll take me awhile to dig out. However, once I do my home work environment should be much improved. Examples: I intend to upgrade my “walking … Read more

Best Buy’s Too Good To Me

First, Best Buy automatically upgraded me to a newer (more pricey) HD DVD model at no extra cost when their stock was depleted. And now, it looks like I’ll be getting a $50 gift card for my troubles. Despite representing 50% the original value of my player which actually sold on ebay for more than … Read more