Kurt's Thoughts

This came from one of those meme sites.  I hate clickthrough web sites that make you page through every list item so I absorbed this whole list into a single page.

If you’ve ever read “Desperate Networks” or “The War for Late Night”, both by Bill Carter, you’ll want to take a look at this article by New York Magazine.

It’s a fascinating look at what’s happened at NBC News and goes into the tumult that has occurred over the past year involving Brian Williams, Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, and other notables.

Basically, it’s a cautionary tale about what happens when you let the inmates run the asylum.  This is really fascinating stuff.

• NYMAG: (Actually) True War Stories at NBC News
  The Trouble Didn’t Start with Brian Williams
  http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/03/nbc-news-brian-williams-deborah-turness.html

Do you have a big collection of old standard definition DVDs sitting in boxes collecting dust?

I do.  In fact, I’ve given away more than 250 DVDs just because they took up too much storage space.

Then one day, I discovered VUDU.com and everything changed.  This revolutionary service is a complete “game changer”:  I hate the term “game changer”, but in this case the shoe fits.

WHAT IS VUDU?
It’s an online movie/TV streaming service.  Just like iTunes or Xbox Video or Amazon Video, VUDU sells & streams video content to it’s users.

But it’s different… as in, BETTER.  One of the major differences is it’s “In-Home Disc to Digital” service.

WHAT IS VUDU’S “In-Home Disc to Digital” SERVICE?
The “In-Home Disc to Digital” service (D2D for short) allows you to get access to movies streams on the service by proving your ownership of the physical DVD.

You put the physical DVD movie into your computer’s DVD drive & the D2D service verifies that the disc is an original copy.  For $2, you can get rights to stream the same movie on-demand from VUDU.

UPGRADING TO HD QUALITY
But it’s better than just that.  Remember that your standard definition DVD will get you a SD quality stream of the movie.  For $5, you can get the rights to stream the HD stream.  And if you convert 10 DVDs or more in a single batch, the upgrade-to-HD fee is dropped to $2.50/disc.

And it’s even better than that.  Because if you upgrade to HD, you’ll also get free access to the HDX stream, which is 2x the resolution of a standard HD video stream.

NO PROPRIETARY “LOCK IN”
Never fear – you’ll never be locked in to VUDU.  When you obtain the rights to the online stream of a movie on VUDU, those rights go into an independent catalog called “Ultraviolet” (located at UVVU.COM) which is funded by a consortium of movie publishers including Paramount, Warner Bros, 21st Century Fox, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Dreamworks, Lionsgate, MGM, The Weinstein Company, Relativity… basically every major & most minor Motion Picture Studios… except Walt Disney Company. (More on that later)

If you decide to try a different streaming service, you have your choice of any number of other services that support Ultraviolet, including CinemaNow, Flixster, blinkbox, Cineplex Entertainment, & JB Hi-fi.  This means your entire Ultraviolet movie catalog that you amassed on VUDU is also available on, say Flixster.

That’s right.  You can switch services anytime you like.  Or use multiple services at the same time.  This is hugely important because unlike Apple’s iTunes, if you don’t like one service’s web site or support, you can just up and LEAVE without fear of losing your content.

BTW: ULTRAVIOLET SERVICES DO IN FACT DIFFER
Don’t think that there aren’t differences between services that support UV.  Just because they all deposit your rights into a central database doesn’t mean they don’t differentiate themselves. 

For example: (And this is just my own experience & opinion)

• VUDU.com – Flawless user experience.  Everything works smoothly from sign up to playback.  It easily has the most device support as well with VUDU ‘playback software’ for Xbox 360/One, Playstation 3/4, iOS/Android.  But supported in the United States ONLY.
• FLIXSTER.COM – Marginal user experience.  Things tend to freeze or not work on the web site some times.  It has near parity device support with VUDU but also supports some devices like Amazon Fire TV and Windows Phone that VUDU doesn’t.  Supported Internationally in most countries.

Again, you can use both services with your UV catalog of movie rights.  VUDU for XBox One streaming, Flixster for Windows Phone streaming.  VUDU for use in the United States.  Flixster for outside the US.  etc.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Assuming that you’ve signed up for an account on both VUDU (VUDU.com) as well as Ultraviolet (UVVU.com) and linked the together, which is part of the VUDU registration process:

1. Download the VUDU To Go application.
2. Click the “Disc to Digital” option tab in the application.
3. Insert a disc.
4. Pick your quality (SD or HD).
5. Repeat step 3 for another disc.
6. Complete the checkout process.

WHY VUDU & ULTRAVIOLET?
There’s a lot of reasons why VUDU & Ultraviolet make a lot more sense than other services like Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, or even Xbox Video.

• Players are freely available on Windows, MacOS, iPad, Android, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3  & 4
• Owned movies are downloadable for offline playback at either SD, HD, or HDX (2x HD) resolution
• The stream auto-throttles to accommodate for varying network conditions & bandwidth, giving you SD over slower 750kbps links and HDX for 4.5mbps+ connections.
• Licenses are stored in an independent Ultraviolet database – therefore there is no lock in to VUDU or any specific provider.  Users can move to Flixster, CinemaNow, or any other service that connects to the Ultraviolet database at http://uvvu.com.
• Rights/access to Ultraviolet content is forever; i.e. “in perpetuity”.  This is distinctly different from iTunes, Xbox Video, Amazon, etc. where the user usually has a limited “15 year license” to the content.
• VUDU connects to DisneyMoviesAnywhere as well as Ultraviolet to provide a SINGLE visual catalog of your VUDU purchased content, your Ultraviolet movie catalog, and your Disney Movies Anywhere catalog – all from one page.

There is virtually no downside to using VUDU & Ultraviolet.  You can leave VUDU anytime you want and your Ultraviolet catalog will follow you to any other service that connects to UVVU.  You can access the content via live streams from any major device/platform.  You can download the content for offline playback at either SD or HD. 

To start converting your dusty DVD collection to on-demand digital streaming, go to:

• VUDU In-home Disc-to-Digital
  http://www.vudu.com/in_home_disc_to_digital.html

I remember exactly where I was, exactly when it happened, and exactly how I found out.  And I’m sure all these Bruins will remember forever as well. #gobruins

I repeat, we deserved to be in this tournament. 

Before naysayers like Gottlieb & Lunardi complain about the Bruins getting a seed, there are 6 teams in the tournament with records having 13 losses, and none of them have a Strength-of-Schedule more difficult than UCLA. (Except arguably Indiana, depending on who you reference as a source) 

Sure, we could have played a complete cupcake schedule early on in the season, like certain highly touted teams did (*ahem*) but instead we chose to play #2-seed Gonzaga, #4-seed North Carolina, #1-seed Kentucky, & #3-seed Oklahoma – all in the Top 15.  And yeah, we got whooped by Kentucky, but it’s not like ANYONE ELSE can say they beat the Wildcats, either. 

Then we beat Utah & played Arizona close:  Do you think any of the other bubble teams would have fared as well against Zona?  And while we’re at it, does anyone really believe that any of these other bubble teams could have beaten UCLA at the end of the year?  Murray State?  Old Dominion?  Colorado State?

So to sum it up: Had we gotten 4 wins playing cupcakes on a crap schedule, no one would be debating whether or not UCLA belonged in the dance with a record of 24-9. #gobruins

Romantics or otherwise… you’ll appreciate this.

I got this in the mail a few weeks ago.  I had to put it down and let it sit for a while because… well, you read it:

tl;dr:  If you want anything new out of your life membership as a UCLA alumnus in the future, pay $600.  Otherwise, no future investment will be made in your current membership.  And your current benefits may disappear over time.

So, apparently, my $600 Life Membership as a UCLA Alumni is great & all but UCLA needs more money. The Alumni Association has determined that the only way to compel life members to squeeze more out of it’s life members is to stop growing any value of the existing life membership and create some B.S. “new level” of Life Membership they call “Tier 3” – mandating yet another donation of $600. 

For example, I noticed something in the image of the benefits listing:

Call me crazy but I get that 20% discount TODAY as a Life Member.  I just used it a week ago at the UCLA Store.  Are they saying that we’re losing that benefit unless we move to Tier 3?  Here’s the New Membership page:  http://alumni.ucla.edu/newmembership

I’m a pretty loyal alumnus… but this is rubbing me the wrong way.

Nuff said.

So you finished reading “Ready Player One” and loved it, ‘eh? (If you haven’t it’s one of my favorite books ever.  Here’s the audio book: http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Ready-Player-One-Audiobook/B005FRGT44/)

Here’s some other items to “continue the story”:

• VIDEO: Ernest Cline and Wil Wheaton Reading “Ready Player One” in Seattle
  (This is totally worth watching.  Trust me.)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8OKzJhOa-s
• “Lacero” – Ready Player One Fan Fiction by Andy Weir, writer of The Martian
  (Ernie Cline comments that this is his favorite fan fiction of Ready Player One)
  http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/lacero.html
• “Anti-Sixers Logo” – @WackoMedia’s graphic
  https://twitter.com/WackoMedia/
  statuses/574661049732972546
• “Cosplay – Art3mis” – @EntropySylph’s costume is notable because it’s the first known cosplay costume from the book
  https://twitter.com/EntropySylph/
  status/574259466549522435
• “Armada” – Ernie Cline’s upcoming novel, available for pre-order
  http://www.randomhouse.com/book/228333/armada-by-ernest-cline
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Armada-Audiobook/B00VN0Q8XY/ (Audible Audiobook)
• Ernie Cline’s Twitter Feed & Web Site/Blog
  https://twitter.com/erniecline
  http://ernestcline.com/
  http://www.ernestcline.com/blog/

A note about “Fanboys” – Ernie Cline’s movie
Cline wrote the screen play for this movie:

“It’s 1998 and Star Wars fanboys across the globe eagerly await the release of Episode I. But for Eric, Linus, Hutch and Windows the term “fanboy” is more than just a title, it’s a badge of honor. Spurred by impatience and an undying loyalty to their cause, these former high school friends reunite to undertake the road trip of their fan-tasies. Traveling West across the country to visit their Mecca – George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch – the plan is to break in, steal the film and stake their claim as the first fanboys in history to watch it. But to secure their place in the fanboy hall of fame, they’ll have to contend with bizarre bikers, a crazy pimp, a deranged group of trekkies and the quiet intensity of William Shatner.”

Here’s the trailer:

• Check out the actual movie here:
  http://video.xbox.com/movie/fanboys/a2f527b1-c709-4c0c-9722-671f60036f3d