Kurt's Thoughts

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

Andy Weir wrote a fabulous book called “The Martian” about an astronaut that, by a relatively feasible set of circumstances, manages to find himself stranded on Mars.

This is easily one of my all-time favorite novels.  If you haven’t read the book, I suggest the Audible audiobook.  The reader is fantastic:

• “The Martian” – A novel by Andy Weir
  (March 22, 2013 – 10hrs, 53min, $20.99) 
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Martian-Audiobook/B00B5HZGUG/

Now, if you HAVE read the book or listened to the audiobook, and are a fan, here’s some other things to look into to “continue the experience”.

• Andy Weir’s Web Site & Facebook Page
  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andy-Weir/462962073803090
  http://andyweirauthor.com/
• Andy Weir’s “The Martian” Map
  An actual map of Mark Watney’s Mars travels along Acidalia Planitia, Ares Vallis and Schiaparelli. (5605 km)
  http://cannonade.net/mars.php
• TWiT Triangulation: “Andy Weir” (Episode 163)
  Andy Weir is the author of “The Martian,” a science fiction novel that follows astronaut Mark Watney as he becomes stranded alone on Mars.  This is an hour long interview of Andy by Leo Laporte, host of the podcast, “Triangulation” from August 11, 2014.
  http://twit.tv/show/triangulation/163
• “Adam Savage Interviews ‘The Martian’ Author Andy Weir – The Talking Room “
  Adam Savage interviews Andy Weir about the science in his book, “The Martian”.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SemyzKgaUU
• “The Egg” – A short story by Andy Weir
  You were on your way home when you died.It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.And that’s when you met me.” A short story about the universe.
  (November 16, 2014 – 8 min, $2.09)
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Egg-Audiobook/B00Q5NQ3DO/
• Film Adaptation of “The Martian”
  (Taken from the Wikipedia page)
  In March 2013, Twentieth Century Fox optioned the film rights, and hired screenwriter Drew Goddard to adapt and direct the film.^[5][14] In May 2014, it was reported that Ridley Scott was in negotiations to direct an adaptation that would star Matt Damon as Mark Watney.^[6] The film is scheduled for release on November 25, 2015.^[7] On September 3, 2014, Jessica Chastain joined the film as the female lead.^[15] The cast will also include Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Michael Peña, Mackenzie Davis, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, and Aksel Hennie.^[16]

——————

Annnnd the movie trailers of The Martian are in!

• The Martian – Official Trailer (2015) Ridley Scott, Matt Damon [HD]
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK6AZHyT9eQ
• Ares 3: Farewell
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wygmxzp6VzY
• Ares 3: The Right Stuff
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wygmxzp6VzY

This is so awesome.  SO SO SO VERY AWESOME.  This is better than the Penn & Teller bit on the fallacy of anti-vaccination.  Seriously.

Jimmy Kimmel is tired of parents not vaccinating their kids.  “Parents here are more scared of gluten than they are of small pox.” Knowing he couldn’t sway the people of Los Angeles himself, he got a bunch of real medical professionals to set the naysayers straight. If you thought Jenny McCarthy knew what she was talking about, this is for you.

In case you missed the Penn & Teller bit on how anti-vaccination logic is total bullsh-t:

I listened to a ton of audiobooks during last holiday vacation and really, really enjoyed myself.  I preferred to listen to the books I had than watch TV, surf the web, play Halo on my Xbox One… yeah, they were that good.

So I decided to make a list of some of my favorite audiobooks.  Here it is:

• Ready Player One: Ernest Cline (Read by Wil Wheaton)
  This maybe very well be my all time favorite audiobook.  It’s definitely in my top 3.  Besides being a edge-of-your-seat page turner, it touched me on a very, VERY deep soulful level.  Never mind that I got every single geeky 80’s reference made in the book: (including Kikaida & Raideen, both of which were mispronounced by Wil in the audiobook)  It tells a story that, well, let’s just say very accurately reflects some personal experiences of mine when I was much younger, making this book mean more to me than perhaps others. 
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Ready-Player-One-Audiobook/B005FRGT44/
• The Martian: Andy Weir
  This is the audiobook that got me back into listening to audiobooks.  Everything you’ve heard about this book is true.  It’s crafty, hilarious, riveting, and most of all, intelligent.
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Martian-Audiobook/B00B5HZGUG/

Here are some others to consider:

• The Art of Racing in the Rain: Garth Stein
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Art-of-Racing-in-the-Rain-Audiobook/B002V1O3MM/
• At the Center of the Store: George Tenet
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/At-the-Center-of-the-Storm-Audiobook/B002V0PVQK/
• Desperate Networks: Bill Carter
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Desperate-Networks-Audiobook/B002V1BKHI/
• The War for Late Night: Bill Carter
  http://www.audible.com/pd/History/The-War-for-Late-Night-Audiobook/B0049Q6JZG/
• Illegal Procedure: Josh Luchs
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Illegal-Procedure-Audiobook/B007P4E33Y
• Home Game: Michael Lewis
  http://www.audible.com/pd/Home-Game-Audiobook/B002V5IZSG
• American On Purpose: Craig Ferguson
  http://www.audible.com/pd/American-on-Purpose-Audiobook/B002V0JQOS

This is… BRILLIANT.

Read more at the source:

• Vaccines Work:  Here are the Facts
  https://medium.com/the-nib/vaccines-work-here-are-the-facts-5de3d0f9ffd0

Today, a low flying quadracopter with a camera flew over my backyard, paused and stared at me for a while, then proceeded onward.

NOT FRICKIN’ COOL.

Now, I have ways of dealing with these things if they run on the 2.4Mhz band but not lesser used frequencies.  And frankly, I wasn’t prepared for this while sitting in my backyard – lucky for the pilot.  So I started digging up research on how others have dealt with such a privacy intrusion.

This is one thing I found:

• Drone Jammer
  A simple drone Jammer designed to hack unwelcomed civilian drones within your backyard range.
  http://www.qrz.ru/schemes/contribute/security/jammers/drone-jammer.pdf

As I find more, I’ll post.

Dear students, retail workers, and the rest of you that have been loitering on our street for one reason or another or otherwise consuming all the street parking. 

THE FREE RIDE IS OVER
This is a courtesy reminder that as of this month, our street is no longer available for you to park all-day on.  We are not a substitute car lot for those of you that can’t secure on-campus parking, nor are we free parking for those that don’t feel like paying for parking near their job.

After having several homes broken into, random strangers hanging out on our street eating and (more disturbingly) drinking in their cars, littering our lawns with beer/wine bottles, fast food wrappers and other refuse, and occupying every last bit of street parking we have until 8PM at night, the residents of our street have successfully petitioned the city to restrict parking in excess of 2 hours to resident permit only.

FINES & PROCESS
We’re also ensuring that the limits are enforced by fines and patrolled regularly.  (According to the Los Angeles Municipal Code, Chapter VIII Division W) 

• The 1st fine is $58. 
• The late penalty fine (post 14 days) is $116.
• The second late penalty (post 58 days) is $141. 

Our street residents have also been educated on how to report vehicles in violation of the posted restrictions. 

• The phone number to report cars that have been in the area too long and dispatch Parking Enforcement is (213) 485-4184.

Marvel’s “Avengers” is the #3 motion picture revenue generator of all-time, behind only Avatar & Titanic.  Disney/Marvel has 4 more “Avengers” movies coming out and speaking as a geek that knows the storylines, I believe they’re all going to be bigger than the original “Avengers”. (Note: Captain America: Civil War is effectively an Avengers title)

Marvel’s recent “Guardians of the Galaxy” was the #1 revenue generating movie of 2014.  They have “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” coming up in 2 years.

Additionally, Disney’s recent release of the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” trailer & acknowledgement that “Frozen 2” is definitely in the works by “Elsa’s” Idina Menzel is all icing on the cake.

Why am I bringing this up?

From Oct 29th, 2014, the following is the motion picture release schedule for Marvel Entertainment for the next 5 years (aka Phase 3), as announced at the El Capitan Theatre a couple weeks ago. If you know Marvel lore, and more importantly, how much money these films have brought in, hold on to your hats, folks:  This is about to get crazy fun.

PHASE 1: (2008-2012 $3.8B in revenue)

• Ironman
• The Incredible Hulk
• Ironman 2
• Thor
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• The Avengers

PHASE 2: (2013-2015 $revenue TBD)

• Ironman 3 ($1215m)
• Thor: The Dark World ($640m)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714m)
• Guardians of the Galaxy ($770)
• May 5, 2015: The Avengers: Age of Ultron
• July 17, 2015: Ant Man

PHASE 3: (2016-2019)

• May 6, 2016: Captain America: Civil War
• Nov 4, 2016: Doctor Strange
• May 5, 2017:  Guardians of the Galaxy 2
• July 28, 2017: Thor: Ragnarok
• Nov 3, 2017: Black Panther
• May 4, 2018: The Avengers: Infinity War (Part 1)
• June 6, 2018: Captain Marvel
• Nov 2, 2018: Marvel’s: Inhumans
• May ?, 2019: The Avengers: Infinity War (Part 2)

Someone video captured the announcement.

• VIDEO: Full Marvel Phase 3 Announcement (Marvel President Kevin Feiges, El Capitan Theatre, Oct 29, 2014 – 24min)
  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L2VoJuVfbjI

A guy that goes by the handle of 48-41 on one of the UCLA Bruin sports boards I visit, worked out the average home attendance per football game for all the PAC-12 schools. UCLA leads and NO OTHER PAC-12 SCHOOL has a SINGLE home game attendance as high as UCLA’s AVERAGE home game attendance. The average per game home attendance for each PAC-12 school for 2014 through games of November 22, 2014:

1. UCLA 78,249
2. USC 72,009
3. Washington 64,508
4. Oregon 57,447
5. Arizona St. 57,179
6. Arizona 49,815
7. Stanford 47,862
8. California 47,601*
9. Utah 48,437
10. Colorado 42,286
11. Oregon St. 41,585
12. Washington St. 30,486

* California attendance includes one home game played at Levi Stadium – the Field of Jeans) against Oregon

UCLA’s home game attendance for the 2014 season:

Memphis State 72,098
Utah 74,329
Oregon 80,139
Arizona 80,246
USC 84,431

UCLA’s attendance against USC on Saturday was held down by USC’s failure to sell its allotted tickets and the Trojan return of thousands of unsold tickets right before the game.

UCLA has drawn over 80,000 for each of the last 3 home games, and has drawn over 70,000 for each home game this season. UCLA has one home game left this year – against Stanford, while USC has a remaining home game against Notre Dame. UCLA will end the season leading the PAC-12 in home football game attendance for 2014.

This is why we’ve adopted all our dogs.

If you have any selflessness in your heart, please try to put aside your biases against “used pets” and visit an animal shelter before you BUY a pet from a breeder – heaven forbid a pet store.

Come and see just how many dogs (and cats and rabbits) deserve a second chance.

After sending a customized resume and a very thoroughly researched cover letter in application for a position they posted, I received this postcard back in 1992.

I keep it pinned to my wall at work as a reminder to this day.

I like these because it demonstrate the difference between living day to day for the “big picture/end game” versus “tactical/short term”. 

NET NET: If you follow these rules, things naturally fall into place in the way of personal satisfaction.  It’s also a sign of maturity.

[from Vala Afshar of Huffington Post]

Don’t chase:

• title
• money
• favors
• compliments
• shortcuts

Do chase: 

• ways to help
• meaningful work
• happiness
• education
• love

Interested in knowing what Google knows about you?

1. Find out how Google sees you
2. Find out your location history
3. Find out your entire Google Search history
4. Find out every device that has accessed your Google account
5. Find out all the apps and extensions that are accessing your Google data
6. Export all of your data out of Google

Read the following article for more details:

• BLOG: Cloudfender – “6 links that will show you what Google knows about you”
  http://blog.cloudfender.com/post/102607665327/6-links-that-will-show-you-what-google-knows-about-you

Have you been curious about what Net Neutrality is?

Senator Ted Cruz made a really ignorant comment today on Twitter. and as a result, The Oatmeal created this comic to help explain what Net Neutrality is to Cruz. 

Here’s a slice:

Read the rest of the explanation here:

• BLOG: The Oatmeal on Net Neutrality
  http://theoatmeal.com/blog/net_neutrality