Tag: streaming
0 Episode 56 – 10/16/12 feat. Jon “Alaska” Maakestad & Lauren “Lola” Schauer
“Alaska” and “Lola” join Dan and Adam in the studio to discuss the importance in finding neighbors who do not know how to encrypt Wi-Fi routers, and to discuss what they’re watching. This was a good cycle of discussion regarding what everyone is listening to, watching, and planning to watch, as “Alaska” and “Lola” discuss their upcoming adventures. ‘Bout half way through, everyone teaches “Alaska” how to play “Movie Bluff”. Good times. Take a listen!
Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on October 16, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
Click here to listen: Episode 56 – 101612
0 Netflix Max: The cure for our indecisiveness?
Have you ever had a time when you’re on Netflix and you can’t decide what to watch? It’s terrible, isn’t it?! You’re faced with a rather large library with plenty of perfectly acceptable TV and movie options to entertain you for a while, but first you have to pick one, and that requires making a decision and you’re feeling so “meh” that nothing is jumping out at you. Well, fear not – Max is here to save the day (maybe)!
Netflix’s Max service is an interactive game that uses several methods to help the viewer decide what to watch. With a style and attitude very much like the “You Don’t Know Jack” series complete with a snappy, idiosyncratic announcer and musical interludes, Max asks you to pick a genre and then rate movies in that genre that you may or may not have seen. After rating several movies, Max makes a recommendation. If you decline that option, Max will try something else to help you pick. Since its release, several new ways to play have been added to mix things up and add to the experience, such as picking a specific actor to find movies/TV for. Max also makes use of Netflix’s algorithms to find recommendations based on the ratings the user has given shows in the past. Max has been around for a few months now, available on the Playstation 3 platform (no word on if it’s coming out for other devices yet).
Tonight, I fired up Netflix Max and played “One Simple Question”: Max had me choose impulsively between suburban dysfunction or detectives. I chose detectives and it recommended, much to my chagrin, “Murder, She Wrote.” After Max’s 30-second pitch (not available for all titles) describing the merits of the show, I decided to give it a try. Forty-five minutes later, Angela Lansbury had won me over and I was seriously considering watching the next episode in spite of my previous reservations. Max won me over in this case, and this wasn’t the first time. Max and my own curiosity have led me to watch quite a few things I loved (if you haven’t watched “Black Books” yet, get on it), but probably would never have found out about otherwise. In that regard, Max is very good for separating the wheat from the chaff. Max doesn’t always get it right, though. There have been occasions when none of the recommendations have sounded appealing – at that point, Max says, “Thank you for playing!” and that’s the end of it.
Overall, even if it’s not always effective at recommending something to watch, Netflix Max is quite entertaining in itself. With further development and a presence on other platforms, Max has the potential to be a lot of fun and hopefully relieve us all of our streaming media indecision.
0 Episode 55 – 10/09/12 feat. Molly Garczynski & Matt Walstead
Molly joins Dan and Adam via Apple FaceTime and Matt joins Dan and Adam in the studio to figure out whether or not Molly’s a robot, all the while, talking about what they’re streaming. Followed by that was many a tangent, some news, and a round of “Movie Bluff.” Molly and Matt are two really funny folks, and riffed well off of each other. Check it out!
Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on October 9, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
Click here to listen: Episode 55 – 100912
0 Episode 54 – 10/02/12 feat. Ben “Rodge” Rodgers & James Wheeler
Ben & James join Dan and Caity in the studio to discuss everything they’re absorbing digitally in the web, BS their way through some news and play “Movie Bluff.” With Adam out sick after the MN Ren Fest, Caity fills in as Dan, Ben & James chat her up as the conversationalists they are. Enjoy!
Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on October 2, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
Click here to listen: Episode 54 – 100212
0 Episode 53 – 09/25/12 feat. Curtis James & Dave Wheeler
Curtis and Dave join Dan and Adam in the studio to discuss everything they’re listening to and watching on that there Internets, banter like mad men, and play “Movie Bluff.” Curtis and Dave are super detail oriented in that which they intake from streaming, and bestow an excellent conversation upon Dan and Adam. Enjoy!!
Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on September 25, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
Click here to listen: Episode 53 – 092512
0 A&E titles disappear from Netflix
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “In all, about 800 hours of content is gone from A&E as well as its History channel, while 300 hours remain, at least until an agreement expires in about the middle of next year.” This means you’re losing “Hoarders”, “American Pickers”, “Pawn Stars”, and “Storage Wars”, among others, from Netflix Instant Streaming. Netflix and A&E are still reportedly in talks, and may potentially come to an agreement, but nothing is certain yet.
Thanks to boosted consumption of TV shows through streaming media content providers like Netflix and Hulu, it’s hard to forecast how partnerships between networks and providers will evolve. The AMC Network has been at war with DISH TV for more than two months now, leaving viewers without award-winning shows like “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad”, and there doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel there, but, at the same time, AMC’s simultaneous $2.4 billion lawsuit against DISH may also be playing a large role in that agreement.
The Hollywood Reporter also mentions that the price tag isn’t necessarily completely to blame in halting A&E’s content on Netflix. THR’s unnamed sources say Netflix is seeking exclusivity for content, though it does not mention that which was included in Netflix’s proposition. After a few searches, I found a majority of A&E’s popular content available on Hulu, as well as for sale on iTunes and Amazon Instant Video, (plus full episodes available on A&E’s web site) so I can understand A&E’s concern with dropping multiple avenues of income.
I know that I have professed my appreciation for “Storage Wars” on a few of our episodes, but I’m not feeling a whole lot of emptiness from this loss. Yes, it’s bad news due to a level of inconvenience, but I just listed off a number of additional sources above (A&E’s web site and Hulu have full episodes posted for free) where you can find it. Plus, if you have yet to cut the cord from cable or satellite, they syndicate the Hell out of some of those shows, so you can just turn on the TV and play ‘A&E Roulette’.
I have no ill will for the programming A&E offers, but I see it as a great deal of guilty pleasure TV and filler TV. Why do people watch “Hoarders”? To make themselves feel better about themselves. That pile of dishes in the sink is NOTHING compared to this lady on “Hoarders”. Why do people watch “Pawn Stars”, “American Pickers” and “Storage Wars”? To make people think their old junk is worth some serious coin, turning them into hoarders, and generating additional subjects for “Hoarders”. That, or to create an “Antiques Roadshow” for an EXTREME generation. All I’m saying is I don’t see the loss of A&E’s content as a deal breaker between myself and Netflix.
In the grand scheme of things, not a lot of people are without A&E access, if you’re hankering for a fix … as long as you’re not using a gaming device without Internet browsing. Otherwise, you’re fine. And in case you’re wondering, yes, videos hosted on A&E’s web site work on both Android and iOS mobile devices.
0 Episode 52 – 09/18/12 feat. Katie Best & Joel Vollmer
Katie and Joel join Dan and Adam in the studio to discuss that which is currently streaming in their homes and places of work, a bit o’ news, as well as play “Movie Bluff.” Katie and Joel are experts on leading us to great pseudo-related tangents, and we had a great time doing so. Listen in!
Taped at The Frank Oz Memorial Studio, Minneapolis, MN on September 18, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
0 Episode 51 – 09/11/12 feat. Peter Jurgensen & Julia Schmitt
Peter and Julia joined Dan and Adam in the studio for another pseudo high school reunion, plus the occasional conversation about streaming media. Dan listed off a number of honorable mentions for news this week, plus how Apple is taking on Pandora & Spotify, and highlighting Crunchyroll’s 100,000th paid subscriber. As a celebration for running for a full year, a majority of the episode is dedicated to Movie Bluff.
Taped at The Frank Oz Memorial Studio, Minneapolis, MN on September 11, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
0 Episode 50 – 09/04/12 feat. Emily Schnobrich & Maggie “Gooey” Whelan
Emily and Gooey joined Dan and Adam in the studio celebrate the taping of the 50TH EPISODE! To keep up with appearances, they also talked about streaming media! The four went into depth about musicians getting paid for having their content available for streaming, and artists who are opting out. They also chatted about additional news, and taught Emily how to play Movie Bluff.
Taped at The Frank Oz Memorial Studio, Minneapolis, MN on September 4, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
0 Episode 49 – 08/28/12 feat. Shelby Lano & Jason Snyder
Jason and Shelby joined Dan and Adam in the studio as the first duo of new guests the gents had in months, and they even talked about streaming media! Jason and Shelby talk about what they’re currently watching/listening to online to give everyone context into their streaming media backgrounds, and then the quartet banters off into the sunset. They also discus some recent news loosely affiliated with streaming, including the Apple vs. Samsung verdict and an overview of Redbox Instant’s approach to competition. From there, Dan and Adam teach their new guests how to play Movie Bluff.
Taped at The Frank Oz Memorial Studio, Minneapolis, MN on August 28, 2012.
Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.
The Buffering Podcast 