Underground Media: Reloaded

No, Wxman. There's no porn to be had on this post. But, read on, 'cause this is a weird mashup. First, a word from our sponsors. I am not, nor have I ever been an advocate of breast enhancement through plastic surgery. I must say the same for breast reduction. As a learned scholar with advanced degrees in breastology, I'm an avid supporter of appreciating "what the good Lord gave you." Big or small. Firm or saggy. Get a well-fitting bra (see Oprah's bra show ) and call it a day. Women make the mistake of thinking that all men want is the super-model boobs. WRONG! The reason I LOVE boobs is that no two are the same. Quit trying to fit someone's idea of beauty and be happy with what you've got. My wife has got a rack that her girlfriends tell her they would pay thousands for, but she's still neurotic about it. Go figure... Back to our regularly scheduled program. So, some guys are at a bachelor party in Vegas. Stripper tells the guys ...

Those crazy Swedes are trying to get themselves locked up at Guantanamo! Although it's the Entertainment establishment that wants their heads, and I'm not sure where Hollywood locks people up. Skywalker Ranch? Dr. Phil's house? Anyway, the history of The Pirate Bay is really fascinating. To understand them, you've got to place them within their historical context. In the world of movies and music, there are pirates and there are pirates. Type-A pirates are those who copy a movie or a CD, and then sell the copy for a profit. This type of operation is a VAST industry, with huge markets in southeast Asia and Latin America. I'm not sure about the figures, but I'm sure the profits are in the hundreds of millions annually. Type-B pirates distribute (share) such content freely to anyone with a high-speed internet connection. No money is made from such distribution, unless you count ad revenue from clicks into the hosting website, although this probably only c...

I'm baaaaaaack!!! After a week of vacation, and another week of traveling with the company, I'm back in the schizophrenic Wisconsin weather. Grrrrr. Anyway, some hot topics being talk about out there. First up, somebody gave my favorite wannabe "TV over the internet" startup an assload of money. Yes, Joost is the newest recipient of $45 Million in tasty green venture capital cash. Did I mention that they suck ? Wish somebody would give ME cash like that to overpromise and underdeliver... A moment of silence for the venerable audio-tape. I remember when a high school buddy lent me his tape of Public Enemy 's It Take A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (classic rap, by the way). I copied it with a Philip's high-speed dual-cassette "dubbing" tape-deck and listened to nothing else but Chuck D and Flava Flav for a MONTH! Now you copy some music on your PC and run the risk of the RIAA slapping a lawsuit on you... Read on over at P2Pnet . And fin...

Many out there think that Youtube is the pinnacle of streaming video content. Without a doubt it is the most popular, but Youtube along with it's Google parent are rapidly being left in the dust with regard to content. Youtube suffers from it's own popularity in many ways. They're under pressure for keeping out copyrighted content, their maximum ratings are PG-13, and they really haven't updated their UI in a while as their resources have been focused on taking down those pesky NBC clips. While Google/Youtube takes the heat, other streaming video sites have risen and developed under the radar. My current favorite, Dailymotion , is based in France and they honestly seem like they could give a sh*t about American copyrights. Nor do they seem to care about content ratings (excluding hardcore stuff). Even better is that guys like Youtvpc are using Dailymotion as a content server, and putting up a website to pipeline that content to viewers on-demand. TV shows, boo...

I'm sure that's what my buddy Wxman was hoping when he clicked on this link, but this is a PG-13 blog so things will only go so far. In fact, I wouldn't call the music video below anything close to porn, but my long-time pal 'Chelle over at TwistedCurlz thinks otherwise. My advice, 'Chelle? Don't hate, just congratulate. I believe she describes this video by Shakira and Beyonce as "in the hips and on the lips." Oh yeah. My kind of video. Without further ado: So what do YOU think? Soft porn that should never see the light of cable TV? Or who gives a sh*t since they technically didn't show any nipple?

Well, I finally dusted off the Windows XP partition of my laptop and decided to install Joost and try it out. Apparently CBS has just signed some content deal with them, and I'm sure the other networks aren't far behind. For those who don't know, Joost is a new platform for streaming TV content straight to your computer. And for the social networkers out there, there's also some sort of IM client that lets you chat with fellow viewers. Right now the channels are pretty limited. MTV, National Geographic, Comedy Central, and a bunch of indie stuff. So what did I think of it? Well, first of all, the installer began by cheerfully telling me that my aging Thinkpad T40's video card was not quite up to snuff. AND that 512MB of RAM is really the bare minimum. Hmmm, that would mean there's some 3D jiggery-pokery going on. Nevertheless, it installed and fired up. 30 seconds later, Joost loads full screen with some floating crystals on the side (their logo), and...

Allow me to rant for a moment, in a similar vein to my good buddy Richmond over on her blog a few days ago. Whenever some lunatic shoots up a school, the "family values" lobby comes pouring out of the woodwork to start blaming violent movies. I knew it was a matter of time. From the article : "Cho’s video and photos were lifted from movies. The two gun pose, arms spread, straight out of Boondock Saints, or Snatch, or Layer Cake, or The Transporter, or any number of mainstream action movies. The hammer pose, straight out of Oldboy. In a very disturbing way, Cho was doing what the movies told him to do." What the movies told him to do?! I am usually a fan of the guys over at NewTeeVee , but on this issue, I SERIOUSLY part ways with the author. My comment, in case you don't end up reading the article: "This article misses the point COMPLETELY. Sociopathic killers have ALWAYS been addicted to the fame. Reference Jack the Ripper and work your way forward. ...