Category: media

After spending “months studying how to strike a balance between what people expect to watch free online and what they would be willing to pay for,” Hulu “is weighing plans to charge users to watch episodes of ’30 Rock,’ ‘Modern Family’ and ‘House.'”

“Google Inc.’s YouTube announced Wednesday that it will make movies from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance film festivals available for online rental. It’s the first time that YouTube, which historically has offered its video free, will charge users.”

“A study of eight- to 12-year-olds found that rather than damaging reading and writing, ‘text speak’ is associated with strong literacy skills. Researchers say text language uses word play and requires an awareness of how sounds relate to written English.”

“Year in and year out, the festival … is overloaded with undeniably non-commercial (and not necessarily artistic) films that don’t have a prayer of getting a theatrical release. But the accusation of worshiping Mammon is such a feared one that this year’s program guide fairly shouts on the cover, ‘This Is Your Guide to Cinematic Rebellion.'”

“When watching a Hollywood movie that has robed itself in the themes and paraphernalia of science, a scientist expects to feel anything from annoyance to infuriation at facts misconstrued or processes misrepresented. What a scientist does not expect is to enter into a state of ecstatic wonderment, to have the urge to leap up and shout: ‘Yes! That’s exactly what it’s like!'”

“According to a report in the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, the move was made at the urging of propaganda officials who are concerned that ‘Avatar’ is taking too much market share from Chinese films and drawing unwanted attention to the sensitive issue of forced evictions.”

“Duquesne University, which owns WDUQ, wants to sell the station and channel the assets into education.” In addition to carrying NPR programs, the station is “home to the city’s only daily jazz format.”

“Eleven years ago, of course, ticket prices were a lot cheaper — the most recent estimated average ticket price was $7.46, compared with $4.69 in 1998. And most people are seeing ‘Avatar’ in 3-D, where ticket prices are several dollars higher. The result: Far fewer people have seen ‘Avatar’ than ‘Titanic’ so far.”

“In its glory days, “The Tonight Show” served as a search engine on culture, letting us know which politician had made a gaffe, which corporate evildoer had been caught doing evil and which starlet had experienced a wardrobe malfunction. Now the search engine is the search engine…”

“This was Hollywood giving thanks to Hollywood, for the benefit of Hollywood, while the rest of the world peered in from the other side of a TV screen. Would they notice or care if we flipped the channel?”