In a television network the end devices are stupid, while the network itself is sophisticated. Control is exercised within the TV network itself. On the Internet, the opposite is actually true: an end-to-end deliberately dumb network with all of the intelligence concentrated at the periphery.

“To be a real-time video journalist, all you need is a blog, a camcorder, and a laptop with WiFi. How long will it be before our news reports come direct from local sources with their own video production facilities, in real time, over the Net? … Classical TV and video news production equipment, requiring tens of thousands of dollars and a specialized infrastructure, is becoming a thing of the past.

It is now possible to use a laptop-Internet system for on-the-fly transmissions from remote locations for distribution over a television network. … But what is most encouraging about this technology is how it can lead to new forms of distribution that bypass centralized broadcasting entirely, allowing for the creation and distribution of video programming from within a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network. …Web logs are another example of how people are shifting from passive media spectators to active media producers.

Now that a rich media layer is being added to blogs — with the appearance of video blogs — it seems that a viable alternative to centralized TV networks is emerging. For example, consider what might happen through the joining together of video blogs, Real Simple Syndication (RSS), and BitTorrent. This is a very powerful combination. …Who needs a cable network’s team of celebrity reporters, with their jingoistic coverage of “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” when I have unfiltered access to images and testimony from the war zone?

The tools suites are appearing. But more than anything else, we need education. People have to learn that they can produce video comparable to professional broadcast quality using these inexpensive, open source tools. What can be more important to the future of democracy than giving citizens the ability to better communicate with each other?”

Find more articles at http://www.media43.com

Hollywood may have finally found another magic formula in the realm of science fiction and fantasy. A full three years in advance Disney Studios announced earlier this year they were collaborating with Pixar Animation on a live-action film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic pulp adventure novel, A Princess of Mars. The movie is under the able hand on veteran Pixar director Andrew Stanton (”A Bug’s Life”, “Finding Nemo”, “WALL-E”). Stanton, who also worked on screenplays for several Pixar movies, is sharing scripting duties with Michael Chabon (”Spider-man 2″).

Taylor Kitsch (”John Tucker Must Die”, “Snakes On A Plane”, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) has been recruited to play John Carter of Mars, a resurrected Civil War veteran who finds himself alone and friendless on Earth’s nearest neighbor. Lynn Collins (True Blood, “Uncertainty”, “The Merchant of Venice”) plays Dejah Thoris, the red-skinned Martian princess who captures John Carter’s heart and drives entire nations to wage war against one another.

Burroughs’ original story was the first of a series of novels that spanned many years. Word has it that Disney and Pixar plan to make two sequels to “John Carter of Mars”, although some media writers speculate the first three books in the series will be conflated into one movie. There is plenty of John Carter of Mars material to make more than three movies.

Other actors who have been contracted for the big budget film include Willem Dafoe (Tars Tarkas, leader of the green-skinned, four-armed Tharks), Mark Strong (Matai Shang, leader of the white-skinned Holy Therns), Dominic West (Sab Than, one of Dejah Thoris’ would-be suitors), James Purefoy (Kantos Kan, one of Carter’s trusted friends), Thomas Haden Church (Tal Hajus, the corrupt leader Tars Tarkas displaces), Samantha Morton (Sola, Tars Tarkas’ daughter), Polly Walker (Sarkoja, Sola’s Tharkian tormentor), and Daryl Sabara (the young Edgar Rice Burroughs, supposedly one of Carter’s Earth-bound kin).

A small, independent film studio, The Asylum, has put together a 90-minute adaptation scheduled for a December 2009 direct-to-DvD release. Starring Traci Lords as Dejah Thoris, this low-budget movie is called “A Princess of Mars” and it casts Antonio Sabato, Jr. in the role of John Carter (a modern soldier in this version). The Disney/Pixar “John Carter of Mars” is scheduled for release to theaters in 2012, marking the 100th anniversary of the first publication of A Princess of Mars.

If you are thinking about ordering att uverse it’s time to think about one of their competitors - unless you appreciate choppy service and never ending on hold times to get in touch with a rep on the telephone.

You probably gotten a multitude of favorable att television experiences but I’m recounting an alternative. I was really astonished at the number folks who were giving positive reviews.

I’m heated because I was sitting idle for 2 hrs to speak with anyone because my first bill was a collections warning and a bill of $405.

After being passed off to several delinquents, I was finally passed to someone who could make a change on the what was due. After 43 minutes on hold, I was told that the original person I argued with could only make an adjustment. So, that was basically waste of a long call that didn’t fix anything since the other office closed up while I was waiting.

Added to that horrible , I’ve had a monkey come to my place 16 times for the piss poor signal. Nothing changes. The only reasonI chose them is because the channel choices has great potential and it is lower than the competition. But in all honesty, I wouldn’t recommend att uverse to anyone.

Did you know that there are those who have the equivalent of a four-year degree in World History simply by watching the History Channel? It is true. I have often met such folks who online who have an incredible amount of knowledge only because they have watched all the History Channel programs which often repeat every so often.

But how can someone sit down and watch all these programs, as that is a huge time commitment indeed. Well I have, as I leave the Satellite TV on in the background while working on my computer. Now I can say that I watched every Discovery Channel, History Channel, Science, NOVA series, Wings, etc. and do believe that is an excellent basis for knowledge, more people should do that.

Now then it appears as schools are strapped for cash, movie projectors and other teaching tools that the home schooled child may indeed have an advantage as well, by simply being put in front of the TV set tuned to the Discovery Channel each day. Too simplistic you think? Well, often kids have the Television running in the background, why not tune it to something worthy; something like the Discovery Channel. Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Nominated for 20 Emmys and winner of a Golden Globe for Best Television Series (Musical or Comedy), Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of the more clever and hilarious shows on TV. The HBO original series is the brainchild of Seinfeld co-creator and writer Larry David, whose life maintains a peculiar resemblance to the quasi-fictional George Costanza. And just like George Costanza and his neurotically-low self-esteem (i.e. “God doesn’t want me to be successful), Curb Your Enthusiasm propagates a Murphy’s Law theme of “what can go wrong will go wrong”. It’s a true-to-life reality show about nothing in which every episode is certain to cause comedy connoisseurs everywhere to tremble in enthusiastic anticipation…

Curb Your Enthusiasm centers around the actual life of Larry David - post-Seinfeld and living the high life in Los Angeles. Just like Larry’s other successful TV venture, the show doesn’t focus entirely on plot, instead following the mundane and routine adventures of a famous Hollywood insider. And just like his alter-ego George Constanza, Larry often witnesses simple acts and gestures on his part snowball into a series of misunderstandings and embarrassing situations. Accompanying Larry on his daily adventures are his wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) and his manager Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin) as well as a host of Hollywood and Broadway celebrities who make regular guest appearances… Blurring the line between fiction and reality, Curb Your Enthusiasm is the perfect sequel to Seinfeld. In a nutshell, it’s a glimpse of what would’ve been had Jerry and George’s pilot been picked up by NBC (which ultimately raises the question - who wouldn’t love a show about a man sentenced to be another man’s butler?)…

The Curb Your Enthusiasm DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere “The Pants Tent” in which Larry’s khakis inadvertently bunch together to create a “pants tent”. This innocent natural wonder becomes the source of enmity between Larry and his wife’s friend Nancy. The girlfriend of Larry’s new friend Richard Lewis is also offended by the incident. Meanwhile, Larry’s problems compound when he phones Jeff and refers to his wife as “Hitler,” unaware of the fact that Jeff’s parents are listening in on speaker-phone… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include “The Bracelet” in which Larry spends an entire day attempting to purchase a bracelet for Cheryl in the aftermath of a fight they had, and “The Group” in which Cheryl becomes jealous when Larry’s voluptuous ex-girlfriend Lucy bumps into the couple…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (The Pants Tent) Air Date: 10-15-2000
Episode 2 (Ted and Mary) Air Date: 10-22-2000
Episode 3 (Porno Gil) Air Date: 10-29-2000
Episode 4 (The Bracelet) Air Date: 11-05-2000
Episode 5 (Interior Decorator) Air Date: 11-12-2000
Episode 6 (The Wire) Air Date: 11-19-2000
Episode 7 (AAMCO) Air Date: 11-26-2000
Episode 8 (Beloved Aunt) Air Date: 12-03-2000
Episode 9 (Affirmative Action) Air Date: 12-10-2000
Episode 10 (The Group) Air Date: 12-17-2000

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Curb Your Enthusiasm (DVD).

Nominated for 25 Golden Globes and 110 Emmys, including 7 for Outstanding Drama Series, ER has long been one of the best prime-time shows on television. Premiering in September 1994 on NBC, the hour-long hospital drama vividly illustrates the intensity and fast-paced stress endemic to hospital emergency rooms across America. Brought into being by Michael Crichton - famous Hollywood insider, novelist, and brains behind such films as Jurassic Park, Twister, and Timeline - ER fulfills its creator’s ultimate vision (it took over a decade of pitching the show before network executives bit) for a close-to-life glimpse of the technology and the humanity omnipresent in the ER. Since its inception, many cast members have passed through the halls of ER, many of them having gone on to become big stars in Hollywood…

ER follows the exploits of a group of emergency room staff who work in a busy Chicago hospital. The show attempts to examine every detail of the ER experience. From the exhilaration of saving a life to the tedium caused by mountains of paperwork, all the highs and lows are covered. In the show’s first year, a number of regular faces staffed the ER. Doctors Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), Douglas Ross (George Clooney), and Susan Lewis (Sherri Stringfield) were regulars in the ER along with Head Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) and Benton’s medical student understudy (and later ER doctor), John Carter (Noah Wyle)… Any given episode tends to run multiple plot lines throughout the show, interweaving scenes in short snippets intended to heighten audience emotion and create the aura of a stress-laden atmosphere. The show’s high drama, coupled with subplots of the staffers’ personal lives and the display of cutting edge medical technology, combine to make ER one of most adrenaline-inducing programs in television history…

The ER (Season 4) DVD features a number of dramatic episodes including the season premiere “Ambush” in which the ER is put in the spotlight when it’s chosen as the site for the filming of television documentary. Trauma specialist Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) joins the staff of the ER while Carter begins his residency. Meanwhile, the usual tragic cases pour into the ER, such as a man left paralyzed after trying to break up a gangland fight… Other notable episodes from Season 4 include “Fathers and Sons” in which Doug travels to California to settle his father’s estate while Mark goes with him to visit his San Diego family for the first time in years, and “A Bloody Mess” in which Dr. Corday performs an experimental procedure on a patient without getting the required permissions first…

Below is a list of episodes included on the ER (Season 4) DVD:

Episode 71 (Ambush) Air Date: 09-25-1997
Episode 72 (Something New) Air Date: 10-02-1997
Episode 73 (Friendly Fire) Air Date: 10-09-1997
Episode 74 (When the Bough Breaks) Air Date: 10-16-1997
Episode 75 (Good Touch, Bad Touch) Air Date: 10-30-1997
Episode 76 (Ground Zero) Air Date: 11-06-1997
Episode 77 (Fathers and Sons) Air Date: 11-13-1997
Episode 78 (Freak Show) Air Date: 11-20-1997
Episode 79 (Obstruction of Justice) Air Date: 12-11-1997
Episode 80 (Do You See What I See?) Air Date: 12-18-1997
Episode 81 (Think Warm Thoughts) Air Date: 01-08-1998
Episode 82 (Sharp Relief) Air Date: 01-15-1998
Episode 83 (Carter’s Choice) Air Date: 01-29-1998
Episode 84 (Family Practice) Air Date: 02-05-1998
Episode 85 (Exodus) Air Date: 02-26-1998
Episode 86 (My Brother’s Keeper) Air Date: 03-05-1998
Episode 87 (A Bloody Mess) Air Date: 04-09-1998
Episode 88 (Gut Reaction) Air Date: 04-16-1998
Episode 89 (Shades of Gray) Air Date: 04-23-1998
Episode 90 (Of Past Regret and Future Fear) Air Date: 04-30-1998
Episode 91 (Suffer the Little Children) Air Date: 04-07-1998
Episode 92 (A Hole in the Heart) Air Date: 05-14-1998

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the ER (Season 4) DVD.

Becoming a movie star is a tough deal. Even if you are a talented professional actor, you probably have more chances of getting hit by a meteor while walking to your car on a beautiful sunny afternoon than becoming a “star.”

However, for the very very few who make it, the monetary rewards can be “substantial,” to say the least.

Here is a Before-After picture of how much some famous stars made in the first movies and where they ended up a few Oscars later.

Julia Roberts

$50,000 for Mystic Pizza (1988)

$25 Million for Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Tom Cruise

$75,000 for Risky Business (1983)

$70 Million (includes a percentage of gross) for Mission: Impossible (1996)

$75 Million (includes a percentage of gross) for Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Denzel Washington

$10 Million for Courage Under Fire (1996)

$20 Million for The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Halle Berry

$600,000 for Monster’s Ball (2001)

$14 Million for Catwoman (2004)

Jack Nicholson

$12,500 for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)

$60 Million for Batman (1989)

$10 Million for About Schmidt (2002)

Paul Newman

$17,000 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

$1,000,000 + 10% of gross for The Towering Inferno (1974)

Dustin Hoffman

$17,000 for The Graduate (1967)

$5,800,000 plus a percentage of gross for Rain Man (1988)

Elizabeth Taylor

$200 a week for There’s One Born Every Minute (1942)

$1,000,000 plus 10% of the gross for Cleopatra (1963)

$1,100,000 plus 10% of the gross for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Sean Connery

$100,000 for Dr. No (1962)

$17 Million for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

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Along with Seinfeld and Frasier, Friends dominated the must-see TV of the 1990’s. Winner of innumerable television awards, the show features the lives of six friends in their late-twenties/early-thirties living in New York City - Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), and Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry). The six friends spend the majority of their time in a coffee house named “Central Perk” or in either Monica’s apartment or Joey and Chandler’s apartment.

The Friends (Season 9) DVD offers a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere in which Rachel, Ross, and Joey try to sort out their situation following Rachel’s acceptance of Joey’s accidental proposal. The three eventually conclude that no one was going to propose. Meanwhile, Chandler and Monica grapple with the prospect of moving to Tulsa when Chandler is promoted to president of his company… In other episodes, Ross makes fun of Rachel’s male nanny, Ross and Phoebe get mugged, and Chandler and Monica visit a fertility clinic… In the season finale, Joey rebuffs Rachel’s advance until he finds Ross kissing the girl he just broke up with. The season concludes with Joey and Rachel together…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Friends (Season 9) DVD:

Episode 195 (The One Where No One Proposes) Air Date: 09-26-2002
Episode 196 (The One Where Emma Cries) Air Date: 10-03-2002
Episode 197 (The One with the Pediatrician) Air Date: 10-10-2002
Episode 198 (The One with the Sharks) Air Date: 10-17-2002
Episode 199 (The One with Phoebe’s Birthday Dinner) Air Date: 10-31-2002
Episode 200 (The One with the Male Nanny) Air Date: 11-07-2002
Episode 201 (The One with Ross’s Inappropriate Song) Air Date: 11-14-2002
Episode 202 (The One with Rachel’s Other Sister) Air Date: 11-21-2002
Episode 203 (The One with Rachel’s Phone Number) Air Date: 12-05-2002
Episode 204 (The One with Christmas in Tulsa) Air Date: 12-12-2002
Episode 205 (The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work) Air Date: 01-09-2003
Episode 206 (The One with Phoebe’s Rats) Air Date: 01-16-2003
Episode 207 (The One Where Monica Sings) Air Date: 01-30-2003
Episode 208 (The One with the Blind Dates) Air Date: 02-06-2003
Episode 209 (The One with the Mugging) Air Date: 02-13-2003
Episode 210 (The One with the Boob Job) Air Date: 02-20-2003
Episode 211 (The One with the Memorial Service) Air Date: 03-13-2003
Episode 212 (The One with the Lottery) Air Date: 04-03-2003
Episode 213 (The One with Rachel’s Dream) Air Date: 04-17-2003
Episode 214 (The One with the Soap Opera Party) Air Date: 04-24-2003
Episode 215 (The One with the Fertility Test) Air Date: 05-01-2003
Episode 216 (The One with the Donor) Air Date: 05-08-2003
Episode 217 (The One in Barbados: Part 1) Air Date: 05-15-2003
Episode 218 (The One in Barbados: Part 2) Air Date: 05-15-2003

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Friends (Season 9) DVD.

Recipient of widespread critical acclaim and much audience adulation, All In The Family remained the top rated TV program throughout the early 1970s. Following the life of the loudmouth and often crass Archie Bunker (Carrol O’Connor), the show centered around Archie’s constant conflict with his daughter and son-in-law and their very liberal belief system. Archie also periodically clashed with his wife Edith, an often subserviant and ditzy traditional housewife. Tackling some of the more taboo issues of its time such as sexism, racism, bigotry, xenophobia, and death, All In The Family was a truly groundbreaking industry production…

The All In The Family (Season 4) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere “We’re Having a Heat Wave” in which Archie and Henry Jefferson (both for different reasons) try to prevent the Lorenzos, a Hispanic family, from moving into the house next door which just went up for sale… Other notable episodes from Season 4 include “Archie and the Kiss” in which Gloria brings home a Rodin-inspired centerpiece much to Archie’s chagrin, and “Edith’s Conversation” in which Archie fears that Irene Lorenzo is attempting to convert Edith to Catholicism…

Below is a list of episodes included on the All In The Family (Season 4) DVD:

Episode 62 (We’re Having a Heat Wave) Air Date: 09-15-1973
Episode 63 (We’re Still Having a Heat Wave) Air Date: 09-22-1973
Episode 64 (Edith Finds an Old Man) Air Date: 09-29-1973
Episode 65 (Archie and the Kiss) Air Date: 10-06-1973
Episode 66 (Archie, the Gambler) Air Date: 10-13-1973
Episode 67 (Henry’s Farewell) Air Date: 10-20-1973
Episode 68 (Archie and the Computer) Air Date: 10-27-1973
Episode 69 (The Games Bunkers Play) Air Date: 11-03-1973
Episode 70 (Edith’s Conversation) Air Date: 11-10-1973
Episode 71 (Archie in the Cellar) Air Date: 11-17-1973
Episode 72 (Black is the Color of My True Love’s Whig) Air Date: 11-24-1973
Episode 73 (Second Honeymoon) Air Date: 12-01-1973
Episode 74 (The Taxi Caper) Air Date: 12-08-1973
Episode 75 (Archie is Cursed) Air Date: 12-15-1973
Episode 76 (Edith’s Christmas Story) Air Date: 12-22-1973
Episode 77 (Mike and Gloria Mix It Up) Air Date: 01-05-1974
Episode 78 (Archie Feels Left Out) Air Date: 01-12-1974
Episode 79 (Et Tu, Archie?) Air Date: 01-26-1974
Episode 80 (Gloria’s Boyfriend) Air Date: 02-02-1974
Episode 81 (Lionel’s Engagement) Air Date: 02-09-1974
Episode 82 (Archie Eats and Runs) Air Date: 02-16-1974
Episode 83 (Gloria Sings the Blues) Air Date: 03-02-1974
Episode 84 (Pay the Twenty Dollars) Air Date: 03-09-1974
Episode 85 (Mike’s Graduation) Air Date: 03-16-1974

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the All In The Family (Season 4) DVD.

One of the top rated shows on the 1980s decade, Magnum, P.I. thrilled audiences with its exotic setting and fast-paced action. Winner of multiple Emmys and Golden Globes, the show was a mainstay in the Top 20 Nielsen Ratings. Its Vietnam flashbacks (exploring the combat experiences of the main characters) were widely lauded, and Magnum, P.I. is considered the first television series to give recognition to the obstacles faced by Vietnam Veterans reentering American society. The range of topics, combined with a clever wit and heightened suspense, make Magnum, P.I. one of the more widely appealing TV series of its era…

Magnum, P.I. covers the life of Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck), a former Naval Intelligence officer who resigns his position in order to set up his own private investigation business in Oahu, Hawaii. Through either luck or acquaintance, he lands a job as head of security for bestselling author Robin Masters’ luxurious beachfront estate. This enables Magnum to drive around in Masters’ sporty flame-red Ferrari, make use of various high-tech toys, and live a life of relative ease in the estate’s guest house. But Magnum constantly butts heads with estate manager Jonathan Higgins (John Hillerman), a former British military man in his own right, and one with a strict penchant for order and discipline. Despite their conflicts, Magnum and Higgins maintain a healthy friendship, while Magnum’s friends Rick Wright (Larry Manetti) and T.C. Calvin (Roger E. Mosley) are forever being drawn into Magnum’s dangerous investigations…

The Magnum, P.I. DVD features a number of exciting episodes including the season premiere “Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii” in which Magnum learns of the death of his childhood friend and Navy buddy Dan Cook. Skeptical of the officially cited cause of death, Magnum launches an investigation of his own with the aid of Dan’s sister Alice. Eventually, the trail leads to an old military friend from Vietnam who might possibly be involved in a smuggling operation. Meanwhile, Magnum and Alice put their own lives on the line as they discover that someone is determined to put an end to their investigation… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include “No Need to Know” in which Magnum is hired to protect one of Higgins’ friends from IRA assassins, and “Lest We Forget” in which a veteran of Pearl Harbor turned (Supreme Court Nominee) hires Magnum to investigate when he receives blackmail threats relating to his past…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Magnum, P.I. (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii: Part 1) Air Date: 12-11-1980
Episode 2 (Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii: Part 2) Air Date: 12-11-1980
Episode 3 (China Doll) Air Date: 12-18-1980
Episode 4 (Thank Heaven for Little Girls, and Big Ones Too) Air Date: 12-25-1980
Episode 5 (No Need to Know) Air Date: 01-08-1981
Episode 6 (Skin Deep) Air Date: 01-15-1981
Episode 7 (Never Again, Never Again) Air Date: 01-22-1981
Episode 8 (The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii) Air Date: 01-29-1981
Episode 9 (Missing in Action) Air Date: 02-05-1981
Episode 10 (Lest We Forget) Air Date: 02-12-1981
Episode 11 (The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club) Air Date: 02-19-1981
Episode 12 (Thicker Than Blood) Air Date: 02-26-1981
Episode 13 (All Roads Lead to Floyd) Air Date: 03-12-1981
Episode 14 (Adelaide) Air Date: 03-19-1981
Episode 15 (Don’t Say Goodbye) Air Date: 03-26-1981
Episode 16 (The Black Orchid) Air Date: 04-02-1981
Episode 17 (J. “Digger” Doyle) Air Date: 04-09-1981
Episode 18 (Beauty Knows No Pain) Air Date: 04-16-1981

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Magnum PI (DVD).