A friend of mine just sent this video my way, and I’m ever so glad he did! I get really excited whenever TV genius Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly) comes up with anything because it is unfailingly witty and funny while still being a social commentary.

It’s called Dr. Horrible, and it’s a three act video series made specifically for the internet. Each act is around ten minutes long and star the incredibly adorable Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. Harris is Dr. Horrible, a low-rated super villain who’s attempts to be inducted into the League of Evil is continually thwarted by his nemesis Hammer Man. He’s also working up the courage to talk to Penny, his laundromat crush.

Oh yeah: THERE IS SINGING! Awesome.

Here’s the trailer:

Changing Show Business:

Here’s where it gets interesting. The content has been made available for free for now, but as of tonight at midnight, you’ll have to buy them off of iTunes if you want to watch them. Each act costs $2.  Whedon came up with idea during the writer’s strike, as he was frustrated by the current system which circumvents a writer’s ability to create, publish and share professional content.  He started looking for a new way, and this is apparently part of his exploration.

He says :

It is time for us to change the face of Show Business as we know it. You know the old adage, “It’s Show Business – not Show Friends”? Well now it’s Show Friends. We did that. To Show Business. To show Show Business we mean business. (Also, there are now other businesses like it.)

Welcome to Hollywood 2.0!

The age of show friends is the next wave of creativity as professionals begin to embrace the content creation and distribution platforms available to everyone online. Personally, I also feel that despite the billions of videos available online, there is really a demand for well-written, well-produced pieces specifically made for the web. That means shorter videos, smaller budgets but all the creativity and humor you can jam pack in there.

The Foush Says:

Please support Joss and don’t pirate this content! $6 is what you would pay for a coffee and muffin at starbucks and is a small price to pay in helping to change a closed industry for the better. I have been a “Whedonista” ever since I discovered Buffy the Vampire slayer back in 1997, and Joss has not led me astray once!

I’ve watched all the content and am still going to purchase it as a show of support. Let’s vote with our wallets and help Joss out!  Show Friends sounds much nicer than Show Business doesn’t it?

You can find the necessary links here: www.Drhorrible.com

Hi All!

I know you’ve probably noticed a I’ve been a little lax in my posting, and you’d be right! Thanks to those who emailed, it kicked my butt into gear! Just wanted to let you know that the regular post frequency will resume in a few days! I’ve been really busy wrapping up research for Leonard Brody’s book “Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from a Canadian.”

Man, is it shaping up to be a cool book! We’re doing the last of the interviews right now and I am finding them so interesting, that I’ve been wrapped up in the process and neglecting my blogging a little

I had a really good chat with Craig Kielburger founder of Free the Children about Non-Profits and the necessary changes we need to make in order to live in a more ethical world. He really blew me away with his vision, and I can’t wait to share (in a few weeks) his insights on what businesses can do RIGHT NOW to make the world a better place.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Craig, he started Free the Children, the largest organization of children helping children when he was 12, after reading a story about a young boy in Pakistan who had been murdered for speaking up against slavery.

We’re also going to talk to Graydon Carter, Editor in Chief of Vanity Fair about the social values around reporting on issues when the media landscape is owned by a few key players. In particular, Graydon’s choice to use his voice as Editor in Chief to speak out against the Bush Administration even when it was unpopular to do so. He has diligently researched and recorded some of the atrocities committed by this government against the environment, women’s rights, and health care. I’m really looking forward to what he has to say.

So I’ll be posting every other day, and then will be back to my daily routine in no time!

I hope you’re enjoying the summer!!

I had the chance to chat with Rob Riopelle, Founder and Vice President of Business Development of LiveHive Systems about a really cool thing they’re developing called NanoGaming.

NanoGaming is a technology platform that lets viewers interact with live television and steaming video. Basically if you’re watching a certain show, you log on to the portal via your computer and  instantly join a live community of other users who are watching the show at the same time as you. You can meet new people via chat,  answer trivia questions, predict what’s going to happen next, and test your memory recall. The questions and answers are live and flow with the content. So if you’re watching a game and a really unfair call is made by the ref, you know that LiveHive community will be over it- instant debating! The more questions you answer correctly the more points you can win, which you can later redeem for prizes ranging from game tickets to cars!

They’ve worked on everything from Hockey on the CBC, Big Brother and even the Much Music Video Awards! (Someone has to keep those preteens occupied, otherwise things like this happen. Seriously, LiveHive is doing us all a public service.)

I like it because it creates an instant social community around content and provides sponsors with an unobtrusive way for users to interact with their brand without interrupting the viewing experience.

On “tackling” their newest venture:

(pun totally included because I’m awesome like that. )

RR: That project, we’re working with Nissan Canada and in conjunction with Capital C we’re working with all them to provide an interactive experience for the CFL (Canadian Football League). We’re offering it for all 70 games plus playoff games, it’s CFL.NISSAN.CA and they can engage in online competition. At the end of a contest you can win a trip to the Grey Cup with some spending money.

On false Interactivity:

I mentioned that on a recent trip to the States, I had seen some interactive capability through television digital cable boxes, where viewers could participate on live polls during their local news. I asked him how this interactivity compares with LiveHive.

RR: I think that’s a great example of interacting just to interact. People see that, and it’s sort of cool and then you try it. You have a $600 box, so they want to do more with it. They give their opinion once on a poll. How much fun is it to be counted in the poll? The fun comes in the chance that they used the new technology, but that’s a one shot deal. After that, they stop doing. With our platform it’s about creating value during the experience, where they are in a social environment, meeting people and winning prizes.

RR: We have tons of metrics behind our stuff, they come back and do it again and again and again. Not everyone is there every game, but other people come back every second or third game, but we do see high return rates compared to an on-air poll.

Why Two Screen Viewing is the Way to Go:

RR: If you look at typical interactive, people think of your typical set up, where you press the button on the set top box, but there are so much limitations. Limited functionality and real estate mean the interactive experiences are basic or light weight. How deep can you go by pressing up, down, left or right?

RR: When you get on to a two screen environment, you have a dedicated, powerful machine to provide a graphically rich experience and great content. Suddenly you can communicate via keyboard and talk to other people, meet and make new friends.

On live television and the battle over PVRs/Tivo’s

(Although, Canada doesn’t have Tivo up here, just one more little snubs in our rich history of technological shafts. I know I’m feeling sassy this interview!)

RR: We actually work to combat those things [PVRs, timeshifting], where we draw people back to live content because that experience is only available when it’s live. Especially the real-time components. Outside that window we do provide a limited experience for people. Before each event/show there are a series of questions that are trivia related so that people can jump on during the day, check in and comment on what is going to happen.

RR: So with PVRs and DVRs, this is something that the broadcaster has seen as positive because you can use this to ensure users are watching live, and for the full duration of the show. We glue people to the tv and to the computer. On average people are playing for 45 minutes for every hour of watching. So they can participate live.

On the Future of Television, and what LiveHive’s Future Mission:

RR: In five years, we’ll be the center point to interactively enable every show on TV. Instead of thinking which shows are interactive it’s just assumed, all shows are interactive. So no matter what show you’re watching you can just jump on, connect, and socialize withp eole who are watching the same show. Creating a central spot for every program

The Future of TV Advertising

RR: If you look at the advertising, it’s definitely clear, that the traditional 30 second spot are becoming less effective and you can see that most of the dollars are going online. So that does open the opporutnity for us to be a great advertsing platform. And that’s what we are, all of our projects involve a sponser, because they can get a lot of data as a result of peole sitting with your brand for a long time. So if there’s a touchdown, you can say “touchdown brought to you by nissan.” You can do other things as well, you can ask questions about the viewers themselves, you can ask in a poll “are you thinking about buying a car? ” That’s hugely powerful to be able to extract those questions, that’s highly valuable to the sponsers in volved in our porjects. You don’t overload them with questions, but you can definitely ask one or two questions per game to get that extra information about preferences or buying status.

Why I like it:

1) Making TV social again.

There used to be a time when we would all gather around the TV to watch our favorite prime time shows. I remember in University we used to reserve one of the lecture halls so we could watch LOST in agonizing suspense. Somehow it was always better when it was in a group. Then, we got the Apple Store, and time-shifting and PVRs so people got less inclined to get together and started watching TV in a more isolated way. I think LiveHive’s technology is cool because it brings some of that real time social elements. This could make watching live TV engaging again, because it’s the social aspect of the community that is drawing you in. Very cool.

2) Evolving the User/Brand experience

This is a much better way to interact with users, because you can target show demographics more precisely and be engaged with a large amount of people at once. So if you’re a car company targeting men, what better place to have them engage with your than through a hockey game platform? Forget a 30 second spot, they will be looking at your Logo for 45 minutes per every hour watched. Now there’s some bang for your buck!

3) A better TV Experience

This is the first step in eliminating commercials completely. One would hope at least. If the networks got involved - and they should- then they could shift interactivity with content online and use the sponsors to facilitate interaction. Everyone wins. Networks get people to watch their content without the temptation of channel surfing, viewers get engaged on connect because it’s a topic they care about, and advertisers get access to valuable information without interrupting. Win/Win. If they did this properly I bet you could make the same amount of money if not more via advertising maybe causing the evil Viacom to back off on all this copy righted material crap, allowing everyone to make funny Youtube videos in peace.

[Photo from Endgadget.com]

Well, it seems that Rogers has heard the large outcry regarding their ridiculously over-priced iPhone data plans and released a new promotional offer.

RuinediPhone.com, an online petition started a few days ago has already gathered 58,000 signatures protesting the old data plans. While it might not affected Rogers, it apparently irked Apple enough to warrant a behind the scenes smack down. Apple takes it’s branding very seriously and was not amused at the backlash, including the negative press and blog coverage warning consumers to pass on the sleek gadget.

THE JUICY GOSSIP - Tracking the Rumor:

The web has been buzzing with rumors about a potential fall out that occurred between his Majesty Steve Jobs and the suits at Rogers which could shed some light on the timing and introduction of the new promotional plan.

According to blogger Daniel Smith’s Smithereen’s blog, he reported on July 5th that there had been some interesting conversations taking place via SMS between Rogers, Apple and Rim employees: [unconfirmed as of now, but makes sense when you consider Rogers actions]

Apple Canada Employee sends text message to source stating something along the lines of “You guys are screwed on the iPhone.” No responses are given when asked for clarification

Soon after, a RIM (Blackberry) employee sends another text to source asking about the Apple/Rogers fallout rumors that are surfacing.

Source receives a call informing them that several stores have decided to release some of the additional help they had hired for the iPhone launch immediately and without notice. [Note: this decision was made by the dealers and not by Rogers]

Senior Rogers rep confirms to source that Apple has decided to divert a large percentage of planned Canadian shipment to Europe! Some stores may now be getting as few as 10-20 units! The wording from head office claims the number of units will be “significantly reduced.

On July 8, the usually reliable Apple Insider claimed that Apple was sanctioning Rogers by announcing their Canadian retail stores would not be supporting Rogers in selling iPhones. Subscribers will have to go to a Rogers retail store in order to pick their unit up. Keep in mind that this was released before the new Rogers plan was announced so it might no longer apply.

On July 9th - Canadian Consumers declared it National Call Rogers day, and urged people to call and complain to rogers about the pricing. A Facebook group was created. (Of course)

July 10th - New Rogers Plans announced.

It’s a promotional offer along with the iPhone where subscribers can get 6GB of data for $30/month (which is probably as closed to unlimited as you’re going to get.)

The good news:

• The data plan can be added to any voice plan. (DUH- I can’t even believe they didn’t offer this from the beginning.

The Bad News:

• The promotional plan will be on only until Aug 31st.
• You have to sign on with a three year contract.

So with all this buzz there are some claiming that the much hyped iPhone release will be more lukewarm than hot, while others have faith that the new plan will help soothe outraged consumers.

I guess we will have to wait and see!

Here are some of the other Rogers pieces related to this topic:

Canadian Consumers to Rogers: Stop Being Jerks, Part 1

Canadian Consumers to Rogers: Stop being Jerks, Part 2

After hearing the Twitterati start buzzing about identi.ca I thought I would give it a try. After all micro-blogging is about the conversation and where the my people go, I will follow. I signed on, and was happy to note that I could use my liveID, which meant an easy and effortless process.

I found myself, underwhelmed with the whole experience. There are several differences between Identi.ca and Twitter and I found myself leaning more in Twitter’s favor.

1) No Searching for Friends

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t seem to find a search box to search for people who I might know or would want to follow. This sort of boggled my mind, as I realized that I had to scan the public timeline in order to see who was on. I happened to come across a few familiar names and then added them.

2) No Direct Messages/Nudges, etc.

I was also disappointed to see there was no option to send private (aka Direct Messages) to your contacts. This didn’t sit well with me as I often use that feature on Twitter to quickly get in touch with certain people in my network.

It just seemed a little clunky to me.

3) Not as many cool applications

There aren’t as many sophisticated applications to use with Identi.ca and I’m currently curious in monitoring the development on Twitter anyway. For now.

Twitter’s Woes

I like Twitter. I think their problem is that they got too big, too fast and weren’t prepared for the strain on their systems. Big Deal. They are good people and I’m sure are working diligently to fix the problem. I think people take the whole “system down-time” thing a little too seriously. A few months ago (it’s funny how a short period of time can feel like ages in terms of line news) Twitter developper Alex Payne wrote a Q&A post on the Twitter Developer Blog in which he answered some users’ questions about Twitter’s recent woes. When asked if users could do anything to lighten the load he had an interesting reply:

The events that hit our system the hardest are generally when “popular” users - that is, users with large numbers of followers and people they’re following - perform a number of actions in rapid succession. This usually results in a number of big queries that pile up in our database(s). Not running scripts to follow thousands of users at a time would be a help, but that’s behavior we have to limit on our side.

Robert Scoble, one of the site’s more prolific users was quick to take this a little personally and blogged a post, blasting Twitter for blaming it’s users. (Scoble close to 30,000 followers and has sent out more than 12,000 tweets) I have to say that after reading Payne’s statement, I didn’t find anything worth getting upset over. He was just stating the facts and not really blaming anyone or telling users to stop. In fact he says that it is something his team will have to address. Quickly. Techies are not known for their patience in terms of under performing software and with the alternatives out there, Twitter’s first in market advantage will surely start to fade as people migrate to a more stable system.

On the Lighter Side

For now, I am content with Twitter. Yes, occasionally I get that while whale and how can you be mad at it? It’s so cute. I think we should all lighten up a little and take a page from FailWhale.com. The site’s mission is simple (and amusing):

FailWhale.com is the groupie | PR | Fan Club for one of coolest whales we know… you know… the handsome whale and his birdie entourage who show up occasionally on Twitter to let you know that it’s time to push back from your keyboard and to go take a break. Yup! that one.

This site is here to poke fun at the people who seem to take online social network downtime a little too seriously. It’s a love letter to the hard working folks at twitter.com and is not affiliated in any way with Twitter.

You can even get mugs and t-shirts of “Fail Whale” and his entourage as well as of his newly designed girlfriend Eve Whale. LOL. I think it’s hilarious. You can also search Fail Whale and become a fan on Facebook.