Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
(Interviews) Beardyman - Beardyman Interview With London Real
Innovative Musician and Beatboxer Beardyman joins Brian Rose of London Real for lively and compelling chat
(TV) Smart TV: No Longer The Idiot Box
Fiction again and again has warned us about the folly of giving inanimate objects a brain, the ability to feel or any other element of the human experience, a warning LG have clearly failed to heed by making a TV smarter than its viewers.
LG clearly have underestimated the reaction of TV watchers finding out that their TV can watch them right back when one of its customers realized his TV was watching him and taking notes of his viewing habits.
Jason Huntley, an IT Consultant and writer of doctorbeets blog, wrote a blog detailing how he managed to piece together that his TV was collecting data on him through getting his hands on a incriminating corporate video (now suspiciously "under maintenance") selling the effectiveness of their ads system in tracking the preferences of their customers
While LG may throw out the defense that they created a TV that could provide a better service if it could record the viewing patterns of users and suggest content they might like based on the data of previous viewings, they fail to realize people don't like being stalked on the internet by ads and spam bots so they definitely won't be pleased that an household appliance has been tracking their every move as soon as they push the on button.
No one is against household appliances getting better or smarter but it is particularly concerning when they exhibit behaviors of a stalker a little to eager to please. In an age where privacy is almost non-existent ( it's not all Google or Facebook's fault, check your multiple social media accounts for proof) you would think one reprieve would be watching TV where you can watch your favorite shows in peace but now with the onset of smart TV's that record every click of your remote, being a member of the most monitored human beings in the history of the species has literally hit home.
It's only going to get worse as the are going to drop in price and become available to more people exemplified by high street electronics retailer Currys cutting £300 off "selected Samsung Smart TV's". In sum, Smart TV's maybe the future of television but Jason Huntley's discovery is a consequence that maybe all too familiar in the coming years.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
(TV) The Walking Dead: Rehabilitating the governor is a bad idea
It's not like season 4 so far has been boring but seeing the governor appear at the end of probably the best episode of the season in "internment" is the best thing to happen so far this season. The Governor is one of the few true TV villains left on modern television and with a plethora of reprehensible acts under his belt (murdering his group in cold blood the shocking of the bunch) , he stands as probably the most evil character currently on television.
But in this week's episode we follow his story from when we left him and we see a worn, dejected and depressed figure wandering through the streets full bearded clearly affected by murdering his own people and what he had become as a leader. While in full 'woe is me' mode, he spots a little girl looking outside a window. He follows his vision and finds himself a family and from there, the episode operates as a vehicle for the writers of the show to humanize a mass murderer.
There have been a number of instances of shows attempting to redeem their villains taking them one peg down from supervillain to brooding anti hero but problem is TV has become saturated by this character archetype as just about every major character meets a challenge with a look of dread with a hint of constipation. Its gotten so bad that we are starting miss the old school bad guys with a scar, eye-patch, or a hook for a hand and just generally wafted of ill intent the moment they hobbled onscreen.
Humanizing such a monster usually makes for good drama as we get to see our villain as more than a one note baddie but in the case of the walking dead, the rehabilitation of the Governor might just kill the show as a spectacle.This is because the main antagonist in the walking dead (the Walkers) are a manageable threat. The walkers are now slower and rotten inside out and are now pretty much background player in the post-apocalypse landscape.
Now that they are a threat that even tweeners can deal with, the show is now missing an antagonist who poses a serious threat. Due to this fact, something bad has to happen to his "new family" which quite frankly looks like a likely scenario as as harsh as it sounds, his new family are "dead weight" in a world where weakness can get you killed.
In sum, rehabilitating the governor would make for good television but may kill a show that's low on real antagonists and threats. So in the knowledge of this fact, the writers of TWD must bring back the governor and put "Brian" back in the box where he belongs.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
(TV) The Killing: AMC's Loss is Netflix and our Gain
If the myriad of articles you'll read about how the internet killed television are to believed without reasonable criticism, what Netflix has done in picking up The Killing has shown that the death of Television as a business was more of an assisted suicide than a cold blooded murder.
When I heard the news that AMC was about to cancel one of the best detective dramas on television anywhere in the middle of a great season I had to say it was one of the rare instances the network that brought us Mad Men and Breaking Bad had dropped the ball (Low Winter Sun notwithstanding)
The Killing should have been a sure fire hit as it has a cult following as well as an established fan-base of the original series in Denmark but AMC, amazingly, thought otherwise. Netflix have been, for the lack of a better word, owing the networks by punishing it's mistakes as well as securing top notch content and has continued the trend by picking the series for 4th and last season. Netflix look set to further revolutionize the TV industry as it looks set to punish the networks for prioritizing numbers over the quality of their shows by snapping up shows with a ready made following betrayed by the Networks short minded mentality.
TV networks has a history of cutting top notch television short from FX inexplicably cancelling Arrested Development in its' third season to HBO cutting short the excellent Deadwood again in its' third season. While the Killing didn't have the largest audience in the world, it had an audience willing to fight for it as news of Netflix running the show on its' trended on Twitter.
This is great for cult fans and binge-watchers everywhere as Netflix can now be the saving grace of shows that may not have got an audience that matched its' quality or reflected the devotion of its' following but can have a new lease of life on a platform that's catering to people (myself included) who consume and expect more from television than the average viewer has or ever will.
In sum, Netflix Picking up The Killing for its' final season is a win for Netflix, fans of the show and most importantly fans of great TV who are sick of Networks losing their nerve when shows of superior quality don't attract an audience. AMC has produced some of the best shows on television in the last 30 years but in cancelling The Killing, it looks like the network is losing its' eye for great TV and it's nerve to give it a chance to flourish.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Join The Resistance!!!!
The Carnage Report pledges allegiance to the resistance against rapacious changes made by YouTube in the comments section
We urge all YouTube users to join the resistance as all you have to lose is your chains!!! (well, your not really in chains...)
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█▄ █ーJ ███▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╬ ☻/ JOIN THE RESISTANCE NOW!!
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══╩══╩══▬▬▬.◙.▬▬▬ / \ LETS GET THE OLD YOUTUBE BACK!
Monday, November 11, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
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