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Tech Hunters: the first TV set Britain fell in love with
Televisions might be cheap and plentiful now, but in the 1930s, they were almost exclusively reserved for the middle class. The BBC was the only broadcaster in town and a lucky, elite few were able to watch the Coronation of King George VI and British Movietone News cinema newsreels inside their homes. Then, the second World War broke out and transmissions stopped over fears that TV signals would aid German bombers. It wasn't until the 50s that TV became popular again, with royal events setting the benchmark. Following the death of King George VI in 1952, a young Elizabeth II took the throne and was coronated a year later. The Queen's coronation became a defining time for television in the UK, and a lot of it was due to the availability of the Bush TV22. The black-and-white Bush TV22 launched with a 9-inch screen and cost £35, which is roughly £800 in today's money. It was cheaper and more portable than its bigger hardwood rivals at the time, with art-deco stylings that are now revered by British designers. When the royal family agreed to let the BBC inside Westminster Abbey to broadcast the Queen's coronation in June 1953, it led to a huge boom in television set sales. More often than not, it was the Bush TV22 that people brought home. In this episode of Tech Hunters, Julia Hardy travels to Norwich to find the TV that changed viewing habits in the UK forever. Rob Howard shows Julia round the cathode ray set was a design classic that ushered in the era of television.
The White House's Spanish-language website is gone, for now
Under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the White House maintained a Spanish-language version of its official website, while the Obama administration also updated its companion Twitter account, @LaCasaBlanca. Since noon on Friday, just after President Donald Trump took the oath of office, the White House's Spanish-language website has been down and the associated Twitter account empty.
UK's first cloud DVR lets you watch recordings anywhere
To be blunt, Bush isn't a brand known for particularly innovative products. But, come the end of the month, it's the name you'll see on the first cloud DVR to launch in the UK. Bush's Digital TV Recorder is an affordable set-top box -- arriving exclusively at Argos on August 30th for £100 -- that lets you watch and record Freeview channels. What's special about it, though, is the integration of ShowDrive, a service that takes those recordings and uploads them to the cloud so you can watch them wherever you want, and on basically any device.
Jeb Bush has strong feelings about the Apple Watch
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is open about being an Apple fanboy, but now we know that he's got the same love/hate relationship with the Apple Watch that many others have. In an interview with Business Insider, the politician reveals that the device is "not as intuitive as the other Apple products," adding that it "takes a lot more work." In addition, John-Ellis (for that is his name) threw shade at the wearable's battery life, saying that it "gives out too quick."
Donald Trump commandeers Jebbush.com
The domain Jebbush.com redirects to the official campaign page for Donald Trump's presidential bid. The URL has been up for grabs since April, at least -- at the time, CNN Money reported it was on sale for $250,000 via hosting service Fabulous.com. Apparently Bush, who's running for the Republican nomination alongside Trump and a (large) handful of other candidates, didn't think it was worthwhile to invest in his own-name dot-com domain. His official website is Jeb2016.com.
Rock Band Weekly: Bush
Breathe in, breathe out, and everything's zen, because next week's Rock Band DLC is a three-pack from alt rockers Bush. All the tracks are off the band's hit 1994 debut album "Sixteen Stone."
Officers' Quarters: Four lessons from the inauguration
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.I have mostly steered clear of politics in this column. Very early on, in the second or third column I wrote for WoW Insider, I made an offhand joke about the current administration that set off a firestorm of argument in the comments section. It really had nothing to do with the column at all, so I found the situation extremely unproductive. I decided I'd never do that again.But I was there in D.C. last Tuesday and I wanted to share some of my observations about how to handle a transfer of power. It's a situation that can come up from time to time in a guild when a long-time leader has to step down for personal reasons -- or in democratic guilds when a leader is voted out. Let's talk about how Bush and Obama handled everything and what we can learn from their example.
Bush BD01 becomes UK's first sub-100 Blu-ray player
We're not even going to front -- prior to this article, we hadn't heard of Bush (the consumer electronics manufacturer) nor the BD01. According to reports from the UK, though, the Bush BD01 has become the nation's first widely available sub-£100 Blu-ray player. At least at Argos, the deck -- which typically sells for £146.80 -- has just dropped to £97.86, and while the specifications aren't anything to write home about, it'll certainly handle the BD basics. You won't find BD-Live support and it won't help those in NTSC territories (PAL only), but it will upscale vanilla DVDs via HDMI and it won't totally demolish your savings. Better get a move on though, as we're told that stock is "very limited."[Via ITProPortal]
President Bush dodges a Shaman attack
No matter what your political persuasion is, we can all find the above animation funny. President Bush had a shoe thrown at him last week, and this week we've seen the incident take on a World of Warcraft spin.The person throwing the shoe is playing an Elemental Shaman. He or she really needs to clean up their UI: as you can see in the above picture, it's not very good. Way too many buttons spaced out at odd intervals.While we were originally under the impression that the shoe throwing incident took place in Iraq, it appears via the mini-map that it actually took place in Thousand Needles. Perhaps if the President ate some Tracker Snacks he'd have avoided the incident all together, as "Ghostrunner" (aka "Greg Highway") say the buff will include reporter tracking in patch 3.0.8.And just to be completely bipartisan, after the break is a screenshot of President Elect Obama's WoW screen after he earned the "President of the United States" achievement.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Anaheim-Vegas maglev train project gets $45 million infusion
It's been a while since we heard anything about the proposed Anaheim-Las Vegas maglev train. As of Friday, the project is moving forward as part of a transportation bill signed by President Bush that puts aside $45 million for the 300 mile-per-hour train. While the project initially called for a $3- to $5 billion budget, this little chunk of money will get things rolling (or, as the case may be, floating). The train is projected to whisk people from Disneyland to Vegas in under two hours. No word on proposed launches or actual construction, but we assume Disney will get involved with some extra cash at this point.[Via Slashdot]
School shooting "hero" confesses to Xbox theft
Stories about thieves stealing games and systems are a dime a dozen, but those thefts usually don't involve a culprit that was praised as a hero by President Bush. They do occasionally, though, as is proven by a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article about Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School student Lewis Bennett III.Bennett earned fame and a meeting with the president for thwarting a planned Columbine-style attack by classmate Dillon Cossey back in October. But even heroes have their flaws, and last week, Bennett confessed to authorities that he and two friends had repeatedly broken in to Cossey's house last month to steal a variety of items, including an Xbox 360 that Bennett later sold to a classmate for $20.Bennett's attorney said the media attention may have driven his client to the criminal act."How does a child, a young adult, deal with that situation, where all these cameras are put in his face and he's required to respond and he meets the president?" The answer to that rhetorical question, apparently, is 'by stealing an Xbox 360.'
Bush launches TR04 touch-screen DAB radio
A touch screen on a stationary radio may seem a touch overkill, but that evidently hasn't stopped Bush from creating a DAB radio with one on the front. The ridiculously code-named TR04DABBLK has touch buttons in the place of physical buttons, and has up to 10 preset DAB stations, and 10 regular FM station presets. Other than that it features two line scrolling text on an LED display -- oooh, ahh -- and costs £45 (around $90). Move along please, nothing to touch here.
ESA gets new boss, Mike Gallagher
There's a new captain on board the S.S. ESA: Former Assistant Secretary of Commerce Mike Gallagher, who'll be stepping into the shoes left by former president Doug Lowenstein last year. Gallagher most recently served as the "chief telecommunications and policy advisor to the Bush Administration," which, for those of you who never watched The West Wing, means he had to program the Oval Office TiVo to never miss "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?".Though he's new to the industry, Gallagher told GameDaily BIZ that he's a lifelong gamer and thinks "the business is poised for tremendous growth." And, no, before you ask, he says he has no plans to bring back the old E3. Gallagher is stepping in to an awfully big shadow cast by Lowenstein, who took the ESA from a two-person operation to 32-employee effort that supports a $10 billion video game industry. But we're hopeful that his Capitol Hill experience will make him a force to be reckoned with when the attorneys-at-lawl come calling.
Bush 15.4-inch HD-ready TV aims low, fails
The quixotic race to make the world's smallest HDTV got a little tighter today with this 15.4-inch TV / DVD combo from Bush. Featuring 720p resolution and an HDMI port, it's not the smallest HD-ready panel we've ever seen, but it's certainly the smallest you can actually go out and buy. While you probably won't be using this little guy to settle that 1080i-vs-1080p debate, we're not going to complain about hi-res panels filtering down to even the cheap-o TV / DVD player combo level. We are going to complain about the ridiculous £250 ($500) this thing will set you back, though, as well as the lack of a Freeview tuner, which means you'll need some kind of external box to view any HD content. No deets on availability, but with a plethora of solid 19- to 22-inch HD-ready displays at that price point, it's not like anyone's really chomping at the bit here.
Shed a tear for Jaffe's Heartland
Newsweek's latest exchange with designer David Jaffe dredges up memory of Heartland, one of the industry's recent missed opportunities. In October 2005, when Heartland was known as 'Project HL', Jaffe went public with his goal to make gamers cry, describing his PSP epic as an examination of "what's happening with America and the military". A year later, Heartland was shelved and forgotten, until Jaffe squeaked out a few details in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month. "Hearing myself talk about it now makes me a bit sad," lamented Jaffe, who was re-realizing that the would-be allegory that depicted a fictional Chinese invasion of the US would have been an important effort for the games industry -- and perhaps Western culture at-large.Our perception of what Heartland could have been has been damaged by Jaffe's often-manic outbursts. The designer essentially snuffed out all curiosity in the title when he spastically proclaimed last September that the future of the industry was in (in all caps) "SHORTER, LESS EXPENSIVE" games, beginning with his PSN launch pad Calling All Cars. Though the Calling All Cars delays will apparently cease by mid-May, the untimely delivery has led many of us to tune out Jaffe's banter. So, just as we've yet to join Jaffe's "pop songs" crusade (a belief that small-time games will pwn the market), we have little faith in the notion of his PSP tearjerker. Shame on us then for feeling a pang of sorrow -- that sudden urge to pour one out -- over Heartland, as Jaffe confesses to Newsweek's N'Gai Croal his reasons for abandoning the project:
Nintendo gives Letterman DS, Brain Age for his 60th; top 10 reasons he needs it
In honor of David Letterman's 60th birthday -- and for a little bit of cheap PR, of course -- Nintendo sent him a cute little gift pack, not dissimilar to the one they sent President Bush recently, including a couple of DS Lites and some copies of Brain Age to take care of that aging gray matter of his. Here are our top 10 reasons why Letterman needs this package, other than the obvious one: he doesn't. Saw Leno in line getting a PSP, knew he had to take action. Heard he could get Miyamoto on the show; has no idea what that is. There's a DS port of "Will it Float" on the way. Got a great deal on some stolen games from the dude outside Hello Deli. Been doing standup so long he forgot simple arithmetic. Because he couldn't figure out how to do any stupid pet tricks in Nintendogs. He's always wanted to make his cranium as veiny and muscular as Paul Shaffer's. He's got a three year old who probably pwns him at video games. It will hopefully knock off twenty years, to when he used to be funny. He needs all the juice he can get to think up these stupid top 10 lists. Peep Nintendo's letter to Dave after the break.[Via Joystiq]
News Alert: Syrian prez doesn't play video games
The controversy surrounding the positive and negative effects of modern video games has drawn commentary from luminaries ranging from the governor of California to the Pope. But among all this high-level pontificating, one question has loomed large: What does Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad think of video games? Apparently, he doesn't like them. This according to an interview Al-Assad gave to Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer, who figured that since the dictator has "talked about the internet," a question about video games was appropriate. Al-Assad tersely answered that he uses the internet "for information, not for video games" before moving on to important topics like his favorite movies and what's on his iPod (we're not kidding). Al-Assad's discussion got us wondering how the world might be different if more heads of state actually were gamers? Could President Bush gain a deeper understanding of history through Civilization? Could a nice, calm game of Mario soothe Tony Blair's nerves after a long day in front of Parliament? Could the world-gobbling power of Katamari Damacy satiate the ambitions of Kim Jong-Il? The world may never know. [Via NewsBusters]
Denver is so close to finally getting OTA HDTV
Denver residents are so close to ending a 8 year battle in the name of digital TV. President Bush has the power to sign legislation that would allow 600,000 Denver-its to receive widespreed OTA HD signals via a brand spanking new broadcast tower on Lookout Mountain. We have a feeling that some of you need a bit of background on this crazy battle over digital signals. Apparently, there is a small group of homeowners that simply adore the four broadcasting towers currently occupying a wooded foothill by Denver. So much so that they have held up the construction of a new tower that while, yes, it will be taller, will also consolidate four towers into one. By the way, these are the same type of people that are afraid of the 'harmful' RF waves that digital towers emit. (That kind of sums it up right there doesn't) But the truth of the matter is that this new tower will emit 75% less then the total output of all four of the current towers in place and freeing up 75 acres of open space that the hippie homeowners should love. This battle needs to end sometime soon since that 2009 legislation requiring broadcasters to serve up digital OTA signals is right around the corner but we have faith in President Bush -- he seems like a casual TV watching sort of guy.
Video Sandwich: November 19, 2006
Here are two very different approaches to PSP video fandom. They're both creative and show effort, but only one ends up being actually worthwhile. The top video is a fan-made commercial, submitted by Dane Kaplan, and it shows how Sony's portable can bring people together. I loved the principal that volunteered to take part in this silliness: it shows you that there's always a pal in a principal! (Ugh... bad joke...)The second video below certainly takes the cake for originality. These two teens got some meticulously crafted George Bush and Osama Bin Laden masks. Apparently, these two have more than a conspiracy theory in common--they both love to play the PSP! Too bad it isn't as funny as it could've been.
Bush the target in Iraq war game mod
The Global Islamic Media Front, which has been described as a "jihadist mouthpiece," recently released Night of Bush Capturing, which is, ironically, a mod of Petrilla Entertainment's crass budget-FPS, Quest for Saddam.The game, which according to an advertisement is being distributed for "terrorist children," features six stages, with images of Bush, Tony Blair, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and Hassan Nasrallah (Hezbollah's leader) pasted on the walls of a generic U.S. military camp. War nasheeds can be heard playing in the background as the player progresses to a final showdown with U.S. President George W. Bush.While we don't anticipate the threat level being raised because of this release, or for that matter, Night of Bush Capturing becoming budding terrorist's "Halo," this mod is an interesting example on how a 'weapon' can be turned against its creator -- in this case, off-color Iraq war game becomes "Bush Hunter." All's fair in love and war, right?[Via GameSpot]
