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Spotify gets into podcasting with three music-themed shows
Spotify dipped its toes into podcasting in 2015 by adding pre-existing programs to its lineup. Now it's getting into content creation and rolling out its own shows. The company is launching three original podcasts, and it says that's just the start.
ICYMI: Segway's plan B and flexible concrete
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-2").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Segway came to Intel's Developer's Forum to show a prototype for a self-balancing scooter that is also a robot. If the public SDK works out well, Segway hopes to release a consumer version of whatever it becomes in 2017.
Netflix loads up on TV shows and adjusts its website for easier browsing
This morning a slew of new of TV shows -- many from the recent ABC / Disney deal like Scrubs, Reaper and FlashForward, others like The Sarah Connor Chronicles from Fox, along with BBC shows like Men Behaving Badly and kids/family content from Barney to The Wind in the Willows -- became available for Watch Instantly streaming on Netflix. Beyond the new content, there was another recent change as Netflix continues to makeover its website, as many TV series now list all the seasons under one entry, instead of breaking them out separately by season. Eventually, the change should make it easier to browse the multiple seasons of content Netflix has been able to acquire but with things in flux, it could be somewhat disconcerting to find oneself browsing through an uninterrupted 16-disc set of Psych until the new listings are all straightened out.
The Soapbox: The impossible task of balancing PvP
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. PvP in MMO games often comes with a whole slew of ill-defined requirements for balance. As impossible as such a thing is, we often hear the mating calls of noobies everywhere, sounding out their ineptitude with words like "overpowered" or "nerf." Those same types of players can often be found asking questions like, "What is the best class?" as if by some chance, they'll cheat the very system of balance they yearn for when they cry about every defeat they suffer at the hands of class X. In that respect, I can't blame them, either. Oftentimes I've found myself looking for a channel through which to vent my frustration or expressing my nerd-rage by disconnecting altogether. But you won't see me trolling forums, stating that one class has more power than another. I might take part in discussions of parity -- maybe. I can probably even be found taking part in debates of factional equality -- sure, in a theoretical sense, why not? But realistically speaking, balance in PvP is just an ideal. It is little more than a philosophical illusion to be debated but never fully realized. Follow along after the break as I discuss the sheer absurdity of balance in a PvP game.
Drama Mamas: Of scrubs and terribads
Let the Drama Mamas guide you through the sticky business of dodging drama, toward becoming that player everyone wants in their group. Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players. And just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com.Sometimes, there simply are no words that do justice to our friends' lack of play skills. You know the people I'm talking about. We say, "He's a good guy, but ..." or "She's a real sweetie, for someone who ..." Argh! It's the last halves of those sentences that wipe the raid group every time.So what's a player to do when his friends turn out to be scrubs, terribads, n00bs or any other variety of out-of-tune toon? Sometimes there's hope – but we'll be honest, sometimes things are beyond repair. Either way, you're going to have to decide: can you fix it, or can you grin and bear it?
Scrubs finally jumps to HD on ABC
A lot of things have changed since 2006. We're not as angry, Michael Robinson is now a fullback for the 49ers, and Scrubs has gone from the only SD holdout on NBC's Thursday night lineup (with the exception of one surprise HD test episode) to finally joining the high definition world in its 8th season, now on ABC. Of course this means we can finally start watching again -- even with the possibility that this is the last season with star Zach Braff planning to leave and take main character J.D. with him -- does anyone know what happened after that whole "I'm pregnant" announcement?
[1.Local]: The week from a reader's point of view
[1.Local] serves up a smattering of reader comments from the past week, from the sublime to the ridiculous.The excitement of the all the new Wrath of the Lich King buzz this week must have gone to some readers' heads, making them testier than usual. This week saw several squabbles in post comments, from mild differences of opinion to outright controversial debate. News about the shape of raid instances to come brought out plenty of opinions both for and against the new raid sizes. Should Arthas be 10-mannable? With even well known raiding guilds such as Death and Taxes burning out and moving on, are raiding applications still necessary in this day and age? The comments got hot and heavy in a post that sparked plenty of discussion about racism in Arena team names. Readers also seemed of two minds at the efforts of top-tanked 5v5 Arena team M L H, who've turned out to be prolific points-sellers. But commenters pulled together in a post advising one reader whose system seems to have slowed to a crawl. And reader Kershner wrapped it all up on a chilled note for the weekend with a great macro to help us kick back and enjoy some fishing.Be sure to dive into the comments area of each thread (not this one, silly!) and add your own thoughts – unlike your mama, we like us some hot, fresh backtalk.
Scrubs tackles Space Invaders
June really can't come soon enough, since we're dying to get our hands on Square-Enix's Space Invaders Extreme. In the meantime, though, we might steal J.D. and Turk's idea and play some human Space Invaders. If you could get enough friends together, it might actually be a lot of fun ... wait a minute, are we really considering this?At any rate, Scrubs' return from the strike hiatus featured one of our favorite past times in a completely silly manner. It's not the first time we've seen human Space Invaders (or human Arkanoid, for that matter), but it's still funny and worth a look.[Via Gamertell]
More Manhunt 2 promo stuff hits eBay
It's a little late for Halloween, but you can always pick up this promotional Manhunt 2 costume on eBay for next year. What's a better costume than "doctor who got some blood on him, and also a video game logo for some reason?" Nothing, that's what. Of course, you can only do that if society doesn't collapse due to the "easily accessible" uncensored violent content in Manhunt 2 turning every child in America into a thoughtless murderer. You'd better hope that all children don't turn into bloodthirsty maniacs, for the sake of Halloween parties.Wow, that's the second time this week that looking at Manhunt stuff turned our thoughts to the end of society. Maybe there is something to all the protesting.[Via GameSniped]
Scrubs on iTunes?
As several readers have pointed out, the latest episodes of Scrubs (which started its final *sniff* season last week) are available on iTunes. But how can that be, Scrubs airs on NBC? Yes, yes - but thanks to the magic of large media conglomerates, Scrubs is not actually an NBC show. Scrubs is owned/produced by Disney (which owns ABC), via their Touchstone Television division ABC Television division, meaning they are not part of the NBC Universal contract with iTunes. This is why it took so long for Scrubs to appear on iTunes in the first place (fellow Scrubs fans will remember how mad we were at iTunes/ABC over this issue). Now, in this final seventh season, things become a bit more complicated; NBC now shares profits with Scrubs (before they didn't get anything from syndication or DVD sales), as a condition for renewal, and you can watch full episodes on NBC's website (which you could not do before), but this is still an ABC show in terms of iTunes arrangements. It is my understanding that iTunes contracts are with the studios that produce the shows, not the networks that air the shows - which is not always the same thing. For example, NBC Universal owns/produces the show House, which airs on FOX. Thus, the current season of House in unavailable on iTunes. Conversely, FOX owns/produces My Name is Earl, for NBC, and like Scrubs, current episodes are available on iTunes. Weirdly enough, Ugly Betty, which is now also fully owned by NBC (because the chairman and head of programming for NBC is the owner of Reveille, which produces Ugly Betty and The Office, among others) does have its new episodes on iTunes - only because I assume they signed an agreement with Apple before NBC bought the company. Of course, if the WGA does indeed strike, not much of this will matter anyway, because none of our new shows will be on TV or iTunes for us to watch. This concludes today's lesson in Television Business in the Digital Age.
Scrubs actor stars as Dead Head Fred
The small-time game Dead Head Fred is getting some big-time talent. According to IGN, John C. McGinley, most famous for his work in the NBC comedy "Scrubs," will be voicing the titular character. This will be his very first video game voice acting gig.
Hospital Tycoon hoping to keep you in stitches this spring
Yet another Tycoon game will be on shelves this spring once Hospital Tycoon has shipped. In this game you have to manage a bustling hospital, coordinate the staff, try to get the funds for new equipment, and "watch out for the spread of infectious conditions like "Monkey Nuts" or "Stress Zombosis", or you'll soon have an epidemic plunging the hospital into absolute chaos."Trust us, we definitely don't want to come down with something called "Monkey Nuts." Check out the trailer for the game after the jump. It looks a tad like Scrubs meets The Sims, with a slight dose of Disorderlies thrown in. We just want to know when Tycoon Tycoon is coming out, so you can be a tycoon in charge of making new tycoons, and then corralling the tycoons, and making sure they tycoon.
Bangin' on some air drums with the Wiimote
While most folks have been using the Wiimote for playing games on their Wii, as well as some others hacking the console itself and hooking up the Wiimote to a PC, no use for the Wiimote has been so far out of the box as to live in a different country alltogether, perhaps making a living as a cobbler. Well, that has changed and the cobbler has been presented in the form of an air drumming hack (boringly enough, for the PC).The program converts Wiimote motions into keyboard notes, which are then, by way of another program, changed into drum sounds. While the whole thing could be considered quite the painful ordeal, installing and opening multiple programs, etc., credit is due for such an effort. Could we soon see an entire air band hack used and filmed on You Tube?Video of it in motion is embedded into the post, past the jump.[Via Joystiq]
NBC looks to resurrect Must-See TV with all HD lineup
NBC is shuffling its lineup and to make Thursday a "Must-see TV" night again, it is pairing two of our favorite HD comedies My Name is Earl and The Office, with returning -- and now HDTV-ready -- series Scrubs, and new show 30 Rock. There's also some show called E.R. at 10 p.m. but does anyone really watch that anymore? 30 Rock moves to Thursdays beginning November 16th as it joins with Earl and The Office in super-sized 40-minute episodes, but the block trule comes together on the 30th with the arrival of Scrubs in the 9 p.m. slot. That seems like a pretty powerful lineup to us, but it remains to be seen if easter eggs, emo hipster doctors and a british comedy transplant can bring back memories of the Seinfeld / Friends lineup of yesteryear.[Via TV Squad]
HDTV Scrubs on NBC?
That's the rumor, I didn't get a chance to see tonights season finale but for those of you who did, was anything different? A couple of HD Beat readers caught it and saw it was in HD. If you don't already know, Scrubs has been one the shows I most want to see in high definition, so I certainly hope they aren't playing with my emotions.Taking a look at the NBC website, the aptly named "My Transition" episode is marked as an HDTV broadcast. Hopefully this means a full sixth season of 1080i goodness, check TV Squad's interview with cast member John C. McGinley for more info about Scrubs behind the scenes.Thanks Rick for the shot of widescreen Scrubs from his HDTV and camera phone!
Scrubs, more South Park in iTunes
Season five of NBC's Scrubs has been added to the iTunes music store this morning [iTunes link]. No season pass, however. South Park fans will be glad to know that a season pass is now available for that show [iTunes link], as well as seasons 3 and 10, starting off with the infamous "The Return of Chef!" episode. Have at it.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Behind the scenes of filming "The Office" in HD
Even though tonight's episode of The Office is a rerun, you can get some more info on the world of Jim, Michael, Pam & Dwight in this article posted earlier this month. The Production Manager and Director of Photography go a bit into what it takes to shoot and produce each episode of the show. As some of our commenters continually remind us, in Europe the TV shows have long been in widescreen, and that was part of the reason they kept shooting it that way for the show here (you hear that Scrubs?).[Via DV Guru]
Jan. 3: What's on HDTV today
What we're watching: I'm watching the game man! Two old school coaches squaring off in the Orange Bowl tonight on ABC. Bowden vs. Paterno. I also look forward to seeing more of Penn State's QB Michael Robinson, a threat running or passing the ball.If you don't like football, there's always Man on Fire on HBO at 9:30 p.m. starring Denzel Washington. I wish I could recommend one of my favorite comedies, Scrubs, but it's NOT IN HIGH DEFINITION DUE TO THE HEARTLESS BASTARDS AT NBC *takes a breath*. After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
