Koo’s Corner

Crazy

As you may already know, I own Vudu and absolutely love it. However I have kept a close eye on the competition with products like Roku, Apple Tv, and now LG entering the market.

The LG Netflix box looks to be front runner going forward with the large Netflix install base and its dual purpose as digital media streamer and Blu Ray player.

As the competition backs the smaller Vudu into a corner, the company made imo a very smart move by announcing the launch of an adult entertainment channel.

In the back of my mind, I have been wondering which hardware provider would go this route first. It was only a matter of time. With adult entertainment (PC way to say porn), being able to be purchased in hotel rooms, DirectTV, and digital cable boxes, there was a very set precedent to go this route.

Let’s be honest, porn is BIG business and its 2008. The few people who are still offended by something like this weren’t going to buy a Vudu anyways. You can’t say that on demand digital downloading and streaming of telelvision and movies is a great technology, but one that cannot be utilized to deliver adult entertainment. If consumers want it (trust me they do), and the partental controls are in place its a smart move to be a first mover into this space.

With Vudu getting distribution at Best Buys in addition to this new development, I think Vudu has caught a second wind going into their second holiday season. I’ll even bet that 25% of sales going forward in 2008 will be tied to this development as Vudu now is enabled to be a jukebox of porn.

The two commercials below are bad, in poor taste, and are ridicuously over the top and taboo. But you know what, they are so freaking horrible, that they are effective.

Let me rewind to several years ago when Go Daddy hands down was voted the worst Super Bowl commercial. I forgot the exact commercial, but it was basically over the top sexicially explicit borderline softcore porn.

The bad commercial created such a stir, it was watched million of times online and receieved further free viewings on news broadcasts.

Go Daddy has continued showing these risque ads every year since while becoming the market leader in website domain registration. For them it worked, and the two commercials below are in the some vain and are receiving similar attention for being in poor taste.

Ashley Madison.com- Dating Service for Adulterers

Banned Guinness Commercial-

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0e0ECZKR6w]

More and more over the past year and a half, I have found myself utilizing Yelp.com in researching various local businesses (restaurants, bars, barbers, etc). Think of it as a community user based Zagat’s. Or if you are familiar with IMDB.COM (you should be), a similar website but instead of ratings and reviews on movies, the same for any local business.

IMDB worked because it became the best resource to learn more about a movie or show. Rather than relying on one or two reviews or recommendations, you could have the ratings and reviews ten’s of thousands enthusiastic movie watchers. One of the byproducts of something like IMDB, is that little films and shows that are awesome yet fly under the radar can receive the recognition they deserve and . IMDB also allows you to cross off films that have great marketing and recognition yet are deemed to be absolutely horrible.

I have a friend who is applying for a job at Yelp, and I was trying to explain how similarly  Yelp empowers community members to voice their feedback of local businesses, thus educating other users of great unknown businesses and companies to avoid.

Below is a perfect example.

I am moving a week from today. I can’t take that much work off and I don’t know if I can enlist enough man power to  do this. Plus I have some nice stuff and would rather leave it to professionals. So I decided to go with a mover. Do I know movers? How does one find the best movers?

Yeah Google is ok, but lets show you some of the top results when googling bay area movers, or San Jose movers.

A Better Way To Move

Aaron’s Moving

Puma Moving

Remington Moving

All of them say the same stuff and the websites are very similar. All claim the same level of service and the quotes are about the same. Since Google likes them, its obvious they are probably doing something right. The reality is that Google doesn’t necessarily find good businesses, but rather sites with good SEO.

I wasn’t feeling confident about picking one of these companies (I looked at another 10 that were in consideration as well). Then it dawned on me that maybe I should use yelp as up until now I have only utilized it for bars and restaurants.

A quick look at the 4 companies painted a much clearer picture.

A Better Way To Move Yelps Page-      8 reviews    Average 1 .5 stars out of 5.

Selected Quotes that seemed to be consensus opinion of all review:

“THIS COMPANY IS A DISGRACE. DO NOT USE THESE GUYS….  This is obviously a well rehearsed scam…….To top it off … they drove over the mail box as they left”

“STAY AWAY, AVOID AT ALL COST- AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE.”

“I don’t even know where to start with this company.  By far the most AWFUL experience ever.  I can’t stress enough to not use this company.”

Aaron’s Moving- 22 Reviews    Average 4.5 stars

Selected Quotes that seemed to be consensus opinion of all review:

“They were perfect. They did their work fast and smoothly.”

“These guys are amazing! I highly recommend them. They arrived on time and ready to work. I’ve never seen movers be so careful with belongings.”

Puma Moving- 11 Reviews     Average 5 stars

Selected Quotes that seemed to be concensus opinion of all review:

“These guys were awesome. They showed up on time, they were efficient and quick and moved everything without any problems.”

“I would strongly recommend Puma Moving Company and will consider using them in the future if necessary.”

Remington Moving- 4 Reviews       Average 2 Stars

Selected Quotes that seemed to be consensus opinion of all review:

“Is there a way to give negative 5 stars? I know 2 people who have had personal belongings stolen during the move, and then they made it VERY difficult to get their remaining belongings out of the storage unit. It’s very suspicious. Buyer Beware!”

“Remington Moving sole more than $7000.00 dollars worth of my belongings.  Their drivers shown up, asked me questions about some of my things as they loaded them into the truck, and stole all of my camping supplies,  my guitar, my stereo, my art supplies, my art, scratched eight chairs to my dining room table, broke off the foot to my antique chest and stole many other things as well.”

At a workplace full of sports fan I brought up how I felt that this year’s Olympics lacked a lot of the buzz of past Olympics. There is a plethora reasons behind the lack of excitement (distance, protests, media restrictions, time zone incompatibility, timing-pushed back 2 weeks so now its contending with pre season football), but one you really have to look at is ESPN’s coverage of the event.

While its easy to say that ESPN really hasn’t enthusiastically promoted the games (which airs on a different channel), it should be noted that the broadcasting restrictions on broadcasting the games have limited their ability to cover the event.

Let’s just hope that the tone and coverage of the Olympics improves from today’s ominous pre game coverage. If

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Its been awhile since I wrote a Bucknuts article, and I hope that changes real soon. Below is my link to my newest article 10 Questions Facing the Buckeyes. Its getting some great feedback so check it out.

http://bucknuts.com/news/articles/2008/8/6/koo

Below is an excerpt.

5- Will the offense continue to evolve with the likes of Pryor, Saine, and Thomas poised to make an impact?

Despite the somewhat dated national perception that the Buckeyes still employ a conservative vanilla offense, Tressel has done a pretty admirable job adjusting the playbook and play calling to fit the talent makeup of each year

This year may be his biggest test, as Pryor, Saine, and Thomas affectively gives the Buckeyes a trio of playmakers to augment the talent of Chris Wells, Brian Robiskie, and Brian Hartline.

But meshing these players into the offense is easier said than done. Scouting reports will be sure to point out the explosiveness of all three players, so it will be somewhat of a challenge to get them implemented into the offense without tipping off the defense of the Buckeyes’ intentions.

Tressel did a tremendous job rolling out various new packages for Saine last year that presented defenses with difficult match ups. This year, Tressel has his work cut out for him as Pryor and Thomas give the offense unprecedented speed and elusiveness in addition to the budding abilities of Saine.

It will be a work in progress all season, but keep an eye out for how the Buckeyes adjust their offensive philosophy and play calling to capitalize on this year’s unique blend of experience, talent, and raw speed.

For awhile I have been following the digital living room wars as products like Vudu, Apple Tv, and Roku’s Netflix box hope to change how consumers utilize digital media. I also think I did a pretty decent job chronicling the now resoloved HD DVD vs Blu Ray format war.

Awhile back I blogged about LG’s partnerhsip with Netflix to develop a similar box to Vudu. Guess what, LG’s box is here and not only can it stream 12,000 Netflix movies, it also plays Blu Ray discs.

Per Cnet

“With the LG box, due to come out this fall, Netflix subscribers will be able to make use of Blu-ray discs and standard DVDs and also to tap into an online repository of about 12,000 movies and TV episodes (a fraction of the overall inventory at Netflix). The service will be available to subscribers at no additional charge.”

So while the format war is over, a new lets call it a Cold War has been brewing among technology early adopters. Blu ray or digiatl media. I know I wrestle with this as I debate buying a Blu Ray movie at the store or just downloading a movie to my Vudu. Its not an issue for many as both technologies are in their infancy’s but I can see this being a growing issue in 2011 and beyond.

LG’s box is great because high end consumer with Netflix or jut an avid movie buff considering getting Netflix users can buy this box and rest assured its the only box they will need for most likely the next decade. Additionally there is no added charge for Netflix subscribers other than the box itself.

Yes its expensive (rumored to be $300-$400) and I am sure a year from now the price will be lower, but its a safe buy. Netflix isn’t going anywhere and its likely that the 12,000 titles will only increase from here on out. Blu Ray isn’t going anywhere and the amount of Blu Ray titles will dramatically escalate in 2009. The LG box also plays standard DVD’s as well.

With Netflix’s member base and the product’s dynamic functionality, barring some notable product flaws I think you’ll see LG take a dominant position in the digital living room race especially if they market the product well for the upcoming Holiday season.

Below are some thoughts on what’s on the tube these days

- The critically aclaimed football documentary television show, Hard Knocks, is returning in less than 48 hours to HBO. This year the show will focus on training camp for the Dallas Cowboys.

Last year Hard Knocks chronicaled the training camp of the Kansas City Chiefs and hilighted storyline such as

- the quarterback position battle

- Larry Johnson and Dwayne Bowe’s holdout

- Rookie assimilation for first day picks

- Being on the fringe of the cutline

I am sure this year’s flavor will be more of the same but hopefully the directors also diversify to some other subject matters like guys trying to make the team to guarantee a pension, players retiring in mid camp, the celebrity status of TO, Romo, and Pacman Jones.

Unfortunately for me I’ll have to wait until this weekend as my place in Alameda does not have HBO.

- MTV has been heavily promoting their new celebreality show Buzzin. The show looks to document the rise of musicians Schwayze and his partner Cisco. The premise of Buzzin is that this odd couple has to endure the growing pains of their pending stardom as well as the corporate pressure and demands to be successful.

Although I like the duo’s musical style, I have to say I am not a fan of the show thus far. This just doesn’t have the Rob and Big affect on me and others I have talked. People found Rob and Big entertaining, comical, adventurous, but most importantly likeable.

Cisco comes off as a pretty cool guy, but thus far Schwayze has come off like a naive and ungreatful idiot. The tandem also justs lacks the comedic chemistry required in most reality shows and just comes off as an extended marketing campaign by

This is quite the pick for commercial of the week. I haven’t been watchig much tv and life right now is as hectic as ever with a multi faceted relocation in the works.

However this morning this commercial seemed to calm my nerves just a bit. I have never gone on a RV vacation and have been in a hot air balloon. But for this moment in time, I thought both would be pretty darn cool and a nice change of pace.

I am tenatively looking at a camping trip coming up, and it was this High def commercial that reminded me of the awesomeness of getting off the grid every once in awhile. With the fast pace of Silicon Valley in addition to the awesome and diverse nature that surrounds it, its a no brainer to spend some time away from the hustle and bustle. Unfortunately for me, it took this lame ass commercial to realize it again.

I have a lot of great content I want to write, but its going to have to wait…..

I need to move and I need to move asap. My company is planning on moving to the city real soon and my sublet in Alameda is expiring in 10 days.

Complicating this move is my absolute insistence on getting DirectTV wherever I go.

Its absolutely killing the prospects of my search, but I am hellbent on ths requirement. Why you ask?

Because their are few things in life I enjoy more than watching a copious amount of football. And by copious I honestly mean almost all day Saturday and Sunday (2 screens) as well as the Monday Night and Thursday Night games.

The issues is that in my area only Direct TV offers the Big Ten Network, NFL Network, and of course the NFL Sunday Ticket. At least a 1/3 to 1/2 of my football watching that I hold so dear are on these channels making it imperative that I have the system installed wherever I go.

Unfortunately though, not a lot of small units come equipped with the system. Its a simple pleasure in life I would like to continue, but its going to be quit the challenge here on out. The clock is ticking on me and I hope it works out because I can’t imagine life without DirectTV.