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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 04/20/2006 : 13:16:34
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I put this under "Conspiracy Theories" because I have a theory that this is a conspiracy. I offer no proof. LiveScience has an AP article about a new development by Philips Electronics which may soon solve the "problem" of commercial-skipping by TiVo users: quote:
New Technology Could Force TV Ad Viewing
By May Wong
Associated Press
posted: 20 April 2006
12:11 pm ET
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- In this era of easy ad skipping with TiVo-like video recorders, could television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a system that prevents channel switching?
Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says researchers of the Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 13:51:07 [Permalink]
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I wouldn't buy a TV that had that in it.... no way.
Read an article on msnbc.com about it.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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JohnOAS
SFN Regular
Australia
800 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 16:26:59 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dude
I wouldn't buy a TV that had that in it.... no way.
Read an article on msnbc.com about it.
I'd buy 2. They can't stop you switching sources. 
Halfmooner's right though, that's just plain wrong.
Surely someone could object on religious grounds "I shouldn't be forced to watch commercials for spam, my deity forbids it's consumption or observation."
While politicians won't often listen to reason, they'll listen to loons, if they have their own church, and threaten to vote. |
John's just this guy, you know. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 18:06:16 [Permalink]
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From the AP article:"We developed a system where the viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads,'' the company stated. "It is up to the viewer to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various services.'' And Philips, being the patent holder, can probably enforce such use if some other company decides to use the technology. Because...The company also said it had no plans to use the technology in any of its products. So the easy take-away message is that Philips wants to sell more of their TVs through the clever marketing scheme of getting all other TV makers to put these "ad-forcing" chips into their products, while they proudly announce in their own ads that their products don't use such nasty stuff.
Of course, it won't matter that the technology doesn't actually force a person to watch advertisements, because knee-jerk reactions to such an idea will firmly plant in the minds of the masses that it makes you watch the ads. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 18:34:00 [Permalink]
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Also from that article, Dave, is the following: quote:
Philips acknowledged, however, that the anti-channel changing technology might not sit well with consumers and suggested in its patent filing that consumers be allowed to avoid the feature if they paid broadcasters a fee.
So yes, we would be able to avoid the commercials by paying a "fee." Indeed, nobody will be forced to see them. I guess Philips feels that feature should satisfy everyone.
This somehow reminds me of Futurama, where commercials are broadcast directly into people's dreams.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 19:06:50 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
So yes, we would be able to avoid the commercials by paying a "fee." Indeed, nobody will be forced to see them. I guess Philips feels that feature should satisfy everyone.
You're not getting it: no Philips TV is going to force you to pay a fee or else watch the ads. Buy a Philips TV, and you can channel surf to your heart's content. Buy a Philips TV, because you won't be forced to choose ads or no ads. Buy a damned Philips TV!
 quote:
This somehow reminds me of Futurama, where commercials are broadcast directly into people's dreams.
At least they've got the decency to not beam the ads in while you're awake. It must be the chip they'll implant in your palm in 1,000 years which tells 'em whether you're asleep or not. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 19:18:37 [Permalink]
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Dave W. stated: quote:
You're not getting it: no Philips TV is going to force you to pay a fee or else watch the ads. Buy a Philips TV, and you can channel surf to your heart's content. Buy a Philips TV, because you won't be forced to choose ads or no ads. Buy a damned Philips TV!
Oh, at last I get it! So you're noting that Philips has come up with this clever marketing device, where they get their commercial-forcing chip into everyone else's TVs, TiVos and set-top boxes, but keep their own equipment commercial-skipping enabled. Smart, if they can pull it off.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 20:41:04 [Permalink]
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| Philips managed to fool me into buying their piece of shit DVD-recorder. I'll never buy junk from them again. Ever. Even my old 450MHz computer with a $25 TV-card makes better recordings. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
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Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 21:40:34 [Permalink]
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| You could always solve the problem by not watching TV in the first place and instead relying on films, rented DVDs and the Internet for one's on-screen-entertainment. All that stuff by itself could already consume a person's entire day. |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 21:55:30 [Permalink]
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Speaking of real and proposed Philips consumer products, way back in the mid '80s I was invited to attend a small seminar held by Thorn EMI and Philips to promote their new video-disk technology as a potential data medium, to computer industry people in Silicon Valley. (There were so few such people then -- a dozen or so attended -- that I was offered an invitation based on my having written a computer game.)
The Laser Disk was already an available consumer product. Philips wanted a piece of what they saw as the potential action, and came forth with their own technology, based upon a big, Laser Disk-sized medium, using variable "capacitive reductance" (I seem to recall that was their term) to store bits on the disk. After demonstrating the technology by playing video from a "CR" disk, and explaining the principle, the unfortunate Philips rep was asked, "Why don't you use lasers?" He explained that Philips had developed the "CR" technology, and felt it was the future. He mentioned (something few of us knew about then) that Japanese companies were actually spending good money trying to develop something they called a "compact disc" in 5-1/2 inch format, based upon laser technology, for audio recording purposes. He chuckled when he described this odd behavior of Japanese engineers. "They are even saying they want to put their 'CD' players into portable stereos and cars!" the Thorn EMI-Philips guy chortled.
The final question from one of the engineers assembled was identical to many of the others that had been asked: "Why don't you use lasers?"
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 04/20/2006 22:25:05 |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2006 : 00:32:46 [Permalink]
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| It's all going to end with all of us walking around far from the city, at the end of an abandoned railroad line in autumn, reciting to ourselves and each other. Each of us a living book, having committed a favorite banned book to memory. |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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JohnOAS
SFN Regular
Australia
800 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2006 : 03:19:22 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
You could always solve the problem by not watching TV in the first place and instead relying on films, rented DVDs and the Internet for one's on-screen-entertainment. All that stuff by itself could already consume a person's entire day.
Or do what I do on many an occasion, sit on the lounge with the laptop and read/post on SFN while my wife watches some show or other on the tube, or maybe even a DVD. (We have 5 free-to-air channels and no cable).
As an aside, does anyone else doing this sort of thing find the heat from the laptop in their lap a bit too much? I generally use a notebook (the non-electronic kind) between lap and laptop, maybe one of them stable-table things would be the go. |
John's just this guy, you know. |
| Edited by - JohnOAS on 04/21/2006 03:24:07 |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2006 : 05:30:32 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by JohnOAS
quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
You could always solve the problem by not watching TV in the first place and instead relying on films, rented DVDs and the Internet for one's on-screen-entertainment. All that stuff by itself could already consume a person's entire day.
Or do what I do on many an occasion, sit on the lounge with the laptop and read/post on SFN while my wife watches some show or other on the tube, or maybe even a DVD. (We have 5 free-to-air channels and no cable).
As an aside, does anyone else doing this sort of thing find the heat from the laptop in their lap a bit too much? I generally use a notebook (the non-electronic kind) between lap and laptop, maybe one of them stable-table things would be the go.
I seem to remember an article about hurting your wigglies by using a laptop in your lap. Increased heat in your lap drives down your wiggly count. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2006 : 08:04:27 [Permalink]
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Google is your friend, Val:Scientists have known for years that an increase of even 1 degree Celsius in testicular or scrotal temperature can decrease the production of healthy sperm by as much as 40 percent. In the Stony Brook study, researchers found that test subjects who sat for an hour with running laptops on their laps had a median increase in scrotal temperature of 2.6 to 2.8 degrees Celsius. This is actually also a reason to avoid tight underwear, if you intend to be maximally fertile. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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JohnOAS
SFN Regular
Australia
800 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2006 : 20:04:27 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
Google is your friend, Val:Scientists have known for years that an increase of even 1 degree Celsius in testicular or scrotal temperature can decrease the production of healthy sperm by as much as 40 percent. In the Stony Brook study, researchers found that test subjects who sat for an hour with running laptops on their laps had a median increase in scrotal temperature of 2.6 to 2.8 degrees Celsius.
I have no doubt those facts are true. I don't do it all that often (the TV/laptop thing  ), and with one offspring to date, and her sibling due in duly, I've been fortunate enough thus far not to have any major concerns in the fertility department. It could also be that I usually place a pillow between the lap and notebook for the reasons of increasing laptop height, improving stability, and reducing the heat effect. I don't know what the thermal coefficients are for a typical domestic pillow , but it seems to do a reasonable job.
quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
This is actually also a reason to avoid tight underwear, if you intend to be maximally fertile.
Years ago, back at uni, one of the lads was trying to convert everyone (OK, the guys) to wearing boxers for precisely this reason. Strange, considering, to the best of my knowledge, none of our friends and associates were actually attempting to become parents at the time, as keen as they may have been on "practice". |
John's just this guy, you know. |
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ktesibios
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2006 : 12:41:52 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Speaking of real and proposed Philips consumer products, way back in the mid '80s I was invited to attend a small seminar held by Thorn EMI and Philips to promote their new video-disk technology as a potential data medium, to computer industry people in Silicon Valley. (There were so few such people then -- a dozen or so attended -- that I was offered an invitation based on my having written a computer game.)
The Laser Disk was already an available consumer product. Philips wanted a piece of what they saw as the potential action, and came forth with their own technology, based upon a big, Laser Disk-sized medium, using variable "capacitive reductance" (I seem to recall that was their term) to store bits on the disk. After demonstrating the technology by playing video from a "CR" disk, and explaining the principle, the unfortunate Philips rep was asked, "Why don't you use lasers?" He explained that Philips had developed the "CR" technology, and felt it was the future. He mentioned (something few of us knew about then) that Japanese companies were actually spending good money trying to develop something they called a "compact disc" in 5-1/2 inch format, based upon laser technology, for audio recording purposes. He chuckled when he described this odd behavior of Japanese engineers. "They are even saying they want to put their 'CD' players into portable stereos and cars!" the Thorn EMI-Philips guy chortled.
The final question from one of the engineers assembled was identical to many of the others that had been asked: "Why don't you use lasers?"
I think your memory might be a bit off. There was an analog videodisc format which used the variations in capacitance between a conductive disc substrate and an electrode deposited on a diamond stylus which rode grooves with hill-and-dale modulation, but it was developed by RCA and called SelectaVision.
Here's an explanation of how it worked:
http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html#onetwo
(BTW, the term you were looking for is probably "capacitive reactance")
Also, far from scoffing at optical discs for digital audio, Philips was one of the principal developers of the CD format:
quote:
In 1979 Philips and Sony decided to join forces, setting up a joint task force of engineers whose mission was to design the new digital audio disc. Prominent members of the task force were Kees Immink and Toshitada Doi. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the taskforce produced the "Red Book", the Compact Disc standard. Philips contributed the general manufacturing process, based on the video Laserdisc technology. Philips also contributed the Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation, EFM, which offers both a long playing time and a high resilience against disc handling damage such as scratches and fingerprints; while Sony contributed the error-correction method, CIRC. The Compact Disc Story, told by a former member of the taskforce, gives background information on the many technical decisions made, including the choice of the sampling frequency, playing time, and disc diameter. According to Philips, the Compact Disc was thus "invented collectively by a large group of people working as a team."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc
As it happens, I've been working in pro audio for nigh on twenty years now, so the mention of the CED videodisk and the history of the CD jogged my memory. |
"The Republican agenda is to turn the United States into a third-world shithole." -P.Z.Myers |
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