IDLE BLOGGER » Video

Netflix Increases Prices

Jagadish — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:23:07 +0000

A wise man once said:

This is why we can’t have good things - Anonymous

And lo-behold, the giant in video streaming industry decided to screw up a good thing. Reading some of the comments from Gizmodo, there was a clear consensus that people want to either cancel or change to just streaming plans. I’m probably getting way ahead of myself here. Netflix decided to change their pricing plans from $9.99 (before tax) to an Unlimited DVD-only plan of $7.99 without streaming. If you want the streaming component, you will have to add the Unlimited Streaming only plan which also $7.99. So this effectively increases the plan from $9.99 to $15.98.

There is no way in hell I’m paying $16 for a service that I barely use. I haven’t watched the movie I rented last week and I haven’t watched anything on streaming since I finished 8 seasons of Monk. I intend to watch Star Trek eventually but at this rate, I might just cancel the service. I’ve seen the movies Netflix has on their instant streaming and it is not something that can stand on its own. Sure, there are some good shows but nothing I haven’t already seen before. I will most definitely cancel after the billing cycle or stick to just streaming only because I don’t want to lose all my ratings and reviews.

(New netflix plans)

I understand Netflix is improving and making changes but part of the appeal of Netflix is that it was affordable even in a college student budget. This increase in price means that a lot of people will be getting out and potentially losing a lot of subscribers. I’m only guessing but considering the comments on Gizmodo, Engadget and Twitter, this seems like a fair assumption. The author on Engadget does offer a fair and balanced opinion on this fiasco. Also, I do like his idea of paying for DVDs rented out like Redbox in addition to the streaming service. I will gladly pay $2 per DVD to have them delivered to my home instead of driving to Redbox.

And for all those people who think everyone is over-reacting to a $6 increase, consider that fact that you’re paying $72 more over a course of an year that is plenty of savings for someone living on paycheck to pay check. Let me know what you’re gonna do in the comments.

Net Neutrality

Angry Birds Strategy

Jagadish — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 18:58:53 +0000

Anyone who has an iPhone/iPod or an Android phone should be familiar with the game Angry Birds. It is an increasingly addictive game about birds flinging themselves using a slingshot to get back on the pigs for stealing their eggs. The premise is as ridiculous as it sounds. Like all the good games which have a very accessible game mechanic, the premise is not very clever. But really, does it matter when you are having fun flinging birds making ridiculous noises as they destroy the pig castles made of wood, stone or ice? The video from Dorkly is still funny. The guys from collegehumor always do a great job at nitpicking the simple details in video games.

Human Interface!

Jagadish — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:38:21 +0000

Flintstones version of a touch screen

Lost – 5th Season finale

Jagadish — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:34:57 +0000

The last night’s episode of Lost was just incredibly crazy. I was one of the believers of the time loop theory. For me, it explained everything up to the season 4 perfectly. I was pretty sure that a theory which is as popular as that will never survive. But it seemed to have a plausible explanation for all things that happened. But slowly things were changing and probably the final episode of season 5 has debunked the theory.

Considering that this is the penultimate season, I would’ve expected that the writers would slowly begin to tie the loose strings. But with a few answers came more questions. Here are a few things on my mind right now:

Who is this man #2, the nemesis of Jacob? (a lot of people are already calling his Esau)
How did this guy get into the skin of John Locke?
Is John Locke really dead? (I have a feeling that he is going to come back stronger in the final season. He is really probably the only person who can “change” things)
I also wonder if whatever Jack did in “The Incident” going to change the future. (I have a feeling this is the incident that is the cause for the hatch and the button pushing. Probably nothing has changed and whatever happened, happened.)
This significance of numbers. (the cursed numbers of Hurley have been a regular thing in the series until the end of season 3 and they make a return in this season 5. Wonder if there is something big behind those numbers)
What did Jacob mean when he said, “They are coming!” (I hope its not as simple as the group outside coming in)
And finally, who is Jacob, what is his connection with the island and why did he “touch” all the losties into coming to the island?

I don’t know what will be worse, waiting for the season 6 for another 9 months or reading all kinds of vague theories and nonsense for 9 months. Either way, I just can’t wait for the finale. I hope Lost goes on a high. And its the season finale of Prison Break tomorrow. I have a feeling someone is going to die. I sure hope it’s not Lincoln.

No related posts.

Starship Enterprise destroyed by Death star

Jagadish — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:58:22 +0000

The battle between the Star wars fans and Star trek fans is an unending saga. In this video, the USS Enterprise is destroyed by the Death star. Can’t we geeks all get along?

Source: Boing Boing

My favorite song these days

Jagadish — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:36:04 +0000

I’ve become a huge fan of Coldplay these days. Ever since my girl friend made me listen to their Viva La Vida song. I have been hooked. I have been searching their songs ever since and I found several songs I love. But this is probably the favorite song of them right now. The video is rather cool too. Enjoy

Source: Obviously, I am not Coldplay.

Starship Enterprise destroyed by Death star

Will the real spiderman please put his mask back on?

Jagadish — Mon, 21 May 2007 04:34:00 +0000

Spiderman 3 is one of the movies that I have been looking forward to see this summer, so badly. I’ve been checking for the availability of tickets online every day and I must say that I’m really really disappointed. I’m sure everyone who has watched the Spiderman cartoons and read the comics must’ve been really appalled at the way spiderman removes his mask everytime he has to fight someone. It is ridiculous because the comic book hero has always tried to keep his identity a secret rather than flaunt his face around to get attention. I wonder if this had to anything with the criticism from the first spiderman movie where the audience felt that Toby McGuire was not doing the spiderman stunts. If that is the case, “Please Toby, we believe you. Now be a good spiderman and put that mask back on.” Or we audience would want to boot you out of the series forever.

Coming to Toby, this has got to be his worst showing ever. If the script is muddled with too many things, Toby Mcguire just makes it worse with his bad acting. Black spiderman was supposed to be uber-cool. But Toby Mcguire makes him look retarded and gay. Kirsten Dunst has gone from looking bad to worse with every movie. If you think she was bad in the second one, wait till you watch this one. Finally, Venom fans will be in for huge disappointment. Eddie Brock was supposed to be 6 feet tall and hugely built not lean and lanky “That 70′s Show” teenager. Then there is the track of sandman, Harry osbourn and his revenge against Peter parker/Spiderman, Mary Jane Watson and her failing career, the introduction of Gwen Stacy, Uncle Ben’s killer(not again!!!!). Thats a whole lot of things, even for our superhero Spiderman to handle.

Who would’ve thought that after such good movies in 1 and 2, they would’ve screwed a movie with Black spiderman and Venom. Even the way symbiote comes into this world is changed, worst thing is the way Venom dies in the end. Comic book fans.. just keep away, you are not going to like this at all. You will curse yourself for spending your hard earned money on this movie. Who would’ve thought that a Spiderman movie could get so bad? Just keep away from this movie guys.. unless you never knew or read of Spiderman until you saw the movie. Well maybe you will be able to survive the singing of Kirsten Dunst and the dancing of Toby Mcguire.

300

Jagadish — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:46:00 +0000

Alright, by now you’ve heard all the hype and probably read all the reviews or even watched the movie. Unfortunately, being horribly out of touch with the movie news of late, I’ve not heard any of the hype except for the abject dismissal by everyone that it was overly hyped. So my expectations for this movie were literally none, compared to an average movie goer.

Let me start off with the negatives of the movie. One of the things I really hated was the fact that the movie was really really slow. It was like watching the cricket replays in Ultra-motion, where the bat took forever to meet ball and the television people thought it was really cool but it turned out rather boring. Imagine a movie with battle scenes in Ultra-motion, spears being hurled, heads being cut off, blood being spilled.. everything in Ultra-motion. It seems pretty cool in the beginning but then it feels like its being dragged on and on. Maybe if the movie played out at regular speed, it would probably be done in little over an hour.

The good thing is that, there is not too much dialogue in the movie. When they do speak, they utter really brilliant lines. All the actors are brilliant and there are no misfits. Everyone does their job to perfection whether it is sorrow or glory. The story in itself is brilliant, 300 brave Spartans trying to stop waves of Persians from invading Greece. It is a story of freedom, bravery and the glory that is bestowed on the mighty and brave. Its awesome the way the battle scenes are played out(except for the ultra-motion of course ).

For all the people who think there is too much violence. Well this a battle movie, and I dont know what you expect. And it is rated R, so this is no movie for families or little kids. If you think heads falling, arm cut off are a little too much for you to take, then you might as well watch some senti movie. This is not made for people like them anyway. I wouldn’t say this is a must watch but a good movie nevertheless. If you are bored this weekend and have nothing to do, this could be a perfect filler.

Exorcism of Emily Rose

Jagadish — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:36:00 +0000

I must say I’m quite disappointed with this movie. It has been more of a courtroom drama than a horror movie. Going into the movie with a title like that, you’d expect that there would be a lot of scary scenes. But that doesnt really happen and most scenes usually dampen your hope. Especially in the scenes with Laura Linney, you’d expect that a lot more would happen but in the end, they only disappoint as nothing would happen.

The movie is all about an exorcism that has gone wrong. Emily Rose believes she is possessed and wants her family parishioner, Father Moore to perform an exorcism. But the exorcism fails and consequently she dies and the DA charges Father Moore with negligent homicide. The cousellor of the defendant Erin Burner, (beautifully potrayed by Laura Linney), fights with Ethan Thomas, in an intense courtroom drama. The scenes in the courtroom were very well done. And the way the movie doesnt take any sides and presents strong points for either side of the story is commendable. It in a way leaves the viewer to decide which is right and which isnt. And you find yourself switching sides every now and then. Probably, the only scary part of the movie is when the tape of exorcism is played in the court.

Jennifer Carpenter does a great job as the possessed Emily Rose. She doesnt get as ugly as Linda Blair in “The Exorcist”, but she does give you the creeps with her acting. Everyone does their job and there are no weak links except for the fact that this is no real horror movie.

To think all this is based on a true story does unnerve you a little bit. Even though, a lot of things have been changed from what happened in real, it does potray the essence of the real story. The real Emily Rose, is Anneliese Michel who was a German girl. She died at an age of 24 on July 1st 1976. To know more about Anneliese Michel. Click here.

A Beautiful Mind

Jagadish — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 08:08:00 +0000

Finally i’ve seen A Beautiful Mind. I make it sound like an achievement or something. It sure is, considering the fact that i never wanted to see the movie because i thought it was a really sad movie. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the movie when it was first released and believe me the ones i saw werent very happy scenes. The part where he is given electric shock, leaving the baby in the tub didnt really give me a good impression of the picture. i was too narrowminded to believe my friends who said the movie was a masterpiece. But i never listened to them. Because once my mind is made up, i would never listen to anyone on anything. Some ppl would call it being stubborn i guess.

Anyways, i dont quite know what really made me change my mind. But i think i just wanted to know, what was all the hype about. Why Mr. Russell “Gladiator” Crowe was blessed with the coveted oscar for the second time in the row. After i’ve seen the movie, i had no doubt that he really deserved this. More than the one for the Gladiator. Never once did i see the man who played the Gladiator in this movie. Thats amazing transformation. Playing a man who wants revenge to play someone who is vulnerable. Suffering from delusions. I must admit my ignorance. I dont know the mathematician John Nash prior to watching this movie. Call me stupid or anything that your intelligent mind can think of. I’ve not heard of him. But i guess this is a movie for ppl like me who dont know of him. To spread the greatness of a man who had to conquer his delusions and weaknesses to be the genius he was meant to be. I think Ron Howard has done a great job. The kid from Happy Days sure has a good head on his shoulders. I personally liked Jennifer Connelly. She was very different from what i’ve seen her earlier. A very different film of her where we get to see her act with her clothes on. She was amazing as the patient wife. I dont think anybody would’ve done better. The devotion she has for her husband is unbelievable. To think that this is a story of a real man makes it even more interesting. I think we’ve seen the best of everyone in the movie. The movie in a way is inspirational. It shows how everyone can conquer their weaknesses and be achievers. I really recommend this movie to everyone who hasnt watched it yet. I’m sure all those guys who believed Russell Crowe was just a handsome hunk would surely change their mind.

Enough movie talk. The other thing that happened today was that i finally got my project letter signed. The project title is..”Arsenic Removal from Ground Water”. Well, the only thing i know is that arsenic can be dangerous in water. Its poisonous. As far as its removal is concerned… i will find out in another 3 months or so when i officially start the project. It sure is gonna be intersting hopefully. Something that i would want to do for the whole year.

Well that said. i think its a wrap for now. The games are on the hold with the deadlines for assignments approaching real fast. But hopefully i would still find some time to complete the Chapter 1 of Neverwinter Nights.