Thursday, September 16, 2004

Dentistry Äˤ¤. ¿åÍËÆü¤Ë¿ÆÃΤ餪¤òÈ´¤-¤[fi]¤·¤¿¡£ ªòÆü¤«¤é¥°¥ó¥°¥ó[pi][>]¤ì¤Æ¤-¤Æ¤º¤ê¤[fi]¤'¡£(¡-§¥¢[less equal] "¶¤Ï[pi]µ[cedilla]Í[less equal]û¤«¡©... [hwp blog] 9:44:05 PM

Roger Ebert's New Site / Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert. Roger Ebert's new web site, launched by the Chicago Sun-Times, includes nearly 10,000 pieces of the newly svelte critic's writing, including more than 5,500 film reviews dating back to 1967. Love him or hate him, that's quite a (free) resource. [via TV Barn] [MetaFilter] 9:07:28 PM

Blogging The Daily Poligraf - Quebec, Canada About to be poligrafing. Je viens de discuter ave.... About to be poligrafing. Je viens de discuter avec Bruno au téléphone, et c'est maintenant officiel : Poligraf se retrouve avec un nouveau chanteur. En plus de ses responsabilités familiales, Bruno est surchargé de travail et n'a tout simplement plus de temps à consacrer au groupe. Nous nous sommes entendus pour enregistrer une version de "The Idler" qui mettra sa voix en vedette afin que les énergies qu'il a investies dans la pièce ne soient pas perdues. J'imagine que vous vous doutez bien que c'est moi qui prendra la relève. Les poligrafistes se rencontreront demain soir pour faire le point et continuer l'intégration du répertoire. J'ai consacré une bonne partie de la journée à préparer un nouvel ajout de fichiers Weed. J'étudie présentement la pertinence de changer d'approche et d'ajouter quelques fichiers et/ou albums sur une base régulière plutôt que de les ajouter par centaines une fois de temps en temps. Le but de l'opération est d'avoir quelque chose à bloguer à tous les jours ou presque afin de maximiser les visites provenant de sites d'agrégation et de rediffusion. Mais avant d'explorer cette avenue, je dois amasser suffisamment de contenu pour soutenir la régularité du processus. J'crois bien que j'y suis presque. Je vous laisse sur deux développements qui me semblent intéressants : Cogeco obtient une injonction provisoire contre Genex : La Cour supérieure du Québec ordonne à Genex, à son président et à ses animateurs de cesser de menacer les clients de 93,3, de cesser de les inciter à mettre fin à leur contrat avec la station, de cesser d'insulter les dirigeants de Cogeco, de cesser d'inciter le personnel de 93,3 à quitter l'entreprise. Bush et Kerry de nouveau à égalité : À moins de sept semaines de la présidentielle américaine, deux sondages, publiés jeudi, indiquent une remontée spectaculaire et extrêmement rapide du candidat démocrate, John Kerry, face à son adversaire républicain, George W. Bush. Les deux hommes sont maintenant à égalité dans les intentions de vote. [The Daily Poligraf] 9:02:29 PM

A Strange Doubt "a strange doubt; viz. whether the face of a clear and starlight sky be seen at the instant when it really exists, and not a little later; and whether there be not, as regards our sight of heavenly bodies, a real time and an apparent time... So incredible did it appear to me that the images or rays of heavenly bodies could be conveyed at once to the sight through such immense space, and not take rather a perceptive time in travelling to us." - Francis Bacon (1561-1626) 6:45:28 PM

Not About Innovation or New Creative Energy Sony to buy MGM Sony announced its agreement to buy the assets of MGM/United Artists. Sony will pay a total of around $5 billion, including an assumption of debt. It beat out an offer from rival Time-Warner for the company. Several equity partners are backing the buy. In terms of market share, the #3 Hollywood studio is buying #8. But the value of MGM is not so much in terms of the number of movies it produces, which is far less than other major companies. It is in the MGM and United Artists libraries, the ownership of hundreds of important films. They include the James Bond franchise, the Pink Panther movies, and a total of around 4,000 film stretching back to the 30's. When Sony combines it with its existing libraries bought from Columbia Pictures, it will become one of the leading owners of films in the business. Observers see this move as a big grab for content. The actual MGM studios will likely cease production, except for the Bond series. The content of the library will help Sony generate profits in the DVD arena, where there is more money to be made now than in theters. Burt even more important is Sony's push to establish its Blu-ray Disc technology for high-definition video storage as the successor standard to DVD. Blu-ray consortium members include Samsung, Panasonic, and Philips. That format is encountering resistance from companies like Toshiba and NEC, which are supporting the rival HD-DVD format. The thinking is that if Sony owns a good chunk of the content, it can make it much easier to get its storage format get the upper hand in the battle. The other Japanese electronics firms own no video content. It's a risk, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal ("Behind MGM Sale", 9/15/2004)."In any event, analysts do not expect high-definition DVDs to produce the same kind of bonanza that DVDs did. When DVDs were launched in the 1990s, they tapped into a new market of sales, as consumers built their own libraries of movies." But in the end, the article points out, the revenue stream from the content (in any format) may be more important than the format war. The MGM is acquisition is not the only content move Sony has made recently. The Sony Music-BMG merger also helps extend Sony's reach in the music content industry. Of course, Sony is in danger of losing the portable music war, as it has been outflanked by Apple's iPod and other competitors. Sony got a strong ally in its move from cable TV giant Comcast. While the deal is independent of the MGM takeover, that move can only sweeten the pot for Comcast. Comcast and Sony now have a deal toi supply video on demand (VOD) , presumably of both older films and recent hits (like Sony/Columbia's SpiderMan films.) Comcast may also buy a share of MGM itself, a consolation prize for not getting its hands on Disney. It's significant that this merger is not about innovation or new creative energy. It's about the low-risk practice of repurposing existing assets that are based on someone else innovation, creativity, and risk. That's the trend in Hollywood studios, TV networks, and music companies, as recycling what already exists takes precence above doing anything new. [Oligopoly Watch] 6:50:28 AM