Check out this video of Nokia & Microsoft announcing their partnership:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe3ksR8zgXg
Now, check out my NHL Parody video from 3 years ago, and tell me that's not the same music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMs6gcUA6Bc
So, where does one find a cool tune like that, suitable for both announcing billion dollar partnerships, and having a go at professional sports leagues?
Apple. Garageband. LOL. (It's one of the 'jingles' that comes with it).
Anyway, not a big deal, I hear the same production music tracks on commercials all over the place...just thought it was funny. Cool track!
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Friday, February 11, 2011
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Silverlight vs Mac, Round 2, FIGHT!
Ok, well, I'm calmed down since that last post. And can even offer a little speculative clarity, now that I've done hours of research (Google is my friend).
In the interest of being right all the time, first I have to admit I was wrong. Silverlight does in fact work on the Mac. Long story short, based on what I know now, it looks as though TSN/CTV doesn't have an up to date SDK which contains a better "Silverlight.js" file they need in order for Mac users to not get the beloved "please install Silverlight" screen of death every time. For more on this, check out Tim Heuer's blog on why this file makes peace instead of war. Far be it from me to tell Big Media how to run a web site LOL...but up to date software sounds like good sense, especially in these days where video on the web is as common as spam. And since Silverlight is beta to begin with, those updates are very very important.
Now, whether or not TSN will someday update their Silverlight, who knows. Hopefully for Canadian Mac users/TSN fans, they will soon. Maybe they'll even read this post, and hire me on as Director of Not-making Ourselves Look Ridiculous Online, if such a department exists.
But, I've tested some of the sample sites Microsoft provides links to on the Silverlight page, and they indeed work, in Firefox 3, and Safari, on the Mac. Glory Be.
Nevertheless, at this point I can't say Silverlight is any better than Flash, not sure what the hype is about (I'm not a developer, just a simple content consumer). Microsoft always seems to come in to markets that are already dominated and make outlandish claims about 'innovation' and promising the moon (and delivering a stalled rocket), but because of their massive install base (mostly pirated copies), gain just enough traction to cause these kinds of headaches. We, the end-user, then have to put our lives on hold while web sites around the world try and play nice with MS' new file formats, plugins, 'standards', etc.
My guess is that Silverlight provides the ability to do live event streaming, so TSN would be interested in that, what with their shiny new NHL streaming rights. Well, they better get on the ball, cause right now, their implementation doesn't work. I'd sure hate October to roll around and sure enough, "please install Silverlight"...I need a t-shirt with that on it, after all this.
In the interest of being right all the time, first I have to admit I was wrong. Silverlight does in fact work on the Mac. Long story short, based on what I know now, it looks as though TSN/CTV doesn't have an up to date SDK which contains a better "Silverlight.js" file they need in order for Mac users to not get the beloved "please install Silverlight" screen of death every time. For more on this, check out Tim Heuer's blog on why this file makes peace instead of war. Far be it from me to tell Big Media how to run a web site LOL...but up to date software sounds like good sense, especially in these days where video on the web is as common as spam. And since Silverlight is beta to begin with, those updates are very very important.
Now, whether or not TSN will someday update their Silverlight, who knows. Hopefully for Canadian Mac users/TSN fans, they will soon. Maybe they'll even read this post, and hire me on as Director of Not-making Ourselves Look Ridiculous Online, if such a department exists.
But, I've tested some of the sample sites Microsoft provides links to on the Silverlight page, and they indeed work, in Firefox 3, and Safari, on the Mac. Glory Be.
Nevertheless, at this point I can't say Silverlight is any better than Flash, not sure what the hype is about (I'm not a developer, just a simple content consumer). Microsoft always seems to come in to markets that are already dominated and make outlandish claims about 'innovation' and promising the moon (and delivering a stalled rocket), but because of their massive install base (mostly pirated copies), gain just enough traction to cause these kinds of headaches. We, the end-user, then have to put our lives on hold while web sites around the world try and play nice with MS' new file formats, plugins, 'standards', etc.
My guess is that Silverlight provides the ability to do live event streaming, so TSN would be interested in that, what with their shiny new NHL streaming rights. Well, they better get on the ball, cause right now, their implementation doesn't work. I'd sure hate October to roll around and sure enough, "please install Silverlight"...I need a t-shirt with that on it, after all this.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Microsoft Silverlight worst plugin ever? Why yes, yes it is.
So, how did you spend your Draft Day? Cause I spent mine FUCKING AROUND WITH BULLSHIT SOFTWARE FROM BULLSHIT PEOPLE!
Title says it all. All week I’ve been caught up in the hype for the NHL Draft, live streaming on TSN.ca at 5pm. This may be the last chance for the Maple Leafs to offer any hope of really rebuilding their cruddy franchise.
Sure enough, 5pm rolls around, click the link...15 minutes later, after un/de/re/installing Microsoft’s shame of a web-experience plugin “Silverlight”, and that includes running it in Windows XP in Parallels, by the way...I FINALLY get to start watching the show. You must know “Silverlight”...it’s the new “cross-platform” super-duper streaming media plugin that never let’s you down, even during your favourite sports draft day!
Tampa Day picks Steve Stamkos 1st overall, big surprise. Few more picks are made, life is good again.
What’s this? The Leafs and New York Islanders are about to announce a trade! Sweet, please tell me the Leafs managed to unload McCabe!
(pause)
(freeze)
(stream dies)
(click click click click click click, refresh, refresh, refresh)
(uninstall, reinstall, reboot, restart, rename, delete, defrag, format, erase, buy new Mac, buy new Windows machine)
...good times. I wish all web sites could use Microsoft products, forever until long after I’m dead and buried.
Wish I had some screenshots for you, but I must’ve forgot to take some during all my blind Hulk-esque rage.
I’ve left CTV.ca several entries on their FEEDBACK blog, not that it’ll do any good.
Anyway, that fuckin sucked. Time to regroup, and figure the best way to catch up with what I’ve missed.
MS can eat a bullet...right now. In fact, why not make it a Silver Bullet...for all your bullshit Silverlight miserable web content experience needs. Silver would take care of whatever misguided hell-beast that created this chunk of software. Then we could all drink to it's demise.
UPDATE, approx 1 hour later: Ok...I've calmed down, and more importantly, I've got this crap actually working (except in Safari...guess I owe Apple some grief too...on the other hand, if these content creating web sites would use Quicktime/Darwin Streaming Server, I likely wouldn't even be typing about this right now).
Here's a screenshot...this shows Firefox (left) and Internet Explorer (centre) in WinXP in Parallels, and, Firefox 3 in Mac OS X (right), streaming the 2008 NHL Entry Draft live from Ottawa, all at the same time. I win. All the frame rates are smooth, video is very compressed, and the audio is clean. You can even hear famed NHL Commissioner Gary "the blind rat" Bettman getting booed, which is the best part of the whole show of course.
For those keeping score at home: Firefox on the Mac is still using the Flip4Mac plugin, since Silverlight refuses to acknowledge it's installation. When TSN.ca incorrectly mis-identifies that you have not installed Silverlight, they thankfully offer a link to use the older (and much more robust, it even looks better) Windows Media stream, which triggers Flip4Mac, which does actually work, at this point in time.
Firefox and IE are using Silverlight in that screenshot...not the V2 Beta though, use V1. V2 starts to stream, but no video is seen, and no audio is heard...basically you download air. So, to sum up, MS has written an low-performance, unnecessary, platform-specific, media streaming plugin, and sold it to TSN.ca (and CTV.ca) as the future of media streaming. Man, I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall in that boardroom meeting..."Hey guys, how can we fuck up the future of online content streaming in Canada? Hmmm, Microsoft has a brand new platform that doesn't work outside of Windows? Where do I sign?!"
If I was that fly, I'd be screaming "NOOOO!" at the top of my fly lungs.
Next step is to try it out in Linux...Gawd help us all.
Title says it all. All week I’ve been caught up in the hype for the NHL Draft, live streaming on TSN.ca at 5pm. This may be the last chance for the Maple Leafs to offer any hope of really rebuilding their cruddy franchise.
Sure enough, 5pm rolls around, click the link...15 minutes later, after un/de/re/installing Microsoft’s shame of a web-experience plugin “Silverlight”, and that includes running it in Windows XP in Parallels, by the way...I FINALLY get to start watching the show. You must know “Silverlight”...it’s the new “cross-platform” super-duper streaming media plugin that never let’s you down, even during your favourite sports draft day!
Tampa Day picks Steve Stamkos 1st overall, big surprise. Few more picks are made, life is good again.
What’s this? The Leafs and New York Islanders are about to announce a trade! Sweet, please tell me the Leafs managed to unload McCabe!
(pause)
(freeze)
(stream dies)
(click click click click click click, refresh, refresh, refresh)
(uninstall, reinstall, reboot, restart, rename, delete, defrag, format, erase, buy new Mac, buy new Windows machine)
...good times. I wish all web sites could use Microsoft products, forever until long after I’m dead and buried.
Wish I had some screenshots for you, but I must’ve forgot to take some during all my blind Hulk-esque rage.
I’ve left CTV.ca several entries on their FEEDBACK blog, not that it’ll do any good.
Anyway, that fuckin sucked. Time to regroup, and figure the best way to catch up with what I’ve missed.
MS can eat a bullet...right now. In fact, why not make it a Silver Bullet...for all your bullshit Silverlight miserable web content experience needs. Silver would take care of whatever misguided hell-beast that created this chunk of software. Then we could all drink to it's demise.
UPDATE, approx 1 hour later: Ok...I've calmed down, and more importantly, I've got this crap actually working (except in Safari...guess I owe Apple some grief too...on the other hand, if these content creating web sites would use Quicktime/Darwin Streaming Server, I likely wouldn't even be typing about this right now).
Here's a screenshot...this shows Firefox (left) and Internet Explorer (centre) in WinXP in Parallels, and, Firefox 3 in Mac OS X (right), streaming the 2008 NHL Entry Draft live from Ottawa, all at the same time. I win. All the frame rates are smooth, video is very compressed, and the audio is clean. You can even hear famed NHL Commissioner Gary "the blind rat" Bettman getting booed, which is the best part of the whole show of course.
For those keeping score at home: Firefox on the Mac is still using the Flip4Mac plugin, since Silverlight refuses to acknowledge it's installation. When TSN.ca incorrectly mis-identifies that you have not installed Silverlight, they thankfully offer a link to use the older (and much more robust, it even looks better) Windows Media stream, which triggers Flip4Mac, which does actually work, at this point in time.
Firefox and IE are using Silverlight in that screenshot...not the V2 Beta though, use V1. V2 starts to stream, but no video is seen, and no audio is heard...basically you download air. So, to sum up, MS has written an low-performance, unnecessary, platform-specific, media streaming plugin, and sold it to TSN.ca (and CTV.ca) as the future of media streaming. Man, I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall in that boardroom meeting..."Hey guys, how can we fuck up the future of online content streaming in Canada? Hmmm, Microsoft has a brand new platform that doesn't work outside of Windows? Where do I sign?!"
If I was that fly, I'd be screaming "NOOOO!" at the top of my fly lungs.
Next step is to try it out in Linux...Gawd help us all.
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