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Scientists dissect the weather in 'Game of Thrones'

In the fictional "Game of Thrones" world of Westeros, only one thing seems more inevitable than the show's unending wanton violence and each of the story's heroes meeting an untimely death: winter is coming.

Fans of the HBO show based on George R.R. Martin's novels will know that the problem for the various Westorosi clans is that exactly when winter will arrive and how long it will last is anyone's guess. Summer in the fantasy world may last for years, but when winter sets in -- and there's no apparent way to predict when that will happen -- it can last for generations.

Now, at last, science is stepping in to aid fans and Ravens alike by positing an explanation for why all efforts to adopt an effective system of fictional meteorological forecasting seem so hopeless. A group of graduate students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University have published a research paper (PDF) suggesting that the most likely cause of the unpredictable weather in Westeros is that the world is orbiting not one, but two stars.… Read more

The 404 1,274: Where Microsoft makes the same mistakes (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Amazon's Kindle Worlds will pay writers to write fan fiction.

- Hire your favorite musician to write you a song .

- And now a reading from the worst fan fiction I've ever read.

- Follow Russ Frushtick on Twitter.… Read more

Time Warner CEO: Video-on-demand best thing to hit premium cable

Many in the entertainment industry are afraid of television programming moving online and toward a video-on-demand model, which wrecks havoc on how companies have traditionally made money.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes isn't one of them.

"You couldn't have a more positive development," Bewkes said about VOD at an investor conference Tuesday.

VOD bolsters the viewership for hit programs, because it allows consumers to tune in whenever they want, he said. But, he added, VOD also creates a platform for introducing niche programming.

Bewkes touted HBO Go as the "best video product in the world … Read more

HBO's Kenny Powers mocks iPhone, loves HTC One?

The iPhone is fragile.

Oh, I don't mean in the marketplace. Necessarily. No, it seems that if a stripper sits on it, Apple's fine machine might break.

I say this not from personal experience, but from the evidence apparently presented by Kenny Powers on Twitter.

In what seemed like a nifty piece of ribald marketing, Powers -- star of HBO's "Eastbound and Down" -- used Twitter to declare his iPhone only marginally operable after being crumpled by a stripper's behind.… Read more

Netflix doubling down on exclusive content

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wasn't specific in terms of numbers about the financial impact of the simultaneous, exclusive release of 13 "House of Cards" episodes last quarter, but he is doubling down on original content.

"We are focused on moving toward more and more exclusive content," Hastings said Monday during Netflix's first-quarter earnings call. "If the content is not exclusive and it's on cable and on other services, it might be pleasant to watch on Netflix, but it's not really reinforcing customers to stay with Netflix."

Competitors, including Amazon and … Read more

Listen to the bell tower version of the 'Game of Thrones' theme

Last week, lucky University of Wisconsin-Madison students (and staff) had a chance to hear the "Game of Thrones" theme song in a performance style uncommon to this century -- through the expertise of a carillonneur commanding the sheer musical might of 56 bells. … Read more

'Game of Thrones' sets record, gets fourth season

We might get to see winter come and go on the continent of Westeros, after all. Despite all appearances on Sunday's season premiere of the HBO hit "Game of Thrones," things are just beginning to heat up beyond The Wall, as well as in Winterfell, King's Landing, and the rest of the world created by George R.R. Martin in his series of novels and adapted for TV by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Just two days after the premiere of season three of the TV version, Entertainment Weekly reports that HBO has ordered a fourth season of "Game of Thrones," which drew 4.4 million viewers on Sunday (not including the million pirated downloads). With those kind of numbers on a subscription channel like HBO, the reaction to the network's decision to renew the series has resulted in one of the largest collective utterances of "well, duh" ever heard.… Read more

Three-deal Tuesday: A tablet, a laptop lock, and a free episode of 'Game of Thrones'

I realize "three-deal Tuesday" isn't nearly as alliteratively pleasing as "tablet Tuesday," but when you've got three deals to share, well, alliteration be damned! That's right, I said it. (Good lord, I think I have a problem. I may need Alliteration Anonymous.)

Anyway, let's get down to business...

1. Tablet Tuesday. Today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch Android tablet for $169.99, plus $5 for shipping. It's new, not refurbished, and it comes with a bunch of extras.

Specifically, an accessory kit that … Read more

Google smartwatch in the works?

Now Google is making a smartwatch.

You didn't think Google was going to sit the smartwatch party out, did you? Since the Pebble watch made a splash at CES, we've gotten word that both Apple and Samsung are busy working on wearable tech that will talk to our mobile phones. It should come as no surprise then to find out that Google is now exploring the market with a watch based off its Android operating system. There's no date on when to expect these watches, but for now you can read reviews of ones that have already … Read more

HBO eyes new partnership with providers on streaming service

HBO could be considering a new way to get its streaming service, HBO Go, to customers.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview published yesterday, HBO Chief Executive Richard Plepler said that his company is mulling the possibility of offering HBO Go to cable provider customers who don't pay for TV service. Customers who don't pay for television service could pay an extra $10 or $15 per month for access to HBO's programming through HBO Go, broadening the streaming service's scope.

HBO's paid cable network has nearly 30 million subscribers. However, the company's streaming offering … Read more