Buzz Out Loud 661: We'll help you, Rush!
Rush Limbaugh is asking Steve Jobs for help with his Mac Pros. Hey, Rush, give us a call! We'll help!
Molly Wood Former Executive Editor
Molly Wood was an executive editor at CNET, author of the Molly Rants blog, and host of the tech show, Always On. When she's not enraging fanboys of all stripes, she can be found offering tech opinions on CBS and elsewhere, and offering opinions on everything else to anyone who will listen.
5 min read
Rush Limbaugh is asking Steve Jobs for help with his Mac Pros. Hey, Rush, give us a call! We'll help! In other news, Microsoft is teaching kids how to crack down on their intellectual property before they're even out of knickers. (Knickers? Knickers.) Oh, and Twitter hits the New York Times Fashion and Style section. Apocalypse is nigh.
--Molly
Listen now: Download today's podcast
--Molly
Listen now: Download today's podcast
 | EPISODE 661 |
TODAY'S LINKS:
TODAY'S VOICE MAIL:
Mike from Tacoma
How to ditch Facebook.
How to ditch Facebook.
Josh from Denver
One thing missing from Apple TV.
One thing missing from Apple TV.
TODAY'S E-MAIL:
Peter Jackson directing 'Hobbit'
Tom, Molly, and Jason,
This is J. Sperling Reich, the digital cinema product manager from Los Angeles. On episode 659 you talked about how the Tolkiens suing New Line Cinema over Lord of the Rings residuals might cause The Hobbit prequel to be derailed, especially since it took forever for New Line and Peter Jackson to come to terms for him to direct it. Well, I can provide a little color about why Jackson eventually agreed to direct the Hobbit prequel for New Line after suing them for not sharing the profit from the original trilogy.
You see, New Line had a whole lot riding on a little film called The Golden Compass, and there have been more than a few whispers heard around the industry about how New Line came to an agreement with Jackson on Hobbit just around the time Golden Compass was released and then tanked. Essentially, the unofficial word on the street is that New Line, having spent their bank roll on Golden Compass gave Jackson anything he wanted in an effort to get him back for Hobbit which they figure is a sure hit.
In all fairness to New Line, some of their execs told me a deal had been reached with Jackson back at ShowEast in October which was more than month before Golden Compass was released, but surely by then the studio had to know where they stood with that film.
Of course, always love the show.
Regards,
Sperling
P.S. Also left you a rambling voice mail about the same topic but thought the e-mail version might be more concise.
Tom, Molly, and Jason,
This is J. Sperling Reich, the digital cinema product manager from Los Angeles. On episode 659 you talked about how the Tolkiens suing New Line Cinema over Lord of the Rings residuals might cause The Hobbit prequel to be derailed, especially since it took forever for New Line and Peter Jackson to come to terms for him to direct it. Well, I can provide a little color about why Jackson eventually agreed to direct the Hobbit prequel for New Line after suing them for not sharing the profit from the original trilogy.
You see, New Line had a whole lot riding on a little film called The Golden Compass, and there have been more than a few whispers heard around the industry about how New Line came to an agreement with Jackson on Hobbit just around the time Golden Compass was released and then tanked. Essentially, the unofficial word on the street is that New Line, having spent their bank roll on Golden Compass gave Jackson anything he wanted in an effort to get him back for Hobbit which they figure is a sure hit.
In all fairness to New Line, some of their execs told me a deal had been reached with Jackson back at ShowEast in October which was more than month before Golden Compass was released, but surely by then the studio had to know where they stood with that film.
Of course, always love the show.
Regards,
Sperling
P.S. Also left you a rambling voice mail about the same topic but thought the e-mail version might be more concise.
Microsoft Yahoo in Oz
Hi Buzz buddies.
The focus has been (rightly so) on the U.S. and E.U. authorities 'allowing' any merger of Microsoft and Yahoo. Well here in Australia we have an interesting situation too. Two of our five analogue TV channels are NineMSN and Yahoo7. The quality of commercial TV here is dire enough, I would hate see what would happen if these two started 'co-operating' in some way.
Cheers,
Mike the Englishman in Australia
Hi Buzz buddies.
The focus has been (rightly so) on the U.S. and E.U. authorities 'allowing' any merger of Microsoft and Yahoo. Well here in Australia we have an interesting situation too. Two of our five analogue TV channels are NineMSN and Yahoo7. The quality of commercial TV here is dire enough, I would hate see what would happen if these two started 'co-operating' in some way.
Cheers,
Mike the Englishman in Australia
Any word on the cut cables?
Hey Buzz crew!
Welcome back Molly!!!
Question: Have we heard anything on who or what cut the several fiber optic cables in the Middle East? I've been trolling news sources and been hearing lots of crickets. One source said it was an anchor. Another news story said it may have been done by a U.S. submarine, cutting the datalines going into Iran. And, my favorite, a rogue shark cut the lines. Do we even know how many cables were cut? I've heard numbers from two to five. My theory is that these fiber optic lines were cut by unemployed American Technology workers that were wanting to stop all offshoring of technology jobs!
Just some thoughts!
Joe (long-time listener) from Charlotte North Carolina
Hey Buzz crew!
Welcome back Molly!!!
Question: Have we heard anything on who or what cut the several fiber optic cables in the Middle East? I've been trolling news sources and been hearing lots of crickets. One source said it was an anchor. Another news story said it may have been done by a U.S. submarine, cutting the datalines going into Iran. And, my favorite, a rogue shark cut the lines. Do we even know how many cables were cut? I've heard numbers from two to five. My theory is that these fiber optic lines were cut by unemployed American Technology workers that were wanting to stop all offshoring of technology jobs!
Just some thoughts!
Joe (long-time listener) from Charlotte North Carolina
LOL vs. LOI
Hi Tom, Molly, and Jasonica...Verason...umm Jason,
Just a quick note to say that there are some of us that actually do LOL when we type LOL. I was just IM'ing a friend, and lo and behold when they typed something funny, although I read it using my inside voice, I did laugh at it using my out-loud voice. This of course was followed by several weird looks and raised eyebrows from colleagues around the office. I have this same problem during most of Molly's rants and the occasional Stargate reference slipped into the show almost under the radar. So anyways, I propose that we use LOL when we do indeed laugh out loud, and use LOI when something is only funny enough to make us "think" it's funny. Perhaps we could also use BASTMF (brought a smile to my face) but this of course could get OOHVQ (out of hand very quickly). Too late.
Thanks for a great show.
Tony
Melbourne, Australia
PS I love Molly's laugh!
Hi Tom, Molly, and Jasonica...Verason...umm Jason,
Just a quick note to say that there are some of us that actually do LOL when we type LOL. I was just IM'ing a friend, and lo and behold when they typed something funny, although I read it using my inside voice, I did laugh at it using my out-loud voice. This of course was followed by several weird looks and raised eyebrows from colleagues around the office. I have this same problem during most of Molly's rants and the occasional Stargate reference slipped into the show almost under the radar. So anyways, I propose that we use LOL when we do indeed laugh out loud, and use LOI when something is only funny enough to make us "think" it's funny. Perhaps we could also use BASTMF (brought a smile to my face) but this of course could get OOHVQ (out of hand very quickly). Too late.
Thanks for a great show.
Tony
Melbourne, Australia
PS I love Molly's laugh!
Subscribing to the blog is wonky
Hi there,
Are you still tweaking the blog to get out all the kinks? I'm having a weird issue with my RSS feed that I figured I should bring to your attention. I get the days story links for BOL from 10 shows (current and 9 previous) when I first subscribe, but I do not receive any links when new episodes come through on my reader. I know something weird happened with 660 from looking at the Web page, but this has happened with other episodes also. I'm using Vienna with Leopard if that helps.
Cheers,
Arioch
Flagstaff Arizona
Hi there,
Are you still tweaking the blog to get out all the kinks? I'm having a weird issue with my RSS feed that I figured I should bring to your attention. I get the days story links for BOL from 10 shows (current and 9 previous) when I first subscribe, but I do not receive any links when new episodes come through on my reader. I know something weird happened with 660 from looking at the Web page, but this has happened with other episodes also. I'm using Vienna with Leopard if that helps.
Cheers,
Arioch
Flagstaff Arizona
News on the newsletter
Starting Monday, February 18, we will discontinue the Buzz Out Loud newsletter. If you are currently subscribed to the newsletter, keep your eyes on the Buzz Out Loud blog at http://bol.cnet.com for a post that will describe the many options you have to get the show notes e- mailed to your inbox using available online services.
Starting Monday, February 18, we will discontinue the Buzz Out Loud newsletter. If you are currently subscribed to the newsletter, keep your eyes on the Buzz Out Loud blog at http://bol.cnet.com for a post that will describe the many options you have to get the show notes e- mailed to your inbox using available online services.