There are places, in and around our great cities, where the natural world has all but disappeared. You can make out streets and sidewalks, autos, parking garages, advertising billboards, monuments of glass and steel, but not a tree or a blade of grass or any animal – besides, of course, the humans. There are lots of humans.
[Damewse]
Want to hit rewind and replay that great sporting moment again? Gonna cost ya. Trying to fast forward through commercials? Pay up buddy.
That’s the world we could be living in if a recently-published Microsoft patented technology becomes adopted by cable firms.
Entitled “Control-based content pricing”, the heart of the concept is that a “content server receives a view control input from the client device that indicates how the media content is to be rendered and the valuation application adjusts the cost according to the view control input and how the media content is to be rendered.”
Translated into plain English, that means your remote control turns into a cash register. The key is that the “rendering” of the content means you don’t just pay for the right to watch it, but also for the way in which you watch it. The wording of the patent is broad enough that it could cover internet content, cable on demand services, or possibly even a DVR.
The patent contains a few specific examples, such as being able to charge extra for replaying content, which could simply mean paying for each time you watch a show, but could also mean paying an additional fee to replay a clip.
The suggested use that will attract the most interest among cable firms is the possibility of tracking whether or not the viewer has watched a commercial (or at least left it playing while leaving the room or turning their attention elsewhere) and then either cutting the cost if they view, or putting it up if they don’t view. Call be cynical, but my money would be on the latter.
It’s important to note — and Microsoft has stressed — that the patent being granted merely shows Microsoft is claiming credit for the idea and doesn’t mean there’s any specific talks to use it in reality. Still, it’s hard to see how cable companies won’t be pleased by the thought that such a thing is at least technically viable, even though it would be a tough sell to customers.
The news will likely be particularly unwelcomed for viewers of the recent British drama series Black Mirror, which included an episode titled 15 Million Merits that involved citizens being forced to watch advertisements (with an unbearable audible attack if they closed their eyes) unless they paid a financial penalty.
(Photo credit: tori wright)
Oh look! More fairytales for Disney to destroy!
Historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810-1886) was collecting fairytales in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz at about the same time as the Grimm brothers collected the ones that we all know and love today. Those that Von Schönweth collected, however, have been locked away in an archive in Regensburg for over 150 years!
Erika Eichenseer, the cultural curator at Oberpfalz published some of these 500 new stories in a book called “Prinz Roßzwifl” – “scarab beetle” in the local dialect. Why? The scarab beetle rolls up its precious eggs in dung and hides them away, which is how Eichenseer sees these fairytales: hidden treasures that were hidden away, representing the ancient knowledge and wisdom of human development.
So why did we hear all about the brother’s Grimm and not Von Schönwerth’s work? Schönwerth did publish his research in a book called “Aus der Oberpfalz – Sitten und Sagen” published in three parts in 1857, 1858 and 1859 but it never became popular. This might have had to do with the fact that, unlike the Grimms, Schönwerth added no literary flair to his works: he recorded stories exactly as he heard them.
This historian’s account of local legends and folk tales lends a truth and authenticity to the stories, even if they do make for a bit of a dry read. That said, the Grimm brothers did have contact with, and respect for, Von Schönwerth, with Jacab Grimm in 1885 saying about him, “Nowhere in the whole of Germany is anyone collecting [folklore] so accurately, thoroughly and with such a sensitive ear.”
Since 2008 Eichenseer has been working to study and publicise Franz Xaver von Schönwerth’s work through a society in his name. Work is currently underway by Dan Szabo, a Munich-based translator, to get them converted into English.
When it sometimes seems that original ideas are sorely lacking in today’s world, it would seem that inspiration can be rejuvenated by artefacts that history has tucked away. Gold does not always glitter, and princesses may yet be born from turnips.
Perhaps there are many books and movies in the future of these old, rediscovered tales.
[Via The Guardian]
The idiot guide on how properly wield a lightsaber like a total dumbass. Enjoy!
Intel has brought Pipe Dream, Animusic’s musical visualization masterpiece from 2004, to life in this demo, which was presented at IDF 2011 a few months ago. Impressive, isn’t it?
[Via Neatorama]
Now that daylight savings has come around for those in North America, be sure you don’t waste your extra hour of daylight. Science is clearly the way to improve your mind, body and soul so please, use your extra time to make the world a better place. It’s time for science; it’s time for you.
Sadly, down in Australia (at least everywhere except Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia) they will be losing that hour when April comes along. What a great Easter present – you get one less hour each day to watch the grass grow and observe animals fornicating.
[Via Fake Science]
Pixel Punk and 8-bit musician Oliver Joseph Hindle of Superpowerless brings us a catchy new tinfoil wrapped music video.
