I came across the chart above thanks to betfair.com. The chart shows “the most accurate, up-to-the-minute prediction of who will win the U.S. Presidential election based on millions of wagers placed in the world’s largest betting exchange.” Neat stuff.
But look closer and you see a divergence on September 15th (a Monday). Something happened on this date that reversed both Obama’s downward trend and McCain’s comeback. So I start digging around for a turning point speech, an event that made everyone sway or something. I find nothing the candidates did. McCain phoned a rally in Atlanta. Matt Damon had a rant publicized about Palin and his uneasy feelings toward her. But then I found something else:
Could it be that Saturday Night Live’s lampooning of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin handed this election to Obama? For many of us that can’t stay up that late anymore, TiVo and YouTube turned this clip into a sensation and set the stage for some of SNLs highest ratings in years.
One could theorize (and I do) that the SNL skit changed the conversation in America from “us vs. them” to a view that makes the McCain ticket a punchline. No matter what you thought about Palin’s qualifications before SNL, after you just had to giggle. And judging by the number of views of the partial clip on YouTube (NBC ordered YouTube to take down much of it), a lot of us were giggling.
Surely, SNL made fun of Obama and Biden, but was it Fey’s spot on looks that turned this thing around? Was it her impersonation? Would future party candidates be vetted by who looks like them in SNL cast members? I am not sure I can answer these, but the 9/13 SNL and subsequent online viewing seems to have impacted this election.
Sound off, did SNL and online views of the show give this election to the Democrats? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
YouTube has launched a new feature that lets users select the quality of videos that they watch. Currently available and can be seen in some video streams, YouTube is aiming to make this feature available to more video content later on. High-quality video viewing here pertains to all video contents uploaded to YouTube and is not restricted video contents from YouTube partners.
To enjoy watching high quality videos, go to your YouTube account page. At the lower portion of the account settings you would find an additional link under the “Account” heading. Click on the ”Video Playback Quality” and just select how you want to watch YouTube videos. You actually have three options:
Choosing video quality dynamically based on the current internet connection.
Never play higher-quality video if you have a slow connection.
Always play higher-quality video when it’s available - if you have a fast connection.
If you don’t want to bother yourself doing those steps, you can always click on the link that will appear right below the YouTube video player when you are watching a video uploaded in high quality.
Remember that opting to watch high quality videos will require longer loading time, so if you have a slow connection and don’t have the patience to wait for videos to load, better skip this one. Otherwise, now you can enjoy YouTube videos in all their detailed glory, although I am not always sure you would want to see that much detail.
Hulu currently offers a large selection of ad-supported full length television shows that includes The Office, Prison Break, Bionic Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Miami Vice and more. It looks like we can soon add content from Warner Brothers to that collection. According to Bruce Rosenblum, the president of Warner Brothers “a deal with Hulu is imminent.”
Hulu, which is currently still in private beta is rumored to be opening to the public in March. Which means you can either bug your friends that may have access to Hulu for an invitation, or just wait patiently for a little while longer, being fans of Hulu, we can say it is worth the wait.
Hulu currently offers a large selection of ad-supported full length television shows that includes The Office, Prison Break, Bionic Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Miami Vice and more. It looks like we can soon add content from Warner Brothers to that collection. According to Bruce Rosenblum, the president of Warner Brothers “a deal with Hulu is imminent.”
Hulu, which is currently still in private beta is rumored to be opening to the public in March. Which means you can either bug your friends that may have access to Hulu for an invitation, or just wait patiently for a little while longer, being fans of Hulu, we can say it is worth the wait.
Hulu has plans to stream what some consider the best part of the Super Bowl, the commercials. They will be available on the Hulu website and also the Hulu Blog immediately after the game ends. For anyone who currently has gotten an invitation they can watch the commercials through the regular Hulu site. For those still waiting for your invite, you can watch the commercials on their blog. A nice way to enjoy the commercials without having to record the whole game on your DVR and fast-forward though the game.
Cowon had a small booth located along the side wall of the South Hall of the LVCC. The following are pictures as well as descriptions of the portable media players that they had on display there. Quite honestly - nothing really stood out at Cowon but enjoy the pics anyhow!
First up is the Premium PMP Cowon Q5W. This high end portable media player has the following specs:
5 inch 16.7 million color TFT LCD with 800 x 480 touch screen display
Supports WLAN and Bluetooth wireless connectivity
Alchemy ALU1250 600MHz processor
Windows CE 5.0 OS
TV out with Component, S-Video, Composite outputs
Supports AVI, ASF, WMV, MPG, OGM
Supports DivX, XviD, MPEG4, WMV 7/8/9
Supports MP3, WMA, ASF, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, MPC
Supports JPG, BMP, PNG, RAW
Photo and text viewer
Adobe Flash Player
FM radio
Voice recorder
Supports MS DRM 10
USB 2.0
Built-in stereo speaker
7 hour video playback and 13 hour audio playback
40GB or 60GB HDD
Here is the Extreme PMP Cowon A3 media player. The specs are as follows:
New TI DaVinci chipset
1280 x 720 HD video playback support
800 x 480 resolution, 16.7 million colors, and a 4 inch TFT LCD display
Creating audio podcasts might not get much simpler than this folks. It’s the new $99 dollar Belkin Podcast Studio - a portable, battery operated device which allows you to create high quality recordings wherever you go. Simply dock the iPod into the Podcast Studio and begin recording full length audio episodes, interviews, or short clips directly onto the iPod. Once you’re finished with the recording, connect your iPod with your computer and have your newly created content uploaded straight to iTunes.
Features include:
Built in microphone and speaker for playback
2 Channels - XLR and 1/4 inch
Battery powered
The Podcast Studio is compatible with the 5th gen iPod, iPod classic, and iPod nano - 3rd gen. You can expect to find the Podcast Studio in June of 2008 for an MSRP of $99.99.
Creating audio podcasts might not get much simpler than this folks. It’s the new $99 dollar Belkin Podcast Studio - a portable, battery operated device which allows you to create high quality recordings wherever you go. Simply dock the iPod into the Podcast Studio and begin recording full length audio episodes, interviews, or short clips directly onto the iPod. Once you’re finished with the recording, connect your iPod with your computer and have your newly created content uploaded straight to iTunes.
Features include:
Built in microphone and speaker for playback
2 Channels - XLR and 1/4 inch
Battery powered
The Podcast Studio is compatible with the 5th gen iPod, iPod classic, and iPod nano - 3rd gen. You can expect to find the Podcast Studio in June of 2008 for an MSRP of $99.99.
