Warning -  this post gets a little zen

It took a great deal of courage for TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington to publish his Some Things Need To Change post chastising the digital rat race that he, in part, has helped to fuel. He concludes:

I’ve decided the right thing to do is take some time off and get a better perspective on what I’m spending my life doing. I’ll be taking most of February off from writing, and decide what the best future for me is while sitting on a beach somewhere far away from my iPhone and laptop.

I applaud Mike and others like him who are taking this moment to consider what their role can be in moving the planet and the global community forward and out of this global depression. It’s a new era of responsibility that begs the question of each of us - what am I really doing? (more…)

Attractive Girls Union Refuses To Enter Into Talks With Mike Greenman

From Paid Content:

—Spike TV picks up PG Porn Webisodes:  The network picked up a new season of 11 episodes of James Gunn’s PG Porn, a comedic web series that pairs adult entertainment stars with mainstream actors, sans sex; the pilot episode gained more than one million views when it debuted on Spike.com last year. New episodes of PG Porn will premiere each month, followed by behind the scenes footage and cast interviews. Safran Digital Group (backer and producer of the Xbox Live series Horror Meets Comedy) and Good Boy Productions co-produced the show. Release.

How contagious is the Wii? How great is their marketing?

My Italian, septuagenarian father-in-law visited our home a few months ago and was exposed to the Wii (I’ve always wanted to say that). He promptly went out and bought one and now the in-laws are Wii Sports fans.

My father came down to visit LA last Fall. We went to a Dodger’s game where they had a Miller Lite promotion with a home run contest on a customized Wii. He took 10 pitches and struck out nine times, but on the final pitch he put one over the center field fence. He batted .100, but it was enough to encourage him to make the purchase. Now my parents play Wii on a regular basis.

Casual gaming for the baby boomer generation. It sells itself. Geniius.

Good piece on DigitalMedia Wire today about the increasingly explicit consumption trend towards interactive entertainment and gaming platforms. Puts the recently announced studio layoffs into perspective. Worth a read.

Also interesting to note that in Microsoft’s earnings report today, Xbox was one of the few money-making business units.

I just got an alpha account and have started playing with Boxee, the new, free, open source software that allows a frictionless way to watch web video (and much more) on your TV. Just getting into it, but Boxee already feels like a game changer:

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Tip of the hat to Kirk for the heads up: Hulu has had to restrict the availability of one of its top performing shows (and a personal favorite) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia due to rights issues with FX, the show’s cable network. They’re going with a sunrise / sunset release, where the older episodes expire as new ones come online.

Ouch. (more…)

Because FCC rules stipulate you cannot use “Jesus Christ” as an exclamation unless the deity himself is present.

This and other fascinating insight into Seth MacFarlane, his Family Guy empire, his creative relationship with Fox, his Google deal and perhaps most importantly, what the future of digital entertainment (i.e. why it pays to take risks and create edgy, even offensive content) comes from an excellent Fast Company article from November ‘08.