Having been a Netflix subscriber for a couple or 3 years, I was pretty pleased when they started the “watch now” streaming service. It’s pretty good when you’re on the road, but not so good watching at home on a laptop… That changed with the launch of the Roku Netflix player. Before I go any further, stop what you are doing, ie, reading this blog, and click here to go buy one.

The Roku media player for Netflix is the coolest, easiest to install, cheapest streaming media package I’ve ever used. And as the former publisher of Connected Home Magazine, let me tell you, I’ve seen ‘em all - and they all sucked - until now. Here’s how easy it was to get going:

1. Open box
2. Discard Instructions
3. Plug into TV via optional HDMI cable
4. Turn On
5. Register with Wireless Network
6. Type in registration/access code
7. Grab popcorn and start watching
8. Head to Netflix and add more movies to my “watch instantly” queue.

Repeat Steps 7 & 8 over and over.

It’s that easy. The video quality, whilst not HD was great on my 42″ LCD and the sound was super duper. This is THE box to turn your home from a VHS playing 1980s relic, to the latest and greatest media serving home - you’ll be the toast of your family - all for $99!!!

Cloverfield, the highly anticipated Godzilla beater from JJ Adams (the dude behind Lost) has less than two weeks to go before release. The accompanying viral campaign is like nothing seen on the web since The Blair Witch Project or Halo 3. Video clips have been “leaked”, news surrounding the monster, which, btw, has still yet to be seen and there has been plenty of chitter-chatter on forums up and down the interweb. I think the producers have done an incredible job of hyping up this movie, now I just hope it doesn’t turn into another Snakes on the Plane!

Same interweb stuff, different year should be this years mantra. MC Hammer, sorry, he’s just known as “Hammer” now-a-days is probably sick of the big-pants comments and wants to be known as a serious bithnessman. “There is no high-tech lingo or business strategy that you can talk that is above my head. I breath this stuff.” he told the AP whilst announcing DanceJam, the latest effort to topple YouTube and become a dominant player in the online video scene.

Despite earning an estimated $33 million, Stanley Burrell aka Hammer- quickly spent all of his earnings and more (he declared bankrupt a couple of years back owing more than $7 million), on an opulent lifestyle of private jets, luxury cars and a gold-drenched Californian mansion.

Some media analysts say he will have a hard time drawing young people away from YouTube, which last month listed more than 1,700,000 dance videos. “When people are looking for any video, whether it be about skateboarding, dancing or a science project, they don’t stop to think about where’s the best place to find it,” said James McQuivey of Forrester Research.

While I agree with the Forrester dude, he’s slightly wrong, most people do a Google search - they don’t neccessarily go to YouTube or MSN’s Soapbox or iFilm…

BTW, here’s the MC, uh, dropping the Hammer….

Stop! Hammer Time!

Dubbed the “fight of the century”, the Floyd Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton fight no doubt drummed up millions of dollars on HBO and all the other PPV channels around the world. At $49.95 to watch the fight, I skipped it, even though it had my hometown hero The Hitman as the star attraction. Reason why I skipped: YouTube Yet again, YouTube proves it’s almost impossible to police video content from users. A simple search for Mayweather v Hatton followed by sorting by date gives any visitor the chance to watch either the full fight, the last round or just the part where Mayweather is consoling Hatton. I’m pretty sure HBO and the promoters will be all over the videos and demand they are taken down, but at 8am on the day after the fight, I’m pretty sure many boxing fans, who for so long have seen the sport placed in the same conversation as WWE, will be quite happy!

BTW, there’s only one Ricky Hatton!

And now, for your viewing pleasure: Hatton vs. Mayweather: It’s worth watching just to hear the Las Vegas MC say Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmoney Mayweather!

In the late eighties UK broadcaster Channel 4 launched a new program titled Network 7. This was pretty innovative stuff - with short features, news articles served as entertainment and random acts of stupidty served as infotainment. All in all, it was pretty much the same as Fox News, but without the BS or pretense that it was all factual.

The thoughts behind this post came from my iPhone playlist - a bunch of Sigue Sigue Sputnik tracks appeared, so I peeped them out on Wikipedia and found they were presented by Magenta Devine, one of the hosts from the aforementioned show.

So, for all you old(er) school h4×0r5, here’s a couple of youtube clips highlighting the show… Roll on 1988.