Mark Cuban (yes, that Mark Cuban) offers up a good blog post/manifesto on the decline of movie theater ticket sales and how to address.
His short answer: Let everyone watch what they want, when and where they want- but at a premium.  I'm not sure this helps the movie theater owner but agree they need to step up the experience. 

Here are some additional ideas:

- SkyBox Seating - people will pay a premium, just like they do for business or first-class tickets. I can see this being used for kids parties and more- maybe even corporate entertaining if the event is right just like a stadium event. 

- Cry Rooms - We amped up our home theater to HD and an improved surround-sound system for one main reason: Baby.  We cannot get out to the theaters.  Who wants to spend a stress-laden night with their child jabbering the whole way through the movie?  One of our local theaters has outfitted a soundproof cry-room next to the projector room.  Unfortunately they only have one screen.

- Day Care - Let's face it- baby sitters are hard to find and matinees are rarely sold out. It works at the Gym, Ikea, and our local grocery store.  The lumbering Ferries in Greece even had a kid's play room.  Why not offer an accredited day-care service? 

- Schwag - People love free stuff.  A movie poster, t-shirt, book, bobble-head etc.- they'll clamor over stuff for their favorite movies. Some Sci-Fi franchises used to do this with local radio personalities. Teens in particular collect movie posters and marketing material like life-sized cutouts. Why not do a better job of recognizing your customers have a choice in whether they wait a few short months to watch at home, or come in to sit in your plushy seats. Work with the studios to offer up free cheap stuff to make them feel wanted.  Sorry, a mint and a thank you from some pimply-faced kid with an "iPod stare" on his/her face isn't going to do it. Sporting events figured this out a long time ago.

- Retail tie-ins - Someone will figure out a way to get customers an instant discount on DVD/HD-DVD movie purchases as they're coming out of a good movie for pre-orders.  Partner with Best Buy, Amazon or another retailer to offer a simple way to preorder the DVD movie for their collection.  Oh and get rid of your own membership programs- tie them into Best Buy or another retailer and a solid recommendation engine with value.

- Soundtrack downloads - Get a discount or digital download of the movie soundtrack through a music service tie-in.

I'm sure there are other ideas out there as well.

RSS Feed: Mark Cuban's BlogMaverick

Well, my site provider took my site offline again without notice and I sent a tersely worded email to them (tech support is outsourced).  They've moved my site onto another server and hopefully things will stabilize.  Just in case they don't... I'm investigating other providers.

Thanks for your patience :)

Not sure how I missed this one. David Berlind exclaims in "Between the Lines, The blog for discriminating IT buyers":

...Is there any doubt that  Microsoft is not only poised to repeat its successful Windows formula, but that that success will, over the long run, actually dwarf the company’s success with Windows?  ...OK, you’re a doubter. The Podderati will surely eviscerate me for being a Microsoft sycophant. If you want to go into denial,  that’s your business.  The facts speak for themselves.  No single company has circled its technology wagons around the digital media universe the way Microsoft has.

That's a pretty bold statement. As one who worked on the Digital Media Division product team (left 1.5 years ago) I'd prefer the term, "partnered with the digital media universe". I'd like to see the "Gilmoor Gang (Reloaded)" duke it out with some special guests on this topic - (Welcome back Steve & co) :).  Say what you will, the PlaysforSure program makes it a hell of a lot easier for me to tell family and friends what devices and services to consider when deciding whether to go the Pod route or another.  Oh, and for the new readers, I own a Creative Zen Touch Micro and an iPod and actually use both. 

RSS Feed: "Between the Lines, the Blog for discriminating IT Buyers."
RSS Feed: The Gilmoor Gang (Reloaded)

(Disclaimer- this is particularly geeky and not a mainstream upgrade yet) :)

Remember the "old days" of playing back a DVD on a PC?  When it required a beefy processor and you couldn't do anything else with the PC at the same time?  Then the video gurus figured out you could free your PC's CPU to do other tasks by moving video decode to your 3D graphics card with a technology called "DirectX Video Acceleration" (or DXVA). Well thanks to a new update for Windows Media Player, if you have a card that supports DXVA video acceleration, chances are you're going to see a performance boost when playing back HD content compressed in Windows Media Video High Definition (WMV-HD).  WMV-HD paves the way for reasonable delivery of HD-quality movies over the Internet and reduces the requirements on CPU speed when pared with a mid to high-end video card.

WMV-HD has been around for a little bit now, delivering true 720p and 1080p video quality in a reasonable package.  Unfortunately, you've needed a beefy processor (recommended 3Ghz) in order to play back.  Thanks to work done in hardware by ATI, Nvidia and others as well as the Windows Media Player 10 team, you can now drop CPU usage by some reports up to 40%! 

According to this support update, the software update enables WMV-HD decode acceleration after users meet the following prerequisites:

• The graphics adapter must support this update. Check with your card manufacturer to see if your card supports DXVA and get the latest certified drivers.

• The user must install hotfix 891122 first<- Very important.
  

• Download the update at http://www.support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;888656 

• The content must be WMV-HD clips (720p and 1080p) with a frame rate that is less than or equal to 30 frames per second.

Here's a link to feedback from others who now have WMV-HD playing back on 2.66 Ghz systems and others with reduced

Go download free WMV-HD trailers and clips at http://www.wmvhd.com and enjoy.  I'll check with the team on plans for new trailers etc.

Enjoy :)

The latest episode (#11) of The Media Center Show is now available.  Be sure to vote for the show over at Podcast Alley - it's simple!

This week Ian talks to Jeremy Allaire, founder and President of Brightcove about Internet TV and how the future of TV is changing.

RSS Link: The Media Center Show

I just realized the Seattle P-I's Business Section is perma-linking to me from their Microsoft Blog. I feel honored.

RSS Link: seattlepi.com Microsoft blog

Terry dropped me a line that Warner Bros. and The Skins Factory have just released their new Batman Begins Skin for Windows Media Player 10. The new skin is very cool, a high-res image of the design is below.  You can download it for free yourself at www.wmplugins.com.

While we're at it, a reminder that there are RSS feeds for the latest add-ons for Windows Media Player available anytime. WMPlugins also has forums and a good list of 3rd party codecs that work with the Player. Enjoy.

WMPlugins RSS Feeds:

I've decided to start doing something new.  Every time I link to another blog, and an RSS feed is available, I'm going to include a link to the RSS feed.  Why?  Because it's a pain for users who have moved to Web aggregators to visit the sites I link to, only to hunt for the RSS feed. (No more hunting on my site- it's in the title-bar)

Will this get annoying?  Maybe. You tell me if it's useful.  Or maybe it's just another courtesy we should all extend.  I wonder if Scoble will start including RSS web links in his blog entries too.

Vic Gundotra is Robert Scoble's "Boss' Boss". He's excited about Longhorn.  An excerpt:

[Then] there is "sexier". Some will claim Microsoft doesn't know even what this word means. I can see their point. Yet Longhorn will be the first generation of Windows where we have put very significant effort into the fit, finish and polish of the Windows experience. Look - in the early days of the automobile industry cars didn't have interior lights. Experience refinements like dimming lights on exit came decades later. We've reached the point where "experience" improvements matter. How fast the PC starts up, the feel of the windows, the experience of moving between apps, and many other attributes have received careful and thoughtful consideration from a design perspective.

Vic's RSS feed

First there was Sony's Qualia line of products.  Now, Dell announces their intent to bring a new brand of PCs (not Dell) focused, "...on the folks who recognize what the PC can do". Priced at between $1,200 and $3,500, things just got more interesting. More in the Cnet article here.

What did the automobile industry do when their industry was being commoditized?  Reinvent themselves- establish new brands such as Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura to introduce new technologies, test and invest, and drive down component costs to eventually incorporate into their more value-conscious product lines.  A good example of this is the Navigation system in our Honda Pilot- effectively the "older model" as the Acura MDX had two years prior (Acura had voice-activated navigation, the Pilot did not).

The premium systems will also come with a premium service package, which Dell calls its "white glove" treatment. The service packages will include expanded online and in-home support. Dell is currently conducting extensive test programs on its online support.

Let me ask- how much is peace of mind and hassle-free assurance of customer support worth to you?  Next time my Mother needs a new PC, I'll point her in this direction.  She's had more trouble than any one person deserves with customer support and would be willing to pay a little more for the assurance she'll be taken care of when it happens.

Scoble mentions an important MS Office announcement is being made tonight at 9:01pm. I have a pretty good feeling what this is but check out http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=73329 to find out for yourself- 9:01pm (Pacific) or later.

Update: Office 12 to use standard XML as file format, publish specs for royalty free use. Get ready for .docx, .pptx, .xlsx, and more.  Mary Jo Foley has her report here. More details available on June 6th at http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview

Pictures here.  Note the Green Button on the Remote for your Media Center Extender functionality ;)

Thanks to those of you who pointed out a few issues with the site:

- Comments are now working again. I disabled captcha and we'll see how that goes.

- I turned off a few back-end features and the perf seems to be up a bit. 

- In the new template, the all-up RSS tag was hidden under the calendar.  I've added one to the heading as well.

If you have any other feedback on the site, topics you'd like to see more of etc, send them to me here as always. I'm going to try some new features here shortly as well.

I'm the proud owner of a Logitech Harmony 688 Remote Control- it has brought an unparalleled level of usability to our home theater and returned matrimonial bliss to events such as oh, watching TV, a DVD, viewing photos, or listening to music in our main living space.  Dr. Phil should give away these remotes in a Father's Day special.

But now my 688 just got schooled by the new kid on the block- the Harmony 880.  A color screen, Alpha letters on the numeric keys for triple-tapping text in (such as a quick artist search in Media Center) and a rechargable battery all combine with a motion sensor that lights the remote up when you pick it up to create a near-perfect remote experience.

Why only near-perfect?  I don't see any mention of my requested "Child Lock" feature- the one where if your remote is left unattended where a child can get to it, they cannot start messing with it.  My son has successfully reprogrammed two other remotes in the house just by banging on the buttons.  I now have to use the volume key to change the channel.

Retailing for $249.00, this is a steep price to pay for a remote control.  The Logitech site says it's available at Best Buy but check first- it's not on BestBuy.com and I've seen spotty coverage in the past. But ask yourself- how important is my marriage?  How many years of future upgrades does this ensure because the vaunted, "No more gadgets, I can't control the ones you already have" argument goes out the window? PC World gives it 4 out of 5 stars.  Now if Oprah or Dr. Phil would endorse it, we'd all be set. 

While all the fervor has been around AOpen and Intel's Mac Mini-killer, "Pandora" at Computex, AOpen has also been plenty busy in the Home Entertainment PC space:

AOpen XC REC6 (Upper-right) – AV system for sitting room, a combination of bedroom AV system and conventional PC

Although AOpen XC REC6 is also designed for providing digital home entertainment, the look-and-feel of XC REC6 is totally different from that of AOpen Media Center Server.  The stylish and super slim XC REC6 is only 6.9 cm (2.72”) in height, making it ideal for sitting room. 

Even though it is one of the slimmest desktop PCs in the world, the small size does not mean performance sacrifice.  It supports nearly all important audio and video interfaces including S-Video, YPbPr, and D4 connectors for displaying video output to HDTVs or LCD screens. 

* The size of the product is only 8.9 liters – nearly the same as home electronic products.
* Provides one 5.25” and one 3.5” drive bay.
* Built with a stylish VFD panel to show operation status.
* Supports Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition.
* Supports multiple-channel audio outputs.
* 275W power supply.
* Dimensions: 69mm(H) x 300mm(L) x 430mm(W); 2.72” x 11.81” x 16.93”
* Supports Intel Pentium M Dothan processors.
* Supports Intel i915G and ICH6 chipsets.
* Supports dual channel DDR II 400/533 MHz.
* Provides PCI-Express x16 and PCI expansion slots.
* Provides ATAand Serial ATAconnectors.
* Provides S-Video, YPbPr, D4 video output connectors.
* Provides USB, IEEE1394, and HD Audio 7.1-channel sound.
* Built-in 10/100/1000 Mb LAN connector.

AOpen Media Center Server 400/410 (Lower-right) is designed to look like a conventional audio amplifier.  The housing of the innovative product is designed with storage space for seven hard drives.  The system is developed with the functions to receive video streams from multiple TV channels.  A user can record video streams or TV programs of up to three different TV channels with built-in hard drives.  The user can manage, edit, browse, or play back the recorded video streams or TV programs recorded in the system hard drives.

* Built with large size VFD which shows system playback status clearly.
* Designed with dual-channel TV tuner – the user can watch the program of a TV channel while recording the TV program of another TV broadcast station.
* Supports Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition.
* Supports 7.1-channel surround sound.
* Supports Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz 820 processor which is designed with dual core and Hyper-Threading technology.
* Supports dual channel DDR II 533/667 MHz and expandable to 4 GB.
* Provides PCI-Express x16 and PCI expansion slots.
* Provides one ATA and six Serial ATA connectors.
* Built-in 250 GB hard drive.
* Built-in DVD Combo drive.
* Built-in 10/100/1000 Mb LAN interface.
* Full function remote control.
* Provides S-Video, YPbPr, and D4 video output connectors.

Corey Gouker called me up a few months ago about a group buy he was doing for displays.  He had this idea for creating the ultimate MCE Desktop configuration with 4 displays.  I passed at the time. I must be getting old because I thought this is something I would have done when I was single and sans-kid but not very practical right now.  Since then, I've gone Multimon at work and will never go back- now after seeing Corey's home setup on the Media Center Flickr Pool, I'm trying to figure out how to convince my wife that this would make a great anniversary present.  Here's one for the Engadget lover in all of us.  In his own words:

As for how I use this setup... Well I listen to music (loudly). Usually have a movie playing or ripping on the MCE. The server is usually showing the status of everything else. I'm retiring my main system in the middle. I pretty much use it only for winamp, wmp, web, outlook, messenger. All the machines are domain joined and have outlook setup with Exchange so it's not that big of a deal. Still have to build my server so I can centralize the storage. The laptop isn't being used enough yet since I just received it and haven't had a chance to install everything (too much work). I use the PMC's for mainly music. One for work music one for driving music.

I bow before Corey's WOPR of an MCE-setup.

I'm a photo enthusiast but by no means a prosumer in the photo space, but I'm pining after the Nikon D70 I borrowed from a friend last holiday season, drooling over the pictures my co-workers took in Greece, and sitting idly waiting for my Canon Digital Elph to die someday (a great point and shooter, just not great for blow-ups).

During my journey with the D70, I learned about RAW image format support.  RAW files are uncompressed, and store a massive amount of information (hey, another reason for native 64-bit computing <g>). The problem is that RAW files aren't natively supported by Windows- you don't get thumbnails, you can't view the pictures unless you install a 3rd party component. That's about to change.

Today, Microsoft along with Adobe, Canon, Fuji, and Nikon announced plans to add native RAW image format support into the next version of Windows, code-named "Longhorn".

What's more, for Windows XP users, a freely downloadable add-on for Windows XP will be available soon, the Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer with native support for Canon and Nikon-based RAW files. It will be available from www.microsoft.com shortly- I'm checking on exactly when and will post here when available. Now anywhere in the shell (Windows Explorer) such as My Pictures or My Documents, you'll see the pictures previewed along with other popular formats.  This functionality will also show up in a future version of Digital Image Suite.

Ok so more about the Longhorn stuff. For consumers, the ability to work with RAW image files just as easily as with JPEGs today will allow them to take advantage of the growing support for RAW in digital cameras and imaging software. Consumers will have more choices as new camera models are introduced because the new architecture in “Longhorn” makes it possible for all software programs on Windows to easily work with RAW image files.  My understanding is that MCE will also pick up this functionality however I'm working to confirm.

So the HD manufacturers have another reason for us to get larger HDDs- time to get RAW ;)

Press release

Taking a break from BBQing, I came acros this little gem. I'm not sure if this is the fourth or the fifth sign of the apocalypse.

Yes.  That's right.  A thong for your phone.  Try to erase it from your mind. I tried and failed.  I fear this will become the "Parachute Pants" of 2005 so misery loves company.  First one to spot Paris Hilton with one of these is... well... nevermind.

Enjoy via ohgizmo.com

Not only am I Addicted to Digital Media, I'm also addicted to good BBQ.  Perhaps it was spending too much time in the mid-west that did it to me, too many 2am ventures to Wilson's BBQ in college after the bars closed with one to two dozen friends. Either way, I've learned the hard way that you cannot find good BBQ in Seattle at a reasonable price.  So about 5 years ago, I started my journey for BBQ bliss.  It started with an electric smoker, then a propane unit from Wal-Mart, then a new stainless steel version from Costco last year.  The first thing I learned is that there is a big difference between grilling and BBQ.

Today I was up at the crack of dawn (thanks to Ryan) and putting a 10lb brisket into the smoker.  Brisket, Ribs, sausage and more today for a little neighborhood get-together.

If you're thinking about getting a smoker or just dabbling, I recommend the book "Smoke and Spice".  It has a wealth of recipes.  Steven Raichlin's BBQ Bible and BBQ USA are also very good books. Lastly three good sites: The BBQ Guy Blog, The BBQ Forum for discussions on BBQ, and BBQ Search.com - the "Google" of BBQ.

I'm not sure I can wait until 5-6pm for this brisket... but I'll try :) Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone