NBC, CBS Join ABC in Selling Shows

Unfortunately NBC and CBS have decided to go in their own direction, rather than joining ABC in distributing shows via the iTunes Store. Now, once again consumers are going to be offered a dizzying array of choices. The two networks announced this week that both will be selling a limited number of shows at 99 cents, a full dollar less than ABC. NBC is partnering with DirecTV while CBS chose to hook up with Comcast, which makes it look more like the two networks are doing nothing but sticking their toes in the water to see how cold or hot it is.

While I’m not particularly thrilled with any of the three plans, they each seem to have something going for them. I’m hopeful that with the networks’ new attitude towards video-on-demand, they will iron out their differences and come up with a better across the board plan. We’ll see.

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Play Risk Via Google Maps

Since it’s introduction, people have done some very cool stuff with Google Maps via the use of the available API. We’ve seen Chicago crime stats, cheap gas prices, Washington DC Metro finder and just about anything else you could imagine using Google Maps. This is a great example of how opening your data and giving developers access with a well-written API can expand the reach of your original application. It also shows the creativity of developers when they’re given something good to work with. In the end, everybody wins

Speaking of winning, somebody finally built what the world has been waiting for, GMRisk, (the game of Risk via Google Maps.) Isn’t technology amazing? Who’s up for a game?

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Jeff Croft vs Jakob Nielsen

Jakob Nielsen recently released his 2005 List Of Web Design Mistakes, and in true Jakobian fashion, he manages to point out some good mistakes and then offers a couple different solutions. Mostly though, he likes to offer just one solution. I’d say he’s a one-solution-fits-all type of guy, (after he’s thrown out two or three sensational solutions in order to get his list some attention, and his site, a good deal of traffic.)

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More e-Commerce Growth

If anyone is looking for confirmation of the tremendous growth in e-commerce, it is certainly evidenced in the latest Google earnings report.

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Robot Cars Great…Where’s Our Hover Car?

Only one year after Grand Challenge 2004, where the robot cars barely left the starting line, Grand Challenge 2005 saw five teams cross the finish line. Last year was an embarrassing assembly of bad robot drivers, but this year’s field clearly passed chauffeur school.

Stanford’s “Stanley,” a diesel-powered, Volkswagen Touareg R5, took six hours, fifty-three minuutes and fifty-eight seconds, to navigate the 131.6 mile course in the Mojave desert. Stanford will receive the $2 million prize from contest organizers, DARPA. And can expect lucrative U.S. Defense Department contracts, to build robot vehicles for the armed services.

I think the other four teams should now get on with more important things, like finally building those hover cars we’ve been expecting since 2001. 

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