Hulu.com Is Here!

Back in November 2007, Hulu.com announced that it would be beta testing its new website that offers premium programming in popular television shows, movies, and video clips among other media. Several popular networks like E! Entertainment, FUEL TV, SciFi Network and USA Network and others have partnered with Hulu to provide a full programming experience.

If you were interested in becoming a beta test participant, you were able to do so by providing your contact information for access to the site when it launched.

Only a select few, according to Hulu, would be chosen for access to the site. I signed up, hopeful that I would be picked to participate. Yesterday I received an email confirmation from Hulu with a login and password.

Here are some initial thoughts.

From the get go, I was pleased with the quality of the streaming video. Having looked at hundreds of videos on the web with grainy, pixelated quality, Hulu's video quality is refreshing with an HD look in normal viewing mode. The variety of popular shows they've managed to lineup so far is impressive--even offering programs that viewers could only watch with cable or satellite.

Hulu provides several viewing options to enhance your media experience with features like full-screen or pop out mode for a more cinematic look. Viewers can dim the lights of surrounding site, leaving the crisp video stream even more engaging.

Like YouTube, users can copy embedded code for placement on their website or blogs and share video with others. Hulu offers a users feedback section to flag video problems, or inappropriate content among other possible issues.

So far, I'm impressed. And for me, one of Hulu's greatest benefits is that it allows busy folks like myself to catch up on missed shows or when you've reached the maximum amount of programs you can record in an hour on your DVR.

For those who don't yet have access to Hulu's programs, I've posted a popular TV show from Hulu's site for you.

Episode 10 - Prison Break on FOX

Video Source: Hulu.com

Gawker Spills The Beans on Tom Cruise

Patsy Cline's hit song, "Crazy" popped into my head after watching Tom Cruises' latest performance released by Gawker, now appearing on YouTube—Scientology's man of the year award. If you haven't seen the video, spoiler alert! Tom ingratiates himself and Scientology as the Rosetta Stone for the entire world.

In Tom's crazy, wild-eyed babbling discourse full of non sequiturs, he insinuates only a devoted follower of Scientology's principles can effect change on the world with their masterful ability to see a problem cosmically and somehow know what needs to be done.

Admittedly, I'm not that knowledgeable about Scientology's principles and practices, but I do believe that from Tom's perspective, the non-Scientologist is glib and the world is beyond their understanding, at least without the expensive guidance of a Scientologist auditor.

Other Cruise Moments:

• Cruise Tangles with Matt Lauer

In order to be one-up on the world around you, you got pay—dearly. A session to get enlightenment can run as much as $750 to more than $8,000 dollars. That's a lot cheese for what could be looked at as intangible results.

I think Tom's celebrity probably has done some damage to Scientology's quest for new assimilates. And strangely enough we never hear of other high profile members like John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, and others getting entangled in such media mishaps dealing with Scientology. Why? Because they'd all like to keep their careers.

Tom the Scientologist has been public knowledge for years, but I think now we know that insanity and Scientology is a dangerous mix that could blow at any moment.

P.S. On second thought maybe Scientology causes insanity. Hummm?

Famous Scientologist:

TOM CRIUSE
JOHN TRAVOLTA AND KELLY PRESTON
FOREST WHITAKER
ISAAC HAYES
KIRSTIE ALLEY
ANNE ARCHER
MARY BONO (wife of Sonny Bono)
BECK
LEAH REMINI
JENNA ELFMAN
CATHERINE BELL
LAURA PREPON AND CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY MASTERSON
GIOVANNI RIBISI
JASON LEE
CHAKA KHAN
PLACIDO DOMINGO
SOLEIL MOON FRYE
JULIETTE LEWIS
BRANDY
MIMI ROGERS
PATRICK SWAYZE
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN
ROB THOMAS
KATE CAPSHAW
GLORIA GAYNOR
LEIF GARRETT

Hyundai Ask Are You Committed

Back in September Hyundai began a new marketing campaign called
"Think About It". The campaign was conceived by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, a marketing agency Hyundai recently tapped to redevelop their image in the mind of American customers. In Hyundai's press release, VP of marketing Joel Ewanick states, "Our new 'Think About It' advertising campaign is designed to be thought provoking."



















After watching several of the aired commercials and reading ads placed in a few popular car magazines, I can affirm that the ads definitely have unearthed some latent thoughts I've had for years. One specific commercial, "where is the commitment," links our society's obsession with instant gratification to problems with commitment—something I think is a dying attribute in the American mind.

In this commercial it talks about physical appearance, our jobs, and our relationships as things we discard when we tire of them, regardless of our original commitment. The question is have we become so recklessly cavalier in light of the instant gratification modern society provides us?

As thought provoking as Hyundai's commercial may be, it can only provide a spark for self-examination of one’s commitments in life. How can we take the momentum of this marketing piece to a deeper personal level, leading us all towards change?

A starting point would be commitments close cousin—integrity.

Pop Star Lunacy

In light of a recent well-known pop stars continual public melt down, the question of her mental health is becoming the talk of entertainment news shows and tabloid papers. Unless you've been living at the center of the Earth, you know we're talking about Britney Spears. No one could possibly screw up this much in public and not have some type of mental issues at play.

Allegedly, Britney calls paparazzi to clue them in on her whereabouts, she constantly shows up at local gas stations, drinks endless amounts of Frappuccinos from Starbucks, and misses court cases for custody of her children, yet recently stages a 3-hour holdup in her home with her youngest child. And don’t forget the bizarre British accent she spouts at parades of paparazzi occasionally. This is all strange behavior pop star or not.

The purpose of this post is not to add another celebrity report on Ms. Britney, but to highlight what some think is possibly postpartum depression causing her bizarre behavior. Horrific and very public incidents over the past few years of postpartum depression at its untreated extremes have had outcomes with mother of four boys, Andrea Yates drowning her sons in the bathtub.

More recently, celebrity Brooke Shields went public with her battle with postnatal depression and how she had thoughts of committing terrible acts to herself and child, but had the mindset to know that she needed help, which she eventually sought.

With all this being said, I have a different take. From reports that I've heard through the news and read in papers, I believe Britney is possibly suffering from bipolar disorder. The excessive spending-estimated in the tens of thousands per month, the blatant dismissal of custody cases, and the bizarre relationship with one of the paparazzi, and her continual bating of other paparazzi, all speaks to a person who is impulsive and destructive.

According to WebMD symptoms of Bipolar disorder can include:

• Act impulsively or do reckless things, such as go on shopping sprees, drive recklessly, get into foolish business ventures, or have frequent, indiscriminate, or unsafe sex.
• Have a very high opinion of himself or herself (inflated self-esteem).
• Feel extremely happy or very irritable.

WebMD list several other symptoms that are indicative of bipolar disorder, many of which seem to fit Britney's recent behavior. It could be true that postpartum syndrome escalated what might have been mild at one time bipolarism.

My hope is that eventually this once lofty pop star will get the right people around her to find the road to recovery. I hope this continuing story doesn't have a tragic ending.

Photo Source: WorldofBritney.com

A Search Engine For Job Seekers

At any given time there are millions of Americans searching for a new job. Whether you are a new graduate just starting out, or looking for a career change, or just a better gig, the old saying is certainly true--looking for work is like having a full-time job. However, today with the Internet, there are many options available for job seekers.Over the last decade, dozens of online job boards have sprung up offering their services to job seekers.

Two major job boards that appeared early on in the Internet boom were Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com, which are now joined by dozens of job boards offering a broad listing of openings and others that are tailored for specific careers.

While it is great that there are now many options, searching every big and small job board can be time consuming and overwhelming.Job seekers now have available to them a powerful new search engine called Indeed.com that is dedicated to extracting all those open positions from major and minor job boards and even corporate employment pages and presenting them in one location.

Visitors of Indeed.com can even leave comments and questions about a particular position or posting, which further helps visitors decide if a particular company is right for them.

After recommending Indeed.com to many of friends, I've received positive feedback on how the search engine has streamlined their job search. So the next time you’re looking for a new career, check out indeed.com. You might be surprised; your dream career could be just a click away.Image

Source: Indeed.com

Ford's Steep Climb To Move Way Forward

It's no secret that Ford is not doing well at selling its cars lately. With the decline of pickup sales due to high gas prices, long in the tooth model refreshing, and quality issues of the past that seem to repeatedly plague the manufacture, it's a wonder they still have hope that a bright light even exist at the end of the sales tunnel.

The Ford Americans have known for the past decade, has forgotten how to design desirable vehicles for the American public, putting out models that are years behind in design and quality of its competitors. The last desirable car, the Focus, was allowed to age and wither in sales, before that was the Lincoln LS.

As of late, Ford has taken measures to improve the quality and reliability of its entire vehicle line. But the question still remains, is it a little too late to save this dying American icon. While that ending is still yet to be written, Ford executives are busy cutting cost, aligning its global designs and platforms and working hard to sell off its premium brands Land Rover and Jaguar.

While these measures will go a long way to slow the hemorrhaging of sales and revenue, Ford needs the new blood of its fresh European kinetic designs along with excellent quality to bring back American customers to its dealerships. A glimmer of the possible future was shown at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show with the introduction of its Verve Sedan concept vehicle, which is still two years away.

General Motors, the world's largest automaker was in the same shape not long ago, but quickly figured out how to infuse some life into the company by dumping many of its underwhelming American models for models from its German brand Opel to renew interest.

If it sounds like I'm down on Ford, I'm not, I want the company to survive and better compete in the market. To compete, Fords way forward is going to entail scaling the Mt. Everest of American opinion.

What's Right:

• Improved Realiablity
• Lower NVH
• Microsoft Sync Technology
• Ecoboost Engine Technology

What's Not:

• Slab-Sided Designs
• Unimaginative Interior Designs
• Hard Grainy Plastic Interiors
• B-Pillar Quarter Windows
  

2008 Detroit Auto Show Begins

America puts its best foot forward with the annual Detroit Auto Show starting today. Undoubtedly this will be a big year for GM with multiple new offerings in midsize family sedans and with fresh new designs with much improved quality throughout its vehicle lineup.

Even though gas prices continue to rise, Ford and Chrysler will introduce redesigned large trucks to compete with GM and Toyota's full-size trucks. Out side of American steel, manufactures like Hyundai will possibly be introducing some very important models like their new Genesis Sedan and Tiburon sports coupe that will give us a look at their future design direction.

I'm watching much of the auto show coverage from Autoblog.com, which always provides great hi-res photos and commentary on industry news. I'll post links to many of the new models as soon as they are available.

PHOTO GALLERY

2009 Ford F-150 / Ford F-150 LIVE reveal

2009 Dodge RAM / Dodge RAM LIVE reveal

2009 Cadillac CTS-V

Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept

2008 Mazda RX-8

2010 Ford Verve

2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

2009 Hyundai Genesis

2009 Volkwagen CC (4-door Coupe)

Mercedes Benz GLK

Saab 9-4X Concept

2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart

2009 Subaru Forester (US spec)

2008 Cadillac Provoq Concept

2009 Toyota Venza

Companies That Soared and Some that Nose Dived in 2007

Here is a great article from BNET that I discovered that list 2007 companies that soared in flight or took a dive for one reason or another. After reviewing the list, I could not resist adding my two cents worth of wisdom in bold.

This week, we’re highlighting PRWeek’s very good summation of the year past in their 2007 Book of Lists. Here are their brands on the rise and brands that “sunk” in 2007:

Brands that “soared” according to PRWeek:

Apple: Thanks to the hugely successful launch of the iPhone and introduction of the iPod Touch Apple continued to be a darling of Wall Street, with its stock prices reaching an all-time company high of $192 a share.

Apple buyers are like Honda buyers--loyal to the core. Even when Apple launched it's iPhone at a ridiculous price, apple cronies defended it and bought the iPhone in droves.

TMZ: The celebrity Web site separated itself from the pack this year by launching a TV show. It also continued to break a number of stories about celebrity breakdowns, divorces, and deaths.

It was only a matter of time until the virus of salacious celebrity reporting jumped from print to the airwaves.

Nintendo: The launch of the still hard-to-find Wii gaming system at the end of 2006 set Nintendo up for an all but can’t miss opportunity to have a wonderful 2007. It didn’t miss.

Sony Playstation 3 didn't see this coming. Nintendo is resurrected from obscurity.

Wal-Mart: Aside from its usual financial dominance, the retail giant also won a slight reprieve from critics by concentrating on its environmental program to reduce waste and promote sustainability - one that has served as a model for the rest of big industry.

Hummm. Last I heard Wally World was in trouble. Going green isn't going to be enough to get back in the good graces of consumers.

Facebook: The social networking site hit its stride this year, becoming a must-join among business people. It was able to address users’ concerns about privacy swiftly and managed to preserve its loyal following, as well as snag a $240 million investment from Microsoft.

Ok...so I'm a Facebook member--they got me. What else can I say.

And those that “sunk” in 2007:

Sears Holdings: This year, the owner of the Sears and Kmart retail stores announced a 99% drop in third-quarter profits from $196 million to just $2 million year over year. It will certainly have to do better if it ever hopes to compete again with the likes of Wal-Mart and Target.

Is Kmart still around?

Mattel: While its stock price wasn’t severely damaged by this year’s toy recalls, the hit to its reputation is inevitable.

Forget talking to strangers kids. The predator is sitting right in your playroom.

Ampd Mobile: One of the worst tech collapses since the dot bomb, the cell phone company filed for bankruptcy in June, letting a $360 million investment go to waste.

Never heard of them. Maybe that's why they aren't doing so well.

Britney Spears: Spears made such a mess of her life in 2007 that a judge awarded unemployed ex-husband K-Fed custody of their kids. Lowlights include numerous panty-less exits from cars, a head shaving, and the infamous dead-in-the-eyes performance at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The image on her homepage is not one of virtue. This is one sad example of a life and career in trouble. My suggestion is to clean up your act or at least do your dirty deeds away from the cameras. Moving out of Los Angeles would be a huge step forward in restoration.

Citigroup: Getting caught up in the sub-prime fallout, it not only posted a $6.4 billion loss, but CEO Chuck Prince was forced to resign. It announced plans to lay off more than 40,000, and its stock continues to tumble.

Their websites says home loans are easy as 1, 2, 3. Maybe they gave them out a little too easily.

Article Source: BNET
Photo Source: Flickr.com