Thursday, 25 April 2013

Ever Wanted to Be On TV? Here’s Your Chance


We’ve added some cool swag – perks, gifts, give-a-ways – to our On-Demand Internet Television crowdfunding project, including an all expense paid trip for you and a friend to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to appear in a television show!

If you’ve always wanted to appear on TV, or just want a vacation in one of the cleanest, friendliest and most exciting big cities in the world – here’s your chance.

We really are sick and tired of not finding anything good on television, and we want to change that.

How do we change that?

We ask YOU what you want to see.

No joke.
We’ll have discussion forums, where you can suggest a show idea, discuss and debate show ideas, and the shows which get enough interest could eventually end up being produced by our award-winning production teams, and shown exclusively on our hip and trendy new network.

And because our network is on-demand, you can watch what you want, when you want, and where you want.
But we can’t do any of this without support from YOU.

So, if you are also sick and tired of never finding anything good on television, please support our On-Demand Internet Television crowdfunding project.

Thank you for making On-Demand Internet Television matter.

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Why Television As We Know It Must Change


When television first broadcast black and white signals several decades ago, life was simple.
Families were used to spending time together, gathered around the radio listening to radio shows, and naturally did the same when television first entered our living rooms.

Times have certainly changed.

Many families have so many televisions at home, they rarely, if ever watch anything together.
And even if they only have one television, because of the Internet and the ease of streaming video, even single TV homes rarely gather ‘round the tube, watching television.

This fragmentation of audiences is the big reason On-Demand Internet Television is the wave of the future.

Family members don’t scatter after dinner because they can’t stand each other – at least we hope they don’t.

NO.

They scatter because of their individual interests, which mean they all like to watch different things on television.

And On-Demand Internet Television provides the ability for everyone – Mom, Dad, the kids, even the dog if he has a favorite show – to all be easily entertained, each with their own show.

On-Demand Internet Television provides a narrowcasting model, where you the viewers discuss, debate and ultimately vote on the shows you want to see.

Broadcast television stations have been losing viewers since streaming videos on the net became a past time. Today, they are at a tipping point, where if they don’t get into the speciality narrowcasting market, they’ll eventually disappear.

Though how they will go about doing just that remains to be seen, as their entire business model wraps around a broad audience, not a narrowcasted fragmented one.

Maybe that’s why On-Demand Internet Television matters? 

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Circumcising Your Own Cord – Doesn’t Have to Hurt


Millions have cut the cord with their cable or satellite providers across the globe – and you can too.

And you know what?

It doesn’t hurt.

Really.

For years big corporations have forced us to order channels we never wanted, because they bundled them together in packages.

For even the cheapest channel you don’t watch, that’s many dollars wasted.

Far worse, after a hard day’s work, when you just want to fall into the comfy confines of your favorite easy chair and watch a little television to relax, you can easily get frustrated flipping around, just trying to find something worthwhile to watch.

You don’t have to be a victim to bad television anymore.


On-Demand Internet Television is a crowdfunding project, to create the world’s first Internet-based television network, which shows what you want to watch, available at anytime and from any connected device.

How does a television network know what you want to watch?

Through forums and discussion groups, viewers are encouraged to provide show concepts and ideas, which will be discussed among the greater viewer-base.

Shows which receive a lot of viewer support will be created, and placed on-demand online.
So you really can have a say in what is available on television.

And finally, after a long hard day at work, when you collapse into your favorite chair, and switch on your television, there will be something on just for you!

You have the power of choice.

Exercise your power.

Make On-Demand Internet Television Matter.


It won’t happen without YOU.

Monday, 22 April 2013

So What Is On-Demand Internet Television?

Millions have already cut the cord with their cable or satellite providers, and are enjoying television anytime, and on any device they have via on-demand services over the Internet.

Problem with many of these on-demand services, is they serve up the same distasteful menu of Reality TV, sitcoms, game shows, and even re-runs of once great shows, but nothing new, and original.

And when they do their own programming, just because it receives rave reviews from the television critics, doesn’t mean you are going to like it.

Television is like food – we all have different tastes.

Some like it spicy, others run to the bathroom at the mere thought.
The same goes for television shows. Actually, it’s even more so for television – we all have such varied and unique interests, hobbies, career aspirations – so naturally we’ll all have very different tastes in what we like to watch on television.

That’s the magic of our crowdfundng project – we open up the discuss forums, giving you a voice.

Be heard – tell us what YOU want to see on television.

If enough people get talking about it, we’ll create the show – and FINALLY there will be something YOU want to watch on television.

Even better, because it’s on-demand over the Internet, YOU can watch it when you want too, and on any connected device.

So while waiting in line at the grocery story, you can be watching your favorite show on your mobile phone, and thanks to cloud-based computing, you can continue watching your favorite show after you put your groceries away on your connected big screen television in your living room!

All of this can only happen with YOU.

So please help us make on-demand Internet television possible. DONATE to our crowdfunding project NOW – we’ve got some great gifts as our way of saying ‘thank you.’

Once you’ve made your contribution, don’t forget to spread the word – the more people that know we exist, the better. Tell EVERYONE you know via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest – whatever social network you are on – please share this link. 

Thank you for making On-Demand Internet Television matter.

Boston Tragedy a Signal of a Society on the Edge


The Boston Marathon incident was a horrible day, for the runners, their friends and families cheering them on, those just hanging out to watch, and ultimately the whole Greater Boston Area.

But it signals a disturbing trend in North America, which if our politically-correct politicians in both Canada and the United States don’t take a stand on soon, things will get worse.

Canada and the United States of America used to be great places to live, work and play.

We had a sense of pride, living in the freedom to be anything you wanted, safe, and secure from the economic and political unrest which many other nations unfortunately suffer from.

However, that freedom was broken by the tragedy in Boston. When law enforcement officers have to shut down an entire major urban center, no longer can we say we are safe and secure from those political and economic demons which plague other nations.
When people are told to stay at home, and not answer their doors unless the person is in an official uniform from the state, we are living in a society on the edge of falling into the abyss of despair, and ultimately doom.

Governments across North America have dropped the ball, allowing political correctness usurp sound judgement in the running of nations.
Both the federal governments of Canada and the United States have let immigration policies slide to such a degree, anyone – even those who want to destroy us – are being warmly welcomed here.

Want proof?

Just look at those responsible for the death and destruction in Boston – they were Americans, born elsewhere, but now living in the States.

Not everyone coming to Canada and the States is happy to be here. Though most of these people aren’t going to blow up innocent people at a public gathering.

They come here for the better standard of living, but because they really miss home, they fail to learn any of our languages, don’t do business with anyone that doesn’t speak their native tongue, and don’t let their kids play with anyone that doesn’t look just like them.

Although the Boston incident was horrific, what’s worse on a greater scale, and ultimately more deathly to the foundations and principles of what makes any society, are those warmly welcomed into that society, that fail to actively participate in it.
This has been going on for decades in Canada, and is just starting to come to the surface in the States.

Recently, Canada’s largest bank, The Royal Bank of Canada(RBC) was in the spotlight, for importing contractors from other countries, having the Canadians in those jobs train those people, and then firing those Canadians, as the very people they trained took their jobs.

All of those imported workers came over through eased federal government programs, which enables them to live and work in Canada – despite the fact they were directly taking jobs away from Canadian citizens.

When big banks import workers, they bring people in at substandard wages, subsidized by the federal government.

So although these new immigrants have jobs, they don’t have the great salaries which once came with those jobs, so essentially they are tossed into a life of poverty in a first world country.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes either – which is why most of these imported workers never learn English or French, so they can’t interact with Canadians, and they tell their kids not to play with Canadians.
They live in a society in which they feel as much an outsider as those Canadians that have to interact with them.

So of course they are going to be bitter, angry and unsettled in this nation – and this angst further erodes the core of what was once the very basis for our great land.

And those that become unstable, and decide to do harm will.

Hence Boston – and whatever follows next.

Unless our politicians stop, think and act.

Saturday, 20 April 2013

End Boredom, Get a Perk, Feel Good -- Why Not?

Yesterday I launched my very first crowdfunding project on Indiegogo -- On-Demand Internet Television.


Crowdfunding is using social media to  raise funds for anything – be it a business, a creative project, or as in my case – a bit of both. From a business start-up point of view, it’s also a great way to see if the business idea has a market, because you can see by how many fans do – or don’t – jump on board to support it either through promoting it via their social networks, contributing ideas to help it grow, or even donating to the cause to ensure it takes shape.

You may have heard of websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo – these are the biggest and most talked about crowdfunding websites out there, which help people raise funds by growing a social following of people interested in seeing their ideas happen.

Of course, there’s also something in it for the fans that donate to the cause – gifts are set at different levels of funding which encourage people interested in making the idea happen, to open up their wallets.

The On-Demand Internet Television crowdfunding project is a really cool one -- which I hope you will check out, select a perk, and even share it with your social circles to make it happen.

Help us rid the world of boredom, by creating the first television network with programming that you'll actually watch.

How do we know you'll watch it?

Check out the crowdfunding site here to learn more, and please help us make this possible by donating to the cause and sharing the site with your friends.

Over the next 50 days, I'll be using this blog to share my thoughts, feelings, successes and failures about crowdfunding the worlds first viewer created television network.

See what challenges we go through as we crowdfund -- great if you have an idea you've always wanted to try, but just don't know how to raise money to start it.

Thanks for reading this blog -- and for supporting our crowdfunding project!


Tuesday, 9 April 2013

Have You Cut the Cord?


As digital cable and satellite services increase the amount of channels on the dial, you’d think there would be more on television to watch.

Think again.

Much of the crap they serve on cable and satellite is all owned by the same giant conglomerate companies.

And what’s the fundamental business model of most giant conglomerate companies? To be cost effective – AKA – cheap.

Although you may have thousands of channels to choose from, if you really take the time to explore them, you’ll find many channels run the same shows over and over again. Other channels show old re-runs of those very same shows. And still other channels lack anything that interests you.

It’s how these giant conglomerate corporations save money, while providing the illusion of vast and varied programming.
And it’s why between 10-15 percent of North American’s are “cutting the cord” with their cable and/or satellite providers, and switching to on-demand Internet television.

On-demand Internet television is always fresh – it costs a fraction to produce high quality shows as the giant conglomerate companies, and it’s made just for you.

Really.

NO.

Really.

On-demand Internet television is a smaller market, so the shows are created for very narrow demographic groups, which means you are much more likely to find the shows you really want to watch.

Instead of flipping through an endless stream of repeated syndicated and stale programming.

So if you haven’t cut the cord yet – what are you waiting for?

Monday, 8 April 2013

The Iron Lady is No More


Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher passed away from a stroke – she was 87.

I remember the Iron Lady – given that nickname by the tabloid British press for her unwavering stance on her economic policies which at the time caused protests in the United Kingdom, but were hailed as revolutionary and necessary changes by the leaders of Canada, the States and even the former Soviet Union.

Ah, the former USSR – or Soviet Union. When Baroness Thatcher was Prime Minister, the world was a very different place.

Thatcher’s Conservative Prime Minister reign ran from 1979 to 1990, right through the Cold War, and long before cell phones, smartphones, tablets and most of the mobile devices we take for granted today existed.

The Cold War was a frightful period for the world. It was a time when the world’s superpowers – The United States of America and the Soviet Union – were constantly at loggerheads over the way the world should be run, and at anytime, the world was ready to take cover from a nuclear strike by either superpower.

Or as ready as you could realistically be for the end of the world.

Fear over a nuclear holocaust was real. If you look back at the movies of the time, many were either about such a holocaust, or the fear of coming to the brink of such a holocaust, as the trigger-happy American’s edged closer to “DEFCON 1” – the codename used to signal the start of a nuclear war.

There was a now legendary tale about how a flock of Canadian Geese raised the DEFCON threat levels, when they showed up on NORAD’s radar, but failed to identify themselves, despite the NORAD commander’s urgent calls on the radio.

Luckily, a couple of F-16 fighter pilots were dispatched, and once they saw it was a flock of birds and not missiles or enemy fighter planes, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, maybe even had a bit of a chuckle.

Yes, Margaret Thatcher’s Iron Lady stance governed through some very interesting times. She worked on the world stage with other charismatic characters, trying to balance the power while maintaining the peace in very uncertain times.

If a flock of Canadian Geese could set off alarm bells, it’s any wonder how we somehow managed to avoid a nuclear war.

Or is it?

Before the world of instant always on and always available communications, the true test of political leadership was character.

Back in Margaret Thatcher’s time, email, cell phones, smartphones and other mobile devices just didn’t exist. So what really made a leader a great leader, was compassion, empathy, honesty, and above all else, being charismatic and an exceptional communicator.

Margaret Thatcher certainly was on par with the other great leaders of the time – American President Ronald Reagan (who’s nickname was “the great communicator,”) and the deep voiced and chiselled chin Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who’s sense of humor often stole the show at press events where all three were in attendance.

The ever prim and proper Margaret Thatcher was like the stern but loving mother, keeping President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney on track and out of trouble.

The Cold War has long since ended, and the type of leadership our world needs has since changed forever.

However, the compassion, empathy, honesty and charismatic communications of the Iron Lady will be missed, in our new world of social media, and always on digital communications.

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Are Canada’s Scientists Being Silenced?


The Canadian government is muzzling scientists, according to a complaint filed by Democracy Watch and a western Canadian university’s environmental law clinic earlier this year.

The nation’s information commissioner has confirmed her office’s investigation into the complaints.

The complaint claims Canadian scientists are being “muzzled” by being forced to request permission from numerous federal departments prior to talking to any media outlets.

The 26-page complaint (with over a 100 pages of appendices) alleges this breaches the Access to Information Act.

In an era when it’s virtually impossible to keep anything public private, thanks to social media, this complaint at first seems silly – as if the scientists just don’t want to have to fill out all the paperwork to report their findings.

However, this complaint isn’t just about the paperwork – it’s about freedom of speech and reporting on environmental issues which affect us all.
We’ve seen big businesses and government use this tactic to quash media attention from controversial issues before.

Cigarette companies used the tactic to try and convince us that their products were actually good for us – which we now painfully know is hogwash.

By forcing mounds of paper upon anyone requesting information, the cigarette companies made it almost impossible to learn the true dangers of smoking.

The Soviet government made it hard for journalists to find reliable information about most things during the Cold War, often forcing mountains of paper to be filed, which made it too time consuming to get and report on anything out of that part of the world.


Really?!?!

Canada isn’t a communistic country, and freedom of speech and access to government has always been something Canadians never worried about.

It just is unheard of.

Hopefully, the Canadian government is not trying to stall environmental research, by delaying or denying scientists access to the press, and to each other’s reports.

Because if that is what really is going on – it’s not just a dark day for science in Canada – but a hurricane of hurt for free speech everywhere.

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Where Do You Watch It?


Remember the old days, when you had to rush home to catch your favorite show on TV?

People would literally dash out of social functions with friends to turn on their television, sit in the dark, alone, and watch their favorite show.

That was if they were polite. Some would just tune into their favorite shows wherever they were, often without asking the host first!

The VCR certainly changed that – but they weren’t fool-proof, occasionally eating a tape, or if there wasn’t enough tape left you’d miss the end of whatever you were recording.

Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) also called Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) have made the recording of television shows almost fool-proof. Almost. If there’s a power failure, or your cable or satellite service goes down, there still is nothing you can do.

That’s where the power of on-demand Internet Television comes into the picture – pardon the pun. It’s on-demand, so you don’t have to worry about missing anything, because you choose when and where you watch.

And because it’s on the Internet, you can be just about anywhere in the world – so long as you have access to the net.
Over 15 percent of Canadian households claimed they got most of their television via on-demand digital media last year. That number is expected to climb to well over 40% over the next decade, and could even go as high as 60% by some estimates.

No longer do you have to run home to ensure your PVR catches your favorite show.
You can be anywhere and watch.

From your bathroom, a party at a friend’s place, work, or even in the park.

Toss in cloud-based computing technologies, and you have some cool television tech – it gives you the ability to continue watching on-demand Internet Television exactly where you left off, somewhere else and on a completely different device!

So that show you were watching on your iPhone during lunch but only got halfway through can be viewed right where you left off, on your connected large screen TV in your living room at home after work!

Though being able to watch on-demand Internet television anywhere can raise eyebrows too.
Listening to someone chatter on their mobile device while in the bathroom stall next to you is awkward enough. Overhearing them watching a television show while they do their “business” is downright dirty.

Not all content available on-demand is suitable for children. As some bus riders found last year, when a man began watching an adult movie on his tablet while on the bus.

Televisions across the globe have been used for years by couples to avoid contact during arguments. With on-demand Internet Television, those arguments can be extended to public spaces, as people continue to avoid each other by streaming their “distractions” on their mobile devices so they don’t have to actually talk to each other.

Speaking of public spaces, society already has become more anti-social, as we spend more time with our mobile devices, than with each other, even in social settings. Just go into any coffee shop that has free Wi-Fi, and you’ll see most people are busy watching their mobile devices, instead of interacting with each other.

Used to be, coffee shops were a great place for singles to mix and mingle, because you could easily go up to a stranger, and have a nice conversation over a couple of hot beverages.

Mobile devices have become gatekeepers in a sense, making it harder to approach someone that you can’t make eye contact with, because they never look up from their mobile device.
Still, it’s better than listening to someone watch TV in the bathroom.

Damn that flushing toilet – now I’ll never know what happened to JR!