Category: Programming and Podcasts

G4TTV Programming, Show Information, Podcasts, and other shows

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

The Screen Savers Schedule // 2/7 – 2/11

Mon. 2/7/2005

Channel 101, Endangered Gizmos, Lou Ferrigno

Rob Schrab of Channel101.com (“…the unavoidable future of entertainment”) talks about the website’s TV pilot-show competition. Ren Bucholz reveals the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s “Endangered Gizmos List,” and Sarah interviews former Hulkster Lou Ferrigno. Plus, we’ve got some Gems of the Internet and Dark Deals.

Tue. 2/8/2005

Mark Frauenfelder, Olympus m:robe, DVDuesday

BoingBoing.net co-founder Mark Frauenfelder talks about his latest endeavor, Make Magazine — “The First Magazine for Technology Projects.” We also take a look at the Olympus m:robe MP3 player, and DVDTalk.com’s Kim Morgan runs down her list of this week’s biggest DVD releases.

Wed. 2/9/2005

The Forehead Guy, Web-Browsing Spy, MS Paint Portraits

Andrew Fischer, the 20-year-old fellow who auctioned off his forehead on eBay, tells us what’s it’s like to be a human advertisement. Kevin R. presents a Dark Tip on spying on the web-browsing traffic on your
network, and we check in on our User Created challenge for MS Paint portraits of “What’s Behind the Orange Door.” Plus, Kevin P.’s got a game download to share.

Thurs 2/10/2005

Strindberg and Helium, iPod Cramming, Rebecca Ryiz

Eun-ha Paek and James Bewely of San Francisco comedy troupe Killing My Lobster talk about their online cartoon, “Strindberg and Helium.” We also show you how to squeeze more songs onto your iPod. Plus, it’s LAN Party Thursday as we play World of Warcraft with special guest, pro gamer Rebecca “Wabi Sabi” Ryiz.

Fri. 2/11/2005

Pauly Shore, iPod shuffle Speaker, Ponder

Pauly Shore drops in to promote his new DVD, “Pauly Shore is Dead.” We figure out how to attach a speaker to the new iPod shuffle, Sarah reviews the weekend’s new movies, and our Live Music Friday performer
is rock band Ponder.

(Pauly Shore was to be on last Thursday TSS show)

****** TSS Weekend ******

Sat. 2/12/2005 — 11am ET / 8am PT

Channel 101, Endangered Gizmos, Lou Ferrigno — 2/7/2005 Show

Sun. 2/13/2005 — 12am ET / 9pm PT

The Forehead Guy, Web-Browsing Spy, MS Paint Portraits — 2/9/2005
Show

3am ET / 12am PT

Pauly Shore, iPod shuffle Speaker, Ponder — 2/11/2005 Show

11am ET / 8am PT

Mark Frauenfelder, Olympus m:robe, DVDuesday — 2/8/2005 Show

Categories
People Programming and Podcasts

Behind the Scenes at X-Play

Avi Adir, G4 employee and owner of the blog “@” [ http://aviadir.com/blog/ ] shares this morning some videos from behind the scenes at X-Play. They’re an amusing watch, go over to his blog and check em out!

[ http://aviadir.com/blog/index.php?p=118 ]

Categories
Opinion Programming and Podcasts

G4TechTV Switches Name Back to G4

In a press release earlier today, G4 finally stopped kidding itself (and us for that matter) and formally announced it’s name as G4 – Video Game Television. It’s a move that everyone expected from the getgo, finally putting the last nail in the coffin that holds the fond memories we all remember as TechTV, and signing away any hopes that G4 would hang on to any of the technology they absorbed during the merger.

Considering the only programming left from the TechTV side of the merger at this point are The Screen Savers, XPlay and Anime Unleashed, and even holdouts like Robot Wars reruns and Future Fighting Machines got canned, this shouldn’t really surprise anyone, but it’s still saddening to see this kind of corporate deception at work, and to see exactly how deeply the lies told during the merger extend.

The press release: [ http://www.g4techtv.com/html/about/press/showrelease.asp?pressrelease_key=64 ]

So where to go from here? Well, the majority of the press release discusses Forumla D, a racing show apparently, and Girls Gone Wired, an idea stolen shamelessly from Unscrewed that apparently they decided deserved it’s own entire show when Unscrewed for some unknown reason, did not. Here’s hoping that he name TechTV gets shopped around and hopefully bought, and someone else decides to put some technology programming on television, but it’s more likely that Comcast will just sit on the rights for spite’s sake.

And what about TSS and X-Play? And even Anime Unleashed? Well, Anime Unleashed probably won’t go anywhere-they’ll try to compete with Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and Toonami and they’ll try to stay in the game against Anime Network and other anime-airing networks; although it remains to be seen if they’ll invest in new Anime licenses. TSS? Well, it’s only a matter of time before they shelve it entirely. Viewership is plummeting and no one’s interested anymore-they can’t even create a decent in-game flash mob or bring down a site when they mention it on air anymore, even though it’s better now than it was after the merger. And X-Play? Still the channel’s flagship ratings cow, it probably won’t go anywhere in the near future.

But these are all just my predictions, and as always, I could be very wrong.

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

The Screen Savers Schedule // 1/10 – 1/14

All New TSS Show This Week ………..

Mon. 1/10/2005

Thomas “Thunder” Keller, iPod Tattoos, Graphic Novels

Thomas “Thunder” Keller, youngest Gold Bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker, talks about the common ways people try to cheat, online poker, and how to win a seat in the World Poker Tour. We show
you how to create an online RPG “mob storm,” staffers share their favorite graphic novels, and we create some of our own HP iPod tattoos. Plus, Chi-Lan visits a Simple Plans music video shoot.

Tues. 1/11/2005

Frank Rose, TiVo Desktop, “Mercenaries”

Wired magazine columnist Frank Rose talks about the new world of television over the Internet and what it may mean for the TV industry. We demonstrate TiVo Desktop software, play with the new
game “Mercenaries” with its producer, and we try on some Transformer costumes that really transform. Plus, it’s DVD Super Tuesday, and DVDTalk.com’s Kim Morgan gives us her picks of the coolest titles.

Wed. 1/12/2005

EFF’s Ren Bucholz, Skype, Altoids Mods

Electronic Frontier Foundation activist Ren Bucholz lets us know what’s legal and what’s not in the ever-advancing world of digital media. We show you the many ways you can mod an Altoids tin box to
suit your iPod’s digital lifestyle, we check out Skype’s voice-over-Internet abilities by calling international payphones, and Sarah demonstrates the Alien Clock (as seen on “Star Trek Deep Space
Nine!”).

Thurs. 1/13/2005

Hong Kong Cinema, MacWorld, Gaming Gloves

Ross Chan, founder of LoveHKFilm.com, gives us a primer on the Hong Kong cinema scene and tells us what films to catch. We try out Gameskinz’ neoprene “gaming gloves,” join the Society for Handheld
Hushing, and visit the annual MacWorld convention in San Francisco, the ultimate event for all Mac geeks. Kevin R. also checks in on his ongoing chemistry experiment (also known as TSS beer). Plus, it’s LAN
Party Thursday with a round of “Battlefield: 1942,” and this week’s guest will be sure to annihilate all comers: professional gamer Fatal1ty.

Fri. 1/14/2005

Virtual Clay, Destroy Your Data, MacWorld

University of Buffalo researcher Thenkurussi Kesavadas demonstrates the Virtual Reality Lab’s “virtual clay” system, which allows you to model real clay and transfer the shapes into software-based clay. Kevin R. delivers a Dark Tip on how to destroy your data – literally – with such handy household items as thermite and acid. We conclude our visit to the MacWorld convention in San Francisco, staffers pick
their favorite video games from independent studios, and Sarah reviews the weekend’s new movies.

****** TSS Weekend ****** ###### New Times ########

Sat. 1/15/2005 — 11am ET / 8am PT

Thomas “Thunder” Keller, iPod Tattoos, Graphic Novels — 1/10/2005

Sun. 1/16/2005 — 12am ET / 9pm PT , 3am ET / 12am PT

EFF’s Ren Bucholz, Skype, Altoids Mods — 1/12/2005

11am ET / 8am PT

Frank Rose, TiVo Desktop, “Mercenaries”

schedule courtesy of Paul (nightone001)

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

MSTechTV Debunked…Again

Well, unfortunately my instincts proved correct and the whole MSTechTV thing, as pleasant a pipe dream as it may be, was nothing more than that, just a pipe dream. Both of the aforementioned blogs have posted statements retracting the confirmation of a pending launch of MSTechTV, for one reason or another.

Evan (samureye), who confirmed the reports earlier today, gracefully backed out by first pointing out in his original post that hey-he’s a kid with a blog and really knows nothing, but tries to collect information as he gets it; and then later posted saying he fell for the hype and apologized for anyone who fell for it too. Mike, author of Techified, however, claimed that the entire post was a prank that a friend of his played on him, but he mixes attack methods by first saying that he changed his password (implying his friend cracked his account) and then mentioning a DDOS attack. Which was it? Who knows. Was it really a prank? I doubt it.

If his website was cracked, then how did said person a: update Mike’s blog, b: send an email to the Long_Live_TechTV group about the scoop, and c: participate in a minor comment war between his blog and Evan’s blog? Hmm. Anyway, real motives remain unclear, but that’s not important. The soap opera is over, and TechTV fans know for sure now that Microsoft is not coming to their rescue with a new TechTV-like channel, at least not in the near or forseeable future.

Techtified (Mike) Retraction: [ http://techtified.blogspot.com/2005/01/mstv-mistake.html ]
Evan’s Retraction: [ http://samureye.blogspot.com/2005/01/okay-forget-what-i-said-in-my-last.html ]
[ http://samureye.blogspot.com/2005/01/mstechtv_06.html ]

In my opinion, this points to two more important lessons. One: Don’t expect someone else to come down from on high and give you what you want like a gift from the heavens. If you want technology programming, make it happen; like Chris Pirillo is with the Chris Pirillo Show(more info on that later); and hopefully like we’ll eventually do here at TechTVForver. Two: If this were the case, what would we want out of technology programming? Would we just want someone to rehash TechTV and bring back what we missed? What is it that we miss about TechTV so much; the people, the shows, or maybe the chemistry of it all? If that’s the case, then what makes us think MS TechTV would be the savior we were hoping for? Were we hoping that MSTechTV would come, hire up all of our old friends, shack them up, and pretty much resume TTV from where it left off? Hmm. Makes me think of the future of technology on television and what I-and what we-can do to help it along so we see what we WANT to see.

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

Call For Help 2.0 Returning to Aussie TV!

Well, now it looks like the United States is REALLY out in the cold. It’s been confirmed that Call For Help 2.0, currently being produced by G4TechTV Canada and being aired there much to the chagrin and jealousy of American TechTV fans, has been successfully screened and will be aired in Austrailia on the How To Channel starting on March 7th! Congratulations Aussies, you have some fine programming coming your way!

More details over at The Laporte Report:
[ http://leoville.com/blog/index.php/TLR/call-for-oz1/ ]

With any luck, the advance of CfH2.0 around the globe and the eagerness with which other markets seems to be taking the show might show some other networks here in the United States that the progam is definitely worth picking up, especially while the iron is still a bit hot. People are still unhappy over the G4TechTV merger and miss Call for Help dearly.

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

MSTechTV? Can it Be?

Well, the rumors are definitely flying over this whole MSTechTV thing.

It all started with an innocent mailing list post over at Long_Live_TechTV and in the G4 Forums saying that TechTV fans may soon be rescued by Microsoft, who saw a need for technology programming and had the funding to make it happen, and pointed to the fact that MSTechTV.com (the domain) had been purchased by an anonymous figure. Also, the original source claimed to have seen it posted somewhere on the MSDN developer boards. While most people who thought through the idea dismissed it as rubbish, the rumor didn’t die there and tons of TechTV fans are hoping to the stars that it’s actually true. Whether it is or it isn’t remains to be seen, but some people more than others seem to be keeping the rumor (or hope) alive:

[ http://techtified.blogspot.com/2005/01/breaking-newsmstechtv-confirmed.html ]
[ http://samureye.blogspot.com/2005/01/mstechtv.html ]

More people however, don’t buy it.

As for me? I’m not entirely sure what to believe, although admittedly I have to say that Leo, being in the technology and television industry, would likely know more about these things than a couple of guys with some blogs looking to scoop each other (see the insuing conflict between the blog owners on their respective pages and in comments) but anything’s possible. I’m not holding out hope on this, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Maybe TechTV Forever will jump on the bandwagon and see what information we can dig up. Stay tuned.

Categories
People Programming and Podcasts

Dan Huard: Life as a TechTV/G4 Employee

Dan Huard, who just launched his successful site a few weeks ago and is looking to be a tech writer and columnist in his own regard (best of luck Dan, we’ll keep an eye on ya) finally gets to sitting down and answering the questions that everyone’s been plaguing him with: “What was it like at G4/TechTV?” From top to bottom, Dan paints us a portrait of doing a job he loves and enjoyed getting up in the morning for, and the gradual slide and decline from the TechTV that we all knew and loved to the tripe that sits on that same channel now. He explains what was really happening behind the scenes, and to be honest, between this and Wil Wheaton’s escapades below, I’m impressed that the G4 management would be so duplicitous in decieving their viewers and audiences-tricks like using G4 staff, friends, and family only signal a network that’s not big enough to fit the britches they wish they had, and yet refuses to eat their vegetables, if you catch my drift. If not, just read: Dan’s an excellent writer.

[ http://danhuard.typepad.com/dan_huard/2004/12/life_as_techtvg.html ]

Categories
People Programming and Podcasts

Wil Wheaton Explains, “Why I Quit G4”

Good old Wil Wheaton, the guy that some of us were hoping would take the reins of TSS or any of the new merged G4TTV programming, explains why he left his position as head writer for Arena (they had writers? go figure!) and, like so many ex-G4 personalities, gives us a peek into the incompetency that is G4: TV for Gamers. Love it, love it, and thanks to Wil Wheaton for taking the time to write out his experiences on Slashdot; I was hoping that maybe he could breathe some sanity into the establishment, but it’s obvious that even with a chorus of sanity, not only will G4 not listen, but they’ll target the sane and lay them off.

Good to see Wil got out before they found a cheap reason to axe him. Read all about it over at his Slashdot journal.

[ http://slashdot.org/~CleverNickName/journal/20695 ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

X-Play X-Day Schedule

If you haven’t seen the commercials, just know it’s safe to turn your TV to G4TTV on New Years Day, especially if you’re a fan of XPlay; they’ll be showing selected episodes of X-Play all day long. They go back to some of the best themed shows of the year, and they’re pretty good ones, especially for a whole day full of just X-PLay. To read the full X-Day programming schedule, click here:

[ http://www.g4techtv.com/xplay/schedule/index_pg1.html ]

Categories
People Programming and Podcasts

Becky Worley & Roger Chang On KMAX’s Good Day Sacramento

Two people we desperately miss after The Fall are definitely Becky Worley and Roger Chang; and when we got word on the Long Live TechTV YahooGroup that the two of them would be making an appearance on Sacramento’s KMAX program “Good Day Sacramento,” we were thrilled! The program aired on Dec. 26th, and in Becky Worley’s own words:

Just wanted to let you know that Roger Chang and I are doing some computer segments on the morning of Sunday,
December 26th- It’s intended to be kinda like the old call-for-help-a-thon. We’re going to be on KMAX in Sacramento: “Good
Morning Sacramento.”

Sound completely random? you’re right! An old friend/producer from TechLive is now the E.P. at KMAX
(Brandon Mercer) and is desperate for some help and content on a slow news day. I figure it’s always good
to help someone in distress- cause then they owe you, FOR LIFE!”

Becky! Man, I miss seeing her on TV. You can watch the video of their day-after-Christmas TV appearance right here, look for “Becky Worley’s Tech Report.” Could this be a regular thing? We can only hope!

[ http://upn31.com/video/ ]

Categories
People Programming and Podcasts

Quickie: Morgan Webb

The X-Play site was recently updated with a quick interview with everyone’s favorite gamer girl and co-host of X-Play (and of course, those of us who really know our stuff remember her from her blonde days on The Screen Savers), Morgan Webb!

It’s not much to get excited about, just a quick Q and A that gives fans a peek into the mind of the mysterious Morgan Webb, who only seems to update her blog every 9 months or so (what’s up with that, Morgan? Ah well, you probably have better things to do) and has spawned such fansites as I Heart Morgan Webb, and tha rampant posting of her photo shoots that appeared in Maxim and FHM everywhere on the net. Anyway, questions include her favorite X-Play ep, and why she loves Tokyo so much:

[ http://www.g4techtv.com/xplay/features/50650/Quickie_Morgan_Webb.html ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

The Screen Savers Schedule // 12/27 – 1/2

Happy Holidays everyone! From the TechTV Forever crew to you!

//

TSS Will Return On Thurs. 1/6 & Fir 1/7 Next Week

Mon 12/27/2004

Homebrewing Dark Tips, House, LAN Party — 12/16/2004 Show

Tues. 12/28/2004

Tony Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Slashdot Killers — 12/13/2004 Show

Wed. 12/29/2004

Zap-N-Trash, Overclocked Scrubber, DVD Tuesday — 12/14/2004 Show

Thurs. 12/30/2004

Drew Curtis, SLI PCs, Lit — 12/17/2004 Show

Fri. 12/31/2004 — New Year’s Eve

No Show — G4techTV Specials: Road To G-Phoria Vol. 4 &
Players 314 Pre-Phoria

—– TSS Weekend ———-

Sat. 1/1/05 — New Year’s Day 2005

No Show — X-Day — X Play Viewer’s Choice Shows

Sun. 1/2/05 — 4pm ET / 1pm PT

Drew Curtis, SLI PCs, Lit — 12/17/2004 Show

(schedule courtesy of nightone001)

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

The Screen Savers Schedule // 12/20 – 12/26

Mon. 12/20/04

Giant Robot, Gen Con, Dishwalla, Freaks and Geeks — 12/9/2004 Show

Tues. 12/21/04

TigerDirect.com Charity PC Race, The Sun — 12/10/2004 Show

Wed. 12/22/04

Giant Robot, Gen Con, Dishwalla, Freaks and Geeks — 12/9/2004 Show

Thurs. 12/23/04

TigerDirect.com Charity PC Race, The Sun — 12/10/2004 Show

Fri. 12/24/04

Joe Bauer, SeaScooter. Free Voicemail — 12/8/2004 Show

— TSS Weekend —

Sat. 12/25/04 — (Special Time)– 1am ET / 10pm PT

Giant Robot, Gen Con, Dishwalla, Freaks and Geeks — 12/9/2004 Show

Sun 12/26/04 — 4pm ET / 1pm PT

TigerDirect.com Charity PC Race, The Sun — 12/10/2004 Show

(schedule courtesy of nightone001)