Free Republic

How much would you pay to watch a replay of a great play, or skip a bunch of television commercials? And should you have to? Those are a couple of the questions raised by a newly surfaced Microsoft patent application. It’s called “Control-based Content Pricing,” and the basic idea is dynamic pricing of video content, based on the preferences of the user at any given moment — essentially setting different prices for different functions of the TV remote. Here’s an excerpt from the filing. For example, if a user initiates a navigation control input to advance past (e.g., skip over)...

Photography related ads from 1880 into the 1990s.

(scroll down, toward the bottom) One way to put a stop to the left-stream news media's blatant and obvious bias is to file lawsuits changing their status from "the press" to a political contribution group of some sort or another. Federal law currently specifies many of their actions be severely curtailed during the 60 days prior to the November elections, forcing them to shut down. Larry Pierson

Many of us have noticed how progressive journalists use the word 'unexpectedly'. They do it month after month. Al Reuters has an article from last week that uses this word. Yet again, after all this time. What these are, are campaign advertisements. From the media, to Obama.(most of us know this instinctively) It's a fair question to ask. And if enough of us ask it, maybe we could find out just how much the media donates to it's preferred candidates.

First, congratulations to the Who Dats...the New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Champions? Maybe I am living in an alternate reality like those guys on Lost... Anyway, more importantly, what were the best ads on Super Bowl Night? My personal list...

Best of Ads, Worst of Ads In Pitching Products This Past Year, Gorilla Worked, but Guerrilla Didn't By SUZANNE VRANICA December 27, 2007; Page B1 Green is the new black. Madison Avenue tried to curry favor with consumers this year by coloring products and brands with an environmental tint. A long list of companies such as General Electric Co., Chevron Corp. and Home Depot Inc. all jumped on the eco-friendly bandwagon. One Toyota Motor Corp. ad featured a Prius being created from straw, twigs and other natural elements. The gasoline-electric hybrid car is built up and then fades back into...

Transportation was a hot subject during the recent legislative session - and it continues to be so in the interim. This week, several Texas lawmakers, Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson and state Reps. Joe Farias, David Leibowitz, Nathan Macias and others held a press conference in San Antonio in protest against current transportation policy and the Texas Department of Transportation. Key among their concerns are recent reports the state agency has launched a public relations plan to promote the Trans-Texas Corridor and to lobby for toll roads. Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom founder Terri Hall is among those criticizing...

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of advertisements for medicines on TV. These ads have a number of features in common. First, they have an individual (carefully selected to match the target market for the drug) or a group of people (also in the target market) engaged in a stereotypical happy or active pursuit. One of the group usually is singled out, as suffering from some condition or other. Then the voice over recommends medicine X, available only by prescription. The trade name is given, then a scientific, medical-sounding name, which is in fact NOT the scientific name. (*)...

“Fit Right In” Ad Script: MICHAEL STEELE: I’m Michael Steele and I approved this message. BEN CARDIN: I’ve stood up to the drug companies. TEXT: …but CARDIN took $89,000 from Drug Companies. BEN CARDIN: I’ve stood up to the oil companies. TEXT: Cardin’s taken oil and gas money for 20 YEARS. BEN CARDIN: I’ve stood up to the insurance industry. TEXT: Cardin’s taken $563,267 from insurance companies. BEN CARDIN: I’m proud of my record. TEXT: Cardin’s taken more special interest money that any Maryland Senator. EVER. BEN CARDIN: Judge me on my record. TEXT: Ben Cardin won’t change Washington. He’ll...

And you thought those people that set up roomfulls of dominos to knock over were amazing... There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film. Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you see it. The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work. They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions. The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete including...

WASHINGTON -- In an early sign of the imagery that may flood the nation's television screens as congressional elections approach this fall, a conservative political group closely aligned with the Bush administration has launched a blitz of television ads to shore up sagging public support for the war in Iraq. The television commercials feature vivid portraits of smoke pouring from the World Trade Center and the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Madrid and London as veterans of the Iraq war and parents of fallen soldiers make the case for continuing the U.S. military campaign in Iraq.

The night sky could soon be lit up with gigantic three-dimensional adverts, thanks to a Japanese laser display that creates glowing images in thin air. The system is being developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Tokyo, in collaboration with Burton Inc and Keio University. “We believe this technology may eventually be used in applications ranging from pyrotechnics to outdoor advertising,” says a spokesman for AIST. According to Burton Inc, the technology might also be used for emergency distress signals or even temporary road signs. The display utilises an ionisation effect which occurs when...

CONCORD, N.H. - Six newspapers in New Hampshire have agreed to stop running real estate ads that suggest children aren't welcome at the properties following complaints that the ads violated federal law. Several dozens landlords and real estate agents also agreed to stop placing ads targeting adult tenants and to submit future ads to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for review. Federal law prohibits landlords from discriminating against children. The ads included promotions like "one mature person," "quiet adult location" and "great for a single person." They are discriminatory because they make it harder for families to...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Next month's Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix will be the last time cigarette companies will be able to use the romance of racing to sell their tobacco products in Malaysia. Health activists here can at least in part thank the World Health Organization's treaty on tobacco control, which goes into effect Sunday in 40 countries, for prompting the new limits on advertising. Malaysia is joining a growing list of nations that severely restrict tobacco sponsorship of sporting events - long a favorite publicity playground of cigarette sellers - for public health reasons. The new anti-tobacco rules...

Farenhype911 and other films were shown at a Conservative Film Festival in California. Films about the reaction of VietNam POW's to Senator Kerry's spew and so forth. Can anyone help me find a way to view and eventually purchase these films? I think we all ought to have watched or maybe even own these films. Thank you, in advance for any help.

Why are the Big Media savaging the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth? Why are the Kerryites telling us to move on and debate the real issues--health care, education, the economy? Because they know this could kill John Kerry's candidacy. Because they know this is not just about Vietnam, but also about the credibility and character of the man who would be President. I have followed Kerry since he became famous. In 1971, I urged Nixon not to enforce Chief Justice Burger's order to remove Kerry's Vietnam vets from the Mall. We don't want another Bonus Army episode, I told the...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Compulsive Australian gamblers seeking help from Gamblers Anonymous are being hit with online casino pop-up advertisements when they visit the Web site of the self-help group, the Daily Telegraph newspaper says. Australians gambled away a record $11 billion in the year to June 2002 -- nearly two percent of gross domestic product and slightly more than the nation's defense budget, according to national statistics released late last year. "This is when they least need that temptation. They are reaching out for support. Suddenly cues that allow them to gamble are there," Louise Sharpe, director of the University...

<p>Everyone knew that Google was gunning for e-mail. A Web-based e-mail offering from the Net's most popular search engine to compete with Yahoo! ( ) and Microsoft's ( ) MSN unit had long been rumored. Still, when Google announced on Mar. 31 that it was testing Gmail, a free e-mail service, eyebrows in cyberspace shot up. According to top Google executives, Gmail would offer users a full gigabyte of storage with the intention of allowing them to keep their e-mail on Google forever. That's 500 times more free storage than MSN offers and 250 times more than Yahoo, Google's chief competitor.</p>

My (generally liberal) brother sent the following to me and to others touting this site as an objective, nonpartisan resource for evaluating campaign commercials. My question is this: does anyone here know how "nonpartisan" these folks really are? -----original e-mail------- Hi- Got this from a friend, looks like a good site to get the straight scope on both sides of campaign adds: Campaigns already this ugly, you know it's only going to get worse. Regardless of your political leanings, I *highly* recommend looking at http://www.factcheck.org. This service is based out of the www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org University of Pennsylvania from the Annenberg Public...

Ads Backwards by Mark J. Penn Only at TNR Online Post date: 03.12.04 In his first barrage of ads--released yesterday and last week--President Bush has chosen to focus on the two issues where he remains most popular: terrorism and taxes. His ads have featured shots of Ground Zero, images of soldiers, and, in the newest ads unveiled yesterday, shadowy (and dark-skinned) figures who are presumably planning to do America harm. The Kerry campaign has pursued a similar strategy, focusing on issues that play to its advantage, such as Bush's perceived abandonment of the middle class. On the surface, these strategies...