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Television's Future Could Be 'Horrible'

television Song, Dance and Destruction Made by Whedon and many of his regulars during his frustration withthe writers strike, the tale of a hapless villain/song-and-danceman sparkles with all the knowing pop culture glory of "Buffy."

But it adds new levels of comic absurdity, as Dr. Horrible, achallenging role played to perfection by Neil Patrick Harris,shares the screen with a cowboy chorus and blogs about his evilplans until he realizes the authorities can see blogs and foil saidplans. He's torn between taking over the world (he wants changejust as our candidates do) and winning the love of sweet,altruistic Penny (Felicia Day).

Vying to enter the Evil League of Evil, Dr. Horrible has a nemesis,the beefy, do-gooding cad Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion, fromWhedon's "Firefly"). And the delight isn't just in the gloriouslyconflicted Dr. Horrible but in the catchy, comic tunes the castbreaks into to advance the story. It is no faint praise to say that"Dr. Horrible" brings to mind musical episodes of "Buffy," "Scrubs"and "The Simpsons."

Kicking It Over From PC to TV

On very short notice, Whedon first put it up for free for a week inmid-July and now wants people to pay a nominal sum to see it. Overthe weekend, I became one of many propelling it totop-of-the-charts status on iTunes, the only place it is available.

The cost is US$1.99 for each of three "acts," or episodes; thewhole thing is $3.99. It took about 30 minutes to download all 500megabytes over a wireless network

. And, of course, iTunes being iTunes, I had to update the software(another 10 minutes or so) before I could even consider startingthe download.

With two cables, for picture and sound, I then plugged my laptopinto my TV and got a presentation equal to good,standard-definition TV fare. The only issue was in Act 2, with thesound lagging just behind the onscreen lip movements, like an old,dubbed Hercules movie. (The problem persisted when I tried to watchon the laptop alone, too, so it must have been in the file itself;the same thing sometimes happens when I record NBC's "The Office"to the digital video recorder.)

When You Won't Have to Kick It at All

But if it's already that simple to display iTunes (or Amazon Unboxor CinemaNow or Hulu, etc.) content on your TV screen, the eventualultimate merger can't be that far off. Just recently,

TiVo

 (Nasdaq: TIVO)  announced that YouTube  content can be seen through those digital video recorders.

You could watch "Dr. Horrible" on your iPod, to be sure, butdespite being made in a week and for less than $100,000, this is afully designed production, entirely worthy of screen real estate.

And its rapid, viral marketing

 -- which has paid off in people being willing to pay to see it anddo the work to download it -- suggests that Whedon has discoveredone portion of the video future.  

© 2008 McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. All rightsreserved.

© 2008 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.

Japanese Official Learns of Possible US Nuclear Sub Leak from ...

television Japan's foreign minister criticized his subordinates Saturday afterthey failed to notify him for nearly a full day about a potentialradioactive leak aboard a nuclear powered U.S. Navy submarine.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura says he learned about the leakfrom television news reports.

U.S. defense officials revealed Friday that a leak was found on thenuclear-powered submarine Houston after it recently cruised throughthe Pacific. During the trip, the Houston made stops in Japan, Guamand Hawaii.

Komura says ministry officials did not inform him when theyreceived word from the Pentagon because the leak posed no greatrisk. But he says his subordinates should have told him sooner sohe could have made an announcement.

The delay may be an embarrassment to the government of PrimeMinister Yasuo Fukuda, coming on the same day he had made changesto his government because of declining public support.

Officials say the amount of radioactivity or radioactive water thatcould have leaked through a faulty valve would almost be too smallto detect.

Relations between the Japanese public and the U.S. military havebeen strained in recent months by incidents of misbehaviorinvolving U.S. servicemen.

More than 10,000 people demonstrated last month against a U.S. planto base a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the city of Yokosuka.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

VOA News

 Local television add targets Mayor, Mayor disapproves

television Text size:

By Rachel GallaherWeekend Edition ProducerPublished: August 2, 2008Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory wants a 30-second ad to stop running onthe airwaves.

The candidate who is running for governor says the Alliance forNorth Carolina’s ad targets him and questions his policies.

The McCrory campaign says the ad is full of lies.

A lawyer for the McCrory campaign sent a letter to North Carolinatelevision stations asking them to stop running the ad.  Theydon’t want to take it to court.

The ad started running this past Thursday.

NBC aims for marathon Olympics

Ten years ago, when CBS held the television rights for the winter Olympics in Nagano,Japan, the network managed to broadcast 170 hours of coverage over17 days.

Beginning with Friday "s opening ceremony in Beijing, NBCUniversal, this year "s Olympic rights-holder, will attempt tochurn out 3,600 hours of coverage over a similar period.

 Inside the box: How today's television comedians made the step up ...

television Justin Lee Collins has presented five series of The Friday NightProject with Alan Carr. The show has just finished its first run asThe Sunday Night Project and will return at Christmas. After astint on MTV in 1997, his big break was presenting the StrictlyCome Dancing spin-off on BBC 3.

"My initial break was as a stand-up comedian. I got through tothe final of the BBC Comedy Awards and a week after the show wastelevised I got a call from an MTV booker. I didn't even have anagent at the time and was doing stand-up in Bristol and twopart-time jobs, selling double glazing and working in a video shop.I thought the call was a wind up.

I did a show called MTV Hot every Friday night for about eightmonths. I remember being told during the second week that my showhad the highest ratings of the entire channel, which meantsomething like 30,000 people had watched it! Apparently I hadbeaten Beavis and Butthead. Things seemed to be going well and Idid a show called Pirate TV for a while, over the summer of 1998.Then I didn't present another TV show until 2003.

I always hated stand-up. The only thing I ever got out of it wassleepless nights, but I couldn't see any other way in. Every time Igot a bit of TV I hoped I could stop doing it. I was about to get ajob in another video shop but I worked out I could earn as muchdoing 10 minutes of stand-up as I would for a whole day there. Myagent was pushing me to do as many gigs as possible, and I got backon the phones and called anybody who had ever paid me anything toperform before. It was the first time I really committed myself todoing stand-up.

I threw myself into it and I started to get noticed a bit more. In2002 I started to do some work for Bravo and in 2003 I met Alanwhen we did a few things together for Channel 4. When I was offeredThe Friday Night Project I only had one question – who wouldmy co-host be. When they said it was Alan I asked where tosign."

David Mitchell and Robert Webb are best known by their alter egos,Mark and Jeremy of Peep Show. A sixth series of the show wascommissioned earlier this year.

David Mitchell

"There's no doubt that our big break – or at least thebiggest of the medium-sized breaks, came with Peep Show. The firstseries was quite low key and I always thought it deserved a future,but it was very much hand-to-mouth. No one ever came to us andsaid: 'Right, let's have another three series'.

For the first year after I left university I was telling myself Iwas going to be a comedian without really knowing how it was done.We were doing a show at Edinburgh at 11am and there was one daywhen only two people were in the audience, one of whom was areviewer. That's when you think: 'Are we making fools of ourselveshere?'

Our agent soon started to set up meetings and our breaks reallycame from getting to know the people who worked in the business,even though we weren't known by the public. Two years down the linewe were making a living from writing comedy for shows like The 11O'Clock Show, The Jack Docherty Show and Armstrong and Miller,while trying to pitch our own things.

The hardest step is breaking in, but there are always people intelevision going around trying to find new talent. They arefrightened of missing talent that another network might pick up.Rob and I got our material in front of them by doing our Edinburghshows every year. I would have faced rejection for a lot longerthan I did before giving up. Had I still not got where I am now, 10years on, I'm not entirely sure I would have given up yet."

Robert Webb

"David and I were first on television together on a BBC showcalled Comedy Nation. We played a couple of advertising executivescoming up with a new car ad, which was highly derivative from Fryand Laurie. It was produced by Phil Clarke, who later produced thefirst series of Peep Show on Channel 4.

We learnt a lot as comedy writers before Peep Show came along. Thefirst series went out very quietly, and we were amazed anddelighted to get a second series. In 2006 our BBC2 sketch show ThatMitchell and Webb Look and Peep Show went out in the same year. Wealso did the Apple ad, Magicians and a national tour. Possibly withthe Apple stuff there was a wee bit of overexposure, but it is verydifficult to turn any of those things down.

There are some fairly traditional routes into television. UnlikeDavid who isn't as hellbent as I am, I went to Cambridge just to bein the Footlights. Then we did Edinburgh and got an agent. The mostimportant thing is to practise. You have to keep doing it and findways to get people to see you. Then you'll end up on a list ofpeople who commissioners call up when they are looking for newperformers. There are so few people who can do it really, reallywell that the commissioners just follow the talent. They don't knowwhat the zeitgeist is, they just follow the creative people andbrilliantly say: 'We're looking for the next Office', when TheOffice was kicked around for years."

Jason Manford is a team captain on Channel 4's topical quiz comedyshow 8 Out of 10 Cats and host of Tonightly, a platform for newcomic performers which started last Friday. It is running for 16consecutive nights and promises "satirical news, comment andall round silliness".

"The first television I did was on the first series of JohnnyVegas's Ideal three years ago, and I think he was using everycomedian in Manchester at the time.

I started doing stand-up when I was 17 and then I trained to be anactor at Salford University, the same course Peter Kay did. As soonas I left uni I was doing stand-up full time, but my first bigsuccess was in 2005 when I was nominated for the Perrier Award atmy first year at Edinburgh. I had worked hard on the show for acouple of years and all the TV people are on the Perrier judgingpanel so that was probably the catalyst for getting televisionwork. Making 400 people a night laugh doing stand-up is a goodliving and I wouldn't do just anything to be on television. I onlywant to do stuff I would watch myself, and I've been offered thingswhich I decided weren't for me, like Big Brother's Big Mouth whenRussell Brand left. I was a guest on 8 Out of 10 Cats first and hada bit of a to do with Piers Morgan.

When Dave Spikey decided he wanted to leave they asked me to takeover as captain. For every telly producer who thinks you'rebrilliant, you'll find an audience who tells you you're not. My dadwill tell me when my jokes aren't funny, and that helps me keep myfeet on the ground. For the new show, Tonightly, it has been reallyrefreshing to meet people who haven't been doing stand-up for thatlong and like me are still excited by the cameras – there area lot of bitter people knocking about."

Laura Patch and Dolly Jones met three years ago on the celebrityimpression show Star Stories. They started writing together andhave just made a one-off for Funny Cuts, an E4 initiative for newcomedy talent.

Laura Patch

"Star Stories was definitely my big break. That's where Dollyand I met. We started writing together and went to the productioncompany Baby Cow and they nurtured us. The first series came out inSeptember 2006. It's a mixed bag of actors doing loose impressionsof the stars. You might do Paris Hilton as Marilyn Monroe. Theformula is that whoever the episode is about is naive and innocent.For example, Kate Moss might just fall on a line of cocaine. BeforeStar Stories I was doing stand-up comedy and earning a living fromacting in adverts. The casting director saw a fringe play I was inand invited me along to the audition. I'd done loads of low budgetfeature films and pilots and was quite used to them not gettingcommissioned. I assumed the same would happen with StarStories."

Dolly Jones

"After drama school I was doing bits of theatre and televisionlike Midsomer Murders. I was writing in Spain with a friend when Igot the recall for Star Stories and wasn't sure I wanted to spend£300 on a flight not to get it. But I was told I was down tothe last three and decided to go back and got it. It's a huge castand you play all sorts of parts. This series I'm playing PrincessDiana, Heather Mills, Madonna and Elton John's mother.

Laura and I hit it off immediately and started writing togetherlast summer, mainly because we laughed a lot together and enjoyedmaking each other laugh. We have done three stand-up gigs togetherand Shane Allen [Channel 4's comedy commissioner] came to the firstone and then commissioned us to do Funny Cuts on E4, which goes outthis Thursday as part of a series of 12 15-minute shows for newtalent.

Comedy was what I should have done all along. If you want a steadylife, it's definitely not the thing to go for, but that's part ofthe excitement. I'm glad I went to drama school because myconfidence grew there and it gives you time to focus, but I know alot of very good actors and comedians who haven't been."

Interesting? Click here to explore further

Where To Find The Games On Television

 television BadmintonOn live: Nothing scheduled.Of note: MSNBC will air taped highlights nearly every day during itsdaytime broadcasts.

BaseballOn live: CNBC will air a semifinal game Aug. 22 and USA the championshipgame Aug. 23.Of note: Every game involving the United States will be broadcast on tapedelay on USA or MSNBC.BasketballOn live: Every men's and women's game involving the United States, as wellas all medal-round games. Weekday games will be on USA, with Ch. 30showing games on the weekend. MSNBC will also air some key non-U.S.games.

Of note: There will be a special cable channel that will show nothing butbasketball games daily from 2:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Beach VolleyballOn live: Live preliminary matches will be shown on Ch. 30 Aug. 12, 13 and15, as well as all the medal round games Aug. 18-21.

Of note: If you like beach volleyball, this Olympics is for you. MSNBC (5a.m.-5 p.m.) and USA (2 a.m.-noon) will join Ch. 30 in airing dailycoverage up until the medal rounds.

BoxingOn live: Only first-day matches on CNBC (2-4:30 a.m.).

Of note: The absence of live coverage is made up for with quantity. CNBCwill air nothing but boxing matches daily from Midnight-4:30 a.m.and 5-8 p.m. nearly every day. Ch. 30 takes over for the gold medalmatches Aug. 23-24.

Canoe/Kayak

Research booming on product placement in television shows

television She doesn't mind watching Ellen and  Lost. She hates the days she has to sit through American ChopperUnfortunately, she can't fast-forward.Ms. Martin's job is to count when brand names such as Coca-Cola orCadillac or Yamaha appear in TV shows – on a soda can,whizzing past in a street scene, flashing on a billboard in thebackground, anywhere within the camera's range. She works forresearch company Nielsen, which provides the information toadvertisers who want to keep tabs on where competitors' productsare popping up in TV shows.

They are popping up quite a bit these days: Ms. Martin said whenshe started her job a year and a half ago, she would count anaverage of 10 brands in a prime-time network show. Now, it's closerto 50.

Viewers of the logo-laden American Chopper on Discovery Channel might be exposed to brands as many as 1,000times a show."I used to watch TV all the time," she said. "Now Igo home and do other things."Ms. Martin is part of a small army of people employed by researchcompanies and advertisers to track product placement, one of thefastest- growing segments of the advertising industry. Advertisersspent $2.9 billion in 2007 to place their products in TV shows andmovies, up 33.7 percent from the year before, according to mediaresearch outfit PQ Media.

Companies for a long time have been measuring the frequency oftraditional print and broadcast advertising. As a result,advertisers know who is spending what and where.

Some monitors, such as the Federal Communications Commission, areconcerned that it is too difficult to discern when productplacements occur. In June, the FCC said it would consider new rulesto better inform viewers when brands appear on shows in exchangefor money. Such disclosures run during the credits, but the agencyplans to examine whether product placement notices should bewritten in bigger print and displayed for a longer period.

Advertisers, on the other hand, are eager to know whether theirmoney to plug their products is being well spent.

In April, Nielsen spent $225 million to acquire IAG Research, oneof the biggest companies to measure the effectiveness ofadvertising and product placement. Nielsen is figuring out ways tocombine parts of IAG with Nielsen Product Placement Service, thedivision that employs Ms. Martin and about 15 other"coders" to count when products appear in shows. IAG saysthat when combined with Nielsen, it will provide the firstcomprehensive service for tracking product placement.

IAG comes up with its product placement ratings by asking 2.5million people to fill out surveys online after watching theirfavorite shows, said co-chief executive Alan Gould. Others aretrying different approaches to measure the effectiveness of brandplacement. Frank Zazza, the product promoter who was responsiblefor promoting the placing of Reese's Pieces in

E.T. and putting Junior Mints in Kramer's hands on

Seinfeld, now runs a company called iTVX that seeks to measure viewerrecall of product placement.

As advertisers and producers become more sophisticated at seedingproducts into programming, "it becomes more complicated tomeasure," Mr. Zazza said.

Most advertising and media buying agencies have their own ways tomeasure the success of product placements, but few are willing todiscuss their methodology.

That means it might take a long time for companies to adoptstandards set by Nielsen – or by anyone else, for thatmatter. If advertisers adopt a standard of measurement for productplacement, then they would lose their ability to negotiate whatthey pay, said Devery Holmes, president of product placementcompany NMA Entertainment & Marketing.

Rapid growth for Spanish-speaking television news

Rapid growth for Spanish-speaking television news

By DAVID BAUDER – 5 hours agoTEANECK, N.J. (AP) — On an evening its rivals werepreoccupied with Christie Brinkley's divorce and the capture of aBrooklyn murder suspect, New York's WXTV led its local news with astory about graffiti saying "Get out of the USA" painted near aPeruvian restaurant on Long Island.

The Spanish-speaking Univision affiliate figured it was a moremeaningful story for its audience, and those kind of choices arepaying off.

Within the past few months, WXTV's 6 p.m. newscast has eclipsed itsEnglish-speaking competitors on ABC, CBS and NBC stations inpopularity among viewers younger than 49. Sister station KMEX inLos Angeles had more viewers in June for its newscast than any ofits English competitors, regardless of age, according to NielsenMedia Research.

Spanish-speaking news outlets all across the country have grown tobecome major players in their markets and all trends indicate thatgrowth is only going to continue.

"It talks about how the United States is changing," said RayRodriguez, president and chief operating officer of UnivisionCommunications Inc., the stations' parent company. "It's a biggerstory than just television."

In the New York market, for example, there were 2.7 millionHispanics in 1990 and 4.3 million this year, according to the U.S.Census Bureau.

Ramon Pineda, general manager of WXTV, stands in front of anenlarged map of that market that hangs on his office wall, pointingto different neighborhoods and how they are changing. SpanishHarlem used to be largely Puerto Rican and now is dominated byMexican immigrants. The Bronx has mostly Puerto Ricans, Colombianshave settled in Queens and Brooklyn has Mexicans. The old Cubanneighborhoods of Union City, N.J., now have Mexicans and otherCentral Americans. Most of the population growth has come insuburbs like Westchester County and Long Island.

It's his business to know these details, both for the news hisstation covers and to show advertisers that there's more of amarket there than they might think.

In Los Angeles, the KMEX call letters are a hint that the audiencecomposition is simpler. Their viewers are about 85 percent Mexican,said Maelia Macin, the station's general manager.

One startling change has been the TV-watching habits of Hispanicviewers. In 1995, most Hispanic viewers in New York primarilywatched English-language television (62 percent) overSpanish-language stations (38 percent), according to Nielsen MediaResearch. Last year, viewers favored the Spanish stations 71 to 29percent. Similar trends are happening elsewhere.

That might be alarming to people who believe these new citizensaren't assimilating into their new country, but Univisionexecutives say the majority of their viewers' homes are bilingual.

"More and more bilingual Hispanics are tuning to us," Rodriguezsaid. "I think we're hitting the nerve. They can relate better. Asour product has improved over time and more and more people arecoming in, people tune in and say, `That feels more like me.'"

The choice is made more for content than language, Macin said.

The Long Island graffiti is one example of a story unlikely to makeEnglish-language stations. The Spanish-language stations pay closeattention to immigration issues, and are often tipped by viewersreporting raids targeting illegal immigrants. Lou Dobbs, CNN'scrusader against illegal immigration, went on WXTV for aninterview.

The station has stringers in Mexico, Colombia and the DominicanRepublic, and sent its own staffer to cover the Dominican election,Pineda said. Sports will talk about the Mets and Yankees, but alsoabout a big soccer game in Mexico.

With a very heavy concentration of Roman Catholics in the audience,WXTV gave extensive coverage to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to theNew York area, with a Spanish-speaking priest in the studio toexplain the pope's activities.

General news isn't excluded; it's just that the mix is different.English-language stations covered it heavily when the aircraftcarrier Intrepid got stuck in the mud, while WXTV mentioned itbriefly in the program's third segment.

About 100 story tips a day come into her newsroom, said NormaMorato, WXTV's news director.

Morato, who worked for CBS' local news before joining WXTV, noticedthat many public officials have added Spanish speakers in theirpress offices.

"They'll see us coming in and have a press conference in English,then say, `We'll take care of you when we're done,'" she said.

Most news stations try to create a sense of family among theirviewers, but the Spanish-speaking stations are more aggressive incultivating the relationship. They try to be a resource for viewerswho have difficulty navigating a culture new to them. WXTV has runphone banks to help register voters, sponsored free breast cancerscreenings, encouraged organ donations and helped explain how tocall the Better Business Bureau.

KMEX calls its effort "a su lado" — by your side — andonce aired a program to tell viewers facing home foreclosure whatthey could do.

"We do things outside the realm of news, but it gives an image tothe viewers that we care," Pineda said.

Clubman a step up for the wee Mini Cooper

 Mini Washer  The Clubman had a $1,500 sport package that includes a sportsuspension. The car felt like it bottomed out on all the giantpotholes on Milwaukee"s northwest side and the steering wheelturned substantially in some craters.

On smooth pavement, such as highways or asphalt roads, the Clubmanbehaves like a British gentleman. It"s calm and smooth and easyto drive.

The test car was a metallic dark silver ($500 extra) and the Sversion, which means the 1.6-liter turbo I-4 pumps out a sporty 172horses compared with 118 in the non-turbo Mini.

Oddly this one added a Steptronic automatic transmission ($1,250extra), which shifted slowly in normal mode, but was considerablypeppier in Sport mode. Still, the standard six-speed manual is morefun.

Braking also is classy, with four-wheel discs, vented units upfront and solid in the rear.

Mini"s interior remains much the same as it has been, with thebig tachometer on the steering column and a huge speedometermid-dash.

Making matters worse in the test car was the optional dual sunroofsthat have only netting to cover them. This is part of the $1,500premium package that includes a stereo upgrade and automaticclimate control. I"m all for those items, but the sunroofs makethe car too hot in summer and cause too much distracting reflectionin the cockpit.

This one had extremely smooth black leather seats (one of many$1,500 options) that were well shaped but intensely hard.

There"s push-button start and a circular key fob, power mirrorsand automatic lights, a tilt/telescope steering wheel and numeroustoggles for things such as power windows and interior lights andthe sunroof.

Other options include three-speed heated seats, a multifunctionsteering wheel with buttons for the radio and shift paddles thatallow you to shift the automatic manually. There also are powerfolding mirrors, heated mirrors with washer jets, and wiring for aniPod and Bluetooth.

All those options push what starts as a reasonable subcompact at$23,450, up to $33,200. That"s way too much for this, or anyMini. Keep the options in check and this, or the base Mini at$19,500, are good values for fun, sporty small cars.

Gas mileage remains a virtue with the Clubman, which the EPA ratesat 23 mpg city and 32 highway. I got 27.7 mpg while the tripcomputer was estimating 29.8.

Mark Savage welcomes your questions and comments regarding newvehicles at

Savageonwheels@yahoo.com.

iRiver, the Korean company, is one of the brilliant MP3 makers which hastime and again given the music buffs high quality audio players.Most of the iRiver "s players, such as the

iRiver T7 2GB

 that looks like a USB stick, feature some sort of unique ordistinguishing feature that sets them apart from the competition.One of the unique features of the new iRiver E10 is its 6 GB ofstorage space, which is rather large relative to its compact size.Moreover, the

player

 has a 1.5 inch display screen with 128 X 128 pixel clarity.Altogether it"s a small portable player clad in black with aneasily accessible menu.

The menu is just below the screen, which displays left, right, upand down buttons to ensure for hassle-free navigation. The poweron/off button is located on the right of the player, while the holdslider button is on the left. The player also has a

USB

 slot which implies that you can connect your player with othernetworks to transfer audio or video files.It can play MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG formats. You can view pictures, but only in JPEG fileformat. Aside from the USB slot at the bottom of the player, thereis also a 3.5mm earphone jack. So those of you looking for acompact MP3 player with an extensive storage memory definitely needto consider this one.

Where's the best place to buy duty free? And what is actually worthbuying?

Last time I looked into this, a couple of years ago, AucklandInternational Airport was as good as anywhere, so I tend to makemost of my purchases there.

But I should also acknowledge that although I go overseas quite alot, I buy little duty-free these days. Occasionally perfume for adaughter, a bottle of spirits or liqueur.

I've come to the conclusion that if you look around, you can buymost other things just as cheaply - sometimes even more cheaply -without the complications involved in duty-free shopping.

But is my parochial purchasing policy still sensible? And am I welladvised in sticking to perfume and spirits there?

It's actually not easy to check this out. Firstly, because mostduty-free shops don't list their prices online - ours are anhonourable exception - so the only way to compare prices is bygoing and looking. Secondly, because there are so many productvariations, makes, models and sizes, which are constantly changing,it is tricky to ensure you are comparing apples with apples.

There is the website,

thedutyfreepriceguide.com

, which sets out to compare prices at duty-free shops around theworld, which sounds as though it could make the job easy.

For instance, I used it to ask where would be the cheapest place tobuy 50ml of Chanel No 5 eau de toilette spray. The answer, a littleto my surprise, was the much-loved Los Angeles InternationalAirport at $68 (the site can convert prices into NZ dollars),closely followed by Hong Kong Airport at $69.The most expensive of the places I asked about were inflightshopping with Qantas ($108) and British Airports ($95).However, I wasn't able to get much closer to home than that becauseAir New Zealand wasn't listed and DFS, the main preferred operatorat Auckland International Airport, seems to have a problem withselling Chanel.Trying again I looked at a litre of Gordon's dry gin. According toThe Duty Free Price Guide, the best places to buy this wereAustralian airports ($13) and Auckland ($14). That was quitegratifying but there wasn't much in it because the highest pricelisted, at British airports, was only a couple of bucks more ($18).

However, I became a bit nervous about the guide when I checked thewebsites of both DFS and rival Regency and found a litre ofGordon's priced not at $14 but $23.90. That's still quite a savingfrom the $38 price at Glengarry, but it does raise questions aboutthe accuracy of The Duty Free Price Guide.So I had another look at perfume prices, limiting myself toairports with prices online, and using 50ml of Bulgari Aqua PourHomme as my example. That seems to be priced at $60 at Regency and$66 at DFS in Auckland compared with $72 at LA and $100 in Britain,so it does appear that the local operators continue to offer goodvalue.But I also found 50ml of Aqua Pour Homme online for $53 (perfumestore.co.nz) so I may direct family perfume purchases to the web in future.The other point I wanted to check was whether I have been on themoney in continuing to buy cameras at local stores rather thanduty-free.Using a Canon 80is as my test case, I found DFS and and Regencyboth offering prices of $399. But I then discovered that Camera& Camera in Queen St was quoting a price of $399 with a freeprinter included. And PriceSpy.co.nz advised that I could buy a Canon 80is online for as little as $382(plus freight presumably).The only overseas comparison I could get was at Sydney Airport -$380.he message I got out of all this research is that, thanks to thesteady reduction in import duties, there's less and less benefitfrom duty-free shopping, except when it comes to things such asspirits and tobacco which still carry high levels of excise duty.And it also seems as though there is less and less differencebetween the prices at different airports ... which is no greatsurprise when you discover that duty-free shopping is increasinglyprovided by international chains.The website

asiaforvisitors.com tried to develop a duty-free benchmark index based on the price ofMarlboro cigarettes, Chivas Regal whisky and Chanel No 5 perfume ateight major airports, including Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.

It concluded, "The bottom line is that there's very littledifference between prices at one place and another. Most of thedifferences can be put down to exchange rates and the effects ofrounding. So ... you might as well buy it where it's mostconvenient."

Jaguar Love, Now With Extra Claws, MP329th July 2008 | by Aidan WilliamsonThe release date of the debut album, "Take Me To The Sea" by ex-Blood Brothers alum Jaguar Love is rapidly approaching. Hence, everyone thought a free MP3 and atour were in order.Take Me To The Sea

" will land on August 19 via Matador records, in the meantime, theboys will be hopping on the bandwagon with The Faint and Crystal Antlers for some good-time shows.MP3:Jaguar Love - “Highways of Gold”Jaguar Love - Take Me to the Sea 2008

New Music: Prurient: "Cocaine Death" [MP3/Stream]Like many

Prurient offerings, this little sonic conflagration-- originally from acassette release and due to appear on a tour-only CD for Prurient'supcoming jaunt with Xiu Xiu-- will first flatten you with its more visceral qualities. Butwhat often sets Prurient apart from a lot of noise out there, andspecifically makes this track worth coming back to? It'spractically a pop song.

No really: peel away all the hellfire and you'll find "CocaineDeath" opens with a fairly simple chord progression that reappearsin patterns of variations throughout. It doesn't breach thefive-minute mark. Hell, there's even a set of words repeated atintervals-- a chorus!-- "Of course/ I'd answer you/ For myself/Only for myself."Okay sure, it's a mite short on melody, and the rhythm is a bitstatic, but with a little imagination one could easily arrange thissucker for piano, strings, brass band, you name it. You hear that,Sufjan? Screw that 50 states racket-- what the people need is aPrurient covers record.Prurient: "Cocaine Death" [from the

Cocaine Death tour-only CD]

MP4 replaces MP3 on the Haredi contraband list

 MP4 replaces MP3 on the Haredi contraband list Unsigned posters reading "Prepare for the great campaign to stopthe corruption" have appeared throughout the neighborhood in recentweeks, denouncing the store for openly advertising "reviled devicesthat drag all who touch them toward danger."

The store's owners say they have already removed the offendingdevices from the shelves, but refused a demand by theultra-Orthodox Eda Haredit's rabbinical court to sign a commitmentnot to sell them. This week, the court is due to decide whether todeclare a boycott of the store.

>The Sicarii, however, are not waiting for the court ruling. Theydemonstrate almost daily outside the store, and are suspected ofbeing behind the torching of the store's workshop, located onadjacent premises. The sales staff called the police, but lamentedthat "only [hired] Russian thugs" would be capable of holding backthe demonstrators. The police have not lifted a finger on previousoccasions, the salesmen complained.

>Not far from this store is another, which sells Hasidic music. Along queue of men can be seen at almost all hours of the day,waiting in line at the computer that the owners set up in themiddle of the store a few months ago. The men are downloading Torahlectures onto MP3 players, which can only be used for recording andlistening to audio files.

The 50 meters that separate the two stores represent the long roadthe MP3 has traversed - from a device reviled by the Haredipublic's gatekeepers to a must-have item for every yeshiva student.

An amusing video clip circulating on the Internet shows anultra-Orthodox rabbi preparing to give a lecture. The table infront of him is quickly piled up with MP3 players set to record thelecture. When the rabbi raises his eyes, he discovers the room isempty. Unperturbed, he takes out his own MP3, presses the Playbutton, and leaves the room.

Kol Halashon, an organization in Bnei Brak, picked up on this idea.It has built an immense audio library of thousands of lectures byrabbis, on Torah, Talmud, halakha (Jewish law), ethics, education,even eulogies for deceased rabbis.

The lectures are available in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, French,Russian and Spanish, and there are even converted digital files oflectures of revered rabbis who died years ago, like Rabbi EliezerShach.

In addition, computer stations for downloading lectures have beenset up in yeshivas, Gal-Paz music stores and even Ben-GurionAirport. Ultra-Orthodox communities abroad have similar stations.

"This is an ingenious idea," said Natan Ivgy of the Geula branch ofGal-Paz. "Sometimes there is a queue of 10 to 20 men waiting tofill their devices. It bothers our customers a bit, but as long asit's for a mitzvah [good deed], no one complains."

Why does the music store offer this free service? "Many touristscome here from abroad. They download lectures and buy music at thesame time."

Aharon Weisfish, a Jerusalem yeshiva student, filled his MP3 withTalmud lectures last week. "I downloaded an entire volume ofTalmud," he said.

For him, the player is worth money:

 "When I travel from one place to another, I listen to lectures.Once, this time was wasted; now, I use all that time. For me, it isalso worth money, because every month I prepare for an exam on 30pages of Talmud and can win a scholarship thanks to the MP3."

Why are audio players allowed while video players are banned?Because films are much more dangerous. The distance between thestores, however, also reflects the inexplicable contradictions inthe ultra-Orthodox attitude toward technology. Why was the cellulartelephone endorsed and SMS disqualified? How did the MP3, untilrecently considered a detestable device, suddenly becomeacceptable, and what will the ultimate fate of the Internet be?

One of the salespeople in the MP4 store offered this frustratedanswer: "The ultra-Orthodox public suffers a high dropout rate fromits yeshivas and is constantly looking for a scapegoat. Today, it'sthe MP4."

FAQ: Comcast vs. BitTorrent

Cable TV giant and Internet service provider

Comcast Corp.

 has been accused of blocking -- or at least throttling -- trafficfrom subscribers trying to share files through the popular

BitTorrent

 peer-to-peer network.

What's BitTorrent? BitTorrent is a networking protocol that letsusers who download client software share (transmit and receive)files from other users. These shared files can be any type of file,but BitTorrent is well known