So, Brooke and I went to Best Buy tonight and bought the new Audio Adrenaline album, “Adios” (their last one, apparently). While we were there, we found some $6.99 movies.
We bought “Wayne’s World” and “Adventures in Babysitting.”
Oh yes. We’re watching 1987’s greatest movie starring Elizabeth Shue, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bradley Whitford, and Penelope Ann Miller.
Could life be any better?
So, I was reading on ArsTechnica that TV ads are losing their relevance. More specifically:
“McKinsey makes a number of assumptions about consumer behavior such as projecting ‘a 15 percent decrease in buying power driving by cost-per-thousand rate increases, a 23 percent decline in ads viewed due to switching off, a 9 percent loss of attention to ads due to increased multitasking and a 37 percent decrease in message impact due to saturation,’ all by the year 2010 and in comparison to the year 1990. Those numbers are then synthesized into TV-based marketing becoming one-third as effective in 2010 as it was in 1990.”
Now, I can’t say that I find this to be terribly surprising… As the article points out, more people are using DVR/TiVO services, as well as on-demand services, than there were in 1990 (oh yeah…that stuff didn’t exist back then…), but at the same time, realize that these percentages are calculated from data spanning nearly 20 years. Wouldn’t you think that people’s tastes in television and advertising would change anyway, without any help from DVR or TiVO? Personally, I tend to watch shows when they’re premiering, so I can’t skip forward. On the other hand, Brooke’s sister (Rachel) will wait ’til her show starts, pause it, and then go take care of the dog just so she can come back a little later and skip the commercials.
On another note, last month, execs from the ABC network decided to start investigating ways to prevent DVR owners from skipping commercials (apparently thinking we wouldn’t mind). Obviously, the networks are starting to “get wise” to the situation and make adjustments as soon as they can, ’cause as the article points out, “TV advertisers today are paying more for access to a smaller audience, which makes that medium an expensive way to attract new customers.”
Regardless, the model’s going to have to change and we aren’t going to have commercials as we know them for much longer…
…except during the Super Bowl, of course…
Haven’t posted recently, mostly because there hasn’t been much going on besides the same ol’, same ol’… I’ve just been keeping up with Biostatistics for the past 5 weeks, and getting some experiments done before the school year starts up on August 21st.
I guess I’m generally ready for classes to start, but only to an extent. While I’m perfectly fine getting to work around 9:30 and leaving by 4:00, I’m also ready to get into learning a bit more about my chosen field, as well as moving on with my research beyond where it currently lies. I’ve actually been getting some pretty good data, recently, so hopefully that continues (otherwise…well…graduation may be “delayed”…).
Anyway, this week marks the end of Biostats (woo hoo!). Brooke’s also got a few interviews for jobs, so hopefully that goes well. Otherwise, I’ve got from August 9th to the 20th to be lazy and worthless…maybe I’ll drop into Columbia and see what’s going on there (you know…frisbee golf and the like)…
So, I watched “The Daily Show” tonight…Jon Stewart was kind enough to point out some information that came out today based on the quarterly earnings of BP (British Petroleum):
Last quarter, BP made $55,000 in profit.
Every.
Minute.
Seriously. wtf?!?!
For those that don’t know, a “quarter” lasts 3 months, and there are 1440 min in a day, 43200 in a month, and 129600 in three months. Multiply that times $55,000 and you get approximately $7.1 billion in profits.
Can someone please explain to me why I’m paying $3.05 a gallon right now?
But, I had my first gambling experience last weekend. My parents came down for their anniversary (26!) and so I met them at Ameristar for dinner. We ate, then Dad gave me $20 so I wouldn’t feel guilty wasting away my own money. Mom and I went to the penny slot machines where we bet 5 cents a time. We changed machines every so often since Mom has a policy of not losing more than $2 to a single machine. Mom kept losing, but I won $13 and some change on one machine, then lost about $5 of that to end up with $10 more than I started with. So, woohoo to me! Plus, it was quite entertaining to see my parents away from the way I normally see them and to spend some time with them by myself..it made me feel very grown-up!
“Yeah. before the role [Venom], I went out and killed a hobo with a hammer just [to] kind of get into [it], and it worked. All of a sudden, people were treating me differently.”
So, today I went to a GardenRidge store in search of an umbrella cookie cutter. Not only did I find exactly what I was looking for, but this store was like Brooke heaven! It has tons of cheap crafty things, lots of stuff on sale (like all of their candles 75% off), and an amazing section of kitchen gadgets and things I wish I have room for, but alas don’t. Anyway, that’s all…just wanted to let you know.
So, I was looking at Engadget this morning and saw this lovely link… Apparently, Parker Brothers is “phasing out” the “old school” versions of Monopoly that used paper money, since many (if not most) people are now using plastic to pay for things. It’s apparently going to be a “while supplies last” sort of deal, but I guess it’s a sign of the times…depressing as it may be…
Big posting day already on the blog, but when I found this, it simply couldn’t wait….
On March 30th, 2007…a new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” movie is being released…computer animation…
w00t!!!
I must say…I’m being paid to sit here in Biostatistics class…
…but I don’t think I’m being paid enough…
