Month: July 2011

The secret to having a hit record is all about “Treating the radio guys nice.”

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 23, 2011

Hey Mr DJ I Thought You Said We Had a Deal by They Might Be Giants
Buy this TMBG album for the song
“HEY MR DJ, I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE HAD A DEAL”

Rock band THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS wrote a song all about what it allegedly took to get a song on the radio, aptly entitled Hey Mr DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal. In it, the lyrics read, in part:

I struck a bargain with my radio DJ
I said I’d like this song to be number one
He said I’d really really like to help you my son
And then I knew that I would have him to thank
Because he asked me how much I had in the bank
…
He said the record wouldn’t have to be hot
And no one ever seemed to care if it’s not
It would depend on something else that I’ve got
…
Hey Mr. DJ, I thought you said we had a deal
I thought you said, You scratch my back and I’ll scratch your record
And I thought you said we had a deal

And while it may appear that TMBG is talking about PAYOLA — paying money to a DJ to get a song on the airwaves — what they could be talking about is just THE BUSINESS OF MAKING MUSIC.

Tags business, Music, Music Royalties, radio

Gadgets TV

Possible takeover target TiVo has awesome customer service (not to mention easy TiVo upgrades)

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 22, 2011

Buy the TiVo PREMIERE XL

TiVo has been taking it on the chin lately.

The recent blog post in the New York Times entitled TiVO, Nice Service if You Can Get It, is the typical drivel written by somebody who hasn’t taken the time to properly research and use the product they’re talking about.

As an example – the writer, Joshua Brustein, says that TiVo has an expensive fee of $19.99/month. He doesn’t mention that you could purchase a lifetime subscription for $499. If you’re planning on keeping your TiVo for longer than 24 months, the lifetime subscription is the way to go. (Web Watch won’t mention the number of deals that are on the TiVo website that may lower the overall cost even further.)

The article goes on, with the writer’s cable company trying to pimp their own DVR over a TiVo — hey, that happens. Same thing with the account of what he went through to get a cable card, involving multiple trips, phone calls, and a service tech who never showed up. Obviously not an issue with TiVo, but with the cable company the writer is using. For our TiVo service, Web Watch drove over to our local Cable Shoppe and picked up the cable cards directly. Installed them into our new TiVo ourselves, and were up and running in just about an hour or so.

Obviously each user’s experience is going to be different, but none of what the writer included in his article is specific to problems with TiVo.

Tags computers, Customer Service, gadget, hardware, TiVo, TV

food shopping Websites

Announcing the 2011 Xtreme Eating Awards – the 8 highest calorie restaurant menu items

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 21, 2011

Rachel Ray - Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes
Buy the book “Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes”

For the past few years, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been monitoring what restaurants have been serving, as a way to inform the public about the horrors that await them when eating wonderful, delicious restaurant food.

Web Watch, like you, loves cheese.

We apparently didn’t know that adding cheese to any meal is typically a no-no when it comes to eliminating fat and calories from one’s diet. So we’re torn – cheese tastes good, but it’s bad for you.

Oh well – maybe we’ll just have one or two small bites, then set the rest of these phenomenally sounding meals away to snack on later. Can’t let all that cheese go to waist, can we? (See what we did there? Looks like we mispelled “waste” as “waist”. Ha!)

Tags 10 Things, diet, food, restaurants, shopping, website

Funny Gadgets Websites

Women of the world – a better pee solution for you!

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 20, 2011

No Boys Allowed - 2 Girls Using the Men's Room
Buy the poster No Boys Allowed – 2 Girls Using the Men’s Room

It’s a common sight at concerts, festivals, or other public events — long lines at the women’s bathroom.

Yeah, we know – women take longer in the restroom than men do. Bathroom equality in new buildings, and all that.

Web Watch remembers one Jimmy Buffett concert where the entire backside of the bathroom building had been co-opted by girls who were just looking for a place to pop a squat. They didn’t care that they were peeing in full view of drunk Buffett fans — they were just happy that they had a place to go.

Seeing a lineup of 30 girls all peeing against the side of a cinderblock wall is quite a site. Power in numbers, indeed.

Tags bathroom, gadget, website

Science

Fast-Food Ballpits are Filled with Poo. (Be sure to clean your balls!)

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 19, 2011

Fun Ballz
Buy some clean ballpit balls

In case you didn’t know, children’s playgrounds are dirty, filthy places.

It doesn’t really matter what type of playground you’re talking about. Playgrounds at schoolyards and parks are often found scattered with broken bottles and used condoms. Playgrounds at McDonald’s and Chuck E Cheese are covered in germs.

Some parents consider the ingestion of some germs as a healthy habit for their kids, in order to help build up immunities.

Tags bathroom, business, parenting, science

Movies Websites

Take the NAME THE FILM Challenge

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 18, 2011

Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing
Buy Cutting Edge – the magic of movie editing

Movie editing is not necessarily easy.

The director has a specific vision, and the film editor has to make the shots come to life.

And if you’re any type of a movie fan, you already can quote all your favorite films. And even if they’re not your favorite films, you may at least have a memory of those indelible lines. Web Watch, for instance, has never seen THE GODFATHER in its entirety (yeah, we know – we’ll get to it eventually). But we do know quite a few of the lines from the film.

Tags game, Movies, website

Funny Video

PSA for the ladies in time for Comic-Con: Please stop wearing the Princess Leia Slave costume

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 17, 2011

Buy the Sexy Princess Leia Slave Costume

This week at Comic-Con 2011, news organizations are likely to focus – at one time or another – on the cosplay phenomenon…. especially with what the ladies wear.

Women are using ComicCon as an opportunity to wear their “Sexy Halloween Costumes” more than once a year, especially if their costume of choice involves any type of sexy television character, sexy cartoon character, sexy literary character, sexy sci-fi character, or any other appropriate costume that can have “sexy” put in front of it.

Tags Comics, costumes, Halloween, lego, star wars, Video

10 Things Websites

Where you live dictates your utility bill costs

Post author By web gangsta
Post date July 16, 2011

Kill a Watt
Buy the KILL-A-WATT ENERGY USAGE MONITOR

How much energy costs the average homeowner differs from house-to-house, as well as from state-to-state.

Some states have abundant energy resources, and the cost to deliver that energy to one’s home can be very inexpensive.

Some states have higher energy taxes or infrastructure issues that make providing electricity more expensive than other places.

It should come as no surprise that the US ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION collects and analyzes things like this, and makes that information available to us – the American public.

Tags 10 Things, home improvement, Save Money, utilities, website