GhostOfCaptSpaulding
04-18-2008, 01:46 PM
Broadcasters' conference showcases cutting edge technology, as well as cutting words from keynote speaker Tim Robbins.
And boy did he trash 'em:
As the keynote speaker at the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas, the actor and activist decried today's news and entertainment content as driven by a "pornographic obsession with celebrity culture."
"We love distraction," he said, reading from a speech the organizers reportedly tried to talk him out of giving. "I don't know about you, but show me a starlet without panties getting out of a car, and suddenly the world seems like a better place. Show me 'Knight Rider' drunk on the floor eating a hamburger, and I won't ask why my kid has no health insurance. Let's stop burdening people with facts."
A few people walked out, but Robbins finished to a standing ovation. And regardless of opinions, he did succeed in raising a powerful question, made more poignant by the acres of gadgets on the exhibit floor: Why, in an era of mind blowing media technological advances, does good content sometimes seem to lag so far behind?
On to the tech:
Japan's NHK has developed a high-speed camera that can record video at the staggering rate of one million frames per second. On the exhibit floor, the camera was trained on a hanging water balloon. When an NHK engineer punctured the balloon the camera captured every cascading droplet in ultra slow motion.
Check out the video accompanying the article.
Yahoo News | Gadgets and Gadflies (http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/69013/gadgets-and-gadflies)
Is that cool or what?
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/21b45o13x25c54o34d45e/icons/ugly_laught.gif
And boy did he trash 'em:
As the keynote speaker at the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas, the actor and activist decried today's news and entertainment content as driven by a "pornographic obsession with celebrity culture."
"We love distraction," he said, reading from a speech the organizers reportedly tried to talk him out of giving. "I don't know about you, but show me a starlet without panties getting out of a car, and suddenly the world seems like a better place. Show me 'Knight Rider' drunk on the floor eating a hamburger, and I won't ask why my kid has no health insurance. Let's stop burdening people with facts."
A few people walked out, but Robbins finished to a standing ovation. And regardless of opinions, he did succeed in raising a powerful question, made more poignant by the acres of gadgets on the exhibit floor: Why, in an era of mind blowing media technological advances, does good content sometimes seem to lag so far behind?
On to the tech:
Japan's NHK has developed a high-speed camera that can record video at the staggering rate of one million frames per second. On the exhibit floor, the camera was trained on a hanging water balloon. When an NHK engineer punctured the balloon the camera captured every cascading droplet in ultra slow motion.
Check out the video accompanying the article.
Yahoo News | Gadgets and Gadflies (http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/69013/gadgets-and-gadflies)
Is that cool or what?
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/21b45o13x25c54o34d45e/icons/ugly_laught.gif