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http://www.maxheadroom.com/ind...

Yes... it's wonderful, isn't it!

http://www.maxheadroom.com/ind...

We live in a Max Headroom world already, so I'm not even surprised.

Or for that matter Max Headroom - the problem with that show was that it was too critical of viewer ratings and ads to get finance from people placing ads.

Like the Blipverts episode.

We are already 20 minutes into the future of that clock.

So we are heading into the world of Max Headroom at an alarming pace. We are almost there, Detroit is there already. The merge of Comcast and Time Warner Cable will become Network XXIII.

There's usually a sliding ground between them - if you look at books like the Dragonriders of Pern you have a wide spectra.

It's also possible to look at Science Fiction from the perspective of trying an idea - which Heinlein was doing a lot - take an idea and write a story around it. Not all ideas are realistic, but it can still be a seed for a nice story.

There are also the dystopian stories like Nineteen Eighty-Four, THX 1138 and Kallocain.

Add to it the movie and TV series Max Headroom, which really is interesting since it looks much like the future we are heading to. "This is Edison Carter, Live and Direct...".

Science Fiction is a great package for "Thinking outside the box" stories.

Fine - I'll just have to re-re-re-watch Max Headroom a-a-a-again.

We are already touching the Max Headroom level of civil rights.

From what we can see out of this is that we are actually in the future pictured by the 80's TV series Max Headroom where corporations rule, "TV" (today the internet) is global and number of viewers is what counts. Now we are just waiting for Edison Carter and Max to appear.

I just consider: Max Headroom. That's the world we are living in - with small differences.

Starts to be the same crap everywhere - not only Germany. Look at the "bastion of freedom" (The United States) again and see how it really is.

Feels like the world of Max Headroom is going to be a paradise utopia soon rather than a dystopia.

Soon we will have blipverts... And stuff like AdBlock Plus will be illegal.

"no OFF switch" - makes me think of Max Headroom.

It's you need an ID card to work. "They" want to disenfranchise you, they deny you an ID card. Then you can't work. No work, no money. No money, you become disenfranchised. Then you don't exist.

Blank is Beautiful.

Max Headroom: the show was set 20 minutes into the future, but 20 years ahead of its time.

I particularly like the bit in that episode where people are rioting in the streets because there's no television signal. Seems to me that it would be good for excerpting for the analog cutoff February 2009:

Formby: We're going to go critical if we don't act soon.
Edwards: We're going to have riots out there. We should distribute emergency video players immediately!

Janie Crane: Without regular picture transmissions, thousands are swarming the streets, desperately buying black-market tapes from video vendors.

Formby: My god, they could lobotomize the network. Without television, this city would be ungovernable!

Edwards: Chaos out there! People are in a panic, fighting for old video recordings!
Ashwell: Personally, I'd rather watch a smoke alarm.

Edison Carter: It's starting to happen. Their world's gone away. Without their TVs, what is there for them?

And those are just the quotes I can find on-line (also available as MP3s). This needs to have a DVD release tout de suite.

And shutting of people from broadband for one type of offense will also shut them off also from a lot of other services. We are going toward a society of people with broadband access versus people lacking that access - and the people lacking broadband access are becoming second-grade citizens with less ability to get information, access bank services and communicate with friends and family.

Essentially - the penalty of the 21'st century will be to get disconnected instead of imprisoned.

And if you aren't disconnected all your traffic is being monitored. Eric Arthur Blair was right - just a little premature. We just have to wait for the all-seeing cameras in our homes and the TV screens that can't be shut off (as in Max Headroom).

It seems to me that the darker Science Fiction that we can see and read is more likely to come true than the more utopic of Star Trek and likewise.

So it seems like the controversy if the rights to the TV series may actually be a facade that's used to avoid citizens to be too well-informed about the dark future that lies ahead.

Janie: Edison! An off switch!
Metrocop: She'll get years for that.

Miss Formby: "We're going to go critical if we don't act soon."
Edwards: "We're going to have riots out there. We should distribute emergency video players immediately!"

From Max Headroom, Blanks, ca. 1987. 20 years into the past, 20 minutes into the future. It's all the same. Every episode came true. This one gets special points for calling (a) rigged electronic voting, (b) the use of news reporters as frontmen for faked elections, (c) Real ID, (d) televisions that can't be turned off, (e) DDOS attacks (from a script written in 1987, before most computers had modems, never mind Internet connectivity) as a tool of information warfare, and (f) riots within 24 hours of TV going dark.

Seems to be a lot of screaming for little wool as it comes when shaving a pig...

I would REALLY hate it if Max Headroom would fall for these new fonts.

Ah, Episode 2.3, Grossberg's Return!

Cheviot (CEO): "Murray... Carter! What the devil is going on here? A false story mounted on flimsy evidence, my top reporter exposed as a shyster, a senior producer accused of criminal incompetence, and a major politician publicly accusing this network of character assassination... good grief!"

Although I was thinking of Episode 1.6, Blanks...

Carter (Reporter): "I'm afraid our link's gone down."
Ronald (Political aide): "Just as well."
Simon Peller (Politician): "Oh, not so, Ronald. Mr. Carter is merely doing his very well-paid job, while the appearance of dispute is essential to the networks's... ah, electoral democracy, eh, Mr. Carter? May I call you Edison?"
Carter: "No. And I don't like the word 'appearance'... Mr. Peller."

...and I don't like the word 'fiction', at least when it's applied to Max Headroom.

There are reasons why this show has never been released on DVD. Usually at least one reason per episode. 20 minutes into the future turned out to be 20 years into the future, but they got every sociopolitical trend correct.

Ah, Episode 2.3, Grossberg's Return!

Cheviot (CEO): "Murray... Carter! What the devil is going on here? A false story mounted on flimsy evidence, my top reporter exposed as a shyster, a senior producer accused of criminal incompetence, and a major politician publicly accusing this network of character assassination... good grief!"

Although I was thinking of Episode 1.6, Blanks...

Carter (Reporter): "I'm afraid our link's gone down."
Ronald (Political aide): "Just as well."
Simon Peller (Politician): "Oh, not so, Ronald. Mr. Carter is merely doing his very well-paid job, while the appearance of dispute is essential to the networks's... ah, electoral democracy, eh, Mr. Carter? May I call you Edison?"
Carter: "No. And I don't like the word 'appearance'... Mr. Peller."

...and I don't like the word 'fiction', at least when it's applied to Max Headroom.

There are reasons why this show has never been released on DVD. Usually at least one reason per episode. 20 minutes into the future turned out to be 20 years into the future, but they got every sociopolitical trend correct.

Reminds me of this scene:

Cheviot: "It seems I have little choice but to back you against the police... provided, of course, the charges against Carter are completely unfounded. What exactly are they?"
Murray: "Credit fraud."
Cheviot: "Credit fraud... my god, that's worse than murder!"

Max Headroom: Security Systems

Max Headroom would be proud.

On the other hand - one series that I'm missing is Max Headroom, it's dark, it's about a near future and it's all about money, media companies, viewer figures and shady affairs. (Sounds familiar?)

It may be time to pick up the show again - the old episodes are a little outdated; no internet, no flat-screen TV:s etc.

But on the other hand RIAA and MPAA may not want to see this...

Janie Crane: "Edison... an off switch!"
Metrocop: "She'll get years for that. Off switches are illegal!"

- from Max Headroom, Episode 1.6, Blanks

'The transition to IPTV creates a golden opportunity to ensure that the gateway to the TV set becomes open to all.'

Why does this statement make me think of Max Headroom re-runs?

Janie Crane: "Edison... an off switch!"
Metrocop: "She'll get years for that. Off switches are illegal!"

- from Max Headroom, Episode 1.6, Blanks

Every year, another episode of Max Headroom comes true.

1.1: Blipverts - now we have ads designed to look OK at both regular speed, and at DVR-fast-forward "2 seconds" speeds.
1.2: Rakers - what's the difference between Raking and other "extreme sports" or "Wildest Police Videos"?
1.3: Body Banks - we now purchase organs harvested from Chinese prisoners
1.4: Security Systems - live, real-time monitoring of citizens, walled communities, etc.
1.5: War - both the Yugoslavian unpleasantness and Gulf War II appear to have been engineered for purposes of getting good ratings
1.6: Blanks - anyone without papers is "blank", and subject to arbitrary arrest, detention, and disappearance.

Anyone want to take on the last 6-7 episodes?

Skype's software works surprisingly well in these environments compares to software from other providers. I have not tried any of Skypes HW based options.

An engineer from one provider whose hardware solution I was testing and who was actually trying to be helpful said that my problem was with SIP's Jitter Buffer not being able to handle the ghastly latencies that I've been experiencing during my journies. If I hadn't already had problems with 2-3 other providers, I'd have thought that he was blowing smoke...

Out in an abandoned heavy-industry area north of Sector 7, something strange is happening. Network 23 junior reporter Janie Crane is hiding out with a telephoto "gun camera" as two would-be terrorists blow up a huge empty building. Janie is left injured but alive by the blast.

[...]

But then, pipsqueak Breakthru-TV manages to get instant coverage of the explosion, and a huge ratings surge. When the network scrambles Edison Carter with Martinez at the stick of the helicopter, they get to the explosion only to have the police chief send them packing. The reporter from Breakthru is already on the scene, despite having lumbered in in a battered network bus. Worst of all, Ped Xing of the Zik-Zak Corporaton is threatening to move his advertising to the hotter Breakthru-TV.

[...]

Frank Braddock calls Cheviot back to gloat at the ratings bonanza they passed on, and is directed to a live interview with the White Brigades leader, Croyd Hauser, taking place on Breakthru. As they watch, an explosion levels another building. It's terrorism on demand, and Breakthru holds the rights.

From the synopsis to Max Headroom, Episode 15, "War", ca. 1987.

And, of course, it'll be illegal to turn it off.

For the uninitiated, the pilot episode of Max Headroom told how new high-speed advertisements were overloading people's brains. Max was, well, kind of a cyborg, when a reporter suffering a terrible accident was recreated in a computer.

For the full spoiler, read TV Museum

calculate the life time earnings of those who got into computers partly because of seeing it and you may be surprised :)

I resemble that remark. (Even ended up working with a III system later in '82, though not doing anything nearly as interesting with it...)

Yeah, the dialogue is awful (though not as bad as The Black Hole), but the look and soundtrack are still inspiring. As another poster said, this film was ahead of its time - by at least a good twenty minutes...

<grrr />

"And besides, all newfangled technology comes with an 'off' switch should you find yourself needing some down time."

20 Minutes Into The Future:

Janie Crane: "Edison... an off switch!"
Metrocop: "She'll get years for that. Off switches are illegal!"

--Max Headroom Episode 16, "Blanks"

"And besides, all newfangled technology comes with an 'off' switch should you find yourself needing some down time."

20 Minutes Into The Future:

Janie Crane: "Edison... an off switch!"
Metrocop: "She'll get years for that. Off switches are illegal!"

--Max Headroom Episode 16, "Blanks"

You are about 20 years late - see Max Headroom for a world ruled by corporations.

You call yourself a geek? I want to see your membership card, Mister! Try this link for starters. If you get TechTV, try catching some episodes.

Anyone know is email address?

Oh, wait.. Maybe he's still answering the webmaster address.. That appears to be (google) the email address he's been using on the site (according to a quick search).

Anyone know is email address?

Oh, wait.. Maybe he's still answering the webmaster address.. That appears to be (google) the email address he's been using on the site (according to a quick search).

I would pay damn good money if they ever released Max Headroom DVD's....

> pleading a case before an electronic judge sounds like a loser to me

Well, they say she's got the wit of Max Headroom with the looks of Annanova

erm *cough* ba-dum-ching.

For some reason I keep thinking of the old Max Headroom TV series.

Reporters coming to you "live and direct", without depending on truckloads of gear - just a man (or woman), a camera, and a datapath, bringing the truth to your living room.

This could be quite a tool for getting around news censorship.

RING BACK MAX!

Last year, Bravo ran the old Max Headroom series on Sunday(?) afternoons for a while. It was amazing how well they stood up a decade and a half later. Definitely a show too good for television.

(Now that we've got Flash banner ads, can blipverts be far behind?)

Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/

Well....at least I will be able to, twenty minutes into the future...

The 80's....won't they ever go away? :)

What Is Interesting is to take look at the series, which was so prescient in so many ways, which also missed the Internet as being a part of world culture. It was really too hot for TV, and took more than a nibble out of the hand that fed it. For those who do not remember it, it was a 1987 TV show based on a world run entirely by the multimedia moguls, and where the Internet did not exist, and TV was mandatory.

Talk about hitting a little close to home.

Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip

Yes!! A Max Headroom reference!

Just looked at it again and realized they don't actually offer it "at this time." My mistake.

This site does make some suggestions on how to obtain the videos though.

Didn't you learn your lesson from Max Headroom? Remember the BlipVerts????

Everyone knows that 12 frames per second is wayyyyy too much information for our tiny little brains. Watching all that data stream by in such a short amount of time will make you blow up!

My God, this will be much worse then that Pokemon episode which made all those Japanese children go into seizures and convlulsions.