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Galactica Commentary Podcast Available
Kichigai Mentat writes "Apparently SciFi channel is pushing the bounds of your average TV viewing experience with "Battlestar Galactica." First came a full, uncut stream of the first episode, now a full episode commentary podcast available as a Podcast stream, episode-length MP3 file for download, or invividual MP3 files for each "Act." The podcasts are released a week in advance, and listeners are warned about spoilers."
spoilers? what spoilers? i've already seen the entire 1st season. on topic: this is very very cool. :)
ok, nothing annoys me more then someone renaming a technology, and then everyone jumping on the bandwagon of this new and great thing! it is called a webcast. as in broadcast combined with the web. there is no (i)pod in this stream whatsoever...
Isn't it great when somebody actually get's it...unlike some people.
Wtf is a podcast?
Ah, Wikipedia to the rescue!
Slagborr
The iPod sure is popular, but it does not dominate everything.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
The song is actually referring to the CEO of SciFi which is Gavrilo Principe, and his wife Sophia Principe. The song is about Gavrilo shooting us because we have to listen to an annoying cast of commentary on national tv.
I've watched the episode with the Podcast and it was great! I had already seen the episode, and seeing it again with the Director's Commentary definitely added to the experience. I've seen the Director's Commentary for other television shows like CSI, but then I had to pay upwards of $60US per season for the privildge. Giving this kind of material away is fantastic and I applaud the SciFi channel for doing it! Granted, I'm sure this promotion is designed to get me hooked so that I end up buying the $60 DVD set when it comes out, but so be it. I'd like to know that I'll like it before I buy it!
This forum is like the Special Olympics of computing.
It's one guy, talking. And he's boring. This isn't Mystery Science Theater 3000. It's more like "shut up, I'm watching the show".
Incidentally, if you're shipping out voice recorded with one microphone, both channels are the same and there's no reason to send it in stereo. Just bloats the file.
There really hasn't been anything like it on TV in a while, and it is obvious that the producers pay attention to what fans think. I rememeber last year, there were postings on Slashdot about why after all the nuking Caprica didn't have nuclear winter effects, radiation. Now, 2nd season, the characters need radiation shots and the weather is awful (although shouldn't it be cold and icy instead of rainy?)
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--POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT --
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And the Baltar character is hilarious. Like last episode when Starbuck caught him and his imaginary(?) cylon GF doing it doggy style. It was sexy without being UPNish and funny without being stupid and, well, UPNish. I like how they introduce an edgy, troublesome character like commander Ty's wife and don't just send her off at the end of the episode StarTrek syle. Or it was cool when Boomer started getting hot and bothered over the Cylon fighter ship. I could go on and on. I wish the people who were doing Enterprise had had 1/10nth of the creativity. The one episode where they came close to the human level BSG gets is when they had shoreleave on that one planet, and Hoshi got bent over by that big alien guy. It was funny, totally unexpected from that particular character and made them seem like real people.
ironically enough it was the band Franz Ferdinand
Have you even the faintest idea what joint stereo is? The difference between left and right is encoded seperately, and last I checked, zero compresses quite well.
I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
this is a great idea, and I do think it's pushing the boundaries. Cheers, Dean
Stereo? mpg123 reports this when playing:
Doesn't look stereo to me.
I really hope these extras SciFi is providing pays off for them in the end. This sort of thing is exactly what so many people have been asking for, the fact they are willing to take the risk and go for it is very impressive. I hope it generates some profit for them and they can take it to the next level and maybe influence how every channel does TV.
My personal hope is they end up allowing downloads for all the previous season's episodes. Maybe in a lower resolution and without extras to provide incentive for people to buy the DVDs when they come out. It's probably a pipe dream, but it seems more likely given what SciFi has already done.
>> Is it just me, or is this one of the most boring shows on television today??
Yep, you nailed it right on the head. It's you.
One of the other networks is broadcasting Three's Company re-runs. You oughta check'em out. You'll like it.
Now if they'd only dispense with the Shockwave Flash menus all over the place so people who either choose not to use flash (perhaps because of the flash "pop up" ads that aren't in new windows but run over the top of existing windows), or run OSs that don't have native flash players, can use the site I'd be much more impressed.
I was never a fan of Sliders (corny and illogical), but the SciFi web site tie in was a true gem, with its clever contests and imaginative episode tie-ins. My favorite was the tie-in for the ep where the good guys are captured by the evil Cromags and thrown in a prison camp. The tie-in for that ep was the camp newsletter. Great stuff!
Here is a torrent of the Full PodCast. It's 20MB.
bsg_ep109_FULL.torrent(I'm actually replying instead of moderating because I've seen a number of spammy posts like the recently.)
Apparently the show has your attention enough to bother responding to this thread. Seriously, dude, if it doesn't interest you, why waste time and bandwidth replying? Why bother even reading the thread? Do you need a life that badly?
Some valid points. However, I think I'd rather see both a streaming AND a downloadable version. Some of us prefer to download the entire thing so we can listen to it whenever. Being downloadable != backward technology, just a different choice.
Yeah, every single person downloading the entire file from a single server? Bleagh! Cross this with Bittorrent, and you'll have something worthwhile.
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
The actual MP3 is here. It's not even on a streaming server; you have to download the whole thing. This is a step backwards to 1999 technology.
Dude, you got this so wrong.
A 'podcast' is where you have a program which automatically downloads mp3's by checking an RSS feed, and copies them over to iTunes for your iPod (you don't actually have to have an iPod, but the whole experience is designed with the iPod in mind, hence the name). This is like TiVo for your Internet broadcasts, this is far superior to streaming audio. Streaming is so Marconi!
It's one guy, talking. And he's boring. This isn't Mystery Science Theater 3000. It's more like "shut up, I'm watching the show".
This is like another modern technology you appear to be unfamiliar with--the DVD. Once you've watched a show, you can watch it again with commentary, that's what this commentary is for. Again, via a podcast this is vastly superior to the DVD method (omigod, imagine if this had been around when B5 was on!).
Incidentally, if you're shipping out voice recorded with one microphone, both channels are the same and there's no reason to send it in stereo. Just bloats the file.
Oh so true. Fortunately the guys at SciFi know this (not terribly surprising that a television network would understand the 'vagaries' of audio channels, lol), and made the file mono.
There's absolutely no way I haven't just been trolled...
marconi = ankle-biter
tesla = visionary
got it?
Technology Consulting & Free Downloads
Did anyone else see that "IF" promo last Friday during BSG with the guy blowing into the dog's ass? That was a serious 'WTF? Did that really happen?' moment. I generally like the Sci-Fi channel's little promo spots, but geez... they need to change dealers or something. That, and those "Mansquito" ads...
Trolls: The high-tech version of those morons that scrawl obscenities in public bathrooms.
But you aren't supposed to stream it. This was realeased earlier this week so that in the US you could download it before the show was on. Maybe I'm just have slow reaction times but I had to pause and fast forward the mp3 a few time to get it in sync with the episode, especially after commercials. With a streaming mp3 that wouldn't really be practical with buffering and such especially since there are part where you can hear the show in the background of the mp3 and so being off by a fraction of a second is irritating.
As far as boring, well, it is just as interesting as most other commentary tracks on DVD's. I taped the show, watched it and then rewatched it Saturday morning with the commentary and enjoyed it a lot. I think it is even better than most dvd commentaries because I haven't seen the next episode unlike most commentaries where presumably you have either seen the film or watched the entire season of the show.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
This is phracking awesome!
The Television Wiki
Irony is when the intended meaning is different from the literal meaning.
Franz Ferdinand, the band with the song "Take Me Out" ("I'm just a crosshair.."), is not ironic. They are just referring to a guy none of our postliterate Eloi know about any more. That is not irony.
Examples:
Hearing GWB lecture Syria about the injustice of occupying a sovereign country -- irony.
Black fly in chardonnay -- not irony.
- SCIFI banner
- "click to watch" banner
- "exclusive podcast" banner
- space
- mini/classic series banner
and I just looked at a gallery that's totally blank. Kudos to the webmaster, your site is as worthless as the rest of the mainstream web, even if it is the official site for the only show I bothered to watch in over 5 years.Who cares what it's called, I just want to know where get it for all the past episodes. 109 is currently available, but I can't find 101 to 108.
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups. -- 0 1 My two bits
If they want commentary like that why not broadcast it one one of the other language tracks? Sure, those with analogue TV wouldn't get it but as slashdotters keep telling people on this forum 'this is the 21st century dude'.
Seems a bit strange offering an MP3 (downloadable via another app... I can't say this enough... WHY????) - I mean who has an MP3 player on when watching the TV???
I eagerly look forward to someone using this to add MST3K type commentary to state of the union addresses.
... live. Allegedly.
Those are, uh
Adding commentary to a live-broadcast television event via (what I understand to be) a pre-recorded, non-streaming technology might prove just a little difficult to effect.
SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
Seems a bit strange offering an MP3 (downloadable via another app... I can't say this enough... WHY????) - I mean who has an MP3 player on when watching the TV???
I have an Audiotron sitting on top of my DVD player, so I can use my remote to switch back and forth between the broadcast audio and the mp3 commentary. The new episode commentary will be downloaded automatically during the week to be available whenever I feel like replaying the show. All modes of access are as one. This is, after all, the 21st century, dude.
In a nuclear winter, the first effect of multiple detonations would indeed be a ton of rain, as all the fallout in the air seeds tons of rainclouds. Then, as the dust blanket spreads around the planet, temperatures would plummet and the ozone layer would disintegrate due to the effects of the nitrous oxides released in the explosions. I'm fairly certain most of that constant rain has cleared up, so it should get very dark and cold soon.
-SPOILERS-
Baltar really is great. He's a perfect example of a character who toes the line between the "good" and "evil" sides, without committing too much to one or the other. Unlike a lot of "renegade" characters who never do anything truly objectionable, even though they might work for the other side, Baltar does things we like and things we hate.
I also like the fact that the Cylons are monotheistic and the humans are polytheistic, insofar as they are religious. There's a tendency in our society to see monotheism as a more sophisticated or advanced philosophy, and usually when we see a polytheistic society fighting a monotheistic one, the monotheistic one is the more advanced and "good" side. Mixing it up like this really gives one an insight into how we unconsciously bias towards societies with religions similar to our own.
There is no P or C in frak, and H is right out.
How can anyone stand these Sci-Fi channel series?
If you think that one was bad, you should have seen the reject (A highlander giving a sheep a reach-around).
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
If anyone is interested, there's also a new behind the scenes video.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
It's been a long time since I actually watched TV on a TV.
On my computer I can easy. Mute the TV audio stream if its on and play another in its place. Or have both on at the same time. Of course the only thing that bugs me now is that I deleted that episode after I re-watched it yesterday. Guess its time to get a new HD.
There are lots of podcasts worth checking out. And there are other applications besides iPodder to subscribe with. Try Doppler. Try The Podcast Network for a range of podcasts.
There's this neat new gadget. You might have heard of it. It's called an iPod. You should check it out.
And as for why the commentary isn't included in the broadcast, the answer is obvious: Because the episode was shot and finished months ago, while the commentary was recorded Thursday.
I'm fairly certain most of that constant rain has cleared up, so it should get very dark and cold soon.
It's not widely known, I guess, but the breathless predictions of nuclear winter in the 1980s have been called into question by new simulations. While nuclear detonations certainly would put a lot of dust into the air, it's not at all clear that a full-scale nuclear war would result in the kind of planet-altering catastrophe predicted by Sagan and others. The planet is big, bigger than most folks realize, and even a full-scale superpower nuclear war between the US, the USSR and China would have resulted in detonations over only a tiny fraction of the planet's surface. If you lived in Argentina, for instance, odds are fair that you'd never even notice any change at all.
But of course, all we have is speculation. There's no way to ever test a theory like this one experimentally. At least, no good way.
I haven't seen the whole series yet, but I think part of what makes Baltar so compelling is that he is very human. He's not sympathetic as he's a pathological egoist (not an egotist, mind you, but an egoist), yet his frailties makes him strangely approachable.
I think the Baltar character is evidence both of the sophistication of the writers and their belief that their audience is sophisticated enough to appreciate such a three dimensional ambiguous character.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
your site is as worthless as the rest of the mainstream web
Heh. Best comment ever. I love irony.
When Universal was bought by GE last year from Vivendi and merged with NBC to create NBC Universal, the music division stayed with Vivendi.
The "Universal" (Studios) that owns Scifi, no longer has an interest in the "Universal" (Music Group) that is owned by Vivendi and is part of the RIAA.
Some of us capture the program on our computers, and can switch the audio tracks quite easily. You know, in he 21st century. Dude.
you mean nobody here has noticed that the "new" BSG is a very very thin propaganda vehicle that nicely parallels current american attitudes and behaviour in the light of the "war on terror" - particularly iraq? for g's sake, here in australia they are even promoting it as quote battles against "the AXIS OF EVIL" unquote (Ch. 10 yesterday). does anyone notice that the characters and plots are one dimensional, that the bad guys are completely not developed in terms of personality, motivation or belief system (to make em easier to kill, just like towelheads right?) does anyone care?
i thought not. move along, no brain cells required here, just fan gush.
I bet you don't read newspapers or watch the news.
what are you on about?
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
Actually I thought quite the opposite, I really felt it was the first thing I've seen on TV that came close to expressing how I felt on 9/11 and the subsequent actions of President Bush.
Think about it. The Cylons are made by humans who then return to destroy us. The US CIA made Bin Laden and built up Middle Eastern dictatorships to fight the USSR and now that has come back to haunt us.
Some of the scenes in the show really brought back hard memories for me of 9/11. I could really connect with the characters sense of loss, frustration and anger. A lot of the chaos of the time, and of the strength of the people that I saw walking downtown NYC streets as well, seemed to be well reflected.
Other scenes I could barely watch. There's one scene in the first episode where one of the characters goes down to submit photo's of her missing family and she walks down a corridor that is literally plastered with photo's of the missing. NYC streets were just like that. Whoever wrote that must have either lived in NYC or had been exposed to life there immediately post 9/11, because that scene had pictures and little shrines with candles set up in just the same way it was at the end of my block.
Also in the first episode they have to destroy a passenger liner that is being used to carry a nuclear device to attack the fleet, and Apollo has to destroy it, even though he is not sure if there are over 1000 people still alive on it. Although that didn't happen on 9/11 it was in the realm of possibility.
Anyway, as for the idea that is show is some sort of propaganda for current US policy, I would say that just because there is a show with a war in it, that doesn't mean it is pro President Bush.
I think it's more like if we had decent leadership that was wise and level headed, not flag waving and bent on war maybe we could have gotten through this experience much better. I know not everyone will agree with what I just wrote, but I hope that as someone who actually lived through a bombing you would give my opinion some weight.
Peace, or Not?
My tv is so ancient it doesn't handle secondary audio, so i'm glad they do it this was. I have a laptop and listened to it on my headphones while watching it on tv.
The main advantage to having it being downloadable via another program is that it is kind of like the old push technology so that you can subscribe to it and forget about it so that next week's episode will be downloaded automatically.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
Ok,
Can ANYONE plz explain to me why Baltar does not rat out on the ppl that he tests and finds out are Cylongs, like the most obvious being the very first girl he tests, how come in da following episode he doesnt tell anyone?!
really weird, he tests anyone and passes them all when its obvious at least one should be a Cylong. H e says its less fuss this way, wha? so why even bother testing them, argh.
parent watches too much Joey.
A full-scale superpower war would probably only target cities in the superpowers, though. Did the Cylon invasion target all cities, or just the major strategic sites? I suppose they would have only targeted strategic sites, to preserve as much as possible for their own use...but if they're after extermination, they might have just carpet-bombed the place. In that case, it might be better to compare the Cylon invasion to the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs.
I can't find a screenshot, but I do remember that in the set shots that signal a transition to the planet's surface (a little message flashes up saying "Cylon-occupied Caprica") the planet's atmosphere looks extremely yellow and cloudy.
Did the Cylon invasion target all cities, or just the major strategic sites?
We know that it didn't target all cities with heavy weapons. At least one (unnamed) city were left basically intact but for broken windows. Later, we'll see Delphi, a city that was attacked but clearly not hit with a large nuclear weapon.
the planet's atmosphere looks extremely yellow and cloudy
It looked like that before, I think. I think that's just the "Caprica look." I won't swear to that, however; it's just my impression.