Richard Hoppes

People who know me are well aware of the fact that I have been working tirelessly on a brand new version of Instant Watch Database. I am still a few weeks away from a release, but I wanted to give everybody a glimpse of what is on the horizon.

Let me start by saying that I’m not taking the site in a drastically different direction. Simplicity is one of the things that sets Instant Watch Database apart from the rest of the Netflix sites out there, and I didn’t want to change that. At the same time, I wanted to take the site to the next level. Striking a balance between these two goals has been a challenge, but I think the end result will be one that makes most people happy.

New Look and Feel

First and foremost, the look and feel of Instant Watch Database will be changing quite a bit. The layout will remain the same (for the most part), but I decided to part ways with the red and black “Netflixy” look. I won’t go into the exact reasons for this decision, but it was done to prepare for some exciting new features I am still working on.

Better Mobile Compatibility

If you use Instant Watch Database on a mobile device, you may have noticed some quirks that make the experience less than perfect. I have spent a considerable amount of time addressing these issues.

Back-end Changes

I have definite plans for the future of Instant Watch Database, and those plans required me to make some drastic architecture changes. None of these changes will be obvious to you, but they will facilitate some of the exciting changes that will be coming soon! :)

Premium Memberships

Instant Watch Database has always been a free service, and it will continue to be. All of the basic site features will remain free, but features that currently require a login will soon require a $4.99 yearly subscription.

These are some of the features that will be limited to premium members:

• No advertisements (Banner ads will be coming back, but not for premium members)
• Sorting/Grouping queued titles
• Excluding queued and watched titles from your search results
• Queue management (e.g. removing items from your queue without being logged into Netflix)
• Several brand new features (including some social goodness) that will be available when the new site launches

Oh, I almost forgot to mention something kind of important. If you already have an Instant Watch Database account (as of today), you will automatically become a premium member when the new site launches, and you will never be required to pay the yearly fee. Just my way of thanking everyone who has helped make Instant Watch Database a success. :)

Making PHP act like a real programming language is frustrating. That is all.

Jordan Crook, Tech Crunch:

As much as I love Samsung hardware, I’ve felt for a long while now that the Galaxy Note was a bit of a mistake. The screen size is just too big for me to wield the device comfortably, and I see no real value in the S-Pen other than having a little fun during bored moments.

But a good chunk of people out there in the world apparently disagree with me, as Samsung has just announced that the South Korea-based company has shipped sold 5 million units of the Galaxy Note phablet.

Seriously?

Read the entire article at TechCrunch:
Samsung Shipped 1 Million Galaxy Note Phablets A Month by Jordan Crook

Nara Dreamland was a theme park in Japan that opened in 1961 and closed forty-five years later in 2006.

To say the park was inspired by Disneyland would be an understatement. It was more of a cheap knockoff than anything. The amount of flat out thievery that went on here is astonishing. The rides and structures lifted directly from Disneyland include a nearly identical train depot, a big white mountain with skyway cars passing through it, and a castle at the center of the park.

Train Depot at Nara Dreamland
Photo by Theme Park Review

Train Depot at Disneyland
Photo from Wikipedia, released into the public domain by the copyright holder

When Nara Dreamland Was Open

These photos give you an idea of what Nara Dreamland was like in it’s final years. The park was apparently pretty nice in it’s heyday, but it looks pretty sad in these photos. Honestly, it looked abandoned while it was still open.

• Nara Dreamland by Malcolm Marr
• Nara Dreamland by Theme Park Review

Abandoned

Nara Dreamland closed nearly six years ago, but the park is still there. The owners have posted warning signs, hired guards and installed barbed wired fences, but none of these have stopped determined photographers from sneaking in and taking some fantastic photos.

• Nara Dreamland by Kyle Merriman
• Nara Dreamland Revisited: Nighttime by Florian
• Nara Dreamland - Nara Snowland by Florian

Go ahead, subscribe to my feed. You know you want to. :)

Time to Code by Richard Hoppes

A good dose of Hip-Hop and Rap, with a splash of Alternative Rock and Grime.

Alistair Barr, Reuters:

Google warned several developers in recent months that if they continued to use other payment methods - such as PayPal, Zong and Boku - their apps would be removed from Android Market, now known as Google Play, according to developers, executives and investors in mobile gaming and payment sectors.

Android seems a little less open today.

Read the entire article at Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/08/us-google-idUSBRE8271CJ20120308

The horror genre has been an obsession of mine for years, and listening to horror movie podcasts is just an extension of that obession. There are a lot of them out there, but only a couple were good enough to keep me coming back.

These are the ones I listen to on a regular basis:

Horror Etc.
www.horroretc.com

Horror Etc. is definitely my favorite horror podcast. Tony, Ted (and sometimes Doug) offer some of the most intelligent analysis of the horror genre you are going to find. The production values are top notch, the show topics are varied, and they never miss a show. If you are a horror geek, and you don’t listen to this podcast, you are missing out.

Hosted by King’s Town Ted and Anthony D.P. Mann, this Canadian produced program offers an intelligent approach to the format, theme-based and “spotlight” content, and high production quality. There’s nearly two decades of experience in media broadcast / technical production behind the program, which has played a key element in the show’s success. Boasting tremendous international listenership, and after four years and a couple of hundred episodes in, the ‘cast has no intention to of slowing down because it’s a program for fans, produced by fans of the genre. Ted and Tony love to talk all things horror – tune-in and join the legion… if you dare!

Bloody Good Horror
www.bloodygoodhorror.com

Bloody Good Horror is also a pretty great show. Their production values are pretty impressive, the guys who host the show are funny and entertaining, and they do a good job of covering new releases. One minor drawback is that they charge for their “classic episodes”, so you won’t be able to listen to their back catalog without coughing up some dough.

Bloody Good Horror is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth reviews of current releases and cult classics, as well as home to popular features like “Beer Guts” and our world-famous “Word of the Day.”

Well, it’s a website. More specifically, it’s a website that runs on a new blogging engine that I am currently writing. If the site looks unfinished, that’s because it is. I decided to release it as a work in progress, and update it as time permits. Think of it as an adventure!

I know what you are probably thinking. “Why on earth would you write your own blogging engine? Can’t you just use Wordpress or something?” Let me start by stating the obvious. There are a TON of blogging platforms out there, and most people can easily find one that fits their needs. The problem is, I’m not most people. I’m a geek, and on top of that, I’m a software developer. That means I have very specific (and weird) requirements for the software I use.

Basically, I wanted something simple, light-weight and fast. I also wanted the ability to write formatted posts without the need for a fancy shmancy HTML editor. Marco Arment seemed to have the right idea when he wrote Second Crack, so I took his efforts as inspiration and made the decision to build my own.