NFL - PRESEASON NATIONAL TV SCHEDULE FEATURES ALL PLAYOFF TEAMS & SUPER BOWL XLI REMATCH

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4/2/07

PRESEASON NATIONAL TV SCHEDULE FEATURES
ALL PLAYOFF TEAMS & SUPER BOWL XLI REMATCH

It kicks off in Canton, Ohio...showcases every 2006 playoff team...and includes a rematch of Super Bowl XLI.

Those are among the highlights of a 15-game national television preseason schedule that was announced today by the
NFL, along with the complete list of 2007 preseason matchups.

The preseason begins on Sunday night, August 5 with the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio when
the New Orleans Saints face the Pittsburgh Steelers on NFL Network at 8:00 PM ET. The Saints marched to a division
title and advanced to the NFC Championship Game last season, led by AP Coach of the Year SEAN PAYTON and Pro
Bowl quarterback DREW BREES. The Steelers enter the 2007 season under the guidance of MIKE TOMLIN, who will
make his head-coaching debut in Canton.

On Monday night, August 20, the Chicago Bears visit the Indianapolis Colts in a rematch of Super Bowl XLI on ESPN
(8:00 PM ET). It will mark the first home game for the Super Bowl champion Colts since defeating the Bears on February
4 in South Florida.

Following is the 2007 NFL preseason national television schedule:

2007 NFL PRESEASON NATIONAL TELEVISION SCHEDULE
(All times Eastern)

DATE GAME NETWORK (TIME)

Sunday, August 5 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, Canton, OH:
New Orleans vs. Pittsburgh NFLN (8:00 PM)

Preseason Week 1 (August 9-13)

Thursday, August 9 Indianapolis at Dallas FOX (8:00 PM)
Friday, August 10 Buffalo at New Orleans CBS (8:00 PM)
Saturday, August 11 Washington at Tennessee NFLN (8:00 PM)
Sunday, August 12 Seattle at San Diego NBC (8:00 PM)
Monday, August 13 Denver at San Francisco ESPN (8:00 PM)

Preseason Week 2 (August 16-20)

Thursday, August 16 Miami at Kansas City ESPN (8:00 PM)
Friday, August 17 Minnesota at New York Jets FOX (8:00 PM)
Saturday, August 18 San Diego at St. Louis CBS (8:00 PM)
Sunday, August 19 New York Giants at Baltimore NBC (8:00 PM)
Monday, August 20 Chicago at Indianapolis ESPN (8:00 PM)

Preseason Week 3 (August 23-27)

Thursday, August 23 Jacksonville at Green Bay FOX (8:00 PM)
Friday, August 24 New England at Carolina CBS (8:00 PM)
Sunday, August 26 Philadelphia at Pittsburgh NBC (8:00 PM)
Monday, August 27 Cincinnati at Atlanta ESPN (8:00 PM)


2007 PRESEASON WEEK-BY-WEEK SCHEDULE

HALL OF FAME GAME – AUGUST 5
New Orleans vs. Pittsburgh (NFLN)

WEEK 1 – AUGUST 9-13
Indianapolis at Dallas (FOX, 8/9)
Buffalo at New Orleans (CBS, 8/10)
Washington at Tennessee (NFLN, 8/11)
Seattle at San Diego (NBC, 8/12)
Denver at San Francisco (ESPN, 8/13)
Arizona at Oakland
Atlanta at New York Jets
Carolina at New York Giants
Chicago at Houston
Cincinnati at Detroit
Green Bay at Pittsburgh
Jacksonville at Miami
Kansas City at Cleveland
New England at Tampa Bay
Philadelphia at Baltimore
St. Louis at Minnesota


WEEK 2 – AUGUST 16-20
Miami at Kansas City (ESPN, 8/16)
Minnesota at New York Jets (FOX, 8/17)
San Diego at St. Louis (CBS, 8/18)
New York Giants at Baltimore (NBC, 8/19)
Chicago at Indianapolis (ESPN, 8/20)
Atlanta at Buffalo
Carolina at Philadelphia
Denver at Dallas
Detroit at Cleveland
Houston at Arizona
New Orleans at Cincinnati
Oakland at San Francisco
Pittsburgh at Washington
Seattle at Green Bay
Tampa Bay at Jacksonville
Tennessee at New England



WEEK 3 – AUGUST 23-27
Jacksonville at Green Bay (FOX, 8/23)
New England at Carolina (CBS, 8/24)
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh (NBC, 8/26)
Cincinnati at Atlanta (ESPN, 8/27)
Baltimore at Washington
Cleveland at Denver
Dallas at Houston
Detroit at Indianapolis
Minnesota at Seattle
New Orleans at Kansas City
New York Jets at New York Giants
St. Louis at Oakland
San Francisco at Chicago
San Diego at Arizona
Tennessee at Buffalo
Tampa Bay at Miami


WEEK 4 – AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 2
Arizona at Denver
Baltimore at Atlanta
Buffalo at Detroit
Cleveland at Chicago
Dallas at Minnesota
Green Bay at Tennessee
Houston at Tampa Bay
Indianapolis at Cincinnati
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Kansas City at St. Louis
Miami at New Orleans
New York Giants at New England
New York Jets at Philadelphia
Oakland at Seattle
San Francisco at San Diego
Washington at Jacksonville


2007 PRESEASON TEAM-BY-TEAM SCHEDULE


AFC

Buffalo Miami New England New York Jets
at New Orleans (CBS) Jacksonville at Tampa Bay Atlanta
Atlanta at Kansas City (ESPN) Tennessee Minnesota (FOX)
Tennessee Tampa Bay at Carolina (CBS) at NY Giants
at Detroit at New Orleans NY Giants at Philadelphia

Baltimore Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburgh
Philadelphia at Detroit Kansas City vs. New Orleans* (NFLN)
NY Giants (NBC) New Orleans Detroit Green Bay
at Washington at Atlanta (ESPN) at Denver at Washington
at Atlanta Indianapolis at Chicago Philadelphia (NBC)
at Carolina

Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Tennessee
Chicago at Dallas (FOX) at Miami Washington (NFLN)
at Arizona Chicago (ESPN) Tampa Bay at New England
Dallas Detroit at Green Bay (FOX) at Buffalo
At Tampa Bay at Cincinnati Washington Green Bay

Denver Kansas City Oakland San Diego
at San Francisco (ESPN) at Cleveland Arizona Seattle (NBC)
at Dallas Miami (ESPN) at San Francisco at St. Louis (CBS)
Cleveland New Orleans St. Louis at Arizona
Arizona at St. Louis at Seattle San Francisco

NFC

Dallas New York Giants Philadelphia Washington
Indianapolis (FOX) Carolina at Baltimore at Tennessee (NFLN)
Denver at Baltimore (NBC) Carolina Pittsburgh
at Houston NY Jets at Pittsburgh (NBC) Baltimore
at Minnesota at New England NY Jets at Jacksonville

Chicago Detroit Green Bay Minnesota
at Houston Cincinnati at Pittsburgh St. Louis
at Indianapolis (ESPN) at Cleveland Seattle at NY Jets (FOX)
San Francisco at Indianapolis Jacksonville (FOX) at Seattle
Cleveland Buffalo at Tennessee Dallas

Atlanta Carolina New Orleans Tampa Bay
at NY Jets at NY Giants vs. Pittsburgh* (NFLN) New England
at Buffalo at Philadelphia Buffalo (CBS) at Jacksonville
Cincinnati (ESPN) New England (CBS) at Cincinnati at Miami
Baltimore Pittsburgh at Kansas City Houston
Miami

Arizona St. Louis San Francisco Seattle
at Oakland at Minnesota Denver (ESPN) at San Diego (NBC)
Houston San Diego (CBS) Oakland at Green Bay
San Diego at Oakland at Chicago Minnesota
at Denver Kansas City at San Diego Oakland


*Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio

Philip de Vellis Details Production of "1984 Hillary" Video

Philip de Vellis, the creator of the "1984 Hillary" Video, explains how he created the now classic clip. He says that he used a Mack Book equipped with Final Cut Pro and Motion 2, which means I can make the same video right now. But here's the video.

No punishment for Coughlin's 'Hitler' quote

No punishment for Coughlin's 'Hitler' quote Oh My G-D...Just...Just see my Rant Below!!!
BY ARTHUR STAPLE

Giants coach Tom Coughlin won't be disciplined and his job is not in jeopardy after he was quoted saying he is almost as hated as Adolf Hitler.

The Giants had no official comment yesterday after the Daily News quoted Coughlin saying this, in response to a question about the battering he received in the New York and national media near the end of last season:

"I hear some of it and I see it. You know [vice president of communications Pat] Hanlon tells me about it, what's going on. Hitler and then me, in that order. Unfortunate, but it is."

Coughlin made the comment to a handful of reporters in Phoenix at the NFL meetings. He and the rest of the Giants' front office, including team president John Mara, returned home Wednesday and there was no further discussion of the remark.

Coughlin has never had the warm relationship with New York writers and radio hosts that his predecessor, Jim Fassel, enjoyed. Some of that comes from the outspoken players Coughlin has coached - he and Tiki Barber went at it privately and publicly as the team stumbled down the stretch last season - and some from Coughlin's unwillingness to show anything but his business side to reporters.

WFAN host Mike Francesa said on the air yesterday that Coughlin has canceled the weekly spot he did with Francesa and co-host Chris Russo.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEY TOM!!! you do realize you just Pissed off about 35% of the Metro area with that Comment, don't YOU???
Do You realize that one of the two families that owns the Team are Jewish, along with a good deal of your season ticket subscribers?
Ok: we can't blame you for feeling like you have been abused by many in the last several months, True.
You knew the deal when you came here: people weren't going to like your "Tough as Nails" personality, or the way you do things. This is the Price of doing business in NY Tom!! Get over it....if you want to be well liked, you'll need a personality transplant.

Clinton Supporter Markos Moulitsas Zúniga Of "Daily Kos" Blows It - Intentionally Misquotes Barack Obama

"Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, I salute you!" - Senator Hillary Clinton

Markos Moulitsas Zúniga -- the founder and head guru of the popular political blog "Dally Kos" picked up the recent USA Today, saw Senator Barack Obama's face, and since "Kos" as he's called gets about $4,900 a week from Hillary Clinton , (enough to buy two Mercedes Benz sedans!!) he decided to do what any fanatical supporter of the New York Senator would do: misquote Senator Barack Obama.

On Sunday, Senator Obama was quoted in the USA Today as saying this:

"SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — If President Bush vetoes an Iraq war spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to because no lawmaker "wants to play chicken with our troops," Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday.

"My expectation is that we will continue to try to ratchet up the pressure on the president to change course," the Democratic presidential candidate said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think that we will see a majority of the Senate vote to cut off funding at this stage."

The Senator was speculating on what he believes Congress -- which has a razor-thin Democratic majority -- would do if the bill is vetoed by the President. He never stated he supported the war -- never has But think about it. Stop for 30 seconds. If funding was cut off without a timetable for getting out of Iraq, what would the troops do? Ah, leave on a jet plane for home, defying orders? Go postal? What?

Are you paying attention? Are you thinking? Good!

Now this is what "Kos" wrote:

Obama caves to Bush
by kos

Sun Apr 01, 2007 at 10:57:18 AM PDT

I wish this was an April Fools Day joke:

If President Bush vetoes an Iraq war spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to because no lawmaker "wants to play chicken with our troops," Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday.

What a ridiculous thing to say. Not only is it bad policy, not only is it bad politics, it's also a terrible negotiating approach.

Instead of threatening Bush with even more restrictions and daring him to veto funding for the troops out of pique, Barack just surrendered to him.

Let me repeat that -- Obama just surrendered to Bush.

Note that "Kos" quoted only part of what the Senator said, not the whole deal. But considering that Kos is bought and paid for by Hillary Clinton, this comes as no surprise. My point is, his blog post can't be trusted at all. I like his work and his rise to pop-culture icon, but I don't like this way of playing fast and loose with the truth.


But since Kos isn't one to get the nuance of public policy, nor has he been confused with a policy wonk, I should not be surprised with this huge blunder. But, I forgot, he's paid by Hillary, who's been buying the support of everyone from a prominent Black preacher to the Iowa governor , and perhaps even several stray dogs.

Ah, maybe not -- stray dogs can't be bought.

What bothers me is there are people on his board who just blindly went along with what Kos wrote without doing any digging at all.

What the hell ever happened to critical thinking?

Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin Looks To 2007 Season

Nothing to Look Back on, Raiders Only Look Ahead

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 1, 2007
When Lane Kiffin took over as the Oakland Raiders’ coach, one of the first things he told his new players was that he did not want to dwell on what went wrong last season.

For the players who went through a 2-14 campaign that led to the Raiders being the butt of jokes on late-night comedy shows and Coach Art Shell being fired, that was a welcome approach.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” offensive tackle Robert Gallery said. “He said it before I even had to. I didn’t want to have to talk about it. It’s over, we’re on to new things.”

That was especially true for Gallery and the offense, which had one of the worst seasons in league history. The Raiders scored 168 points — fifth fewest in a 16-game season — had 12 offensive touchdowns, allowed a league-worst 72 sacks and failed to score a touchdown in their final three games.

Gallery, the No. 2 overall pick in 2004, looked lost at times as he moved from right to left tackle. He said he feels much more comfortable under the new assistant Tom Cable’s direction than he did under the inexperienced Jackie Slater.

“The system didn’t fit the offensive linemen that you had,” said the new fullback Justin Griffith, who played for the Falcons last season when Cable was the offensive line coach. “I think it was more the system than it was the players.”

There is plenty of excitement in Oakland about the regime and a new start as the team tries to rebound from four straight losing seasons.

But this is the time of year for optimism for all teams with new coaches, when everyone hopes the change will lead to success and no one has lost a game yet.

“Right now everybody is happy, the sun is out, everything is good,” cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. “But when adversity hits you never know what you are going to get. Like always, I can’t predict the future. I don’t know what is going to happen, but right now he has been very positive and seems like a guy that can take control.”

Kiffin said more than 90 percent of the players have been at the voluntary workouts, showing up at least four days a week. One notable exception has been the disgruntled receiver Randy Moss, who expressed a desire to be traded at various points last season.

Kiffin and the coaching staff have begun putting in some of the new offense, which will include elements of the West Coast offense that the coordinator Greg Knapp has used in the past, with some wrinkles Kiffin has brought from U.S.C.

But much of the final product will depend on who is playing quarterback, which remains up in the air.

Andrew Walter is the only quarterback with N.F.L. experience on the roster. The team could select quarterback JaMarcus Russell of Louisiana State or Brady Quinn of Notre Dame with the No. 1 overall draft pick, and also bring in another veteran.

Kiffin has talked with the former Houston quarterback David Carr, who was released by the Texans. Kiffin was a graduate assistant at Fresno State when Carr was on the team.

But for now, Walter is the quarterback. The Raiders thought so highly of Walter that they did not use their first-round pick a year ago on Matt Leinart or Jay Cutler.

But given a chance to play when Aaron Brooks went down with an injury in the second game, Walter struggled last year.

Philip de Vellis Explains How And Why He Created The "1984-Hillary" Video

In this video, Philip de Vellis -- aka ParkRidge47 of YouTube -- talks to YouTube's news and politics editor Steve Grove about the "Vote Different" ad and the future of online video. This is a good resource for videobloggers.

In the clip, he explains that he used a MacBook, Final Cut Pro, and Motion 2 to create the video, and that the effort was rather easy. What he was not prepared for was the viral response.

Hillary Clinton Buying Endorsements - Cheating Her Way To The Top of Polls

If you think Senator Hillary Clinton's getting endorsements because she's popular, think again. Many of her supporters on a high level are bought and paid for. This is something backers of Senator Barack Obama should focus on the explain to anyone they talk to.

This information must be spread!

Want an example? Take this one from the Corruption Chronicles:

Hillary Buys Black Support In South Carolina

For a few hundred thousand dollars Hillary Clinton has obtained the highly pursued endorsement of an influential South Carolina senator who also happens to be the pastor of the state’s largest black church.

Or how about the Iowa example, where she retired the govs campaign debt?

It must be communicated that her candidacy is one of the machine and not of the grass roots!

Senator Barack Obama - 5,000 Community Meetings Planned Today

Obama fans will gather to hear their candidate

By Brian Charlton
Associated Press
It's not quite a class reunion, but graduates from Punahou School's class of 1979 plan to gather this weekend to rally support for former classmate and presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Obama supporters have offered their homes today for barbecue lunches, book discussions and potlucks as the Hawaii native's national campaign streams a live appearance online to promote his community grass-roots effort.

The events are part of 5,000 "community kickoff" meetings planned nationwide as supporters post their events on Obama's Web site for public viewing, his campaign staff said.

Hosts in the islands include a Honolulu book club that just read one of his best-selling books, a computer gaming center in Aiea and families on Oahu, the Big Island and Kauai.

Obama, Democratic candidate for president in 2008, plans to attend a "Hope. Action. Change." event in Onawa, Iowa, which will be shown live on the Internet. Audio will also be available through a conference call.

"Barack Obama believes this campaign is about everyday Americans and the discussions that take place in living rooms, coffee shops and community centers," said Bill Burton, national press secretary for the Obama campaign, in a campaign release. "This Saturday thousands of people will come together to take organizing into their own hands and take the next step in changing this country."

The Democratic senator from Illinois was born in Honolulu 45 years ago and lived in one the country's most diverse metropolitan areas for the better part of 18 years. He spent four childhood years in Indonesia.

Obama still visits Hawaii in the winter to relax, play basketball and golf with old friends and to spend time with his grandmother and sister, who both live in Honolulu.

Many of Obama's Hawaii supporters have said that growing up in Hawaii -- with its melting pot of mostly Asian, Polynesian and European cultures and religions -- gave Obama the diverse background needed to pull the country together.

Classmates from private Punahou School, which Obama attended from the fifth grade to high school graduation, were to gather at a private residence.

PC Gamerz in Pearl Kai Shopping Center, where online gamers rent computers by the hour, will open its store early so supporters can eat breakfast together and use its equipment to see Obama speak.

"We wanted to use our resources for good and not evil," owner Jeri Endo said.

David Fry, a 32-year-old Web designer, has offered his home in Kahala for people to watch the webcast, view a campaign video and discuss ways to support Obama while having a potluck-style barbecue.

"It seems like there is so much energy, so much excitement for him," Fry said. "People are just coming out of the woodwork."

Raiders "Hybrid" Bill Walsh Offense To Include Zone-Stretch Blocking - Tribune

This is from the blog entry of Jerry McDonald of The Oakland Tribune.

Posted by Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer on March 29th, 2007
Expect the Raiders to make some defensive linemen very angry this year.

The expertise of some new coaches as well as some anecdotal evidence suggests that the Raiders will join the Denver Broncos as a cut-blocking scourge of the AFC West.

Recently acquired free-agent fullback Justin Griffith, participating Thursday in the club's voluntary off-season workout program, has taken a look at his new line and thinks they'll fit in just fine with a system imported from Atlanta by way of Denver.

"The system didn't fit the offensive lineman that you had," Griffith said of the 2006 Raiders line. "We've got a new offensive line coach now. Great system for these guys, especially in the running game. You really don't have to go and hit guys high, you can just cut 'em down."

The Raiders line coach, Tom Cable, continued the system taught by Alex Gibbs, who was a consultant last season for the Falcons. Gibbs made annual treks to USC to teach blocking while Lane Kiffin was the co-offensive line coach there.

Gibbs, a former Raiders assistant when Mike Shanahan was on staff, followed Shanahan to Denver and instituted the system of blocking which has made the Broncos the NFL's top rushing team since 1995.

Shanahan was also influenced by 49ers line coach Bobb McKittrick when he was the 49ers offensive coordinator. The same McKittrick whose tactics so enraged Howie Long in 1985 the two nearly scuffled in a Los Angeles Coliseum runway.

Center Jeremy Newberry played for McKittrick in San Francisco and under Cable at Cal. He describes Cable's philosophy as "stretch and cut."

Tackle Robert Gallery, who stands to benefit to a philosophy of agility rather than straight-ahead, man blocking, said, "You might think that (the Raiders will be similar to Denver and Atlanta). But we're really jsut working on techniques now . . . we'll know more down the road."

Newberry thought so much of Cable that when he learned Cable was leaving Cal to be a head coach at Idaho, he immedately applied for the NFL draft as a junior.

"It was unbelieveable that we fell into him," Kiffin said Thursday. "I had known him a little bit from his days at UCLA, for him to have been a head coach, an offensive coordinator, this offensive line coach isn't like a normal guy. He sees it all, he gets it, he sees outside the gox and for him to be here working with these thus and he's bringing to them already is great.

"System-wise, coming from SC, we were a dominant zone (blocking) team with a number of runs but specializing in zones."

Griffith, regarded as an excellent receiver out of the backfield, termed the Raiders offense, "West Coast" and is thrilled to be playing for Tom Rathman, who filled that role with the 49ers.

Kiffin called the evolving Raiders system a "hybrid."

More notes from Thursday's media session:

– Kiffin, who got a lot of positive press with the national media at the NFL owner's meetings, has already come a long way from the guy who understandably appeared stiff and nervous sitting next to Al Davis the day he was hired.

When asked if Andrew Walter learned anything from last year's weekly beatdown, Kiffin replied, "You can learn from anything. You can learn from divorce."

– Kiffin reaffirmed that he expected Moss to be a part of the Raiders this season, but really, what is he supposed to say?

Moss has already done a bang-up job trashing his own trade value, and Kiffin doesn't need to give him any more help in that regard. He's sure not going to trash the guy. Things will work out best for the Raiders if Kiffin says nice things about Moss right up to the moment he is sent on his way.

Moss has not attended a volutnary workout or talked to Kiffin other than a 15-minute phone call. Kiffin has had there meetings with Porter, cleared the air with Gallery and others, but has received just 15 minutes with Moss. He said he doesn't see this as odd.

"I don't because there wasn't anything from that time to this time that was pressing," Kiffin said. "Obvoiusly we'll have more conversations coming up and I look forward to working with him."

– Players come and go on a staggered schedule. Kiffin reports better than 90 percent attendance, which is about the same figure quoted by prevous coaches. Some of the Raiders spotted Thursday included LaMont Jordan, Walter, Gallery, Michael Huff and Nnamdi Asomugha.

– There have been no announcements, but unrestricted free agent guard Corey Hulsey has apparently been re-signed. Hulsey, who visited with the Giants recently, was in uniform with the team.

– Kiffin said the Raiders have spoken with representatives for unrestricted free agent quarterback David Carr, released last week by Houston. He declined to get into specifics. Kiffin was an offensive assistant for two years when Carr was at Fresno State.

– Telling comment from Gallery on what advice he would give to the No. 1 pick in the draft, currently owned by the Raiders.

"You've got to do your thing. You come in, work with the situation you're in," Gallery said. "It may not be, to start out, exactly what you want or what best fits you. But at some point you're going to show everybody what you're made of. What everybody says and writes about you, it only affects them. It doesn't really affect who you are."

Justin.tv - An Innovative Webcam Born In San Francisco

If you haven't heard about Justin.tv well, it -- and he -- are here. I'll let the SF Chronicle tell the rest of the story.

IT'S JUSTIN, LIVE! ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT!
S.F. startup puts camera on founder's head for real-time feed, and a star is born
Jessica Guynn, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, March 30, 2007

Just call him Air Justin.
Eleven days ago, 23-year-old Justin Kan was just another no-name startup guy with big dreams of the small screen. Then he and his friends launched Justin.tv , an Internet reality show chronicling their adventures as young San Francisco entrepreneurs that, at least for now, is proving to be a smash hit with online viewers.
Kan calls it "lifecasting." The concept is simple: Using technology his team developed, Kan has strapped a camera to his head to capture every moment of his existence in live streaming video on the Internet. Viewers literally see the world through Kan's virtual eyes, which broadcast his life onto the Web 24/7. He interacts with his audience through 21 chat rooms and hundreds of e-mails each day. He even took their calls on his cell phone until he got overwhelmed.
The show's slogan says it all: "Waste time watching other people waste time." And that's what tens of thousand of folks around the globe are doing, turning Kan into an online phenom by tuning in to his irreverent and uncensored world. That sudden explosion of peeping onlookers has caused so many technical difficulties that Justin.tv had to recruit volunteers from the audience to keep the show rolling.
Viewers seem to delight in playing along with their new online idol, cramming chat rooms and pulling pranks on him, first calling 911 to report a stabbing in the group's apartment (prompting some friends to give Kan a bullet-proof vest for the next time officers burst in, guns drawn), then reporting a fire there. San Francisco emergency dispatchers, leery of any more false alarms, now call to confirm there's an actual emergency before responding. So fans moved on to different sorts of pranks, such as ordering $63 worth of pizza to be delivered to Justin.tv's door.
Instant fame has had some pretty dramatic results. Kan's inbox overflows with praise ("please go off the air, you're ruining my life with your addictive site") and questions particularly of the personal nature, such as what will he do when he masturbates or has sex on-screen.
Meanwhile, Emmett Shear, 23, and Kyle Vogt, 21, who comprise the technical team, have barely slept in a desperate effort to keep up with the ever-increasing traffic. Michael Seibel, the show's 24-year-old producer, appears to have a cell phone permanently attached to his ear.
Kan jokes that he should hire a full-time assistant just to accept all the new friend requests on MySpace and Facebook. He's already getting noticed on the street. And he is getting flattering attention -- and even his first onscreen kiss -- from his most coveted demographic: starstruck young hotties. (He has lined up three blind dates this weekend). Coming in a close second: Fans who treat him and his cash-strapped gang to dinner. Those fan get an on-air shout-out.
"Eventually my ego is going to be the size of the planet Earth," Kan said.
The business model centers on product placement. Already corporate sponsors are lining up to plug their products alongside Zipcar rentals and Bawls energy drink, both of which have posters on the walls of Justin.tv's headquarters in North Beach. The apartment is four blocks from where the movie "Ed TV," in which a video clerk agrees to have his life videotaped for network TV, was filmed. And Hollywood producers, charged with figuring out new strategies for delivering shows to viewers, are looking to get a piece of the action even though the production values are as crude as the Justin.tv vocabulary.
Of course, Justin.tv is a new twist on an old idea, piggybacking on earlier hits such as MTV's "Real World" and Jennicam, an Internet site run by a young woman who in 1996 became one of the first to install webcams in her home so viewers could observe every aspect of her private life. Kan hopes his show's budding success will power a Justin.tv network complete with a lineup of shows, including a "Sex and the City"-inspired tale to be filmed in Manhattan.
"We want to find people far more charismatic and attractive than me to go out and do this," Kan said.
All the runaway hype begs the question: Will Justin.tv be fad or flop?
Andrew Keen, a sharp critic of the self-broadcasting movement whose book "The Cult of the Amateur" comes out in June, says this brand of digital narcissism not only will fail, it will be recalled with shame in more sober economic times, just like the dot-coms of the late 1990s.
"This is the last gasp of the Web 2.0 boom," Keen said. "People are going to look back at this and say, 'This makes Second Life look like the BBC.' I think even Justin will look back on it and be embarrassed.
"This (show) attracts people who are profoundly bored with their lives and are waiting for the next media fix. They will go on to the next thing when they get bored of this thing. It has no legs."
Months ago, when The Chronicle first met the Justin.tv crew as they were in the early planning phase, the show certainly seemed like a gamble. Would people with lives of their own sit around and watch Kan live his, even when he's just spending face time with his laptop or going to the bathroom with the camera discreetly pointed toward the ceiling?
Justin.tv is more than ready for prime time, insists Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, which provided seed money for the company. The business incubator usually gives the companies it sponsors about $5,000 per founder.
"Of the 39 startups we've funded so far, Justin.TV might have the most potential," Graham said. "Ultimately their plan is to have hundreds of people with these cameras. Each would be a channel; viewers would watch whichever was most interesting at that time. With hundreds of people, there would always be something interesting. So why would anyone even switch on their TV?
"If this doesn't scare the s -- out of TV networks, it's only because they don't understand it yet. TV is moving to the Internet especially for the 18- to 35-(year-old) males the TV networks can barely hang onto now."
Kan's concept is another step in rewriting the script for programming, said John Furrier, CEO of Podtech.net, a Silicon Valley podcasting network. "It's not about what it is today but what it will turn into. A lot of people will be quick to dismiss the quality of his programming. And it will be crude at first. But it will evolve very quickly."
To get an idea of what Justin.tv is all about right now, picture four guys gone wild in a two-bedroom apartment littered with disheveled furniture, empty beer cans, remnants of pizza crust and randomly strewn socks and shoes. On a giant white board is the show's apparent goal: Jay Leno, 30 days or less. On another smaller white board is a long list of possible activities for Kan, from going to a shooting range to making a deposit at a sperm bank.
Advertisers' banners adorn the walls. Even Hearst Castle is an unofficial sponsor. The Justin.tv crew, frustrated that the castle was closed during a recent road trip, "borrowed" one of its flags. Kan is fixated on getting Budweiser as a sponsor, which would help with the drain on the thirsty startup's budget.
Kan, who says he grew up a shy introvert in an upper-middle-class family in Seattle, has a bona fide exhibitionist streak. A Yale physics and philosophy grad turned high-tech entrepreneur, he once posed lathered in shaving cream for a college pin-up calendar to raise money for tsunami relief, and he sold his first Internet company in an attention-getting stunt on eBay.
Now his average day alternates between a blur of antics and long spells of boredom. Kan never takes the camera off unless he's sleeping. That's the only time the camera actually films him instead of his perspective on the world. Viewers, tired of waiting for him to rise, like to egg his roommates on to wake him. On a recent morning, they poured a glass of water on him.
Kan likes to think and talk about himself as a man of the people, so he gets out in the world when he can. Highlights from earlier this week: a walk to pick up coffee -- Kan started drinking it a month ago to get more pep earlier in the day -- a flurry of media interviews and lunch in South Park with his No. 1 fan, friend Seeyuen Lee. Lee began watching Justin.tv before it launched. "Now that they have thousands of viewers, everyone wants to be Justin's No. 1 fan, but I am squatting on the title," she said.
Later, Kan headed for the Museum of Modern Art to meet with the folks at Podtech, then to take his friend and neighbor, Steve Huffman, who became a millionaire by selling his startup Reddit to Wired Digital, shopping for a Corvette at Ellis Brooks Chevrolet.
No errand is ordinary when you have a camera strapped to your head. Kan, who ran out of clean socks, walked to Fisherman's Wharf to buy some more at the Gap but was kicked out when he refused to stop shooting. Soon he got an e-mail from a viewer: "Hey Justin I gave a call to that Gap store hah. I told the guy you had 1,000 people watching the camera live and he just looked like a dick to the whole Internet."
Rather than return empty-handed to the apartment, Kan wandered across the street to watch breakdancers as the sun set on the bay. As he took in the booming music and acrobatic moves, he became still for the first time all day, and, for a moment, appeared alone in the crowd. "It's nice to watch someone else perform instead of me," he said.
Kan realizes there are downsides to so much notoriety. He and Seibel have to instant message each other with phone numbers and other sensitive information they don't want to go out on the air. And, despite all the attention, Kan has never before been so isolated. He spends far more time interacting with strangers than his own family.
With a show that runs more on impulse than inspiration, Kan has considered banning his parents' IP addresses from accessing the site. He doesn't want them to see him acting "like an ass," he says.
Then the moment passes, and he's off again, drawn to the glow of an evening spent with friends over pizza and poker. When some of Vogt's friends from MIT show up, they can't believe the show is for real. So Kan tells viewers that if they send 100 e-mails in 20 minutes, the entire gang will dive into the swimming pool completely clothed. Kan clocks 300 messages.
With that kind of response, Kan says he has no intention of turning off the camera anytime soon.
"We will keep going as long as it's fun and as long as it's relevant," he said. "I figure that will be for a long time to come. ... If I wasn't starting this company, I would be starting another company. It's my job. It's my life."

George Clooney - Barack Obama Supporter - LA Times

Clooney steps cautiously into Obama's camp
Actor-activist fears a Hollywood connection might hurt candidate's chances in the heartland.
By Tina Daunt, LA Times Staff Writer
March 30, 2007

George Clooney can't decide what role he'd like to play.

This has nothing to do with his flourishing movie career and everything to do with the 2008 presidential campaign, where the involvement of even a widely admired star can be the subject of a serious dilemma.

On the one hand, the actor said in an interview, he would love to throw himself into campaigning for his friend, Sen. Barack Obama, a politician he compares to President Kennedy.

But Clooney is too shrewd a political observer to discount the negative effect celebrity can have on a campaign, especially in a red state. (Look what happened last year when industry favorite Rep. Harold Ford Jr. ran for the Senate in 2006. The Tennessee Democrat's foes called him "Fancy Ford" and portrayed him as a habitué of Hollywood's decadent soirees. It might have been what cost him the election in a close race.)

At the moment Clooney is playing it close to the vest, waiting to see if he can play a part without become a distracting sideshow. His quandary is a measure of Hollywood's growing political sophistication; celebs are beginning to understand that their support can be a double-edged sword.

Clooney points to a deeply personal example of Hollywood backlash: His father, former television anchorman and game show host Nick Clooney, lost his congressional race in Kentucky in 2004 after his opponent blasted him for having "Hollywood values."

"It became an issue of Hollywood versus the heartland," said Clooney, who opted not to publicly campaign for his father. "I believed I could only do him more harm."

So when Obama, an Illinois Democrat, told Clooney last year that he was thinking about running for president, the actor was excited but cautious. "I told him I would do anything for him, including staying completely away from him," said Clooney, speaking recently on his cellphone from the South Carolina set of his latest movie, "Leatherheads."

Obama, however, welcomed Clooney's involvement and support. They got to know each other a year ago while attending a rally to raise awareness about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and have stayed in touch. When asked about Clooney at a recent event, Obama broke into a smile, gestured expressively and said simply: "He's a good friend."

There's a kind of nostalgia that runs through Clooney's politics. Anybody who saw his 2005 film "Good Night, and Good Luck" has a notion of where his sentiments run. Though he was only a boy growing up in Kentucky when Kennedy was assassinated, he looks back on that era with a sense of political idealism. (Edward R. Murrow, the protagonist in Clooney's film, left broadcasting to serve in the Kennedy administration.)

When you talk with Clooney and the subject turns to politics, it's like a light going on. He loves the game and the interplay of ideas. "It's like a chess game," he said. "Even after Watergate, we had this feeling that it all involved the greater good."

He subscribes to two newspapers and can quote the top political columnists. He remembers the dialogue from old political debates, and he does a great impersonation of Democratic strategist James Carville.



Unless Clooney is working on a movie, he'll consider most invitations to attend events in Washington. He's a popular guest at the White House Correspondents' Assn. dinner, where even hardened journalists line up to shake his hand.

He's friends with the Clintons. He knows Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). "I like him very much, and I think he's a nice man," Clooney said. "But I disagree with him politically." He admires former Vice President Al Gore. "I sat on a train with him, my father and I. We talked for three hours."

But Obama, clearly, dazzled him.

"We were at a rally on Darfur," Clooney said. "People were standing around backstage. All of a sudden, Obama walks out and steps onto the stage. Everyone stopped to hear what he had to say…. I've never been around anyone who can literally take someone's breath away."

Although the actor may not be campaigning publicly for Obama at the moment, he is certainly working for him behind the scenes.

"I spend a lot of time talking with other people, and I tell them, 'You really have to educate yourself on Obama because the guy is real,' " he said. "He fascinates me. People say, 'Oh, he's too young,' you know. But you cannot learn or teach leadership. You either have it or you don't."

"Everyone says the country isn't ready for a black president. I think that's ridiculous. Is he going to lose Illinois? Is he going to lose New York or California because he's black? No. And maybe he makes some inroads into other places, and maybe, for once, he could get young people to show up and vote."

Despite his caution over participating, a national Obama campaign would be hard for Clooney to sit out. Like others in the entertainment industry, he is trying to figure out how to write a political part that will get good reviews in Middle America.

"Fox News Live" Irresponsible Journalism On Senator Barack Obama - Telecast Full Of Lies - News Hounds

From News Hounds

Fox News Live with Jon Scott (12 p.m. to 1 p.m. est) took a joke from the president at the Radio and TV Correspondance Dinner to launch an attack on Barack Obama, asking, has Barack Obama already made mistakes in the Presidential campaign?

The joke by the president was not laugh out loud, he said, "I'm not sure whether or not Senator Obama is here. Last I heard he was not coming to the Radio and TV Correspondant's Dinner, not enough press."

Scott (smiling and laughing) said he got a big laugh at that line when he mentioned "the little dig at Senator Obama, there." Scott went on to say that there "is a little truth behind every joke, though." He added, "Some say he has already made more than his share of mistakes." He brought on Fred Malek, who was the campaign manager for the first President Bush in 1992 and Joe Turnham, Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party.

Scott asked Turnham if the mistakes that are being attributed to Obama's campaign were made just because he was under the microscope. (Comment: He didn't mention what mistakes, only the 'some say' ones) Turnham said he thought so because he was a contender, raising money and he was becoming a target. He added that he was running a bit as an outsider which made him a bigger target. He said that the gaffes that people wanted to attribute to him didn't rise to the level of deal busting.

Scott then gave Malek an example where Barack Obama had said his parents had gotten together because of what happened in Selma, Alabama. This was in 1965 and Barack was born in 1961. Scott said, "It suggests that the guy makes up stories to sort of suit the audience." (Comment: The guy? This is as much respect a presidential candidate gets on Fox? And just because he may have gotten a date wrong doesn't suggest he's making up any stories)

Malek commented that there are some inconsistencies in what he has said and written and this is never helpful to a candidate. (Comment: Except for the Selma remark they weren't giving any examples) He said that people shouldn't focus on single gaffes that are made by candidates, that people should go on the Senator's experience and accomplishments. Malek said that was where Obama was going to be most challenged, in showing that he had the executive capacity, the leadership capacity and the experience to be the president at a time when he's going to be the leader of the war on terror.

Scott asked Malek if he was saying to cut him some slack on some of these other issues. (Comment: Again, he's referring to the some say and other issues when only one example was given) Malek said he hasn't seen anything too serious the real question was does he have the experience, the leadership and the proven successes to be the president of the United States.

Scott asked Turnham if it was because he was getting so much media attention and people like to shoot down the frontrunner or was he really stepping in it? (Comment: Again, stepping in what? Where are all these mistakes that Scott is talking about?)

Turnham said that the press are coming to the Obama functions because the crowds are coming. Turnham said he had been in several events where Obama and Clinton had been present. He said that there was a certain celebrity status and that he agreed with Malek that leadership qualities and public policy positions would become more tantamount moving into next January and February. He said Barack was for real, the race was for real and the debate was on in America. Turnham added that he didn't think that getting dates wrong or misquoting what magazine you read from even rises to the level of a gaffe.

During the segment the banner read Obama Mania, 'Has Barack Obama Already Made Mistakes In Presidential Campaign' in case you could forget what the segment was about.

Comments: Completely unprofessional and misleading segment by Jon Scott. Going so far as to use the Fox standard 'Some say' when supposedly reporting a news story. And then to continue this ruse suggesting Obama was 'stepping in it.' Scott also referred to Senator Obama as 'this guy' and suggested with no back up that Obama made up stories to suit his audience.