ESPN360 and the iPhone

Notice I didn't say ESPN360 on the iPhone - for that you'll have to look elsewhere. But for someone like me, whose Comcast internet means no ESPN360 access, I just found out my iPhone was the key to unlocking the online sports streaming service.

Since ESPN has obstinately decided to use the cable TV model on the web - charge the providers, not the customers - those of us who get our Internet through a non-participating ISP (and for all I dislike about Comcast, I can't blame them for not buying into this horrible precedent of an online business model) can't access the Worldwide Leader's online live video.

The iPhone is no help on the go - as far as I know, there's no way to watch the video on the device. But navigate to espn360.com using AT&T's 3G (or Edge, I imagine) service and ESPN sees you as qualified. If you have a free myESPN account (or if you sign up) you can then click "Remote Access" to set your username as someone who can use the service. Then at home using a non-360 ISP, log in to ESPN and start watching.

Heard this story on NPR this morning - it nearly made me physically ill. Things like this just make me angry, and I have no good idea on what to do about it, other than get better funding for DNA labs these days and hope the system really is competent and stories like this are the exception rather than the rule.

Family Of Man Cleared By DNA Still Seeks Justice

falling off the blogging wagon

Clearly, I have not thrown much up on this virtual wall lately. Facebook and it's easy iPhone app have sucked most of my random thoughts away from this venue - status updates are the wave of the present.

The usual time-sucks - work, my other (freelance) work, and a desire to capitalize on my leisure opportunities are in play here, as is my general trait toward inaction in the absence of an actual deadline.

I'm hoping to keep, or restart, or start for the first time (depending on how you look at it) a line from my brain to this outlet for my thoughts, mostly for my own amusement (which is all it's ever been, since a sporadic blog of totally random links and thoughts garners about 5 hits a day at the best of times).

No promises, of course. But maybe I can wean myself off the Facebook and start to throw a few status updates Blogger's way.