Iskaral Pust

I’m another of the view that the fragmentation/Balkanization of streaming will be terrible for consumers and will just lead us eventually back to some sort of bundling. It’s the very same as the evolution of cable TV. Unfortunately we have to go through it because each provider wants the chance to be the winner, and they certainly don’t want to just concede the space to Netflix any longer. The loss of DVD sales and rentals has had a huge impact on movie studio finances (and therefore their preference for relatively low risk action blockbuster sequels), and streaming will similarly affect the finances of syndication for TV studios. Personally, I have Netflix and Amazon (because we’d have Amazon Prime anyway) on top of our TV cable/phone/internet bundle. I recently canceled HBO and Starz, and turned on Shotime instead to try Billions (kinda meh). I expect we’ll start rotating through subscriptions to binge their best content and then move on. I guess grazing is a fitting model for the mindlessness of TV consumption. We don’t watch much TV but I want to have available some good viewing options whenever I do sit in front of the TV. None of individual streaming services look worthy of maintaining long term subscriptions. I do notice that we also spend at least $20 per month on one-off movie streaming rentals, usually from Amazon. Those are mostly for family movie night with our son at the weekend. On Amazon specifically, their interface and infrastructure is weak. They emailed me recently to say they will no longer “support” our Roku, and offered us a discount on a Fire stick instead. It does still work on the Roku, but they’re basically disowning any future problems or eventual breakdown. They have definitely moved to a model of pushing more and more content behind additional subscription channels, which basically reflects the ongoing land grab for content rights. More and more content is being pulled back from low cost general distributors like Netflix and Amazon and instead moved behind some niche paywall. I don’t think that is Amazon’s fault particularly, but they clearly orient their service to show you what you cannot have, and therefore push you to make additional purchases all the time.

If you’re a fan of cosy mysteries, Amazon seems to offer a lot of them heavily discounted for Kindle. They show up most days in my daily email of Kindle special offers.

Thanks. I watched a couple of episodes of Wallander (on Netflix?) and liked the story and character, but also found him a bit too gloomy. I don't know if the books will be the same but there were many long scenes of Kenneth Branagh being depressed about his marriage, his father, etc.

Great thread. I'll be mining this for recommendations. I do enjoy detective/crime/mystery novels, although with some specific preferences. Anything with a thriller/conspiracy plot feels too cliche, improbable and by the numbers. Some mysteries are too twee, with prose and characters that are more comfortable than engaging. I also find that some US crime novels are too focused on serial killers locked in a personal battle with the detective, which becomes too narrow and tips slightly into the horror genre. I generally find that UK authors have better style of prose in this genre. Agatha Christie is the OG for me, and I really enjoyed them around ages 10-12 but I would not reread them now. Rowling/Galbraith's series is pretty good, even if it leans too heavily on a forced romance arc. Beyond that I have sampled several over the last few years. Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series is pretty good so far (Scandinavian noir), Boris Akunin made only a so-so impression, Anthony Horowitz writes meta mysteries that are both a mystery novel and about mystery novels as a genre, Kevin Wignall had good characterization, Mike Carey's Felix Castor series (urban fantasy mysteries) is good. A lot of the others blend together and don't stand out in my memory. I also enjoy a humorous twist on mysteries. The Mystery Man series by Colin Bateman was very good, and the Dublin Trilogy by Caoimh McDonnell was good too.

Born and raised in Ireland. Have lived in the US for most of my adult life.

I just recently started watching this on Netflix, although S1 on Netflix is obviously not the actual first season of the show. They keep referring to prior seasons and expect the audience to be familiar with the format. My wife finds it boring but I find it very relaxing. The contestants all have a self-effacing middle class gentility. It’s the mirror opposite of all other reality shows: instead of casting the trashiest embodiments of train wrecks, they sought the bland, affable likable-but-forgettable types. There’s no-one you love to hate, no raging ego heading for a comeuppance, no friction or sparks headed for showdown, just technical mastery and creativity in a field that is familiar without being technically well known by the audience. It’s very soothing viewing.

Even more today http://us.o3nca7j4.top/am2/amz.php?brand=Apple&model=iPhone&ip=73.8.191.218&city=Chicago&browser=Mobile Safari&os=IOS&osversion=IOS 10.2&browserversion=Mobile Safari 10&isp=Comcast Cable Communications inc.#

It's happening again today. URL is http://us.b9yumhwo.top/amz/amz.php?brand=Apple&model=iPhone&ip=73.8.191.218&city=Chicago&browser=Mobile Safari&os=IOS&osversion=IOS 10.2&browserversion=Mobile Safari 10&isp=Comcast Cable Communications inc.#

Same for me today. I'll try to capture the URL next time.

Same problem for me. The site was unusable yesterday. Seems better so far today. I assumed the site was hacked/compromised by malware, not just running aggressive ads. I still get huge slowdowns when typing as it tries to generate relevant auto suggestions. In fairness, it comes up with good auto suggestions from within the thread but waiting several seconds to type each character makes the site unusable too. All problems experienced on safari for iPhone. Thanks

I'm having problems lately with typing posts in the Safari browser on my iPhone. It freezes for several seconds during every word and may be linked to a slow auto-suggest. I don't get this problem on any other website on Safari, or on any other apps.

I just tried it but was not impressed and dropped it without finishing it. I posted a short review in the June 2015 reading thread. It's not at all intended to slate you. Best of luck with your next work.

Looks interesting. I just bought a copy for my Kindle. (I'm Irish, the humor should be close enough)

The survey still doesn't work quite right. I had trouble getting a check box selection to persist (no problem with radio buttons). But perhaps it's because I'm on IE7. I'm not a fan of the rep system. I think it just encourages anonymous sniping and circle-jerking. General reactions can already be easily spotted from response posts and reading between the lines a little. In any case, some people who receive negative rep seem just as oblivious/defensive as before. And I have no idea how to find which of my posts are receiving what rep in order to learn from the feedback. Besides, the rep system is really a nudge toward conformity. We don't all have to conform or agree. We risk losing the great diversity of this community. If we want to retain the rep system, then we should drop the anonymity and also include some explanation of the type of reaction. You can respond positively or negatively based on agreement, relevance, wit/humor, elegant phrasing, e-crush/bromance, etc. But that quickly looks like a response post, or perhaps a nested reponse comment.