Let’s talk television.

More specifically, let’s talk WGA strike and what it could mean for television.

As you’ve probably heard, the Writers Guild of America is on strike. That’s right, writing is at a halt in Hollywood, meaning your favorite television shows and upcoming films are too.

What are they striking for? A simplified answer: The Internet.

As explained in one quick presentation, the writers are striking for their fair share of DVD sales and, more importantly, of the internet.

In the past year or two, the larger broadcasting companies (ABC, NBC, etc) have started streaming television shows on their official websites, with support from sponsors who get to insert four or five commercial-like ads between your viewing of Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, or what have you. The cut writers and actors get from internet streams? Zilch. As the media industry moves faster and faster towards the internet, if writers don’t get a hand in that market, they’re looking at a future of creative slavery.

But don’t they get paid enough?

Writers get residuals (0.3% to 0.36% of advertising or DVD sales, depending on total gross) whenever an episode airs or a DVD is sold. While this seems like a tiny percentage, the volume of most of these sales typically lands somewhere in the millions to billions, making 0.3% translate to anywhere between $3,000 and $300,000 per episode.

So yes, that’s a lot of money, and many of the top writers are richer than you and I will ever be, but let’s remember that not all writers write The Office, and not all writers make a zillion dollars every time Pam and Jim steal those ‘I’m-undressing-you-with-my-eyes’ glances at each other.

Remember also, that this is Hollywood we’re talking about, and nothing is steady. Most writers, especially those who write primarily for movies, are out of work most of the time, usually trying to get their scripts sold. Not to mention that some of the best writers don’t get to enjoy basking in commercial fame, despite their story-telling abilities. Firefly, Veronica Mars, and Arrested Development all shared critical acclaim, a dedicated fanbase, and commercial failure, leading to production struggles and all-too-early cancellations.

Residuals keep writers whose material may have been ahead of its time out of the doghouse, giving them another chance at perhaps creating more content.

So, while a lot of the writers who are striking are already making loads of money and, in my opinion, are just looking to make more, if the strike is successful, I’ll be more eager to see how it effects the unsung heroes of television writing: the writers who have talent and spark, but are struggling to find a place between the love-polygons of Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.

Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam in NBC’s The Office, alludes to a similar fight for the Screen Actors Guild in her blog:

“Some people have asked if everyone will benefit from the strike or if only the writers benefit. The Writers Guild only negotiates for writers. However, they are the first union contract to be up with the studios. The Actor’s Guild contract is up in June 2008 and you can bet we will be fighting for the same residuals. It is important to support the writer’s strike because the results of this strike will trickle down to the other union contracts…just like how a court ruling effects future rulings. We are a union show and hire union crew members.”

For a day-to-day blog of the strike, including video from the picket lines, check out UnitedHollywood.com.

I’m hoping the corporations give in soon. If I don’t see the crew of the Battlestar Galactica soon, I might go insane.

If any of you have updated to Apple’s newest operating system, Mac OS 10.5: OS X Leopard, you’ll notice quite a few new visual elements. While a reflective dock and translucent menubar might have potential switchers and new Mac users wide-eyed and drooling, some older users might not be so keen on Leopard’s new look.

If you’re feeling nostalgic for some of that ol’ Tiger look, try a couple of these tips:

Rounded Corners - My biggest visual pet peeve is the elimination of the rounded corners. If you’re in the same boat, use Many Trick’s Displaperture to turn those sharp corners round. Displaperture is a small application that runs discreetly in the background, keeping the corners of your screen round. You can select which corners to round and to what degree, ranging from almost-square to the old CRT look.
Tip - If its acting a little buggy when you switch Spaces, here’s a fix:

1. Go to your System Preferences (In your Applications Folder, Dock, or Apple > System Preferences)
2. Under ‘Personal,’ click the ‘Expose and Spaces’ icon
3. If you’re not already, go to the ‘Spaces’ tab
4. Underneath ‘Application Assignments,’ click the ‘+’ button, to add an application to assign to a particular Space or, in this case, all Spaces.
5. A Finder window will pop up. Under your Applications folder, find Displaperture and click the ‘Add’ button
6. Displaperture will show up in under the ‘Application Assignments.’ In the Space attribute next to Displaperture, choose ‘Every Space’ from the dropdown menu.
7. Displaperture will now round the corners of every space.

Translucency - If you’re not partial to the newfound transparency of the Leopard menubar, here are a few solutions:

• OpaqueMenuBar - Developed by Eternal Storm’s software, OpaqueMenuBar is a small application that also runs completely in the background, making your menubar solid.

• The Wallpaper Fix - If you think running an application to make your menubar solid is a little ridiculous, just open up your wallpaper in Photoshop, or any other editing application and make the top 21 pixels of your wallpaper white.

The Dock - Want an off-the-shelf dock? Here’s the fix.

• No Shelf - If you’ve never used Terminal, this might seem a little intimidating, but don’t worry, it’s a fairly simple follow-the-steps process.

1. Open up Terminal (in Applications > Utilities).
2. Enter the following command: defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
3. To see the changes, you have to relaunch the dock with the following command: killall Dock
4. If you find you want the shelf-type Dock back, open up Terminal and enter the following command: defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO (Thanks to Doug for pointing out my error). You’ll need to use the killall Dock command again to relaunch your dock and see the changes.

• Triangle Indicators - Mike from Silvermac.com has written a very thorough (with screenshots and everything!) tutorial on how to replace Leopard’s glowy circle indicators here.

Here’s what I’ve done with my Leopard desktop:

Personally, I like the look of the new Dock and translucent menubar.

For the past few years, internet content has been on a quick rise.  From blogs to podcasts to video podcasts and online television shows, media has moved to the internet quicker than record companies can form coalitions to stop it.

With companies like Revision 3, an independent internet media company based out of San Francisco, producing free, on-demand video content and supporting over a dozen shows and podcasts, the internet serves as a medium to not only create supporting content for other forms of media, but to create something new and original.

In the last year or so, even corporate television has recognized the internet as a powerful source of exposure. ABC has begun streaming their most popular shows on their website, while CBS, after infamously pulling content from the iTunes store, has launched a private beta of their video streaming website, Hulu.  In addition to making their television content available on the internet, CBS supports independent internet shows, most prominently Clark and Michael, an independent comedy created by Michael Cera (Superbad, Arrested Development) and Clark Duke.

So I ask you this, with the rise of internet media, exactly HOW much time and resources should be put into web content for media?

Here at the Sagebrush, this website is the product of not only the web team (and by web team, I mean myself and our Rich Media Editor, David Calvert), but of the entire staff.  The recent effort for an emphasis on web has been a challenge for the Sagebrush, and we are working hard to provide new and interesting content to not only support the print edition, but to stand alone.

Who knows? Perhaps one day, we might even be printless.

Perhaps not.

Say good bye to card readers and camera USB cables and hello to Eye-Fi.

Eye-fi is SD memory card that will upload photos and files wirelessly to your PC, Mac, or photo-sharing web site. It is currently available in only a 2GB model priced at $99. Not so bad considering the price of 2GB SD cards a year ago.

For an in-depth look at the Eye-fi, check out dpreview.com’s concise review.

As soon as wireless power gets off the ground, organizing that mess of cable clutter behind your computer will be a thing of the past.

My name is Chelsea Otakan and I am the very green Web Editor here at the Nevada Sagebrush. As such, having a blog is somewhat of a staple to my position, don’t you think?

I’m not one for introductions, so here’s the lowdown. This blog will consist mostly of updates, links, opinons and rants on recent going-ons in the tech world (and sometimes the television world, as I am an avid TV addict).

In order stay away from a common subject in the media, let’s talk about the Zune.

Microsoft has recently announced the new line of stunningly original portable media players. The line features smaller 4GB and 8GB Zune Nanos models available in pink, green, red, and black, and a black 80GB Zune model, priced $149, $199, and $249 respectively.

In light of the Apple’s monster success with the iPod, Microsoft’s attempt at a competitor has met about as much amount of failure. Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t discontinue the Zune months ago.

With several companies attempting to gain ground (or at least ride the coat tails) on the iPod’s success, they have all fallen short for the same reason: lack of originality. I must say, the Zune hasn’t failed for lack of trying. With wireless sync, FM tuner, and the ability to record television content, the new Zune will be able to do a lot of things the iPod has yet to touch on (bad pun, I know). Despite all these good things, the Zune lacks the originality in design, advertising, and even price point that only the iPod has had the ability to create and develop.

• It’s ad campaign features a minimalistic, youth-oriented theme. As did the iPod’s before it.
• It’s design sports a rectangular device with a circular navigation pad. As did the iPod’s before it.
• It’s line features smaller, flash-based, colored devices. As did the iPod’s before it.
• It’s price points range from $149 to $299. As did the iPod’s before it.

To be fair, the Zune DID adopt a widescreen viewing interface before the iPod (but not before the rumors!), but even so, it was not nearly enough to even come close to the volume of iPod sales. The Zune actually seems like a solid device, but Microsoft, or any company for that matter, can’t think it will be able to catch up with Apple without releasing something less than revolutionary in all respects.