They go on to explain:

“This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net…. We would like to thank the thousands of people from all backgrounds and religions who gave us their support… We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.”

I suppose we can safely assume that the threats will now arrive at the door of Google.

I loved it. After laughing and jumping in equal measure throughout the 90 minutes, I began to wonder why Rodriguez succeeded while Tarantino failed. It’s not that the former is obviously the better director (Spy Kids 3? Gimme a break…).

Perhaps it’s something to do with balance – Deathproof’s b-movieness overwhelmed the film itself. Ask me the plot now (or a memorable moment, for that matter) and I couldn’t. Planet Terror, on the other hand, has more than pastiche – it has pace, humour, frights and the odd decent line of script. It doesn’t buckle under its own weight. Go grab the disc.

Honda F1 were kind enough to let my colleagues at Autocar lose on their priceless hardware for a lap or two at Silverstone. Most rookies can barely get the car out of the pits – Autocar’s Steve Sutcliffe managed a time that was within spitting distance of Honda’s lead test driver. Astonshing stuff, and an amazing five minutes.

Watch it here.

According to Yahoo’s VP of Video and Media Applications, the revolution has already happened. Ian Rodgers reckons the only option left for the music and video business is in ‘leveraging the scale of the web’.

It’s a fascinating argument. In particular, he recounts a conversation with a group of kids at a technology forum, at which he asked how many had seen the Saturday Night Live Lazy Sunday video on YouTube (a version of which is embedded above), and how many on TV (after being screened on SNL, the clip appeared on YouTube – NBC, the network behind it, asked YT to remove it). Almost every one of them had seen it on YouTube, but not one of them on television.

Says Rodgers:

Our kids are going to watch exactly what they want to watch, not necessarily what’s marketed to them. I understand this is threatening to large media businesses which are accustomed to owning the means of distribution, but I am certain it’s very good for our kids and for culture writ large. We’re all in the same business now, the business of making things people really love.

It’s not often I read an argument that so well summarises the trend that few of us have yet to articulate well. My son’s a case in point: mainstream media occupies very little space in his head. His taste in music in beyond eclectic: it’s artists that only he and a few friends have heard of. Much of his time in spent on Facebook, an Generation R closed world of exchanged links between a tightly bonded group of friends. They can cut the world any way they wish, and it’s almost impossible to force your way in.

So media producers have no choice: if I’m reading his argument correctly, the issue becomes one of smelling the coffee. Concentrate on producing brilliant things, and let them go free… you’ll find value in a chain that’s far larger than you had ever imagined. And anyway, you have no choice: they don’t have to listen anymore.

Then, my XBox 360 became something else. Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it was partnering with BT (of all people) to turn every 360 into a full-on cable box. As one of my colleagues over at Stuff.tv explains:

The announcement means that BT Broadband customers can get on-demand TV programmes and movies streamed (for a fee) to their TV without the need for a set-top box. They can also watch any of BT’s 242 ‘near-live’ Premiership football matches using the Xbox 360.

This is seriously joyous. Call Of Duty 4 and West Ham all from one box… does life get any better?

The podcast section will be silenced Oct. 31, according to a notice posted on Yahoo’s Web site. It joins several other features that Yahoo has scrapped as it tries to snap out of a financial funk that has depressed its stock price and triggered a reshuffling of top management.

Newsvine – Yahoo to Silence Podcast Service

Rocketboom joins a growing crowd of other top videoblogs that can be found on Blip.tv, including Wallstrip, TreeHugger TV, Alive in Baghdad, and Goodnight Burbank. As with most of those shows, the relationship between Rocketboom and blip.tv is not exclusive.

Rocketboom Moves to Blip.tvI’m hearing that. When we launched the Stuff.tv Show, it was an experiment – include it in the new site, and see if it floats. Nine months later, and it’s in the iTunes Top 20, and has just gone live as a channel on Joost.