Redbox

Redbox, other kiosks now used more than rental stores Redbox locations

Well that didn't take very long. In the third quarter of 2010, more people rented DVDs from kiosks such as Redbox than from retail stores such as Blockbuster, according to a new report.

In fact, with 31 percent of the U.S. market share, the use of kiosks is approaching the use of mail services such as Netflix, which according to research firm NPD Group had 41 percent of the market. Retail stores, which are having a tough time competing against the newer services, were responsible for about 27 percent of U.S. rentals.

Maybe I was blind, but I really didn't notice these Redbox kiosks in Seattle until about a year ago. They're already more popular than rental shops? Was Seattle late to this trend?

Redbox, on its website (PDF), says it started market-testing its kiosks in 2004 at McDonald's restaurants in the Denver area. (Redbox started as a division of McDonald's in 2002 and produced 12 kiosks then. Coinstar invested in Redbox in 2007, then purchased a controlling stake in 2009.)

After good customer response, the test expanded in 2005 to Baltimore, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Salt Lake City and St. Louis. Today, the company says, there are more than 24,900 Redboxes across the contiguous 48 states in grocery stores (such as Safeway), McDonald's locations, Walmarts, Walgreens stores and 7-Elevens.

But I don't know when, for sure, we got our first Redbox in the Seattle area. I contacted Redbox to find out, but hadn't heard back by publication time.

But man -- Redbox and others (Blockbuster started up its Blockbuster Express service in 2008) sure elbowed their way into the market quickly. Quickly and with authority.

News From: www.seattlepi.com

Marcus Camby injury

Marcus Camby injury worse than thought

Everyone around the Portland Trail Blazers made it sound like Marcus Camby's sprained knee wasn't too serious, but it turns out that he has a partially torn meniscus in the joint. He'll have surgery in a couple of days. If this were a healthy, young player having a routine procedure, we could hope to see him back in action within a month or so. But we're talking about one of the most notoriously injury-prone players in recent NBA history, and he's 36 now. Let's hope for the best, but I'm expecting the worst. Anyone who was counting on Camby for his rebounding and blocked shots should brace for a long-term absence even if things go well with the procedure. Joel Przybilla has been a worthy rebounder in the past and should get a chance to prove he can do it again, but he has his own knee issues to overcome. Keep an eye on Dante Cunningham, too. Mostly, Camby's absence is going to open up even more room in the lane for LaMarcus Aldridge to keep spreading his fantasy wings.
Looking Back

• Both Miami Heat fans and fantasy owners were glad to see LeBron James back on the hardwood against the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday, but neither were fully satisfied with the results. The Heat lost their fourth straight game, while LeBron had six turnovers and was just 11-of-30 from the field and 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. Unlike Heat fans, at least we fantasyheads got something to take home with us, because LeBron finished with 34 points, 10 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals and hit 10 of 11 free throw attempts. He'll get to rest his ankle until Saturday, so expect James to get his game back on track this weekend. As for the four straight losses since his coldhearted Tweet last week? Well, Cleveland fans might just call it karma.

• With Chris Bosh still sidelined with a sprained ankle, Joel Anthony started for the Heat Tuesday. He pulled down 16 boards and blocked three shots. Unfortunately, he failed to attempt even a single shot or free throw in 43 minutes of action. Despite the uneven fantasy performance, we stat junkies can appreciate a performance so prolifically unusual that Anthony joined a group that includes only Dennis Rodman and Wilt Chamberlain. According to Elias, since the 1967-68 campaign, only the three of them have pulled down at least 15 boards in a game without attempting any shots. Wilt did it once (1967-68) and Worm did it four times. The Heat don't play again until Saturday, so Anthony may be forced back to the bench if Bosh's ankle responds well to the extra rest. A fun night for Anthony, but he won't see enough action to hit the glass like this very often.

• Al Horford was felled by a sprained ankle Tuesday and left after playing only 20 minutes. Horford ended up with just six points (3-8 FG), but at least he snagged nine boards and dished out three dimes before departing. Initial reports made it sound like it wasn't too bad, but we'll have to wait until more information comes out today before guessing whether he'll be able to lace up for the Hawks' next game on Friday.

Looking Ahead

When trying to figure out just how good (or bad) a young player can be, you need to assess more than just the raw talent. Plenty of talented players don't have the drive or desire to be the best they can be. Probably most of them, actually. So you have to look for outside information sometimes to determine if a guy has the kind of motivation. Here's a gem from rookie John Wall. He told Washington Wizards coach Flip Saunders to fine him whenever he pouts, sulks or shows frustration during games, because he wants "to be a great point guard." He's been far more focused and under control since he told his coach that two weeks ago. Look for a huge second half from Wall, maybe even enough to be mentioned with Blake Griffin for the Rookie of the Year. He and the Wiz face the Milwaukee Bucks on the road Wednesday night.

Judd Apatow Accepting Jokes for PGA Awards

Judd Apatow Accepting Jokes 'Better than Ricky Gervais' for PGA Awards

Screenwriter/comedian Judd Apatow concedes that it is "hard to be funny and not vicious," so he is enlisting help in writing jokes for the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday.

"If anyone has any jokes that they think are better than Ricky Gervais' post here and I will read the winners and say your name at PGA awards," tweeted Apatow. The 'Funny People' director is hosting the award show this weekend.

Gervais hosted the Golden Globes on Sunday, receiving mixed reviews. Some felt that his jabs at Hollywood's elite (most of them in the room) gave the ceremony an awkward tone.

"Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the vibe of the show's been pretty good so far, wouldn't you?" Robert Downey Jr. quipped in front of the audience on Sunday.

One of the emcee's "mean-spirited" jokes came at the expense of Hugh Hefner after acknowledging the AMC hit "Walking Dead."

"Talking of the walking dead, congratulations to Hugh Hefner, who is getting married at age 84 to 24-year-old beauty Crystal Harris."

Showing a good sense of humor about himself, Hefner later tweeted, "the Golden Globes was a blast. They made fun of everyone, including Crystal & me. A great night."

On Monday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association told ET, "We loved the show. It was a lot of fun and obviously has a lot of people talking. When you hire a comedian like Ricky Gervais, one expects in your face, sometimes outrageous material. Certainly, in this case, he pushed the envelope and occasionally went too far. The HFPA would never condone some of his personal remarks. Overall, however, the show was among the best we've ever had and we were pleased."

New From: www.etonline.com

IBM's Watson

Why IBM's Watson Is Smarter Than Google

While working on my book about IBM's Jeopardy-playing computer, the most common question I encounter is this: Doesn't Google already answer questions?

The short answer is no. Google depends on our brains in two ways: It gets us to think like a computer when formulating our query, picking three or four words that will make most sense to the machine. Then it directs us to the neighborhood of the answer we're looking for, but leaves it to our infinitely more nuanced brains to find exactly what we're looking for there.

Watson, which will face off against two Jeopardy legends, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, in February, has to handle all that work by itself. It must decipher complex English, hunt down possible answers, choose one, and decide if it has enough confidence to bet on it.

Here's an example: "When 60 Minutes premiered, this man was U.S. president. That's a tough one for a computer. It has to understand what "premiered" means and that it's associated with a date. Then it has to figure out the date when an entity called 60 Minutes premiered, and then find out who was U.S. president at that time. In short, it requires a ton of contextual understanding -- or a statistical simulation of it -- and then two different hunts, one for the date, the second for the president.

Once Watson has a list of possible answers (or "responses," as they call them on Jeopardy!), it has to figure out which one merits the most confidence, and if it's sure enough of the answer to place a bet on it. All these takes place in about 3 seconds. (By the way, the answer is Lyndon Johnson.)

Watson has more than 100 algorithms leading it to solve these Jeopardy clues. Each one has its specialty. One of them helps it with specifically this kind of question. It's called "nested decomposition," and it involves breaking the clue into two different hunts. This may sound really obscure, and only marginally useful. But if you listen to people asking questions, a lot of them require this type of hunt. "What's the best pizza joint near campus? Which southern state has a big steel industry? etc.

So you might think that Watson could become the next Google. One big problem. To solve that clue, Watson uses more than 2,000 processors and consumes loads of electricity. Google, in those same three seconds, responds to millions of search queries. Google uses perhaps one-billionth of Watson's resources, or less, to handle each query. So the two approaches don't compete. But in coming years, Google and the other search engines will start to answer questions, more like Watson. (They're starting with simple ones. Nested decomposition is still a ways off.) And to get Watson jobs outside of show biz, IBM will have to figure out how to run such machines for a fraction of the cost.