By Gilbert Falso :: 10:32 AM
When Netflix did not renew its contract with Viacom last month, many children’s programs that used to be available on Netflix streaming were suddenly yanked from the lineup, much to the disappointment of young children and their parents.
Now, kid favorites like SpongeBob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues and The Backyardigans, staples of the Viacom-owned Nickelodeon lineup, have found a new home online with Amazon Instant Video. Amazon announced today that it has secured a “multi-year, multi-national” arrangement for streaming hundreds of Viacom titles on Amazon Prime
In a release, Amazon said:
“Prime members will now have unlimited instant streaming access to popular kids programming such as Bubble Guppies, The Backyardigans, Team Umizoomi, Blue’s Clues and Victorious, along with top-rated shows from MTV and Comedy Central like Awkward, Tosh.0 and Workaholics. Prime members will also have access to future episodes of Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Fairly Odd Parents, Fresh Beat Band and more.”
Amazon is fast becoming a major player and force to be reckoned with in the online content streaming world. Sources say that this Viacom deal is the largest outlay in Amazon’s streaming history. In addition to the Viacom win, Amazon also secured rights to the popular BBC / PBS show Downton Abbey earlier this year. Beginning this month, Amazon is the only site online where viewers will be able to watch Downton’s third season. The first two seasons of the popular British show will also be exclusive to Amazon later this year.
By Leslie Spellman:: 5:43 PM
In an unprecedented action earlier today, Chrysler Motor CompanyĂ‚Â refused the federal government’s order to recall 2.7 million Jeep vehicles that theĂ‚Â National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found to be dangerous in rear-end collisions.
The NHTSA has been investigating two Jeep models, the Grand Cherokee (1993 – 2004), and the Liberty (2002 – 2007), since August, 2010. The government agency says that the gas tanks in these vehicles are susceptible to heavy damage in a rear impact crash.
Data from the NHTSA shows 44 deaths in 32 rear-end crashes and fires in Grand Cherokees, and 7 deaths in five Liberty accidents.
Location of the fuel tank is an issue in these vehicles because it is not protected from the rear. It is located behind the rear axle, and the vehicles are high enough off of the roadway that impact to the tank is much easier compared to the location of gas tanks on other vehicles.
In a statement, Chrysler asserted the following: “Chrysler Group has found no evidence that the fuel systems in the subject vehicles are defective in either their design or manufacture.”
Where this heads at this point could be anyone’s guess. The government could head to the courts to force Chrysler to make a recall, or they could do nothing.
For Chrysler, a fix under recall would require re-engineering how the tank attaches to the underside of the SUVs, and perhaps relocating the tanks altogether, an expensive proposition for Chrysler. Another option, and probably more expensive, would be a vehicle buyback program.
An issue with a rear-end fuel tank mounting location is nothing new for automakers, or for the government. The most famous case of an unsafe gas tank involved Ford Pintos from the early 1970s. Ford recalled those vehicles in 1978.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 4:34 PM
Twitter is currently suffering an outage, with many Twitter clients, such as TweetDeck and HootSuite, unable to connect to the social network to send or receive updates.
The web interface for Twitter is working in an intermittent fashion, with some users able to send Tweets out, and/or see Tweets in their timeline.
Issues first began to affect Twitter client users around 4:00 PM, Eastern time, and then spread to the web interface a few minutes later.
The company addressed the outage with a brief post on its status blog: “Some users may be experiencing issues accessing Twitter. Our engineers are currently working to resolve the issue.”
No estimated time of resolution has been given.
By Gilbert Falso :: 2:44 PM
Most people who live in areas where frequent thunderstorms occur learn early on about how to avoid lightning strikes. The most important one, is to avoid being a conductor of electricity for the lightning.
Zita Oliveria, an Ottawa, Canada mother was trying to do just that for herself and her son Noa last week, as a thunderstorm approached the park where Noa was playing soccer. When thunderstorms came upon them and lightning strikes were seen, coaches for the soccer teams at the park attempted to herd all of the children underneath some nearby trees.
That’s when Zita grabbed her son and instructed him not to follow the rest of the team under the trees.
“I learned that in school, I think we all kind of did,” Zita told the Ottawa Sun. “The tree is the highest point, it conducts electricity.”
Officials with the soccer league, however, weren’t keen on Zita and Noa ignoring their orders to join the rest of the group under the stand of trees.
They said, “You have to leave if you’re not going to do what you’re told,” according to Zita. Several parents also approached Zita and reprimanded her for ignoring the coaches’ orders.
She was told again to take her son and leave, as the coaches alleged she was trespassing on the public park’s land by ignoring their orders. The reason the coaches gave for the trespass was, Zita explained, because the soccer league had rented the fields from the city.
Zita is unsure whether she or her son will be allowed to participate in future games with the soccer league, run by the South Keys Greenboro Community Association.
“I was ganged up on because I refused to stand under the trees for my own safety reasons,” she told the Sun.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 12:41 PM
The photo above, showing a man alleged to be a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of hard taco shells in a restaurant, was posted to the fast food outlet’s Facebook page last night, and has quickly gone viral.
“This sure says a lot about your employees, food treatment, and what they post on the internet,” the comment along with the photo read. It also tagged the taco licker, and identified him as Nicholas Kauffman from Ridgecrest, California.
Many outraged Taco Bell patrons have shared the image today across social media sites, and asked the chain on its Facebook page for an explanation of the picture, and about what fate awaits the employee. The background of the photo as well as Kaufman’s outfit suggest that the picture was indeed taken inside of a restaurant.
The chain has not yet responded to requests for comments, and it is not known what location the taco licking incident occurred at. While there is a restaurant location in Ridgecrest, calls to that number were unanswered this morning.