2010 Vancouver Olympic & Paralympic Super-Thread

[johnjimbc]

I'd agree with that generally, though there were some foolish pedestrians in DC as well .

But in this case I'm talking about pedestrians crossing properly with the light. I saw a couple of instances this past weekend when I really wasn't convinced a car making a turn was going to stop before rolling into them. I saw it twice over the weekend. It's not something you see too often in Vancouver.

[SpongeG]

some video from Australia network TV

[Spork]

Originally Posted by vancityrox

Do you know by any chance what time Benassi is actually spinning at?

The ad says from 8pm till 2am but i find it hard to believe that he will start at 8pm. They added another date for him too.

Im so bummed cause have to work till 10pm at the Shaw tower for both days. I wanna cry!

Thank god im free to go see Deadmau5!!!

The event on Clubzone says 9pm, but he probably won't start spinning until between 11 and 12, as per usual in this city.

[SpongeG]

big acts usually go on late like 11 or midnight - at least from shows i've been too this is vancouver no one goes out early

[SpongeG]

NBC UNIVERSAL DETAILS UNIQUE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE 2010 VANCOUVER OLYMPICS

More Than 400 Hours of Live Streaming Video and More than 1,000 Hours of Full-Event Replays on “NBCOlympics.com on MSN” Centerpiece of Digital Offerings


NBC Olympics Mobile Presents An Ambitious Display of Sporting Event Coverage


Immersive Online Experience Powered By Microsoft Silverlight

NEW YORK - February 8, 2010 - For the first time for an Olympic Winter Games, NBC Universal will offer digital event coverage that will include more than 400 hours of live competition and more than 1,000 hours of full-event replays on NBCOlympics.com. NBCOlympics.com on MSN will serve as the Olympic fan’s hub for every aspect of the 2010 Vancouver Games experience.

NBC Olympics Mobile presents an ambitious display of Olympic coverage including breaking news, live results and schedules, TV and online listings, medal counts, Team USA profiles, slideshows, Vancouver spectator information and much more. NBC Olympics Mobile also provides alerts for every Olympic fan, including breaking news, event results, athlete alerts and TV reminders.

Following is an overview of NBC Universal’s various digital offerings for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games:

...

http://www.sportsfeatures.com/presspoint...perience-for-the-2010-vancouver-olympics

[NetMapel]

Surrey looks for recognition on the world stage

No Olympians will compete for gold in the second largest city in B.C., but Surrey, an official Olympic partner, is finding a way to bring the Olympic spirit south of the Fraser River.

A 24-acre, live celebration site set up at Holland Park could draw large audiences and bring first-time Vancouver visitors and international spectators to Surrey. Thousands of residents will also come out Monday night when Olympic gold medalist Daniel Igali lights the Olympic cauldron.

In anticipation of the torch -- and two weeks of competition that could bring Canada's first gold medal on home soil -- Holland Park is being made-over. Tents are going up, flooring is being laid and even the streets are being renamed.

The neighbourhood formerly known as Whalley is now officially known as City Centre.

And the park, located at the corner of what was West Whalley Ring Road and King George Highway, is now at the corner of University Boulevard and King George Highway.

The streets haven't changed, despite being renamed.

"That's not something that we wanted -- to have a highway running down the centre. So, we renamed it King George Boulevard," said Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts.

She said it's important to draw visitors to Surrey and leave a strong impression. Watts said she wants businesses to consider Surrey if they're looking to relocate.

In a guide targeting entrepreneurs and businesses, Watts wrote : "The 2010 Winter Games is an opportunity to think globally, make new contacts and create a lasting legacy for our community ."

The celebration site has four different business packages targeted at companies, with the most pricey set at $25,000 for one night's exclusive use of the guest lounge.

The city anticipates as many as 250,000 people could visit the free celebration site at Holland Park, drawn by the massive video screens but also the curling and skating rinks and live entertainment. Two stages will host the likes of Blue Rodeo, Sam Roberts, July Black and Alex Cuba.

Watch that video. Is it just me, or is Surrey more excited about the Olympics than Vancouver ? I'm glad Ms.Watts is thinking globally, putting some other politicians who shall not be named to shame.

[Yume-sama]

They showed the Surrey celebration site on the news a couple of days ago. They certainly have BIG plans.

I thought it was kind of funny that *none* of it even existed, and the mayor was pointing out where stages will be, where the RCMP horses will be... etc., etc.

It'll be amazing if they manage to complete it seemingly overnight lol

[SpongeG]

its all up for a while now a couple weeks anyway

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Surrey looks for recognition on the world stage

Watch that video. Is it just me, or is Surrey more excited about the Olympics than Vancouver ? I'm glad Ms.Watts is thinking globally, putting some other politicians who shall not be named to shame.

Surrey's clinging on not unlike when you don't wipe properly.. "don't forget about surrey!"

[NetMapel]

Well would you rather Surrey proactively try to get in with the Olympic party or act like a big sour grape like Burnaby ?

[Rusty Gull]

The music acts are pretty impressive in Surrey. It seems that Surrey and Whistler poached the best music acts and left the scraps for Vancouver. Oh well, at least Van City gets Wilco on Saturday.

[bils]

dunno if this has been mentioned, but there should be a pretty good party going in richmond tomorrow (tuesday) night when the torch arrives. the o|zone will be open from 7-9pm with fireworks to conclude. i'll hope to get some pix.

[SpongeG]

most of the acts are moving around like the ozone gets some of the same ones but yes some good names there

[Yume-sama]

Report: Canadians Want Canada to Win Medals

Give them gold and give them glory. Canadians have Olympic-sized expectations for the nation’s athletes as the Vancouver 2010 Games kick off this week, a new poll has found. And their sights are set squarely on commanding ownership of the ice, with an especially wary eye on the U.S. as the men’s team’s toughest hockey rivals and dream contenders in a face-off for gold.

The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll, taken online Feb 1-2, asked 1,001 randomly selected Canadians aged 18 to 55+ for a snapshot of their ideal Olympic games. The poll was commissioned by TSN and The Globe and Mail.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=33318.html?cid=rsstsn
There's more, so click the link

I wonder how much people get paid for conducting such GROUNDBREAKING studies.

[zivan56]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

lol people from outside of Vancouver probably don't know that our pedestrians don't seem to value their life.

No kidding...some guy on a longboard was coming directly at me going the wrong way on Main Street! I kid you not! Luckily I saw him as I was making a right turn...then he went right between me and the sidewalk (about a 0.25m space) and continued on the wrong way! It's as if he wanted me to hit him or something.
At the same intersection last week (main and 12th), a bike passed between me and the sidewalk as I was turning right. Luckily I saw them...but the person must be beyond stupid to do that knowing full well I was turning.

I haven't seen any city close to Vancouver in terms of carelessness. I am sure we will be hearing stories of Billy Bob Joe from Texas running 5 people over when they were jaywalking...

[SpongeG]

looks like global has moved its news to the VAG above Robson Square - looks nice

[Yume-sama]

Funny how they get a better vantage point than CTV

They also seem to have a "stage" smack in the middle of the village in Whistler.

[SpongeG]

the O show starts in a few minutes its a show that deals with winter sports for an event taking place between 2009 and 2011 - lol they can't say olympics i guess on global

[Yume-sama]

lol... "The show about something that starts with the letter O"

Oh God he just said Olympics twice! VANOC, sue!

[gillty]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

NBC UNIVERSAL DETAILS UNIQUE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE 2010 VANCOUVER OLYMPICS

More Than 400 Hours of Live Streaming Video and More than 1,000 Hours of Full-Event Replays on “NBCOlympics.com on MSN” Centerpiece of Digital Offerings


NBC Olympics Mobile Presents An Ambitious Display of Sporting Event Coverage


Immersive Online Experience Powered By Microsoft Silverlight

NEW YORK - February 8, 2010 - For the first time for an Olympic Winter Games, NBC Universal will offer digital event coverage that will include more than 400 hours of live competition and more than 1,000 hours of full-event replays on NBCOlympics.com. NBCOlympics.com on MSN will serve as the Olympic fan’s hub for every aspect of the 2010 Vancouver Games experience.

NBC Olympics Mobile presents an ambitious display of Olympic coverage including breaking news, live results and schedules, TV and online listings, medal counts, Team USA profiles, slideshows, Vancouver spectator information and much more. NBC Olympics Mobile also provides alerts for every Olympic fan, including breaking news, event results, athlete alerts and TV reminders.

Following is an overview of NBC Universal’s various digital offerings for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games:

...

http://www.sportsfeatures.com/presspoint...perience-for-the-2010-vancouver-olympics

NBC Plots Crackdown On Olympic Pirates
Written by Ernesto on February 08, 2010

In 2008 Olympic torrents were hugely popular. The opening ceremony was downloaded more than 2 million times in the first week, outraging the International Olympic Committee. With Vancouver 2010 starting later this week, several broadcasters have declared war on Olympic pirates.

Originally Posted by torrentfreak.com

The 2008 Summer Olympics were a huge hit online, both through legal and illegal channels. NBC streamed a record breaking 2,200 hours of live video to the delight of millions of people, but strangely enough this year the network will limit its live coverage to hockey and curling.

An NBC representative explained that the network will only cover the highlights because people “are not dying to watch lots of long-form content on a 13-inch screen.” However, at the same time NBC contradicts itself by announcing that it will do all it can to prevent people from accessing unauthorized live feeds or downloads of Olympic broadcasts.

While NBC doesn’t believe there is much demand for live coverage, it will do all it can to prevent the ‘few’ people who do from downloading or streaming the events online. “Our aim is to make access to pirated material inconvenient, low quality and hard to find,” said Rick Cotton, NBC’s Executive Vice President commenting on their Olympic mission.

Once again one of the major entertainment industry outfits has got it entirely wrong. If NBC really wants to prevent piracy they have to offer at least some sort of alternative. Cutting 2,200 hours of live web coverage back to just a few hundred is certainly not going to help in stopping piracy.

NBC reportedly has teamed up with Ustream and Justin.tv, two popular live streaming sites, to use filtering schemes in order to prevent illegal broadcasts. However, it is inevitable that they won’t be able to stop them all since there are dozens of live streaming sites. Preventing torrents from being uploaded will turn out to be even more problematic for the network.

During the Beijing Olympics two years ago, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) asked for “assistance” from the Swedish government with preventing video clips from the Olympics in Beijing being shared via The Pirate Bay. This didn’t help much and during the weeks that followed millions of people continued to download broadcasts of Olympic events.

We assume that in the coming weeks most events will again appear online, despite NBC’s efforts to prevent the Olympics from being pirated.

whoop-de-doo nbc... I pirate your tv shows everyday, these companies are run by baboons. I pay SHAW for internet service, Shaw provides a free USENET service. So I use SABnzbd + USENET to download about 15 shows a week for free

These are the same idiots that are trying to transform Hulu into a pay service.

I'll be pointing my antenna at Seymour and watching the olympics in HD on CTV.