Have you been “Rickrolled” yet?

1980s pop star Rick Astley is now making headlines again after years in obscurity thanks to millions of Web surfers being Rickrolled by pranksters. Webmasters and bloggers are purposely redirecting unsuspecting Internet users to a video of Astley performing his hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

How does a Rickroll work? It’s basically a bait and switch. Let’s say I make a link that says Sexy Paris Hilton Video and you click on it. Instead of actually seeing Paris Hilton, you’d be directed to a Rick Astley music video. That’s a “Rick Roll”.

Tuesday YouTube decided to get in on the joke. Several links on the YouTube homepage purposely “Rick Rolled” users. Why? Tuesday just happened to be April Fools’ Day.

The act of Rickrolling has even evolved beyond cyberspace. Pawl Fisher, a student at Eastern Washington University (EWU), recently “Rick Rolled” a March basketball game at his school. Here’s the clip:

So what has this done to Astley’s record sales? They are way up. Even his iTunes sales are up. His record label is trying to get a re-release of Astley greatest hits album out not only to keep up with demand but to obviously cash in on the Rickrolling craze. Astley recently spoke to the LA Times and called the phenomena “bizarre” and only hopes that his daughter receives no embarrassment over it.

Personally I think it’s one of greatest phenomena ever to sweep the Internet. By the way, the error page for MethodShop is a “Rickroll”.

So the next time you randomly click on a link and see a short guy with red hair wearing a black shirt and a tan trench-coat singing… congratulations, you’ve been Rickrolled.

methodshop | youtube

april fools day, rickrolled, rickrolling, rick astley

Eastenders will be losing a few of its characters in the next year. First up is EastEnders actor Phil Daniels who has chosen to quit the soap after 2 years in the square. In an interview with The Sun, the actor claimed that he had always intended to leave the soap after two years.

Due to Phil Daniels’ departure his on screen children played by Kellie Shirley and Matt Di Angelo, will not have their contracts renewed. The mother of the screen family (played by Diane Parish) will make a temporary exit at the same time while she has a baby in real life.

Recently comedian Bobby Davro signed to join the BBC soap as Vince Monks, a new love interest for barmaid, Shirley Carter (played by actress Linda Henry).

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

Variety is reporting that Universal Media Studios has signed a two year deal with Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ronald D. Moore.

Moore, who is currently working on the fourth and final season of BSG which is due to finish next year, will also work on a number of new projects for the studio. As far as movies are concerned, Moore will work on the sequel to I, Robot for 20th Century Fox and also an update of The Thing for Universal Studios.

Reference for posting: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire

Kristen Bell star of private detective series, Veronica Mars, is reportedly in discussions to join Lost. TV Guide has reported that the actress Bell is being considered for the role of Charlotte, a twenty-something described as being “precocious, loquacious and funny… a very successful academic who also knows how to handle herself in the real world.”

If Kristen Bell does get the part of Charlotte she will be appearing introduced in the second episode of season four, which will air in the US starting in February.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

Even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, you have to admire J.K Rowling. Not just as a writer with a world-class imagination, but also as a businesswoman and entrepreneur. She seemed to come out of nowhere to create one of the biggest entertainment franchises ever.

It’s hard to believe that she used to be unemployed, surviving on U.K. state benefits. That was 1995. Now it’s 12 years (and hundreds of millions of dollars) later, and she’s just finished her seventh and final Harry Potter novel, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

iTunes Link: J.K. Rowling Interview

Rowling recently did an interview with Meredith Viera for the American news programs The Today Show and Dateline NBC. I only caught part of her Dateline NBC interview, so I was pretty happy to see that they posted the whole thing on iTunes. The interview is an interesting glimpse inside the world of Harry Potter, and it offers some real insight into the woman who created a billion dollar world of magic.

BeSocial: flickr | methodshop

harry potter, itunes, jk rowling

A new survey suggests that due to the digital switch over, approximately 8 million TVs and VCRs will be ditched. The findings were based on a poll of 2,500 UK adults.

Not only will televisions not work but video players will not work in the same way when the analogue signal stops. When the signal changes viewers will no longer be able to watch one channel while recording another, the independent switching service, uSwitch.com explains.

The company estimates that the cost of replacing these VCRs with digital recorders will exceed £1.1bn.

Of the 25 million TV sets yet to “go digital”, nearly five million are incapable of receiving a digital signal and the national bill to make TVs work will exceed £2.2bn.

Fifteen per cent of households plan to throw their old sets away, the poll of 2,599 UK adults shows.

Whitehaven in Cumbria will be the first place in the UK to switch to digital in October.

Reference for posting: http://news.bbc.co.uk

From the people behind Big Brother came The Big Donor Show in which three contestants tried to win the kidney they so desperately needed. Viewers, politicians and the media were shocked that a reality show with such a premise could be broadcasted but now it appears that the whole thing was a hoax. A hoax that the producers hoped would highlight the desperate need for donor organs in the Netherlands.

There had been a growing suspicion that all was not as it seemed with ‘The Big Donor Show’. Industry insiders hinted that BNN and Endemol would have been crazy to air such a show.

But for 60 minutes it looked like they would. It was only when ‘Lisa’ the ‘donor’ had to evict a would-be recipient that the gag was revealed.

The three contestants really did need the organ but were happy to play along in the cause of raising awareness of the shortage of donor organs.

“We would never have made this programme for real,” said Endemol’s Paul Romer. “I hope people’s indignation about a TV show turns to indignation about the waiting list for a donor organ.”

The show may have worked as the producers had intended as they claim that 12,000 people texted during the show to enquire about becoming an organ donor.

Reference for posting: http://news.sky.com

Fox is bringing out a spin-off for the hit show “American Idol”. The series is currently going under the name “The Search for the Next American Band” though you expect this to change.

The spin off series was created by “Idol” creator Simon Fuller and will be executive produced by “Idol” veterans Mr. Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe, Ken Warwick and Cecile Frot-Coutaz though it will not feature Simon Cowell as a judge.

Similar to “American Idol,” the show will feature a nationwide audition process where hopefuls will try and earn a spot in the top 10. Contestants will be challenged to perform various musical styles and genres each week in front of a live audience. Viewers will vote by phone or text message to keep their favorite bands in the competition.

There is no official air date for the show but according to published reports, producers are aiming for early Autumn.

Reference for posting: http://www.tvweek.com

as James Caan departs after four seasons, Tom Selleck will be taking his place. The moustache sporting actor will become a regular cast member in the drama set in Vegas.

James Caan will appear in one episode of the 2007-08 season having previously announced that he will be leaving the show after the 2007 season finale.
Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

The BBC and ITV are joining forces to deliver programming via satellite to fill in black spots in terrestrial digital TV signals.

The BBC hopes that the public can continue to receive the programs they have already paid for via the TV license fee, without having to rely on programming being rebroadcasted by commercial satellite or cable operators. This is because about a quarter of UK viewers cannot receive the Freeview terrestrial service as the digital reception is too poor a quality.

Although no announcement has been made, it is expected that Freesat will offer high definition (HD) programming.

Reference for posting: http://www.itwire.com.au

Here’s a photo comparison of fast food items and their advertising images. Each item was purchased, taken home, and photographed immediately. Nothing was tampered with, run over by a car, or anything of the sort. It is an accurate representation in every case. Shiny, neon-orange, liquefied pump-cheese, and all…

BeSocial: digg it | methodshop

cheese, digg, fast food, neon orange, photo comparison

UKTV Gold seem to like bringing back old BBC programs in a re hashed format where the presenter looks at their best bits. They did it with Wogan: now and then and now they are bringing out The Generation Game: Then Again.

As part of UKTV Gold’s £10 million new programming strategy, the show will be presented by Bruce Forsyth, who hosted the game show when it first aired on the BBC in 1971. Though the new show will be filmed in front of a live studio audience the show will feature a great deal of archive footage.

They’ll have the conveyor belt and cuddly toy and you can expect Brucie to throw out a couple of his classic catchphrases such as “good game, good game” and “Didn’t she do well?”.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

The highly enjoyable travel game reality show, The Amazing Race, is to return to Challenge. Series four of the hit CBS show will return on April 21.

In the show teams of two compete against each other to travel around the world on a limited budget and take part in tasks such as sports unique to the region they are in and extreme tasks such as bungee jumping or sky diving.

The first episodes were aired as a “trial run” and the remaining episodes 8-13 will now be shown on Saturdays and Sundays at 8am from April 21 to May 6.

The original US series has aired since 2001 and has earned multiple Emmy Awards, including four Outstanding Reality-Competition Series.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

BitTorrent have launched a new online store called The BitTorrent Entertainment Network. Though late to the legal download game, BitTorrent which operates via P2P are well known as a source for user uploaded videos and music.

Their new service Network will offer about 3,000 new and classic movies, thousands of TV shows, about 1,000 PC games and 1,000 music videos. BitTorrent has created partnerships with a whole host of companies such as Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, MGM, and MTV.

The games are provided by companies such as Activision, Ubisoft and Vivendi.

Movies from the service will cost $3.99 each for a 30 day rental with older titles at $2.99, TV shows and music videos are $1.99 and user-generated content is free.

Reference for posting: http://www.i4u.com

BT’s new Vision service will soon get a whole load more content after signing a deal with Home Box Office (HBO) who make programs such as The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The video on demand service from BT will also feature access to Universal’s library of music videos.

The content will be available from May by subscription, or per episode. You can expect the episodes to cost between 79p and £1.50.

The Universal deal includes its entire catalogue of music videos, along with music-related documentaries and live concerts. Some documentaries will be as cheap as 29p, with a decent concert costing up to ₤2.99.

This is a pretty good deal for BT as HBO are well known for their great programs many of which have received awards and critical plaudits.

Reference for posting: http://www.theregister.co.uk