The Campbell Scoop

DirecTV and Sunbeam Work it Out!

2012-01-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

Multiple sources are reporting that the dispute has been resolved. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/directv-signs-accord-ending-super-bowl-blackout-threat-for-boston-viewers.html http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/479683-Sunbeam_and_DirecTV_Reach_Retrans_Agreement.php http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYNz3_sMS-2gdusTmkaT15R2nQvQ?docId=

Patriots Super Bowl Game Blacked Out for DirecTV Viewers?

2012-01-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

This is what I see when I turn the channel to 7 WHDH-Boston, our designated local NBC affiliate. At midnight on January 14, 2012, Sunbeam Communications shut down its link to DirecTV for the stations WSVN (Channel 7 Fox Miami), WHDH (NBC Channel 7 Boston), and WLVI (The CW Channel 56 Boston). The result is what you see above. We first noticed it when we tried to tune in "Saturday Night

e-Coast Birthday Weirdness

2012-01-07T07:38:00.001-08:00

OK, so a wicked head/sinus cold kept me from attending the 13th eBrew Birthday Bash. My dutiful and beautiful wife brought me some (Lemon Zinger) tea with (local) honey. The mug she chose for the job, totally at random mind you, was this one. You can't make this stuff up! Happy 13th Birthday e-Coast! You're a teenager now. Ugh!

Portsmouth Public Media Storytellers Open House a Success Story

2011-11-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of Portsmouth Public Media pose for posterity at the end of the PPMTV Storytellers Open House on Sunday, November 20, 2011. Aided (or hindered?) by temperatures that soared into the upper 60s, we had a terrific turnout. Upward of 150 people visited, toured the South Meetinghouse facility, and fired their imaginations. What would they do with air time on local TV?

Introducing PPMTV

2011-11-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to be helping get the word out about Portsmouth Public Media (PPMTV). What is it? Since it's a video medium, I'll let PPMTV Board President Dave Underhill explain: Your chance to see PPMTV up close and personal is coming up this Sunday afternoon at the long-awaited Open House. Here's the deets: What: PPMTV STORYTELLERS OPEN HOUSE When: Sunday, November 20, 2PM-5PM

Portsmouth Rallies to Save RiverRun Bookstore

2011-11-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

The story of Portsmouth these days isn't being sold at RiverRun Bookstore. It is RiverRun Bookstore. This is a "The Shop Around the Corner"/"You've Got Mail" story that hopes to have an "It's a Wonderful Life" ending. Bookseller, community activist, and protagonist Tom Holbrook set the scene in a mournful e-mail missive to his mailing list: After a lot of hard thinking, I've decided not to

"Digital Ports" Embodies Original e-Coast Mission

2011-08-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to attend this event last week at the new Music Hall Loft. Note: It's on street-level in the old Stuart Shaines space. Disappointingly, there is no loft. But it is a neat space, and the bartender (Scott, not hard for me to remember his name) is top-notch. If you watch Dan's video above, you'll see my off-the-cuff answer to the question of

My Kid Rocks, Retro-Style

2011-08-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am contractually obligated to post this, onaccounta the facts that it's: 1. Local (Took place at New Heights in Portsmouth) 2. Techno-geeky (Making 8-bit music with old Game Boys? Are you kidding me?) 3. It's got my kid in it! (Her tune is great! Yes, I spent years feeding her Tangerine Dream.) Check it out: DoverNH.tv.

Yet Another Reason Portsmouth Rules

2011-07-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

An OUTDOOR summer movie festival at Prescott Park? Yep! http://www.prescottpark.org/movie.cfm BTW, saw A Midsummer Night's Dream last weekend and it was excellent. Have NOT seen the Wizard of Oz production yet, but by all reports, it's outstanding, so try to catch that, too. The Ahts at Prescott Pahk, just another reason Portsmouth rules.

Cruisin'... on a summer day...

2011-06-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Summer in Portsmouth means a lot of things, from the ceremonial opening of the decks (Poco's grande margaritas are the best on the planet) to tall ship visits (although this past one was a dud by all reports I've heard) to cruising on the MV Thomas Laighton for a variety of themed "booze cruises." Pull up the Isle of Shoals Steamship Company schedule here and you'll see that there are plenty of

Happy Birthday to The Campbell Scoop!

2011-05-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 7th anniversary of my first blog post here on The Campbell Scoop! This makes this blog a particularly long-lived one, to be sure, but it could've been even older; I was advising clients to start blogs for a year before I had started mine! Interestingly, while the Internet evolves at breakneck pace, blogs themselves haven't changed all that much in the 7 years I've been blogging

eCoast is on the Map - Literally!

2011-05-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

Check out this great illustration in yesterday's Sunday's Boston Globe! It appeared on the front page of the Business section... sorry Money & Careers section... along with this great article by the legendary Scott Kirsner. (Thanks Scott!) Big props to illustrator Leo Acadia... It's a fabulous illustration! I tweeted it back to the columnist (this is reverse chronological, of course):

Portsmouth High School Sets National Record! 76 Wins in a Row!

2011-05-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know I love baseball. A lot. And if you know me, you know I love Portsmouth. A lot. And I love news that brings positive attention to our fair city. A lot. So this story has got me particularly jazzed: With it's 76th win in a row, Portsmouth High School baseball has set the record for longest high school baseball winning streak in the nation! Personal anecdote: My

Happy Foursquare Day

2011-04-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Foursquare Day! Portsmouth Mayor Tom Ferrini has made it official.... but... What exactly is Foursqaure Day, you ask? It's a worldwide celebration of a silly smart-phone app. I mean, errr, it's a location-based social media phenomenon! When is Foursquare Day? It's April 16, of course. 4/16. 4 squared. Get it? How can you forget? If only birthdays and anniversaries were as

Are We Running Out of Interwebs?

2011-03-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

It may seem unthinkable, but when you do stop to think about it, it's an undeniable fact: There is a finite number of IP addresses. What's more, those IPs are running out fast. In fact, ICANN, which oversees Internet domains, has already issued its last block of IPv4 addresses. The solution? IPv6. Sounds like a new Subaru model, I know. The issue was recently brought to my attention by

Breaking News: N.H. firm JitterJam sold for $6M - Mass High Tech Business News

2011-03-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

N.H. firm JitterJam sold for $6M - Mass High Tech Business NewsCurious to see how this affects the company going forward. We were impressed with them when we met them at TechWorld last fall. Here's the full press release, FYI.

Representing @ SXSW

2011-03-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

I wasn't at SXSW this year (who am I kidding, I've never been and probably never will, I'm not that cool!) but I still kept up with the goings on via the tweeterers and tweetists who were there on the scene. I follow Pee-Wee Herman @peeweeherman, Eliza Dushku @elizadushku, Duran Duran's Simon le Bon @SimonJCLeBON, as well as even bigger stars like NH's local legends Christine Major @CMajor and

Men's Journal Tells Readers What We Already Know

2011-03-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

Just picked up a copy of the dead-tree edition of the Men's Journal. I had seen a link on Facebook a few days ago, and Rachel Forrest covered it in the Herald, but sometimes you've just gotta have the real thing, and this is one of those times. Especially when the publication doesn't put current content on the web; luckily for you, I scanned it as you can see here. Portsmouth is now routinely

Dover Eats Fat Tuesday

2011-03-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

Everybody knows me as sort of a Mr. Portsmouth. I live here, I work here, I volunteer here. It's rare to see me out and about anyplace else. But on Tuesday, I got a call from my pal David Flood. "Join me for the Fat Tuesday Pub Crawl in Dover tonight," he said. "My treat." "Ummm... Okie dokie," I said. Because I work until 8PM on Tuesdays, I met up with him late. I missed him by seconds at the

Super Bowl Ads in Review: Top 5 of 2011

2011-02-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

Once again, we're shown that marketeers and the general public have, shall we say, slightly different takes on the Super Bowl commercials. USAToday's AdMeter* put BudLight's lame dog-sitting party spot at #1. Go watch it if you want to. Dogs walk upright and serve beers... Whatevs. Tied at #1 was the cute but predictable spot for Doritos with the pug and a glass patio door. Neither ranked

Facebook Hosts 1st Super Bowl Commercial Face-Off

2011-02-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

Once again this year, I went looking for a Super Bowl commercial scorecard I could fill out as the game went on, and once again this year, I came up empty. Has anybody seen a good one? It can be a printable one or an online one. It looks like USA Today isn't doing their Ad Meter this year? Meanwhile, I'll try this one on Facebook... I mean, why not, that's where we'll all be commenting on the

On Buying a Verizon iPhone in the Middle of the Night

2011-02-03T01:22:00.000-08:00

Well, that could've gone more smoothly. First, I had logged in as an existing customer and was going through the web site process attempting to upgrade my phone on my line to the iPhone. The iPhone never showed up in the list of available phones. After 3AM, Apple showed up in the drop-down menu as a manufacturer, but it was grayed out. I noticed with interest the Droid Star Wars R2-D2 phone

Alarm is set for 2:55AM. Yep, only for the #VZWiphone

2011-02-02T20:53:00.000-08:00

The process has been pretty smooth and quiet. I signed up for the e-mail notifications while I was live-blogging from the local Verizon Wireless store. Since then, I've received just a couple missives from Verizon Wireless. One told me how to prep for the move (including instructions to sign up for an iTunes account, as if I didn't already have one) and one that told me that I could pre-order

3S Artspace: We Need This Why?

2011-01-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

It's inescapable. It's ubiquitous. It's ridiculous! Everybody we know is telling to us vote, and not just vote once, but 3 (three!) times! Each day! Whatevs! I mean... ...It's on TV: ...It's in the newspapers: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110104-NEWS-101040393 ...It's on the Web: http://www.3sarts.org/ ...It's on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/3sartspace

Jay Childs Honored by Catapult Seacoast

2011-01-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

Hearty congratulations to Jay Childs on winning the 2010 J.T. O'Donnell Award from Catapult Seacoast. Thanks to Andrew Leibs for doing such a nice job telling Jay's story. Here's the link... Read all about it! http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20110114%2FBIZ%2F101140365%2F-1%2FNEWSMAP Jay does video production, interactive design, and consulting. He's based