Colbert

Bill Clinton joins Twitter (for real this time)

I can only hope he was influenced more by Stephen Colbert than by Anthony Weiner.

Whichever it was, Bill Clinton is now officially on Twitter. As himself.

Within what seemed like minutes of his arrival, he garnered more than 198,000 followers, all of whom, no doubt, will be hanging on his every syllable.

You may recall that the president was inveigled recently by Colbert to joining Twitter against his own volition. Colbert even opened the @PrezBillyJeff account without the president's apparent knowledge or approval.

Former President Clinton freely admitted to Colbert he was worried about tweeting and getting … Read more

Google's Schmidt to Colbert: I don't understand the Internet

To hear someone from Google claim they don't understand something is like hearing a fundamentalist religious believer suddenly declare he has celestial doubts.

There was something, therefore, stunningly heartwarming about Eric Schmidt's appearance on Tuesday night's "Colbert Report."

In a previous appearance on the show, Google's executive chairman had tried to be funny. This time, he allowed Colbert to be the comedian -- which was a good decision.

Instead, Schmidt took the opportunity to thrust his new book "The New Digital Age" at the cool, ironic world and offer a little hope.… Read more

Colbert strong-arms Bill Clinton to join Twitter

Presidents want to be loved just like anyone else.

Actually, presidents want to be loved a lot more than anyone else, which is why they became politicians in the first place. Well, that and the money.

It was touching, therefore, to see President Bill Clinton appear with Stephen Colbert on "The Colbert Report" and admit he was afraid of not being loved. On Twitter, that is. How could the man who turned the last election with one speech fear that he would be left all alone, with just a little blue bird for company? The president admitted that … Read more

Colbert visits Google, is clueless about Google Play

Google's Eric Schmidt is a very busy man.

But he still found the time to interview fellow political philosopher Stephen Colbert, when the latter appeared at Google this week.

Indeed, Schmidt even found the time to post a chunk of the escapade onto his Google+ account. (The full hour has been posted to YouTube and I have embedded it at the bottom of this post.)

You might imagine that Colbert would be au fait with all of Google's services before presenting himself before an audience of Googlies.

But, no.… Read more

Viacom escalates DirecTV fight, pulls popular shows from Web

The programming dispute between DirecTV and Viacom is starting to affect the general population, with Viacom escalating the issue by pulling some of its popular shows from the Internet.

"The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report," and "Jersey Shore" are among the popular shows no longer available online as of yesterday. Other shows, such as "South Park," remain online, and back episodes of some pulled shows can still be found on Hulu.

DirecTV and Viacom have been arguing over how much a distributor should pay an entertainment company for content. Amid that fight, … Read more

Colbert, Stewart in funny (but serious) Jobs tributes

When you are a news anchor--albeit for the Comedy Channel--you can't shy away from the news of Steve Jobs' death.

But are you really supposed to play it straight? Are you supposed to reminisce about, in Stephen Colbert's case, the day Steve Jobs gave you one of the first iPads so that you could flog it at the Grammys?

Or, in Jon Stewart's case, are you supposed to mention occasions when Jobs called you in appreciation of some skit of other?

Well, yes, in both cases.

Yet, as you watch both of these tributes from their shows, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1525: Patent catfights and the hot rod plow (Podcast)

Google and Microsoft continue their highly public patent-related catfight, which is either raising awareness of the issue of overbroad software patents or just turning into an embarrassing public battle that's making us all uncomfortable. Also, facial recognition is a trap, and security researchers are rushing to unveil the real Shady Rat. Plus: Computer Love!

'Colbert Report,' 'Daily Show' return to Hulu

Some of the most popular shows from MTV and Comedy Central are returning to Hulu.

Viacom and Hulu have come to an agreement that will enable Hulu's ad supported service to stream clips and full-length episodes of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report." The shows will be made available today, the companies said.

Viacom will make available to Hulu Plus subscribers a selection of current programs, like "Jersey Shore," "Tosh.0," "Teen Mom 2," "Manswers," "Let's Stay Together," and "… Read more

'Daily Show' coming back to Hulu?

"The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" could be on their way back to Hulu.

Citing an unnamed source, The New York Times is reporting that Hulu and Comedy Central are in talks to bring the popular shows back to the video service. Although no deal has been struck, the Times claims, both sides hope to ink an agreement sooner rather than later.

"The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were removed from Hulu last March after the companies couldn't agree to a deal that would see the video service maintain … Read more

Google's Schmidt to Colbert: I'm a joker

Much of the alleged battle between Google, Apple, Facebook--and anyone else who's large and occupies the tech playground--is being waged in the public sphere.

Each of these companies realizes that making people feel warm about their boss is just as important as making them feel warm about your product. Indeed, it IS making them feel warm about your product.

Some choose to create warmth by donating large amounts of money to troubled schools. Others simply explain jokes.

Indeed, what a delight it was to see Google CEO Eric Schmidt make an appearance on "The Colbert Report." Should … Read more