Ondemand makes a deal with Sony for PS3 owners

(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)

 If you’ve got a PlayStation 3 you can now use it to tune into TVNZ’s Ondemand service.

Sony and TVNZ have done a deal that means you can now watch those missed programmes via your telly instead of squinting at your computer screen.

Oh sure, I know there are some of you out there who already have your computers hooked up to your TV screens but I have a 50-inch plasma and, quite frankly, have no desire to see some of the stuff I’ve found online at that size.

There are times when the old less is more adage is very, very true.

But I digress.

It’s safe to say that most intrepid web-surfers out there have computer screens the size of, well, computer screens.

So now, instead of trying to watch that missed episode of Shortland Street on their wee computer screen they can check out the delights New Zealand’s No 1 soap via their not-so-wee TV screen.

To get TVNZ Ondemand on your PS3, you’ll need to update the console software to version 3.10 or better to ensure sign in to PlayStation Network.

After a few moments the TVNZ Ondemand icon will appear on the Xross Media Bar.

For Orcon Broadband customers, the data use associated with accessing the service won’t come off their data caps, with Orcon chief executive Scott Bartlett saying the TVNZ content is zero-rated through its O Zone.

Now back to the subject of Shortland Street: I don’t mean to diss the programme (well, maybe I do) but what’s with that dude who plays the cop?

He seems to have adopted the Joey Tribbiani smell-the-fart style of acting.

You know, as explained by Joey in that episode of Friends, it’s where the actor pauses between lines (to think about what they’ve got to say next) and looks all intense.

Like they’re absorbing an unidentified aroma.

And the actress who plays his nursie sister in Shortie has her own special acting style that seems to involve trying to impersonate a pendulum, rocking from side to side as she utters her lines.

The good blokes and blokesses at Symantec have been busy making the world a safer place for all and sundry.

They have unveiled the 2011 beta versions of Norton AntiVirus (norton.com/nav2011beta) and Norton Internet Security (norton.com/nis2011beta), which are now available for free download from the Norton beta website.

They’ve also launched their first beta security application for Facebook (https://apps.facebook.com/nortonsafeweb) and two standalone security tools to address the growing menace posed by fake antivirus programs and other infections (norton.com/rescuetools).