APP Review - VIGGLE

Viggle is changing the way I watch TV, and I am loving every minute of it!

In the advent of OnDemand, Internet streaming and DVRs it is obvious why networks and advertisers are becoming more and more desperate for live viewers of their programming. For a long time, I thought there was no way I would ever watch live TV again.

I was wrong. Viggle brought me back.

In the week leading up to the Superbowl I noticed one of my facebook friends had "checked into" a television show using Viggle. Curious as I always am about social media tie-ins, I clicked the link to see what Viggle was all about. When I got the the site I could not believe what I was reading:

Viggle℠ is a loyalty program for television that gives people real rewards for checking into the television shows they’re watching. (from Viggle's About Us Page)

Someone wants to reward ME for watching TV? I thought, for sure, I had read wrong. Then, for a moment I thought, No, no, Nicole, this could be legit. The rewards are probably crap! So I explored further. I checked out Viggle's REWARDS Page and nearly fell over - THEY HAD BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CARDS! 

 I was sold.

I downloaded the APP and started viggling (I have made this a verb). It is so easy that I have already earned three gift cards in one month!

How It Works 
 
Using your Apple or Android device, you simply click on the "check-in" button and let your device "listen" to the TV for a couple of seconds. The APP will identify the show based on the sound and THAT'S IT. You will earn one point for every minute that show is still on (I love to catch The Today Show because it is so long!). If you want to check into a different show, you just open up the APP and click again.

When you have earned enough points for the reward you want (for example, the Barnes & Noble $5 gift card is currently 10,000 points), you just open up your APP and redeem through the "rewards" button. The best part for me is that the gift card can be stored right on my phone instantly - no waiting for mail, no printing - everything is all in one place.

Extra Fun & Bonuses

Now hold on a second! I see you doing the math over there and wondering how in the heck I have already watched 30,000 minutes (500 hours or just under 21 days straight) of television in one month. I didn't. Viggle offers four different bonus point opportunities every single day:

• ViggleLIVE: This is my favorite. Some shows, movies and sporting events offer a trivia game that you play on your phone during their airing, for tons of extra points. Depending on the show and the event you can earn anywhere from +10 to +25 for each correctly answered question, and, if you answer wrong, you still get points just for playing (+1 to +5, respectively).

• ViggleMYGUY: I promise you, playing MYGUY will change the way you watch sports. This is a game available for basketball and football games (which we're just a bit of my "wifely duty" before Viggle). During the sporting event, you will be matched up (randomly) with nine other Vigglers for a MYGUY game. As you watch the game, you select a player to be "your guy". Each time he does something good for his team, you earn MYGUY points, each time he messes up, you lose MYGUY points. You may change "your guy" as many times as you would like. When the game ends the top four out of the ten Vigglers in your game earn MEGA Viggle points!

• Featured Shows: This one is the easiest. Each night, during Prime Time, a number of shows are featured. Featured shows will earn you anywhere from +50 to +100 points if you check into them for ten minutes or more while they are live.

• Commercials/Partners: While checked in to various events, if you happen to have your device in hand, you will notice tiny pop up offers to watch a commercial or even a "behind the scenes" look for points. These vary in length and in point values - I have earned as little as +5 to as high as +250 points for a minute or two of viewing.

Pointless Fun

In addition to all the rewarded fun Viggle provides, there are also features that are just plain fun, but earn you nothing.

• FB & Twitter Connect: Similar to Viggle's partner in crime and one of my old favs, GetGlue, Viggle allows users to share their viewing habits right from the APP. With just a click of a button you can show your FB friends and Twitter followers exactly what you are tuned into.
• Viggle Chats: Every show has its own chat window which connects you to fellow Vigglers watching the show live. So, rather than following a hashtag to see who's talking about the same thing you are, you get plugged right in to an audience on the same channel as you are. 

In Conclusion
 
If you love your TV, and you have a Viggle-friendly device, I say it is time for your TV to love you back! Join me over in the Viggle party and start earning points to the reward(s) of your choice.

Viggle is my first true second-screen experience. Have you used another? 

If so, what was your experience?

What reward would draw you back in to LIVE TV viewing?

~Thanks for reading!

What If You Gave Up TV? [Writing Prompt]

What if #21:

What if you gave up TV?

I'm currently in the process of cutting out cable and am finding the reception in my home for your basic over the air (OTA) TV, aka "free TV," is somewhat lacking. I'm facing the reality that television, as I've known it my whole life, may just no longer be in the cards. While there is always the option of streaming and subscribing to programs like Netflix, in the end, with only one income in the house every penny has to be counted. So I'm wondering, what if I gave up TV?

Would I accomplish more?

Would I save money or want to go out more often?

Would all of my chores be done at a human like speed?

Would I become more creative (or less)?

Would I write more? read more? bake more? get back to my drawing?

Would I be left out of conversations at social events (I already felt that sting when we dropped HBO!)?

Would I keep up on the news?

The questions abound. Honestly, anytime I am in the presence of someone who says they have "given up TV" I am immediately enamored with them and wish to spend as much time talking to them as possible. I always imagine them to be so much deeper, more intelligent, more well read and well verse than I... is it a myth?

What do you think? Have you already done it? If so, what have you gained/lost from taking "the leap"? If you have not, is it something you would consider? Why or why not? Write your response and link it up below.

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
Link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

An Open Question to Fellow Whovians: The God Complex

I watch Doctor Who.

It makes me think.

Then I have questions.

I pester the same people week after week with these questions FORGETTING COMPLETELY THAT I HAVE A BLOG!

This week's episode, The God Complex, has raised a big question for me about the Doctor himself and I am wondering where Whovians stand on their interpretation of these events.


[SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen the season 6, episode 11 entitled The God Complex and do not want any of it to be spoiled for you, then I advise you STOP READING THIS RIGHT NOW UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN THE EPISODE!]




My Big Question: What is the Doctor's motivation at the end of the episode?

The doctor decides, at the end of this episode, to bring his companion(s) home before it is necessary. Now, Amy (and Rory) have been through hell and back with the Doctor, so they definitely have reached what would be considered "the limit" for some, but they did not request an end to their adventures, the Doctor, uncharacteristically, volunteered it.

In the past (mind you I have only watched the re-boot of the Doctor Who series, as Netflix has yet to acquire the completed versions of the previous Doctors and I don't like watching things piece-meal), the Doctor has only ended his companion relationships when it was either beyond his control, or it is the literal last thing to be done in order to save their lives. He destroys people. He takes them on the adventure of a lifetime, of TWO lifetimes, even, and then returns them to their world as (in some way) broken human beings. No one really complains about it, they all come to the understanding that this is the cost of the travel, but it is what seems to transpire, nonetheless. Then, all of a sudden, on this weekend's episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor brings Amy and Rory home to a brand new home, a shiny new car and says, "Ta-ta! Didn't want to mess you up any worse off than I already did!"

image from Whoinverse

So the optimist in me jumped on this - Wow! The Doctor is growing, and learning from all of his years of experience... so sad he has to suffer alone.

Then I mulled it over for a while. Amy had to abandon her faith in the Doctor in this episode. She had to convince herself finally that he could not fix everything. And obviously, she did or else the Minotaur monster would not have died.

Which brings me, finally, to my question: 

Did the Doctor leave Amy to save her, or just because she finally understood that he is "just a madman in a box"? Does the Doctor need companions for companionship or some level of worship? 

While I know the term "Lord" has a different meaning in the British vernacular, in my world (of a catholic school upbringing) it is a pretty lofty title, so is the need for some sort of worship embedded in the Time Lord being?

I have a feeling these things will all be revealed in time, but I was just wondering what others thought about them now based on what we know of the Doctor so far. (Perhaps those of you who have known the Doctor longer than I will have an even deeper insight).

So, Whovians - What do you think?! Of course, there is one other  burning question from this weekends episode I'm sure everyone is salivating at:  

WHO/WHAT DID THE DOCTOR SEE IN "HIS" ROOM? 

I feel pretty confident that he saw himself, but I get surprised ALL THE TIME, so what do you think?

My Book Is On TV!!

This post was written in response to a writing prompt for  RemembeRED from The Red Dress Club. This week's prompt is as follows: 
TV is something that people either watch a lot of or have definite feelings about. This week, we want you to think about tv show from your past. Maybe you watched it, maybe you didn't and it was just something that everyone else talked about.

What feelings does the show evoke? What memories does it trigger?


Stories. They are my passion. Whether I hear them, read them, watch them or create them - at all levels I have always loved them. This is the story of when I first began to understand that a story can be more than just words in a book.


It was 1986. I was ten years old.


I loved the Mets, the outdoors, playing softball, my family (especially my six-year old brother), and I loved books.


My school was involved in the Troll Book Club. When we got a catalog I'd come home with my favorite selections circled to show my parents and begin the ritual of begging for books. This is how I got The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. When I read the book I was captivated - it was fun, hilarious and I loved Ralph. The book was such an adventure. I told my brother about it explaining how this little mouse would ride around on a little motorcycle and I would see his eyes light up. "I can't wait until you can read this!" I would tell him. At school we'd talk about it too. We all loved Ralph.

Of course, in the bumbling brightness of childhood all things fizzle and new things captivate. Ralph was remembered, but no longer center stage. Then, a little more than a week after the Mets World Series win, my brother and I shuffled down to the basement to watch the ABC Weekend Special. That week's special was called "The Mouse and the Motorcycle"!
 

I had never seen a book becoming a movie. On the screen I saw my visions, my imagination, the pictures, the movements - all there to share with everyone. My brother could now share in this fantastic story with me. He understood what I loved about it, he could SEE how Ralph could ride a motorcycle - not a BIG one like people ride, but a mouse-sized motorcycle.

I yelled up the stairs to my parents. I told them they had to come down and see it as I held the book in my hand. I flipped through the pages as the movie went on - I couldn't believe it was happening - the words had become pictures. 

My parents were amused by my excitement and told me about all of the other movies I had already seen that were books first: ALL OF THE DISNEY MOVIES, The Wizard of Oz,  and even TV shows like The Little House on the Prarie!


How did I miss this? Every time I had seen a book with a movie title, I thought the book was made after the movie - I had it backwards! This was wonderful! As I sat with my book on my knee, imagining all of the universes I had visited through my pages coming to life on the screen, my brother sat on the floor with a toy motorcycle zipping it through the legs of the chairs, the table and throughout the house.

"It's just like you said, Nicole!" He was right, because it was just like I had imagined.

My book came to life. Someone read the book, imagined Ralph and then MADE HIM - not like Beverly Cleary did, which was the first act of creation, but made a physical, photograph-able, talking, moving form of him - just like when I drew him, but 1,000 times better! And, according to my parents, this was happening all the time.


One thing was for certain: I would never read a book the same way again.