B-Ball, Travel, And Spo...

Hulu announced a new slate of original and exclusive programming Monday morning, as the video site ventures further into creating its own content. For Hulu, it’s a way to begin controlling its own destiny and distinguishing itself from all the content produced by parents and part-owners Fox, NBC and Disney. For its originals, Hulu is teaming up with Hollywood big shots like Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater. Smith will work on a show called Spoilers , which will invite movie fans to discuss all the biggest movies being released. Linklater’s Up To Speed is a travel show built around Speed Levitch (you might remember him from Linklater’s Waking Life , if you’re into that sort of thing) and his travels around the world. And We Got Next , a bro-mantic comedy set in a basketball gym? Ok, maybe I’m kind of interested. That’s it for the originals… Hulu is also getting an exclusive set of series that were produced by others. Its summer exclusives include: Rev. – Follows the Rev. Adam Smallbone, who moved from a sleepy, rural parish to the busy, inner-city world of St. Saviour’s in East London. The Yard – A mockumentary miniseries that juxtaposes two rival cliques of elementary school children. Originally appeared on HBO Canada. Derren Brown: Inside Your Mind – Follows Derren Brown, a performer who uses psychology, magic, showmanship and suggestion to mess with people. The Booth at the End – All about an enigmatic character played by Xander Berkeley, who occupies the corner booth of a diner. Riveting. Pramface – Follows the lives of Jamie and Laura, two young, free and single teenagers who hook up at a party and end up getting Laura pregnant. Like Knocked Up for teenagers. The Promise – A four-part political thriller and love story that examines the origins of the Middle East conflict in events that took place under British rule sixty years ago. Little Mosque – A light-hearted, comedic fish-out-of-water tale about a small Muslim community that rents the parish hall of a small town church to use as a mosque. The new original and exclusive programming will debut during the summer, a time when TV programming from the broadcast networks begins to slow down. That might be able to help Hulu, which tends to see a seasonal dip in viewership. Of course, Hulu isn’t the only one signing up new original content and exclusive access to series online. Netflix also is making a big push for original content with series from the likes of David Fincher, horror master Eli Roth, Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, and the triumphant return of Arrested Development . YouTube is also spending more than $100 million on about 100 channels of new, original programming. Yahoo and AOL have also announced their own slates of original programming, hoping to cash in on growing interest for streaming video.

Backstage With The Disr...

The speaker schedule for TechCrunch’s Disrupt NYC conference has been set for a while now, but three brand new presenters were just added to the lineup: The winners announced earlier today at the finale of this past weekend’s 24 hour Disrupt 2012 Hackathon, Thingscription , PoachBase , and PractiKhan . Since the winning apps were so seriously awesome — and we have a very, very small sadistic bent (most of these people had not slept for at least 24 hours at this point , so a video interview with bright lights was especially fun) — we pulled aside all three winning teams for interviews with TechCrunch TV backstage. Embedded above you can see our chat with the people who built the Hackathon’s first place winner, ThingScription, a platform to let people get subscriptions for deliveries of potentially any consumer good. And in the videos below, you’ll first find our interviews with three of the five-person team that built the second-place Hackathon winner PoachBase, a web app for finding the most poach-able potential hires in the tech industry. Below that is the developer behind the third-place winner PractiKhan, an app that lets teachers create online lessons and tests utilizing content from Khan Academy.

This City Never Sleeps,...

It’s midnight. The city is alive with Saturday night fever, and Pier 94 is just as awake, and perhaps a bit more drunk. Tequila shots (and plenty of beers) are flowing, along with Red Bull, Mountain Dew, and Energy Bites. In other words, this place is like one giant vat of FourLoko, topped with a sprinkling of coders. For the most part, they seem ready for anything. We’ve heard that the majority of them are ahead of schedule, which is good news considering that the alcohol-induced energy rush will only last so long. We caught up with Jake, a 15-year old hacker who’s back for the second time to code away, along with Matt Hall, co-founder and CEO of Docracy and former Hackathon winner , and both seemed confident in their hacks. However, Jake has all the energy in the world (despite eating basically nothing), while Matt says he’s typing at a rate of one character per minute. Clearly, youth is an advantage once the clock strikes midnight. We also brought along some Nerf Vortex blasters (the ones that shoot discs) so that the hackers could take a break and let loose a bit, which basically means that the floor of Pier 94 is currently littered with little green discs. All in all, the hackers are hitting their stride with about 11 hours left to perfect not only their product, but their presentations. We’ll keep you updated on the action as it’s happening. Disrupt NYC is set to be one of our biggest shows yet, with returns from Michael Arrington and MG Siegler , along with a variety of big names like Marissa Mayer , Sarah Tavel , Fred Wilson , and David Lee and more. It’s going to be huge. If you’re interested in checking out Disrupt and/or the Hackathon yourself, tickets are still on sale here and info on the Hackathon can be found here . Companies who want to join the Battleground can apply for the last remaining spots in Startup Alley . You can find the full agenda here .

The Disrupt NYC Hackath...

There’s a strong murmur in the room with random spurts of excitement. Hackers and coders have teamed up and mostly (hopefully) decided on a project. There are only 15 hours left. But night is approaching. That’s when things tend to get loopy thanks to the sudden influx of food and beer. So far the event has been fantastic. There’s a 3:2 ratio of Macs vs PCs. Epic t-shirts are everywhere . Caffeine is flowing thanks to Red Bull and Outburst Energy Bites . The event runs until tomorrow morning. Coding a fantastic app is just part of the fun. Starting at 11:00 am tomorrow morning, teams will have one minute to present their project, hopefully winning over the judges for a shot to present at TechCrunch Disrupt. But first the participants need to make it through the night. Click to view slideshow.

The Art Of Expression: ...

Hackers aren’t necessarily known for their fashion sense. Most of the time, a t-shirt and jeans is as far as it goes. But there are certain circumstances in which it’s clear that hackers pay a little extra attention after rolling out of bed in the morning. The TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon is one of those instances, but that doesn’t mean that the go-to jeans and T have been abandoned. Even better, our hackers are choosing to express themselves through the t-shirts, and I have to say that they’re some of the coolest I’ve seen. Last year in San Francisco, most of our hackers had something on their heads , whether it was a baseball cap, headphones, an Ushanka, or even a shower cap. This year, it’s all about the classic T, but with a coder’s spin. Without further ado, these are the most badass t-shirts of the TC Disrupt NYC Hackathon: Disrupt NYC is set to be one of our biggest shows yet, with returns from Michael Arrington and MG Siegler , along with a variety of big names like Marissa Mayer , Sarah Tavel , Fred Wilson , and David Lee and more. It’s going to be huge. If you’re interested in checking out Disrupt and/or the Hackathon yourself, tickets are still on sale here and info on the Hackathon can be found here . Companies who want to join the Battleground can apply for the last remaining spots in Startup Alley . You can find the full agenda here .