You had platters? We just had a pile of magnets scattered about on the desk. We had to build a write head out of a 9V battery and some wire and write each bit manually.
Certain devices can hit 100m and over with their range (and interoperate at that distance with the 10m class devices).
Does this seem to violate certain physics maxims to anyone else? Perhaps I need to know how the return signal from the weaker device somehow makes it the 100 meters out to the stronger device... it seems like if it could only go 10 meters before, there's no way it could go any further just because one device is stronger.
In Georgia, there is a statute that allows a police officer to take any amount of money from your person and hold it as evidence if you are carrying over $25,000 cash. No trial, no warrant, no crime. They can just take all of the cash you have on you.
This will be just like when CG started replacing landscapes, trees, canyons, cities, etc... Remember how after The Matrix and The Fifth Element were made, there was no need for cities anymore? Man, I wish we'd had some more foresight. Oh yeah, and remember how once they started making animated movies, we didn't need actors anymore? What a tragedy.
I would love to see some statistics showing that the USPS is pricey. I was under the impression that the service should actually cost more but that they have to get any rate hikes approved by congress or the treasury or something, and that's why they are so low.
Think about it. Would you carry something across the country for me for 37 cents?
I could be wrong here, but I think the USPS (letters, not packages) is very reasonably-priced.
This is more like putting saltwater down the coin dispenser of the coke machine and telling the owner it was insecure and anyone dumping a bucket of the stuff could clean the thing out.
How is this considered even a remotely cogent analogy? Salt water destroys (or used to) parts of said machines. Accessing a network destroys it how?
the speed limit is 100km/h, but the tacit speed limit (which even the Provincial Police have acknowledged) is 120. On the 401 in sections it averages about 130.
Fairly frequently you'll have some moron zipping along at 150+ (~100mph)... they insist upon absolute and blatant disregard for a whole different countries laws.
Uh. Just a nitpick, but is it more blatantly disregarding the law (100) to go 150 than it is to go 120? Or are you both breaking said law completely? Either you're breaking the law or you're not.
Of course, the rest of your points are fine. I take no issue with your message, just your wording.
Imagine. People will start doing the friggin' speed limit. Sounds mighty good to me.
So you were that jackass going 55 in the left lane the whole way back from Florida last week. Thanks a lot, idiot!
Anyway, I see any [non-far-left] lane as "go as slow as you want" and the left lane as "go faster than the car behind you but other than that as slow as you want."
You clearly see it as "Drive 55 miles per hour even though the speed limits in the U.S. are set, on average, 15% lower than the optimum safe speed for the road.
A PC I bought in 1998 is on the verge of obsolescence, only 4 years later.
Which is why, with proper planning, you can make yours last a long time!
What people don't understand is that obsolescence isn't a factor if you replace parts of your computer when you need to. I am willing to bet that a smokin' Mobo/CPU combo to make your computer more than adequate would run under $200. Add a $99 GeForce3 and you've got a fully up-to-date system. Nobody needs to spend $2000 every time new games are released. At least none of MY friends do.
Old Lady #1: When my ex-husband passed away, the insurance company said his policy didn't cover him.
Old Lady #2: They didn't have enough money for the funeral.
Old Lady #3: It's so hard nowadays, with all the gangs and rap music..
Old Lady #1: What about the robots?
Old Lady #4: Oh, they're everywhere!
Old Lady #1: I don't even know why the scientists make them.
Old Lady #2: Darren and I have a policy with Old Glory Insurance, in case we're attacked by robots.
Old Lady #1: An insurance policy with a robot plan? Certainly, I'm too old.
Old Lady #2: Old Glory covers anyone over the age of 50 against robot attack, regardless of current health.
[ cut to Sam Waterston, Compensated Endorser ]
Sam Waterson: I'm Sam Waterston, of the popular TV series "Law & Order". As a senior citizen, you're probably aware of the threat robots pose. Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel. Well, now there's a company that offers coverage against the unfortunate event of robot attack, with Old Glory Insurance. Old Glory will cover you with no health check-up or age consideration. [ SUPER: Limitied Benefits First Two Years ] You need to feel safe. And that's harder and harder to do nowadays, because robots may strike at any time.
[ show pie chart reading "Cause of Death in Persons Over 50 Years of Age": Heart Disease, 42% - Robots, 58% ]
And when they grab you with those metal claws, you can't break free.. because they're made of metal, and robots are strong. Now, for only $4 a month, you can achieve peace of mind in a world full of grime and robots, with Old Glory Insurance. So, don't cower under your afghan any longer. Make a choice. [ SUPER: "WARNING: Persons denying the existence of Robots may be Robots themselves. ] Old Glory Insurance. For when the metal ones decide to come for you - and they will.
Q: Can I use TiVo in Australia? A: Yes, you can - well, the series 1 standalone boxes anyway. With some work you can get quite close to the level of functionality of a subscribed US TiVo - live TV guide, control of your Foxtel satellite or Optus Vision set top box, and so on - plus all the standard "trick play" TiVo features - pause, fastforward, rewind and slow advance of live TV.
Q: Which TiVo should I buy? A: You should get a standalone series 1 unit, and preferably a Phillips unit since the disk layout is easier to expand than the one in the Sonys. You can pick these up reconditioned for not much money (say USD140 plus shipping), or off eBay for slightly more. You're probably best off getting the smallest unit you can find (usually a 14 hour unit) and then upgrading it with a bigger drive yourself, which is an easy process and is explained in depth at Hinsdale's excellent FAQ. You should try to get a unit with the 1.3 software loaded, since it allows manual recording with minimal nagging and generally it is better understood than the later software versions (2.0.5, 2.5.1). I don't believe the UK (PAL) TiVo units are as good a deal as the US ones, particularly as an unsubscribed UK unit is essentially useless.
Q: How much is it going to cost me? A: Well, it depends on what you buy. As mentioned above, you can sometimes get a reconditioned Phillips HDR-112 for about USD140, or more off eBay. Then there is ~USD24 shipping and handling they tack on automatically. Then using USPS to Australia for the TiVo unit itself (it weighs about 9kg) comes to USD95 at the moment and takes three to five days. So that's about USD260 just to get the unit to Australia. After that, if you want a new, bigger drive you can get a 40GB one for AUD150 (that's the best price I've seen in Sydney in May 2002).
Q: What happens if my TiVo goes wrong? A: Upgrading the drive in your TiVo voids your warranty. If you have only done software modifications to your TiVo through the serial port you can probably send it back to the place you bought it from in the US, as long as it is still under warranty. Remember that shipping it to the US will probably cost you about USD100 each way - it might be more sensible to buy a new TiVo.
Q: What about the TiVo's power supply? Do I have to use a 110V transformer? A: No. The TiVo device itself has an auto-switching power supply, so if you have an appropriate adapter you can plug it directly into an Australian 240V wall socket (the TiVo doesn't use the ground prong). For a slightly tidier solution you can easily replace the TiVo cord with an Australian version - you'll see the type of cord it uses, you can buy replacements at Dick Smith etc. Be prepared to force the replacement cord in a little, since the TiVo uses a slightly non-standard shape for the plug.
Q: The TiVo boxes are American, so they use NTSC. Can I view PAL programming on them? A: Yes. You can use Tridge's Palkit to modify your TiVo to support PAL - it's a piece of software that you run from the rc.sysinit. You can get instructions on how to use it here, and the software itself for 1.3, 2.0.5 and 2.5.1 TiVos. The 2.0.5 and 2.5.1 software isn't done by Tridge, and it's NZ-centric - bear this in mind if you intend to replace the TiVo's tuner to pick up FTA signals in Australia.
Q: What's this about replacing the tuner? I thought you said the TiVo will understand PAL after you install the Palkit? A: It does, but the tuner doesn't. This isn't a big problem if you don't intend to use the TiVo's tuner anyway. If you plug your TiVo into your settop box or your VCR via RCA cables and allow the settop box or VCR to perform the tuning function, you don't need to worry about replacing the TiVo's tuner.
If you only have FTA where you are and you plan to plug the antenna directly into the TiVo, then you will have to replace the TiVo's tuner with a PAL-compatible one. This is an involved process involving soldering and as such is beyond me - watch this space for some pictures in the not-too-distant future. Fellow Australian TiVo activist Aussie may be able to help with the tuner mod, PM Aussie or myself for Aussie's email address. Note that as far as I am aware no one has found a PAL-compatible tuner which also supports stereo from Australian FTA channels - only mono. This is because we use a strange sub-variant of PAL broadcast that most tuners don't understand fully.
Q: Can I just use the TiVo as a basic digital VCR? A: Yes, you can modify it to accept PAL, and then there is a script to allow it to accept composite in. You can then schedule recordings manually. Note that you really are much better off with a 1.3 TiVo if this is your aim.
Q: What's the TiVo experience like? A: The menus and so on are scrunched up somewhat on the screen, because they were designed for NTSC and are therefore 45 lines of resolution too small. This doesn't look bad.
Slightly more annoying is the "green bar" that shows progress through the recording. It is a bit more obtrusive than on US systems because it is about 1/5 of the way up the screen from the bottom, and it is inaccurate because it calculates time elapsed based on NTSC's 60 frames per second instead of the 50 you get with PAL. This makes it show your recording as being shorter than it really is. (This doesn't cause recordings to be cut off or anything, it just means that your progress through the show isn't accurately shown.)
Otherwise, using the TiVo is great! Pauses are clear, fast forwards are, well, fast; slow motions are everything the words "slow" and "motion" lead you to expect. There is about a second's delay when changing channels (the TiVo needs to tell the settop box to change channels, then it spools up a bit less than a second of the live broadcast to give itself time to encode and display the live TV), but for me this is more than made up for by the way that the TiVo tells you what is currently playing on the channel you are switching to.
Q: Can the TiVo control my cable/satellite box? A: Depends. It will control the Optus Vision cable box (via the IR blaster included with the TiVo) and the Foxtel satellite box (via IR blaster too). I don't know about the Austar box. Note that you cannot (as yet) control the Foxtel cable box from the TiVo, despite some serious effort.
Q: Can I get Australian TV guide data into my TiVo? A: Yes. First, you need to set up something called a "headend" on your TiVo that basically tells it what stations you receive, what they are called, and so on. In order to do this, you need Tridge's Guidekit, but Tridge is getting a bit uncomfortable about the number of Guidekits going out. If you PM me I will send you out a channel file which you can modify to suit your local situation. If you then send it back to me I will generate a headend for you and send you the scripts required to get it up and running.
In the longer term I intend to set up a web site with some prebuilt headends for various locations in Australia.
Once you have a headend set up, you can use a series of Perl scripts written by Dr. Warren Toomey to collect Australian TV guide data from www.sofcom.com.au/tv. PM me for the URL for Warren's web site. Visit Sofcom to see what channels they have schedules for.
For the avoidance of all doubt : Warren's software and Tridge's Guidekit are for TiVos in Australia only. Their respective software licences prohibit you from using their software in any country where TiVo's service is available. We want TiVo to survive, and we won't be part of any form of service theft.
Edits : 1. Some small changes, added in Aussie's mention of help for the tuner mod, and pointed out that the Foxtel cable box can't be controlled. 2. And spelling! Added the question about the TiVo experience. 3. Changed the details about the Guidekit.
* I can back up my content digitally, but there is no guarantee that the MPAA/DVD industry won't simply refuse to play any DVDs that haven't been stamped with their particular copy-restriction technology, rendering my backups unusable
Then I have one piece of advice for you-- get in your car and SPEED as FAST as you can to your local electronics store. Then sprint into the store, breathlessly gasping the question "where--dvd-r---recorders?" Buy the first one you see. Also pick up 10,000 dvd-r blanks (hey, you're already in the store, may as well). This should cover just about everything you should want to watch. I guaran-damn-tee you (with a few pedantic exceptions that slashdot will *cough forest cough trees* inevitably point out) that this setup will last you for life, covering the existing technology from your vcr to your dvd-r to your tv. Plus, the discs will degrade long after you're dead!
* So basically I have to wait it out until some technology comes along that will allow me to restore and use my backups
I think I'll hunt you down and stab you to death after I finish smacking my girlfriend around... ... Disclaimer: I do not yet own a Katana, I will be making that purchase in a couple of months.
Ahhhh, Slashdot... Where you have to disclaim the fact that you don't yet own a three-foot-long sword and that you will soon, but you need not disclaim the fact that you actually don't beat up your girlfriend.
Slashdot Mirror
You had platters? We just had a pile of magnets scattered about on the desk. We had to build a write head out of a 9V battery and some wire and write each bit manually.
Just announced-- They are sending Lance Bass up with them to verify the results.
Certain devices can hit 100m and over with their range (and interoperate at that distance with the 10m class devices).
Does this seem to violate certain physics maxims to anyone else? Perhaps I need to know how the return signal from the weaker device somehow makes it the 100 meters out to the stronger device... it seems like if it could only go 10 meters before, there's no way it could go any further just because one device is stronger.
But please, if I am way wrong, let me know.
[/me cringes as the Female League of Ditch Diggers hits their collective reply button]
In Georgia, there is a statute that allows a police officer to take any amount of money from your person and hold it as evidence if you are carrying over $25,000 cash. No trial, no warrant, no crime. They can just take all of the cash you have on you.
Only if your roomate is using rocket-propelled grenades to get into your fridge.
Ahhh, living in the dorms. Those were good times...
This will be just like when CG started replacing landscapes, trees, canyons, cities, etc... Remember how after The Matrix and The Fifth Element were made, there was no need for cities anymore?
Man, I wish we'd had some more foresight.
Oh yeah, and remember how once they started making animated movies, we didn't need actors anymore? What a tragedy.
Alarmist bastards...
I would love to see some statistics showing that the USPS is pricey. I was under the impression that the service should actually cost more but that they have to get any rate hikes approved by congress or the treasury or something, and that's why they are so low.
Think about it. Would you carry something across the country for me for 37 cents?
I could be wrong here, but I think the USPS (letters, not packages) is very reasonably-priced.
I always thought I was saving a majority of the energy my computer uses by turning off the monitor
Uh, my monitor doesn't have a brick... does yours?
This is more like putting saltwater down the coin dispenser of the coke machine and telling the owner it was insecure and anyone dumping a bucket of the stuff could clean the thing out.
How is this considered even a remotely cogent analogy?
Salt water destroys (or used to) parts of said machines. Accessing a network destroys it how?
From sig...
Know anything about deaf-blind tech? Please let me know.
Yeah, you can't see or hear it.
You're welcome.
(And yes, I'm insensitive. Sorry.)
the speed limit is 100km/h, but the tacit speed limit (which even the Provincial Police have acknowledged) is 120.
... they insist upon absolute and blatant disregard for a whole different countries laws.
On the 401 in sections it averages about 130.
Fairly frequently you'll have some moron zipping along at 150+ (~100mph)
Uh. Just a nitpick, but is it more blatantly disregarding the law (100) to go 150 than it is to go 120? Or are you both breaking said law completely? Either you're breaking the law or you're not.
Of course, the rest of your points are fine. I take no issue with your message, just your wording.
Imagine. People will start doing the friggin' speed limit. Sounds mighty good to me.
So you were that jackass going 55 in the left lane the whole way back from Florida last week. Thanks a lot, idiot!
Anyway, I see any [non-far-left] lane as "go as slow as you want" and the left lane as "go faster than the car behind you but other than that as slow as you want."
You clearly see it as "Drive 55 miles per hour even though the speed limits in the U.S. are set, on average, 15% lower than the optimum safe speed for the road.
You had me at "T1 over satellite."
after having some time to digest it, and seeing it a bunch of times on TV, I did a 180 and loved the movie.
Yeah? Did you do that 180 in the air, in slo-mo?
Does anybody have a crack for it?
*groan*
A PC I bought in 1998 is on the verge of obsolescence, only 4 years later.
Which is why, with proper planning, you can make yours last a long time!
What people don't understand is that obsolescence isn't a factor if you replace parts of your computer when you need to. I am willing to bet that a smokin' Mobo/CPU combo to make your computer more than adequate would run under $200. Add a $99 GeForce3 and you've got a fully up-to-date system. Nobody needs to spend $2000 every time new games are released. At least none of MY friends do.
© gvonk, 2002, all rights reserved, etc.
Currently, $20000 AU is approximately $11500 AU
Whoah, dude! That's worse than the Argentinian Peso!
*badum-bum*
Old Lady #1: When my ex-husband passed away, the insurance company said his policy didn't cover him.
Old Lady #2: They didn't have enough money for the funeral.
Old Lady #3: It's so hard nowadays, with all the gangs and rap music..
Old Lady #1: What about the robots?
Old Lady #4: Oh, they're everywhere!
Old Lady #1: I don't even know why the scientists make them.
Old Lady #2: Darren and I have a policy with Old Glory Insurance, in case we're attacked by robots.
Old Lady #1: An insurance policy with a robot plan? Certainly, I'm too old.
Old Lady #2: Old Glory covers anyone over the age of 50 against robot attack, regardless of current health.
[ cut to Sam Waterston, Compensated Endorser ]
Sam Waterson: I'm Sam Waterston, of the popular TV series "Law & Order". As a senior citizen, you're probably aware of the threat robots pose. Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel. Well, now there's a company that offers coverage against the unfortunate event of robot attack, with Old Glory Insurance. Old Glory will cover you with no health check-up or age consideration. [ SUPER: Limitied Benefits First Two Years ] You need to feel safe. And that's harder and harder to do nowadays, because robots may strike at any time.
[ show pie chart reading "Cause of Death in Persons Over 50 Years of Age": Heart Disease, 42% - Robots, 58% ]
And when they grab you with those metal claws, you can't break free.. because they're made of metal, and robots are strong. Now, for only $4 a month, you can achieve peace of mind in a world full of grime and robots, with Old Glory Insurance. So, don't cower under your afghan any longer. Make a choice. [ SUPER: "WARNING: Persons denying the existence of Robots may be Robots themselves. ] Old Glory Insurance. For when the metal ones decide to come for you - and they will.
Courtesy JamesW on the tivocommunity board.
TiVo in Australia FAQ
Version 1.3
Q: Can I use TiVo in Australia?
A: Yes, you can - well, the series 1 standalone boxes anyway. With some work you can get quite close to the level of functionality of a subscribed US TiVo - live TV guide, control of your Foxtel satellite or Optus Vision set top box, and so on - plus all the standard "trick play" TiVo features - pause, fastforward, rewind and slow advance of live TV.
Q: Which TiVo should I buy?
A: You should get a standalone series 1 unit, and preferably a Phillips unit since the disk layout is easier to expand than the one in the Sonys. You can pick these up reconditioned for not much money (say USD140 plus shipping), or off eBay for slightly more. You're probably best off getting the smallest unit you can find (usually a 14 hour unit) and then upgrading it with a bigger drive yourself, which is an easy process and is explained in depth at Hinsdale's excellent FAQ. You should try to get a unit with the 1.3 software loaded, since it allows manual recording with minimal nagging and generally it is better understood than the later software versions (2.0.5, 2.5.1). I don't believe the UK (PAL) TiVo units are as good a deal as the US ones, particularly as an unsubscribed UK unit is essentially useless.
Q: How much is it going to cost me?
A: Well, it depends on what you buy. As mentioned above, you can sometimes get a reconditioned Phillips HDR-112 for about USD140, or more off eBay. Then there is ~USD24 shipping and handling they tack on automatically. Then using USPS to Australia for the TiVo unit itself (it weighs about 9kg) comes to USD95 at the moment and takes three to five days. So that's about USD260 just to get the unit to Australia. After that, if you want a new, bigger drive you can get a 40GB one for AUD150 (that's the best price I've seen in Sydney in May 2002).
Q: What happens if my TiVo goes wrong?
A: Upgrading the drive in your TiVo voids your warranty. If you have only done software modifications to your TiVo through the serial port you can probably send it back to the place you bought it from in the US, as long as it is still under warranty. Remember that shipping it to the US will probably cost you about USD100 each way - it might be more sensible to buy a new TiVo.
Q: What about the TiVo's power supply? Do I have to use a 110V transformer?
A: No. The TiVo device itself has an auto-switching power supply, so if you have an appropriate adapter you can plug it directly into an Australian 240V wall socket (the TiVo doesn't use the ground prong). For a slightly tidier solution you can easily replace the TiVo cord with an Australian version - you'll see the type of cord it uses, you can buy replacements at Dick Smith etc. Be prepared to force the replacement cord in a little, since the TiVo uses a slightly non-standard shape for the plug.
Q: The TiVo boxes are American, so they use NTSC. Can I view PAL programming on them?
A: Yes. You can use Tridge's Palkit to modify your TiVo to support PAL - it's a piece of software that you run from the rc.sysinit. You can get instructions on how to use it here, and the software itself for 1.3, 2.0.5 and 2.5.1 TiVos. The 2.0.5 and 2.5.1 software isn't done by Tridge, and it's NZ-centric - bear this in mind if you intend to replace the TiVo's tuner to pick up FTA signals in Australia.
Q: What's this about replacing the tuner? I thought you said the TiVo will understand PAL after you install the Palkit?
A: It does, but the tuner doesn't. This isn't a big problem if you don't intend to use the TiVo's tuner anyway. If you plug your TiVo into your settop box or your VCR via RCA cables and allow the settop box or VCR to perform the tuning function, you don't need to worry about replacing the TiVo's tuner.
If you only have FTA where you are and you plan to plug the antenna directly into the TiVo, then you will have to replace the TiVo's tuner with a PAL-compatible one. This is an involved process involving soldering and as such is beyond me - watch this space for some pictures in the not-too-distant future. Fellow Australian TiVo activist Aussie may be able to help with the tuner mod, PM Aussie or myself for Aussie's email address. Note that as far as I am aware no one has found a PAL-compatible tuner which also supports stereo from Australian FTA channels - only mono. This is because we use a strange sub-variant of PAL broadcast that most tuners don't understand fully.
Q: Can I just use the TiVo as a basic digital VCR?
A: Yes, you can modify it to accept PAL, and then there is a script to allow it to accept composite in. You can then schedule recordings manually. Note that you really are much better off with a 1.3 TiVo if this is your aim.
Q: What's the TiVo experience like?
A: The menus and so on are scrunched up somewhat on the screen, because they were designed for NTSC and are therefore 45 lines of resolution too small. This doesn't look bad.
Slightly more annoying is the "green bar" that shows progress through the recording. It is a bit more obtrusive than on US systems because it is about 1/5 of the way up the screen from the bottom, and it is inaccurate because it calculates time elapsed based on NTSC's 60 frames per second instead of the 50 you get with PAL. This makes it show your recording as being shorter than it really is. (This doesn't cause recordings to be cut off or anything, it just means that your progress through the show isn't accurately shown.)
Otherwise, using the TiVo is great! Pauses are clear, fast forwards are, well, fast; slow motions are everything the words "slow" and "motion" lead you to expect. There is about a second's delay when changing channels (the TiVo needs to tell the settop box to change channels, then it spools up a bit less than a second of the live broadcast to give itself time to encode and display the live TV), but for me this is more than made up for by the way that the TiVo tells you what is currently playing on the channel you are switching to.
Q: Can the TiVo control my cable/satellite box?
A: Depends. It will control the Optus Vision cable box (via the IR blaster included with the TiVo) and the Foxtel satellite box (via IR blaster too). I don't know about the Austar box. Note that you cannot (as yet) control the Foxtel cable box from the TiVo, despite some serious effort.
Q: Can I get Australian TV guide data into my TiVo?
A: Yes. First, you need to set up something called a "headend" on your TiVo that basically tells it what stations you receive, what they are called, and so on. In order to do this, you need Tridge's Guidekit, but Tridge is getting a bit uncomfortable about the number of Guidekits going out. If you PM me I will send you out a channel file which you can modify to suit your local situation. If you then send it back to me I will generate a headend for you and send you the scripts required to get it up and running.
In the longer term I intend to set up a web site with some prebuilt headends for various locations in Australia.
Once you have a headend set up, you can use a series of Perl scripts written by Dr. Warren Toomey to collect Australian TV guide data from www.sofcom.com.au/tv. PM me for the URL for Warren's web site. Visit Sofcom to see what channels they have schedules for.
For the avoidance of all doubt : Warren's software and Tridge's Guidekit are for TiVos in Australia only. Their respective software licences prohibit you from using their software in any country where TiVo's service is available. We want TiVo to survive, and we won't be part of any form of service theft.
Edits : 1. Some small changes, added in Aussie's mention of help for the tuner mod, and pointed out that the Foxtel cable box can't be controlled. 2. And spelling! Added the question about the TiVo experience. 3. Changed the details about the Guidekit.
Last edited by JamesW on 05-29-2002 at 02:31 PM
* I can back up my content digitally, but there is no guarantee that the MPAA/DVD industry won't simply refuse to play any DVDs that haven't been stamped with their particular copy-restriction technology, rendering my backups unusable
Then I have one piece of advice for you-- get in your car and SPEED as FAST as you can to your local electronics store. Then sprint into the store, breathlessly gasping the question "where--dvd-r---recorders?"
Buy the first one you see.
Also pick up 10,000 dvd-r blanks (hey, you're already in the store, may as well).
This should cover just about everything you should want to watch.
I guaran-damn-tee you (with a few pedantic exceptions that slashdot will *cough forest cough trees* inevitably point out) that this setup will last you for life, covering the existing technology from your vcr to your dvd-r to your tv. Plus, the discs will degrade long after you're dead!
* So basically I have to wait it out until some technology comes along that will allow me to restore and use my backups
See above.
I think I'll hunt you down and stab you to death after I finish smacking my girlfriend around...
...
Disclaimer: I do not yet own a Katana, I will be making that purchase in a couple of months.
Ahhhh, Slashdot... Where you have to disclaim the fact that you don't yet own a three-foot-long sword and that you will soon, but you need not disclaim the fact that you actually don't beat up your girlfriend.
Unless you are the cause; who cares!
Us heterosexual males who get to watch, that's who.
surely they could use one of those light-weight robotic camaeras on a radio-controlled helicopter to film the scene.
Not to be pedantic, but the quality from the setup you described would be orders of magnitude too low for even an independent film.
Hell, just let them take Polaroids and make them into a flipbook if that's the quality you're going for!