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User: iainl

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  1. Re:Make NVIDIA drivers Open Source! on More 'Application-Specific' Optimizations in NVidia Drivers · · Score: 5, Informative

    Lovely idea in theory.

    In practice, nVidia have made it painfully aware on numerous occasions that they CANNOT do this. Its not just them being nasty closed-source meanies. The driver binaries contain licensed tech from numerous third parties that their license doesn't let them reveal the source to.

  2. Re:hdtv native resolution on Samsung LTM295W 29" LCD Review · · Score: 1

    1080i is a fudge resolution for CRTs, frankly. CRTs like interlaced signals, and I've yet to even see one that has either the horizontal bandwidth to be displaying anything like square pixels at that resolution, or will de-interlace it to 1080p.

    LCD screens just plain don't do interlace, so 720p is the sensible option on them. Its also why my little 15" LCD TV deinterlaces everything, even when there is stuff I wouldn't want it to.

  3. Re:Matrix needs a backstory sequence on Star Wars Episode III: Behind the Scenes Webcam · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you want to know the backstory, its available either online or on DVD (released today, coincidentally enough) - a series of cartoons called "The Animatrix" (see what they did there? ;))

    Personally, I don't think we need to re-tread The Terminator and explain that its all the fault of those nasty evil scientists again (remember folks, if its Natural, it must be good for you. Even potassium cyanide). One of the things I really liked about both The Matrix and the original Star Wars is the sense that there is a whole world, with ecosystems, history etc. out there, without a stack of flashbacks and prequels to lead us by the hand and show us every last corner.

    As for your last paragraph, I don't know how much I should say in case I spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but if you didn't understand what was going on in that scene, its of little wonder that you felt the philosophical part of the film to be a problem. Basically, the guy is explaining that, as the Merovingian warned him, his free will and escaping from the Matrix was to some extent illusory - we like to think we are making our own choices, but all too often those in power have manipulated the situation so that our actions are predictable. The TV screens were either showing the actions of the previous "one"s when faced with the dilemma at hand, or at least The Matrix's simulations of what he is expected to do (its not especially relevant which, since another part of the plot is that he is expected to act just as his predecessors did). There is a hint that even Neo's decision to rebel, to risk everyone's lives in order to save Trinity, may be part of the Architect's plan, or even part of a plan by the Oracle (who laid some important Cupid groundwork in the first film to encourage him to love Trinity in particular) to make things happen differently this time, and that is why she is now on the run from the agents, despite being the Matrix's "Mother".

    "You hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of ineviatability". The groundwork laid in the original is pretty impressive once you go digging.

  4. Re:Digital on Ripping from Vinyl, Simplified · · Score: 1

    "What always amuses me is the number of people who claim to hate mp3 but love Minidisc... odd ;)"

    I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm like that because I prefer the sound of Minidisc. Its a cliché, but the lossy method used by Atrac is less hard on my ears than the flangey, scratchy noises that you get with mp3 loss.

    More importantly, I only use Minidisc for my Walkman and for recording stuff off the radio. So absolute sound quality (one it reaches "good enough", which 128kbs mp3 isn't) is less important to me than the fact that a handful of discs is more convenient than hooking up a solid-state mp3 Walkman to a PC every time I want to change the music on there (and solid state mp3 players don't normally hold more than half an album's worth of music at 128kbs, which is stupid). Hard disk mp3 players like the Rio unit are larger than my minidisc player, and unless its the stupendously expensive iPod look horrible in any case.

    Listening to music via my PC is fairly pointless - sound quality doesn't matter much when you've got a blimmin' great fan running in any case. I could also use my XBox which can not only rip CDs to its hard drive, but has a quieter fan than my PC and also does a far better job of a 5.1 surround mix than my amp's dsp modes.

    mp3's only advantage is the ability to send it over the internet, which isn't something I do, so its not so much horrible as superfluous to my requirements.

  5. Re:Compare... on Ripping from Vinyl, Simplified · · Score: 1

    Re: Watching The Detectives.

    Its like loads of things out there, a different mix to the other format. Its an exception rather than the rule with vanilla albums that its audibly different these days (unless you want to talk the myriad of ruined Beatles CD releases), but I do agree with you. Cleaning up Elvis (Costello or Presley, though I prefer the former) is missing the point.

    This rears its ugly head most on films, though. The number of times I've heard the old "DTS is better than Dolby or SDDS" argument simply because the instance they are using is of a film where the DTS print has a different, "better" mix on it, rather than the compression or delivery methods being different is too high to bother counting.

    Otherwise, the DTS DVD of Saving Private Ryan wouldn't sound better than the DD DVD but worse than the DD Laserdisc, for example.

  6. Re:Weird on Ripping from Vinyl, Simplified · · Score: 1

    Well, yeah, I do go a little overboard for my favorite bands. I just love the packaging as well as the music, really.

    Besides, there comes a point where you're buying enough copies of the genuine album that you absolutely refuse to feel guilty about having the odd live bootleg as well. They get enough of my cash off the proper releases to be able to cope with me occasionally owning things they don't want to release properly as well.

  7. Re:Weird on Ripping from Vinyl, Simplified · · Score: 1

    Why buy something on vinyl when you want an mp3 version?

    Probably because you're like me in that you like having vinyl for playing at home in the living room, but its not such a great band that you're prepared to give them double the cash for a CD or Mindisc as well just to be able to listen to it while you're on the move. My car just doesn't have a 6-disc LP changer, oddly enough.

    Of course, there are times that I end up doing just that. The new Blur just had to be bought in the lovely book CD, normal CD for the other artwork and the gatefold double vinyl as well for instance, and I'll end up with every format that the new Radiohead comes out in too.

  8. Re:Digital on Ripping from Vinyl, Simplified · · Score: 1

    Really?

    Now, maybe I'm missing something, but why would any audiophile take an analogue signal off your precious vinyl and convert it to digital on the way to the amp, only to convert it back again. You might as well have those nice pre-digitized from the masters CDs to start with.

    Unless, by "high end pro" you mean for DJs, of either the broadcast of performance kind. I can see why being able to play back vinyl to an optical out would be useful there. Which is fair enough, and will probably give you the best digital copy for your time as well as minimal inconvenience should you be needing to do so.

    Personally, I just record vinyl to minidisc, as thats easy, and actually better than CD for portability (the main reason why I'd record a record in the first place).

  9. Re:Jaguar? Nuon? Argh! on Unity Preview - Jeff Minter's Latest Trip? · · Score: 1

    Actually, I think that the Cube is the worst new platform in years to bring Unity to, since an important part of it is going to be the music. Why bring what is currently the latest version of the VLM to the one platform out there that can't read CDs?

  10. Re:Grand Theft Auto on Washington State Restricts Anti-Cop Videogames · · Score: 1

    It isn't, in the US, illegal to sell GTA to minors, but "most places" basically means "most of the rest of the world" in this case.

    But then, its just as illegal to sell 18-rated films to minors here in the UK as well, under the very same law.

  11. Re:Dont download it, dont go and see it on Return Of The King Footage From E3 · · Score: 1

    Damn, where did I leave my +1, Funny?

    Its an adaptation. Its in a different medium. You change things. I've seen as many films suck by trying to stick to the book and do things that make no sense on screen (Dreamcatcher being the latest example to hit screens here) as ones that would have been better if they hadn't changed things.

    Do you try to get people to boycott Bladerunner because its nothing like Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep too? Was Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds weaker because he ditched the late Victorian England setting? Do you hate Jaws because Spielberg dropped the crap love triangle from the book?

    A film is a film, a book is a book. And at the end of the day, even if Aragorn, Gimli and Arwen were to get down for some threeway inter-species action halfway through the third film it won't stop you from reading the books again.

  12. Re:Call it flamebait if you must... on Washington State Restricts Anti-Cop Videogames · · Score: 1

    "You can walk down the street and beat a regular person to a bloody pulp, and nothing happens. But once you beat up a cop, your 'wanted level' rises, all hell breaks loose and they're on your ass."

    Aaah, but thats because the level of crime investigation in Liberty City is pretty minimal. If you kill an innocent bystander in full view of a cop they will attempt to catch you as well, but they won't give you a wanted level just because another civilian reports the crime hours later.

  13. Re:Bobcat Goldthwait said it best... on Star Wars Galaxies - Fact-Checking, Fan Style · · Score: 1

    err, yeeeessss...

    Quite how a Lego Darth Vader ended up on our wedding list I'll never know. Still, my wife did enjoy building it.

  14. Re: 100th Window solution on When Copy Protection Fails · · Score: 1

    Of course, you could just do it the hard way, and record the vinyl to CD like I did when I discovered that the CD release I imported had protection on.

    Its a gorgeous triple-gatefold as well, which is nice.

  15. Re:Hmmmm..... on 'Quicksilver' Website and Release Date · · Score: 1

    Read the whole thing, and perhaps the opening sentence or two of the preview. With that additional info, everything falls into place. Its not a Kevin Costner movie, its Cryptonomicon pulled up by the roots and dropped back a couple of hundred years. As I absolutely adore the first one, this should be fun.

  16. Re:Enoch again? on 'Quicksilver' Website and Release Date · · Score: 1

    Presumably, as the other two main characters from the blurb on the site have the surnames Waterhouse and Shaftoe, we're talking some sort of 18th Century prequel to Cryptonomicon somehow.

    And I'm just dying to find out how, as I love that book.

  17. Re:R-Type? Really? on Xbox Hacking Book Prepares to Fly Off Shelves · · Score: 1

    I see from another reply that this might be "Type-R", as in the Honda Civic etc.

    But please, oh pretty please, tell me that 17 year olds everywhere are actually fans of bastard-hard 16 year old horizontally scrolling shooters.

    Love that game.

  18. Dreamcast controller insanity... on Xbox Hacking Book Prepares to Fly Off Shelves · · Score: 1

    Yes, if you want to talk custom controllers, you really can't beat the mighty Dreamcast. A fanboy's shopping list might read something like this:

    3 more pads to play most 4 player games

    Keyboard for PSO, Chu Chu etc.

    Mouse for Quake 3 (you'll need that keyboard as well)

    4 Steering wheels for 4 player driving games

    2 pairs of Maracas (last seen going for well north of £100 each on eBay) for Samba De Amigo.

    Microphone for Seaman

    Digital Camera (I forget what for, sorry)

    2 Dance Mats for DDR

    2 fishing rods for Bass Fishing 2

    2 light guns for House of the Dead 2

    2 Arcade Sticks for Soul Calibur

    2 more for Powerstone 2

    2 Twinsticks ($100 each), a link lead and a second Dreamcast for Virtua On.

    And I'm sure I've missed a few things,like the weird-ass flight stick/trackball thing one guy I know has. Microsoft have a fair old way to go yet on the daft controller front.

  19. Re:The heart of the debate? on Xbox Hacking Book Prepares to Fly Off Shelves · · Score: 1

    Apparently, in order to hit the low launch price Nintendo did not initially sell the Cube at a profit. It didn't quite go as far as "a loss", but unlike their previous models they matched Sony with the "start at break even, and move to profit as you cut costs".

    The PS2 profit margin is apparently pretty silly now, by the way, and when they've finished the move to "PS2 on a chip" it'll be just ludicrous. People are still buying them more than the competition, so why lower prices?

  20. Re:One problem solved on Windows Security Through Annoyances? · · Score: 1

    Thats something different, though.

    When you boot X on just about anything you get the black and white squares you've probably seen clearly on any decent screen. What you've got there is a combo of

    1) a crap screen that is moiring like crazy when presented with a dithered image

    2) interference being picked up between the mobo and the screen circuitry. Its a bit like the way cheap laptops make little whiny noises from the speakers in time to the hard-disk clicking, only its the lcd circuits going wibble.

    Its not that its the same section of memory, but the same things being done to it, I suspect.

  21. Re:Do Not Underestimate Customers on Widescreen (Finally) Winning · · Score: 1

    oops - sorry, I don't think I really explained myself well in the post. What I was trying to say was that, while a film like TWN is just as funny with the sides butchered, its just as funny when everyone is smaller as well, so the "correct ratio for everything" is harmless. You're basically right that it doesn't matter, so I say just go with what the geeks insist as the rest won't care.

    The success of DVD even though most stuff has been widescreen-only has shown that, despite Blockbuster and Walmart's historical insistence that "most people" prefer fullscreen, "most people" don't regard wide as a lost sale, while us geeks refuse to buy things that aren't correctly formatted.

    Of course, that attitude can backfire. Warner took ages to finally bring Babylon 5 to DVD because they interpreted poor VHS sales in the US as "people don't want B5" rather than "B5 fans don't like VHS". Thats just one example of many where studios assume poor demand for a title because an initial poor release is ignored, and often they've even announced an intention of doing a better one later.

  22. Re:I personally find it infuriating.... on Widescreen (Finally) Winning · · Score: 1

    "Try as I can, I can't quite figure out what exactly you mean by "(the top and bottom would be cropped off in theatres)". "

    Aaah, this is the highly contentious (at least between film fans) Super 35. Its got a natural ratio of about 1.6, and what they do is rather than mask to the intended cinema ratio in camera, they just have ground lines in the eyepiece. This lets the cameraman see

    1) the whole exposed frame - keep things like set edges out of any of this or problems will occur.

    2) the actual intended frame thats meant to be the film.

    That way you have footage (admittedly footage that ruins the shot composition, but then when did pan and scan fans even notice that?) to minimise the amount off the sides you lose, and at the same time shoot your intended shot.

    The reason its slightly contentious is that extraction of the widescreen image from that negative is yet another stage for the film to go through, and you're also using less negative for it, so image quality can occasionally suffer. The exterior shots at Ankor Wat in the Tomb Raider movie just looked absolutely shockingly bad, for example.

    Done well (e.g. Lord Of The Rings), its not too much of an issue, however. You do get to laugh at the odd telegraph pole straying into shot on the pan and scan release as well. Clearly cinematographers don't care too much about the 4x3 safety.

  23. Re:Widescreen format is stupid. on Widescreen (Finally) Winning · · Score: 1

    To be serious for a moment, I'd suggest you look at whatever limitations your living room has. Since any decent 4x3 television will do an anamorphic squeeze, and every 16x9 television will present 4x3 material correctly as well, resolution is not an issue.

    Just about no-one is limited by the diagonal size of the tv. Many people have a limited width in their setups, so will ideally want a 4x3 tv. Some of us have limited height, so a 16x9 allows us a bigger screen area.

    Obviously, this is all ignoring the ratio of what you watch most. In practice, I have a small 4x3 LCD for playing console games, as few of them support 16x9 modes, and all have either 4x3 or 3x4 by default. My TV and film viewing is almost always at 16x9 or wider, so my main TV is a widescreen.

    Finally, at the end of the day there is the factor that decently large 4x3 tvs with acceptable picture quality just don't exist any more in the UK, so its a done deal here. In the US 16x9 CRTs are rare and expensive, so its hardly surprising they go for the taller shape.

  24. Re:Wide vs Full on Widescreen (Finally) Winning · · Score: 1

    They did put in the ability to pan and scan on the fly, actually. Its just that creating such a disk takes so much time and effort that a seperate transfer from the master they created for VHS, TV and airlines is cheaper.

  25. Re:dvd format is to blame on Widescreen (Finally) Winning · · Score: 1

    The DVD standard does have the flags for pan/scan on the fly, but no-one bothers to use them.

    Those that care about what it looks like will watch the widescreen presentation. Those that don't can just zoom up the middle on any deck that supports that feature (i.e. most of them). Sure it'll look rubbish, but the incorrect presentation will anyway, so who cares?