It's certainly something -I- would never pay for, but don't be so quick to judge. There's a whole lot of people out there who think you're a wack job for spending hundreds/thousands of dollars on computer equipment... or an HDTV... or a video game... or a PVR... or a watch...
Don't get me wrong... I agree with you completely. I was speaking in general terms. My kid (under 2 right now, so I'm not going to give him a hammer and nails just yet) WILL have models and tools and a pile of "stuff" with which to build something. We'll goof around with computers, build them from parts, and fool around just to see what can be done (as I always have and continue to do).
That said, there seems to be a whole generation of kids growing up without that creative drive. I make that statement by what I see kids doing and by what I see at mass-market retailers. Yes, there are exceptions as you've pointed out and of course ways around the lack of creative toys at those retailers.
When I was growing up, I used to hate when my parents said "You know, when I was a kid..." and then they'd launch into a story about how things were different (and better) when they were growing up, but now I know what they were talking about.
but the network has chosen to use filters or a process to make the image look like a film, i.e. a softer less defined image.
Be very careful not to confuse softness with lack of detail, or as you a say "less defined image". I think most broadcasters add "sharpness" to the image which adds artificial edge enhancement and though might make the image look "sharper" what it really does it to REMOVE detail.
Most TV sets as set from the factory do the same thing, and HDTVs are just as guilty of it. There's two things that the TV does to add "sharpness". One is the sharpness control. In most all instances it should be set to ZERO or close to it. That will keep the TV from adding edge enhancement and you'll get a more detailed picture. The other thing is to disable SVM (Scan Velocity Modulation) if at all possible. This also introduces artifacts intended to make the picture look "sharper", but in reality it takes away detail.
When you do these things, your first reaction will probably be "Ugh... that looks soft and fuzzy" but that's only because most people are used to watching TV with the sharpness set far too high. Give it a couple of weeks and I guarantee that you'll start to see more detail and a more "film-like" appearance from your set, HDTV or otherwise... and that's a good thing.
I've got a young son, so for the first time in a long time I've been visiting stores like Toys R Us. I'm very discouraged to see just how little creative building and thinking there is in kids toys anymore.
What used to be an aisle full of model kits and parts and paints and glues is now full of pre-built and pre-decorated cars and planes, most of which have some sort of movie or TV tie-in.
What used to be huge boxes of random Lego parts is now pre-determined kits (more movie/tv links) with step-by-step instructions to get you from the start to the end. Encouraging creativity has been replaced by clone building (I must admit that I'm guilty of owning a Star Wars Lego kit of the battle-droid, so the irony of that last statement has not been lost on me).
I am worried that kids are loosing that tinkering instinct that got me to where I am now. I hope that I can instill that in my son. I didn't have Lego kits, I had a pile of Legos parts. I had a pile of resistors, caps, wires switches, motors, batteries, lights, some electrical tape, and a soldering iron. I built model rockets. I never bought a pre-made one.
So I'm right with Mr. Tilden on this one, though for the most part his employer (Hasbro) is just as guilty as anyone at stifling creative thinking in children's toys... but hopefully some kid will yank those things apart to see what makes them tick.
Doesn't anyone remember the statement made by someone at the NSA following the 9/11 attacks. This was probably a day or two later and someone from the NSA said that they were pouring over thousands and thousands of cell phone calls recorded in the Pennsylvania area looking for recordings of calls made from the plane that crashed there.
I thought "HUH?!?!?!? Did they just admit that they randomly record cell phone calls of private citizens without a warrant?" Sure as heck sounded like it to me. I remember there being a little bit of noise about the statement at the time it was made. I remember just how vile it sounded to me and surprised that the statement didn't get much attention. I suppose in those days following, the vast majority of Americans were more than willing to give up any amount of privacy if it meant the bad guys would get caught (and I'm not sure it's terribly different now... 5 months later).
I've been looking for an article or something referencing that statement from the NSA, but I can't put my finger on one. Can anyone help?
Is there anyone that actually thinks this was an accident? This "exec" cooked his Palm so he could get the "latest and greatest" as a replacement.
I know a lot of people who have done the same thing. Your laptop seem a big sluggish? Drop it on the pavement "by accident"... and bingo... the IT department hands you a shiny new blazingly fast feature filled replacement.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what really happened.
Clearly the whole point of the survey was for them to say "Hey advertisers! Look! This technology is a GOOD thing for you, not a BAD thing."
Of course, one of the reasons people watch the Superbowl is FOR the ads. I don't think I've ever watched a single ad when fast-forwarding through Battle-Bots.
I'd be surprised a movie with such a horribly bad title actually turns out to be a decent production. It kinda tarnishes the whole thing from the beginning.
Well, the reviewer disagress with you, at least from his review of the script. He writes...
When they eventually attack, this film is going to look so amazing that any other name except for Attack of the Clones will seem utterly inappropriate...
I guess it's because I'm not in "advertising", but I don't understand how advertisers think that more is better. I, and I'd imagine most others, have a fixed amount of money to spend on things. How much money I spend IS NOT proportional to the number of ads that I see.
This is the reason that I don't understand the complaints that advertisers have with TiVo-like devices... it's as if they think I'll spend more money if I see more ads... and that's just not the case.
Advertisers are just going to have to do better at being that one ad that "sticks" in my mind.
Ok, I'll bite. How does the number of computers "screw" the ISP. They don't need any additional IP resources/addresses (assuming your home LAN is set up as a private network) and I can just as easily use the maximum bandwidth with one computer as I can with 10.
I can see charging per MB or GB transferred, but I can't agree that those running a home network behind a Linksys (or similar) cable modem hub/router are somehow screwing the ISP.
The other companies will adopt Comcast's policy, because it guarantees the highest profit.
The shortsighted companies will. The moment my cable company starts bitching about the number of computers I have hooked up is the moment I start looking for other connection options.
I recently put together an HTPC (Home Theater PC) based on an ASUS A7V133 (Via) motherboard with AMD Duron processor. It runs Windows 98. I had been experiencing an unbelievable number of random lockups (no blue-screen, no error... just locks). For the most part, I couldn't keep the system running for more than an hour or so.
In doing extensive research on the problem, I found very large numbers of people with the same problem and very little explanation. I tried MANY different solutions and eventually found one that worked. It involved wiping everything out and installing hardware and software in a VERY specific order. It seems that if you don't install the VIA 4-in-1 drivers (which include GART) at just the right time in the system building, the drivers don't work properly and thus the random lockups.
I wonder if this is in any way related to the problem here.
...but the people that own (or in the case of big corps like Enron, operate) that box of paper can be assholes... shouldn't they be held accountable for their actions?
So everyone who was an Enron investor should now be held accountable for what happened? That is what you're saying.
I've never heard of an Ultimate TV box crashing, that's what I mean. It doesn't run on Linux like TiVo does so I assume that MS wrote a little ground-up OS for Ultimate TV that's a whole boatload more stable than their Windows offerings...
Despite their previous advantage over TiVo of being able to record 2 shows at once, Ultimate TV never made any headway in the market. It had the following problems from the start...
- It's Microsoft. Despite what they would tell you, I think there's a real stigma with having Microsoft's name attached to something at this point. Despite the reality, to the average Joe it means this thing is going to crash often and not work the way I want it to.
- It's DirecTV only. TiVo has a "standalone" box and that means ANYONE can have TiVo.
It probably doesn't mean anything to TiVo and/or ReplayTV anyway since Ultimate TV never really gave them any competition.
Same for me. The discussion a while back about The Tick being cancled had some interesting comments. Apparently people didn't watch it because it was shown at an unpopular time.
To be honest, I didn't know when it was shown... ever. I couldn't even fathom a guess at the day or time that it was regularly broadcast. All I know was that it was sitting there on my TiVo waiting for me to watch it when I wanted.
If it weren't for a few episodes of Enterprise that I downloaded, I would not be following the show now that DirecTV has added the local affiliate the carries it (it didn't before which is why I downloaded it).
So there's one case where the network and studio should be very glad to I sought out and downloaded a -gasp- pirated copy of one of their shows with the commercials taken out.
You mean DIVX (or Divx or divx) right? DivX (with the upper-case "X" at the end) is the common spelling of DivX the video codec not DIVX the pay-per-play Circuit City scheme.
You don't now, but certainly if this becomes an issue, people WILL look for that "COMPACT DISC - CD AUDIO" logo. Lack of it will begin to mean "Hey... this might not play in my car CD player... or on my DVD player... and I won't be able to rip tracks to put on my RIO".
I may take time, but word will get around and Joe Consumer will start to look for the logo before buying.
Live Action Tick was cool, though the time slot was awful
You know, it's funny what TiVo does to viewing habits. Since getting one, I haven't given the slightest thought to what time slot a program is in. And to be honest, though I've watched every episode of The Tick since it's been on, I don't have the slightest idea when it's on... or even what day.
Anyway, I'm sad to see it go... I thought it was one of the funniest shows on television.
What I can't wait for is the day that some girl sues the pants off of X10.com when some guy she slept with sends pictures of their deed all over the net. It's pretty clear to me that they're selling the camera with the expressed intent of having the purchaser use it to capture voyeristic images without the consent of the person being photographed.
Slashdot Mirror
-S
Don't get me wrong... I agree with you completely. I was speaking in general terms. My kid (under 2 right now, so I'm not going to give him a hammer and nails just yet) WILL have models and tools and a pile of "stuff" with which to build something. We'll goof around with computers, build them from parts, and fool around just to see what can be done (as I always have and continue to do).
That said, there seems to be a whole generation of kids growing up without that creative drive. I make that statement by what I see kids doing and by what I see at mass-market retailers. Yes, there are exceptions as you've pointed out and of course ways around the lack of creative toys at those retailers.
When I was growing up, I used to hate when my parents said "You know, when I was a kid..." and then they'd launch into a story about how things were different (and better) when they were growing up, but now I know what they were talking about.
-S
Be very careful not to confuse softness with lack of detail, or as you a say "less defined image". I think most broadcasters add "sharpness" to the image which adds artificial edge enhancement and though might make the image look "sharper" what it really does it to REMOVE detail.
Most TV sets as set from the factory do the same thing, and HDTVs are just as guilty of it. There's two things that the TV does to add "sharpness". One is the sharpness control. In most all instances it should be set to ZERO or close to it. That will keep the TV from adding edge enhancement and you'll get a more detailed picture. The other thing is to disable SVM (Scan Velocity Modulation) if at all possible. This also introduces artifacts intended to make the picture look "sharper", but in reality it takes away detail.
When you do these things, your first reaction will probably be "Ugh... that looks soft and fuzzy" but that's only because most people are used to watching TV with the sharpness set far too high. Give it a couple of weeks and I guarantee that you'll start to see more detail and a more "film-like" appearance from your set, HDTV or otherwise... and that's a good thing.
-S
I've got a young son, so for the first time in a long time I've been visiting stores like Toys R Us. I'm very discouraged to see just how little creative building and thinking there is in kids toys anymore.
What used to be an aisle full of model kits and parts and paints and glues is now full of pre-built and pre-decorated cars and planes, most of which have some sort of movie or TV tie-in.
What used to be huge boxes of random Lego parts is now pre-determined kits (more movie/tv links) with step-by-step instructions to get you from the start to the end. Encouraging creativity has been replaced by clone building (I must admit that I'm guilty of owning a Star Wars Lego kit of the battle-droid, so the irony of that last statement has not been lost on me).
I am worried that kids are loosing that tinkering instinct that got me to where I am now. I hope that I can instill that in my son. I didn't have Lego kits, I had a pile of Legos parts. I had a pile of resistors, caps, wires switches, motors, batteries, lights, some electrical tape, and a soldering iron. I built model rockets. I never bought a pre-made one.
So I'm right with Mr. Tilden on this one, though for the most part his employer (Hasbro) is just as guilty as anyone at stifling creative thinking in children's toys... but hopefully some kid will yank those things apart to see what makes them tick.
-S
Doesn't anyone remember the statement made by someone at the NSA following the 9/11 attacks. This was probably a day or two later and someone from the NSA said that they were pouring over thousands and thousands of cell phone calls recorded in the Pennsylvania area looking for recordings of calls made from the plane that crashed there.
I thought "HUH?!?!?!? Did they just admit that they randomly record cell phone calls of private citizens without a warrant?" Sure as heck sounded like it to me. I remember there being a little bit of noise about the statement at the time it was made. I remember just how vile it sounded to me and surprised that the statement didn't get much attention. I suppose in those days following, the vast majority of Americans were more than willing to give up any amount of privacy if it meant the bad guys would get caught (and I'm not sure it's terribly different now... 5 months later).
I've been looking for an article or something referencing that statement from the NSA, but I can't put my finger on one. Can anyone help?
-S
Is there anyone that actually thinks this was an accident? This "exec" cooked his Palm so he could get the "latest and greatest" as a replacement.
I know a lot of people who have done the same thing. Your laptop seem a big sluggish? Drop it on the pavement "by accident"... and bingo... the IT department hands you a shiny new blazingly fast feature filled replacement.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what really happened.
-S
Clearly the whole point of the survey was for them to say "Hey advertisers! Look! This technology is a GOOD thing for you, not a BAD thing."
Of course, one of the reasons people watch the Superbowl is FOR the ads. I don't think I've ever watched a single ad when fast-forwarding through Battle-Bots.
-S
Oh, that should be fun!
Mini Cooper vs. Hummer
-S
Well, the reviewer disagress with you, at least from his review of the script. He writes...
When they eventually attack, this film is going to look so amazing that any other name except for Attack of the Clones will seem utterly inappropriate...
Time will tell...
-S
I guess it's because I'm not in "advertising", but I don't understand how advertisers think that more is better. I, and I'd imagine most others, have a fixed amount of money to spend on things. How much money I spend IS NOT proportional to the number of ads that I see.
This is the reason that I don't understand the complaints that advertisers have with TiVo-like devices... it's as if they think I'll spend more money if I see more ads... and that's just not the case.
Advertisers are just going to have to do better at being that one ad that "sticks" in my mind.
-S
One of the funniest South Park episodes...
Gnome 1: Collecting underpants is just phase one. Phase one collect underpants.
Kyle: So what's phase two?
[Silence]
Gnome 1: Hey, what's phase two?!
Gnome 2: Phase one we collect underpants.
Gnome 1: Ya, ya, ya. But what about phase two?
[Silence]
Gnome 2: Well phase three is profit. Get it?
Stan: I don't get it.
Gnome 2: (Goes over to a chart on the wall) You see, Phase one collect underpants, phase two-
[Silence]
Gnome 2: Phase three profit.
Cartman: Ohhhh, I get it.
Stan: No you don't fat ass!
So, does the resume spammer look like Cartman?
-S
Ok, I'll bite. How does the number of computers "screw" the ISP. They don't need any additional IP resources/addresses (assuming your home LAN is set up as a private network) and I can just as easily use the maximum bandwidth with one computer as I can with 10.
I can see charging per MB or GB transferred, but I can't agree that those running a home network behind a Linksys (or similar) cable modem hub/router are somehow screwing the ISP.
-S
The shortsighted companies will. The moment my cable company starts bitching about the number of computers I have hooked up is the moment I start looking for other connection options.
-S
I recently put together an HTPC (Home Theater PC) based on an ASUS A7V133 (Via) motherboard with AMD Duron processor. It runs Windows 98. I had been experiencing an unbelievable number of random lockups (no blue-screen, no error... just locks). For the most part, I couldn't keep the system running for more than an hour or so.
In doing extensive research on the problem, I found very large numbers of people with the same problem and very little explanation. I tried MANY different solutions and eventually found one that worked. It involved wiping everything out and installing hardware and software in a VERY specific order. It seems that if you don't install the VIA 4-in-1 drivers (which include GART) at just the right time in the system building, the drivers don't work properly and thus the random lockups.
I wonder if this is in any way related to the problem here.
-S
So everyone who was an Enron investor should now be held accountable for what happened? That is what you're saying.
-S
I've never heard of an Ultimate TV box crashing, that's what I mean. It doesn't run on Linux like TiVo does so I assume that MS wrote a little ground-up OS for Ultimate TV that's a whole boatload more stable than their Windows offerings...
-S
Despite their previous advantage over TiVo of being able to record 2 shows at once, Ultimate TV never made any headway in the market. It had the following problems from the start...
- It's Microsoft. Despite what they would tell you, I think there's a real stigma with having Microsoft's name attached to something at this point. Despite the reality, to the average Joe it means this thing is going to crash often and not work the way I want it to.
- It's DirecTV only. TiVo has a "standalone" box and that means ANYONE can have TiVo.
It probably doesn't mean anything to TiVo and/or ReplayTV anyway since Ultimate TV never really gave them any competition.
-S
Same for me. The discussion a while back about The Tick being cancled had some interesting comments. Apparently people didn't watch it because it was shown at an unpopular time.
To be honest, I didn't know when it was shown... ever. I couldn't even fathom a guess at the day or time that it was regularly broadcast. All I know was that it was sitting there on my TiVo waiting for me to watch it when I wanted.
-S
If it weren't for a few episodes of Enterprise that I downloaded, I would not be following the show now that DirecTV has added the local affiliate the carries it (it didn't before which is why I downloaded it).
So there's one case where the network and studio should be very glad to I sought out and downloaded a -gasp- pirated copy of one of their shows with the commercials taken out.
-S
You mean DIVX (or Divx or divx) right? DivX (with the upper-case "X" at the end) is the common spelling of DivX the video codec not DIVX the pay-per-play Circuit City scheme.
-S
Or better yet, email them the ripped .wav files and ask them to remove the pops and clicks and send it back to you.
-S
You don't now, but certainly if this becomes an issue, people WILL look for that "COMPACT DISC - CD AUDIO" logo. Lack of it will begin to mean "Hey... this might not play in my car CD player... or on my DVD player... and I won't be able to rip tracks to put on my RIO".
I may take time, but word will get around and Joe Consumer will start to look for the logo before buying.
-S
-S
You know, it's funny what TiVo does to viewing habits. Since getting one, I haven't given the slightest thought to what time slot a program is in. And to be honest, though I've watched every episode of The Tick since it's been on, I don't have the slightest idea when it's on... or even what day.
Anyway, I'm sad to see it go... I thought it was one of the funniest shows on television.
-S
What I can't wait for is the day that some girl sues the pants off of X10.com when some guy she slept with sends pictures of their deed all over the net. It's pretty clear to me that they're selling the camera with the expressed intent of having the purchaser use it to capture voyeristic images without the consent of the person being photographed.
-S