If I'm not mistaken, standalone recorders (usually with hard-drives) might also be a factor. The Panasonic series of standalone DVD recorders are DVD-R/DVD-RAM; the combination of such players, especially with the attraction of recording to a hard drive first and then editing and burning to DVD-R media might encourage the consumer to vote with his wallet for the DVD-R as the de facto standard.
The make of DVD burner in our PCs might be a moot point since what many folks are looking for is a replacement to the aging VCR, not something to burn data.
Actually, not to quibble, but the initial release of OS/2 Warp ran well on my IBM 20 mHz 386 back in '96...
Did they mention Deep Blue's Vivisection...?
on
Behind Deep Blue
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· Score: 1
A friend of mine (we've been shootin' buddies since the BBS days) worked on the hardware team for Deep Blue. He told me the machine was immediately turned into an organ donor to meet customer commitments for that quarter's revenues... Typical of the Big Blue he and I worked for.
For my job (I do off-shift engineering support in the semiconductor industry), I had to sign a conditions of employment agreement... It had all the usual intellectual property clauses I'd expect from a tech job -- but it also had stipulations that company resources (phones, faxes, data systems) were for business use only... For anyone who signs such an agreement, hey, there are no expectations of privacy in the areas controlled.
And, yep, I've seen people fired for violations of the "business use" guidelines. If you sign away a right to privacy in order to get a job, it's not really being violated if the company snoops on your email.
Here's a great resource for those wanting to buy or to build a Home Theater PC, complete with sleek, black cases for the do-it-yourselfers and some ultra-quiet pre-fab models:
When I first started with NetFlix, there was an East Coast hub -- my first few movies with them went to a return address in Newburgh, NY. All of a sudden, they all started going to California and the turn-around time went from 2 days to 7-10 days...
I'm still with NetFlix (I'm still grand-fathered for 4 movies out at a time), but it's far less of a bargain than when I started...
The movie fell flat for me for two reasons: 1)The recognizable voice actors... Although James Woods can deliver a good performance, it was dificult for me to associate his voice with the character he played. (It wasn't Richard Briers in Watership Down, folks... Suspension of disbelief didn't work.) Same goes for the rest of the well-known cast (Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, and Peri Gilpin). 2) The animations of facial expressions were unbelievably flat. This is "state of the art" animation? The zombie-like faces were even more of a jarring contrast with the idiosyncratic voice acting.
Overall, the animation is quite beautiful. The Aki dream sequences are visually stunning; however, they would have done far either hiring unknown voice actors or making an effort to capture the facial expressions of the actors emoting.
Despite its flaws, FF is far from a death-knell for CGI characters. Many of the scenes rendered have a photorealism that's staggering. But more work needed to be done on personalizing the animated characters in FF. Even the ever-loathsome JarJar Binks in The Phantom Menace showed more life and character than any character in FF(and the proof of this is the nigh-universal desire to swat the long-eared, mush-mouthed amphibian like a bug).
As an ex-infantryman, I can tell you that that is the nature of combat, when seen from outside of it. We were all generic, interchangeable soldiers -- except to ourselves, our families, and each other.
With the mayfly-like shelf-life of these "boy groups," the attention span of their public is unlikely to be overtaxed. They will be denizens of the "Where are they now" file before SW: AotC hits the screens.
Not unless he has one of the Hutt holding the boy band members on leashes while they wear the male version of the bronze bikini Carrie Fisher wore for the slavering Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi...
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If I'm not mistaken, standalone recorders (usually with hard-drives) might also be a factor. The Panasonic series of standalone DVD recorders are DVD-R/DVD-RAM; the combination of such players, especially with the attraction of recording to a hard drive first and then editing and burning to DVD-R media might encourage the consumer to vote with his wallet for the DVD-R as the de facto standard.
The make of DVD burner in our PCs might be a moot point since what many folks are looking for is a replacement to the aging VCR, not something to burn data.
The Zapruder film was, in fact, colour. Here is a link with some example frames:
http://www.boston.quik.com/amarsh/amateurs.htm
Bulk General Purpose DVD-Rs can be had for less than $1 each on spindles at this website:
:D
http://www.supermediastore.com/index.html
Standard disclaimers apply: I don't have any connection with these guys; I'm just a satisfied customer...
Actually, not to quibble, but the initial release of OS/2 Warp ran well on my IBM 20 mHz 386 back in '96...
A friend of mine (we've been shootin' buddies since the BBS days) worked on the hardware team for Deep Blue. He told me the machine was immediately turned into an organ donor to meet customer commitments for that quarter's revenues... Typical of the Big Blue he and I worked for.
For my job (I do off-shift engineering support in the semiconductor industry), I had to sign a conditions of employment agreement... It had all the usual intellectual property clauses I'd expect from a tech job -- but it also had stipulations that company resources (phones, faxes, data systems) were for business use only... For anyone who signs such an agreement, hey, there are no expectations of privacy in the areas controlled.
And, yep, I've seen people fired for violations of the "business use" guidelines. If you sign away a right to privacy in order to get a job, it's not really being violated if the company snoops on your email.
Here's a great resource for those wanting to buy or to build a Home Theater PC, complete with sleek, black cases for the do-it-yourselfers and some ultra-quiet pre-fab models:
http://www.digitalconnection.com/
When I first started with NetFlix, there was an East Coast hub -- my first few movies with them went to a return address in Newburgh, NY. All of a sudden, they all started going to California and the turn-around time went from 2 days to 7-10 days...
I'm still with NetFlix (I'm still grand-fathered for 4 movies out at a time), but it's far less of a bargain than when I started...
-Ringthane
The movie fell flat for me for two reasons: 1)The recognizable voice actors... Although James Woods can deliver a good performance, it was dificult for me to associate his voice with the character he played. (It wasn't Richard Briers in Watership Down, folks... Suspension of disbelief didn't work.) Same goes for the rest of the well-known cast (Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, and Peri Gilpin). 2) The animations of facial expressions were unbelievably flat. This is "state of the art" animation? The zombie-like faces were even more of a jarring contrast with the idiosyncratic voice acting.
;-)
Overall, the animation is quite beautiful. The Aki dream sequences are visually stunning; however, they would have done far either hiring unknown voice actors or making an effort to capture the facial expressions of the actors emoting.
Despite its flaws, FF is far from a death-knell for CGI characters. Many of the scenes rendered have a photorealism that's staggering. But more work needed to be done on personalizing the animated characters in FF. Even the ever-loathsome JarJar Binks in The Phantom Menace showed more life and character than any character in FF(and the proof of this is the nigh-universal desire to swat the long-eared, mush-mouthed amphibian like a bug).
Damn if Aki doesn't look hot, tho.
-Ringthane
As an ex-infantryman, I can tell you that that is the nature of combat, when seen from outside of it. We were all generic, interchangeable soldiers -- except to ourselves, our families, and each other.
-Ringthane
These guys have already opted out of the reproduction game...
Playing with light-sabers is the next best thing, I guess...
Ringthane
With the mayfly-like shelf-life of these "boy groups," the attention span of their public is unlikely to be overtaxed. They will be denizens of the "Where are they now" file before SW: AotC hits the screens.
Ringthane
"Look, there, in the cut-out bin..."
Not unless he has one of the Hutt holding the boy band members on leashes while they wear the male version of the bronze bikini Carrie Fisher wore for the slavering Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi...
Star Whores is more like it. Feh.
How long before someone ports the 3D maps to Unreal Tournament or Quake 3 Arena?