That's why you might want to save a copy of a particular version of a movie. For instance, I have a legitimate copy of Star Wars (the first movie. You may think of it as A New Hope but it will always be Star Wars to me.) on Betamax tape. A year ago, after I got my Neuros II, I copied the tape to my computer as an MPEG 4 file to preserve the original destruction of Alderaan and the destruction of the Death Star and the fact that Han shot first.
Here's another George Lucas blunder. In the theatrical release of Episode II Jango Fett gets his head cut off without all the pretty little sparks that are evident in the official DVD version. It makes me wish I had bought a bootleg version of the movie so I could compare it to the DVD Lucas pimped.
With all the "Director Cuts" and various versions of movies floating around out there and the new "enhanced" versions of Star Trek: The Original Series coming soon, serious fans of film have a genuine desire to retain versions they may like or wish to compare later versions to. How many versions of Bladerunner are out there?
Many of us here at Slashdot tend to trot out the old Betamax decision when talking about our rights to copy media; however, this NY Times article (registration required) suggests that the whole concept of stare decisis is not as sacred a cow as I once believed.
So the question is not whether the Roberts court will overturn more precedents, but how often, by what standard and in what terms.
But this wasn't it. For the last year or so Marvel has been releasing some dumb-ass DVDs of "The Avengers" that really suck balls. I've seen them on Cartoon Network. Once was enough, thank you.
Here's the guts of the article detailing the incredible risk they are taking:
"What they've done is take themselves from a niche licensing company and have really knocked the cover off the ball as far as execution where the stock is concerned," said Brad Ruderman, of Ruderman Capital Partners. "If they can make appealing movies, I don't see any reason why they can't be successful."
But that if -- making successful movies -- has tripped up many a brilliant financial model in the past. And the favorable terms mask a hidden risk: If the movies are not successful, Marvel will forfeit the film rights to the characters in the deal, including Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury and the Avengers.(emphasis mine)
"It's a convoluted, almost Rube Goldberg-type apparatus for generating higher profitability with minimal risk," said Harold L. Vogel, of Vogel Capital Management. "But we all know the movie business depends on how profitability is defined. We know most movies do not actually make money, or a lot of money. So I don't know that they come out ahead at the end of the day, even when you adjust for risk and the time it takes. Why go through all this, except to generate fees for Merrill Lynch and some lawyers?"
Veteran Hollywood insiders raised other caveats about the Marvel arrangement, including the company's dependency on major studios for setting their marketing budgets and for overseeing distribution. The studios have been known to pay more attention to their own movies rather than those made elsewhere.
To give you an incentive to reveal the secret, inner workings of your invention.
That's that whole "promote the arts and sciences" part. Instead of keeping your insights secret, as you might be tempted to do, We, The People grant the first person to reveal the secrets the right to control the invention for a limited time.
Now we all understand that you, or someone else, might come up with the same idea independantly. But we don't want people hording knowledge. Thus the idea of patent protection.
It would be interesting to go back in time and clue the writers of the law in on the whole idea of submarine patents and software patents in general while we're at it. Wonder what kind of reaction we would get.
They already know "where their power is derived from", the corporations, and wealthy individuals who contribute to their campaigns and send lobbyists to Washington, D. C. to write...ummm, excuse me, advise on critical legislation pertaining to corporations and wealthy individuals.
Totally agree with you about the image quality, but I still don't see a reason to buy into HD disks. Yes, they are superior to standard definition (SD), but so is DVD, to my eyes.
I have a HUGE library of DVD movies that I have no intention of re-buying.
The real question is what does HD-DVD/BluRay bring to the table that DVD does not?
DVD had incredible advantages over tape. Menus with quick access to scenes in movies. No more rewinding. Small format. Easily backed up once you grabbed a copy of DVD-Decrypter, IFOEdit, and ImgTool.
So, we all agree, HD has the most beautiful images and those images are superior to SD and DVD, but does it bring anything else to the table to justify the markup in price?
That's what they've shown on HDNet Movies in the last year that I have DVD copies of so I can have an apples-to-apples comparison. I have recent movies such as The Matrix, but that is not being shown on HDNet Movies. The only recent movies that I have watched on HDNet Movies are things like The Quiet American that I don't have a DVD version of.
I loved Planet Earth on DiscoveryHD. Absolutely beautiful.
BTW, Escape From New York is coming to HDNet Movies next month. Can't wait. That should be fun.:)
I recently called DISH network to let them know that I am interested in DirecTV's announcement that they will have more than 100 HD channels by the end of the year. Right now I get only SIX stinkin' channels from DISH.
Well, their argument was that the DirecTV channels would mostly be less than HD quality and that I could replace my existing MPEG-2 receiver with an brand spankin' new MPEG-4 receiver for a mere EIGHTEEN MONTH CONTRACT!
WTF? I've been using garbage for the last three years and they only tell me this now?
So, yeah, I can believe they are not transmitting enough data to give me better sound.
I suspect it hasn't happened because most everyone can spot Computer Graphics. Even if you don't recognize a shot as computer generated imagery, you will probably "feel" something wrong with the shot. That's probably taboo for pron. Besides, it would only increase their costs and diminish their margins. I don't expect to see that happen anytime soon.
I don't know about this. I was watching a program about a month back. I don't remember the title, but it dealt with the Pron industries reaction to HD. The directors and producers had more enthusiasm but even they were concerned with the greater detail turning some people off. The actresses were really worried about how much pressure would be on them to maintain, or even improve to the level of detail HD will show.
I have a High Definition TV and access to some HD channels.
Last year I compared my DVD versions of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bladerunner, and a couple of other movies to the HiDef versions on HDNet Movies. While the HD versions did have more detail and brighter colors it wasn't enough to convince me to buy a PS3. It still isn't enough.
The big problem I see with HD formats is...
there's nothing there that I don't already have!
Yes, the visuals are better, but the sound is the exact same from what I can tell. Understand that I had to watch the movies on HDNet and then the DVD later, or first, to make my comparisons. I only have one large screen HD TV with surround sound.
As many here at Slashdot have already noted; DVDs are just as compact as HD disks, allow for menus and quick chapter selection, and have had their anti-consumer Digital Restrictions Management CRIPPLED! >8^D
WTF do I need HD disks for?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know someone is going to say that we don't have to watch the commercials on HD disks now. Just wait, sucker, until they become common place. After that you'll be dropping your shorts and grabbing your ankles again.
The entire piece, including the Disney logo, is satirical and therefore protected. The key element is that the entire piece is satirical. Don't try to pull one section from the rest and you will clearly see that the authors are using everything to point out how ridiculous the laws on copyright have become.
#1. Completely eliminate software patents. This would free up examiners for real work.
#2. Test all remaining examiners for competence in the fields they will be examining. Promotion for higher levels would require more stringent testing. Ask if any of the State colleges would be willing to assist in the development of an internet testing and grading process for such use. Select colleges based on the competence of their graduates.
The thirteenth colony? Why they flew too close to "The Eye Of Jupiter" as Icarus did and got all burnt up.:)
I hear they are doing a movie on a DVD, or something, and that is one of the reasons for the long delay between seasons right now. Maybe they'll answer some of the questions there.
I don't have any of the DVDs but I did record everything from the appearance of "Pegasus" through it's destruction last season. Maybe I'll actually buy a DVD if it's really good. Hell, knowing that this is coming to an end is actually prompting me to think of buying the older DVDs for future viewing.
I agree completely. Remember when the baby Hera's blood was found to have anti-bodies that the "humans" did not have. That blood was what saved the President's life. I've been predicting such a finish since I saw that episode.
I differ from you in that I think this all happened a long time ago, and we modern humans are the progeny of the Cylons and humans we are watching now. Basically just a remake of the old Von Daniken(sp?) "the pyramids were built by aliens" hypothesis.
Funny that you mention Lost because the four big US networks are now complaining that they have lost 2.5 million viewers since last Spring. It's not just Battlestar Galactica.
Mike Elgen over at Computerworld has a few ideas on where those viewers have gone. I don't know why so many have left so quickly but I'm sure it has something to do with the poor shows available. "Survivor", "American Idol". These are the shows with the highest ratings?
If you think things are bad on TV now, wait until June when the Writer's Guild of America West and East combine for the first time in a long while to get better contracts from the production studios. The Director's Guild and another couple of Guilds are lined up right after that. TV will be pretty poor for a long while I guess.
Won't bother me though. I watch very little besides BG and the canceled "Daybreak". And why should I when I have access to HD television and excellent shows such as "Planet Earth" on Discovery HD.
The MPAA does recognize that progress on DRM needs to be made soon, or impatient consumers will increasingly turn to unauthorized sources for content.(emphasis mine)
Unlike Jack Valenti, this guy seems to see the writing on the wall.
I buy DVDs because I like the high quality, and trust the techs hired to transfer the film to disc much better than I trust myself to burn a copy of a DVD. I have burned copies of DVDs that were not available for purchase. I have bought "bootleg" DVDs but not in any great numbers because I did NOT enjoy watching some moron get up in the front row to get popcorn in the middle of the movie.
However, with the recent FSCK-up by Sony, AGAIN, I must admit I'm wondering if I will just rent their DVDs in the future or just buy bootlegs. Then there is the additional problem with all those damned advertisements stopping me from watching my movie.
I don't have a problem buying DVDs. I DO have a problem if the studios make it a problem!
I never claimed books were "better" than movies or video games. I freely indulge in all. I was just agreeing that video games are not very engrossing. That because we are actively engaged in the process we will not be as immersed in the story as we will be in a good novel.
Also, I left movies out of my original post, but in reality they are more engrossing than video games as well. This is because a well told story in any medium will engage the mind of the audience. Books and movies have a LONG history of doing this. Video games have not and don't tell stories very well.
My favorite games such as ICO and Beyond Good & Evil are excellent examples of video game stories that, while good, are not as good as say Dune.
From todays Examiner, April 25, 2007, page three, there is an article entitled "Debated memoir's author agrees with book's replacement" by Brian Foley:
Mark Mathabane, whose book "Kaffir Boy" was pulled form eight-grade classrooms at an intermediate school four weeks ago due to a passage about men paying boys for sex, said the book's original version is inappropriate for middle school students.
I'm not sure what your point was but I do think it is necessary to restrict what children have access to.
I'm no fan of censorship for adults, but I do believe in monitoring and restricting access of inappropriate material to children.
Of course that never stopped me from buying Playboy before I was eighteen.:)
Active participation decreases the tendency to 'forget' your experiencing a fantasy vs. non-interactive visual mediums.
So, we don't forget that we are playing a game when we are playing. Add to that the immersion of a good novel or movie and this seems rather obvious.
I've been immersed in game play but never to the level of a good book. Plus, the images in my mind from a good novel often exceed what is available even on todays SFX laden screens and this is a no-brainer.
Slashdot Mirror
That's why you might want to save a copy of a particular version of a movie. For instance, I have a legitimate copy of Star Wars (the first movie. You may think of it as A New Hope but it will always be Star Wars to me.) on Betamax tape. A year ago, after I got my Neuros II, I copied the tape to my computer as an MPEG 4 file to preserve the original destruction of Alderaan and the destruction of the Death Star and the fact that Han shot first.
Here's another George Lucas blunder. In the theatrical release of Episode II Jango Fett gets his head cut off without all the pretty little sparks that are evident in the official DVD version. It makes me wish I had bought a bootleg version of the movie so I could compare it to the DVD Lucas pimped.
With all the "Director Cuts" and various versions of movies floating around out there and the new "enhanced" versions of Star Trek: The Original Series coming soon, serious fans of film have a genuine desire to retain versions they may like or wish to compare later versions to. How many versions of Bladerunner are out there?
Here's the guts of the article detailing the incredible risk they are taking:
That's that whole "promote the arts and sciences" part. Instead of keeping your insights secret, as you might be tempted to do, We, The People grant the first person to reveal the secrets the right to control the invention for a limited time.
Now we all understand that you, or someone else, might come up with the same idea independantly. But we don't want people hording knowledge. Thus the idea of patent protection.
It would be interesting to go back in time and clue the writers of the law in on the whole idea of submarine patents and software patents in general while we're at it. Wonder what kind of reaction we would get.
They already know "where their power is derived from", the corporations, and wealthy individuals who contribute to their campaigns and send lobbyists to Washington, D. C. to write...ummm, excuse me, advise on critical legislation pertaining to corporations and wealthy individuals.
This is NOT a troll. Aussie has an argument here. You may not agree with it, but it is still valid.
I have a HUGE library of DVD movies that I have no intention of re-buying.
The real question is what does HD-DVD/BluRay bring to the table that DVD does not?
DVD had incredible advantages over tape. Menus with quick access to scenes in movies. No more rewinding. Small format. Easily backed up once you grabbed a copy of DVD-Decrypter, IFOEdit, and ImgTool.
So, we all agree, HD has the most beautiful images and those images are superior to SD and DVD, but does it bring anything else to the table to justify the markup in price?
That's what they've shown on HDNet Movies in the last year that I have DVD copies of so I can have an apples-to-apples comparison. I have recent movies such as The Matrix, but that is not being shown on HDNet Movies. The only recent movies that I have watched on HDNet Movies are things like The Quiet American that I don't have a DVD version of.
I loved Planet Earth on DiscoveryHD. Absolutely beautiful.
BTW, Escape From New York is coming to HDNet Movies next month. Can't wait. That should be fun. :)
I recently called DISH network to let them know that I am interested in DirecTV's announcement that they will have more than 100 HD channels by the end of the year. Right now I get only SIX stinkin' channels from DISH.
Well, their argument was that the DirecTV channels would mostly be less than HD quality and that I could replace my existing MPEG-2 receiver with an brand spankin' new MPEG-4 receiver for a mere EIGHTEEN MONTH CONTRACT!
WTF? I've been using garbage for the last three years and they only tell me this now?
So, yeah, I can believe they are not transmitting enough data to give me better sound.
I suspect it hasn't happened because most everyone can spot Computer Graphics. Even if you don't recognize a shot as computer generated imagery, you will probably "feel" something wrong with the shot. That's probably taboo for pron. Besides, it would only increase their costs and diminish their margins. I don't expect to see that happen anytime soon.
I don't know about this. I was watching a program about a month back. I don't remember the title, but it dealt with the Pron industries reaction to HD. The directors and producers had more enthusiasm but even they were concerned with the greater detail turning some people off. The actresses were really worried about how much pressure would be on them to maintain, or even improve to the level of detail HD will show.
Last year I compared my DVD versions of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bladerunner, and a couple of other movies to the HiDef versions on HDNet Movies. While the HD versions did have more detail and brighter colors it wasn't enough to convince me to buy a PS3. It still isn't enough.
The big problem I see with HD formats is...
there's nothing there that I don't already have!
Yes, the visuals are better, but the sound is the exact same from what I can tell. Understand that I had to watch the movies on HDNet and then the DVD later, or first, to make my comparisons. I only have one large screen HD TV with surround sound.
As many here at Slashdot have already noted; DVDs are just as compact as HD disks, allow for menus and quick chapter selection, and have had their anti-consumer Digital Restrictions Management CRIPPLED! >8^D
WTF do I need HD disks for?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know someone is going to say that we don't have to watch the commercials on HD disks now. Just wait, sucker, until they become common place. After that you'll be dropping your shorts and grabbing your ankles again.
The entire piece, including the Disney logo, is satirical and therefore protected. The key element is that the entire piece is satirical. Don't try to pull one section from the rest and you will clearly see that the authors are using everything to point out how ridiculous the laws on copyright have become.
#2. Test all remaining examiners for competence in the fields they will be examining. Promotion for higher levels would require more stringent testing. Ask if any of the State colleges would be willing to assist in the development of an internet testing and grading process for such use. Select colleges based on the competence of their graduates.
#3. ???? #4 Profit!
I hear they are doing a movie on a DVD, or something, and that is one of the reasons for the long delay between seasons right now. Maybe they'll answer some of the questions there.
I don't have any of the DVDs but I did record everything from the appearance of "Pegasus" through it's destruction last season. Maybe I'll actually buy a DVD if it's really good. Hell, knowing that this is coming to an end is actually prompting me to think of buying the older DVDs for future viewing.
Oh, YEAH! And I have it on DVD. Mary Tamm is real EASY on the eyes. Now if they will just release more of the Nicola Bryant episodes. :)
I differ from you in that I think this all happened a long time ago, and we modern humans are the progeny of the Cylons and humans we are watching now. Basically just a remake of the old Von Daniken(sp?) "the pyramids were built by aliens" hypothesis.
Mike Elgen over at Computerworld has a few ideas on where those viewers have gone. I don't know why so many have left so quickly but I'm sure it has something to do with the poor shows available. "Survivor", "American Idol". These are the shows with the highest ratings?
If you think things are bad on TV now, wait until June when the Writer's Guild of America West and East combine for the first time in a long while to get better contracts from the production studios. The Director's Guild and another couple of Guilds are lined up right after that. TV will be pretty poor for a long while I guess.
Won't bother me though. I watch very little besides BG and the canceled "Daybreak". And why should I when I have access to HD television and excellent shows such as "Planet Earth" on Discovery HD.
I buy DVDs because I like the high quality, and trust the techs hired to transfer the film to disc much better than I trust myself to burn a copy of a DVD. I have burned copies of DVDs that were not available for purchase. I have bought "bootleg" DVDs but not in any great numbers because I did NOT enjoy watching some moron get up in the front row to get popcorn in the middle of the movie.
However, with the recent FSCK-up by Sony, AGAIN, I must admit I'm wondering if I will just rent their DVDs in the future or just buy bootlegs. Then there is the additional problem with all those damned advertisements stopping me from watching my movie.
I don't have a problem buying DVDs. I DO have a problem if the studios make it a problem!
Also, I left movies out of my original post, but in reality they are more engrossing than video games as well. This is because a well told story in any medium will engage the mind of the audience. Books and movies have a LONG history of doing this. Video games have not and don't tell stories very well.
My favorite games such as ICO and Beyond Good & Evil are excellent examples of video game stories that, while good, are not as good as say Dune.
I'm no fan of censorship for adults, but I do believe in monitoring and restricting access of inappropriate material to children.
Of course that never stopped me from buying Playboy before I was eighteen. :)
I've been immersed in game play but never to the level of a good book. Plus, the images in my mind from a good novel often exceed what is available even on todays SFX laden screens and this is a no-brainer.
It wasn't "Italian science" it was the Pope and his Catholic Church that waited so long to apologize.
Wonder what Pakistan thinks of this?