Is it more like a VCR system where you have to fast forward and then curse when you went too far, and then it uses scene changes to go back?
My Sony VCR has a "Commercial Pass" button. I press it once when a commercial break starts. Then when I watch the fast-forwarding tape and press the button again when I see the show start. It then scans back a few seconds. Makes it much easier to catch the start of the show without manually rewinding it again.
But why hasn't this feature, labeled Commercial Pass, been the subject of such scrutiny as ReplayTV's feature?
I've noticed that the Disney "widescreen" offerings are all 16:9 exactly. I personally wonder if this was indeed the theatre aspect ratio, or if they pan and scanning into 16:9 (as opposed to 4:3).
Yep, I noticed that as well, with Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. IMDB has the DVD details for those. It shows Nemo as 1.78:1 but Monsters as 1.85:1. But they both fill my 16:9 screen perfectly. It would seem odd for Disney to chop off a tiny bit from even the widescreen presentation. IMDB also has the technical specs for the movies, presumably the theatrical release, and they correspond.
Do theaters hold a fixed height and just pull in the curtains to different widths depending on a 2.35, 1.85, or 1.77 aspect ratio? During the last movie I saw (LOTR:ROTK) I tried to imagine what it would look like if you had to chop off 76% of the width to fit it to a 4:3 TV. You lose a ridiculous amount of screen area.
A different format for the disc won't change that: 16:9 is 1.78:1, but films are still filmed in either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 most of the time (and many, many variants). Only as original HDTV material is made, will you see stuff that fits precisely into your 16:9 screen.:(
Yep. Very few movies are done in 16:9 it seems. More at 2.35:1. There are a few in my collection at true 16:9, but most aren't. The widescreen tv still means more of the tv will be used for the movie and less for black bars, though. When comparing tv's, you could look at the horizontal width rather than the diagonal measurement to compare sizes.
Put a frog (alive) into a pot of cold water. Put the pot on low heat. If you heat the water slowly enough, the frog will not jump out, even when it eventually boils to death.
My friend's mom inadvertently tried this experiment with a crab. You're supposed to drop the crab in a pot of boiling water to cook it, but she put it in lukewarm water and set the stove to high heat. We left the kitchen, and came back to find an empty pot, and a crab hiding under the kitchen cabinets!
Tom: And why is it more distracting than having a conversation with a passenger? Well, for one thing, a passenger can see when you're trying to merge into traffic, or back out of a driveway, and will usually understand if you stop speaking and concentrate on the task at hand. The person on the other end of the cell phone has no idea what's going on with you. Not to mention that you never have to take your eyes off the road and "dial" the person in the passenger seat.
I agree with these arguments, and add that a cell phone conversation is often more focused and requires more attention than idle chatter with a passenger.
Yep, I shopped at CircuitCity for an MP3 player about a year ago, and the salesman told me most of the employees there use MiniDisc players for that. Each disk (a couple bucks each?) could store 5 hours or so of MP3's. Overall it's a cheaper, more flexible alternative to other MP3 players.
Though I'm not sure if it has any real advantages to a mp3-cd player, if you can burn 700mb worth of MP3s per disc.
That, and a PC will often be superior at certain sorts of games, as well as often arriving with its own display device, which means that mum and dad can watch the news without junior having to break of his game...
But on the PC, junior will have to step away from his game so dad can check email, pay bills, etc. From what I've seen, multiple tv's come home long before multiple computers in a typical house.
Contemplating these questions require thought. I don't have the energy to think for myself. Why would I strain my mind trying to figure out if I should think more?
Tom Reagan: Think about what protecting Bernie gets us. Think about what offending Caspar loses us.
Leo O'Bannion: Oh, come on, Tommy. You know I don't like to think. Tom Reagan: Yeah. Well, think about whether you should start.
The only real use I can see is if it can tell me, accurately, where the hell the Golden Ghrams are. In-cart navigation!
Honestly though, the things would be so expensive (And prone to be stolen for parts), I doubt they'll ever really show up.
When Delchamps re-opened a store in my hometown, probably 8 to 10 years ago, they had carts like this. Touchscreens, and sensors to know where you were in the store. They had guides to tell you what aisle to find certain goods, and ads popped up as you rolled past some items.
They didn't even last a year, as durability and probably theft/vandalism were problems. They didn't seem to take too well to being left out in the heat and rain, either.
Nah, just call from your mobile. They aren't allowed to telemarket to those.
Yeah, Good luck with that. GNC (General Nutrition Centers) got my cell phone number on their list. I get a recorded call around the first of the month, on a weekday during business hours, telling me they've got a sale. I've talked to the local GNC manager on three separate occasions as well as the national GNC customer support line to remove my # from their list, but the calls continue. I've forwarded my complaints to the local BBB and the FTC.
Here goes my karma, but snippy comments like yours annoy me...
okay, maybe you should buy a hard drive. If you have ever read the little slip of paper that comes with the drive, most drive manufactures calculate a GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes.
It's not exactly correct in terms of a binary GB, but it makes for a more impressive number on the side of the box. Since a company couldn't claim 120GB for the sake of advertising, and another number for the "tax", I believe the parent would be correct in stating that the tax (at the $.01/MB) would be $1200.
If you're gonna do that, you might as well carry the math out all the way and save some money on the taxes..
1 marketing GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes
1 real MB = 1024 KB = 1024*1024 bytes = 1048576 bytes
So 1 marketing GB = 10^9 - 1024^2 = 953.67 MB
A tax of a penny per megabyte = $9.54 per marketing GB
So that 120 GB hard drive would only cost you $1144.41 in taxes. Don't let 'em charge you a penny more.
BWJones said: This is exactly why I use Fed Ex or UPS when ordering things. They can track your packages and they take responsibility when they screw up. Perhaps the Postal Service could take a lesson?
Cpt Kirks said: Goddamn UPS won't even ring the doorbell. They just dump the package on the porch, even if they are supposed to get a signature.
I recently ordered a VCR from uBid, then went out of town for over a week. If it was shipped USPS it would have been held at the post office with the rest of my mail and delivered when I returned. Instead it was shipped UPS, and they just left it on a doorstep. But it wasn't even left on MY doorstep, but on the doorstep of another condo at the opposite end of my complex. The people who lived there were evidently out of town as well (possibly snowbirds) and I never would have known about it if not for another neighbor who knocked on my door one morning to tell me.
I never got an email from uBid with the tracking number, and I was extremely lucky that it wasn't stolen in the week it was sitting outside someone else's vacant home. Luckily it was only a $30 VCR and not a more expensive piece of equipment.
BTW, this discussion is making me glad I have a locked mailbox and mail-drop in my complex rather than just a private home mailbox.
UPS has a brilliant business model. You see, there are two distinct parties in the delivery business: the shipper, and the reciever. Knowing that the shipper is the one with the money, UPS focuses on them.
Your description reminds me a bit of tow trucks in a place where "roam towing" is enforced. An apartment complex, for instance, signs a deal with a towing company that says they can roam their lots any time and tow away any car without a valid parking sticker. This comes at the car owner's expense, of course. So you've got the backwards situation of the person who's paying for the service as the very person who doesn't want the "service" at all. So it should come to no surprise that the towing company will only take cash. It's quite a scam.
And as for diagonal speed, I don't see why the plane wouldn't already be heading towards France when he jumped out of it. That way he's already got 150mph or so of forwards velocity. (That's about how it looks from the illustration in the BBC article.)
In the case of Honda or Volkswagen building cars in the US, it's to move the production of goods closer to their US consumers. They're shortening the distance between the factories and the show rooms, which is good for business.
In this case, I don't presume it's to be closer to the businesses and consumers requesting IBM software in India.
Or are you all boycotting Blockbuster, too? I didn't see it mentioned here, but seems like a quick rental would be a good alternative for the LOTR releases too. $4 or so lets you and all your friends watch Reloaded before you go see Revolutions in the theater, while you continue to wait for the boxed set of dvds to come out later. Just because a DVD is released and you want to watch it, doesn't mean you have to purchase it.
This is also the reason you won't see "easy online redemption" any time soon... it would drastically decrease the breakage on rebates and cost the companies a ton more money.
Actually, Intuit has this too. I buy TurboTax for $20 and Quicken Basic for an additional $30, only because it's free after a $30 rebate with combined purchase. I still had to send in the receipt (a copy) and proofs of purchase, but I filled out their form online to expedite the process.
The JDM-spec Accord was recently released as the Acura TSX, I guess they could swap around the commercial for that, but it'd probably be a bit too much work.
Yep, I saw this ad on a TSX forum a couple weeks ago. Even though it was the JDM Accord Wagon instead of the TSX (sedan), the TSX fans still loved it.
Slashdot Mirror
Is it more like a VCR system where you have to fast forward and then curse when you went too far, and then it uses scene changes to go back?
My Sony VCR has a "Commercial Pass" button. I press it once when a commercial break starts. Then when I watch the fast-forwarding tape and press the button again when I see the show start. It then scans back a few seconds. Makes it much easier to catch the start of the show without manually rewinding it again.
But why hasn't this feature, labeled Commercial Pass, been the subject of such scrutiny as ReplayTV's feature?
I've noticed that the Disney "widescreen" offerings are all 16:9 exactly. I personally wonder if this was indeed the theatre aspect ratio, or if they pan and scanning into 16:9 (as opposed to 4:3).
Yep, I noticed that as well, with Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. IMDB has the DVD details for those. It shows Nemo as 1.78:1 but Monsters as 1.85:1. But they both fill my 16:9 screen perfectly. It would seem odd for Disney to chop off a tiny bit from even the widescreen presentation. IMDB also has the technical specs for the movies, presumably the theatrical release, and they correspond.
Do theaters hold a fixed height and just pull in the curtains to different widths depending on a 2.35, 1.85, or 1.77 aspect ratio? During the last movie I saw (LOTR:ROTK) I tried to imagine what it would look like if you had to chop off 76% of the width to fit it to a 4:3 TV. You lose a ridiculous amount of screen area.
A different format for the disc won't change that: 16:9 is 1.78:1, but films are still filmed in either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 most of the time (and many, many variants). Only as original HDTV material is made, will you see stuff that fits precisely into your 16:9 screen. :(
Yep. Very few movies are done in 16:9 it seems. More at 2.35:1. There are a few in my collection at true 16:9, but most aren't. The widescreen tv still means more of the tv will be used for the movie and less for black bars, though. When comparing tv's, you could look at the horizontal width rather than the diagonal measurement to compare sizes.
Yeah, and those damn cars will never take off either if you have to replace the tires every 3-5 years at $300 a pop
The light bulb (at $200) is a much more significant fraction of the cost of the TV than tires are compared to the cost of a car. Like 5-10% vs 1.5%.
... would come up with the word "micromechantronics".
;)
Turns out "micro machines" was taken.
Put a frog (alive) into a pot of cold water. Put the pot on low heat. If you heat the water slowly enough, the frog will not jump out, even when it eventually boils to death.
My friend's mom inadvertently tried this experiment with a crab. You're supposed to drop the crab in a pot of boiling water to cook it, but she put it in lukewarm water and set the stove to high heat. We left the kitchen, and came back to find an empty pot, and a crab hiding under the kitchen cabinets!
Tom, of 'Click and Clack' says it here:
I agree with these arguments, and add that a cell phone conversation is often more focused and requires more attention than idle chatter with a passenger.
Yep, I shopped at CircuitCity for an MP3 player about a year ago, and the salesman told me most of the employees there use MiniDisc players for that. Each disk (a couple bucks each?) could store 5 hours or so of MP3's. Overall it's a cheaper, more flexible alternative to other MP3 players.
Though I'm not sure if it has any real advantages to a mp3-cd player, if you can burn 700mb worth of MP3s per disc.
That, and a PC will often be superior at certain sorts of games, as well as often arriving with its own display device, which means that mum and dad can watch the news without junior having to break of his game...
But on the PC, junior will have to step away from his game so dad can check email, pay bills, etc. From what I've seen, multiple tv's come home long before multiple computers in a typical house.
Contemplating these questions require thought. I don't have the energy to think for myself. Why would I strain my mind trying to figure out if I should think more?
Tom Reagan: Think about what protecting Bernie gets us. Think about what offending Caspar loses us.
Leo O'Bannion: Oh, come on, Tommy. You know I don't like to think.
Tom Reagan: Yeah. Well, think about whether you should start.
Miller's Crossing
The only real use I can see is if it can tell me, accurately, where the hell the Golden Ghrams are. In-cart navigation!
Honestly though, the things would be so expensive (And prone to be stolen for parts), I doubt they'll ever really show up.
When Delchamps re-opened a store in my hometown, probably 8 to 10 years ago, they had carts like this. Touchscreens, and sensors to know where you were in the store. They had guides to tell you what aisle to find certain goods, and ads popped up as you rolled past some items.
They didn't even last a year, as durability and probably theft/vandalism were problems. They didn't seem to take too well to being left out in the heat and rain, either.
I think you will find them in most 'Spanish discovered' areas.
Yep, there's a "Camino Real" in Boca Raton, FL, too. Guess it's not too unique.
I feel like a Cubs fan...
;)
What, you think a bunch of geeks are going to get a current sports reference?
Nah, just call from your mobile. They aren't allowed to telemarket to those.
Yeah, Good luck with that. GNC (General Nutrition Centers) got my cell phone number on their list. I get a recorded call around the first of the month, on a weekday during business hours, telling me they've got a sale. I've talked to the local GNC manager on three separate occasions as well as the national GNC customer support line to remove my # from their list, but the calls continue. I've forwarded my complaints to the local BBB and the FTC.
Here goes my karma, but snippy comments like yours annoy me...
okay, maybe you should buy a hard drive. If you have ever read the little slip of paper that comes with the drive, most drive manufactures calculate a GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes.
It's not exactly correct in terms of a binary GB, but it makes for a more impressive number on the side of the box. Since a company couldn't claim 120GB for the sake of advertising, and another number for the "tax", I believe the parent would be correct in stating that the tax (at the $.01/MB) would be $1200.
If you're gonna do that, you might as well carry the math out all the way and save some money on the taxes..
1 marketing GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes
1 real MB = 1024 KB = 1024*1024 bytes = 1048576 bytes
So 1 marketing GB = 10^9 - 1024^2 = 953.67 MB
A tax of a penny per megabyte = $9.54 per marketing GB
So that 120 GB hard drive would only cost you $1144.41 in taxes. Don't let 'em charge you a penny more.
BWJones said:
This is exactly why I use Fed Ex or UPS when ordering things. They can track your packages and they take responsibility when they screw up. Perhaps the Postal Service could take a lesson?
Cpt Kirks said:
Goddamn UPS won't even ring the doorbell. They just dump the package on the porch, even if they are supposed to get a signature.
I recently ordered a VCR from uBid, then went out of town for over a week. If it was shipped USPS it would have been held at the post office with the rest of my mail and delivered when I returned. Instead it was shipped UPS, and they just left it on a doorstep. But it wasn't even left on MY doorstep, but on the doorstep of another condo at the opposite end of my complex. The people who lived there were evidently out of town as well (possibly snowbirds) and I never would have known about it if not for another neighbor who knocked on my door one morning to tell me.
I never got an email from uBid with the tracking number, and I was extremely lucky that it wasn't stolen in the week it was sitting outside someone else's vacant home. Luckily it was only a $30 VCR and not a more expensive piece of equipment.
BTW, this discussion is making me glad I have a locked mailbox and mail-drop in my complex rather than just a private home mailbox.
UPS has a brilliant business model. You see, there are two distinct parties in the delivery business: the shipper, and the reciever. Knowing that the shipper is the one with the money, UPS focuses on them.
Your description reminds me a bit of tow trucks in a place where "roam towing" is enforced. An apartment complex, for instance, signs a deal with a towing company that says they can roam their lots any time and tow away any car without a valid parking sticker. This comes at the car owner's expense, of course. So you've got the backwards situation of the person who's paying for the service as the very person who doesn't want the "service" at all. So it should come to no surprise that the towing company will only take cash. It's quite a scam.
Hmm, that seems like decent advice. But what about the idea of etching your VIN on all your car's windows to help recover it in case of theft?
And as for diagonal speed, I don't see why the plane wouldn't already be heading towards France when he jumped out of it. That way he's already got 150mph or so of forwards velocity. (That's about how it looks from the illustration in the BBC article.)
There's one big difference there.
In the case of Honda or Volkswagen building cars in the US, it's to move the production of goods closer to their US consumers. They're shortening the distance between the factories and the show rooms, which is good for business.
In this case, I don't presume it's to be closer to the businesses and consumers requesting IBM software in India.
Or are you all boycotting Blockbuster, too? I didn't see it mentioned here, but seems like a quick rental would be a good alternative for the LOTR releases too. $4 or so lets you and all your friends watch Reloaded before you go see Revolutions in the theater, while you continue to wait for the boxed set of dvds to come out later. Just because a DVD is released and you want to watch it, doesn't mean you have to purchase it.
7th grade Life Sciences, I think. Just one of those things you can't forget.
Nope.. it's going to be Dr. Evil. He didn't spend six years in evil medical school to not be on the National Cathedral, thank you very much!
This is also the reason you won't see "easy online redemption" any time soon... it would drastically decrease the breakage on rebates and cost the companies a ton more money.
Actually, Intuit has this too. I buy TurboTax for $20 and Quicken Basic for an additional $30, only because it's free after a $30 rebate with combined purchase. I still had to send in the receipt (a copy) and proofs of purchase, but I filled out their form online to expedite the process.
FWIW, I've never had any problems with rebates.
The JDM-spec Accord was recently released as the Acura TSX, I guess they could swap around the commercial for that, but it'd probably be a bit too much work.
Yep, I saw this ad on a TSX forum a couple weeks ago. Even though it was the JDM Accord Wagon instead of the TSX (sedan), the TSX fans still loved it.