I posted the same link to the same trailer right here a full 8 minutes before this guy...and he gets a +4 and I'm still languishing at 1. How does that work?
OK, yes, technically it's true that 1024x768 != HD. For that matter, the "HD" material I am downloading from BT isn't really HD either (as others have pointed out here.) It's not even 720p, more like 960x528 or similar. But, it's a hell of a lot better than plain old TV, and when you watch a rip of an HD show like Lost on a 1024x768 projecter, compressed to a 700MB file and including the 5.1 digital audio track, it's mind blowing, "HD" or no.
(Yes, I know Lost is lame, when I say mind blowing I'm talking about the image quality, not the show itself.)
Well, for me personally, I have a DLP projector (NEC LT240K) in my home theater, connected to my HTPC, and the projector takes VGA in, so it's a no-brainer. Sorry, that's probably not a very helpful answer.
Do a little research on Mr. Piquepaille and you'll find out that this is his standard MO:
1) Plagiarize a story about technology written elsewhere; re-package it and post it on his site
2) Submit story to Slashdot in order to drive huge number of hits to his site
3) Sell ads to web advertisers
4) Profit!
Imagine a nurse telling a diabetic how to make an insulin injection while being far away from him.
Sorry, but I'm having trouble imagining a person who is too poor or too remotely located to be able to visit a nurse in person, but somehow has access to a state-of-the-art tele-immersion VR whatsit.
I don't mind a cold office if it's also cold outside. This means that a) I will have brought warm clothes with me anyway and b) they aren't wasting as much energy heating the place.
What drives me crazy is when it's 90 degrees outside and they have the A/C cranked so low that I have to wear gloves inside to keep my hands from aching. This is just nuts, and it seems to be the case in every office I've ever worked in. We don't need to waste so much energy refrigerating ourselves during the summer!
Really? Hmmm. Then let give give you some advice. If you don't mean to be offensive, try to avoid posting insulting, absurd generalizations about Americans or anyone else. I suppose that in turn I could go on a rant about German tourists in America (don't get me started) or some other jingoistic nonsense like yours, but what would be the point, except to be offensive?
If you're a pasty white American caucasian like myself, good luck blending in pretty much anywhere except Europe.
China, India, Central America - Forget It. You will stand out like sore thumb, and baring plastic surgery and/or radical makeovers, there is nothing you can do about it. The best you can do is be as conscious and as modest as possible about your glaring conspicuousness.
The scientific method relies heavily on Occam's razor
Does it, though? I thought the scientific method is simply: 1) observe some phenomenon, 2) formulate a theory to explain the phenomenon, 3) use your new theory to predict somethign else, then 4) conduct an experiment to see if your prediction is true. Carry on from there. There's no room in there for evaluating a theory's validity based on its relative simplicity.
Occam's razor is more of a rhetorical device, used by scientists (or anyone) when debating a theory (e.g. God created The World) that cannot (currently) be verified using the scientific method.
One could argue that the whole notion that outcomes of events beyond one's control can be influenced via prayer hasn't been particularly helpful towards mankind. Maybe it makes people feel hope in the face of hopelessness. Or maybe putting one's faith in the hands of a supernatural process distracts people from doing more practical, constructive things instead.
Anyway, I said one *could* argue it. I'm not prepared to actually do that.:)
The most fascinating thing about of this series is the fact that the Cyclons are now human
I just could not possibly disagree more. As other posters have pointed out, the fact that the Cyclons are now human is not fascinating. Evil-robots-disguised-as-people is the most tired, recycled sci-fi plot cliche imaginable. It ruined the mini for me and I certainly will not be watching the series.
It's too bad because everything else about the mini seemed pretty well done for a TV show. Although, I predict that the "shakey camera" effect used in the space battles, pioneered on Firefly, where it was cool the first time, is going to become the next bullet time.
I agree this seems nit-picky, but the misuse of "architect" is actually only the tip of the iceberg. This article is so chock full of misued words, awkward sentence construction, and serious grammar problems I found it distracting and difficult to read. I guess this is what they mean when the liberal arts folks deplore the poor writing skills of many geeks. This guy really needs an editor. And when he mentioned that he is also writing a book, I just shuddered.
Anyone know how much space a show recorder in HDTV actually takes up? I'd be curious... With the increase in resolution must come MUCH larger file sizes...
Several TV shows in HDTV have been available on BitTorrent for a while now...er, or so I've heard anyway. Encoded with Divx, they take about 350 megs per 1 hour show minus the commercials, and are pretty good quality.
Not 100% sure, but I think you might want to look up "diatribe." I don't think it means what you think it means. Unless by "this diatribe" you are referring to this Slashdot thread and not the plots of Star Trek episodes.
What? Like the "forcefield-invented-by-Reed" episode, or the "Phase-Cannons-invented-by-Tucker" episode? Yeah, there was a lot of potential there, but B&B pissed it away.
Exactly. There was also the episode where Reed almost invents "Red Alert" with "Reed Alert" but instead winds up with "Tactical Alert." They give you these tidbits, which should be these exciting looks at the pivotal moments in the history of Federation technology, but instead of building on them any further they just stagnate or get dropped, never to be seen again.
By God, it would have been cool to see them plotting the trajectory of each warhead, and sweating bullets as each enemy torpedo barely missed!
Wait, now you're asking for realism in Star Trek. That's just crazy talk! For that matter, the missiles should be launched long before the other ships are ever in visual range. Heck for decades navy warships have been firing their weapons at targets that are way over the horizon. We'd lose the excitement of the dog fight, and instead get something more like Das Boot in space. Which I'm not saying wouldn't be cool.
Slashdot Mirror
Uhhh...huh? Since GPS units don't broadcast, they only receive, how can you hear them?
Or are you referring only to the low-level RF interference generated by any unshielded electronic device?
I posted the same link to the same trailer right here a full 8 minutes before this guy...and he gets a +4 and I'm still languishing at 1. How does that work?
He was featured in what could possibly be the funniest movie trailer ever, for the movie Comedian about Jerry Seinfeld. I almost pissed myself.
(Yes, I know Lost is lame, when I say mind blowing I'm talking about the image quality, not the show itself.)
Well, for me personally, I have a DLP projector (NEC LT240K) in my home theater, connected to my HTPC, and the projector takes VGA in, so it's a no-brainer. Sorry, that's probably not a very helpful answer.
BitTorrent. The world is my TiVo.
Heh, reminds me of a Foxtrot cartoon from a few years ago:
Brother: what are you supposed to be?
Jason: An imac.
Brother: What's so scary about an imac?
Jason (in spooky voice): I have no floppy drive! I HAVE NO FLOPPY DRIVE!!!
Brother: aiiigh!
1) Plagiarize a story about technology written elsewhere; re-package it and post it on his site
2) Submit story to Slashdot in order to drive huge number of hits to his site
3) Sell ads to web advertisers
4) Profit!
Sorry, but I'm having trouble imagining a person who is too poor or too remotely located to be able to visit a nurse in person, but somehow has access to a state-of-the-art tele-immersion VR whatsit.
What drives me crazy is when it's 90 degrees outside and they have the A/C cranked so low that I have to wear gloves inside to keep my hands from aching. This is just nuts, and it seems to be the case in every office I've ever worked in. We don't need to waste so much energy refrigerating ourselves during the summer!
Really? Hmmm. Then let give give you some advice. If you don't mean to be offensive, try to avoid posting insulting, absurd generalizations about Americans or anyone else. I suppose that in turn I could go on a rant about German tourists in America (don't get me started) or some other jingoistic nonsense like yours, but what would be the point, except to be offensive?
If you're a pasty white American caucasian like myself, good luck blending in pretty much anywhere except Europe.
China, India, Central America - Forget It. You will stand out like sore thumb, and baring plastic surgery and/or radical makeovers, there is nothing you can do about it. The best you can do is be as conscious and as modest as possible about your glaring conspicuousness.
This is what I'd like to see, more scientists making more fun plots and graphs like this for me to look at.
Let the "the server melted" and "I guess they needed a better firewall" jokes begin...
OK, so maybe it's just dark there at 6:40 am.
Does it, though? I thought the scientific method is simply: 1) observe some phenomenon, 2) formulate a theory to explain the phenomenon, 3) use your new theory to predict somethign else, then 4) conduct an experiment to see if your prediction is true. Carry on from there. There's no room in there for evaluating a theory's validity based on its relative simplicity.
Occam's razor is more of a rhetorical device, used by scientists (or anyone) when debating a theory (e.g. God created The World) that cannot (currently) be verified using the scientific method.
Anyway, I said one *could* argue it. I'm not prepared to actually do that. :)
Those are hefty requirements? Just about any Windows box sold in the last 4 years would meet these requirements.
Guess I've been living under a rock!
Meanwhile, when Vernor Vinge talks about the future, I sit up and listen. Er, read. Whatever.
I just could not possibly disagree more. As other posters have pointed out, the fact that the Cyclons are now human is not fascinating. Evil-robots-disguised-as-people is the most tired, recycled sci-fi plot cliche imaginable. It ruined the mini for me and I certainly will not be watching the series.
It's too bad because everything else about the mini seemed pretty well done for a TV show. Although, I predict that the "shakey camera" effect used in the space battles, pioneered on Firefly, where it was cool the first time, is going to become the next bullet time.
What a concept!
I agree this seems nit-picky, but the misuse of "architect" is actually only the tip of the iceberg. This article is so chock full of misued words, awkward sentence construction, and serious grammar problems I found it distracting and difficult to read. I guess this is what they mean when the liberal arts folks deplore the poor writing skills of many geeks. This guy really needs an editor. And when he mentioned that he is also writing a book, I just shuddered.
Several TV shows in HDTV have been available on BitTorrent for a while now...er, or so I've heard anyway. Encoded with Divx, they take about 350 megs per 1 hour show minus the commercials, and are pretty good quality.
Agreed.
Who the hell was writing this diatribe?
Not 100% sure, but I think you might want to look up "diatribe." I don't think it means what you think it means. Unless by "this diatribe" you are referring to this Slashdot thread and not the plots of Star Trek episodes.
Exactly. There was also the episode where Reed almost invents "Red Alert" with "Reed Alert" but instead winds up with "Tactical Alert." They give you these tidbits, which should be these exciting looks at the pivotal moments in the history of Federation technology, but instead of building on them any further they just stagnate or get dropped, never to be seen again.
By God, it would have been cool to see them plotting the trajectory of each warhead, and sweating bullets as each enemy torpedo barely missed!
Wait, now you're asking for realism in Star Trek. That's just crazy talk! For that matter, the missiles should be launched long before the other ships are ever in visual range. Heck for decades navy warships have been firing their weapons at targets that are way over the horizon. We'd lose the excitement of the dog fight, and instead get something more like Das Boot in space. Which I'm not saying wouldn't be cool.