Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

Hey, variable chapters

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

I’m checking out the Blu-ray of the epic disaster movie 2012 and exploring the special extras (more on this later). One of these is a Bonusview PIP commentary feature. You have to select this specially to play, rather than just … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details | Leave a comment

Oppo benefits from Lexicon’s discomfiture?

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Presumably Oppo makes a nice dollar or two out of selling  the guts of Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray players to Lexicon, to which the latter affixes aluminium fronts and backs and resells for seven times as much as the BDP-83. But yesterday … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Equipment | Leave a comment

S-Video, going the way of the Dodo

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

I’m presently reviewing the new Yamaha RX-V2065 home theatre receiver. One of the first things I do, before even plugging in a receiver, is put it on my desk and count up the inputs and outputs and other connections. I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, Equipment | 1 Comment

Blu-ray layer rot?

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

The other night one of my daughters wanted to watch The Godfather: Part II with a friend. All was going very nicely until 1:42:32 into the movie, when it became a stillie. The picture froze for a minute or so, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray | 4 Comments

Digital TV Station timers

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Over the past week or so my PVR has been showing incorrect times on its display. That means that it has an incorrect time in its memory, which in turn means that it will fire itself up to record stuff … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV | 2 Comments

Homeopathy vs Science

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Nice optical illusion. Nice discussion. Nice bit of web programming. Definitely worth a look. Via Yet another weird SF fan.

Posted in Imperfect perception, Mysticism | Leave a comment

DVD on Demand

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

I just received an advertisement from Amazon.com for the DVD of The Strange Love Of Molly Louvain. Pretty expensive at $US26.99. But it turns out this isn’t an off-the-shelf product. It is supplied on DVD-R. If you purchase it, they … Continue reading →

Posted in CD, DVD | Leave a comment

Dog Day Afternoon: Blu-ray vs DVD

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Another top notch movie from the 70s, the Blu-ray is a little grainy, but kills the DVD for what’s happening on the screen. Go here for the comparison, and here’s a sample (DVD to left, Blu-ray to right):

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details, DVD | Leave a comment

Computers – then and now (kind of)

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

I just found this table, which was an accompaniment to a piece I wrote for a magazine back in 2004. Obviously seven years later the ‘Now’ computer has improved even more, although not that much in raw clock speed. Year … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer | Leave a comment

Is there anybody out there?

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

To use a line from Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Would readers be so kind as to whack in a tiny comment to this post, just to say something like ‘I do.’ So far I know of only about six or … Continue reading →

Posted in Admin | 30 Comments