Monthly Archives: July 2011

Are movies getting worse?

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

One of the four blogs I read nearly every day is that of the good professor William M Briggs, Statistician. He hits nearly all the right buttons for me. Moderately and thoughtfully conservative, and a great proponent of the view … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Giveaway | 5 Comments

Disproving cable claims?

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

A while back I wrote to the Australian Skeptics regarding its $100,000 prize. It offers this to anyone who can prove capable, under agreed protocols, to perform some actual paranormal task. For example, divining water, moving stuff through the power … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, Imperfect perception, Mysticism | 2 Comments

How 3D TV Works

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

[This was published in Sound and Image magazine last year] In one sense, the developers of Blu-ray 3D had it easy. They were allowed invent a new video standard, essentially doubling the amount of video data compared to standard Blu-ray. … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D, DTV, HDTV, How Things Work, Page | Leave a comment

Kogan repeating its HDMI cable giveaway in UK

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

Earlier this year Kogan was giving away HDMI cables to people who had purchased a TV from JB HiFi. Looks like it’s repeating the trick in the UK.

Posted in Cables, HDMI | Leave a comment

Thank you Microsoft

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

For sucking six hours of productivity out of my life. It turns out that if you install a smaller MS Office package over a larger one, using the default settings, the extra bits of your old installation get zapped. Oh, … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer | 10 Comments

Metropolis … Reconstructed … Restored … Blu-ray

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

Metropolis is one of those movies the absence of which necessarily renders any movie collection incomplete. It may not be all that enjoyable, but it is important, and should be familiar to any film buff. Especially in the most complete … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details, DVD, Giveaway | 3 Comments

The Sharp Edge of the Gladiator

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Stephen Dawson

Do you have Gladiator on Blu-ray? You should, but only if you get the correct one. The original release was deeply unimpressive. The remastered version, gorgeous. Why the difference? Here’s a clue (original left, remaster right): How do you tell … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details, DVD | 2 Comments