Monthly Archives: July 2011

Are movies getting worse?

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?

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

[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

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

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

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

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