December 2008 Archives
December 31, 2008 11:05 PM
Apparently here in Scotland, New Year's (or "Hogmanay" as it is called) is celebrated moreso than Christmas. Because I am a partial recluse who thinks that automatically associating with a culture just because it's the one you were born into is absurd, this boggles my brains, but Happy New Year all the same (or should that be "Merry New Year").
I said this back at the end of 2007:
Hey, guess what, I was right! 2008 has been fantastic! Well, maybe not the part where both of my remaining grandparents died, but hey, you take the good with the bad. What happened in this year? Well, Warner Home Video ended the high-def format war, I received a box of Digital Betacam cassettes which turned into a nice little DVD release, my Xbox 360 broke, I helped Oppo get their DVD Player firmware working correctly, I got a projection screen, I finished my student film then got told it was getting submitted for a BAFTA award, I graduated University, I bought a High-def camcorder to tide me over until the RED Scarlet is out, Sony sent me to IFA again, I bought a major, much-more-expensive-than-planned audio upgrade to my fairly pathetic setup, my Xbox 360 broke AGAIN and I gave up on the platform and Microsoft's hardware, I bought a Macintosh (hmm, aren't those last two an interesting combination?), an intelligent person was elected president of the United States, I went to JVC UK for ISF training, and finally, I got ISF Certified, satisfying the 85% cutoff with a 97% score.
Whew. Oh, and my first DVD title appeared on the market, which people (including the director) were very, very, very delighted with. All I will say on that front is that there are big plans for 2009 along the same lines, because there are a lot of small (and large) labels out there who really need help with this stuff. And, I plan to be behind the camera as well as behind the restoration/encoding/authoring workstation.
Have fun everyone!
Oh, does anyone still do New Year's Resolutions? One of mine is to post here more. I was just reading through the 2008 archive and it sort of dried up a little. This basically is the result of me spending most of my time doing things I can't talk about too openly (that's working on movies, not anything sinister, yikes!). More in 09. I promise.
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1 commentsDecember 25, 2008 11:10 PM
And there was me thinking this Christmas would be a little duller than last years. What did you all get?
I got a BD-RE drive, a stack of blank discs, a copy of Blu-ray Disc Demystified, and a hefty cheque from a deceased relative. Hmmm. That is a potentially very interesting combination of gifts. (Disclaimer: I am not currently authoring any BD titles and there are none planned, so don't cancel your SD DVD orders).
I also got Dead Space for PS3 (which is great and sounds absolutely wonderful), Okami for Wii (which didn't arrive yet), and speaker cable so I could finally bi-amp my Left and Right Monitor Audio RS6s. I managed to cut the cable just too short, so that everyone who enters the room is going to trip up, ha ha.
I'm either going to stay up all night playing Shenmue, figuring out how to author BDMV discs for many years into the future, or finish up this DVD project (L'important c'est d'aimer looms ahead). Or go to bed early and hit the Boxing Day sales tomorrow. Adios!
December 24, 2008 3:13 AM
Microsoft wishes me a merry Christmas
Microsoft just sent me this email. Apparently the Xbox team wishes me Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and all the rest of that stuff.
As a matter of fact, I will be having a very, very merry Christmas indeed. Here's why.
The Dreamcast had many revolutionary features (as well as some fantastic games). One of these is called "reliability". This thing is 9 years old and still turns on. There you go, Microsoft - something you can aspire to for the new year.
Oh, a free gift? What do I get? A third red ring on my 360 so I'm allowed to get a free repair? A discount coupon for some money off your oh-so-generous repair price?
Christmas Cheer coming tomorrow, I promise!
December 16, 2008 3:28 AM
I promised to keep readers up to date with reviews of stuff over at AVForums! Well, this is your lucky day.
- Panasonic TH-65VX100 Professional PDP Monitor (video coming soon)
- LG 42LG7000 LCD HDTV | Video Review
Apparently, there is this festival called Christmas in.... NINE days. Am I the only one who forgot?
December 14, 2008 10:29 PM
Lyris Lite reader demographic data
While I was Googling around, I found this over at Quantcast.com. I don't know how the information is gathered, but it gave me a giggle.
588,424 RANK. NO ADS.
This site reaches fewer than 2000 U.S. monthly people. The site attracts a slightly female slanted, teen following.
Damn it. I knew giving away free Hannah Montana T-shirts to readers was a bad idea.
December 5, 2008 9:51 PM
My credit card has been blocked
I have to call my bank tomorrow morning to lift a block that's been placed on my credit card. Why is there a block on my credit card? Because, on December the 1st, I spent £15 buying the MPEG-2 Playback Component for QuickTime from Apple Computer. A potential for massive fraud, and a reason to immediately block the card, I am sure you will agree.
I don't know, I guess my bank must be shocked beyond belief that I'm buying Mac software or something. I am still a little bit shaken.
December 4, 2008 4:25 PM
Yesterday afternoon I woke up and learned that I had passed Imaging Science Foundation Certification. The ISF exam is a series of about 105 questions, some multiple choice, some essay, and you need 85% correct to pass (making the cutoff even tighter than a New Line DVD*). Some of the questions appeared to be quite sneakily worded, as well.
I passed with a score of 96%. In fact, I disagree with one of the corrected answers (which sometimes happens), so I am going to try and argue my case for 96.5% or 97%. Because I am like that.
* (OK, that should be roll-off, not cut-off, but it made me snort with chuckles).
