Abraxas

Wibby and I have been having this discussion on another forum about the relative merits of Sony's Blu-Ray vs. Toshiba's HD-DVD specification. I'll be the first to admit that Blu-Ray is the technically superior format, with greater storage capability being only one of its relative merits. However, just as in the bad old days of VHS vs. Beta, being best isn't the only side of the issue. Toshiba was first to market by about a year, and is now on a generation 2.5 series of machines, with a substantial reduction in unit cost per machine. I bought the Toshiba HD-A2 model online for $375 from Beach Camera, which included free ground shipping and no tax (I love the internet). The Sony machines were a year late to market, along with the PS3, due to a claimed shortage of blue LED's. Oddly enough, Phillips NV, who also makes Blu Ray machines, has no such problem, and the first generation combo Blu-ray/HD-DVD players don't even need it, so that argument can be dismissed as ridiculous. The first generation Blu Ray machines (the current ones) were all clunky, with real performance/responsiveness problems. Toshiba had the same problem, but that was a year ago. The generation 2.5 player I bought, while slower to react than my old DVD player, is worlds faster and more responsive than the the first generation machines of either format, which you would expect as the designs are refined. Finally, we come to the real crux of the matter, and why I bought a HD-DVD player last week: Price. John or Jane Q. Public, when faced with little or no difference in picture quality, will always go for the cheaper solution. Visually, there is little to no difference in picture quality between the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players, but there is a substantial difference in price. As I already mentioned, the HD-DVD players have the benefit of being farther down a declining cost/manufacturing curve, and can be had for under $400, if you look carefully (mine included an offer for 3 free HD DVD movies). The cheapest Blu Ray player I've seen is the Sony PS3, which has issues of its own, but can be had for $600 (if you can find it). I have seen the defective Samsung first generation machine advertised in some locations in the $550 range, but be prepared to handle a firmware upgrade to get it to work correctly (the firmware settings are overfiltering the signal, removing picture detail, meaning it looks about the same as a $100 upconverting DVD player), something it has in common with the PS3 according to reports from PS3 users. Most Blu Ray machines cost something north of $900 each. If Sony wants to stay in this business, they need to get a cost competitive player on the market, and soon. There are some combo format players starting to hit the market, the first, from LG, costs over $1000. Too rich for my blood. Still, this may be the way forward, since the various studios seem to be hardening their positions behind their respective format choice. Now all we need is a reasonably priced combo format player, but that's still likely a year or more away (I define reasonable as something in the $350 range). Warner Brothers (if I remember correctly) is proposing a new disc format that would have Blu-Ray on one isde, and HD-DVD on the other, another smart compromise, but so far, they're the only studio getting behind the idea. I sat down in front of my 65 inch Mitsubishi DLP set last night and watched Serenity and Sahara in HD DVD...and it was awesome. I can't wait to get it hooked up to the surround system, but am waiting to for the optical interconnect cable to arrive (it costs too much in the stores, like $45-55 for a three foot cable, which is ridiculous). Anyway, the point is this: whichever format you support, we've finally got dvd players on the market whose picture quality can, at last, take advantage of a 1080p TV set. Happy viewing! Abraxas

Excellent video! A friend and I are building new systems...state of the art, dual core processors, screaming top of the line graphics card, lots of memory, and huge hard drives in a RAID configuration. He loaded first, thank God, and got to experience the joys of Vista. Even with fully approved hardware, Vista couldn't find the hard drive controller, and required new drivers to be manually installed for just about everything. Needless to say, I'll be loading a copy of XP Professional.... What a kludge....avoid Vista at all costs at LEAST until service pack 1 arrives, and longer if possible. Abraxas

Thanks guys, that pretty much confirms my thinking, but I was asked so thought I'd ask around. Abraxas

So, I'm not trying to be insulting, but I think you should take the time to read the entire article. Why is microsoft taking all HD content streams, reducing the resolution of them, then upconverting the lower resolution stream? This is in playback mode, not when attempting to rip the content! What possible use could this have other than to piss off Vista's users? One of my co-workers bought the Zune, and I agree it's a P.O.S. The point though, is that the Zune DRM works through and in conjunction with Vista and the new media player software. This is especially true if you download content from microsoft. There are a number of other issues in the article besides the DRM that should be raising peoples hackles. I'm not one of those who reflexively bashes anything from Redmond. I've been, for the most part, very happy with XP and Office 2000 and 2003. Having said that, I REALLY think microsoft screwed the proverbial pooch with this one. Still, time will tell. Abraxas

Hey! This question is related to my earlier post. Does anyone know if games written for the MAC OS X (which I believe is a linux based system) will run in a linux envorinment on a PC? Just trying to sort out my options with Vista looking like such a dog. Abraxas

I'm in the process of building a new system for home and was doing my homework on operating systems when a friend sent me a link to the article you can read by following the link below. Needless to say, when this information is compiled with everything else I've read, it looks like it will be a cold day in he** before I buy Windows Vista as currently configured. I don't think Linux is an option since I have software compatibility issues with work, meaning I have to stay with a microscrew OS, especially since no-one writes game software for Linux (that I'm aware of anyway). Looks like I need to run out and get a copy of XP 64 before Gates and Ballmer take it off the market. Microsoft is undermining everything we have become accustomed to with PC's by, essentially, closing down the traditionally open architecture of the PC with all this blasted DRM. If there was one person in the world who could have brought this DRM nonsense to its knee's, it was Bill Gates, and he's caved to the interests of the Hollywood studios. Don't believe me? Read on by following the link below. It is one of the more thorough and damning reviews I've seen yet. Warning: it is a long article. Or, you can run out and join those rushing to drink the kool-aid. Abraxas, NCE, IEEE Link to An Analysis of the Costs of Windows Vista

Okay, the publisher made the official announcement today. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be available July 21st. I can hardly wait! Abraxas

As the wizard in The Princess Bride pointed out; He's Only MOSTLY Dead, Which is a Completely Different Thing... Abraxas

Maybe I should save my pennies and go see Daniel in Equus...London is one of my favorite cities and I don't really need much of an excuse to go back! Hmmm.... Abraxas

IF the story hits the store July 7th, July the 8th will be spent on my couch with good music playing in the background, my cell phone turned off, and the ringers off on my regular phone while I read my way through the last installment. Since we've not heard anything regarding a publishers date so far, I seriously doubt we'll be seeing it then. Still, my gut tells me that Pecman and Wibby are right: Dumbledore will show up fine in the last book. Further, I suspect that Snape will turn out to be one of the good guys after all (even if he is an evil git). I'm not so sure about Sirius Black... Here's looking forward to reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Abraxas

Pecman; Thanks for the update. It's great to hear that Nick is writing again and I look forward to seeing some new material from him. I'll drop him an e-mail when I get a minute. Regards; Abraxas

So I'd like to inject some current experience to this discussion. I have a story, posted on another site, that is listed under my real name. It's basically what could be categorized "fan-fic" in a round about sort of way. Most folks who have read and commented on the story have left positive comments, even when pointing out issues with my logic, etc. On the other hand, one left a comment that could be best categorized as threatinging, while another left a direct death threat. As a result, the Abraxas pen name was born. I'd agree with Graeme's comments. Anything you do on the web leaves 'fingerprints' for lack of a better term, and those fingerprints are associated with either your real name, or your pen name. Given that there are people on the web who most definitely fit the profile of "Nut Job", you should really give some thought to how vulnerable you make yourself if you post under your real name. At this point in time, there is no benefit to changing things on my other story, but I learned my lesson and will never post anything online with my "real" name ever again. The overwhelming majority of those reading our stories are good people, who will, at worst leave some constructive criticism and at best leave some words of praise for what we've struggled to develop and publish to the web. There are, however, that small minority who make it dangerous for us to be as candid as we would prefer. Like Des, I have faith in the good will of most people. It's the minority nut jobs we need to be concerned about. My two cents... Abraxas

Math is Sexy NOT!!

Speaking for myself, I hope he sues over this. Further, I hope he wins. In my view, this is a simple case of protected political speech: the right to speak out against something a person feels is wrong. Not all speech is protected: there is no such thing as a right to absolute free speech. A right to free speech cannot be construed to give a person the right to start a riot with inflamatory language, or shout "Fire" in a crowded room for example. In this case, however, this man has an opinion that is perfectly legal, hurts no-one, advocates no harm to anyone and if it irritates someone who thinks George Bush is a great leader, so be it. Most of the world now knows George Bush for the arrogant fool that he is. Back when the Ayatollah Khomeni decried Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, and ordered all good Muslims to kill him, I had a custom T-shirt of my own made up, one that I wore practically everywhere. It had a bunch of books on the front, with titles that had been banned here in America, and other places, including such literary classics as Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Slaughterhouse Five, Catcher in the Rye, and in front, with pride of place, The Satanic Verses. The banner on the shirt read: I Read Banned Books I submit that a little dissent is not only healthy in our western civilizations, I am convinced that it is essential to our very survival as free people. Those who would like to hide inconvienient truths in the shadows are the same people who would take our liberties away: not because it is necessary, but because it is easy. Democracy isn't easy. Its messy, argumentative, and on some issues, downright divisive, but it works and works best when people remove their heads from the sand and stand up for what they believe. Liberties are things that must be earned; must be defended. Ben Franklin, and others, have been credited as having said: Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. I might wish things were different and that this man didn't need to wear his shirt, but I fully support his right to do so. Abraxas

Thread Hijacking Alert!!! Pecman; I have a sidebar question, since you know and are friends with Nick Archer. Is he on hiatus? Burned out? Just plain fed up with writing? I've been checking back at Archerland regularly for quite a while and it seems that nothing has changed on the site in over a year. Nick's an excellent writer, and I look forward to seeing more of his work, as well as several of the writers on his site. I'd be interested in anything you can share... Abraxas We now return you to your original thread.

I'd like to add a couple of reference books that I've read and found useful. First, I keep three standard books at hand when I'm writing: Roget's Thesaurus Websters Collegiate Dictionary Macmillans Dictionary of Quotations I need, badly, to add a copy of the OED as well. It just never rises to the top of my budgeting priorities. Since most of what I write is Fantasy or Sci Fi, I'd like to include the following. They were short, informative, useful, and entertaining. One of them had me laughing out loud on a flight to New York... How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Orson Scott Card (yes, that one) Characters and Viewpoint, also by the hugo and nebula award winner, Orson Scott Card Finally, a friend recommended: The Writer's Journey (2nd edition) by Christopher Vogler. This one references movies and their characters to make its points, and is more intended for people writing screenplays, but is an interesting read. Abraxas

Dude; While I'm sad that you didn't get the response you wanted, there is upside. You've now probably got one awesome collection of mp3 files! Thanks for trying. Regards; Abraxas

Another foolish position brought to you by the purveyors of 'Intelligent Design', 'Creationism', 'Abstinence', and the 'public morality department' of the right wing. The Bush adminsitration has hit a new low....althought to be honest, after reading the topic title, I was wondering if Bush had decided to classify the age of the Grand Canyon...after all, they've classified everything else. What a bunch of complete Morons! Abraxas

To be honest, my solution to telemarketers is a very simple and straightforward. I just turn the ringers off on the phones. The only people I'm willing to talk to have my cell number, and know to call that one. Abraxas

ROFLMAO!!! Tune in for the latest hit on LOGO TV, Queer guy for the straight twink! Brought to you by James Savik Productions! Abraxas

Well, I'll agree with the bigger part..... Still, here's my wishes for the very best of 2007 for everyone here at AwesomeDude! Abraxas

Don't forget the great Twinkie scare from a number of years back! Personally, I was fed goats milk as an infant, soy products (and regular milk) made this little baby boy engage in projectile vomiting.... There goes that theory, brought to you by the same people who invented creationism and intelligent design. Some people will believe anything. Abraxas