Is it me, or has it become nearly impossible to distinguish a garden-variety Libertarian, from a typical Militia member?:
January 2010 Archives
An Australian friend hipped me to this web site, today, so I thought that I would share it with you. I have seen many logical arguments that argued against the existence of god, but no reasoning so cogent, and air-tight as this. I dare say the reasoning is almost diabolical.
I am not trying to put words into their mouths, but it goes something like this. The given in their proof is that miracles, and answered prayers only seem to happen in places where coincidence and ambiguity also seem to exist. For example, if you have bi-pass surgery to repair your heart, you might pray to god to wake up from the surgery and be well. OK, you wake up, and are well. I would argue that it was the skilled surgeon and medical technology that cured you, and you might argue it was the prayer. This is one of those examples where there is the potential for ambiguity and coincidence.
Now lets take the example of the double amputee who just got back from serving his country in some war. Since medical science is incapable of growing limbs at this time, there is no room for ambiguity here. If you pray to god to restore this soldier's legs, and when they wake up in the morning with real, functioning legs, there would be little option for a person like me to conclude anything other than that a miracle had taken place. Yet we have thousands of these soldiers, and people pray for them every day, and there has never been one recorded example of limbs suddenly appearing.
Since we know that god is all-knowing, perfect, perfectly just, loves everyone perfectly and equally, and we know this because the bible tells us so, then we are only left with one of two conclusions.
Either there is no god, or god hates amputees. But the latter conclusion contradicts everything we've ever been told, so we are only left with the other. There is no god.
Anyway, check out their site. The logic is inescapable, and the site is very entertaining.
Why Won't God Heal Amputees?
I am not trying to put words into their mouths, but it goes something like this. The given in their proof is that miracles, and answered prayers only seem to happen in places where coincidence and ambiguity also seem to exist. For example, if you have bi-pass surgery to repair your heart, you might pray to god to wake up from the surgery and be well. OK, you wake up, and are well. I would argue that it was the skilled surgeon and medical technology that cured you, and you might argue it was the prayer. This is one of those examples where there is the potential for ambiguity and coincidence.
Now lets take the example of the double amputee who just got back from serving his country in some war. Since medical science is incapable of growing limbs at this time, there is no room for ambiguity here. If you pray to god to restore this soldier's legs, and when they wake up in the morning with real, functioning legs, there would be little option for a person like me to conclude anything other than that a miracle had taken place. Yet we have thousands of these soldiers, and people pray for them every day, and there has never been one recorded example of limbs suddenly appearing.
Since we know that god is all-knowing, perfect, perfectly just, loves everyone perfectly and equally, and we know this because the bible tells us so, then we are only left with one of two conclusions.
Either there is no god, or god hates amputees. But the latter conclusion contradicts everything we've ever been told, so we are only left with the other. There is no god.
Anyway, check out their site. The logic is inescapable, and the site is very entertaining.
Why Won't God Heal Amputees?
Hollywood, like any other big business culture, is driven entirely by the profit motive. They often make unneeded movie sequels, when they think they will generate income for the studio. Typically these are films that I do not think need to be made. Additionally, they are rarely films that I would choose to see. Exceptions to this include The Godfather II, and Aliens, the sequel to Alien.
That said, however, there are film sequels that I would like to see made, and hopefully some decision-maker in Hollywood will read this, and consider my ideas.
I was a big fan of the film My Cousin Vinny, and think that if made properly, a sequel about Vinny's law career could be very funny.
I would love to see a short film from John Hughes about the conversation that Cameron had with his dad, upon his return home, after the Ferrari was demolished, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Another potentially interesting film would be a film about Rose's mother from Titanic, after not being reunited with her daughter, and having to make her way through life.
So how about it, Hollywood? Let's start thinking a little outside the box, before you decide to green-light Rocky XIII or the next Home Alone sequel.
That said, however, there are film sequels that I would like to see made, and hopefully some decision-maker in Hollywood will read this, and consider my ideas.
I was a big fan of the film My Cousin Vinny, and think that if made properly, a sequel about Vinny's law career could be very funny.
I would love to see a short film from John Hughes about the conversation that Cameron had with his dad, upon his return home, after the Ferrari was demolished, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Another potentially interesting film would be a film about Rose's mother from Titanic, after not being reunited with her daughter, and having to make her way through life.
So how about it, Hollywood? Let's start thinking a little outside the box, before you decide to green-light Rocky XIII or the next Home Alone sequel.
If something doesn't make sense to you, question it.
I think the Murphy Bed needs to make a comeback.
Yesterday, I went to see the annual toy train show at beautiful Union Station, right here in scenic Utica, New York.I actually think that I've been to every one. You are probably wondering how that is that possible, considering that I don't even like trains. Well, it's because my father has been putting on this show, for the Toy Train Collectors Society since day one. My dad has always been a collector of Lionel Electric Trains, and since the mid-1970's, when we discovered that Lionel actually had never gone out of business, my dad has been very active in the train collecting scene. He started collecting again, joined all of the clubs, and became very active with the regional TTCS club, eventually deciding to have a toy train collector's show, right here in Utica.
I may not be much of a fan of toy trains, but I do enjoy taking the train into NY City, whenever I have to go to the city, and I do enjoy visiting Union Station. Completed in 1914, Union Station is one of the classic early Art-Deco railroad stations, filled with scads of beautifully decorated plaster ornamentation, and marble. It still has the long benches that have held many a traveler over the last ninety years, and also still has the old-fashioned Barber Shop, that has been there since the beginning.
The original restaurant is no longer there, but I can assure you that it was very cool. It had a very large oval, marble counter, with fixed, oak stools, a brass foot-rail all of the way around the circumference, and served classic diner fare. That space has been remodeled many times over the years, and has been occupied by many restaurants. The current occupant is the host of the Halloween Party that I go to every year.
The train show has been very successful for three decades, bringing in serious collectors, interested onlookers, and people who just want to relive the good old days, within the confines of an ideal backdrop.
I grew tired of trains in my early teens, but really do enjoy going to the show, taking in the sights and sounds, and people-watching. Two years ago, I even recorded a few segments for my Podcast there, and played them on the program.
If you are local, and haven't been to the show yet, you really should take the time to check it out.
I would rather have the government running the corporations, over the corporations running the government, ten out of ten times.
Remember those days? When everything was good, everyone was happy, and everything worked? Well right now I am longing for them.
I am certain that everyone that you ask about the Good Old Days, will give you a different answer on what exactly they were, but for me, right now, they are about the days when products were not manufactured with built-in obsolescence. Or at the very least, were built with better quality.
Why am I longing for these days-of-yore, you ask? Because my Samsung LCD TV died, today. If I had to guess, I would say that the problem is simply a bad relay, and is probably quite readily fixable for a reasonable amount of money, but that's not the point. I paid top-dollar for a top-shelf TV, and expect top-shelf quality.
In the Good Old Days, my dad built a Heathkit console-style, color TV, and it lasted for thirty years, without so much as a hiccup. Sure, occasionally one of those fire-breathing vacuum-tubes would have to be replaced, but get this, you could test and buy those at any decent drug store, and you could replace them yourself. Now you have to pay $50, minimum, to shake a technician's hand, ultimately to find out that you have to actually pay $200 to replace the main logic-board, because electronic devices today really don't have replaceable parts, like my dad's Heathkit TV did, in the Good Old Days.
My Dad will occasionally spin yarns about The Good Old days, when manufacturers would crimp, and solder connections, making them fairly bullet-proof. Today, you're lucky if you get a second-rate crimp, from a grossly underpaid, ill-treated employee, who could not really care less about whether or not your TV dies one day out of factory warranty.
Sure, I recognize that a 1080p HD TV, is way cooler than my dad's twenty-five-inch, color console TV, but sometimes I am not so certain that these 'advances' are worth it. It will probably be one month before I see my TV again, if they can fix it at all, and it might cost a lot of money. The good news is that I did buy the extended warranty, so hopefully this will all be taken care of at no cost to me.
In any case, this would all be so much easier if I could go down to one of many local shops, buy a vacuum tube, and put it in, myself, but I can't. I'm told that they call this progress.
Ah well. Now where the heck is my record player??
I am certain that everyone that you ask about the Good Old Days, will give you a different answer on what exactly they were, but for me, right now, they are about the days when products were not manufactured with built-in obsolescence. Or at the very least, were built with better quality.
Why am I longing for these days-of-yore, you ask? Because my Samsung LCD TV died, today. If I had to guess, I would say that the problem is simply a bad relay, and is probably quite readily fixable for a reasonable amount of money, but that's not the point. I paid top-dollar for a top-shelf TV, and expect top-shelf quality.
In the Good Old Days, my dad built a Heathkit console-style, color TV, and it lasted for thirty years, without so much as a hiccup. Sure, occasionally one of those fire-breathing vacuum-tubes would have to be replaced, but get this, you could test and buy those at any decent drug store, and you could replace them yourself. Now you have to pay $50, minimum, to shake a technician's hand, ultimately to find out that you have to actually pay $200 to replace the main logic-board, because electronic devices today really don't have replaceable parts, like my dad's Heathkit TV did, in the Good Old Days.
My Dad will occasionally spin yarns about The Good Old days, when manufacturers would crimp, and solder connections, making them fairly bullet-proof. Today, you're lucky if you get a second-rate crimp, from a grossly underpaid, ill-treated employee, who could not really care less about whether or not your TV dies one day out of factory warranty.
Sure, I recognize that a 1080p HD TV, is way cooler than my dad's twenty-five-inch, color console TV, but sometimes I am not so certain that these 'advances' are worth it. It will probably be one month before I see my TV again, if they can fix it at all, and it might cost a lot of money. The good news is that I did buy the extended warranty, so hopefully this will all be taken care of at no cost to me.
In any case, this would all be so much easier if I could go down to one of many local shops, buy a vacuum tube, and put it in, myself, but I can't. I'm told that they call this progress.
Ah well. Now where the heck is my record player??
It seems the subject of steroids in professional baseball has popped up again. This most recent flurry of activity came about when Mark McGwire admitted to having used steroids in his career, after initially implying that he did not use them, in front of Congress, several years ago.
There are so many things so say regarding this topic, that I really don't even know where to begin.
First, I will state my opinion on the matter. I feel that anyone who has admitted to having used steroids, or who can be shown to have used steroids in their careers, should automatically be banned from ever being able to get into the Hall Of Fame, and all of their records of note (Home Runs, RBIs, etc...) should be expunged from the professional record. Yes, that means that Bonds', McGwire's, and Sosa's numbers should be removed from any and every book that also has the name Roger Maris in it. Should their numbers be permanently removed from every record? No. I am not saying that we should delete them from history. Their numbers should be kept as a matter of record, but they should certainly be removed from any "All-Time" lists. In other words, Roger Maris is still the single-season, home-run record holder.
Second, I can not believe how some of the media is covering this. I am a regular watcher of a TV program on SNY called Loud Mouths. Some time ago I remember the hosts talking about steroids in baseball, and they took a phone call from a viewer. The caller cracked a joke about steroid use, and the hosts really yelled at him. They made it clear that this was deadly-serious subject-matter, not to be dealt with, in any way other than seriously.
I remember thinking that I agreed with the hosts' general point, but that they needed to lighten up a little bit. Humour is a good thing.
Fast forward to yesterday, and I am watching Loud Mouths, and steroids is the topic-du-jour, as one would expect. Hosts Adam Schein and Chris Carlin are saying that they think that guys like McGwire and Bonds should get into the Hall Of Fame, despite their steroid abuse.
Huh? What did I just hear??
We should treat the subject of steroid abuse in sports with the kind of deadly seriousness that doesn't include actual consequences for this bad behaviour?
What planet are these guys from? They are quick to assign blame for the steroid-era, and its subsequent cover-up by Commissioner Selig, but apparently want no consequences for the actual offenders.
How exactly will this kind of performance-enhancing drug-abuse stop, if there aren't real consequences?
Baseball did not handle this properly when it all came to light over the last decade or so, but they have the opportunity now, to do so. Let's hope they do.
There are so many things so say regarding this topic, that I really don't even know where to begin.
First, I will state my opinion on the matter. I feel that anyone who has admitted to having used steroids, or who can be shown to have used steroids in their careers, should automatically be banned from ever being able to get into the Hall Of Fame, and all of their records of note (Home Runs, RBIs, etc...) should be expunged from the professional record. Yes, that means that Bonds', McGwire's, and Sosa's numbers should be removed from any and every book that also has the name Roger Maris in it. Should their numbers be permanently removed from every record? No. I am not saying that we should delete them from history. Their numbers should be kept as a matter of record, but they should certainly be removed from any "All-Time" lists. In other words, Roger Maris is still the single-season, home-run record holder.
Second, I can not believe how some of the media is covering this. I am a regular watcher of a TV program on SNY called Loud Mouths. Some time ago I remember the hosts talking about steroids in baseball, and they took a phone call from a viewer. The caller cracked a joke about steroid use, and the hosts really yelled at him. They made it clear that this was deadly-serious subject-matter, not to be dealt with, in any way other than seriously.
I remember thinking that I agreed with the hosts' general point, but that they needed to lighten up a little bit. Humour is a good thing.
Fast forward to yesterday, and I am watching Loud Mouths, and steroids is the topic-du-jour, as one would expect. Hosts Adam Schein and Chris Carlin are saying that they think that guys like McGwire and Bonds should get into the Hall Of Fame, despite their steroid abuse.
Huh? What did I just hear??
We should treat the subject of steroid abuse in sports with the kind of deadly seriousness that doesn't include actual consequences for this bad behaviour?
What planet are these guys from? They are quick to assign blame for the steroid-era, and its subsequent cover-up by Commissioner Selig, but apparently want no consequences for the actual offenders.
How exactly will this kind of performance-enhancing drug-abuse stop, if there aren't real consequences?
Baseball did not handle this properly when it all came to light over the last decade or so, but they have the opportunity now, to do so. Let's hope they do.
Mark said that he wished that he had never played during the steroid era.
So it's the era's fault???
So it's the era's fault???
I have a Palm Pilot. Well, I had a Palm Pilot, but it seems that I have one again.I jumped on the PDA bandwagon right around the time when Palm released their first unit, and I bought one immediately. This would have been circa 1999. I loved the idea of being able to carry around a real computer, in my hand. It kept track of hundreds of contacts, managed my few appointments, and let me write myself notes, to help with my failing memory. The Palm also let you install those third-party applications that one current particular smart phone manufacturer likes to pretend they invented.
In time, I updated to a newer model, and I purchased my third Palm about five years ago, the Zire 31. This was my first color Palm, and I was psyched to get it. It served me faithfully for probably two years, and then one day, it didn't wake up, when I tried to power it on. I assumed the battery somehow went dead, so I plugged it into the charger, and it still wouldn't turn on. Somehow, the unit had managed to brick itself overnight, as it sat in its pouch, in my briefcase.
At this point I wasn't particularly happy. The unit was out of warranty, but it wasn't that old, and I had never abused it. I don't remember if I had contacted Palm, but I don't think that I did. I think I just wrote it off as a loss, and probably used Palm's name in vain many times. The good news was that I had always made regular backups of my data, and had those backups safely stored on one of my USB drives.
I never really ended up doing much with the backups of my data. Occasionally I would simply access them with a text editor to find a needed number, but on the whole, I simply learned to live without my Palm.
Fast forward about two years, to last night. I was chatting online with some musician friends in my favorite IRC channel, and we somehow got talking about Palm Pilots. I mentioned how my Zire 31 inexplicably died, a few years prior, and one of the people from Australia mentioned that her Zire 51 had done the same thing, and that all I needed to do was keep it on the charger for about 12 hours, and it should come back to life.
Well, I did, and it did.
All of my data was gone, but since I had been vigilant about making backups, it took little effort to restore it to its previous state. As of right now, I am only one application away from getting it exactly like it was, before it decided to hibernate. The missing application was an RPN Calculator that I actually purchased. Maybe I can find it online, and they would have records that I had actually paid for it, a few years ago. Since the Palm is basically a dead platform, that doesn't bode well, however.
Now that I have this thing working again, what am I actually going to do with it? Much of the contact info in it needs to be updated, and I am probably going to purchase an Android based Smart-Phone one of these days in the not-too-distant future, rendering the trusty Palm entirely obsolete and redundant.
Also, after having used my Netbook for these last eight months, I now find the Palm screen to be very low-res, and jaggy.
Ah well. Technology marches on, and I guess I will just have to be cool with the fact that the thing never actually died. Maybe I can find a good use for it. We'll have to see.
Feature 1: Mysterious Skin
Feature 2: Twelve and Holding
(Twelve and Holding features actor Jeremy Renner, who has received much critical acclaim for his performance in 2009's film The Hurt Locker)
Feature 2: Twelve and Holding
(Twelve and Holding features actor Jeremy Renner, who has received much critical acclaim for his performance in 2009's film The Hurt Locker)
Hi Folks,
Sorry I haven't been writing much, but I seem to have some sort of bug. It's not too bad, but I haven't felt like writing. Hopefully I'll feel better in a few days.
Sorry I haven't been writing much, but I seem to have some sort of bug. It's not too bad, but I haven't felt like writing. Hopefully I'll feel better in a few days.
Sunday, was one of those days where I had a lot of psychic coincidences. You know, those cool but coincidental moments when you think about something, and it happens? Well it happened several times.
I had been thinking about Frank a lot; don't know why. When I went to look at my email, I noticed that in one music list to which I subscribe, people were talking about Frank, and his autobiography, The Real Frank Zappa Book, which I had read twenty years ago, when it was first published. I jumped into the conversation, mentioning that I had been meaning to dig up my copy, because Frank had a great quote in there, about people who think they like music. By music, I mean the day to day, pop drivel, that is force-fed to them on the corporate air waves, and music channels. Well, as you can imagine, Frank had something interesting to say about that, and then, someone on the list was kind enough to locate that in the book, and transcribe it into an email for me. Then, later in the day, I turned on the TV and began watching a show called Hot Rocks, on the Science Channel, and the host was in Peru, talking about Inca Roads, and I almost fell off of my easy chair, because Inca Roads is the name of the first song on Frank's One Size Fits All, record. I was being psychically assaulted by Frank, and I don't know why!
This led to one fellow Zappa fan, contacting me off-list, and we continue to have an on-going conversation about Frank, which has led to even more thoughts about Frank, from myself.
Moments like these remind me about just exactly how vibrant Frank was, and how involved he was, in so many areas. He liked to call himself a composer who happened to play guitar, but he was so much more. In addition to his musical talents, he was an astute observer of pop culture, a writer, humorist, social commentator, business man, film maker, and political activist. I'm certain I am forgetting something.
Another thing about Frank, was that he was widely and wildly misunderstood, misquoted, and mischaracterized. Frank would often make racial references in his works, not because he was a racist, but to point out the absurdity and pointlessness of racism, itself, by using racism as a device. People who did not know Frank, also felt free to judge him based on the unusual names that he chose for his children. What that has to do with the price of tea, in China, I will never know.
Thinking about Frank's life, and Frank's death, reminds me that we simply don't encounter people like him very often. People capable of defining, and inspiring a generation. He was one of several musicians and composers who opened my eyes to complex and interesting music. I have many friends, who would say the same thing.
In addition to writing interesting music, Frank always toured with a band full of world class musicians and performed the music, as well. His shows were a kind of variety act featuring music, and all sorts of fun, and absurd nonsense. I had the pleasure of seeing Frank several times in the '80s, and they are experiences that I will never forget.
I am not sure what the point of this post, is, but it sure was nice to go down the Frank Zappa memory lane these last few days.
P.S.
If you're interested in knowing what that quote was, for which I had been looking, here it is:
I had been thinking about Frank a lot; don't know why. When I went to look at my email, I noticed that in one music list to which I subscribe, people were talking about Frank, and his autobiography, The Real Frank Zappa Book, which I had read twenty years ago, when it was first published. I jumped into the conversation, mentioning that I had been meaning to dig up my copy, because Frank had a great quote in there, about people who think they like music. By music, I mean the day to day, pop drivel, that is force-fed to them on the corporate air waves, and music channels. Well, as you can imagine, Frank had something interesting to say about that, and then, someone on the list was kind enough to locate that in the book, and transcribe it into an email for me. Then, later in the day, I turned on the TV and began watching a show called Hot Rocks, on the Science Channel, and the host was in Peru, talking about Inca Roads, and I almost fell off of my easy chair, because Inca Roads is the name of the first song on Frank's One Size Fits All, record. I was being psychically assaulted by Frank, and I don't know why!
This led to one fellow Zappa fan, contacting me off-list, and we continue to have an on-going conversation about Frank, which has led to even more thoughts about Frank, from myself.
Moments like these remind me about just exactly how vibrant Frank was, and how involved he was, in so many areas. He liked to call himself a composer who happened to play guitar, but he was so much more. In addition to his musical talents, he was an astute observer of pop culture, a writer, humorist, social commentator, business man, film maker, and political activist. I'm certain I am forgetting something.
Another thing about Frank, was that he was widely and wildly misunderstood, misquoted, and mischaracterized. Frank would often make racial references in his works, not because he was a racist, but to point out the absurdity and pointlessness of racism, itself, by using racism as a device. People who did not know Frank, also felt free to judge him based on the unusual names that he chose for his children. What that has to do with the price of tea, in China, I will never know.
Thinking about Frank's life, and Frank's death, reminds me that we simply don't encounter people like him very often. People capable of defining, and inspiring a generation. He was one of several musicians and composers who opened my eyes to complex and interesting music. I have many friends, who would say the same thing.
In addition to writing interesting music, Frank always toured with a band full of world class musicians and performed the music, as well. His shows were a kind of variety act featuring music, and all sorts of fun, and absurd nonsense. I had the pleasure of seeing Frank several times in the '80s, and they are experiences that I will never forget.
I am not sure what the point of this post, is, but it sure was nice to go down the Frank Zappa memory lane these last few days.
P.S.
If you're interested in knowing what that quote was, for which I had been looking, here it is:
So, if music is the best, what is music? Anything can be music, but it doesn't become music until someone wills it to be music, and the audience listening to it decides to perceive it as music.
Most people can't deal with that abstraction -- or don't want to. They say: "Gimme the tune. Do I like this tune? Does it sound like another tune that I like? The more familiar it is, the better I like it. Hear those three notes there? Those are the three notes I can sing along with. I like those notes very, very much. Give me a beat. Not a fancy one. Give me a GOOD BEAT -- something I can dance to. It has to go boom-bap, boom-boom-BAP. If it doesn't, I will hate it very, very much. Also, I want it right away -- and then, write me some more songs like that -- over and over and over again, because I'm really into music."
When Zach Braff grows up, does he become Ray Romano?
If a T-101 fought an IDAK, which would win?
We got a lot of snow in central NY, last night, and I was told that my driveway would not be plowed for a few hours, because my landlord was helping to clear the church parking lot in time for Mass. It seems to me that one of the strongest arguments one could make against the existence of God, is that if he actually existed, why would he make it snow on the church parking lot, before Mass?
For the last twelve months or so, I feel as though I've gone back in time twenty five years. You see, twenty five years ago, I bought a Commodore 128 computer, and it was twelve months ago that I bought my first Blu-Ray player. The Commodore 128 was the follow-up to the hugely successful Commodore 64, and Blu-Ray is the new high-definition video disc format which is replacing the DVD format
How are these two ownership experiences related? Through disappointment.
The Commodore 128 was going to be the next big thing because it had better graphics, better sound, twice the memory, and double the CPU power of the Commodore 64. It also had a Commodore 64 emulation mode that would run nearly all of the available Commodore 64 software titles. Sounds like a great thing, right? Perhaps, except for the fact that because of that, many software companies never wrote dedicated C-128 titles, since they could write a C-64 version, and it would run on the C-128, in C-64 emulation mode. While the C-128 was a successful machine for Commodore, I think it would have been more successful if more companies had written dedicated C-128 programs.
I bet you're still wondering what this has to do with the new Blu-Ray format.
Well, I'll tell you.
I am a big fan of independent films, and independent film companies often don't have huge budgets. When it comes time to do a disc-based release of a film, often, Indie film companies will only do a DVD release of the titles that I really want to buy. You see, all Blu-Ray players have a feature called Upconverting. Upconversion is a process that takes a standard DVD, and through some mathematical algorithmic magic, takes the low-resolution of the DVD, and converts it to a decent looking 1080p, high-resolution output, so that DVDs look acceptable on your fancy, high-resolution flat-panel TV. Yes, it looks acceptable, but it's fake. You're not really getting the same picture that you would get if you were looking at an actual 1080p master of the same film. It seems as if these Indie film companies believe that a DVD release is good enough, even though Blu-Ray is the new format, and there are millions of us out there, who prefer, and want the higher resolution releases.
Two recent films that did not have a U.S. Blu-Ray release, that I wanted to purchase, were Man On Wire, and Anvil! The Story Of Anvil. I would already own them, if they were available on Blu-Ray, and I will not buy them, on general principle, until they are available on Blu-Ray. I do not want to encourage this bad habit that the software companies had twenty five years ago, who believed that a backwardly-compatible version was good enough, despite the fact that the new hardware was superior, and capable of so much more.
So to all film companies, I encourage you to embrace the Blu-Ray format, else you won't see any of my dollars.
How are these two ownership experiences related? Through disappointment.
The Commodore 128 was going to be the next big thing because it had better graphics, better sound, twice the memory, and double the CPU power of the Commodore 64. It also had a Commodore 64 emulation mode that would run nearly all of the available Commodore 64 software titles. Sounds like a great thing, right? Perhaps, except for the fact that because of that, many software companies never wrote dedicated C-128 titles, since they could write a C-64 version, and it would run on the C-128, in C-64 emulation mode. While the C-128 was a successful machine for Commodore, I think it would have been more successful if more companies had written dedicated C-128 programs.
I bet you're still wondering what this has to do with the new Blu-Ray format.
Well, I'll tell you.
I am a big fan of independent films, and independent film companies often don't have huge budgets. When it comes time to do a disc-based release of a film, often, Indie film companies will only do a DVD release of the titles that I really want to buy. You see, all Blu-Ray players have a feature called Upconverting. Upconversion is a process that takes a standard DVD, and through some mathematical algorithmic magic, takes the low-resolution of the DVD, and converts it to a decent looking 1080p, high-resolution output, so that DVDs look acceptable on your fancy, high-resolution flat-panel TV. Yes, it looks acceptable, but it's fake. You're not really getting the same picture that you would get if you were looking at an actual 1080p master of the same film. It seems as if these Indie film companies believe that a DVD release is good enough, even though Blu-Ray is the new format, and there are millions of us out there, who prefer, and want the higher resolution releases.
Two recent films that did not have a U.S. Blu-Ray release, that I wanted to purchase, were Man On Wire, and Anvil! The Story Of Anvil. I would already own them, if they were available on Blu-Ray, and I will not buy them, on general principle, until they are available on Blu-Ray. I do not want to encourage this bad habit that the software companies had twenty five years ago, who believed that a backwardly-compatible version was good enough, despite the fact that the new hardware was superior, and capable of so much more.
So to all film companies, I encourage you to embrace the Blu-Ray format, else you won't see any of my dollars.
