Posts Tagged ‘television’

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TiVo’s Big Announcement Is…WebTV?

By Chief Oddball on March 4th, 2010 at 3:10 pm

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Last month, TiVo teased us with an upcoming announcement, saying that their inventing the DVR was just the opening act, or some such puffery. This week they finally revealed the meat and potatoes: it’s the all-new TiVo Premiere, otherwise known to us old hats as the Series4.

The big news about this box, to me, is the fact that the long-familiar TiVo user interface has been completely redesigned using Flash, of all things. It now runs in full HD resolution, unlike the existing UI which is 480p only. It also adds a “picture in picture” view of the channel you’re watching in the upper right corner like most cable company DVRs, an oft-requested feature. But the central point of the TiVo Premiere’s release, if you believe all of the TiVo marketing speak, seems to be the fact that it’s a “single box solution” for all of your video needs, including streaming video from Netflix and Amazon as well as web video from YouTube and what-have-you.

Personally, I found this announcement strange, because my TiVo HD already does all of those things. I’ve long been able to watch Amazon video on demand, although I never do because of the cost. I’ve long been able to watch YouTube, although I never do because, trust me, most YouTube videos look like total shit when they’re blown up to 1920×1080 on a 57-inch screen. I’ve even been able to stream Netflix Instant Queue titles to my TiVo, although I never do because the interface is poor and the performance is far inferior to the streaming on either my Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (the latter of which is currently my Netflix streaming device of choice).

So it was hard to see the TiVo Premiere’s apparent raison d’être as anything but a new skin on a feature set that’s already been there for months or even years. If I were to get really derogatory, it’s almost like the TiVo Premiere is the next generation of Microsoft’s WebTV — a set-top device designed to as an alternative to a computer that allowed people to browse the web on their TVs, albeit at standard-def resolutions (a miserable experience) and without the features of most PC-based web browsers.

Now, realistically, TiVo is known for their great UIs, and from what I can see of the new UI in action, the Premiere UI looks to be no exception. Still, as a current two-TiVo owner and lifetime subscriber, I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed — my current TiVo seems to be at least as capable as the Premiere when it comes to being a “single-box solution” for getting content on your TV. And, as one commenter on Engadget remarked, how can the TiVo Premiere be a “single-box solution” if it doesn’t play Blu-ray discs and DVDs?

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Review: Star Trek: The Original Series (Blu-Ray)

By Chief Oddball on February 27th, 2010 at 11:13 pm

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Star Trek TOS Season 3 Blu-Ray Set

For my birthday this year, my friends Pooch and Reaper gifted me with the Season 1 and 3 boxed sets of Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray disc. Since this series (hereinafter referred to as TOS) was perhaps my first television love, and sparked an obsessive fanaticism which hasn’t waned for a minute since, I thought it appropriate to post my impressions of these all-new, high-definition episodes. They are, after all, the most significant reissue of TOS yet.

Since the moment the final episode aired in 1969, the original Star Trek became one of those iconic shows that has seen release on just about every media format ever conceived by man. Over the years, I’ve owned episodes on Betamax, VHS and DVD, each release getting progressively better — the VHS tapes added preview trailers, the initial DVD releases added remastered picture and sound, etc. The Blu-ray discs, however, add more than any of the others, for they contain the remastered episodes with all-new effects shots created by CBS Digital and rendered in high definition. This enhanced version of TOS has, amongst Trek fandom, become known as TOS-R.

What CBS has done here is monumental. Almost every effects shot in the series — ship flybys, phaser combat, etc. — has been reproduced digitally. This effort was apparently sparked by the format of the original effects composites, which were apparently low-resolution and could not be scaled up to high definition without massive quality loss. CBS’s solution was to recreate the effects entirely, and what we end up with are some (mostly) pretty impressive renders that add a whole new level of depth. Every time you see the Enterprise on screen, it’s like seeing her with a totally new set of eyes. Even several minor composite shots have been replaced, like some of the hand phaser effects and what-not.

The Blu-ray discs bring to life not only the new effects shots, but the old tried-and-true footage of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the gang as well. TOS has never looked better — or sounded better, either, thanks to the new 7.1 surround sound mix. While watching the episode “Wink of an Eye” on the big screen earlier tonight, I was stunned by the level of detail that’s visible. At times, this even had the effect of cluing me into the crummy paint jobs and slapdash construction of the set pieces, which made me chuckle because I’ve never noticed them despite years and years of watching this same footage over and over.

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Ketchup

By Chief Oddball on September 20th, 2009 at 10:33 pm

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No. It’s not a post about condiments. It’s yet another: Random Posting Surprise™. As in, I’ll start writing something and surprise myself as to what it’s about. I once again started slacking off on posting here after a fairly good start back when I last updated the Oddball Update’s design. This weekend I finally got around to recategorizing all my old posts in the archive — well, I started, anyway — and this left me feeling like I should take a break from that to post something new for a change.

Last week we were in Michigan for a few days, visiting friends and family. We spent Labor Day there, and I actually got to take a couple of days off from work, so it ended up being a four-day weekend for me. The weather was perfect most of the time we were there; sunny and in the mid-70s with the exception of a couple back-to-back rainy days. We had ample opportunity to chat with my family members, I got to see my friends Pooch and Reaper (and pick up Donutown besides, which simply has to happen every time I’m in town), and eat out at our favorite restaurants. We also did a fair amount of eating in this time as well, which was fine with us, because it meant enjoying that much more of my grandmother’s home cooking.

Surprisingly, I did not have much in the way of allergy troubles. I often get bouts of asthma-like congestion and an uncontrollable runny nose when I’m back in the homeland, likely due to the dust and molds present in my old house’s ductwork, if I had to guess. The season contributes a lot to this phenomenon, especially because when it’s cold enough to warrant firing up the furnace, the warm air blowing through those ducts is usually enough to put my sinuses on an express elevator to hell. This time, though, the furnace was not needed, and we only ran the A/C a couple of times. For the most part, I had no trouble. That was certainly a relief.

And, as I mentioned in my initial review of The Beatles: Rock Band, my video game day with my friends was inspiring enough for me to reacquaint myself with the “plastic musical instrument” genre of games after a long hiatus. Since then, Apple and I have continued to have a blast with the Beatles game. I’ve been able to re-familiarize myself with my old favorite songs, which I mostly haven’t listened to in a while, and Apple was introduced to a whole swath of the Beatles’ catalog with which she was previously unfamiliar. The other day she came into my room and took all the Beatles albums off my CD rack, then proceeded to arrange a mix disc which she put in her car. Listening to it on the way to dinner the other evening was like going on a trip down memory lane.

The Beatles’ music makes me think of my high school days, for it was then that I first started listening to them. My friend Pooch introduced me to the group and their music besides, and I promptly started buying up the albums, working my way back from the Beatles’ latter years, the tracks from which I was most familiar. Hearing those songs again today mostly reminds me of driving my old Grand Prix, for a Beatles CD or cassette tape was never far from my car stereo whenever I went home from school, drove to or from my friends’ houses or wherever else I was off to. There were a lot of things wrong with those years, but the smaller they get in my rear-view mirror, the more the good times come to the fore — hanging out with friends, discovering new music, playing the great computer games of the era, and enjoying Junes, Julys and Augusts filled with relaxation and creativity in the pleasant summer weather of Michigan.

Pooch is still introducing me to bands, although this time they’re mostly Japanese in origin. Last week’s trip to Michigan was no exception, for we got together and I picked up some new albums from Shoko Suzuki (whose lovely retro-sounding song “Hi, Hello” I’m listening to right now), Shonen Knife, Ayumi Hamasaki and Ryoko Shinohara.

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So Say We All

By Chief Oddball on April 8th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

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Over the weekend, one of the entertainment mainstays in my life came to an end as I finally watched the series finale of Battlestar Galactica. It was, simply put, the bittersweet moment to end all bittersweet moments. I already have a big problem finishing things that I really like — TV series, books, video games, etc. — because once I’ve watched, read or played them all the way through, that’s it. They will never be “new” again. It’s an admittedly stupid quirk, but it kept me from watching the last episode of Knight Rider until 1998, finishing System Shock 2 until the mid 2000s, and enjoying the series finale of Star Trek: TNG until just six months ago. No, really.

Ron Moore and David Eick’s reimagined BSG, however, was epic from start to finish. With a story that unfolded in a serial fashion over the course of six long years, it was like a high-speed joyride to destinations unknown that you couldn’t bear to stop. And so after a delay of only a couple of weeks, I finally put “watch the end of Battlestar” on my to-do list. On Saturday night, I turned down the lights, prepared a late-night snack and settled in for the last two episodes I had yet to see: “Daybreak, Part 1″ and the two-hour wrap-up, “Daybreak, Part 2.”

To use the Battlestar lexicon, holy frakking shit.

It hasn’t left my mind since — neither the amazing images, the satisfying yet still mystifying story, nor the incredible musical score. This was, quite simply, the end of one of television’s best series. And rather than dwindle away into cancellation, spin itself off into a shadow of its former self or jump the shark and drag us through the mud for the last few years, I personally feel it ended on the same high note as it began. Not only was it a near-perfect series for sci-fi lovers, in my opinion it concluded with a near-perfect finale.

There’s a lot of debate about this, of course; in fact, I was pretty surprised at the wide range of opinions on the finale that I found posted on message boards all across the Internet. Many people liked the finale, and yet, many people also hated it. Others seemed consumed by unanswered questions. But I think a show does a large part of its job if it gets people talking, and from my own personal viewpoints, the wrap-up was exactly what I wanted to see. I’ll explain my perspective after the jump. (No, not the FTL jump.) But first, a little recap of the finale’s events.

Warning: Lots of spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t watched the last episode yet, get out of here and don’t come back until you have. Y’hear?

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Knight Song

By Chief Oddball on March 27th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

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For anyone who, like me, is a fan of the soundtrack from the Knight Rider television series, Don Peake and Hitchcock Media Records have just released two new volumes of music from the show. The new discs — volumes 2 and 3, respectively — just landed and are shipping right now.

Volume 2 contains what looks like the complete soundtrack for two first-season episodes: “Hearts of Stone”, the first episode scored by Don after taking over for Stu Phillips, and “The Topaz Connection,” whose score has a sort of Vegas-style flair. There is also a brand new remix of the Knight Rider theme song put together by Don, and four unnamed bonus tracks.

Volume 3 is a re-issue of scores originally sold as a bootleg under the Hi-Tech Records label in 2000, which contains the mostly unabridged score from four episodes of Knight Rider’s third season: “Knight of the Chameleon,” “Lost Knight” (partial score only), “K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R.” and “Knight in Retreat.” For fans who already have the Hi-Tech album, you’ll be pleased to know that Volume 3 has been remastered to provide a more beefed up and less flat sound, and also add some reverb and a wider stereo envelope. Hopefully some of the bizarre artifacts, panning issues and dropouts have been cleaned up too. Overall this should greatly enhance the tinny sound of the original disc.

In addition, if you missed the formerly sold-out Volume 1, it’s back in stock now with new cover art to match the new releases. Volume 1 features a great variety of sample cues from six episodes spanning all of Knight Rider’s four seasons, and the sound quality here is excellent.

Apparently it took four years for Universal to license the new material for release. Record label founder Ron Hitchcock reports that, with licensing hurdles over, licensing for future volumes will hopefully come much quicker.

Releases of Don Peake’s Knight Rider soundtracks have had a colorful history — everything from bizarre promo discs from the ’80s (specifically, the complete score to “Diamonds Aren’t a Girl’s Best Friend”) to bootlegs issued without license. Now, though, it looks like Ron Hitchcock is doing a great job with the material, and given his label’s history and catalog, you can be sure that these efforts are 100% above board. It’s great to see Don’s work find such a great home at last.

Now, my only problem is that I’m in Thailand until May, and I can’t get my hands on the new albums until I get back (they’ve been submitted to iTunes, but the approval process can drag on for a good while). Just one more reason to count the days.

By the way: This post is like a sort of bookend, as one of the first posts I ever wrote on this site was about Don Peake’s announcement, back in 2003, that he wanted to release a new Knight Rider soundtrack album. That went on to become Hitchcock Records’ Volume 1. That old post is a fun read if you want a taste of just how rabid a fan I am. It also contains my “wish list” of cues I wanted to hear on the album, none of which made it, but all of which I’d still like to hear given Hitchcock’s treatment someday. Hint, hint. ;)

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Classic Post: My First Brush with Evangelion

By Chief Oddball on January 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm

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The following is a collection of opinions first posted on my original blog, regarding my first complete viewing of Neon Genesis Evangelion. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Evangelion is a Japanese animated series that ran in the mid-’90s. It featured a complex story that dealt with the human condition, existentialism and the end of the world in a futuristic sci-fi setting, which utilized the anime mainstay vehicle of giant weaponized robots while parodying that genre at the same time.

Widely regarded as either one of anime’s greatest works of genius ever, or a hopelessly overwrought piece of animated garbage, Evangelion managed to capture my attention and keep my brain working for hours and hours trying to make sense of it all. If you’re someone who, like me, enjoys overanalyzing works of mind-twisting ambiguity, you too may find it more fascinating than frustrating.

With the renewed interest in Evangelion stemming from the recreation of the series into four feature-length films, I thought it might be an interesting time to revisit not only the series, but also my own thoughts from my first experience of it — and see how the passage of time and the evolution of my own existence has contributed to a different understanding of its mysteries.

As part one of this undertaking, I present the following amalgamation of blog entries from early 2003, written during (and immediately following) my first viewing of Evangelion.

Posted 2/4/2003

Evangelion Publicity Art

During the evenings when my wife works, I enjoy a bit of “dinner theater” — watching a DVD of some sort on my 57″ widescreen TV while I eat. For a while now I’ve been reviewing the entire Star Trek original series, but having exhausted all the episodes I own, I went looking for other options last weekend. For some reason I selected the first volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion, a legendary Japanese animated series that I was introduced to by friends back in high school. I only own the first DVD (four episodes) in the series, as for some reason when I bought it I never really “got into it” enough to buy more. Anime DVDs aren’t cheap, you know.

But then last weekend I watched the entire first disc again — and for some reason, it had a totally different effect on me this time. The story seemed so unbelievably compelling, I felt like getting in the car, going down to the store and buying more DVDs from the series. Maybe I was just in an anime mood, but I was struck somehow by how cool the whole thing was. Normally I’m not much for the giant mech combat that seems to be a hallmark of anime, but this is different.

Not only is it a good story, but I really love all the high-tech user interfaces, warning messages and readouts the series utilizes throughout. And I had forgotten just how good the music in this series is. The voice acting is spot-on, too (and I don’t mean the dub; I wouldn’t watch the dub if you shot my arm off.) Overall, it’s a complete package.

So I decided to complete my collection of Evangelion as rapidly as possible. Normally that would mean buying seven more individual $25-30 DVDs, but the entire TV series is now available in a handsome boxed set. Since I found it on an anime retailer’s website for $103, I’m going to order it. After that, I’ll have to pick up the two cinematic features that were created after the series’ end. But I guess that’s the advantage of taking forever to warm up to something like this — by the time you want it, it’s more highly accessible and usually cheaper.

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Sunday Slacking

By Chief Oddball on January 11th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

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Finally, another Sunday has arrived, that coveted day of the week on which I (usually) do no work. I put in some time at the office yesterday, managing to wrap up another two Flash videos, leaving 10 more to go. Some additional components of an ongoing sidework project arrived, but I’ll save them for tomorrow; the deadline is still two and a half weeks away. Today, I’m going to relax.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Apple hasn’t been feeling well the last couple of days — I think she got a cold, probably from her nephew Achi, who has been sick a lot lately — so neither one of us has been sleeping all that well. But putting a positive spin on it, I was able to get up this morning at an earlier time that I usually do, even during the work week. Our housekeeper is here today, doing the big Sunday housecleaning. While she’s busy, I’m hanging out on the back patio with the laptop, as you can see from the picture.

The weather is fantastic. There’s a strong breeze blowing near-constantly, keeping temperatures mild. The reports say it’s about 82°F out here, but it feels more like a pleasant 76 here in the shade. Given that everybody I know back home — family, friends, and colleagues — is dealing with historic snowfall, ice and winter storms, which in at least one case has brought with it a cracked house foundation and a leaking basement, I think I should be exceedingly thankful that I’m here right now. (Although I’m sure the weather at my own home in Florida is fairly pleasant right now, too.)

I should also be thankful, I do believe, for the work I have. With new reports of layoffs at my dad’s company, and the increasingly bleak employment and economic statistics coming out of the United States, it’s a good time to be gainfully employed. It’s an even better time to work for a company that seems to be in a fairly good business position, as my company seems to be. January, a historically dead month at my workplace, has instead been full of new business, new releases and custom contract work this year. We’ll be putting out four new product versions next week, releasing a major update to a fifth shortly thereafter, just landed a couple of new contracts for our most expensive service as well as several hundred hours of new contract work. I don’t know what’s going on, but I am the absolute last person who will be complaining.

It’s also good to know that my colleagues and acquaintances outside the office are doing well. A guy who I’ve done sidework for in the past, for example, just had his flagship product bought out by a large medical diagnostic firm, and I’ve been subcontracted to make some changes to his website (which I previously designed and deployed) at the buyer’s behest. It’s a good time for him, I’m sure, financially at least. Ironically, this is the same way this guy has made his fortune (he’s retired and in his mid-forties) — by creating innovative software startups and either selling them or getting bought out. He managed to sell one of his solutions to the government of almost every state in the U.S. before cashing in his stake. Not a bad way to get rich. And yeah, these are good contacts to have!

On a more personal front, I finally got around to posting a bunch of pictures to my Flickr account. The photo gallery integration with Oddball Update still hasn’t been completed, but you can see them all on the Flickr site just as easily. I’ve created a new set just for photos from this trip, so I’ll be filling it up with any pictures I might take on an ongoing basis. You can keep checking this same link to see new stuff as it’s added. And eventually I’ll get the Flickr integration up and running…I just have to fix about three dozen HTML files first. :rolleyes:

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Slinging Around the World…or Across the House

By Chief Oddball on October 9th, 2008 at 11:45 pm

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Whenever I visit Thailand, as Apple and I often do, I inevitably miss being “plugged in” to the entertainment and news media I’m used to having here in the U.S. Whether it’s live updates on the day’s happenings from CNN, the latest local news from our hometown, or even just a voice speaking English (heh heh), American media — for all its faults — quickly becomes something I wish I could more readily get my hands on.

This week, I installed the final component in a system which I hope will alleviate this problem: a Slingbox Solo. The Slingbox is a set-top device that takes the video output from a device of your choice — for example, your TiVo DVR — and “slings” it over the Internet to any location on Earth.

When you install the SlingPlayer application on your computer or mobile phone, you can “catch” the sling signal and, essentially, watch American TV from your patio in Thailand.

SlingPlayer with TiVo Series 3 Remote

SlingPlayer with TiVo Series 3 Remote

Setup of the ‘Box was fairly easy — I connected it to my TiVo HD’s component output, and attached it to my network via the old WRT54G I’d converted to a wireless Ethernet bridge. The first test was to try watching TV from my desktop computer — an effortless challenge, I was soon to see. It works flawlessly and beautifully over my wireless LAN, even from the opposite end of the house. I can stream a detailed VGA picture at full frame rate with no hiccuping or hitches, with a bitrate upwards of 6000 kbps.

Tonight, I took the testing procedure a step further and went down to my parents’ house so I could do a remote test. Again, everything worked beautifully, and I was surprised at how good a picture you can get out of a relatively small amount of bandwidth. I adjusted the SlingPlayer’s bitrate lock to simulate the amount of bandwidth I expect to have in Thailand, and even using HVGA resolution, the picture was still very detailed and very watchable.

The real test will be to try the Slingbox from a very distant location, which I won’t really be able to do until prime time. The big bottleneck with a connection from Thailand will be latency — if it’s too high, no amount of bandwidth on either end will save it — and issuing remote commands will be awful. We have a couple of different options for Internet in Thailand, though, so I’m hoping at least one of them will be an acceptable solution.

As far as connectivity, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sling Media employs their own method of locating your Slingbox on the Internet. I had registered a Dynamic DNS domain name in advance, thinking I would have to connect manually to my home router, but it turns out this is not necessary. Each Slingbox has a unique “Finder ID,” and Sling Media maintains a directory server that stores information on how to reach your Slingbox. The box itself routinely pings the directory server so that the information is kept fresh. When you install SlingPlayer, you can login to your Sling Account and the rest of your connection is handled automatically. Still, I’m keeping the Dynamic DNS hostname active just in case the Finder ID method fails (you can use either method to connect to your Slingbox).

SlingPlayer also comes with a host of controls for bandwidth, resolution and picture quality optimization. It can either adjust the stream dynamically based on your Internet connection quality, or you can set a few ground rules you want it to follow (for example, you can force it to use a higher resolution, or a fixed bit rate). You can also set a password to access your ‘Box, and if someone else is using it when you try to connect, it will give you their IP address so you know who it is.

I got the Slingbox for $158 with a $20 instant rebate and free shipping at NewEgg.com. NewEgg apparently drop-shipped from a supplier in Jacksonville, so I even got it the very next day. Based on what I’ve seen so far, this is one nifty piece of hardware that’s well worth its price tag. If you want to watch your stuff on the go, I can think of no better way.

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Whirlwind

By Chief Oddball on September 12th, 2008 at 9:14 pm

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Life has been a bit of a whirlwind for me as of late. Not that this is necessarily bad; we’ve just come back from a very nice 4-day vacation in Disney World, for example, and I would hardly call that a bad thing. Before that, we spent a week in Lawrence, Kansas, during which I visited my company’s headquarters for the first time. Although there were some unpleasant things about Kansas — the bland food, the seeming lack of things to do, the horrible weather on our last day there — there were lots of good things too, namely the fact that I got to meet all of my colleagues face-to-face for the first time. And driving on the roads of Lawrence was way fun!

Now we’re back at home, but life isn’t quite ready to return to 100% nominal conditions. Since I took a few days off from work this week, I need to make up some of that by working on Saturday and Sunday. It’s not something I relish, but after just coming off a vacation, I feel energized and ready to face it. (It’s next Friday when I’ll be feeling the exhaustion set in!) Tomorrow, I also need to take down the hurricane shutters from my parents’ home. I did ours as soon as we got home on Thursday, in a little under an hour. The weather was breezy and beautiful, which was a bonus.

So tomorrow starts what I sincerely hope is the final de-shuttering of this season. I’ll be removing the shutters as soon as I get up, before I start my work for the day. It should take about 90 minutes, maybe 2 hours if I remember right. My iPhone is updating to the just-released software version 2.1 now, in preparation for its use tomorrow as an iPod while I work on the house. And this time, I’m leaving the doorwall rails in…just one less thing to do in case, God forbid, the shutters have to go on again.

This is shaping up to be a rambling stream-of-consciousness entry, so click on the link below to keep reading.

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Knight Rider TV Series Greenlit

By Chief Oddball on April 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 am

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NBC yesterday announced their fall TV lineup, and as many of us suspected, it includes a new Knight Rider TV series. The reinvented show will air in the 8 p.m. Wednesday timeslot, with encore episodes to air each Saturday night in the off-season (summer 2009).

In addition, the show is getting a new executive producer: Gary Scott Thompson, creator of TV’s recently-cancelled Las Vegas, and writer of The Fast and the Furious.

Judging from that, I guess we know what kind of a vibe the new Knight Rider will have — but I said I would tune in just the same, and I will. Could be an interesting ride.

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