Like any of that's enough to fight the Dark Master. Bator.

Xander ,'Lessons'


Buffistechnology 2: You Made Her So She Growls?  

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Sean K - Oct 13, 2005 11:09:10 am PDT #5051 of 10003
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

The company had the electric sharpener long before we even bought our original TRS-80.

Ah, Trash-80s. That brings back some memories.

I just got an email from Tivo saying that 2006 will be the last year that movies will be released on VHS and that some manufacturers have stopped production on VCRs.

I don't think I'm ready for that.

I mean, I watch pretty much all movies on DVD, and my VCR is in very good working order, so I'm not worried about a breakdown, but still....

I'm not ready for this kind of change.

t stis in a corner and cuddles his old vinyl records


le nubian - Oct 13, 2005 11:10:38 am PDT #5052 of 10003
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

Speaking of which, I just got a call from Tivo. I reported a channel lineup change and it took some time to resolve. They were just checking with me to see if the changes had been made! Wow.


§ ita § - Oct 13, 2005 11:12:16 am PDT #5053 of 10003
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I have no intention of converting my tapes to digital format (too lazy), so the VCR stays around for a while. And if it breaks in 2007, I'll have to work something out.

Plus, I'll miss the clock.


Nutty - Oct 13, 2005 11:36:05 am PDT #5054 of 10003
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

I'm sure that a VCR collectors' market will break out immediately. People still have and keep working betamax machines, after all.

Plus, how do you think all those midwestern housewives, who can't afford or aren't even offered Tivo service, will tape their soaps? Soap opera fans always find a way.


§ ita § - Oct 13, 2005 11:37:31 am PDT #5055 of 10003
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

That's all I need -- to be at the mercy of "collectors."


tommyrot - Oct 13, 2005 11:39:53 am PDT #5056 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

I bet there still will be smaller companies and companies in China making VCRs for a while after 2006. When the big electronics companies stopped making 8-track players, other companies continued to make them for years afterwards.


brenda m - Oct 13, 2005 11:42:04 am PDT #5057 of 10003
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

Yeah, and Tivo has no conceivable conflict of interest in pronouncing the death of the VCR.


Jessica - Oct 13, 2005 11:43:00 am PDT #5058 of 10003
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Production companies will continue to use VHS screeners long after the rest of us have implanted Tivo chips into our brains, guaranteed.

(Which doesn't mean that VCRs will continue to be produced, merely that dubbing facilities will be unable to get rid of our existing ones, as is currently the case with 3/4" decks.)


§ ita § - Oct 13, 2005 11:44:36 am PDT #5059 of 10003
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Tivo has no conceivable conflict of interest in pronouncing the death of the VCR.

It's not like it's unpredictable, though.

Samsung to Pay $300M Fine for Price Fixing.


Gris - Oct 13, 2005 12:59:59 pm PDT #5060 of 10003
Hey. New board.

Hmm. So, I just sold my desktop, but kept my display, keyboard, and mouse so that I could run my laptop into them and occasionally pretend to have a desktop (mostly for two purposes: watching TV on the much bigger physical display, and for typing papers on the much more comfortable keyboard).

Unfortunately, I have a bit of a problem. The laptop is an old iBook, that only outputs up to 1024x768. The display is a 17" LCD with 1280x1024 native resolution. Now, it can upscale the 1024x768 to 1280x1024, of course, which is what it's doing now, but it's an old display and doesn't do that very well.

Long story short: it's giving me a headache. Kinda ruins the paper-writing thing (though it still works fine for movies).

I'm wondering if there's anyway I could get it to show the 1024x768 without scaling - that is, centered in the display with a black border around it. Then I would still get all the ergonomic value of the display, and not have a headache from the blurriness.