I'm looking for a theatre display again.....

[ChadTower]

I did wonder about that.  They really should specify when it's IMAX Certified rather than a full IMAX. 

I know in my area we have 3 full IMAXes for sure plus a dome at the Boston Museum of Science and a full but only science films IMAX at the Boston Aquarium.  There were a couple others listed that could be Certified. 

[ChadTower]

This is NYC!  Erm, I mean Gotham City!  It's not that taxi you need to see.  It's the 15th taxi from the left.

[nickbuol]

I found the perfect theater for Jim.



19" tube tv, a dish receiver, some seats, some decorations, a "rug" for comfort....  ooo and Bass Shakers on the seats...  Don't forget the popcorn machine!

Just teasing you Jim!

[ChadTower]

Jim would be using an OTA antenna.

[DillonFoulds]

Nope, the digital ota is too clear, gotta be the freebie cable channels, over classic analogue signals!

[Gray_Area]

Well. I settled on - though I don't think I settled for - a used 50 Panasonic plasma via CL, for $420 (and a trip across town; nice family man dude upgrading to a larger LED-LCD). It doesn't have a PC input, but he gave me an HDMI to DVI cable, and my laptop figured it straight away. (Also now that I'm getting at least 130mbp via wireless, streaming high def is just fine.)

Yes, the opposite wall is a 'full square', and I may decide to switch the couch and display. I could in the future go 100" screen if I get the itch.

Also, just for prettiness' sake, the second image is what greeted me coming out of Walmart yesterday.

[shmokes]

Well done. My 4-5 year old 42" LCD panel and I are jealous.   

[nickbuol]

Nice find Gray...

Jim, honestly, I used to get my local channels in SD and HD with an OTA for a while.  I was surprised how well it actually worked.

[ChadTower]

My big TV is in the basement.  I get one very poor CBS signal down there.  It's just not worth running a line out of my basement and up to the roof for anything on network TV.   

[Vigo]

Get direct TV and have them do the wiring for you. Then, before the 14 day grace period is up, cancel out. They will might take the dish back but they will leave the wiring. If they leave the dish, or at least the dish mount, then you wont even need to buy an antenna mount, and you get free antenna wiring to your roof. 



Before anyone gets uppity here, I'm not really suggesting this.

[ChadTower]

Heh, I actually already have DirecTV and am about to cancel it.  The dish itself is pointed southwest, which of course means Providence from where I am, and I hate RI stations.  Maybe I could attach an antenna to that mount.  I barely watch anything available on networks, though, so it's not worth the effort.  All the networks are is the same 4 sitcom concepts and cop/hospital dramas.   

[Vigo]

Yeah, I also just used the old direct TV coaxial and dish mount, I bought a $10 TV antenna mast and fit it pretty well into the dish mount. If I remember right, I drilled a hole in the mount so I could run a bolt though the TV mast to secure it better, but it didn't take much work to get it to fit. I went with one of those flat indoor outdoor antennas, it worked great. It came with a signal booster as well.

Although I agree, I don't watch too much network tv as well. I get a lot through streaming. About the only show I watch regularly on Network lately is Fringe. I throw on the occasional cop drama. Of course I need it for football, which is about the only sport I really watch other than maybe the Olympics a bit. There are some interesting channels that pop up over the air though. I have one channel that just plays music videos. Like old school MTV. I end up watching the classic TV channel as well. Honeymooners, Laurel and Hardy...stuff like that. There is also a kids channel that shows mostly low budget cartoons, but mixes in some stuff like He-man that I can watch...with my kid  . Otherwise I have my kid watch PBS, so it is good to have that come in as well. Although modern Sesame Street kinda annoys me.

[Vigo]

There are some interesting channels that pop up over the air though. I have one channel that just plays music videos. Like old school MTV. I end up watching the classic TV channel as well. Honeymooners, Laurel and Hardy...stuff like that.

Yeah, that's CoolTV (music) and MeTV (old shows).  They're both great stations but you gotta sit through a lot of hair loss commercials.  I saw some songs I liked on CoolTV once and didn't have a pen handy.  Sent them an e-mail and they actually responded with a set list.

Ah yeah, that's the names. They are both great to flip to on a whim as long as you don't catch them during the infomercials. That is pretty darn awesome CoolTV send you their set list.

[shmokes]

We recently got a thing in the mail from Comcast that says that we can upgrade from our current expensive, but fast internet-only plan ($69/mo) to the same fast internet plus basic cable for $79/mo.  This is pretty tempting. $10/mo is nothing in exchange for A&E, AMC, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, and especially ESPN (since that's the only thing that can't be pirated in a satisfying way). But I found myself terrified at the prospect of regaining TV. Cos since we haven't had cable/satellite or an antenna in years and years, we don't watch TV. We watch shows. It's like, "You want to watch Mad Men," or, "Wanna watch an episode of Breaking Bad before we go to bed?" But when you have TV, you sit down and watch TV. You don't necessarily have any idea what you're going to watch. You decide, first and foremost, that you're going to watch TV. Then you flip through 100 channels of garbage to look for something that isn't garbage. And if you don't find something, you generally just decide which piece of garbage is the least offensive and you watch that until something more appealing comes on.

So . . . the $10/mo extra thing is a super good deal. But it's a good deal like super-sizing your meal is a good deal. Still . . . I'd sure like ESPN and maybe having The Daily Show, lol. Probably gonna pass, though.

[ChadTower]

Every now and then my cable company calls me and tells me I can get the most basic cable TV package, bundled with my cable internet, and my bill will go down by $3.  I have to explain each time that I have DirecTV, so I can't "just get the cable and not use it", because the coax copper in my walls is in use by DirecTV.  Some phone reps eventually get it.  Most never do.

[nickbuol]

We watch "shows" too.  I can't remember the last time I've watched live tv.  It is always something recorded, or on Hulu.  I set out to watch something that I want to watch and hate the dreaded "channel surfing."

[Vigo]

So this is "extended basic" then? Regular ol' basic won't come with any of those channels. (And you probably already can get regular basic for free if you are hooked up to internet. AFAIK, Comcast doesn't filter basic channels, probably because it is only network TV and shopping channels.)

If you are mulling over a $79 package, you should take a peek at what speeds/rates are available for you for dsl. A few years ago, I was able to get the qwest (now centurylink) and direct tv package for that same price. The nice thing was I was able to get the dsl at a guaranteed forever price of around $50/mo after taxes. The direct tv package included about whatever I could think of except premium channels like HBO, which were on a 3 month trial. Direct TV came with dvr, so i didn't have to watch much for commercials as well.

The minute the contract on Direct TV expired, of course they jacked up the prices. I had no problem ditching them like an old tire. I still get my DSL (which i like better than my old comcast) for the same price.


Of course, if DSL in your neighborhood blows, then the whole deal blows.

[ChadTower]

Of course, if DSL in your neighborhood blows, then the whole deal blows.

No DSL or FIOS available in my neighborhood.  Cable is it for wired high speed.

[shmokes]

DSL is retarded, literally. FIOS is in my neighborhood; it's all over the damned place in my neighborhood. But it's not precisely where I live yet, lol. And yeah . . . it's extended basic, I guess. All those channels I listed are listed on the ad they sent me.

[Gray_Area]

We recently got a thing in the mail from Comcast that says that we can upgrade from our current expensive, but fast internet-only plan ($69/mo) to the same fast internet plus basic cable for $79/mo.  This is pretty tempting. $10/mo is nothing in exchange for A&E, AMC, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, and especially ESPN (since that's the only thing that can't be pirated in a satisfying way). But I found myself terrified at the prospect of regaining TV. Cos since we haven't had cable/satellite or an antenna in years and years, we don't watch TV. We watch shows. It's like, "You want to watch Mad Men," or, "Wanna watch an episode of Breaking Bad before we go to bed?" But when you have TV, you sit down and watch TV. You don't necessarily have any idea what you're going to watch. You decide, first and foremost, that you're going to watch TV. Then you flip through 100 channels of garbage to look for something that isn't garbage. And if you don't find something, you generally just decide which piece of garbage is the least offensive and you watch that until something more appealing comes on.

This reads like a comedy sketch. I'm reading it aloud in great fun.

All I need is a couple/few mbp bandwidth, and both cable and DSL offer that (actually at least 7mbp) for $30/mo. I can stream in one room, surf in another, torrent in another.....only two of those will I be doing at a time, and I'm the sole occupant. Life is good.

[lilshawn]

DSL is retarded

i have dsl and it's just fine. I get consistant 1200KB/sec speeds (10Mb/sec) and it's $30 a month. 

cable internet is very near the same speed for 45.

i ditched the "cable" tv about 5 months ago. no regrets.

[ChadTower]

i have dsl and it's just fine. I get consistant 1200KB/sec speeds (10Mb/sec) and it's $30 a month. 

It varies heavily by area.

[shmokes]

3Mb/sec here. Which is pretty much dialup.

[lilshawn]

i have dsl and it's just fine. I get consistant 1200KB/sec speeds (10Mb/sec) and it's $30 a month. 

It varies heavily by area.

well I get what's advertised. which is uncommon. I know they say "up to" but The fella I talked to while we did the installation a few months ago, said they have the capability to supply much MUCH faster internet with even old technology... but they actually artificially keep it slow to encourage customers to upgrade to the next high speed level. They pretty much keep it as slow as possible. If people knew how fast the internet can be (take a look at the speeds in japan it's about 30 times faster than the fastest internet we can get in north america.) when they run it wide open it's disgusting.

[Gray_Area]

well I get what's advertised. which is uncommon. I know they say "up to" but The fella I talked to while we did the installation a few months ago, said they have the capability to supply much MUCH faster internet with even old technology... but they actually artificially keep it slow to encourage customers to upgrade to the next high speed level. They pretty much keep it as slow as possible. If people knew how fast the internet can be (take a look at the speeds in japan it's about 30 times faster than the fastest internet we can get in north america.) when they run it wide open it's disgusting.

Only in america. And I love america. I love america. (Bonus points for knowing whose song that is.)

Anyways, here's some shots from an 80s movie, last night. I kept marveling at the picture quality. Growing up, I saw perhaps only thirty movies in the theatre, having seen most movies at home on cable, and it's a kind of new experience watching those movies on this set-up. By the way, the file size of this movie shown is only 2.3gb. Even better that this is on a laptop that, while it's a core centrino and has 3gb memory and 384mb video memory, is only a 1.8 dual core with Intel video, and it producing no artifacting and smooth motion.

[shmokes]

That story doesn't make much sense. Fiber is only useful where it is laid. That is, if they ran fiber to your building or to your neighborhood, that can't just be given away to someone. What good to the DHS College Station setup is a bunch of fiber that's physically buried in the ground leading to various residential neighborhoods? The College Station can only use fiber that's been physically run to its location. Am I missing something?

[lilshawn]

That story doesn't make much sense. Fiber is only useful where it is laid. That is, if they ran fiber to your building or to your neighborhood, that can't just be given away to someone. What good to the DHS College Station setup is a bunch of fiber that's physically buried in the ground leading to various residential neighborhoods? The College Station can only use fiber that's been physically run to its location. Am I missing something?

yes, you are. they pull a line from the main distribution station (most likely los angeles where the fiber optic lines that come from asia enter north america)  and get it to the next town/city then place a substation there... so on and so forth until it reaches a neighborhood in your town/city.

there is basically a main trunk line of several thousand gigabits per second that link the continents...to the main distribution stations where it gets chopped up to several hundred gigabyte lines between several hundred substations in major citys. It is then chopped up again to several gigabit lines and sent to various smaller citys and towns where it gets distributed again to neigborhoods and finally to houses.

so even with fiber optic, you still only receive a small portion of the whole, albeit it's still a shitton of data. Most internet service providers (cable DSL etc) have fiberoptic, they just convert in their own substation to use it with their system. This is why the internet is capable of much faster speeds.

the aforementioned line they installed is only a small portion of the lines fanning out from the substation in the city. The college station simply took over the majority of the throughput from the substation (or the distribution line coming into the substation all together). A dick move still.

[shmokes]

The college station simply took over the majority of the throughput from the substation (or the distribution line coming into the substation all together).

What do you mean took over? It sounds to me like it had never been turned on. And in any case, if there's still fiber running to all the all the houses, surely the College Station taking over a chunk of throughput can't be that big an issue (or even an issue at all). If they ever want to light up all that fiber, even if the College Station thing is using too much bandwidth, all they've gotta do is run another line to the substation. It's not like all that taxpayer-funded infrastructure was just appropriated for something else--I mean, unless there's more to this story than what's been given so far . . .

edit: Bear in mind . . . I'm not trying to be difficult. My understanding of this is limited. I totally embrace the possibility that I'm wrong here. My argument is based almost entirely on intuition . . . it just doesn't seem to add up for me.

[lilshawn]

i would say you're probably right...the government does pretty much whatever the hell it wants.

all in the name of liberty and justice for some.

[ChadTower]

I am thinking in this context took over means it was given to them as a dedicated line.  Nobody else uses it for security reasons.  It's not a percentage of total available bandwidth.