Close Encounters on five
Chris Croughton
<ja...@marage.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>One line of first reel dialogue I recall from twenty years ago was when
>a bystander, on seeing mysterious lights skittering along above a road
>and swinging wide on bends, remarked: "They may be years ahead of us,
>but we've got them beat on highway drill." Those may not be the exact
>words but I'm pretty sure that the speech wasn't in five's transmission.
>I know it's a much hacked about movie, but cutting a decent gag in a
>movie that wasn't strong on humour was unforgivable.
Was it in the video version (or rather all of the video versions)? I
doubt that Five cut it deliberately (if it was on a commercial break it
may have been done by accident, of course).
>The atmosphere of the particularly dramatic ending, with the mothership,
>rising majestically into the night sky, was ruined by a picture-in-
>picture shrink down and a voice over trumpeting a coming programme.
Grr, I hate it when they do that. Often over the credits, as well, I'd
have thought that the producing company would have complained about
that.
>five, it seems, can match any channel for crass insensitivity, and what
>seemed like ten minutes between advertising breaks hardened my resolve
>not watch movies on a commercial channel again. At least, not in real
>time.
I watched the Doctor Who movie the other night (I think it was on SciFi)
and the breaks there made it feel more like the TV series (20 minute
chunks) although without the bits of "last episode" intro to each one.
But I rarely watch anything these days in real time, unless (like that
one) I just happen to notice it on and don't have time to set a VCR...
Chris C
Chris Malme
$KMv5BC6...@marage.demon.co.uk:
> I'm seriously considering a Tivo machine but object to paying a monthly
> subscription to use all the features of a video recorder!
I haven't done it myself, but I have seen several referenced to building a
computer-based Tivo-like machine, but which works off internet based TV
guides.
The main contender appears to be Showshifer, coupled with Diguide, which
costs something like 7 quid (12 dollars) a year to subscribe to.
Do a Google on Showshifter and Digiguide (and maybe DGShow) and see what
you find.
--
Chris
Minstrel's Hall of Filk - http://www.filklore.com
Filklore Music Store - http://www.filklore.co.uk
Chris Croughton
<mins...@filklore.com> wrote:
>I haven't done it myself, but I have seen several referenced to building a
>computer-based Tivo-like machine, but which works off internet based TV
>guides.
I'm not the only one looking at doing this on Linux, I've been contacted
by two people recently about my Pace cable set-top box IrDA driver by
people working on different systems (one already available but not able
to drive the cable box, the other still in early development) and I know
there's at least one other project which is intended to have versions
for Windows as well as Linux.
(TiVo, incidentally, uses a specially configured version of Linux.)
In the meantime, I use Digiguide data with my own purpose-written
software and an IR adapter to control my VCRs and the cable box. I can
still call it a PVR even if it isn't digital...
>The main contender appears to be Showshifer, coupled with Diguide, which
>costs something like 7 quid (12 dollars) a year to subscribe to.
At least one of the Hauppage TV PC cards comes with 'PVR' software. I
have no idea how good it is or what it uses as a programme guide by
default though.
>Do a Google on Showshifter and Digiguide (and maybe DGShow) and see what
>you find.
As I understand it you need DGShow as the interface between DigiGuide
and Showshifter.
Incidentally, even without PVR software Digiguide is well worth the cost
(I believe 7 quid per year at the moment, although I seem to remember
seeing that it may be going up to 8 quid sometime soon). It's one of
the reasons I still keep a Windoze machine running <g>...
Chris C
David G. Bell
<xns930a8f5a...@filklore.co.uk>
mins...@filklore.com "Chris Malme" wrote:
> James Follett <ja...@marage.demon.co.uk> wrote in news:
> $KMv5BC6...@marage.demon.co.uk:
>
> > I'm seriously considering a Tivo machine but object to paying a monthly
> > subscription to use all the features of a video recorder!
>
> I haven't done it myself, but I have seen several referenced to building a
> computer-based Tivo-like machine, but which works off internet based TV
> guides.
>
> The main contender appears to be Showshifer, coupled with Diguide, which
> costs something like 7 quid (12 dollars) a year to subscribe to.
>
> Do a Google on Showshifter and Digiguide (and maybe DGShow) and see what
> you find.
There's an article in the current Personal Computer World about very
small PCs, and it looks as though this is one of the uses the
manufacturers are thinking about. Small motherboard, little need for
fan cooling, and hardware MPEG...
Of course, Tivo buy their parts wholesale...
--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
"Let me get this straight. You're the KGB's core AI, but you're afraid
of a copyright infringement lawsuit over your translator semiotics?"
From "Lobsters" by Charles Stross.
Chris Malme
news:20030121.19...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk:
> There's an article in the current Personal Computer World about very
> small PCs, and it looks as though this is one of the uses the
> manufacturers are thinking about. Small motherboard, little need for
> fan cooling, and hardware MPEG...
A little while back, I was mad enough to buy a discounted Fujitsu
Multitainer[1], which amongst other things, is a 733MHz Windows[2] PC in a
DVD-player style box, with a TV output. Plays DVDs as well as a bog-
standard DVD-player, and means I can keep a check on my machines
"upstairs" without having a PC in the lounge. It also runs Digiguide for
me, and once I fit a reasonable TV card to it, is getting Showshifter.
I don't think the Multitainer is being sold in the UK any more, more due to
marketing than anything else. They were trying to sell it as a PC that you
could use through your TV, and it failed to sell due to the low resolution
you get going through the TV. However, thinking of it as an entertainment
machine that just happens to be a PC, it's a nice little toy, and I can see
the PC in a DVD case becoming more common.
For size, the machine I really liked was the Hardback PC:
http://www.2ndchancepc.co.uk/hardback-pc.html
[1] An picture of one of these units is at http://www.fujitsu-
siemens.co.uk/rl/servicesupport/techsupport/consumer/MULTI/multi1.htm
Mine is black.
[2] Though the moment that Dixon's started knocking these out cheap, there
was a Linux Multitainer project.
Harry Payne
>James Follett <ja...@marage.demon.co.uk> wrote in news:
>$KMv5BC6...@marage.demon.co.uk:
>
>> I'm seriously considering a Tivo machine but object to paying a monthly
>> subscription to use all the features of a video recorder!
>
>I haven't done it myself, but I have seen several referenced to building a
>computer-based Tivo-like machine, but which works off internet based TV
>guides.
>
>The main contender appears to be Showshifer, coupled with Diguide, which
>costs something like 7 quid (12 dollars) a year to subscribe to.
>
>Do a Google on Showshifter and Digiguide (and maybe DGShow) and see what
>you find.
>
is that there's no official video plus codes, but it's still cheaper
than any of the TV magazines, and has all the channels.
Tivo subscriptions give you more than just VCR features if I understand
the ads correctly; things like pausing live TV and carrying on from
where you left off, automatically recording the last half-hour of the
channel it's set to so if you decide you want to record it part-way in
you can. The downside is the expense, and even the "lifetime" fee only
refers to the lifetime of the machine.
If Tivo goes the way of onDigital you'll be left with a box which might
record or might not. Some people think this may well be the case.
--
Harry
"We are less interested in actions than in attitudes."
- The Nightwatch, Babylon 5.
wamccabe
"James Follett" <ja...@marage.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:FVkR+TAa...@marage.demon.co.uk...
> X-No-Archive: yes
>
> I rarely watch movies on five, or any commercial channel for that
> matter, but I decided to watch five's airing of "Close Encounters" this
> evening because it's been at least twenty years since I saw it.
>
> One line of first reel dialogue I recall from twenty years ago was when
> a bystander, on seeing mysterious lights skittering along above a road
> and swinging wide on bends, remarked: "They may be years ahead of us,
> but we've got them beat on highway drill." Those may not be the exact
> words but I'm pretty sure that the speech wasn't in five's transmission.
> I know it's a much hacked about movie, but cutting a decent gag in a
> movie that wasn't strong on humour was unforgivable.
>
> rising majestically into the night sky, was ruined by a picture-in-
> picture shrink down and a voice over trumpeting a coming programme.
> seemed like ten minutes between advertising breaks hardened my resolve
> not watch movies on a commercial channel again. At least, not in real
> time.
>
All of them supposedly at Spielberg's direction. The thing I remember most
about the changes is with the ending. The original doesn't go inside the
mothership at all, the special edition has a really long sequence inside
following the central character, another later edition cuts this down to
just a brief look.
> --
> James Follett. Novelist (Callsign G1LXP)
I've even read some of your books - and I remember "Earthsearch" from the
first time on BBC radio.
> http://www.jamesfollett.dswilliams.co.uk and http://www.marjacq.com
> "Earthsearch -- Mindwarp" audio CD set now available from Big Finish
> Productions. "The Silent Vulcan" trilogy available from Severn House.
---
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Chris Malme
news:oONA3lQM...@menageri.tele2.co.uk:
> >The main contender appears to be Showshifer, coupled with Diguide, which
> >costs something like 7 quid (12 dollars) a year to subscribe to.
> >
> >Do a Google on Showshifter and Digiguide (and maybe DGShow) and see what
> >you find.
> >
> Digiguide's okay; I've just renewed my subscription. The major down-side
> is that there's no official video plus codes, but it's still cheaper
> than any of the TV magazines, and has all the channels.
>
> Tivo subscriptions give you more than just VCR features if I understand
> the ads correctly; things like pausing live TV and carrying on from
> where you left off, automatically recording the last half-hour of the
> channel it's set to so if you decide you want to record it part-way in
> you can.
That's the bit that Showshifter does. Installed in a computer with a decent
TV card, you use it as a Digital Video Recorder, and one of its features is
that you can pause and resume live TV. Integrating Digiguide into
Showshifter with DGShow (or one of the alternatives) means that your
choices in Diguide (watch or video) get translate into Showshifter.
> The downside is the expense, and even the "lifetime" fee only
> refers to the lifetime of the machine.
Whereas the hacker's solution is the one-off cost of Showshifter ($50 for
Standard, $75 for Pro) and your subscription to Digiguide.
> If Tivo goes the way of onDigital you'll be left with a box which might
> record or might not. Some people think this may well be the case.
Another good reason to build your own machine. <g>
John Campbell Rees
in message <oONA3lQM...@menageri.tele2.co.uk> wrote:
> Chris Malme <mins...@filklore.com> writted:
> >James Follett <ja...@marage.demon.co.uk> wrote in news:
> >$KMv5BC6...@marage.demon.co.uk:
> >
> >> I'm seriously considering a Tivo machine but object to paying a monthly
> >> subscription to use all the features of a video recorder!
> Tivo subscriptions give you more than just VCR features if I understand
> the ads correctly;
TiVo will do more than a bog standard video recorder. The main advantage
is being able to start the programme I want to watch without wasting
time spooling through video tapes to find the start.
> If Tivo goes the way of onDigital you'll be left with a box which might
> record or might not. Some people think this may well be the case.
Which is why I got myself a SKY+ box. This service is unlikely to go
belly-up, as Uncle Rupert wants tot rule the World, and does not care
how much it costs him.
--
"Like shooting flies with a laser cannon, the aims a bit tricky, but
it certainly deals with the flies." - Lord Miles Vorkosigan.
From "Komarr" by Lois McMaster Bujold
Chris Croughton
<mins...@filklore.com> wrote:
>That's the bit that Showshifter does. Installed in a computer with a decent
>TV card, you use it as a Digital Video Recorder, and one of its features is
>that you can pause and resume live TV. Integrating Digiguide into
>Showshifter with DGShow (or one of the alternatives) means that your
>choices in Diguide (watch or video) get translate into Showshifter.
Chris, have you done this? If so, then I'd like to talk to you about it
(off-group, it's really not on-topic here) in detail. Or anyone else
who has actually used Showshifter and its ilk, I've seen a lot of people
mentioning it but not any who have actually used it.
>> The downside is the expense, and even the "lifetime" fee only
>> refers to the lifetime of the machine.
>
>Whereas the hacker's solution is the one-off cost of Showshifter ($50 for
>Standard, $75 for Pro) and your subscription to Digiguide.
Or just the latter for one of the open source solutions (plus a lot of
your time, which you may value more, it's always a trade-off).
>> If Tivo goes the way of onDigital you'll be left with a box which might
>> record or might not. Some people think this may well be the case.
>
>Another good reason to build your own machine. <g>
As if some of us needed an excuse <g>...
Chris C
Chris Croughton
<jw...@gardd-lelog.org.uk> wrote:
>TiVo will do more than a bog standard video recorder. The main advantage
>is being able to start the programme I want to watch without wasting
>time spooling through video tapes to find the start.
Hmm, it's interesting what different people feel is the 'main'
advantage. The one you mention applies to any hard-disk system, even if
it only has the timing functionality of a VCR, other more specific ones
include the ability to use electronic programme guides, pause and resume
without missing anything, start recording part way through without
missing the beginning. Of those, I have the first with VCRs plus a
computer (and special software) and since I very rarely watch anything
on TV 'live' I don't miss the others. I would like hard disk to be able
to 'instantly' skip adverts, top and tail the programmes etc.
>> If Tivo goes the way of onDigital you'll be left with a box which might
>> record or might not. Some people think this may well be the case.
>
>Which is why I got myself a SKY+ box. This service is unlikely to go
>belly-up, as Uncle Rupert wants tot rule the World, and does not care
>how much it costs him.
But only works with Sky, not with terrestrial or cable, which is a big
drawback for many people. Now if he produced a general version...
Chris C
Alan Fleming
wrote:
>On Sat, 25 Jan 2003 12:46:04 -0000, Chris Malme
> <mins...@filklore.com> wrote:
>
>>That's the bit that Showshifter does. Installed in a computer with a decent
>>TV card, you use it as a Digital Video Recorder, and one of its features is
>>that you can pause and resume live TV. Integrating Digiguide into
>>Showshifter with DGShow (or one of the alternatives) means that your
>>choices in Diguide (watch or video) get translate into Showshifter.
>
>Chris, have you done this? If so, then I'd like to talk to you about it
>(off-group, it's really not on-topic here) in detail. Or anyone else
>who has actually used Showshifter and its ilk, I've seen a lot of people
>mentioning it but not any who have actually used it.
Done it here. Works fine.
Alan.
--
______
\ __/___ Alan Fleming.
\ \ / Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
\/\ / Email: af....@etrigan.org Remove .news for a quicker reply.
\/ Web: www.etrigan.org/af IRC: Etrigan
Chris Malme
news:slrnb37icl...@ccserver.keris.net:
> On Sat, 25 Jan 2003 12:46:04 -0000, Chris Malme
> <mins...@filklore.com> wrote:
>
> >That's the bit that Showshifter does. Installed in a computer with a
> >decent TV card, you use it as a Digital Video Recorder, and one of its
> >features is that you can pause and resume live TV. Integrating
> >Digiguide into Showshifter with DGShow (or one of the alternatives)
> >means that your choices in Diguide (watch or video) get translate into
> >Showshifter.
>
> Chris, have you done this? If so, then I'd like to talk to you about
> it (off-group, it's really not on-topic here) in detail. Or anyone
> else who has actually used Showshifter and its ilk, I've seen a lot of
> people mentioning it but not any who have actually used it.
I haven't, although I already have the machine to set it up on. It is about
halfway down a long list of jobs awaiting a round tuit. However, it is after
getting my CD recording finished, so we are probably talking about 2004 <g>.