Raimund Marasigan – vocals
Mong Alcaraz – guitars
Myrene Academia – bass
Diego Castillo – guitars
Mike Dizon – drums

Formed in 1995 by Raimund and Diego, after the breakup of Raimund’s recent band Eraserheads the band was formerly fronted by Marc Abaya of Kjwan as Raimund is yet playing the rhythm guitar those days, the band had evolved and found members that fits the style of their music. Their music is a mix of pop and punk which is glittered by the effects of the two guitarists that made their style a little bit electronic and yet heavy in mood. The first album is Grip, Stand, Throw, followed by Four-Track Mind, and then Thanks To The Moon’s Gravitational Pull, then Five On The Floor and the latest < S > Marks the Spot are really great albums with great hits and catchy tuned songs that made them more popular as the time goes. Their songs such as Butterfly Carnival, Sugod, DVDX, Procrastinator, Selos, Two Trick Pony and  Betamax are few of the most popular songs even today.  Their are many songs that they made out of the album to name a few like Humanda Ka for Tantra, Nginiig and Zaido for TV series, and Are We Good for Frenzy condoms besides those songs their are many to mention as part of their achievements with the band. In every live performance that they bring anywhere in the Philippines made the audience to jump with their lively tunes. Their sound reflects to how vulnerable they are in comes to music because they also have other bands outside whose also making hits like what they did in this band. They really rocks.

Star Wars Movie Poster

Today there is only one first run movie theatre chain in the whole of Canada, so even the most successful movies only play for a matter of weeks.

But back in the 1970’s there was still competition among Canadian movie theatres so Star Wars actually played on Canadian movie screens for over a year. When the first Star Wars movie was released I was so caught up in it that I ended up going out to see it in a variety of movie theatres thirteen times during that first year.

I am a huge Star Wars fan.

I bought all the Star Wars merchandise that I could afford. In those days there were no DVDs or downloads. VCRs had just come on the market and they were prohibitively expensive.

So at first those of us who were not indescribably wealthy had to content ourselves with purchasing vinyl record albums that ran at 33 1/3rd rpm on an old fashioned machine called a record player. I bought the music in the form of the John Williams Star Wars soundtrack album, as well as a record called “The Story of Star Wars”, a synopsis of the story narrated by C3PO with audio clips from the film. To this day any time I hear the 20th Century Fox music tag I flash on the “real” Star Wars opening.

And today the George Lucas’s Star Wars empire continues to make money in new ways. I don’t have a problem with that. It is a business after all.

I still love Star Wars, particularly the first one. And this article in no way intends any disrespect. I’m telling you about my connection with Star Wars because the incredible success that Star Wars had makes it a good example. That, and because Star Wars was the very first videotape movie I saw played on a VCR in a private home.

What I really want to do today (besides procrastinate from working on my NaNoWriMo novel) is to look at personal use copying as a copyright infringement issue.

The Copyright Lobby makes no distinction between commercial bootleggers who distribute illegal copies for profit and legal purchasers who seek to make a back-up copy or digital format shift for personal use. Because they insist it is all the same thing, the Copyright Lobby has been pressuring governments the world over in an attempt to criminalize personal use copying.

I think there is a problem with the terminology here because calling both things by the same name is horribly misleading. Both activities involve digital copying, but that is where the similarity ends. Just as apples and oranges are both fruit but they are really not the same at all.

apples and oranges

One thing the Copyright Lobby calls “piracy” would be more accurately called “Bootlegging”. Bootleg music recordings have been around as long as audio recording technology has existed. People have smuggled recording devices into concerts and made copies which they have then sold around the world. There have also been professional bootleggers who have copied recorded music and repackaged it to sell illegally. These activities have resulted in lost revenue for music distributors, and in fact should be illegal.

The other thing the Copyright Lobby calls “piracy” is what I call “Personal use copying”. This covers a much wider range of activities, but the chief defining factor of personal use copying is the fact that this digital copying is not for profit. Rather than resulting in lost revenue for distributors, personal use copying relieves the burden of format shifting from the manufacturer to the consumer. When shared through p2p networks personal use copying serves as a means of promoting these commercial products in the same way that radio and television broadcasts have done under the traditional business model. This type of copying should be legal.

The Copyright Lobby’s effort to criminalize this type of copying simply alienates the customer base. Like DRM or SOC methods, it does absolutely nothing to stem the flow of bootlegging.

When did the idea of ownership change?

It used to be that when you bought something you owned it. You were free to do with it what you liked. Even if it was something covered under copyright law… like a book, you were entitled to read that book as many times as you wanted to.

• You could loan it to a friend.
• You could quote from it in an essay
• You could read it aloud to your blind grandmother.

And at the end of the day it was still your book. Unless you decided you no longer wanted it, at which time you could legally sell it to a used book store.

Now lets look at what’s been happening so far in the information age. Manufacturers of recorded music and movies have their materials covered under copyright. They want us to not make copies for our own personal use, even though we have paid them the price they ask.

Personal use copying is not the same thing as bootlegging for commercial gain.

The Problem

Original Star Wars Betamax videotape

If you purchased Star Wars in the Sony Betamax version back then, you would have found yourself out of luck a few short years later when Sony stopped making Betamax VCRs. When your Betamax machine became inoperable, you could no longer buy a new one, which of course rendered the tape you purchased in good faith unplayable. No one warned the unfortunate consumers that invested in Betamax tapes and Betamax equipment. I never heard of anyone getting refunds from the movie companies. Or the MPAA. Or Sony. Etc.

Star Wars on VHS

But.

Now you can’t. So what do you do if you really loved Star Wars?

You go out and buy it again. This time on VHS.

The rest of your life, eh? I know that’s what I thought. Didn’t you?

Did Twentieth Century Fox ever offer to reimburse you for the useless hunk of plastic and tape (that you have now purchased twice for your own use) that is now deteriorating? And suddenly it’s near impossible to buy a new VHS machine because there is yet another new technology– now movies are on DVD. Even if you can find a new VHS machine, we’ve all learned that a VCR will be lucky to last for five years anyway. And of course the VCRs you can find now are far more expensive than DVD players. So what’s a fan to do. Oh right.

You go out and buy Star Wars again on DVD.

Star Wars on DVD

[Of course, this particular example is extra irritating because George Lucas hasn't stopped tinkering with the thing, and since he's vowed to never release the REAL version (the one that actually played in theatres in 1977) on DVD, so I will never have the version I want no matter how many times I've paid for it. *sigh*]

But you’re a fan.

So you go out and buy the movie AGAIN on DVD.

At least you have it in a form that will last.

Now HD is gone too.

Or not.

Because then along came HD DVD.  The media manufacturers were a little surprised that we didn’t all rush out and buy HD machines.

Replacing our entire video library. AGAIN.

Oh… you were one of those suckers who got conned into converting to bought into HD? Ooooops!  Didn’t anyone tell you that the technology you were supposed to back was Blu-Ray?

I could go through the same process to look at the parallels in the music industry: piano rolls, gramophone cylinders, ’78’s, LPs, 8 track tapes, cassette tapes and CDS… all over the course of a single century.

Funny, I have a working gramophone older than I am which will play ’78’s. Yet our modern day electronic equipment will be doing well to work after a decade.

I don’t know about you but I am tired of buying the same movies over and over again.

Copyright is an agreement between the creator/manufacturer and the consumer.

The media distributors have NOT kept their part of the bargain, expecting consumers to pay for the same material over and over again. It should be legal to be able to watch the movie you have purchased in good faith as many times as we want to, for the rest of our lives.

Consumers have not been given any protection by governments the world over.

At the very minimum customers need to be given the right to copy the products they have purchased onto the piece of technology needed to play it.

We believe we own what we have purchased.
They want us to believe that we don’t.

Fortunately our government representatives are in an excellent position to look out for the Canadian consumer interests as they redraft our copyright law for the benefit of Canadians.

Author: Madison Lockwood
Source: download

Once again, there is a, dvd, technology format war looming on the horizon. Many people don’t remember the VHS – Betamax battle that broke out when video players were first introduced, making it possible for people to watch movies at home. This was a case of two non-compatible technologies, each of which was a format for taping full length feature films. Ultimately VHS won, dvd, out, and the movie companies put out their, dvd, products in that format – thus dooming Betamax and the product manufacturers that had adopted, dvd, their technology, not to mention the thousands of consumers that had invested in Betamax players, dvd, . We now find ourselves on the verge of creating a new set of sore losers.
Skirmishes over LCD versus plasma, dvd, screen HD TV technology are ongoing, but that type of technology contest isn’t as acute because you can watch TV or a movie on, dvd, either, dvd, type of screen. Currently, you can also play every DVD available on any DVD player that is in production and on the market. The next generation of DVD players, however, is coming over the horizon in the form of two distinct and incompatible technologies.
Toshiba versus Sony
Toshiba has developed a proprietary technology dubbed high definition DVD (HDDVD) and to support their, dvd, format has developed alliances with Microsoft and Universal Films, among others. The HDDVD disks will be available in 15GB and two sided, 30GB versions, dvd, .
By way of comparison, the current DVDs have enough, dvd, storage for two hours of standard definition (SD) images, while the one-sided 15 gigabyte HDDVD disk can store up to eight hours of high, dvd, definition (HD) images. The difference between SD and, dvd, HD is simply twice the number of pixel lines displayed on the screen in the HD format, thus providing a crisper picture. The increased capacity of these disks will also allow for interactive features such as screen-in-screen director’s discussion of movie scenes playing behind him that today’s standard DVDs cannot support.
In the other corner is the Blu-Ray technology developed by Sony, who has lined up support from Apple, Disney and 20th Century Fox. Both formats use blue laser technology, which has a shorter wavelength than red, allowing it to read the smaller digital data “spots” packed a lot more densely onto a standard-size disc., dvd, Blu-Ray disks, dvd, are designed to carry up to 50GB of digital material, which may mean that Sony wins the compression, dvd, competition.
The Early, dvd, Rounds
Sony Pictures released the first six films on Blu-Ray, dvd, disks in June of this year, and have released a few more since. Samsung has a Blu-Ray DVD player in the stores, while Sony’s hardware, dvd, division has released a Blu-Ray compatible PC. Toshiba has its initial HDDVD player on the market and there are a limited number of titles available in the format, mostly re-releases of previous first-run features.
Sony clearly jumped out to an early lead, with support from Dell, HP, Mitsubishi and a number of other hardware manufacturers. In addition, Sony Pictures also owns Columbia and MGM, giving them an enormous library to work with. Sony will, dvd, also fold its technology into the PlayStation,, dvd, dvd, 3 gaming machine, their proprietary product whose 2nd version rules the roost in the videogame, dvd,, dvd, market.
On the Toshiba side of the battlefield, proponents argue that the HDDVD disks will be cheaper to produce and that it will be comparatively easy for disk replicators to retrofit their equipment for production purposes. The HDDVD format also makes production of recordable DVDs much simpler than with the Blu-Ray design.
Further, an, dvd, alliance with Microsoft will, dvd, be a formidable, dvd, edge in, dvd, this battle, should it turn into a protracted conflict. Microsoft’s operating systems are going, dvd, to be important cogs in the development of future home viewing, dvd, systems, as the technology moves closer to merging the functions of computers and televisions. If movie downloads, dvd, become a commercial success, PC compatibility will be critical for these disks.
The Consumer Issues
One of the reasons that Microsoft aligned with Toshiba’s technology is that HDDVD provides for “mandatory managed copy.” What that means is that unlike with today’s conventional DVDs,, dvd, managed, dvd, copy allows consumers to make,, dvd, dvd, legitimate copies of their HD movies and enjoy this content around the home or across their personal networks. Making this feature mandatory will ensure a consistent consumer experience across all next-generation DVD content.
Then there is the element of iHD, which is the concept, dvd, of maximizing high definition video for transport across the internet. This is a specific set of, dvd, video specs which the iHD.org, a group of tech and media companies, is pushing as a cross-platform standard.
The theory is that next-generation HD movies will provide a level of interactive experience well beyond that of today’s, dvd, conventional DVDs. iHD technology is meant to provide a broad foundation to enable new interactivity with standards-based development tools and technologies.
The pitch, dvd, for this standard is that it will provide consumers with enhanced content, navigation and functionality for HD films. The business reality, dvd, is that Microsoft plans to implement iHD support in its Windows, dvd, Vista operating, dvd, system, which will not only be a significant step towards integrated video and computer systems but will make help drive adoption of the new Microsoft platform.
Duel to the Death Unlikely
There is some indication that all of these conflicting issues may ultimately force a compromise – some sort of merger or unification of the two technologies. Hardware manufacturers are hedging, dvd,, dvd, their bets, with the latest wrinkle being that Blu-Ray-aligned Hewlett Packard has requested that mandatory managed copy and the iHD standard be included in Blu-Ray’s feature set. Sony, dvd, has agreed to include the managed copy feature, but said no to iHD.
The Betamax – VHS battle was a tussle over hardware, dvd, with the movie companies playing a predominant role, one Sony lost. This time around, there is much more uncertainty about how the next generation of home video will roll out. How will the Web and the PC fit in? Will the movies be delivered via disk or via download? How will the film industry protect its content rights and how can the hardware companies maximize their role?
PCs, dvd, have become a commodity. If a scenario arises, dvd, where every household needs a new computer to match up with new video technology, the Dells and HPs of this world, dvd, stand to win big. If competing technology keeps people from investing in either, every involved business will suffer, dvd, . If the film and DVD houses have to produce two sets of content and two disks for every film,, dvd, their margins will grow considerably thinner as well. The tech bloggers seem, dvd, to be increasingly inclined to believe that unification of some sort is inevitable. The corporations with the most to lose, dvd, are too smart not to insist on it.
Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate for ApolloHosting.com, dvd, . She brings years of experience as a, dvd, small business consultant to helping prospective, dvd, clients understand the ways in which a website may benefit them both personally, dvd, and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers. Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels of customer support.

Here is this week’s edition of “Useless Friday Info”:

“One square inch of skin on the human hand contains some 72 feet of nerve fiber.  There is a total of 45 miles of nerves in the skin.”

“Your nails grow faster in outer space.”

“1965-Sony introduces Betamax, a small home video recorder, which later loses out to the VHS machine.”

“1980-CNN, the Cable News Network, is born.  It’s followed by MTV.”

“The guy featured in the NBA logo is former Laker, Jerry West.”

“Go” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.”

“On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens each year.”

“If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.”

“A person sheds about 1.5 million skin flakes an hours, most of which becomes embedded in our carpets.”

“Pumpkin halves were supposedly used as guides for haircuts in colonial New Haven, Connecticut, giving rise to the nickname pumpkinhead.”

It is no surprise that telecoms is growing very repaidly.Telecommunications companies, including Telefonica O2, Deutsche Telekom, and British Telecommunications, were the heaviest social networking site advertisers, delivering more than 949 million display ad impressions on social networking sites in August, or approximately 7 percent of all display ads delivered in the site category.So in result Telecommunications Companies Deliver Highest Volume of Display Ads on Social Networking Sites.

Do have any idea how much porn has changed the world?  What kind of control and effect it has had on the modern world, consumer products and a million other things?

What really decided who won between Betamax and VHS?  Why did Blue Ray win that contest?  Why do all DVD players have a multi-angle viewing button?  Why can we send and receive pictures on our phones? Why is suddenly so important to have 3G phones?  Camcorders… digital cameras, payper view, satellite and cable tv, the internet.. the list goes on and on.

Porn.. porn (and sex) is one of the leading driving forces behind a lot of technological advances.  Now this won’t come as much of a surprise to some people, but I think a lot of people will be at least a little surprised.

Did you know that the reason VHS became the primary technology was NOT actually because Sony wouldn’t let anyone else use the technology.  It was due to the porn industry choosing VHS as the platform on which to produce their films because it was cheaper for them to produce.. and suddenly.. loe all kinds of people had a VHS player (why buy the expensive one that won’t play your sexy films on it??)

Don’t believe me?  Do you own a DVD player?  Go check the remote.  Does it have ‘change viewing angle button’ on it?  They all do, I have never seen one that doesn’t (anywhere in the world).  But what ever for?  Have you ever watched a movie that you could change the angle in?  Just recently they have released some sports videos with that feature (very recently).  So if no one uses it, and it’s not a feature that is on any DVD’s how did it get included in every single player?  I’ll give you a hint.. sexy naked movies have multiple angles (and until this year they were the only thing that did).

Blue ray… HDVD.. who’s coming out on top..  you didn’t actually think that it mattered who disney picked did you?  Or whether people like the PS3 more or less than the XBOX360.. oh gosh you did.  It all came down to the porn industry.  Like it or not, sex is in demand.  It’s the only consumer product that there is always, ALWAYS a market for.  Everyone in the know always said, which ever platform the porn industry decided on would come out on top (boom shackalacka.. blue ray it is).

There are so many things, apparently the big pushes in phone technologies, turning them into hand held computers is being driven by the money that producers realize is in sex.  You might enjoy all the great features that allow you to check your email, send your mom a picture, and watch a youtube video but they didn’t make it for you.  They made it for the horney hunnies with the moneys.

Did you really think that people wanting to film their kids soccer game, or people wanting to take picture with out having to go to printing shop was really driven by our consumerism?  Sorry to ruin your fantasies kiddos.

So how far does it all reach?  Who the hell knows, most of us don’t even know about the things I just mentioned.  Hell I didn’t know about most of them until somewhat recently (the last 5 years or so anyway).

Well I just though of another one.  (Now keep in mind this is just my theory but I think it makes a HELL of a lot of sense).  Our current social desire for hairlessness.  Think about it, humans have been around for eons and this hairless thing has only become a real fashion in the past 20-30 years.  I was thikning about it, wondering if the fashion would ever go back to having hairy arm pits, and un trimmed un waxed bits and places. (aka your crotch).  Who knows…

But I do know that it was the norm, not all that long ago.  So why did it change?  What drove that change?  My money is on porn.  I suspect that they started ‘cleaning up’ the fuzzy bits in porn to give folks a better look at what they were doing.  I mean you can hardly get a good view of what someone is doing to a girl with full bush, or what’s happening on the guy behind his own personal tundra.  If they are both sporting little crotch lions, you’re not going to see NUTHIN’.

I bet that some director was filming and said oh for Christ’s sake.. someone shave this check so I can get some good angles.  BOOM  a trend is born.  Next thing you know, the bikini wax/shave gets higher and higher.  Voila, a few years/generations later, not only are almost all people sporting virtually no pubic hair, it’s considered EXTREMELY bad form to not tidy, trim and clean the area up.  For both men and women.

More and more women shave it all, or almost all,  a lot of men are getting into it too.  Waxing is more popular than ever, not only does it get everything out of the way, it lets you avoid stubble and keeps you clean and smooth much longer.  The porn star wax (as I like to call it) is become more popular and common.

I’m telling you… if porn got interested in the environment Tracey would probably do a little jig in pure excitement at all the changes and innovation it would bring.

Anyway that was what crossed my mind earlier today (damn I stayed up late scribbling this all out.. oops)

Another article that someone else wrote on a similar subject.

In early-stage, high growth international Voice-over-Internet (VoIP) provider and Web Applications enabler. In addition, we are developing new Internet marketing products and services for Small Businesses in developing countries.

Job Description:
The marketing/sales support intern position will be part-time starting as soon as possible. We are based in DHA, Lahore and our head office is in San Francisco, California. This is an excellent opportunity to learn and practice international business with world class managers and executives.

Requirements:
Some business, sales, marketing and people skills
BBA, BBIT & B.COM in Progress.
Ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing
Proficiency in Microsoft Office and IM; multi-tasking abilities
Must be available on Phone More than 6 hours a day

Responsibilities will include:
Developing and Implementing Sales/Marketing Programs in Emerging Markets
Acquiring Resellers, Agents and Distributors via IM, phone and e-mail
Assist in Product Planning and Implementation
Account Management and Sales Support

Base Salary – 13,000 – 17000RS + commission 5000-8000 RS
Please send your resume and professional attire.
Please submit a resume in Microsoft Word format to Email: mk360@att.net
Location: Lahore,pakistan

Public sector telecom Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has now set its sight on Ethiopian Telecommunications (ETC), a state monopoly in the African nation, in a bid to maximise revenues amid increasing competition in the home turf. The Indian behemoth is learnt to have expressed interest in running the networks and operations of ETC on a revenue-sharing basis after the Ethiopian government invited request for special interest to boost IT and telecom services in the sub-Saharan country.

Currently, BSNL is the only operator from India in the fray. There are some other players from the Middle East and Africa, who will put in their proposals. But no other Indian company has shown interest yet, sources close to the development told ET. Top officials from BSNL will go to Ethiopia next week. They will meet with ETC officials and also prepare a report on the local market and the potential for growth, said another person.

Ethiopia is the only country in Africa allowing monopoly in the telecom sector, with ETC being the sole provider of fixed, mobile, internet and data communication services. As a result, tariffs are high and services remain unaffordable, hindering development. To address this, the Ethiopian government is seeking the assistance of established telecom players in high-growth markets.

If successful, BSNL will manage ETCs networks on behalf of the Ethiopian government, outline business growth strategies and manage the operations of the company. Apart from a revenue share, BSNL will also get a fixed fee. The company is already considering buying a stake in Kuwaits Zain Telecom, which is also present in 22 countries, including 16 African nations.

BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal confirmed that BSNL was interested in ETC. BSNL is on the lookout for business opportunities in the African market. We are, at present, keeping all the options open, including taking over operation and maintenance and management control of a telecom company. As a part of the ongoing overseas business activities, we feel that ETC can be one of the operations, he told ET. However, he said no definite view has yet been taken on the ETC bid. A clear picture may merge after a period of three to four weeks from now, he added.

Analysts tracking the sector feel that looking at Africa is an obvious choice for BSNL because it is the last of the under-penetrated telecom markets globally. BSNL has a huge workforce, which is experienced and familiar with the latest technologies. This will be put to excellent use in Africa, said a senior industry analyst. ETC had launched 3G services in January this year and BSNL also has the experience of running 3G networks, having received spectrum ahead of private operators in India.

Addis Ababa-based ETC is the second-largest public sector company in that country after the Ethiopia Airlines. Its annual revenues for 2007-08 stood at a 3.3 billion Ethiopian Birr (ETB) or $263 million. Mobile penetration in Ethiopia is still around 4% in a population of 78 million, leaving immense room for growth.

Dear Apple,

My partner and I have been phone shopping, and we both were totally sold on iPhones. We decided to wait until our Verizon contract was up and get an AT&T family plan with two of the top iPhones. It only took a week of spending time with an AT&T customer to nix those plans.

My Father came to visit us in LA, and we all went to Las Vegas. He was having difficulty getting his AT&T phone to connect to bluetooth. AT&T technical support refused to help him AT ALL, blaming the problem on the truck, even though my Verizon device was able to connect without fail. All it took was some basic phone troubleshooting (which I provided when we arrived) to finally get it to work.

Throughout his vacation we were calling each other several times a day. His AT&T phone dropped calls about 50% of the time. 50% !!! Verizon never once dropped a call, even while driving through the mountains and desert. Now that I have seen the worst of AT&T, my partner and I have decided NEVER to switch from Verizon. However, we still want our iPhones!!!

Let me break it down for you:

1. We will not switch to AT&T in order to purchase iPhones. EVER!

2. We will tell our story to everyone we know. And through my blog and twitter, many others I don’t know.

3. This inexplicable and offensive snobbery shared between you and AT&T makes us very unlikely to buy any new Apple products in the future, no matter how much I dream of a MacBook Air. “Hackintosh” products are becoming more and more readily available every day.

4. Judging by the insane amount of iPhone accessories being dumped at Big Lots these days, the iPhone is awfully close to becoming only a passing fad, not a lasting platform. “Exclusivity” with a sub-standard service provider only brings you closer to that brink.

5. Verizon has assured me that they are working very hard to bring devices and services to rival your products. What are you doing to counter?

That’s what I thought.

It’s time. Soon the iPhone could be hanging out in some dive with it’s comrades: Betamax, Amiga, Minidisc, and Crystal Pepsi. Only YOU can free it from its own dark destiny. Besides, wouldn’t you rather see an Android hanging out with those has-beens?

FREE THE IPHONE!

Sincerely,

Brian Stroup

Betamax es un formato de video, hoy descatalogado, introducido por Sony a principios de 1976. Después de una década de anuncios, finalmente Sony presentó al mercado su sistema de cinta de vídeo que permitía grabar programas de televisión mientras se veía otro canal y verlo posteriormente. De tamaño más pequeño que su competencia VHS, Betamax tenía mayor resolución (mejor calidad de imagen). Por otro lado, el modelo de cinta VHS de máxima duración (E-240, 4 h) ofrecía 25 minutos más que su rival, Betamax (L-830, 215 min).

Aún cuando el Betamax ofrecía una mejor calidad de audio y vídeo, ésta sólo podía aprovecharse con altavoces y televisores de gama alta, equipo del que pocos hogares de la época disponían.

I was flipping through the channels last night when I came across the new NCIS with LL Cool J playing one of the agents… so I let it be…  I’ve been an LL fan since I saw the movie Krush groove back when I was still not in high school and LL needed a radio inside his hand… I’ve seen that movie on betamax so many times, I memorized all the songs.

But this is not what I am writing about. See I came across the scene where they bust into an apartment, no one is there, then LL looks at a computer screen with what looks like an Arabic website, it was too fast to determine for a native Arabic speaker non the less those who do not know… and he determined it was a jehadi website.

Next thing I know, they are running after this guy, catch him, punch him, he puts his hand in his “man bag” they tell him no… LL starts reciting a verse from the Quran to show the terrorist he understands and “this is not the way of Allah” but then the terrorist clicks something inside his bag… and they start running and boom.

My wife, was not looking at that moment, asked me what language was that? she is also a native Arabic speaker… I told her that’s something like gangsta Arabic or maybe it was Arabonics since LL is not a gangsta… LL, sorry, but your pronunciation needs to be worked on… good effort though., it is way better than George Clooney’s Arabic in Syriana (which was a good movie IMHO)

The good thing is, they are now showing the good with the bad in Hollywood, I am not sure what and how much sticks in peoples minds.

Here is LL talking about the show (link)

ANNOUNCER
And now on BBC Four we continue our current season of programmes about old shit from the 70s and 80s. Later on there’s another chance to see the powerful real life drama Vid Kids: The Battle Of Betamax Bill as Martin Freeman with some tape on his face plays Bill Betamax who dreams of one day inventing the greatest video recording machine the world has ever seen.

GRAMS: Chicory Tip – Son Of My Father

BILL
Dammit. I just want to invent the greatest video recording machine the world has ever seen.

FX: Door opens

PHIL
Bill. It’s bad news. We’ve just lost the Bradford account.

BILL
Don’t tell me. It’s him isn’t it.

PHIL
Yes, the market has been filled by your former childhood pal and now bitter rival Victor Hictor Smithers, or as the world better knows him…

BILL
…VHS. Damn you!

ANNOUNCER
Or for those who aren’t fans of powerful real life drama, comes our new powerful real life drama Dr Sodastream and The Vimto Kid, in which Michael Sheen and Michael Sheen star as someone from the past who is in fact much more miserable than they perhaps let on in public. And that’s followed by Corden and Horne as Smith and Jones in “Morons From Outer Ideas”. Oh I’m sorry, that’s just a regular episode of Horne and Corden…TO BE CONTINUED (POSSIBLY)

Hey there! Before I sum up what we covered in TechStuff this week, I just want to say Chrispy and I continue to receive great e-mails and tweets from you guys. Thanks for sending us your questions, comments and ideas for topics. We’re also aware of some encoding issues we’ve had with past episodes and we’re working to resolve them. We’re flattered that you guys want to go back and listen to everything we’ve done so far. If all else fails, maybe Chrispy and I can show up at your town and reenact the podcasts you’re missing [Editor's note: we will not do that].

Also, I need to make the following statement: Linux is an amazing operating system. It’s robust and it has a huge community of intelligent and innovative supporters who continually improve the OS and create fantastic applications. Anyone who makes fun of Linux clearly doesn’t know what he or she is talking about. And I would appreciate it if the IT department would lift the restrictions on my computer so that I could access something besides the “Hamster on a Piano” YouTube video.

On Monday, Chrispy and I talked about the various hardware you can connect to your television to enhance your home theater system. We gave a background on two different format wars (Betamax vs. VHS and HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray). In one of those battles, Sony lost. In the other battle, it’s too early to tell if Sony really won. We also covered electronics ranging from capacitance electronic discs (CEDs) to the Apple TV.

Wednesday’s show was all about machinima. Machinima is an art form in which you use a pre-existing virtual world (such as the kind you’d find in a video game) to create a story. The story could be a short cartoon or a full-length feature film. We point out the similarity between machinima and the ancient art of puppetry. I also wax poetic about Red vs. Blue, the series that introduced me to the concept of machinima in the first place.

Thanks for listening to TechStuff, and keep those suggestions coming. In the meantime, here’s a little hamster on a piano.

And visit HowStuffWorks.com for more great information:

How Apple TV Works
How Blu-ray Discs Work
How Machinima Works

Salah satu dari banyak memori InSa [Intan Satu, red.] yang masih nempel di kepalaku adalah nonton video di rumah Pak Manurung. Secara waktu itu belum musim orang-orang memiliki video/DVD player di rumah masing-masing seperti sekarang. Aku sendiri dulu paling banter nonton “video” di TV mainan yang dibeli di tukang kelotokan. “Film”nya bisa diganti-ganti (meski mungkin cuma slides yang dibuat di atas negative film). Cara nontonnya, kita putar itu slides dan satu-satu gambarnya nongol di salah satu mata. Iya, salah satu mata doang! Lebih cocok namanya ‘ngintip film, bukan nonton film, berhubung layar filmnya kuecilll banget! Hihii…

Maka adalah hal mewah buat aku bisa nonton video di rumah Pak Manurung. Meski sebenarnya takut sama anjing-anjing Pak Manurung yang seakan nggak boleh lihat orang senang. Begitu lewat pintu pagarnya *yang sampai sekarang masih aseli lho!* pasti kami langsung diendus-endus sama si guguk. Laksana pendatang gelap tanpa passport yang diperiksa petugas perbatasan. Terkadang Rona atau Arta (putri-putri Pak Manurung) memberi instruksi ke si guguk untuk diam, sekaligus instruksi ke kami untuk tenang, “Anjingnya nggak galak kok!”. Instruksi yang notabennya tidak juga membuat hatiku tenang. Seingatku, siapa dari kami yang berjalan paling depan dialah yang paling berani. Sedangkan aku biasanya di urutan belakang, melipir menempel tembok rumah luar, berjalan pelan-pelan sambil pura-pura tidak melihat si anjing yang kadang masih saja menyalak tanpa memperdulikan instruksi sang majikan.

Tiba di ruang tamu adalah hal yang melegakan. Yes! Kami sudah lulus sensor guguk! Lantas kami mencari tempat duduk masing-masing. Tapi yang jelas, tidak boleh dekat-dekat layar TV. Sebelum film diputar, ruangan dibuat gelap sedemikian rupa. Gorden ditutup, lampu dimatikan. Pokoknya nyaris menyerupai ruangan teater bioskop sebenarnya. Yang membedakan hanya tidak ada bangku merah nan empuk, karena kami duduk di lantai dingin yang tentu saja tidak ada yang keberatan sama sekali. Yang penting bisa nonton! Mungkin begitu niat ingsun kami dalam hati.

Tanpa dikomando, Bang Togi (atau Rona/Arta, aku lupa) memasukkan kaset Betamax ke dalam pemutar film. Wah, ini saat yang menegangkan, karena dalam hitungan detik film akan segera dimulai. Biasanya langsung ada suara-suara, ”Psstt.. psssttt diem udah mo mulai!”. Buat aku, yang kalau ikut main petak jongkok saja masih jadi anak bawang, tentu saja tanpa perintah diam pun aku sudah diam. Diam, dan ikuti semua peraturan atau kamu pulang dan tidak jadi nonton! Begitu mungkin yang terpatri di dalam kepalaku waktu itu. Tak lama film pun dimulai. Semua pasang mata tertuju pada layar TV. Khusyuk sekali. Terkadang kekhusyukan ini terganggu ketika filmnya ”hang” kepanasan. Kasetnya harus dikeluarkan dulu lantas dikipasi di bawah kipas angin. Meskipun aku yakin banyak penonton kecewa, tapi tak ada satupun yang berani protes. Semua tertib menunggu sampai si kaset ”nggak ngambek” lagi. Kami cukup tahu diri, tentu saja.

***

Siang itu adalah giliran film Malam Jumat Kliwon yang diputar. Filmnya Suzanna! Film horor! Anak kecil nggak boleh ikutan! WAKS!!  *bagian belakangnya ga enak* :p

Biasanya ”patokan”-ku adalah Arif (Alm.). Karena kami sepantaran. Jadi kalau Arif ikut masuk dalam daftar penonton, itu berarti aku mengantongi hak yang sama. Apalagi kalau sampai si Amat (adiknya Arif) ikut dalam rombongan, bisa dipastikan aku lulus sensor buat ikutan menonton. Maka siang itu begitu kulihat Arif ada dalam rombongan, aku hakul yakin kalau ”anak kecil” kali ini mendapat ”privilege” boleh ikut dalam rombongan penonton.

Setelah melalui juklak yang sama (masuk pagar, buka sandal sebelum menyentuh ubin teras, diendus dan digonggong anjing, melipir tembok, dst.) sampailah saat ketika kami menonton film horor yang sedang tren saat itu. Konon sehabis menonton film Suzanna yang satu ini, berefek samping ”mimpi seram” seminggu penuh. Tapi apa lacur, semua ketakutan itu kalah telak dengan rasa penasaran kami semua. Semua menjadi pemberani dan tidak takut setan dalam satu hari. Semua penasaran seperti apa Malam Jumat Kliwon nan keramat itu.

Maka sampailah kami menonton adegan Suzanna berpeluh keringat kontraksi mules-mules mau melahirkan di tengah hujan petir malam hari. Penonton tegang. Semua terbawa suasana (dan mungkin lupa kalau di luar sana masih siang hari, bukan malam hujan petir). Suzanna mengerang kesakitan. Penonton makin penasaran. Dan tibalah adegan yang sangat di luar dugaan buat para penonton kecil kelas RT (dan mungkin juga bagi para juri Piala Oscar)… perut hamil Suzanna berkedut lantas pindah ke belakang! WEKS!! Hamilnya pindah ke punggung! Kami bergidik. Mulai banyak tangan-tangan yang menutupi mata. (Meski diberi celah sedikit buat mengintip adegan selanjutnya). Lalu tibalah saat yang dinanti-nanti, lahirnya si jabang bayi ke dunia diiringi tangisan dan petir. Komposisi yang ribut sekali.

Sayangnya aku lupa adegan selanjutnya. Mungkin saking dahsyatnya adegan ”hamil” Suzanna pindah ke punggung, sampai-sampai menghapus memori seluruh isi film di kepalaku. Benar-benar film yang ”two-thumbs-up”! (pada jamannya). Segala efek darah, petir, sampai riasan jenggot Mbah Dukun semuanya tanpa cela (pada jamannya juga). Aku merasa sangat beruntung bisa menonton film Malam Jumat Kliwon ini.

Dan begitulah akhir bahagia menonton film Suzanna di rumah Pak Manurung. Sekarang Pak Manurung telah berpulang. Meskipun masih ada seekor anjing piaraan, tapi tidak segalak anjing Pak Manurung dulu. Aku tidak tahu apakah keluarga Manurung masih menyimpan alat pemutar video Betamax saat ini. Sebuah alat yang mempunyai nilai historis bagi kami, anak Intan Satu – mantan penonton video gratisan.

~@nn’s

And we’re back.

Sometime Monday the domain mapping that transforms mild-mannered “pubtech.wordpress.com” to it’s super hero identity “publicious.net” expired. Silly me, forgot to pay the bill. For about 48 hours, I was thinking I had offended some very important bots in Internetland. All the incoming links to Publicious disappeared and traffic was down more than 90%. It felt like Publicious had been put in solitary confinement.

After the inital shock, I said, “Oh well, whatever. Home alone at last. Now that everyone’s gone, I have all the time in the world and the whole internet to myself. Maybe I’ll just put on some Carpenters, kick back with bag of Cheetos, and check out SpongeBob On Demand.”

Every sha-la-la, Every whoa-o-oh, still shines.

But then I got lonely. I finally figured out I should check one of the sites that links here and see what happens. Bingo. A hop, skip, and credit card payment later, I am once again master of my domain. Now, help yourself to some Cheetos. On with the show.

Might as well start with my latest post at InDesignSecrets.com, Snippet Style InJectors. I stumbled on this idea when I was preparing for a presentation last fall, and noticed that all the document resources used by a snippet get placed before the snippet itself. I said to myself, “Self, this could be useful someday.”

Drawn! the cartoon and illustration blog has an interesting video of an artist laying out a comic book in InDesign. You’ll never look at the Pencil tool the same way again.

Miverity has a tutorial on how to build a Flash XML slideshow app for a website.

Smashing Magazine has an article on Ten Simple Steps to Better Photoshop Performance. Life is short, no time for beachball cursrors.

The Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog has an good article on ebook format wars. Which one will end up the Betamax of the 21st century?

Speaking of which…

InformationWeek weighs in on the same ebook format issue, with a Sony v. Amazon angle.

Gigaom is ready to declare a winner: Adobe, because of Sony’s embrace of EPUB.

Relatedly (is that a word? if not, I just made it one) Digital Media Buzz has the scoop on Adobe’s Open Source efforts.

Thinking of using an online word processor? Read Linux.com’s comparison of GoogleDocs, Zoho, and Buzzword.

Quick, how do you make a dotted line in Photoshop? Sitepoint has some nice quick tips about using Photoshop brush options for dotted lines and such.

One NYTimes.com writer thinks the bloom is off the Rich Internet App rose already, with the arrival of Google’s Chrome. Please, don’t be evil, Google. Please.

Graphics.com has some ‘tony tutorials (as in duotone, tritone, etc).

Finally, if you’ve ever wished to see Photoshop and Illustrator battle to the death as giant transformer robots with foul language (and who hasn’t?) I recommend checking out GoMediaZine’s ongoing Photoshop vs. Illustrator series.