Hi-Def Cable For Everybody!

If you are not watching the olympic trials in HDTV ...

... you should be. So very, very pretty.

(Click photo to see full high-definition resolution.)

I'm paying $1.99 per episode for this to suck? - Unplugged Part 3

(This series started here, "Unplugged - Part 1".)

Buying TV by the episode is a very different consumer experience from having cable TV. This didn't hit me right away because the first couple shows I grabbed are reliably good. But now that I've expanded to shows in which I have a more casual interest, I'm much more aware of the quality of what I'm watching and whether it's worth it or not.

It strikes me odd that it took this shift in spending to give me this realization. Because money is far from our most valuable asset. Our time and attention are the most valuable things we, as sentient beings, can give or spend.

When I had cable TV, I used to just chuckle when a series jumped the shark. Now I find myself thinking, "I'm paying $1.99 per episode for this to suck?"

Going unplugged has made me far more conscious of what I choose to watch. Because each and every show is a conscious choice instead of an act of passive, slack-jawed, remote-in-hand, couch potatoery.

(Potatoery is so totally a word and if you don't believe me look it up. Don't contradict me.)

Which brings me to this.

Lost sucks.

Whoa, Nelly, does it suck.

The first season was awesome. Season 2 was OK. Season 3 sucked. And now that season 4 has started, it sucks too. It no longer has a narrative. It's just a sad attempt to string together spooky events and spooky characters with startling revelations and laughably out of place spooky music.

In particular, I've never forgiven Lost for killing off the character played by adorable, fluffy-muffin-head, Ian Somerhalder.

(((swoon)))

And then Lost forced me to wait a whole year for the death of the character of his annoying, selfish, stupid, bratty, whiny sister. That almost made season 2 worth it. While the violins played and she gasped her dying breath I was literally jumping up and down on the sofa for joy.

Fuck she was irritating.

But I digress....

So now I have a dilemma. This is the last season. Do I keep watching out of some desperate hope for improvement and closure?

I probably will. If only because I have a credit on my XBox Live account and can't seem to find anything better to do with it. And sometimes, despite my soliloquy on the preciousness of our time and attention, you just want to zone out and make fun of something.

Lost will do I suppose.

Sigh ... two months until new Battlestar Galactica.

I'm continuing to evaluate the video quality of Apple TV and XBox Live video. I'll have more to say about this in the future. For now I'll just say the dramatic variance is unexpected and startling.

Unplugged - Day 1

18 years of rising cable TV bills + Apple TV goes hi-def = Dale finally snaps

I returned my new TiVo, canceled my TiVo service, canceled Netflix, canceled Time Warner digital cable and bought a shiny new Apple TV. I'd planned to subscribe to The Daily Show, South Park, Heros, Lost, a bunch of Podcasts, movie rentals and more.

So what did I watch on Day 1 of my new unplugged life?



That's right ... it seems I got sucked into the digital brain damage that is YouTube. An hour later, after total shut down of all higher cognitive functions, I finally extracted myself gasping for air and wondering if I could get a job in data entry with what is left of my brain.

Now I know how Algernon felt?

More on this saga to come....

P.S. YouTube blown up to 1080p on a 50" Plasma TV looks like shit.

Will You Be My Friend?

I have subscribed to and canceled Netflix several times. Which suggests that I have mixed feelings about the service ... not the case. It's just that when I've exhausted most of what I wanted to see in my Queue, I turn it off for a few months.

With my upgrade to hi-def it's all fresh and new again. And the friends feature is much more than a novelty. It's quite helpful to see my friends' ratings and reviews when trying to find the gems among the trash.

So be my Netflix friend!

Just click the link and the next time you log in, you could be greeted by the message, "Your friend Dale is watching Slutty Summer!"

Fellowship of the Really Pissed Off Nerds

OK, kids. It's time for remedial question and answer time.

QUESTION: Who loves Lord of the Rings?

ANSWER: Nerds

QUESTION: When you offer a nerd a choice between less of something the nerd loves or more of something the nerd loves, which does the nerd choose?

ANSWER: More

QUESTION: Who are the early adopters of high-definition home theater?

ANSWER: Nerds

QUESTION: Which release of Lord of the Rings offers more Lord of the Rings, the theatrical release or the extended edition?

ANSWER: The extended edition

QUESTION: So given that nerds love Lord of the Rings, have high-definition home theater and want more of what they love, which version of Lord of the Rings is New Line Cinema considering releasing on hi-def DVD?

ANSWER: Why, the theatrical release without the extended scenes, of course. (Because everything on the Internet is true.)

Fuck you, New Line Cinema. Fuck you right in the ear.

I'm not touching your stinking hi-def Lord of the Rings DVDs until you put out the extended editions.

Of course, it's all a bit academic, since they haven't release or even announced anything official yet. But I've never let that get in the way of a good rant.

Oh yeah ... and fuck you too, George Lucas. How many freaking times to I have to buy the Star Wars Trilogy?

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Monster Thieves

One of the ways tech retailers gouge consumers is by selling new technology with outrageously priced cables.

"Congratulations! You bought your first high-definition TV. Now all you need are three of these $150 cables."

Seriously.

Circuit City, Best Buy, all the retailers, really, have the audacity to charge $150 for a "premium" brand called Monster Cable, the biggest ripoff of all time. There is no reason for digital cables to cost this much. The retailers and those fuckers at Monster Cable are cynically and deliberately taking advantage of consumer ignorance.

I have never understood why good-quality cables cannot be purchased for reasonable prices. In my office I have a box of obsolete cables which are worthless now but I estimate cost me about $12,000 over the years.

I have recently discovered MonoPrice.com and I will never buy cables anywhere else ever again, and neither should you. An HDMI cable is $4, not $150. An optical, digital-audio cable is $3, not $70. A 5-port HDMI switch is $60, not $200.

As I slowly get my new high-definition home theater system up to speed I am ecstatic to have found this supplier. The cables are so inexpensive I'm buying extras to save on shipping.

Yummy Flat-Panel Hi-Def Goodness

This is the home theater system Ilan and I built in the cabinet we had custom made.