Something Random

Special thanks to the designer who thought that the Intel DG31PR motherboard didn't need a heatsink on the southbridge. It now has my fingerprint seared into it.
 
Not me. Ankles don't bend so well with the shoes on and at $300-500 for fitted shoes it is not worth it.
 
I found an odd hard drive in the 2nd system. It is an old WD raptor of some sort with a clear window. Weird.
 
I suppose it will be a collector/museum piece someday when hard drives are no longer produced. :) I tossed it in the bin with the numerous IDE drives. I have so many old, useless drives that it is ridiculous.
 
I did not notice the window when purchasing the drive or I would have chosen something else. I think it was on sale for a low price. Model is the WD1500AHFD, mfg. Augusto 2007.
 
Anyone have experience getting replacement DVD's out of HBO?

I have the strangest thing here, just got a complete series box set of the Sopranos and generally the condition of the disks are terrible for brand new. Some disks are scratched and others are actually warped. They come in a cardboard book type thing with lots of nice art and the disks are in plastic sleeves. I actually ran into a disk that was warped so bad it would not play, I have never had that happen before. At least I assume the warping is what is wrong, that particular disk is perfect otherwise. It is warped as a convex as you look at the side the laser reads, close to 1/8"! For now I put a dime on a flat surface, put the disk on top of that centered, some bubble wrap and heavy flat objects in hopes of bringing it back to true.

I have an email in to HBO's on line store regarding a replacement disk but I didn't get it there. I bought this one through amazon but I am generally not wanting to process a return for them, this was from one of those other merchants through amazon and not them direct and I am sure it would be a hassle.
 
Thank you, I searched all over for that info last night.

This collection is just crap, some of the disks are out of balance and when ripping they make the case vibrate enough for the drive to notice and slow things down. Also found a second bad disk, actually has some dirt under the foil from when it was laminated to the clear disk. This box set is barcode 883929022311 so maybe avoid this collection in favor of the other box set they put out.
 
If you bought it though the Amazon marketplace you can file a claim and get your money back. They have some sort of buyer protection system.
 
Bummer. What a pain. Fortunately the set was not a gift if I understand correctly.
 
LunarMist said:
Will the Olympians ever end. :(
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I am frankly disgusted with the lack of live coverage in the US, for Olympics that are occurring in Pacific Standard Time. Show it live, and then show it again in prime time, tape delayed.

NBC - continuing to bring s### to the Olympics.
 
I have watched the Olympics every day but one since they started. I hate NBC's coverage. They don't explain anything (how many people watching curling know how the scoring works?). Too many human interest stories. Commercial breaks during competition. Their website it also useless.
 
I don't understand why anyone cares about the olympics to begin with. There are a whole bunch of sports no one cares about at any point during the four years leading up to the games, and then there are the games, where people are supposed to care, and then we go right back to not giving a crap for another four years.

Granted that I don't understand the appeal of sports to begin with, but the olympics strike me as particularly inconsistent.
 
I can't stand NBC's coverage, either. Too many commercials, too many inane human interest stories, and the worst part is mixing up events as if the viewers are all on Ritalin. I'd like to be able to watch, say, bobsledding, at such and such time ( preferably live ), without seeing 10 minutes of ice dancing between each run. I hope when NBC's contract expires someone else gets the rights to cover the Olympics. I'd be very happy if it was a non-profit PBS network.
 
Mercutio said:
Granted that I don't understand the appeal of sports to begin with, but the olympics strike me as particularly inconsistent.
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The appeal is that unlike a lot of the lame shows/movies we see nowadays, you can't predict the outcome ten minutes into the show. It's that element of unpredictably, with the occasionally dark horse nobody thought stood a chance winning it all, which makes sports more appealing then most programs. Granted, I lean more towards individual rather than team sports. Some of the team sports these days have such huge payrolls that it skews the randomness factor which makes them appealing to begin with. As much as I might like it if the Yankees or Mets win the World Series, I don't want it to happen every October. That's just plain boringly predictable.
 
Mercutio said:
I don't understand why anyone cares about the olympics to begin with. There are a whole bunch of sports no one cares about at any point during the four years leading up to the games, and then there are the games, where people are supposed to care, and then we go right back to not giving a crap for another four years.

Granted that I don't understand the appeal of sports to begin with, but the olympics strike me as particularly inconsistent.
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It's actually the only time many of these events are even available for watching. I watch Alpine skiing when it's on at non-Olympic times also.

I don't like figure skating, I'm only watching that because of my fiance.
 
jtr1962 said:
I hope when NBC's contract expires someone else gets the rights to cover the Olympics. I'd be very happy if it was a non-profit PBS network.
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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2003-06-06-nbc_x.htm

"IOC President Jacques Rogge said NBC paid $820 million for the 2010 Winter Games, a 34% increase from the network's $614 million figure for Torino, Italy in 2006. He said NBC's price of $1.181 billion for the 2012 Summer Olympics was 32% higher than the $894 million for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing."

That was in 2003. I don't think that kind of number is within PBSs grasp )nor the massive amount of HD infrastructure required. Still there's always hope that Fox or some other network will get it in future years.
 
More current news:

"Fox’s bid will reflect the costs of producing the Olympic Games, said David Hill, chairman of Fox Sports. CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. also are considering a joint bid for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, two people with knowledge of the situation said.

Flat advertising and higher costs for rights led NBC to project its first loss in at least three decades on an Olympics for the games that start Feb. 12 in Vancouver. The International Olympic Committee has delayed bidding for the 2014 and 2016 events until the ad market improves, said executive board member Richard Carrion. Fox’s bid will ensure that the network doesn’t lose money if it gains the rights, Hill said.

“I’ve worked at News Corp. too long and I know that having brackets around numbers is a bad career move,” Hill said in a Jan. 8 interview. "

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&sid=aL.qWMf085zI
 
jtr1962 said:
I'd be very happy if it was a non-profit PBS network.
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:erm: PBS would instead intermingle the Olympics with their pledging drives and then show it letterboxes and pillarboxed on a heavily degraded HD feed that shares ~19Mbit/sec with their half dozen other subchannels. No thanks.
 
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