Damn those capitalist pig running dogs!

Damn em all, them and their products at ever cheaper prices.

That TV I bought, which was a great bargain at $700? Big W have reduced it to $578, save $120. Wonder if they'll give me a cheque? Worked for Holden!

So, if you're in the market for a decent 80cm CRT television, rush out and get it.

Procrastination

Procrastination

They make it seem like a bad thing, but it has to be said I get so many good things done when I'm procrastinating. Exercise, gardening, housework, websites, To Do lists, the list goes on and on.

And now that I've finally completed the thing I've putting off for several weeks, listing Mum's stuff on Ebay, I'm bored. BORED BORED BORED! Even watching my new TV and playing with my new camera.

So, I think I need something else to practice my persisten predeliction for procrastination, so that I don't feel bored any more, and I'll get all those other things done, like making those CD's for Leonie I promised her more than a week ago, remembering Mum's birthday, emailing my friends...

Any suggestions?

TV Micro-review

Well, I bought the TV. For a cheap (AU$700) 80cm TV, it's not bad at all.

The colours are good - leaving brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness all at default settings or slightly less is fine. The sound is surprisingly good - last night I was listening to it at a volume setting of 01 - it was around 11pm and nothing else in the house was on, but that's very unusual. Normal listening volume is in the teens. Clarity is good - not tinny and not bassy, just right.

Also, the rear RCA outputs are active from both side and rear inputs, so no more switching stereo inputs when changing from TV to DVD. Which is nice.

However, there are a few minor things. The rear RCA outputs aren't completely isolated when in standby, so the TV sound still comes quietly out of the stereo when I go into standby. When turning the set off with the hard switch, there's some crackling on them, too.

There's a fair bit of overscan, I think. And because it's a re-branded chinese model, I can't figure out how to get into service mode and adjust it.

The 75 ohm aerial input seems to be noisy - there's some "grain" in solid blocks of colour when using it. It's not there when using the RCA inputs, so I'm using them.

Overall though, I like it. When I figure out how to get into service mode, I think I'll love it. If you don't intend using the 75 ohm input as your main input, I'd recommend it.

Slashdot | SpaceShipOne Captures the X Prize

Slashdot | SpaceShipOne Captures the X Prize: "
SpaceShipOne Captures the X Prize


Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday October 05, @01:20AM
from the takes-two-to-tango dept.
SpaceShipOne's second flight was a success, the craft successfully launching from mothership White Knight and returning safely about 20 minutes later. If the flight is certified to have reached the X Prize's target height (62.5 miles) before its safe return, it will win the $10 million purse, and more importantly attain the prestige of repeatably (if only technically) reaching space, on a budget embarrassingly smaller than NASA's. Today's flight was manned by 51-year-old test pilot Brian Binnie (rather than Mike Melvill, who piloted last week's trip), and according to spectators present at both launches seemed even smoother than last week's flight. The view from the sidelines was incredible. flapjack submits a link to CNN's coverage of the launch (which lists a claimed height attained of 368,000 feet), noting 'Interesting to note that a majority of its funding ($20-$30 million) was put up by Microsoft's own, Paul Allen.' See also the official X Prize site for continuing live coverage"

This is so cool - it's the first time in a long time I've felt we're on the dawn of a new era. With Richard Branson launching Virgin Galactic as probably the first serious space tourist outfit, it means we'll need to develop a whole new set of rules for safe "mass" travel in space. What do you with rubbish, explosive bolts and other detritus? Whose responsibility is it to track it? Or even clean it up? Exciting times.