The Internet has allowed millions of creative people to offer their works to the world, without the gatekeeper of traditional publishing.
This can be good and bad. There’s good in that there are fewer roadblocks for creative people. The bad in that without that gatekeeper, there’s no “pre-check” of quality. Not to say that everything from a publisher is good, just that the assumption is that somebody looked at the thing before it went out. Without this initial eyeballing, how do you sort through the slag to find the gems?
TVs are lonely. A beer-soaked barstool at 2 a.m. kind of lonely. They cry out for companionship, their tinny, bass-less voices difficult to hear, even harder to enjoy. When they were young, they held so much promise: high definition, good times, low cost. How quickly came the onset of disappointment?
I love big screens. Really big screens. 60 inches? Pshhh. 65? Ha! 70? In a pinch. 80? Okay, wow, now that’s a seriously big TV. A monolith of a height and breadth that brings to mind projection screens of yore. Wait, forget “yore.” It’s closing in on projection screens now.
It’s hard to believe Team Fortress 2 is 5 years old. I remember waiting breathlessly for the Orange box to come out, unable to decide which game I’d play first: TF2 or Episode Two of Half-Life. There was also some puzzle game included as a bonus, but puzzle games are lame.
Three days of nothing but the amazing Portal have since proved that last thought incorrect, but over time I came to love Team Fortress 2. I was shocked, in preparation for this review, that I hadn’t played in almost a year. Thanks Steam for making the passage of time so blatant.
This is an article I never thought I’d write. I sold hi-fi (well, Circuit City’s version of “hi-fi”) within sight of The Mountain. I developed early an audiophile’s distain for the four-letter marketing juggernaut. When I began reviewing audio, I couldn’t imagine a situation where I’d review a Bose product. Certainly not something like the market-leading QuietComfort 15 noise-canceling headphone, Not without heavy doses of irony, snark, and derision.
And yet, it is my fiduciary duty to give credit where credit is due.
So behold — not only my first review of a Bose product, but a positive one at that.
There are few things more powerful than the perfect combination of music and visuals. Think of your favorite movie scenes, and I’d be willing to bet they’ve got amazing music in them.
On one hand, you’ve got the great film composers; Herrmann, Goldsmith, Williams, and so on. They’re all worth study in their own right, of course. But what I find equally powerful, and arguably more interesting, is the effective use of popular music.
Interesting, because often, directors (and presumably, music supervisors) get it so horribly wrong.
New CEDIA, new JVC projectors. Seven, in this case. As we’ve come to expect, the new models offer a little better performance and new features at lower price point.
Starting at $3,499, and perhaps most interesting, JVC’s 4K e-shift technology will now be available at $5,000.
There’s not a ton different than the slightly less expensive Sony VPL-HW30ES projector we reviewed, but probably enough to justify the higher price for some.
Kaleidescape has paired up with storied movie critic Leonard Maltin to offer their customers a specialized list of movies hand-picked by the man himself.
Even if you don’t have a Kaleidescape system, they’ve posted video interviews with Maltin on YouTube about the movies.
All the info and one of the videos after the jump.