Movie Collector OH
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Posts posted by Movie Collector OH
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Which begs the question, why doesn't TCM tell us what is going on?
I think someone at the top is just hooked on latest trends, sight unseen. It need not go any further than that.
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Doubt this. I check my spam folder before deleting and no emails for NPG, whereas I have received TCM notifications there before. I added tcm.com to my email list and emails from TCM now go to my inbox.
I don't think they are sending them out, but maybe to a few, selected individuals.
I'll reword that. They "did" send it out to someone. A sample email "did" get temporarily posted on here (I saw it for myself). That email had a link to a marketing company in it. The marketing company is where the new online NPG is located, not TCM. You could only see the NPG if you clicked on that marketing company link. TCM may email the notifications out, but the marketing company's link is in there, thus setting off the spam filters.
It is treated no differently than the fake emails you get that look legitimate, but have links that go to strange international websites.
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Dick Miller and Robby the Robot. Hard to tell what is going on here. Is Robby getting him juiced so he can get compromising information from him?
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The emails from TCM are probably ending up in everyone's junk or spam folder because they contain metadata from a marketing company that is known to usually send out junk. This is just something I noticed from a couple posts where someone temporarily shared these emails. (Actually an email just containing a personalized link to the resources, said link has a questionable reputation among email providers, based on previous reported activity.)
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I would have to say that I too, "studied" film mostly by watching movies and absorbing what I've heard and read by others, in HERE mostly of late. I might also have the prejudicial notion that any courses on film and film history might have the pretense of trying to tell me HOW to look at and think about movies.
Actually, I usually watch movies without any intentions of dissecting them or analyzing the reasons why I like them or don't. And anybody else's long winded analysis isn't going to affect my opinion one bit. Only give me more insight as to why they like or dislike any particular movie.
But then, as you point out TIKI, it IS better when you can READ those opinions.
Sepiatone
Based on the thoughts of others, maybe from another forum, college film courses really only have a chance to scratch the surface. Now if you could sit in on a symposium with notable directors and writers, or have one of them for an instructor, then that would be different.
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My project updates are posted for this month.
http://moviecollector.us/reports/Future_Premieres.htm
A big thanks to poster yanceycravat for providing me with 9 months worth of older schedules. That leaves me with just under two years worth of total months that I don't have yet, from TCM's entire history (1994-present). This recent addition helped to fill out some of the statistics numbers between 1997 and 2001.
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I had a chance to have a look at the temperatures. My main unit, a Genie HR44, is at 80 degrees F. I remember the main unit being closer to 100 degrees in my entertainment center before I set it on top of a laptop cooling pad.That is the one that matters, as it has an internal HDD.
The clients are the much smaller units without a HDD. I looked at one of those and it is 134 degrees F.
Easy to check temp..go to info, more system info (you can check signal, and other stuff here too) scroll down to temp..if your receiver gets too hot you get a message and it shuts down..trust me on this..I've had directv for many years, and had my first problem a few months ago with this. If they give you a runaround, send an email to customer relations in Dallas and you will get results..bottom line, satellite and cable are hurting.. I got into an online chat with them last week, stressing how I might go back to cable and save $..they managed to finagle my package, saved $..and got 6 mos free HBO..the phone folks will not be so helpful.
I didn't know about there being a shutdown feature on the DVR itself.
What I was talking about was the possibility of the processor used inside having a voltage limiting function activate if it gets too hot. This has nothing to do with Directv's software, this would be internal to an off-the-shelf component they use, which is there to prevent component failure. If it is processing video and begins to exceed a safe operating temperature, then it would continue to run but would run at a degraded performance. This could cause "pixelization".
Also, hard drives are going to be the component most sensitive to temperature. Heat kills hard drives. They usually go bad via the "death by a thousand paper cuts" route, unless there is a catastrophic event first which takes it out entirely. So by the time a system thermal shutdown was activated (as you point out), there is probably a good chance it is already too late and the hard drive has started to degrade (from the long-term heat leading up to that incident). A hard drive on its way out would have longer seek times and data it can't find, also resulting in dropouts or "pixelization".
So same approximate result, two different problems, same cause. Heat.
This device has a computer inside, and computers have always had fans, until recently. Basically it comes down to customers not wanting proper cooling fans in their AV equipment, because they are too "noisy", so they get a convection-cooled device that typically has a shorter lifespan or MTBF (mean time between failure) unless kept cool.
This would apply to any of this cheap high volume mass produced value-engineered consumer crap that has the tendency to overheat: cable boxes, cable DVRs, satellite boxes, Tivo, Roku, Haiku, Meeku, Youku, younameit...
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RIP Stanislav Petrov: Russian colonel who saved world from all-out nuclear war
Quiet hero dies at 77
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Petrov's job wasn't to push the metaphorical red button, but to warn Soviet high command if it might need to. If an ICBM was launched from a US ground launch site, it would take about 30 minutes to reach the motherland, and it was highly likely that Soviet commanders would trust his launch recommendation.
Has this thing passed QA tests?
September 26, 1983
Petrov knew that the Oko system was new and still had bugs to iron out. He also knew that logically the US would never launch just five missiles against the USSR and await retaliation – first strike doctrine was that you threw everything you could at the enemy in hopes of blunting the response.
So Petrov held back from letting his superiors know until he could correlate Oko's data against other sources. As a result it was found that, due to faults in the system, what Oko had been detecting were flashes of sunshine on the tops of heavy clouds.
While initially Petrov was praised for his perspicacity, that didn't last. Before long top brass acted against him, demoting the officer for a paperwork error. He got the message and retired a year later to become a military contractor.
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https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/18/stanislav_petrov_obit/
To tie this in to movies, this docudrama was made from the incident:
The Man Who Saved the World (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2277106/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1a-
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Ah! Now see THIS would be the advantage of being a gaffer or lighting technician on a movie set that's about Mohammed.
'Cause ya can't show the titular character on-screen, the lighting on him would never be a concern!
(...irreverent, ain't I)
I guess the speculation will have to continue, won't it.
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No rain, no snow, no trees. My receiver sits on top of a low cabinet with plenty of air circulation. My guess is the signal strength and internal temperature were checked by the tech who came out. Would you know how to check them? What would too high a temperature be?
I eagerly await what people have to say about recording off the internet.
There aren't that many things that can go wrong here. The only other things I can think of, off the top of my head - maybe the dish somehow became misaligned (maybe a bear used it to scratch his back), or maybe the hard disk drive in the DVR has issues (happens with DVRs from any provider). The HDD issue is not uncommon. It reads and writes from the HDD even if you are just watching TV live. Also maybe Directv's network provider had issues, though not likely if it is a recurring issue for you, simply because it isn't a recurring issue for me
I'm not near my unit right now to check it, so I'll have to post back with stats.
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I recorded the silent version several years ago from TCM Sunday Silent Nights. Like the way DeMille shot and portrayed Christ. He sort of made the first "New Testament on film (video)". Only biblical passages no extra dialogue on the title cards.
Like to know how did he done the SFX of having Christ with the slight glow or aura that stood out in the movie?
Tightly focused lights above and behind him. During tech rehearsal they likely made an "X" on the floor with tape and told him to stand right there. In this scene there were probably bright beams of light cast on either side of the camera. For moving scenes some of it may have been done with follow spots. For a halo effect, lens filters.
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Was getting pixellation and freezing on my DirectTV broadcast. Called them and asked to have it fixed. No problem, they said, for an $80 charge. !!!!What!!!? They were going to charge me to come out and fix their equipment? No wonder. It's AT&T, the second most evil empire in the corporate world (Shell being the most evil). Last year I tried to get TV/Internet/phone triad installed. I can't tell you the torture it was. I must have been on the phone with them thirty times, for a total of twenty hours or so, mostly on hold. There must have been fifteen different orders they wrote up, all wrong. They got my address wrong, techs would show up three hours late, and not finish. They never transferred my phone number. Finally, after over a month, I said, forget it, cancel everything. I was left with DirectTV, because of the two-year contract. And it's been ok. They don't block my recording, I get HD, the three channels I watch regular (and most NBC channels for the Olympics), and a DVR, all for $50 a month.
Anyway, after some polite suggestions about my not renewing after my contract ended, and never for eternity ever getting their service again, they agreed to waive the charges, and came out and did some stuff. Didn't work. I'm still waiting to see if they're going to bill me.
So naturally, I am eager to explore getting TCM over the internet. But I am unsure how it works. This is how I think it works:
First, you need some kind of streaming device. It looks like there are Chromecast (or Googlechrome), Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV.
Then, you need a service, to watch through the device, like Sling TV, Playstation Vue, DirectTV Now, and YouTube TV.
But I have questions. My TV is internet capable, so do I need one of those devices? Maybe so, because I can't watch TCM on demand on it. My TV says it won't support Adobe flash player.
Also, I like having a DVR. It's easy to record what I want and make a DVD at my convenience. If I get streaming internet TCM, is there a way to get a DVR of my own that will know the TV schedule? And how do I record off the internet feed? And will the streaming services block my recording?
Hey slayonf, just wondering more about your Directv situation. Two key factors to consider are "line of sight" and "thermal management". I have Directv too and no issues, outside of occasional "rain fade".
1) Did it happen when it was raining or snowing?
2) Are there trees in the way? Not knowing what your installation looks like, something might have grown in the way to block the satellite dish. Or for that matter, maybe a structure is blocking it. Just go where the dish is, and look in the direction that it is pointed. There is also a utility on the Directv DVR to look at all the different satellite transponder strengths.
3) Is your Directv DVR/receiver box in an open area and does it have plenty of air circulation? I had heard about the challenge of getting a service guy out, so early on I put my DVR on top of a laptop computer cooling fan. That may not be absolutely necessary, but heat kills electronics and in-between it can cause devices to go into thermal-protect mode (where applicable). In my situation it is sitting in an entertainment center. It has two walls and a roof over its head, it is completely open in front and in back. It does tend to run a bit warmer than if I were to set it up on top. (You can check the temp of your unit too with the on-screen diagnostics.)
I have some ideas on how to record a streaming Internet connection on schedule, just like a DVR, but for right now I'll defer to those who have actually tried it and use it.
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That is quite unexpected to have a post replied to by a TCM host. Thank you Eddie for your passion and for making Noir Alley such a great series. You are certainly entitled to your opinions and I hope that my message did not come off in a hurtful or disrespectful manner.
If a could grovel for a moment I would like to say that your presentations for Noir Alley have added back some of the charm and style that has been missing from TCM since Robert’s passing. Even the Wine Club promos demonstrate this and make Ben’s attempt at the same look embarrassing (sorry, Ben). That is why I wish TCM would hire you on a permanent basis and allow you to also host movies of a more general theme, a point which I had in mind when I posted my original message. Of course, that assumes you would be interested in and available for an expanded role, something which may not be the case.
But thanks again for making Noir Alley so special. At a minimum I hope TCM will arrange for us to enjoy an extension of the series next year.
I was glad to see they kept him in the wings with those wine commercials. Sort of an indication of more to come. Now he is back! I too would like to see Eddie as one of the permanent hosts.
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As I have said in other threads, I just stick to the primary delivery medium. It is what has been worked out on a large scale, is in place, and is most likely to deliver.
In my case it is using Directv and a DVR. There is more to my setup than that, but that is all I use to bring TCM in. In many areas cable TV works fine too, just not in mine. [Cable TV is more complicated than satellite, so it has more hoops to jump through in order to work. Satellite has a simpler distribution model, in that it is basically just a hop up to the satellite and then a hop down to you. No cable plants.] Plus I didn't like how my cable co programmed their boxes.
I agree with being at least suspicious about bundling. We have three different providers for these things: satellite TV, cable Internet, and land line phone. It doesn't necessarily have to be that way, but that mostly has to do with the order which we subscribed to these services.
Land line came first, then cable TV with Internet. We discontinued the cable TV and replaced it with satellite due to picture issues, but kept the cable Internet because it was fine. Directv's bundle option for us would have included DSL, and in general cable Internet is a superior technology to DSL. This has to do with the type of wire used.
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I have been having trouble with the WATCH TCM feature on the TCM website. Some movies will not load on my computer. I have now determined that movies which aired on September 12th and 13th will not load, but movies which aired before and after those dates will load. However, I have also determined that movies shown on the 13th will load if I use the WATCH TCM app on my IPad. Therefore, I have determined that there is but one inescapable conclusion - I have to get a life.
Might be an infrastructure problem, where certain files may not have uploaded successfully during a certain frame of time, due to an outage or other problems. You'd think though that someone would be checking on this.
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Oh, GREAT!
NOW it's gonna morph into a discussion of our mucous membranes and the how and why of human sinus cavities.
Complete with tons of COLOR PHOTOS.
And every one who posts will try to make it appear as if they already KNEW all of that stuff. ALL ALONG.
Sepiatone
Okay, to get this back on track, this thread beats the Royalite out of 95% of the other threads on this board (Robby was mostly made of Royalite - a plastic formerly used to make suitcases). Would you care for some coffee?
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There's a lot of material there to upload to Youtube, or even someone's own site. (Most people know how to make DVDs from VHS tapes. It is not that much harder to make computer files from these VHS tapes or DVDs that can be uploaded to a video hosting site.)
I am talking about the ephemeral stuff like the commercials, TV interviews, and possible TV movies not seen since. There is no guarantee though. It would take a large team and/or many man-hours to inventory it. I think if I had an infinite amount of time and an large amount of resources like this guy apparently did, I'd train and volunteer at a film archive house and preserve actual movies, rather than incidental bits and pieces of 80s culture such as MTV and other various and sundry programming. The thought of what might be on those tapes is interesting though, even though I couldn't care less about most of what is mentioned in the ad.
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This kind of stuff tickles me. Just about a week or so ago, I was watching an old rerun of The Twilight Zone( aren't they ALL old reruns?) titled "Steel". The one in which LEE MARVIN and JOE MANTELL manage an "android" boxer that's a nearly obsolete model. The 1963 episode's story, according to the opening narration, takes place in 1974!
And when viewing 1968's "2001: A Space ODYSSEY" in 2017, it gives me the same feeling. That we've managed to be far behind where we THOUGHT we might be by now.
Tickles me as much as how a thread that only asked about an auction morphed into what now seems to be a thread one might find in a POPULAR MECHANICS forum!
Sepiatone
Beats the snot out of 95% of the other threads on this board.
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Another look at the assembly required for Robby.
[it might help to save this picture offline, then enlarge it in an image viewer.]
Some of the text from what looks to be an interesting magazine article. (Maybe someone can figure out where this came from, I just found this doing an image search.):
(Right page): Frankie Darro, inside of Robby, poses with crewmen Richard Grant (left) and Morgan Jones (right) as effects workers help him on with his feet. Darro wore black pancake makeup on his face so as to not be visible behind Robby's neon voice tubes.
(Left page): Effects-men Cliff Grant (left) [Richard Grant??] and Andy Thatcher help Darro on with the metal and leather harness which attaches him to Robby. A wooden frame holds the robot's body in place during the operation. Frankie Carpenter stands at the ready with special shoes to be worn by Darro, to fasten on to the bottom of the robot's feet. At right in the background lies Robby's head dome, ready for installation.
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Hmmmm...I dunno, MCOH. Seems to me you'd really have to tweak The Man Who Came to Dinner quite a bit in order to make it anywhere close to Noir-ish.
I mean try as I might, and because he was usually in much lighter fare, I just can't see Monty Woolley in that sort of genre at all.
(...and btw, according to Wiki, this film's setting is actually the imaginary town of "Mesalia" Ohio, a supposed "small town" in that state, but with no mention of it being located near any of the larger cities within Ohio)
Some judicious use of B-roll. Replace the happy music with shots of night-time rain, wet sidewalks and empty streets, someone walking down the street alone, post-production ADR work of a Monty Wooley impersonator saying "I don't know what came upon me that fateful night, I don''t know why I did it". It would probably have the continuity of a lesser film like The Beast Of Yucca Flats though.
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Yes, I've heard this, Hibi.
In fact, CBS Sunday Morning did a segment a few months back about Cleveland's turnaround. And I ain't talkin' about that 22 game win streak the Indians are currently enjoying here.
Still though of course, when one is going for a "punchline city" like I did down there, there's still probably no better one available than what is sometimes called "The Mistake by the Lake", ya know.
(...saaaay, speaking of Cleveland...does anyone know if there's ever been a Noir set there?...now THERE'S a question for ya, eh?!)
As you are probably well aware, a turn around can be short-lived. Especially when nobody goes downtown as planned during the off season. I don't spend any time downtown there, but despite all kinds of recent renovations, I hear it's gone fairly unused overall.
P.S. Maybe if you tweaked The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) to make it a bit more scary or paranoid, you'd end up with a Noir. I think that was supposed to be set somewhere around Cleveland.
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AT&T Voice Technology Commercial (2006)
With special cameos by the 1939 World's Fair VODER (VOice recordER), Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet), WOPR (War Games), Rosie the Maid Robot (The Jetsons), and KITT (Knight Rider). -
Linus TORvalds - the founder of the Linux kernel/operating system which is used on a significant amount of computing devices today: Android cell phones and tablets (Android just piggy-backs on an unseen Linux OS), vehicle navigation systems, DVRs, wireless routers, Internet web servers, supercomputers and many other devices that need to "boot up" or "initialize" when powered on, including some desktops/laptops like mine (Linux Mint), formerly a Windows machine, which I do all my online things with. Big guy... I don't know if he's as big as Tor Johnson though.
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Just a random story in search of a thread:
Mob Relatives Drawing Pensions From Chicago IATSE Projectionists’ “Endangered” Plan
IATSE Projectionists Local 110 in Chicago was once widely believed to be one of the most mobbed up unions in America — a crooked outfit packed with members of the Chicago mob and their relatives, some of whom who are now drawing generous pensions from the local’s endangered pension plan.
What happened to the Robbie the Robot auction thread???
in General Discussions
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"Robby, buddy ol' pal... You scratch my back, I scratch yours. See?"
[shuffle shuffle click]
"That will not be necessary"
"Well can I interest you in a beautiful 1956 John Deere transmission? Sitting out in the old barn, behind the straw. She's a real pile of gears, just your type"
[shuffle shuffle click]
"I can hardly contain myself."