Posted by Daniel Tonks on February 7, 2000 at 1:00 AM
Monday: It's been one of those weekends. I've spend the past four days programming away,
however it's the type of stuff that never shows on the exterior of the site. Fours days of
programming will end up saving countless days of updating files manually. One of the changes
you WILL be able to see, however, is that extra-long forum threads have now been split into
multiple pages. Currently this number is set to threads with 50 responses or more (there's even
one now up to 268 responses), however if you feel this number should be lower -- say 30 or 40
messages -- please
let me know. Also, please inform
me if you spot any odd behavior by the new thread display program.
Tarzan DVD: As you may or may not have heard, the recent release of Disney's animated Tarzan
has a small glitch in the left rear speaker, where some sound from the left front speaker
is duplicated, creating a rather lop-sided soundstage. It can be hard to tell, especially if you
aren't "really" into audio, but one of the largest problems is that some dialogue which should only
be heard in the front is also heard in the rear. Currently my copy is affected -- however some
reports on the net indicate that good ones may be floating around. If you have one that you're
certain is good, please email me and let me know. I'd like to get some of the number codes
off the disc. Not sure whether your disc is good or not? Here's a brief test:
- Go to approximately 31:00 on the English soundtrack (other soundtracks are not affected).
At approximately 31:12 you will hear a gunshot. If any of this sound is reproduced in the left rear
channel the disc is faulty.
There are more bothersome points in the disc, however this is the easiest one to test with. Otherwise,
the Tarzan disc is fantastic -- reference quality video and, if this problem is fixed, reference
quality audio. As it is, I'd only deduct a half star from the Audio portion of this disc. I'll have
a full review up later.
[Talk about DVD movies...]
Upcoming remotes: I've had a number of requests to summarize the new remote controls
coming out this year. So, here it goes:
GE RM94927 (CES 2000)
Jensen "Surf Series" (CES 2000)
Philips Color Pronto (CES 2000)
Marantz RC-1200 (CES 2000)
Panja 1000 System (CES 2000)
RTI TheaterTouch (Preview)
Sony RM-AV2100 (CES 2000)
Universal Electronics Mosaic (CES 2000)
Universal Remote MX-1000 (CES 2000)
Universal Remote MX-1000 (Preview)
Xantech URC-2 (CES 2000)
Zenith ZEN810 (CES 2000)
CCF files: New Pronto system CCF files are now available by
Alex Kurz, Andrea Whitlock,
Daryl Holtz, Richard Plumb and
Rob Brun. In addition, quite a large number of BMP file collections were
uploaded, totaling 206 television station logos by Andrea Whitlock,
Mario Linhart, Martin Willisegger and
Richard Plumb. Plus look for a Looney Tune
file by Dustin Reinsmith. Also new is the first
music CCF file by Vince Maskeeper,
with short snippits from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, 2001 and Axel "F", which can be integrated in macros
for a more "interesting" Pronto experience. I'd really like to get a music CCF section going, so keep
those uploads coming!