I wandered into the thread almost by accident. A swipe of my finger left a bright streak in the thick dust that had accumulated over what must have been weeks of inactivity. It had obviously been a happening thread at one time - 88 upvotes was well above average, even today. I couldn't blame Krupo, of course - the post was over three years old, ancient by Sift standards, and besides, ol' Krupie had a channel to run.
Some might be depressed by the finality of it all - a grim reminder that, no matter how brightly we shine in our heyday, we are all destined to fade into obscurity. (Dust to dust, after all.)
I looked at it differently. It was peaceful here. Freed from the hectic bustle of the front page and unflinching eye of the Top 15, one has a chance to sit back and take it all in. There was no pressure to post some pithy observation about the video or the conversation it fostered. There was no risk of having your witty retort beaten to the punch by a faster (or punctuation-averse) Sifter. Heck, there was little risk that a new post would ever be read at all.
And not only peaceful, but hopeful.
I had found it, hadn't I? And not just me.
Here and there, bathed in the amber glow of the evening sun that filtered through the listlessly-floating motes, were signs that some kindly stranger had done what he could to keep the place from falling into complete disrepair.
Or perhaps, not so kindly after all...
It was strange, but as I took the time to inspect the repairs that rasch had made those many months ago, I began to realize that what was usually a benevolent act was here tinged with animosity. Crescent-shaped dents around a driven nail suggested careless, or perhaps even angry, strikes. Gouges in the head of a bolt, the stripped slots of a screw, paint that didn't quite stay inside the lines, it all spoke to a generous act undertaken with a fair degree of resentment.
I could tell now that rasch hadn't particularly liked this place. But why, then, would he have spent the time to fix it up? Was it a sense of duty to the Sift? A debt owed to Krupo? Or perhaps he just did it for the Power Point? Perhaps I would get a chance to ask him one day, or perhaps I would never know.
Not that it really mattered either way. It was an old story in an even older thread, and who knew if I might be the last Sifter to disturb its well-earned rest. As I approached the door to leave, I cast one glance at the still-crisp video that flickered in the corner and gave it a chuckle, then pressed out into the rapidly darkening night. The lights of the Top 15 beckoned in the distance - hell, maybe I could do with some excitement after all.

I like how he uses the term "Ad Homenim attacks" and in the next line launches an Ad Homenim attack.

Also, since there's no actual evidence for any of the fundamental christian beliefs all they have is fallacious argument, accusing the atheist side of fallacious reasoning is like a pot calling a crisp white napkin with a little smear of grease on it "black".

It's not going to win a beauty pageant, but I am actually extremely pleased with the brick-like design because it *really* makes it easier to hold. (You can apply just a little pressure to any edge to keep a good grip.) This is starkly contrasting to the pretty look of the iPhone which is completely slick and rounded and arguably designed to make you drop (and replace) it as frequently as possible.

Just discovered a couple of other interesting things. Tried some m4v video playback and it's extremely crisp and beautiful. After a bit of actual use, I'm finding I really love the keyboard. It's very smartly laid out and even has a dedicated question mark key which I love (no more alt-period, alt-period, alt-periods for me).

One thing worth noting is that the touch screen fails to work under certain strange conditions like when the plugged-in USB cable is wrapped around it and/or it's laying on a leather sofa. Must have something to do with how the magical touch sensitive glass works.

No more iTunes or being forced to carry a phone *and* an iPod Touch in each pocket.

Andromeda is fun to observe in binoculars, small or large telescopes. Easy target. It is one of the few naked-eye galaxies. On a good crisp dark night you can see Andromeda just by looking up in the right place. This galaxy is so close, so big, that it appears 3 times wider than a full moon does. To the naked eye, its more like a distended smudge.

IT'S DECORATIVE
GOURD SEASON, MOTHERFUCKERS.
BY COLIN NISSAN

- - - -

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get my hands on some fucking gourds and arrange them in a horn-shaped basket on my dining room table. That shit is going to look so seasonal. I'm about to head up to the attic right now to find that wicker fucker, dust it off, and jam it with an insanely ornate assortment of shellacked vegetables. When my guests come over it's gonna be like, BLAMMO! Check out my shellacked decorative vegetables, assholes. Guess what season it is—fucking fall. There's a nip in the air and my house is full of mutant fucking squash.

I may even throw some multi-colored leaves into the mix, all haphazard like a crisp October breeze just blew through and fucked that shit up. Then I'm going to get to work on making a beautiful fucking gourd necklace for myself. People are going to be like, "Aren't those gourds straining your neck?" And I'm just going to thread another gourd onto my necklace without breaking their gaze and quietly reply, "It's fall, fuckfaces. You're either ready to reap this freaky-assed harvest or you're not."

Carving orange pumpkins sounds like a pretty fitting way to ring in the season. You know what else does? Performing an all-gourd reenactment of an episode of Diff'rent Strokes—specifically the one when Arnold and Dudley experience a disturbing brush with sexual molestation. Well, this shit just got real, didn't it? Felonies and gourds have one very important commonality: they're both extremely fucking real. Sorry if that's upsetting, but I'm not doing you any favors by shielding you from this anymore.

The next thing I'm going to do is carve one of the longer gourds into a perfect replica of the Mayflower as a shout-out to our Pilgrim forefathers. Then I'm going to do lines of blow off its hull with a hooker. Why? Because it's not summer, it's not winter, and it's not spring. Grab a calendar and pull your fucking heads out of your asses; it's fall, fuckers.

Have you ever been in an Italian deli with salamis hanging from their ceiling? Well then you're going to fucking love my house. Just look where you're walking or you'll get KO'd by the gauntlet of misshapen, zucchini-descendant bastards swinging from above. And when you do, you're going to hear a very loud, very stereotypical Italian laugh coming from me. Consider yourself warned.

For now, all I plan to do is to throw on a flannel shirt, some tattered overalls, and a floppy fucking hat and stand in the middle of a cornfield for a few days. The first crow that tries to land on me is going to get his avian ass bitch-slapped all the way back to summer.

Welcome to autumn, fuckheads!

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2009/10/20nissan.html

From Wired...

In the latest example of finding media innovation where you’d least expect it, CBS is embedding a video player in a print ad in Entertainment Weekly that will serve up a buffet of its fall TV lineup.

The CBS foray into a print-digital alliance plays full-motion video at a crisp resolution. The ad, dubbed by CBS and partner Pepsi Max “the first-ever VIP (video-in-print) promotion,” works like one of those audio greeting cards. Opening the page activates the player, which is a quarter-inch–thick screen seen through a cutaway between two pages concealing the larger circuit board underneath.

The audio quality is equally good (extremely poor video shot by this reporter notwithstanding), but beware: There are no volume controls, and in a quiet environment, it’s quite loud. This is surely a intentional design feature, aimed at getting the attention of people nearby.

Unlike the wholly unsatisfying debut of the e-ink cover in Esquire magazine last year, this works.

The video-enhancement will appear in the September issue of Entertainment Weekly, but only in what sounds like a relatively small subset of the circulation: The promo itself will be in every copy, but the video portion only in some subscriptions delivered to New York and Los Angeles. It was released Tuesday to media outlets.

Upon getting to the ad, there is a 5-second delay before anything happens — there is enough on the page to probably hold the unassuming reader’s attention for that long, if nothing else the eerie stare from Neil Patrick Harris — and then a 5-second still promo before the promo for the player’s developer, Americhip.

Next up is a pre-roll featuring a bespoke setup by three characters from the network’s hit Big Bang Theory sitcom. ”I weep for civilization,” opines Emmy-nominated Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper) at the end of the clip, scripted to reveal that the über nerd was tricked into appearing in an ad in Entertainment Weekly rather than “the current edition of Physics Today.”

As impressive as this step is, the true marriage of print and digital multimedia still seems quite far off, and eons away from the streaming updates in the newspapers of Minority Report fame.

Still, it is boldish, baby steps like this that bring about dramatic shifts in media. That said, the logical extreme of the current wave of tech innovation heads more toward digital reproduction of a print experience, as the Kindle DX aspires to do for newspapers, rather than to ultrathin hardware pasted to paper.

In a more-limited context, is there much of a future for this branch?

It’s an expensive undertaking, but it does seem well suited for milestone events like a new TV season or as part of a marketing blitz for a certain genre of movie — think a Watchman trailer in Entertainment Weekly.

Part of the lure of this technology as an advertising mechanism is that it adds a “medium is the message” value and thus reaps free publicity from stories like this. But when the novelty wears off, and without serendipitous newsstand sales — which Entertainment Weekly will not benefit from this time around — there’s not nearly as much upside.

And therein lies the dilemma of even bothering to extend the digital experience into a bits medium: In the end, how many people will actually see this rather than just hear about it?

well done im now going to eat some crisps , OBESE TIME

Sørlandschips crisps, with spanish bell pepper and persimmon taste! Served with Brakspear Oxford Gold Organic Ale.

BAKED! RUFFLES® Cheddar & Sour Cream Flavored Potato Crisps.

The bag is 50% air, but what's left is strangely satisfying.

Wow, is it only me or is this video really high-quality? It looks so crisp even in the non-HD version. Maybe Ive missed something?

I sometimes have sex with myself for as little as a packet of crisps. It's degrading but I can't resist the taste.

KP, I have seen a TV from HP and 1 other brand that have built-in streaming features, but the unit was much more expensive than just buying an HDTV + game console (or that Roku player), so I would find a TV you like first.

Some other points related to some comments above:
1080p- a few years ago this cost a lot more, but nowadays it's only marginally more expensive than a 720p, many blu-ray discs are encoded 1080p, so it's worth getting a 1080p screen today. (I have a 720p LCD TV that I bought 2 years ago, and it's fine, though I use it mostly for games).
^MycroftHomlz, p (progressive vertical lines) is not dpi (dots per inch) (a 46" 720 dpi display would cost over a million dollars and have 225 times the resolution of 1080p)

120Hz- this is the new fancy feature on higher-end hdtv's. it doesn't magically make your content any better. Even the best Bluray movies are still recorded and encoded at 30fps. It will make some DVD content look better, because 120 is an even multiple of 24, whereas to display 24fps content at 60Hz (standard refresh rate of LCD's) you have to drop or add frames (called inverse-telecine) so sometimes you see tearing. So movies, sports, games, with lots of motion or many small moving details will look better. I've asked several Best Buy "tv specialists" some specific questions about 120Hz that I already knew the answers to, and NONE of them got it right. and instead of just saying "I don't know" they talked out of their ass and tried to sell me some special hdmi cable that supports 120Hz... epic lolz. If your total budget is $1500, don't waste your money on this feature.

LCD vs Plasma vs DLP- The quality depends a lot on the manufacturer. It used to be that LCD screens simply could not be made as big as plasma, but they are getting larger and cheaper each year. Plasmas still have burn-in problems (more problem for games than movies), and a shorter life span (about 7 years vs 10+ years for LCD- both assuming you use the TV several hours per day). Plasmas are also more fragile, so be careful when moving them. That said, I think the picture does look slightly better on plasma, but would still get LCD. (samsung, sony, mitsubishi- all great choices. other brands, try to look at it in person before you decide). DLP is a rear-projection TV, and I've found these to not be as crisp as LCD/plasma (sometimes the pixels blur and/or you can see horizontal scan lines). They are usually 80+ lbs vs an LCD being 30 lbs (base detached). Some people can see a flickering of the color-wheel with DLP (personally I can't, depends on lighting conditions and how sensitive your eyes are).

streaming content- if you have a PC with windows XP media center or Vista premium/ultimate, and all your content is windows compatible, an xbox-360 will make a nice front-end that you stream videos from your PC. If you use other formats, the PS3 has a better chance of playing them (also recommended since it plays bluray). I have both consoles, and the PS3 is much better at playing H.264 videos from CD-R/DVD-R and wired network. I haven't seen Roku player in person, and I don't have netflix, but it looks like a nifty device. If you subscribe to cable or fios, many of their DVR's can stream content that was recorded in other rooms.

projectors- not sure if you will find a decent 1080p one under $1500, but you can get a very large screen. Keep in mind the cost of replacing the lamp/bulb can be several hundred $$ (lamps usually last 2000+ hours in eco-mode). I have a 480p (widescreen but not high def) projector in my bedroom with an 8' diagonal screensize. Upon advice from someone else, I bought a 4'x8' foam board, and painted it with brightest white but non-glossy paint, and hung it on a wall for my screen. $380 projector + $30 screen + $37 progressive DVD player + $15 component cable + $30 black curtains. Compgeeks has a electric roll-up screen for pretty cheap.
Choosing a projector also depends on your room size, visit www.projectorcentral.com and use their calculator for any given model you are considering.

cables- buy online. someone mentioned monoprice, they are good, just check their in-stock status to be sure. they always ship ground from CA, so can be slow depending on where you live. HDMI and DVI are electrically identical, so it's a passive adapter. HDMI includes extra pair for sending digital audio. Component and VGA are analog, HDMI/DVI is digital - means more accurate colors, less ghosting/interference effects. Although analog is capable of carrying a full 1080p signal, content creators (namely Sony blu-ray) will cripple devices stating that you need HDMI to do 1080p output. This is because HDMI support encryption in the form of HDCP, which they think will reduce piracy (obviously they have been proven wrong already). fiber (sometimes called TOSlink) vs digital audio over copper (RCA jack) doesn't make a difference in quality, digital is digital. Look for a stereo receiver with many inputs and outputs.

antennas- hdtv's can pick up all the local broadcast channels with perfect picture and digital surround sound, if you get the right antenna. check www.antennaweb.org to see where channels are broadcasting relative to your home and to pick the correct antenna. It's a 1-time fee, unlike month-to-month cable/satellite. www.titantv.com is a tv-guide style website, lets you sort by broadcast type.

internet speed- 1.5Mbps should be fine, as long as you have patience to download the video before watching it. Will stream standard def no problem, but high-def or netflix downloads would take longer-than-realtime. Most services let you download in advance, so I wouldn't upgrade your 'net connection until you try it out for a month or 2.

buying online- go to best buy or walmart, and look for a screen you like, so you can see it in person. a lot of times the specs "on paper" look good, but the display is mediocre at best. Then look for exact model online, try to get a pricematch. Get the extended warranty if it's not outrageous (a single repair could be $500+ without it). We bought a 46" LCD for work from www.lcdtvs.com, they are New Jersey based, and their salespeople might try to up-sell you some cables, but we got free shipping and a free hdmi cable from them, and 3rd-party warranty was cheap (service is actually provided by best buy locally). Took about a week to arrive (western PA). If you buy online, make sure you factor in shipping costs, it could be $150+ since it's considered freight.

wireless vs wired- Roku, Wii, PS3 have wifi built in. xbox-360 is $99 for the wifi adapter (all except wii have wired ethernet built in). It's not too hard to run cat-5 cable if you are a DIY'er, but would be really expensive to get an electrician to do it. Ethernet hubs/switches are cheap, put a 4-port hub at your TV, run single cable between hub and DSL/cable/fios router, and all devices are online.

hope that helps. sorry for the long post. I'll answer specific questions if you have any.

I'm still a big fan of the Alton Brown "method" (which is his adaptadaptation of the french version but whatever.)
The minor difference in ingredients is his use of cream (as in "with your coffee?) but what sets it apart is his use of the double boiler.
To wit: the reason why so many people kill/burn eggs, is that they are stupid enough to expose them to direct heat. Eggs are fragile, and yes, it is possible to get better anything if you actually gave two shits about the prep-work.


"Durr, my eggs are watery and stuff! FIRE SOLVE!" Eggs get burnt to a crisp. Fail.

His accent sounded more like his time in Australia has finally affected him. I hope he was trying to be funny, though. It's not as crisp as his jolly ol' accent.

My brother was a big fan of Frosted Flakes, but I never understood the point. I'd just as soon take a bowl of good ol' Corn Flakes and dump a couple tablespoons of sugar on it. We definitely agreed on the awesomeness of Froot Loops, though.

I know what you guys are saying about Cookie Crisp. I don't think my taste buds fully formed until sometime in college (which was a real shame growing up in New Orleans). Having tried them as an adult, I was surprised that I had liked it at all.


Anyone ever tried half & half on your cereal? I know, it sounds messed up, and I wouldn't recommend it daily, but it is a decadent indulgence everyone should try once.