Author: Karel Kerezman

  • Video, Games, Video, Games…

    The DVD came out half-right. The second half, that is. For some reason the audio sync on the first episode started out correct and then, about a minute into the show, went horribly wrong. I think I know what went wrong (attempting to trim the video within Nerovision Express, which wouldn’t have been a problem except I was replacing the original audio with a reworked separate track), but I suspect the only way to fix it for the next test burn will be to find a way to trim the raw capture file from outside of NVE, demux the audio track from the resulting file, re-tweak the audio, then put those two files into NVE and not worry about trimming.

    Sure, that should only take a couple of hours. Did I mention that remastering the files takes about five hours for the two episodes? Whew. There’s a day’s work.

    So, today, I’m not going to bother. Instead I’m going to bring over to the kids’ place a bunch of UT2004 stuff… the latest patch, some map packs, a couple of new mutators, a mod, some models, and a stats generator. We’re gonna have fun today! Heck yeah.

  • It Can Be Over Now

    The only thing worse than a hot day in late summer is feeling too lousy to go to work on a hot day in summer, and thus missing out on the joys of air conditioning at one’s office. I understand that tomorrow the temperature’s supposed to top out at around 80. That’s a big step in the right direction. Huzzah, and stuff.

    In other news, a VHS-to-DVD project I’ve been working on for a few days now will bear its first fruit some time in the next hour or so, if all goes well. Wish me luck, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

  • Not Okay, Okay?

    Sitting peacefully in my chair, then suddenly feeling lightheaded and completely disconnected from my body, is not okay.

    This message brought to you by the “I Hate Summer” Committee. I’m ready for more 70-something high temperatures now, thankyouverymuch…

  • Skip the Spider Genitalia

    Who says science can’t be beautiful? Check out the winners and other contestants in the first annual “Art of Science” competition…

    Art of Science Gallery

  • Today, I love Google.

    This is awesome. Finally there’s a Jabber server that has widespread name recognition and a huge preinstalled userbase.

    Wow.

    If you use Gaim (like I do) and have a Gmail account (like I do, and if you don’t I have invites to spare), check out these instructions. Otherwise, just follow the link below and either get their software (it includes voice chat, which I don’t specifically need) or find out how to configure your multi-IM program of choice.

    Again I say: Wow.

    (Oh, the Gmail account thing? Apparently you won’t need my invites: “Google Talk requires a Gmail username and password, and starting today, Google is making it easier for anyone in the U.S. with access to a mobile phone to sign up for a Gmail account. When users visit http://gmail.com and enter their mobile phone number, they will receive an invitation code via a text message. This code enables them to open an account.” Go figure…)

    Google Talk

  • To Serve Funny.

    I was reminded, thanks to this bit of gaming humor that someone emailed me this evening, that on the way home Sunday the in-train movie was Madagascar. I won’t bore you with a lengthy review (in short: not horrible, occasionally clever, decently animated, minus points for major plot obviousness, and the lemur dance party song is too catchy for its own good) but I had to tell you about the one bit that made me laugh out loud.

    Yes, I get weird looks from people I travel with quite regularly. C’mon, this is me we’re talking about.

    Anyway. At one point the lemurs are in a state of panic, and one random lemur holds up a black book on which is written, “To Serve Lemurs,” and he cries out, “It’s a cookbook!”

    See, it’s funny because it’s a reference to one of the more subtly dark Twilight Zone episodes. I mean the original TZ, not the watered-down nonsense we’ve seen in recent years. Anyway. During this year’s 4th Of July festivities here at the house we caught a lot of TZ (SFC runs a marathon every year), and “To Serve Man” was one of the selections. If you haven’t seen it, well, if you’ve paid attention up to this point you can guess the twist in the story.

    How did I get here from there? Look at entry #8…