Don't get them all started on HHGTTG again!

Darnit, now Jstrain is going to ask what HHGTTG is.

Jstrain: It's a reference to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a series of works by Douglas Adams. The first two books in the series (HHGTTG and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe) are required reading for all life forms capable of reading. Get those under your belt then get back to us.

___________
Tony Fabris

required reading for all life forms capable of reading.

Is it OK if I just watch them on PBS instead?

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Rob S. Said: ...it would be a bit of a moving target.

Rob V. Said: ...and it's not cost effective to print a small batch and continuously update it.

Rob S. Said: ...lay it out for paper or PDF release.


So here's what you do. Don't print up new manuals, just keep them updated in PDF format so they can be downloaded and printed by those of us who want them. You could even have an option of including the PDF file as part of the fileset you get when you upgrade the player and emplode software. Whenever you run out of the printed ones, then send the newest PDF version to the printer for your new stock.

That would work for me.

tanstaafl.







"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Is it OK if I just watch them on PBS instead?

No. The BBC-TV version sucked. You will be completely unimpressed if you see that. Did you ever watch some of the older Doctor Who shows? The TV version of H2G2 seemed to have about 1/10th the budget of those old Doctor Who shows. And the DW shows were put together on about 1/10th of a shoestring.

Definitely get the novels and read them that way. You will have an immense appreciation for his wit and his ability to string words together, and you will laugh your ass off in the process. I know you appreciate good writing, and Adams delivers that in spades.

There was one redeeming factor about the TV shows: The "Guide" itself. In the story, it's an electronic encyclopedia, with each entry animated via pictures and voice-over. In the TV show, the book entries were done PERFECTLY and were hilarious. They used Douglas' exact words from the novels, and the narrator voice read them perfectly in a sort of matter-of-fact style, and the animations they did to illustrate each entry were just drop-dead funny.

But the rest of the TV show was a complete bomb. The low budget just didn't cut it. Douglas' penned vision of this interesting universe was just not meant for low-budget production.

Fortunately, Douglas is working on a feature film version now, with computer graphic special effects and a decent budget. We'll see how that one goes. It'll hit the streets in a year or two.

___________
Tony Fabris

How may I fulfil your vertical transport requirements for today?

Sorry couldn't resist.

Barbarian! The TV series was a work of art, and it was actually quite high budget by BBC drama standards at the time (almost 20 years ago!). If you think that's low budget you should see Blakes Seven (which is also a classic).

You're the type of person that would think Red Dwarf got better with time, whereas in reality there's little past series 3 that's worth watching.

You have to watch these timeless classics as stageplays with a few cameras thrown in for good measure. In the case of Hitchhikers - what a cast! Fantastic casting, and they even got Darth Vader in there for good measure (a man who has purchased tomato soup ahead of me in a supermarket line).

Rob

PS Sorry about the barbarian thing, still friends?

Yes, that's what we already do. We just haven't got as far as actually updating the PDF yet. We're waiting for 1.1!

(That said, the PDF on the web site is more up to date than the printed guide, but the differences are subtle!)

Rob

I have a suspicion they are attempting to break the empeg down to the same level as other mp3 players. Since there ARE no mp3 players of its caliber to compare it with, then they will only bother to mention the few things the empeg does have in common with other mp3 players so hence : they will do a price comparison, ease of use comparison, etc. Since other mp3 players do not have play lists they will not compare or mention these features. Since other mp3 players don't have visualizations, they will skim over these features as well. The way ZD operates is that they tend to like to classify and group products together for the basis of comparison. It's just that empeg is unlucky enough to have very little to go on as a basis for comparison against other products so they forced the review.

Yes, very unprofessional. They docked points away essentially because it costs 10 times as much as an mp3 player, and it doesn't run on batteries like other mp3 players, doesn't have a built in amp like other mp3 players, kind of big compared to a rio, blah blah, so for each of these "not normal enough" comparisons, they docked a star off.

Calvin

Hmm.. ever notice that most threads end up being about TV and movies?:)
-mark

MK2: 36gb
Tivo: 90gb
CPU: 120gb
...I think drive manufacturers love me!

Sorry about the barbarian thing, still friends?

Of course. However, I must respectfully disagree with a couple of specific statements:


it was actually quite high budget by BBC drama standards at the time

They certainly didn't seem to spend it on Zaphod's second head. That was painful to watch. The CG version should be awesome when they finish the feature film, though.

By saying it was "high budget by BBC standards", you're not giving it much credence. BBC standards are still shoestring. I'm guessing you guys go through more capital in one month than the BBC spent (in adjusted pounds) on that show.


You're the type of person that would think Red Dwarf got better with time, whereas in reality there's little past series 3 that's worth watching.

Actually, I agree that Red Dwarf was better in its early days, but it had nothing to do with the budget- it was the writing. RD was intentionally kitschy and low-budget because it was written with the budget in mind. On the other hand, Douglas Adams fantasized a rather elaborate universe in the radio program and the novels, not thinking about the possibility of a TV version. When the TV version came around, there just wasn't enough cash and technology to do it justice.

As an example: There's a scene where they activate the Infinite Improbablility Drive in somewhat of a hurry without properly calculating the settings first. In the novel, there is a fantastic description of how the entire bridge gets redesigned in the blast. It's almost like they're suddenly piloting in a whole new ship. In the TV series, they didn't have the budget to do what Doug envistioned, so they just added some potted plants to the existing bridge set. It totally killed the gag.

Fortunately, they'll have the budget to do it right when they make the feature film version coming up soon.


In the case of Hitchhikers - what a cast!

I admit, the cast was pretty good. I could have done without the actress who played Trillian, but everyone else was superb. Slartibartfast was perfectly cast, exactly like I imagined him in the book. Ford I especially liked. He could deliver some of the best lines in a wonderfully dry way.


and they even got Darth Vader in there for good measure

Prowse? I forget: What did he play in H2G2?


(a man who has purchased tomato soup ahead of me in a supermarket line).

I don't suppose he forced his way into the line, did he? Nah, probably not. I'm sure it would have caused a small rebellion in the store.

___________
Tony Fabris

Hmm.. ever notice that most threads end up being about TV and movies?:)

You know what? I'm going to bring this thread back around to topic. Watch:

I find it ironic that I just spent a lot of time giving a TV show a bad review because they didn't spend enough money on it. Seeing as how this all started from a review of the Empeg which complained that it cost too much money.

Ha. Did it.

___________
Tony Fabris

Hmm.. Good backhand return there:)
-mark

MK2: 36gb
Tivo: 90gb
CPU: 120gb
...I think drive manufacturers love me!

A continuously updated PDF file would be a great gain

It should at least be incrementally updated with each new release, with the developer responsible for a new feature also being responsible for a brief amount of updated documentation to be included by the documentation bloke.

To some extent, this is partly done by Mike's incremental release notes, but the release notes do not usually do anything more than state the feature increment; the only documentation increment I can remember from the release notes was John's notes on the use of the Equaliser when it was first introduced in year dot. Since then - well, put it this way - I still can't figure out how the "Tweak" features work and only recently discovered the toggle between "search" and "append" in the Search feature set!
(Mind you though - half the fun of owning one of these things is the "eureka!" experience as you use it )

Small increments in the PDF document with each release would be a way to go, at least initially.

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Careful - if you force engineers to not release something before they document it, we'll never get any new features:)

True, true.

And there's an old saying:

"Documentation is like sex. When it's good, it's really good. When it's bad, it's better than nothing."

___________
Tony Fabris

Careful - if you force engineers to not release something before they document it, we'll never get any new features :)

Unless you're Microsoft, of course. They're famous for quelling competition by releasing documentation for products that don't exist.

tanstaafl.



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Re-read my post - if we force engineers... This doesn't apply to marketting types:)
-mark

MK2: 36gb
Tivo: 90gb
CPU: 120gb
...I think drive manufacturers love me!

Yes he was the Bodyguard, according to a quick trip to the IMDB... =)

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 4 gig #30. Mk3 1.6 16v)

Function of remote's number buttons during playback

If you'll notice, the video review of the empeg didn't even mention it had a remote.

DiGNAN

They probably lost, as I have many times......Tis a small ickle fing'

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MK II, (Blue but should be Amber) SN: 118