Archive for the ‘entertainment’ Category

Missing Episodes on Netflix Instant Watch

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

I have been using the Netflix Instant watch feature on TIVO and loving it with the exception of some TV show seasons are missing episodes.

For example
Quantum Leap: Season 1, missing: Genesis (Part 1),Genesis (Part 2), Star-Crossed
Quantum Leap: Season 2, missing: Disco Inferno, Good Night, Dear Heart, Pool Hall Blues
Quantum Leap: Season 3, missing: Leap of Faith, One Strobe Over the Line, Rebel Without a Clue, A Little Miracle, Private Dancer,Heart of a Champion,Nuclear Family
Dead Like Me: Season 1, missing: Vacation, Rest in Peace
Dead Like Me: Season 2, missing: Send in the Clown, Ghost Story, The Shallow End, Hurry, Always
Little Britain: Series 1, missing: How to Make a Little Britain,What Does Britain Mean to You

For those episodes I get the message

“Some episodes of this series are available only on disc.
Click the add button next to an episode to add its disc to your Queue”

Anyone know why? my first guess was that the episodes were airing somewhere, but I can’t find any tv listings for Dead to Me, so that kicks that idea to the curb.

Any ideas?

XKCD, why does this sound familiar

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

Cautionary

UPDATED: Cycling not recommended to Wolf Trap

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

UPDATED

I am attending a concert tonight at the Wolf Trap Center in Virginia, and sent the following to the contact email on their website

Hi,

I am attending a concert tonight at the Filene Center center, Do you haveany bike racks or safe place to lock a bike during a performance. I looked on the website and didn’t see any mention

thanks

I got the following prompt response, which unfortunately is not good news

Thanks for writing. Unfortunately without direct access to and from bike trails or light volume traffic routes into the park it would not generally be considered safe or easy for bicycle riders. No dedicated bike racks are available in the park, although if you choose to arrive by bicycle you could certainly lock it to a fence or other permanent fixture. You may need to consult with Park Police or a Ranger on site to be sure you are not in a restricted area. The good news is Metro service via shuttle bus is available for all Filene Center performances (except the International Children’s Festival).

Filene Center Performances

The Wolf Trap Metro Shuttle Bus Express provides service to all Filene
Center shows (except the International Children’s Festival).

1. Take Metrorail’s Orange line, any of the convenient Metrobus Routes (3B, 28A and 28B), or drive to the West Falls Church Metrorail Station.

2. Hop on the Wolf Trap Metro Shuttle Bus Express, which leaves the West Falls Church Metrorail Station every 20 minutes starting two hours before each performance. The last Shuttle leaves the station at
showtime. Round trip fare is just $3.00 per person (exact change required). The Shuttle Bus is wheelchair accessible.

3. Returning, the Shuttle departs Wolf Trap 20 minutes after the performance ends (no later than 11:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday). The last train for Downtown and New Carrollton leaves the West Falls
Church Station at 11:32 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and at 1:32 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

For more information on Metro’s hours of operation, the Wolf Trap Shuttle Bus, or Metro’s One-Day Pass, please call (202) 637-7000 (TDD: (202) 638-3780). Or, visit Metro’s Web site at www.metroopensdoors.com.

We hope this helps,
best wishes.

On looking at google maps I could bike from Wolf Trap to the W&OD Trail. Taking Trap Rd south then turn right onto Clarks Crossing and follow it to the trail. Am I crazy for even thinking about this?

The Alternative is I leave my bike at West Falls Church and then take the shuttle back after the concert then take the 980 home.

UPDATE: July 29th 2008
I got the following response from Wolf

Good afternoon,

Your message was shared with Foundation staff and Wolf Trap National Park Service representatives and sub-sequentially it has been brought to our attention that a bike rack has been made available this entire summer season for events at The Filene Center. The location is just to the right (south) of the Main Gate before entering the venue.

We sincerely apologize for the oversight regarding this matter. Wolf Trap is committed to delivering our programs with the best possible service. We realize that one bad experience is enough to keep you from
returning. We appreciate your patronage and will continue to do all we can to create the best possible Wolf Trap experience for our patrons. Thank you again and we hope you will be back for a more enjoyable evening under the stars at Wolf Trap!

Best regards.

So it looks like they do have a bike rack, so as promised I have changed the title of this post.

Torn

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Knowing the way things are, you have probably already seen this, but incase you haven’t here is Torn from the secret policeman’s ball

(click through for the embedded you tube video if your rss reader doesn’t show you the window)

New Laptop

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

So HY was kind enough to bring my new laptop home with her yesterday. After the initial unboxing and savoring that new computer smell I plugged it in. I decided to transfer all my files from my old 12 inch Powerbook since it was rebuilt a few months back and the machine will become a ‘public’ computer for anyone who needs it at the house. After waiting and cursing apple for lying about how long it would take all my files and settings were transferred over. From a normal user experience this is great since it gets you up and running very quickly and everything is set up exactly as you are used to….. but….. I am feel I am missing the ritual that you get when you defile a fresh install of an OS by tweaking, install and customizing till you happy with it.

For a mac my standard install list would be
Firefox (get the beta of V3)
Quicksilver
Adium
Microsoft RDC client (get the new beta version)
Chicken of VNC
Dev Tools
Darwin Ports
For intel macs I would also add vmware fusion (need to try out virtual box)

Leena and Gregs Wedding

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

If you have been following my twitter feed you would know i was at an Indian Wedding this weekend in Albany NY. Below are a couple of the shots that caught my eye when doing a first scan of the photos.

This is the first real test of my new DSLR and I learned a few things about the capabilities. I wasn’t very happy with the built in flash, I really need to upgrade to an SB 800, in large rooms it would over expose the foreground and you would get bright spots on reflective surfaces. For a lot of the flash shots I dropped the flash exposure down a little to compensate. For the non flash shots I was shooting at 1600 iso which has its draw backs, images are a little softer and I still ended up with a number of shots with slow exposure so they have blurry hand movements. Shooting without the flash meant that the photos have an orange glow from the indoor lighting which I actually I liked for the wedding since i gives a warm feel to the photos. I need to work on getting my usable shot count up higher, i am still wasting some shots because the shutter speed is too slow.

Edinburgh University Alumni in DC

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

I have been involved in the alumni group for a number of years, but it never seemed to go anywhere. With the help of the university we are reforming the group. If you are interested please go to www.eduni-dc.org and sign up for the announcements list.

I call bull shit on CSI miami

Monday, April 21st, 2008

I was flipping the channel and came across CSI Miami, they just did a trace on an IP address and it came up 68.34.18.211, technically what the character said is correct, but the graphics are BS, I mean come on its a rip of the Matrix letters dropping in. Oh and the IP address is comcast in MD c-68-34-18-11.hsd1.md.comcast.net.

Talking of old stuff

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

I bought Chef series 1-3, Allo Allo series 1-6, Red Dwarf 7 & 8. I am justifying the cost of the DVD sets by the fact that amazon had them at 20-30% off and I don’t pay from cable and need something to watch while american over the air (OTA) sucks balls after recovering the writers strike.

Eastenders

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

It Amuses me no end when Sarah, one of my cats, comes and demands attention when the theme tune for Eastenders plays.

Don’t worry my mum makes fun of me every time she hears that I am watching Eastenders from 3-4? years ago. Anthony has just proposed Zoe and then she moved in with him. The shock, the scandal……