I've already seen a number of these "enhanced for HD" episodes and I disagree with Kevin Church - they look like crap. They've replaced every model shot of the Enterprise with a bland, inexplicably "lit", amateurish CGI sequence. Once again, Paramount turns what could be a positive into a disaster by doing the work on the cheap, cheap, cheap. They also reframed every reverse angle shot, not for artistic reasons, but an engineers obsession with consistency.

It lacks the artistry in cinematography and lighting of the actual model work done for the show.

To avoid "stretching" the HD image, they pixel-averaged every frame so that every episode looks like it's been run through a Vaseline covered lens. The uniforms, especially, glow like they spent a day in Mr. Burns' nucleon plant. There's no more "cleanup" of the frames that wasn't done when the negatives were mastered for the first DVD package release.

You'd be much better off to find the original DVD-sets release and playing them on an HD machine. You can always rent the new release to take a look at the extras.

Don't waste your money. As with the "improved" releases of the Star Wars movies, more is definitely not more.

www.theskinofmyteeth.com

David B.

Hmmm, I guess everything old is new again... These paints looks suspiciously like my grandmother's candy dishes - medium blue ones - and she's had those since the beginning of time!

Genius! There are a number of public figures that I would like to impale with a blunt object...

I see several shopping and weekends of at the craft table ahead of me.

I think it's pretty ridiculous that a media person or journalist would blacklist any email from a PR firm. If you don't want press releases as a media outlet then open a plumbing business for cryin' out loud! This speaks more to your credibility(ies) as a media outlet then anything about the "laziness" of PR firms.

I've seen some abuse of authority and vindictiveness on the part of the moderators, but this really puts you and Wired into a new class. WTF?!?

This surpasses the Belle Beast Dog Brush (from Beauty and the Beast) as the stupidest licensed product...

At least Belle and the Beast looked like they did in the movie!

Wow - I can't imagine what Jimbo can do that necessitates a 32-page set of instructions. Perhaps anatomically correct is a strong indicator.

I think I just giggled in glee just a little bit!

I can't find it in myself to be shocked by any of this - I mean, for me, it doesn't quite top "reviewing" the CDC director's presentation on global warming from 14 pages to 4 followed up by staged FEMA press conferences...

It is fascinating, though, to see an administration and a prez implode before he's turned in a budget for his presidential library. I'd say an outhouse with a vast underground septic tank will do just fine.

David B.

Okay, post purchase regret is well known - but post-pre purchase euphoria?

Thanks for this. I feel much better about my meager drawing skills...

What's with the little holes in the handle? Do they make it more aerodynamic?

David B.

OMG, this really, really creeps me out! I can't really explain it, but I have an immediate flight response to the legs!

It just reminds me that biologic programming is real.

David B.

I love how the Japanese are so good at making vehicles that look like toys - not an interpretation of a toy or an homage to a toy like U.S. vehicle makers.

Without a reference in the pic, it's hard to tell if it's 10 inches long or 14 feet long.

Brilliant!

David B.

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Is it any wonder that sooooo many Americans are obese?

Thumb muscles tiring... must hold on...

David B.

This guy would be a lot more interesting if the mechanics of his tricks weren't so obvious.

I wonder about all those people gawking at the umbrella "trick". Did they round up 100 people who all flunked out of high school and had spacial perception disorders and then haul them to the square?

David B.

I wasn't "SPAMing" my address, PTERYXX, I was adding my signature to my comments.

This isn't exactly related to Luxury knock-offs, but I think the only reason the evil, corrupt, and brutal Chinese government hasn't collapsed is because the U.S. is propping it up. China is in worse condition than the U.S.S.R was before it fell.

Poverty permeates the country, poverty unlike what we know - and not just the urban areas, people in the rural areas, living and working on farms, don't have enough to eat. They lead lives of misery.

So much of the livable space is a toxic waste dump. Unless you've been there, it's hard to imagine (given the photos of skylines and construction the media publishes).

There is no middle class to speak of and the wealthy are buying permission for their wealth from the government. Instead of focusing on their people and developing their economy, the Chinese government focuses on appearance like the Olympics and beating us in the space race with what little they have. Sound familiar?

It's a house of cards and the only reason it continues to stand is that we'd outsource breast feeding if it was feasible.

Too bad it's so small. I love the equator. I've never been, but it's nice to know that it's so obvious when you arrive...

JJASPER:

I think it's great that you're so comfortable and have such a positive level of post-purchase satisfaction. Are you taking a medication that allows you to ignore the fact you're exploiting a repressed and beaten people who vastly, vastly live in abject poverty - including the workers that make your shirts?

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Sorry, I don't run ads of any kind on my blog, nor can I afford link bait-and-switch scams or featured search results - I don't know how else to promote it.

www.you know where

David B.

Wal-Mart, like many retailers on the wave of lead coming to the U.S. from China, has taken non-disclosure a step farther by refusing to name both the importer of the tainted, bite-sized toys it recalled on Friday, but also the country of origin (or the actual manufacturer). Why would Wal-Mart protect a Chinese manufacturer?

I investigated this non-stop for a couple of days and wrote about it on my blog on Sunday.

David B.

This would be better described as an area of horrific density of plastic bits floating on the surface - not an island. I was disappointed The Gate didn't have pictures.

How many oceanic gyres are there on the earth?

David B.

I hope SOMEBODY got a picture of the guy. Under California law it's a felony to impersonate an officer of the law or an agent of a state agency - and that's not obscure or little known.

I'll just bet you it was a member or a shop steward from one of the stage unions.

They should take a photo of the guy or a description to the Pasadena Police Department immediately.

What's really amazing is the guy pulled this shit and then hung around long enough for people to talk to him.

David B.

Oh, yes, you're right subspace, I thought the quote in the post was representative of the greater whole. I'll follow the link...

Bakermiller: one is simply more empty than the other. You can just as easily get buzzed off eating too much fruit (out of balance and proportion with other foods) as you can with anything. A Snickers bar or a slice of cheese pizza has less of a glucose hit on your body over 2 hours than a fair number of fruits by themselves.

If you're diabetic or hypoglycemic the effect between processed sugar and fructose can be negligible (especially fruit juice).

The point is if you're exercising all day long without taking in complex carbs that release quality sugars throughout the day, you're creating an up and down production requirement on your pancreas and liver (as well as your thyroid) that is not sustainable over time.

I love this discussion...

David B.

This is adorable! I don't suppose it's made in China with 20x lead content? - cause I'm all about that right now!

(Wal-Mart just announced another recall of bit-sized toys and refused to name the manufacturer or origin of toys. I wrote it up in my blog...)

www.theskinofmyteeth.com

David B.

GULP! I'm pretty sure the "value" of my audio materials are out of the league of something like this. So much pressure!!

www.theskinofmyteeth.com

David B.

That's the first lesson you have to learn in the entertainment business. Take meetings, talk (without revealing your process), turn over samples of other "projects", but no work until the contract is signed.

Unfortunately, this is a lesson that few in the gaming, online, IT, and reality TV segments of the entertainment business have learned.

David B.

This really is a glucose disaster waiting to happen. This is totally an AWFUL vegetarian diet. I can't think of a better way to run your body into shock and cause your pancreas to be asked to surge and drop back throughout the day.

The salad dressing suggestion is the worst of all! Most salad dressings are mostly water and high fructose corn syrup - and if you're lucky a heaping helping of hydrolyzed vegetable oil (that's trans-fat) as an emulsifier.

The only reason you'll lose weight is because you're starving yourself of long acting calories - but the damage you're doing to your arteries and vital organs - come on!

David B.

This is a great from the TSA's perspective!

Causing the flying public to be the source of outrageous security failures is a much more TV friendly story than the reports that TSA screeners fail to identify 70% of potential bomb parts at LAX.

Life is a spin and we're just the floor that the refuse falls on.

David B.

Well, this is kinda interesting, but I think it reveals much more about Rowling as a writer than anything important about the characters. I'm liking her more and more. I'm looking forward to her next project.

It will be interesting to see if this info has any impact on the last two films...

David B.

What would the world do without the most ludicrous among us: the Japanese?

Are you sure this isn't some industrialized meets 3rd-world burka?

David B.

The first thing I would do (and would have done) is remove the chip from my uniform. This is really troubling and offensive.

I'm kinda cool with the chip being used to determine if I'm at school/on the campus, but only for security/safety reasons - no more!

This is student profiling and labeling. What kind of education are you going to get if there's a flashing red box on your record saying your a troublemaker, or slow learner, or emotional problems?

David B.

That's funny, because my Los Angeles eye just sees a large number of heavy things that might crush me during an earthquake... and the weekly dusting involved - yeesh!

This seems just too bizarre. It seems like there has to be more to the story? Did the NYT interview the arresting officer?

It's perfect. There just aren't enough drive-by murders by women. It's so heartwarming to see that gangs are being proactive!

It's too bad she only crushed the keyboard - it's not like it will phase the Comcast customer service flow - they just make stuff up anyway. I think the sound of keys being tapped is overdubbed, like the beep when you call the cops.

David B.

I was wondering when my various early morning crunchy needs would be streamlined... It's about time!

David B.

I'm waiting for the rubber hooded visor designed to optimize viewing of color gradients on my iPhone in outdoor lighting situations. I think this will go nicely with my leather whip-cord iPhone hip strap...

David B.

I know that's what I want - an absolute most current photo for my obit. It goes without saying that I expect a good faith effort on the part of the forensics department to supply a minimally air brushed photo...

David B.

Does it give a moan or whimper when it opens and closes as well? Not even a little bit?

www.theskinofmyteeth.com

David B.

Thanks PHILPHIL, that YouTube video is hysterical!

David B.

Oh, what a shame. I've been waiting to see this since you posted the building-of article. Seems like it failed structurally when the wings deployed. What a shame...

David B.

Can a military property be declared an historic landmark in California?

David B.

I wonder if Dick Cheney has two or three of these... Nothing better than a scary sleep over!

www.theskinofmyteeth.com

David B.

How are these units kept temperate? I live in southern California and the thought of being in one of these in the summer time makes my mouth dry. I imagine roasted to death in it...

David B.

The Chinese government is truly the only MAJOR evil empire left.

This is an open plea to all the hackers of any ilk that might check out Boing Boing. Get these assholes. Open the internet search engines. Hack the major news sites. Corrupt the local node tables and re-route URL resolution to off-shore Chinese language news sources.

I know nothing of what equipment or OS's are involved in China's internet isolation and electronic information suppression (except for the disgusting capitulation by companies like Google and Yahoo!), but I'm hoping you do.

Honestly, you're their only hope.

David B.