A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

A few days ago, Harry Turtledove, one of the authors I follow on Twitter (and the only one with whom I interact regularly on that social media platform), posted this whimsical Christmas wish list from the 1970s: #70sChristmasList Harvest gold refrigerator Avocado stove Betamax Quadraphonic sound system English Leather, or maybe Brut Cargo pants for the guys Hot pants for the women Platform shoes A leisure suit A case of Miller Lite Or of US-brewed (aka ruined) Löwenbräu I thought this was clever, amusing, and cool, so I replied with a #70sChristmasList of my own: #70s ChristmasList Stereo system with LP/8-track/AM-FM radio Brut, or English Leather Wacky Packages Star Wars figures (by Kenner) Billy Joel albums Star Wars OST 2-LP set Superman OST 2-LP set Classical music LPs A Bridge Too Far book Over the past few days, I've been going through the decades (the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s) and thinking of typical Christmas wish lists based on the trends of the...

Can you play DVDs on a Blu-ray player? Yes, you can. In fact, millions of consumers play DVDs on Blu-ray players every day. I do it at least once a week, maybe more, when I'm watching content that is available on DVD but not on Blu-ray, especially old TV shows or documentaries that were made decades ago and might be too expensive to convert to high definition home media. Blu-ray discs (BDs) are essentially the “next logical step” in the digital optical disc data storage format known as the Digital Video Disc, which itself was a descendant of the audio compact disc of the early 1980s. It’s no coincidence that CDs, DVDs, and BDs share the same dimensions - 120 millimeters (4.7 in) in diameter and 1.2 millimeters (0.047 in) thick. The main difference between a DVD and a BD is that the latter can store more information (50 gigabytes worth in a double-layer BD) than a DVD. This is because the disc is read by a blue (actually violet) laser that can read more data than the av...

 Note to the Unwary Reader or Would-Be Buyer:       Contrary to the product listing title provided by the Shopping.com or Epinions database, neither of the two models in Samsung’s BD-C5500 series (BD-C5500 and BD-C5500C) supports 3D video.  I figure this is worth mentioning to all interested parties to ensure the accuracy of this review.   Even though I already own an older Samsung Blu-ray player, certain circumstances – my elderly mom’s failing health and inability to climb stairs –have compelled me to buy a second Blu-ray player so that I can (a) spend a bit of my free time with Mom and (b) not have to get DVD versions of movies I own on Blu-ray disc just so Mom could see them.  I am a guy of very modest means, therefore I avoid getting  the absolute best of the best  in electronics.  Our three HD TV sets are 720p instead of the top-of-the-line 1080i or 1080p (much less 3D models), and neither of our Samsung Blu-ray players has bu...