I'm bringing blogging back. (Yeah!)
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defaults:
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defaults:
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-
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- scope:
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path: ""
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path: ""
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layout: "default"
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layout: "default"
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@ -17,8 +17,14 @@
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</head>
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</head>
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<body>
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<body>
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<h1 id="title">
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<h1 class="title">
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<span>{{ page.title }}</span>
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<span>{{ page.title }}</span>
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{% if page.collection == "posts" %}
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<br>
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<span class="subtitle">
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{{page.date | date: "%Y %B %-d"}}
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</span>
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{% endif %}
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</h1>
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</h1>
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<main id="content">
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<main id="content">
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@ -34,6 +40,7 @@
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<li><a href="{{ '/tartans/' | relative_url }}" title="AKA Plaids">Tartans</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/tartans/' | relative_url }}" title="AKA Plaids">Tartans</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/poems/' | relative_url }}" title="I won't quit my day job">Poems</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/poems/' | relative_url }}" title="I won't quit my day job">Poems</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/papers/' | relative_url }}" title="Various writings">Papers</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/papers/' | relative_url }}" title="Various writings">Papers</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/blog.html' | relative_url }}" title="Public Journal">Blog</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/toys/' | relative_url }}" title="Dumb apps">Toys</a></li>
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<li><a href="{{ '/toys/' | relative_url }}" title="Dumb apps">Toys</a></li>
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</ul>
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</ul>
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</nav>
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</nav>
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---
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title: Debian on Digimatrix
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---
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Introduction
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------------
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We have a Digimatrix hooked up to our high-definition television. We
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use it for a number of things:
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* Watching DVDs
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* Playing music from OGG and MP3 files
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* Recording and playing back television shows
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* Storing pictures and movies from our digital camera
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* Hosting our pictures and movies, along with those of our friends,
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on a web server
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* Playing Super Nintendo video games
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* Occasional desktop tasks
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MythTV and Freevo vs. KDE
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-------------------------
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This sounds like a MythTV box, right? I tried MythTV, and Freevo, and
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while I was impressed with how pretty they were, I just couldn't get
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them working quite right.
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[MythTV](http://www.mythtv.org/) gave a blank screen trying to watch or
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record TV, with no useful error messages, and try as I might I just
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couldn't figure out what the problem was. After spending three days on
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it I gave up.
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[Freevo](http://freevo.sourceforge.net/) had its own problems; I don't
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remember exactly what they were now. I do remember feeling like Freevo
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was held together with bailing wire and chewing gum, while MythTV had a
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much more polished and easy-to-use feel to it.
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Neither of them worked well out of the box with the Digimatrix remote
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control.
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In the end, I decided it'd be easier for everybody if we just used KDE.
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It lets me bind actions to the key sequences the remote control sends
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out, and for most TV-type activities the remote does enough to move
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around in [Xine](http://xinehq.de/) and
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[Konqueror](http://www.konqueror.org/). The
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[x2x](http://x2x.dottedmag.net/) program allows us to use our laptops to
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control things over the wireless network, when the remote doesn't
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suffice. The Unix `at` utility and a little shell script lets us
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schedule TV recordings with more ease than a VCR.
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Best of all, there's no meta-information filed away in some obscure
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database layout. Everything is a file somewhere and can be manipulated
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with Konqueror or the shell.
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This turns out to be a very workable setup.
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### Installing the base system
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I had to install the testing (etch) installation CD for it to have a
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driver for the SiS 900 10/100 network card. Installation went smoothly
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enough. Everything is detected at boot time except:
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* LED Panel and front panel buttons (including volume)
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* Infrared receiver
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* 802.11b card ([Ralink rt2400 chipset](http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/)).
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While I've gotten the rt2400 drivers to work, the card won't seem to
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associate with my WAP until some other device does it first. This is
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so inconvenient that I've run a long CAT-5 cable under the house so I
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can use the 10/100 ethernet port.
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I installed the following additional packages to help me administer the
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machine:
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<pre>
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# apt-get install less zile screen ssh strace sudo ntp ntpdate
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</pre>
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Web server
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--------------
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Waldorf needed to run a web server to host photo albums.
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<pre>
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# apt-get install mathopd stunnel4 php4-cgi rssh
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# apt-get install netpbm jhead exiftran libjpeg-mmx-progs libjpeg-progs
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</pre>
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I won't detail my web server configuration here, since that's unique to me.
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X
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----
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<pre>
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# apt-get install x-window-system
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</pre>
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To my surprise this brought in x.org. I run an HDTV over DVI, so to get
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full screen, I had to change the configuration as follows:
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<pre>
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Section "Device"
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Identifier "Generic Video Card"
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Driver "sis"
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Option "ForceCRT1Type" "DVI-D"
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EndSection
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Section "Monitor"
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Identifier "Generic Monitor"
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Option "DPMS"
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HorizSync 30-65
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VertRefresh 30-60
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ModeLine "720p" 74.160 1280 1352 1392 1648 697 725 730 750
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EndSection
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</pre>
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I also had to add "720p" to the `Modes` of the `Display` subsection of
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`Screen`.
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You may notice I only have 697 pixels vertically. That's because my TV
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puts about 23 lines in the "overscan", preventing me from seeing my KDE
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toolbar. I haven't yet found a way to recenter the screen, this just
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chops off the bottom. As a hack, I put empty KDE toolbars on the top,
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left, and right borders. This keeps windows inside the viewable area.
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### KDE
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I like KDE. I've tried MythTV and Freevo and found it's just easier to
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run KDE and occasionally use a mouse and keyboard. The only thing we
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don't get is a snazzy interface to recording TV shows, but we don't tend
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to want to do that very often. I may work on a web interface to XML-TV
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listings later on.
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<pre>
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# apt-get install kde kdm
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</pre>
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I don't know if this is typical or not, but Debian's KDE went on without
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asking me a single question. Kudos to the packagers.
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### Sound
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<pre>
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# apt-get install alsa-base alsa-utils
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</pre>
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We use the Digimatrix's S/PDIF output (isn't it lame that it comes out
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the front?). I know from a previous installation that if you just use
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the defaults, you need to reboot between playing 2-channel audio and
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using Xine's pass-through option to play a 7.1-channel DVD. I'm sure it
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has something to do with the sound card resetting something or other.
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The solution seems to be having ALSA multiplex audio, and while I don't
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get why this works, work it does.
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I put the following into `/etc/asound.conf`:
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<pre>
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pcm.asus-hw {
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type hw
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card 0
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}
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pcm.!default {
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type plug
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slave.pcm "asus"
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}
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pcm.asus {
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type dmix
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ipc_key 1234
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slave {
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pcm "hw:0,0"
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period_time 0
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period_size 1024
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buffer_size 4096
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rate 48000
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}
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}
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ctl.asus-hw {
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type hw
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card 0
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}
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</pre>
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### A decent desktop
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At this point I was able to browse the web and play music using KDE's
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"JuK":http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/juk.html, so I took a break to
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dance around the living room with my 1-year-old daughter as ABBA sang to
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us.
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### Playing DVDs
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I like kaffeine, mostly because it's part of KDE and I'm a purist. It
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can play all sorts of movies and even has a nice startup screen that
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allows you to type in numbers for various actions (play from playlist,
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play DVD, etc.).
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<pre>
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# apt-get install kaffeine
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</pre>
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### DVD drive speed ###
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Linux does not use DMA on IDE devices when it boots up, you have to turn
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that on yourself. I'm not sure what the reason is for this, probably
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compatibility with some ancient thing that blows up if you attempt DMA.
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In any case, turning on DMA will allows your DVD drive to keep up with
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the data on the DVD.
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<pre>
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# apt-get install hdparm
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</pre>
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To turn on DMA, I put the following at the end of `/etc/hdparm.conf`.
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While I was at it, I turned ot DMA for the hard drive too.
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<pre>
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/dev/dvd {
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dma = on
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}
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/dev/hda {
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dma = on
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}
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</pre>
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### Try a DVD ###
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At this point I was able to watch DVDs, so I did. I watched the first
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DVD of the first season of Buffy, which turned out to be a terrible idea
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since it's pretty dark and not very high quality. I played around with
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the gamma settings in the KDE configuration tool, and set my gamma at
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1.25. Then I adjusted the brightness, contrast, and saturation of
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Kaffeine, and got what I think is a pretty nice-looking configuration.
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### The remote control
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What good is a home theater system if you have to get up off your butt
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to press buttons? This is America, man! I want to be able to eat
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cheez-doodles and watch porn all night without having my feet hit the
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floor, ever.
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### The keyboard thingy ###
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My Digimatrix came with this IR receiver thingy that goes in between the
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keyboard and the keyboard port on the Digimatrix. It synthesizes
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keypresses in response to your remote. Pretty slick! This is good
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enough for most things, and for a long time I just bound remote
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keystrokes to do certain things in KDE applications, and to certain
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actions in Xine.
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### lirc ###
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lirc is the Linux Infra-Red Control system. It provides a standard
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interface to various IR recievers and remote controls, and supplies
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events to whatever wants to listen to it. KDE has a module to listen to
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it, so I figured I'd give it a go.
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# apt-get install kdelirc
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Unfortunately, lirc 0.7 (the version in debian testing and unstable)
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does not compile on Linux 2.6.12 and newer, so I had to install from
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source code.
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@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
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---
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title: All of Doctor Who
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tags:
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- drwho
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---
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I'm going to try to watch every episode of Doctor Who, in order.
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Then I'm going to write up what I think.
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A few rules I'm setting out initially:
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* It's okay to skip an episode if I just can't handle it.
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* I don't have to write a big ol' treatise on each one.
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* I fully understand I lack cultural and temporal context for a lot of this,
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and I'm not going to feel bound to try and attain said.
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* I will be viewing this though my personal biases.
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* I may create more rules later on.
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@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
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---
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title: "Doctor Who S01E01-E04: Cavemen and Fire"
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tags:
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- drwho
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---
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I guess this first story pretty clearly established that they travel
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through time.
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## S01E01 - An Unearthly Child
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Oh man, the pacing is just slow.
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I like how they're exploring "what if a time-travelling alien disguised itself as a human and went to high school."
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Okay, there are two high school teachers,
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and this highschool aged timelord girl who's the Doctor's grand-daughter.
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The doctor is kind of a jerk.
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## S01E02 - The Cave of Skulls
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Right, okay, cavemen. And of course they're all short-term-memory idiots.
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Okay, sure.
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## S01E03 - The Forest of Fear
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I forgot what this one was about,
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because I didn't decide to write things down until later.
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## S01E04 - The Firemaker
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The man teacher makes a fire because of course the man does that in 1963.
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And then the leader of the cavemen goes hunting.
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They make some skulls on fire to distract everybody,
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which is pretty cool,
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and then they escape.
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---
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title: "Doctor Who S01E05-E11: Daleks!"
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tags:
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- drwho
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---
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Holy crap! I didn't realized the Daleks went all the way back to episode 4!
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Also there are some Dutch-looking people who are of course the good guys.
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## S01E05: The Dead Planet
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They find a dead city which, oops, high background radiation.
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Cool doors open up and some neat architecture.
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You know what, for the time and (I assume) paltry budget of the first season,
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this is pretty badass.
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This Doctor is a jerk. Faking a broken part to force everyone to do what
|
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he wants.
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## S01E06: The Survivors
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Daleks! It's cool that they waited until the second episode to bring them out.
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They're pretty clearly assholes right at the outset here.
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No moral ambiguity with the Daleks.
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The Doctor is pretty frail. Honestly, the rest of the crew seems more
|
||||||
|
important than he is.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E07: The Escape
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I think we really meet the Norwegians here. I don't recall exactly.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I'm pretty sure this is the one where
|
||||||
|
the Norwegians try to meet up with the Daleks and forge a peace treaty,
|
||||||
|
not knowing the Daleks are complete assholes.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E08: The Ambush
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
They start taking out the Daleks. There appears to be some sort of
|
||||||
|
creature inside, which can be taken out, and the dude teacher crawls in.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
This is actually pretty cool, I liked this one.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E09: The Expedition
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I think the guy teacher tries to convince the peaceniks to fight the Daleks,
|
||||||
|
by presenting them with the possibility of him screwing up their stuff.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The Norwegians traipse around through some cool looking sets to
|
||||||
|
look like an alien landscape.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I think this is when the Daleks realize they need high background radiation
|
||||||
|
in order to survive, because the Norwegians (the Thaals I guess) anti-radiation
|
||||||
|
drug kills them. They plan to dump ionizing radiation onto the planet's
|
||||||
|
surface.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
A Thaal dude goes to get water and gets sucked up by a vortex or something.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E10: The Ordeal
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Half the episode was watching people jump over a chasm in a cave.
|
||||||
|
The pacing on this, holy crap.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I think this is the one where the Doctor screws up their electrical grid.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E11: The Rescue
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Everybody runs around in the cave some more, and eventually they pop out
|
||||||
|
in the Dalek city.
|
||||||
|
The Doctor and his Grand-daughter
|
||||||
|
are imprisoned and he volunteers to teach them about his ship and how to
|
||||||
|
travel through time if they let him go.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The Norwegians and teachers rain holy hell and kill all the Daleks.
|
||||||
|
Everybody goes home.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Honestly, man, for being written 60 years ago, I'm surprised by how
|
||||||
|
compelling the Daleks were written when viewed by me today.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: "Doctor Who S01E12-E13: A Tardis Button Gets Stuck"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
This story was bathouse crazy.
|
||||||
|
Part of it was probably that I wasn't paying full attention,
|
||||||
|
but it was also just nuts.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E12: The Edge of Destruction
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
People alternate between normal and crazy.
|
||||||
|
There's a lot of screaming.
|
||||||
|
Random weirdness takes place and it doesn't make sense.
|
||||||
|
Everybody turns of everybody and then suddenly it's fine and dandy.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E13: The Brink of Disaster
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The Doctor starts piecing together some clues.
|
||||||
|
Turns out the Tardis itself has been trying to send them a message
|
||||||
|
by dropping obscure clues.
|
||||||
|
He figures it out and unsticks the "go back to where you just were" button,
|
||||||
|
which, because it was stuck down, sent them back to the origin of the
|
||||||
|
solar system.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
You know, not awful.
|
||||||
|
It felt pretty incoherent but I was willing to go along.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: "Doctor Who S01E14-20: Doctor Who goes to China"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I guess the film for this was lost,
|
||||||
|
so it was sort of a slideshow playing over a radio drama.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E14: The Roof of the World
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I made it as far as them getting into a hut in Mongolia and meeting
|
||||||
|
Marco Polo,
|
||||||
|
and then I skipped to the next story.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E15: The Singing Sands
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
More British people pretending they're in China, I presume.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E16: Five Hundred Eyes
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Skipped
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E17: The Wall of Lies
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Skipped
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E18: Rider from Shang Tu
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Skipped
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E19: Mightly Kublai Khan
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Skipped
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E20: Assassin at Peking
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Skipped
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: "Doctor Who S01E21-26: Finding the Chips"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The Scooby gang has to find some microchips scattered around the planet,
|
||||||
|
so a machine can be repaired to mind-control everyone into
|
||||||
|
being peaceful.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E21: The Sea of Death
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
This was the episode during which I decided to start writing this.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
It's really interesting how they kept the sort of stumbling around delivery
|
||||||
|
of lines, rather than shooting another take. I kind of like it.
|
||||||
|
It's like watching a play.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
LOL at the alien costume with swim flippers.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Frickin' Susan is, disappointingly, pretty much a horror movie character.
|
||||||
|
Just sort of blithely wandering around all over the place and screaming
|
||||||
|
a lot. Amusingly, they just assumed it was her from her scream.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Okay, got the main plot point. The dude needs to recover some keys so they
|
||||||
|
can mind-control people to make everybody peaceful. I really hope they don't
|
||||||
|
just accept this without question.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Their mime acting could use some continuity work, LOL.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S02E22: The Velvet Web
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
When the statue's eyes lit up and the creepy lady came out to put rocks
|
||||||
|
on everybody's forehead, it really felt like a 1970s episode from when
|
||||||
|
I was a kid.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Aww yeah, brains in jars getting killed.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S02E23: The Screaming Jungle
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The Screaming Jungle, eh? Must be about Susan.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
For crying out loud, yep, she's screaming again.
|
||||||
|
I read that this actress quit early on.
|
||||||
|
I don't blame her. What a limiting role to have to play.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Now Barbara's screaming. A statue grabbed her.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Now she's screaming again. A net fell on her.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Third time screaming. Some plants grabbed her.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Apparently the scream in the jungle was mostly Barbara.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E24: The Snows of Terror
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Okay, now Ian and Barbara are cold. And a beardo has rescued them.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Ian left for some reason,
|
||||||
|
and Beardo's giving off some really rapey vibes.
|
||||||
|
Oh, sure enough, he's got all their junk.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Susan and a blonde woman are in a cave.
|
||||||
|
I've decided I don't like Susan at all,
|
||||||
|
her sole role appears to be screwing things up and screaming.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Oh boy. They're all in another cave, and they're going to explore it..
|
||||||
|
Oh, okay, we don't have to watch that. They melt some ice and...
|
||||||
|
Susan's screaming again as some dude with a cardboard sword wakes up.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Great, they found another key.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E25: Sentence of Death
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The Scooby gang vs. the Japanese Criminal System, I guess.
|
||||||
|
They assumed Ian is guilty and he has to prove he's not.
|
||||||
|
The Doctor is going to be his defense.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I've seen this episode at least three times on Star Trek,
|
||||||
|
and once on the Brady Bunch.
|
||||||
|
I might skip this one.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Oh, neat, a dude who hits his wife.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Okay, but you know what, I dig the costumes.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E26: The Keys of Marinus
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I don't like Barbara's hairstyle, though.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Oh, snap! What a twist! I seriously was not expecting this one.
|
||||||
|
I mean, I probably should have, from a casting standpoint, but I'm not
|
||||||
|
really devoting a lot of mental energy to this.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Okay, I guess they decided the mind-control machine wasn't so great.
|
||||||
|
Kind of a naive take but whatever, it was a pretty fun story.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: "Doctor Who S01E27-30: Doctor Who goes to Mexico"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
A bunch of white people pretend to be Aztecs, and explore their moral
|
||||||
|
perspectives on human sacrifice.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
To its credit, there is at least lip service to the notion that
|
||||||
|
this is some other culture and maybe you can't impose your current moral
|
||||||
|
structure over it.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E27: The Temple of Evil
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Oh goodie. Barbara's gone and gotten herself in trouble again.
|
||||||
|
I'm not sure I can stomach this one.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Yay, let's focus on human sacrifice. And let's frame it as summoning rain,
|
||||||
|
because I'm sure that was the beginning and end of the philosophy behind it.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
LOL the sword fight.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Haha, Susan's screaming desecrated an Aztec temple.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E28: The Warriors of Death
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Damn, the Doctor's pissed.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Holy crap, the Vulcan Nerve Pinch! 2 years before it showed up in Star Trek!
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
More 1960s dudes wrasslin'. But there's a twist, he got scratched.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E29: The Bride of Sacrifice
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Aha, the old Saffron maneuver, eh? Looks like the Doctor's gettin' hitched!
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The gang has a moral dilemma about altering the culture of the Aztecs by
|
||||||
|
Barbara abusing her god status to outlaw human sacrifice. The Doctor gets
|
||||||
|
married or engaged or something. Susan finally expresses an emotion other
|
||||||
|
than terror:
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I'm back to being uncomfortable with the cultural framing here. I mean,
|
||||||
|
maybe this is useful for viewing 1960s British culture, but that's still
|
||||||
|
too recent for me to not feel squicky about it. The only reason I didn't
|
||||||
|
skip this entire story is because Wikipedia said it was one of the best
|
||||||
|
stories of the entire franchise.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E30: The Day of Darkness
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
They found a tunnel or something, to get back into the burial chamber
|
||||||
|
containing the Tardis. Susan is going to get married or sacrificed or
|
||||||
|
something. Ian does the Vulcan Nerve Pinch on a white guy dressed as a
|
||||||
|
brown guy, saving the white lady. They find a way to escape, and
|
||||||
|
somebody gets sacrificed, and then Barbara gets to watch Susan get
|
||||||
|
sacrificed or something, I'm not sure.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Oh, more 1960s dudes fighting. I skipped it. I presume the British
|
||||||
|
high school teacher beats the Aztec warrior who's been training his
|
||||||
|
entire life.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Barbara has some sort of moral quandry about her inability to change
|
||||||
|
the past, which I guess was the point of the story. I sure hope
|
||||||
|
they don't wind up on earth again in the next story.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: "Doctor Who S01E31-36: The Sensorites"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
### S01E31: Strangers in Space
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
They're in a spaceship, thank goodness. The lighting is pretty bad.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Okay there are these sensorites messing with peoples' minds. Aw, crap,
|
||||||
|
we're sort of on Earth. At least it's in the future.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
This is a cool premise,
|
||||||
|
taking over a ship by manipulating everybody's emotions.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
### S01E32: The Unwilling Warriors
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Hey! Creepy! I like this story.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Susan is doing something! Nice!
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Susan makes a sacrifice
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
### S01E33: Hidden Danger
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Susan needs to get out of this place! The Doctor's being a real jerk. Again.
|
||||||
|
Seems like she's growing up and needs her own space.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Anyway. The Sensorites are cool. And I'm glad Barbara seems to get an equal
|
||||||
|
say in matters. Like, she just argued with Ian about something, and she was
|
||||||
|
like "well then it's settled, we'll do it my way".
|
||||||
|
Still can't abide her hairstyle, though.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Ian seems really British. It's not difficult to imagine pretty much
|
||||||
|
everything he does being done by an older dude with a brandy in his hand.
|
||||||
|
He doesn't seem to get to grow as a character,
|
||||||
|
he's already fully grown, I guess.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I dig that the sensorites have internal debates.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## S01E34-36: More Sensorites
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I guess I didn't write anything down here.
|
||||||
|
I really enjoyed this story, though!
|
||||||
|
A marked contrast to the rest of this season.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: "Doctor Who S01E37-42: Doctor Who vs the French Revolution"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Ugh, I just couldn't get myself to care about another one of these.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I'm noticing there are two basic plots here:
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
* Doctor Who goes back in time on Earth (I don't like these)
|
||||||
|
* Doctor Who goes to some other planet (These are cool)
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I guess that's still true today, in 2022.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
|
||||||
---
|
---
|
||||||
title: Doctor Who: Season 2
|
title: "Doctor Who S01E01-E03: Honey, I shrunk Doctor Who"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
---
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
# Story 1: Honey, I shrunk Doctor Who
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## S02E01: Planet of Giants
|
## S02E01: Planet of Giants
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
They're on Earth again, but they're tiny.
|
They're on Earth again, but they're tiny.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ Holy hell, Barbara faints!
|
||||||
I can't stop thinking about how much fun it must have been to
|
I can't stop thinking about how much fun it must have been to
|
||||||
build this set!
|
build this set!
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Note to self: I think this was the epsiode with the insane foley.
|
||||||
|
I should make a little video of it,
|
||||||
|
there's a full 2 minutes of just insane analog noise and nothing else.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## S02E03: Crisis
|
## S02E03: Crisis
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This is very cute.
|
This is very cute.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -30,7 +34,3 @@ This is very cute.
|
||||||
Yeah, just store that giant poison seed next to Barbara,
|
Yeah, just store that giant poison seed next to Barbara,
|
||||||
who's suffering from poisoning.
|
who's suffering from poisoning.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
# Story 2: Earth. Again. Also Daleks.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
They go back to earth, and find a whole mess of Daleks.
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: "Doctor Who S02E04-E09: Earth Again, and Daleks again"
|
||||||
|
tags:
|
||||||
|
- drwho
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
They go back to earth, and find a whole mess of Daleks.
|
||||||
|
Everybody's got some stupid helmet that puts them under Dalek control,
|
||||||
|
but they manage to start an rebellion and some people throw Daleks around.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Maybe I should take a break before doing any more of these.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: Private Blog Pages
|
||||||
|
published: false
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I'm not sure why I would want to make a private blog entry that's also checked into Git,
|
||||||
|
but this file will serve as a reminder to myself how to do that.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: Return of the blog
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
It was fun for a while,
|
||||||
|
but it seems like letting a big company host my blog posts wasn't actually a great idea.
|
||||||
|
So I'm starting the blog back.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I'll probably drop little updates here and there about what I'm up to.
|
||||||
|
I doubt I'm going to get into the sorts of tirades I used to.
|
||||||
|
An advantage of being older now:
|
||||||
|
I rarely feel the need to convince anybody of anything.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I thought it would be fun to pull some of my old blog entries out of the archive,
|
||||||
|
but it appears I mostly used my homepage to keep lists and record information.
|
||||||
|
Maybe one day I'll find out what happened to all that stuff I wrote.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## Self-Hosting is cool again
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I've also been moving my source code back onto my own site,
|
||||||
|
removing things from my phone that demand attention,
|
||||||
|
and just generally reeling stuff back in to self-hosted.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
One thing I really am not looking forward to self-hosting again is email:
|
||||||
|
SMTP is just a nightmare.
|
||||||
|
You need the SMTP server,
|
||||||
|
the IMAP server,
|
||||||
|
the anti-spam stuff,
|
||||||
|
domain certificates,
|
||||||
|
rate limiting,
|
||||||
|
and just ugh.
|
||||||
|
I may have to do email if Google really fouls up,
|
||||||
|
but I really don't want to.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## Pocket Computers: turns out, kind of a pain
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The phone app removal has been interesting.
|
||||||
|
After removing the news aggregator,
|
||||||
|
I wound up having to remove news updates from the web browser app
|
||||||
|
and from the search app.
|
||||||
|
It took a couple of days to get used to not getting constant news updates,
|
||||||
|
but it seems okay now.
|
||||||
|
I can still read the news on my laptop, when I want to do that.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
My phone/pocket computer has turned back into a bunch of neat tools,
|
||||||
|
like a great camera, and a way to send and receive messages to people,
|
||||||
|
and a low-stress low-stakes low-attention game I've been playing.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## Books
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
I really like electronic books.
|
||||||
|
Amy and Ginnie got me a new ebook reader,
|
||||||
|
to replace the 10-year-old one I've been using.
|
||||||
|
There was nothing wrong with the 10-year-old one,
|
||||||
|
but my eyesight has gotten worse,
|
||||||
|
and the low contrast screen has become difficult to read.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The new device is a Kobo Clara HD,
|
||||||
|
with better contrast.
|
||||||
|
It can also check out ebooks from the local library,
|
||||||
|
over a wireless connection.
|
||||||
|
I like it a whole lot,
|
||||||
|
and I find it amusing that the old one lasted me 10 years.
|
||||||
|
Amy has it now, she might pick it up when she finishes her current book.
|
||||||
|
|
@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ input {
|
||||||
border-bottom: 1px solid black;
|
border-bottom: 1px solid black;
|
||||||
}
|
}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
#title, td.main {
|
.title, td.main {
|
||||||
background-color: #e0e4cc;
|
background-color: #e0e4cc;
|
||||||
border-radius: 0.25em;
|
border-radius: 0.25em;
|
||||||
padding: 0.1em 0.5em;
|
padding: 0.1em 0.5em;
|
||||||
|
|
@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ input {
|
||||||
box-shadow: 0.2em 0.2em 1em rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
|
box-shadow: 0.2em 0.2em 1em rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
|
||||||
}
|
}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
.subtitle {
|
||||||
|
font-size: 60%;
|
||||||
|
}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
|
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
|
||||||
color: #e64;
|
color: #e64;
|
||||||
}
|
}
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: Blog Posts
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
{% for post in site.posts %}
|
||||||
|
* [{{post.date | date: "%Y %B %-d"}}: {{post.title}}]({{post.url}})
|
||||||
|
{% endfor %}
|
||||||
|
|
@ -1,385 +0,0 @@
|
||||||
---
|
|
||||||
title: Every Episode of Doctor Who
|
|
||||||
---
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I'm going to try to watch every episode of Doctor Who, in order.
|
|
||||||
Then I'm going to write up what I think.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
A few rules I'm setting out initially:
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
* It's okay to skip an episode if I just can't handle it.
|
|
||||||
* I don't have to write a big ol' treatise on each one.
|
|
||||||
* I fully understand I lack cultural and temporal context for a lot of this,
|
|
||||||
and I'm not going to feel bound to try and attain said.
|
|
||||||
* I will be viewing this though my personal biases.
|
|
||||||
* I may create more rules later on.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
# Season One
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 1: Cavemen and Fire
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I guess this first story pretty clearly established that they travel
|
|
||||||
through time.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E01 - An Unearthly Child
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Oh man, the pacing is just slow.
|
|
||||||
I like how they're exploring "what if a time-travelling alien disguised itself as a human and went to high school."
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Okay, there are two high school teachers,
|
|
||||||
and this highschool aged timelord girl who's the Doctor's grand-daughter.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The doctor is kind of a jerk.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E02 - The Cave of Skulls
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Right, okay, cavemen. And of course they're all short-term-memory idiots.
|
|
||||||
Okay, sure.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E03 - The Forest of Fear
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I forgot what this one was about,
|
|
||||||
because I didn't decide to write things down until later.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E04 - The Firemaker
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The man teacher makes a fire because of course the man does that in 1963.
|
|
||||||
And then the leader of the cavemen goes hunting.
|
|
||||||
They make some skulls on fire to distract everybody,
|
|
||||||
which is pretty cool,
|
|
||||||
and then they escape.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 2: Daleks!
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Holy crap! I didn't realized the Daleks went all the way back to episode 4!
|
|
||||||
Also there are some Dutch-looking people who are of course the good guys.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E05: The Dead Planet
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
They find a dead city which, oops, high background radiation.
|
|
||||||
Cool doors open up and some neat architecture.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
You know what, for the time and (I assume) paltry budget of the first season,
|
|
||||||
this is pretty badass.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This Doctor is a jerk. Faking a broken part to force everyone to do what
|
|
||||||
he wants.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E06: The Survivors
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Daleks! It's cool that they waited until the second episode to bring them out.
|
|
||||||
They're pretty clearly assholes right at the outset here.
|
|
||||||
No moral ambiguity with the Daleks.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The Doctor is pretty frail. Honestly, the rest of the crew seems more
|
|
||||||
important than he is.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E07: The Escape
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I think we really meet the Norwegians here. I don't recall exactly.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I'm pretty sure this is the one where
|
|
||||||
the Norwegians try to meet up with the Daleks and forge a peace treaty,
|
|
||||||
not knowing the Daleks are complete assholes.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E08: The Ambush
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
They start taking out the Daleks. There appears to be some sort of
|
|
||||||
creature inside, which can be taken out, and the dude teacher crawls in.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This is actually pretty cool, I liked this one.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E09: The Expedition
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I think the guy teacher tries to convince the peaceniks to fight the Daleks,
|
|
||||||
by presenting them with the possibility of him screwing up their stuff.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The Norwegians traipse around through some cool looking sets to
|
|
||||||
look like an alien landscape.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I think this is when the Daleks realize they need high background radiation
|
|
||||||
in order to survive, because the Norwegians (the Thaals I guess) anti-radiation
|
|
||||||
drug kills them. They plan to dump ionizing radiation onto the planet's
|
|
||||||
surface.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
A Thaal dude goes to get water and gets sucked up by a vortex or something.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E10: The Ordeal
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Half the episode was watching people jump over a chasm in a cave.
|
|
||||||
The pacing on this, holy crap.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I think this is the one where the Doctor screws up their electrical grid.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E11: The Rescue
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Everybody runs around in the cave some more, and eventually they pop out
|
|
||||||
in the Dalek city.
|
|
||||||
The Doctor and his Grand-daughter
|
|
||||||
are imprisoned and he volunteers to teach them about his ship and how to
|
|
||||||
travel through time if they let him go.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The Norwegians and teachers rain holy hell and kill all the Daleks.
|
|
||||||
Everybody goes home.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Honestly, man, for being written 60 years ago, I'm surprised by how
|
|
||||||
compelling the Daleks were written when viewed by me today.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 3: A Tardis Button Gets Stuck
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This story was bathouse crazy.
|
|
||||||
Part of it was probably that I wasn't paying full attention,
|
|
||||||
but it was also just nuts.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E12: The Edge of Destruction
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
People alternate between normal and crazy.
|
|
||||||
There's a lot of screaming.
|
|
||||||
Random weirdness takes place and it doesn't make sense.
|
|
||||||
Everybody turns of everybody and then suddenly it's fine and dandy.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E13: The Brink of Disaster
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The Doctor starts piecing together some clues.
|
|
||||||
Turns out the Tardis itself has been trying to send them a message
|
|
||||||
by dropping obscure clues.
|
|
||||||
He figures it out and unsticks the "go back to where you just were" button,
|
|
||||||
which, because it was stuck down, sent them back to the origin of the
|
|
||||||
solar system.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
You know, not awful.
|
|
||||||
It felt pretty incoherent but I was willing to go along.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 4: Doctor Who goes to China
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I guess the film for this was lost,
|
|
||||||
so it was sort of a slideshow playing over a radio drama.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E14: The Roof of the World
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I made it as far as them getting into a hut in Mongolia and meeting
|
|
||||||
Marco Polo,
|
|
||||||
and then I skipped to the next story.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E15: The Singing Sands
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
More British people pretending they're in China, I presume.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E16: Five Hundred Eyes
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Skipped
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E17: The Wall of Lies
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Skipped
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E18: Rider from Shang Tu
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Skipped
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E19: Mightly Kublai Khan
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Skipped
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E20: Assassin at Peking
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Skipped
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 5: Finding the Chips
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The Scooby gang has to find some microchips scattered around the planet,
|
|
||||||
so a machine can be repaired to mind-control everyone into
|
|
||||||
being peaceful.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E21: The Sea of Death
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This was the episode during which I decided to start writing this.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
It's really interesting how they kept the sort of stumbling around delivery
|
|
||||||
of lines, rather than shooting another take. I kind of like it.
|
|
||||||
It's like watching a play.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
LOL at the alien costume with swim flippers.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Frickin' Susan is, disappointingly, pretty much a horror movie character.
|
|
||||||
Just sort of blithely wandering around all over the place and screaming
|
|
||||||
a lot. Amusingly, they just assumed it was her from her scream.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Okay, got the main plot point. The dude needs to recover some keys so they
|
|
||||||
can mind-control people to make everybody peaceful. I really hope they don't
|
|
||||||
just accept this without question.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Their mime acting could use some continuity work, LOL.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S02E22: The Velvet Web
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
When the statue's eyes lit up and the creepy lady came out to put rocks
|
|
||||||
on everybody's forehead, it really felt like a 1970s episode from when
|
|
||||||
I was a kid.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Aww yeah, brains in jars getting killed.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S02E23: The Screaming Jungle
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The Screaming Jungle, eh? Must be about Susan.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
For crying out loud, yep, she's screaming again.
|
|
||||||
I read that this actress quit early on.
|
|
||||||
I don't blame her. What a limiting role to have to play.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Now Barbara's screaming. A statue grabbed her.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Now she's screaming again. A net fell on her.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Third time screaming. Some plants grabbed her.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Apparently the scream in the jungle was mostly Barbara.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E24: The Snows of Terror
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Okay, now Ian and Barbara are cold. And a beardo has rescued them.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Ian left for some reason,
|
|
||||||
and Beardo's giving off some really rapey vibes.
|
|
||||||
Oh, sure enough, he's got all their junk.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Susan and a blonde woman are in a cave.
|
|
||||||
I've decided I don't like Susan at all,
|
|
||||||
her sole role appears to be screwing things up and screaming.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Oh boy. They're all in another cave, and they're going to explore it..
|
|
||||||
Oh, okay, we don't have to watch that. They melt some ice and...
|
|
||||||
Susan's screaming again as some dude with a cardboard sword wakes up.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Great, they found another key.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E25: Sentence of Death
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The Scooby gang vs. the Japanese Criminal System, I guess.
|
|
||||||
They assumed Ian is guilty and he has to prove he's not.
|
|
||||||
The Doctor is going to be his defense.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I've seen this episode at least three times on Star Trek,
|
|
||||||
and once on the Brady Bunch.
|
|
||||||
I might skip this one.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Oh, neat, a dude who hits his wife.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Okay, but you know what, I dig the costumes.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E26: The Keys of Marinus
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I don't like Barbara's hairstyle, though.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Oh, snap! What a twist! I seriously was not expecting this one.
|
|
||||||
I mean, I probably should have, from a casting standpoint, but I'm not
|
|
||||||
really devoting a lot of mental energy to this.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Okay, I guess they decided the mind-control machine wasn't so great.
|
|
||||||
Kind of a naive take but whatever, it was a pretty fun story.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 6: Doctor Who goes to Mexico
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
A bunch of white people pretend to be Aztecs, and explore the moral
|
|
||||||
aspects of human sacrifice.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
To its credit, there is at least lip service to the notion that
|
|
||||||
this is some other culture and maybe you can't impose your current moral
|
|
||||||
structure over it.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E27: The Temple of Evil
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Oh goodie. Barbara's gone and gotten herself in trouble again.
|
|
||||||
I'm not sure I can stomach this one.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Yay, let's focus on human sacrifice. And let's frame it as summoning rain,
|
|
||||||
because I'm sure that was the beginning and end of the philosophy behind it.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
LOL the sword fight.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Haha, Susan's screaming desecrated an Aztec temple.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E28: The Warriors of Death
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Damn, the Doctor's pissed.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Holy crap, the Vulcan Nerve Pinch! 2 years before it showed up in Star Trek!
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
More 1960s dudes wrasslin'. But there's a twist, he got scratched.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E29: The Bride of Sacrifice
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Aha, the old Saffron maneuver, eh? Looks like the Doctor's gettin' hitched!
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The gang has a moral dilemma about altering the culture of the Aztecs by
|
|
||||||
Barbara abusing her god status to outlaw human sacrifice. The Doctor gets
|
|
||||||
married or engaged or something. Susan finally expresses an emotion other
|
|
||||||
than terror:
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I'm back to being uncomfortable with the cultural framing here. I mean,
|
|
||||||
maybe this is useful for viewing 1960s British culture, but that's still
|
|
||||||
too recent for me to not feel squicky about it. The only reason I didn't
|
|
||||||
skip this entire story is because Wikipedia said it was one of the best
|
|
||||||
stories of the entire franchise.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E30: The Day of Darkness
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
They found a tunnel or something, to get back into the burial chamber
|
|
||||||
containing the Tardis. Susan is going to get married or sacrificed or
|
|
||||||
something. Ian does the Vulcan Nerve Pinch on a white guy dressed as a
|
|
||||||
brown guy, saving the white lady. They find a way to escape, and
|
|
||||||
somebody gets sacrificed, and then Barbara gets to watch Susan get
|
|
||||||
sacrificed or something, I'm not sure.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Oh, more 1960s dudes fighting. I skipped it. I presume the British
|
|
||||||
high school teacher beats the Aztec warrior who's been training his
|
|
||||||
entire life.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Barbara has some sort of moral quandry about her inability to change
|
|
||||||
the past, which I guess was the point of the story. I sure hope
|
|
||||||
they don't wind up on earth again in the next story.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 7: The Sensorites
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E31: Strangers in Space
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
They're in a spaceship, thank goodness. The lighting is pretty bad.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Okay there are these sensorites messing with peoples' minds. Aw, crap,
|
|
||||||
we're sort of on Earth. At least it's in the future.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This is a cool premise,
|
|
||||||
taking over a ship by manipulating everybody's emotions.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E32: The Unwilling Warriors
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Hey! Creepy! I like this story.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Susan is doing something! Nice!
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Susan makes a sacrifice
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### S01E33: Hidden Danger
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Susan needs to get out of this place! The Doctor's being a real jerk. Again.
|
|
||||||
Seems like she's growing up and needs her own space.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Anyway. The Sensorites are cool. And I'm glad Barbara seems to get an equal
|
|
||||||
say in matters. Like, she just argued with Ian about something, and she was
|
|
||||||
like "well then it's settled, we'll do it my way".
|
|
||||||
Still can't abide her hairstyle, though.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Ian seems really British. It's not difficult to imagine pretty much
|
|
||||||
everything he does being done by an older dude with a brandy in his hand.
|
|
||||||
He doesn't seem to get to grow as a character,
|
|
||||||
he's already fully grown, I guess.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I dig that the sensorites have internal debates.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Story 8: Dr Who vs the French Revolution
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
I just couldn't get myself to care about another one of these.
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: The 3-minute HTML tutorial
|
||||||
---
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
As computer formats go, HTML is easy and logical. It's all just text
|
As computer formats go, HTML is easy and logical. It's all just text
|
||||||
that you can edit with any basic text editor, like gedit under Gnome, or
|
that you can edit with any basic text editor, like `gedit` under Gnome, or
|
||||||
notepad in Windows. Let's start out with an example. Say you have a
|
notepad in Windows. Let's start out with an example. Say you have a
|
||||||
sentence, and you want one word in it to be bold. That sentence would
|
sentence, and you want one word in it to be bold. That sentence would
|
||||||
look like this:
|
look like this:
|
||||||
|
|
@ -76,14 +76,14 @@ Now, for inline images:
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
<p>
|
<p>
|
||||||
This is an
|
This is an
|
||||||
<img src="https://woozle.org/neale/face.png"
|
<img src="https://woozle.org/assets/images/yurt.png"
|
||||||
alt="face"></img> image, and
|
alt="face"></img> image, and
|
||||||
<a href="http://woozle.org/">this</a> is a link.
|
<a href="http://woozle.org/">this</a> is a link.
|
||||||
</p>
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Which will show up like this:
|
Which will show up like this:
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
> <p>This is an <img src="https://woozle.org/neale/face.png"
|
> <p>This is an <img src="https://woozle.org/assets/images/yurt.png"
|
||||||
> alt="face" /> image, and
|
> alt="face" /> image, and
|
||||||
> <a href="http://woozle.org/">this</a> is a link.
|
> <a href="http://woozle.org/">this</a> is a link.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ The example above has an image tag, with two "attributes", "src" and
|
||||||
"alt". The "src" attribute in an `<img>` tag gives the URL to a
|
"alt". The "src" attribute in an `<img>` tag gives the URL to a
|
||||||
picture, and the "alt" attribute is the text that's displayed to people
|
picture, and the "alt" attribute is the text that's displayed to people
|
||||||
who can't see images (blind users, folks without graphics capabilities,
|
who can't see images (blind users, folks without graphics capabilities,
|
||||||
or if there's a problem on your web server). The "alt" attribue is
|
or if there's a problem on your web server). The "alt" attribute is
|
||||||
required, but you can set it to `""` if there's nothing appropriate for
|
required, but you can set it to `""` if there's nothing appropriate for
|
||||||
alternate text.
|
alternate text.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
Loading…
Reference in New Issue