Info and forum posts by 'Mark Jewiss'

Joined on: Monday, 13th December 1999, 17:54, Last used: Monday, 13th December 1999, 17:54

Access Level: Mostly Harmless

About this user: Part time site contributor/columnist.

This user has posted a total of 78 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0.01 messages a day, or 0.06 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: Not that I`m complaining about the apparent uselessness of RCE but.....

> release the same version within roughly the same time at roughly the
> same price

This has happened before, and has worked well. The Jurassic Park discs came out all oevr the world on the same date, and went straight into the top 10 selling discs eevrywhere.

Blair Witch 2, despite being a crpa film, proved that a studio can release (what it thinks) is a major film all over the world at the same time, and still survive. Why they don`t do it all the time is beyond me.

MJ.

RE: Home Projectors - Worth It?

Rob, re demo offer.

Thanks, I will take you up on that one day. After this weekend my wife is convinced that a plasma screen tv is the way to go. I`m still not sure. Bulb costs is something else that puts me off, most retailers sell them at 4-500UKP for the models I was looking at.

Do you guys use your projectors all the time, or do you have a separate tv as well?

MJ.

Home Projectors - Worth It?

I had the chance to take home a mid-range Sanyo projector for the weekend, and so of course not much got done apart from watching movies on the big screen.

Now I`ve had the chance to experiment, I`m not sure I want to part with the four grand plus needed to buy one. The fan`s too noisy, and the picture was definately fuzzy - nowhere near as good as my tv. I`d expected a decrease in the quality, but not that much. Plus you have to black out the front room during daylight hours - not too much of a problem now, but come the summer.....

Is this just down to me trialing a crap projector... hope so.

Mark J.

On Her Majestys Secret Service R2

Hello,

Anyone experiencing or heard of any problems with this disc? Seems to be causing problems on a Samsung model....

Regards,

Mark J.

RE: Mike`s Cinema Rant!

We don`t all have a 6ft screen in our front rooms though =)

The problem with this is, each cinema/multi-plex you go to has different hardware. Maybe I`m just lucky in that my local movie house is excellent.

Mark J

RE: Mike`s Cinema Rant!

No no and thrice noooooo!!!!

Yes all of these things are annoying, but what about the good side???

The atmosphere, socialbility of a night out with friends, the biiiiig screen, excessively loud speakers, banged grains of corn and all the rest of it. It`s the complete cinema experience, and I like it.

Note cinema, not movie experience! =)

Long live the multiplex!!

Mark J.

DECCS T-Shirt

Hello,

Following on from this new story, I remember reading on The Register a few months ago when the DECCS trial first kicked off that the defence actually submitted the source code of the application as evidence in the case. This puts it into the public domain, from where it can`t be removed, the story said. This obviously means that anyone could (if they so desired) get this piece of code from the legal history books, and then compile it and run it, making the prosecutions case a little pointless.

Can anyone confirm that this did happen, and it`s not just my imagination, and whether this would work anyway?

Ta,

Mark J.

U571

Well said that man!

The events portrayed within this film will come to be accepted as fact by a large number of people, and in essence that is just plain wrong.

Mark J.

RE: Napster

No, Napster do not "handle copyrighted material". Napster merely provide a directory of file servers (provided by other Napster users) that are online at the same time as you are, and allow you to search them for tracks.

It is no different in any way to an IRC channel that I can see, after having used the service to research the article I did some time ago on it.

The only way for bands/the recording industry to stop sites like this being as successful as they are is to provide the same service themselves. Trouble is, it`s difficult to try and find a band`s site for a lot of people - www.,com doesn`t always work, that`s why Napster and similar sites can get their foot in the door by providing links to bands music from one central place.

Personally I still think it`s better to use something like www.ubl.com to find the official sites of bands, and then download the tracks from there. This is so much easier, because an official site is normally provided to the Internet by a decent connection - that`s Napster`s biggest downfall, the fact that they rely on normal Internet users to provide the files they want you to transfer, which means you have to try and get files from the other side of the world that are served from a 33K modem - not really worth the effort, is it, as it take so bloody long to get any tracks.

This is why I`m sure Napster is not one of the main causers of the piracy problem - that is down to the IRC channels, often run at the end of a leased line....

Ok, I think I`ve made my point enough, I`ll shut up now... =))

Mark J.

RE: Leon - Integral Version - When/Where/How much Anyone ?

This is due out on Region 1 soon, so expect a R2 release to follow shortly afterwards. I`m not sure if the content is exactly the same as the Japanese disc.

Check out one of the online retailers for more infor about the disc - www.express.com have it listed I know.

Cheers,

Mark J.

RE: Napster

Sorry to keep going on about this, but no, I think that`s wrong.

Napster is designed to easily allow the trading of MP3 files. There are millions of these on the `net that are not applicable under copyright law. The fact that a large number of people are trading illegal MP3 files is not the fault of Napster.

Is it the Royal Mail`s fault that I can send a photocopy of a book to you through the post, or that I can courier you a taped CD?

--
Mark J.

Napster Update

Ok, so I know it`s not DVD related, but what with the other thread going on, and me starting it all anyway.....

According to XFM this afternoon Napster lost a case against the RIAA. This opens floodgates for suits from every artist that has ever had a track transferred via the Napster servers, they reckon.

Oh joy.

Mark J.

RE: Napster

Hello Leo,

Your point about the whole DVD Reviewer site being nicked was something that I thought about when composing the column. However, as what I write is my opinion, and not that of the site I`d like to stress, I didn`t want to cover that. That`s why I only talked about my column being nicked as that bit is essentially "mine".

The whole site being taken is something different, yes I`ll conceed that. But the scenario you painted is much more concerned with deception and imitation, than it is with copyright. I agree with what you`re saying though - if someone took my own site, and palmed it off as their own, yes I`d be p***ed. But then that`s not what is happening in the Napster scenario =)

M.

RE: Napster

Leo said:

"You can`t sue a bunch of anonymous FTP sites"

Ahh, but that`s the thing, you can.

The thing is, there`s no such thing as an anonymous ftp site. Despite what some people will tell you, if you really want to do it, and you know how, you can use publicly available tools to find out who is running virtually any site out there. The only time you will run into problems is when a site is hidden behind a corporate network - by that I mean that an employee of a company with a big fat `net connection (say an ISP, for example) shoves a box on the local network and tells everyone it`s his desktop machine.

Even these can be traced and found with the assistance of employers - the biggest trouble is sites moving around a lot.

Yes it would be a lot of hassle, and yes it would take loads of time, and yes it would probably cost loads of money. But it is do-able.

Mark J.

RE: Napster

Leo said:

"Let me first say, this isn`t personally directed at Mark Jewiss! I pretty much agree with his recent column update"

Firstly let me say that I didn`t see anything in your post that could be taken as being against me, so don`t apologise for any offence as there wasn`t any (thanks for being nice though!)

Secondly, don`t apologise for stating your opinion. It`s yours and you should be proud of it. Shout it from the rooftops. If people don`t agree they will either ignore you, ridicule you or debate with you.

As to your argument, sorry but you haven`t convinced me. I think it`s wrong for people to go around bootlegging stuff, as I`ve said many a time, but I also think it`s wrong for people to single out a company like Napster to take action against. Napster are providing a service. In my opinion this case is like suing the Royal Mail because someone bottlegged a CD and mailed it to you. It`s purely a delivery mechanism for a greater evil.

Mark J.

RE: PSX 2

Bang on Smiler!

Most region hacks *are* deliberate by design - they`re there for developers to be able to ensure that what they are coding works across all regions. A region hack is much more conveinient than having one machine per region.

These things are also guaranteed to leek from large organisations such as Sony. It`s not an official leek though, IMHO - if the people in charge found out they would not be happy with the relevant member of staff. But of course they are happy to let it happen, as they know it will increase sales and reduce their costs.

Mark J,

RE: Questions for the UK DVD Committee

Hello,

Interesting points from Leo.... my opionions on the interview were not given in that text. I thought about making them another column but that would kind of defeat the object of an interview, so let`s have a look at some of them now.

The regional coding thing probably *will* become a column topic, despite what I just said. What Daivd said about the theatrical releases (and the production of prints) is obviously true, but whether or not it`s enough to justify regional coding is open for debate. I don`t think so. No doubt the real reasons are more likely to be greed and control freakery amongst various companies in the industry, but as consumers of course we`ll never see that.

In his defence, David did mention that he "would be interested to see if and how things change regarding regional coding following the introduction of digital projection technology" into the cinemas.

As for pricing, yeah normally things have increased in price in the past. But recently some prices have come down. Leo mentions PC games - I can remember when you couldn`t get a new game for under 39.99, but now that`s come down to 29.99. CD prices do appear to be going up, but we have to consider how much more money is worth now than 10 years ago. It`s the nature of economics that everything will always increase in price if you wait long enough - look at staple foods like beer, for example.

Oh, and Leo, jaded is probably the wrong word, realistic *may* be more appropriate.

Mark J, in his capacity as a cynical ole git.

RE: How far should censorship be taken?

Ok, my two penneth.....

The fact that this disc is on sale in the USA is *not* surprising. Remember that this is the country where newsteam helicopters follow car chases up freeways, and the news stations broadcast it live - event to the point where someone ends up killing themselves live on tv with a shotgun blast.

Most are probably not aware of a video that was released two or three years back..... it was released in the UK, exempt from certification on the grounds that it was a documentary. If I rem correctly it dealt with how far people will go when inflicting pain on themselves, or something similar.

It featured body piercing and mutilation, weird stuff like that, but drew controversy due to a real execution that was included in it - I think essentially that is the reason why the video was produced, the stuff about piercing and mutilation (sorry, modification is the correct word) was simply added because it is `extreme` viewing for most. Although that stuff is in the fine magazine Bizarre every month.

In light of this, this disc, if released here, may get through with no problems at all.

Should Reviewer report on it`s release? Well, as one of the goals of the site is to be the premier source of DVD related news on the web, then the answer is yes. The site is a news source. The news is reported. I know I`m not going to like most of what I see on News at Ten (or whatever it`s called now) tonight, but I know I`ll still watch it. And I`m glad that it`s beign reported on.

IMHO Reviewer should highlight things like this, for the very least so that we are all aware of what is going on with the format - whether it`s good or bad.

I`ve no interest in seeing this disc at all, but feel no ill toward the distributors for releasing it - if no-one out there did want to but it, it wouldn`t have been out on display.

How many of us looked at Dan`s Gallery of the Grotesque a few years back before it closed? This is going a little stage further, is all.....

Regards,

Mark J.

RE: Samsung 709 and DVD Reviewer

I`m blessed/cursed (depends on your viewpoint) with this machine.

What are you trying to find out about the hack?

Cheers,

Mark.

RE: Rugrat Vs Alien.....

Ok, I will mail you the details later on this afternoon so you can shop at the weekend. Don`t spend too much.

I didn`t see Watchdog last night, but can imagine the article as they have run something similar several times.

When it comes to credit card numbers on the net, remember that is is much much much more likely that someone will take your credit card details with the intention of using them fraudulently when you pay for a meal in a restauraunt. It is much more likely that you will suffer from credit card fraud because someone pickpockets you, than something bad happening via the net.

I`m not saying it doesn`t happen, it just is not as likely to happen as the media (or certain sections of it) would like you to think.

If you have worries, speak to the credit card company - they are setup to deal with this sort of thing in most cases now, and treat it the same as if your card was stolen,

RE: Rugrat Vs Alien.....

Personally I think you will be better off ordering things over the Internet - see one of my columns about that. If you have a credit card,
if stuff doesn`t turn up, you can get the money back from them. Plus most on line retailers are good at giving out refunds or sending replacement if there are a problem. Just use one of the big ones.

However, if you want to buy stuff over the counter (remember you`re paying 20 quid, as opposed to about 12 on line), there are a few other places.

Know the Robot Wars store that recently opened near the back of Goodge Street? (I know this as it`s near where I work). There`s a PC shop in the same street that has started to sell them. Or there are a few cinema collectibles shops in WC2, near(ish) to Forbidden Planet, that I`ve found.

These last places only sell them under the counter though.

Mail me direct if you want names and addresses.

RE: Rugrat Vs Alien.....

Now there`s a Celebrity Deathmatch that would be good to see...Chucky versus everybody`s favourite movie monster.

Hmmm....Rathbone Place, is that the one just off of Oxford Street? Try their Tottenham Court Road branch too, just next to Goodge Street tube station! =)

This is not such a bad deal, but you have to have a title you`re not happy with to trade in, that`s the bad side.

Oh, and it is illegal to sell them over the counter like this. Don`t let their little age restriction stickers fool you.

I can`t understand how come this place is still able to sell R1`s - they are so open about it you`d think they`d have been busted by now.

RE: Damaged rental DVDs at Blockbuster branches

Which I championed (well, alright, I said I bought some disks using the offer) in my latest column!

So there....

=)

Mark.

RE: Damaged rental DVDs at Blockbuster branches

Agreed.

When renting a DVD or VHS tape from anywhere, always check it`s at least the right movie before you walk out. I`ve only got a ten minute drive to the local store, but I remember it still being bloody annoying when I had to do this.

If you end up going back the next day with a dodgy disk I guess it depends on the staff as to whether or not they will accuse *you* of damaging the disk, for which they could impose a fine. Remember that the store Manager will no doubt believe that his staff followed procedure and checked it was fine when given out.....

RE: Why hasn`t Mark Jewiss updated in ages and where are the other columnists :)

Alive I am! =)

I`ve only been back in the country since the beginning of this week after an extended seasonal break in New York and then business in Switzerland *immediately* afterwards.

Expect to see something new by the end of the week/the weekend. After this, regular updates should be back on track - every ten to fourteen days for a column is my current goal.