Month: February 2010

Streaming Video on Sony BDP-N460

My Blu-ray player is a Sony BDP-N460. On Amazon.com there is some controversy about its streaming video performance with Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Video on Demand. I also regularly use a Roku HD for both of these services, and occasionally I watch Netflix with my son’s Xbox 360. Each unit has its advantages.

I have captured 15+ minutes of streaming video from the BDP-N460, so those who may be interested in buying one can see for themselves how it works. There is an old 1 GB flash drive in the back for BD Live, that has no effect on streaming video playback. The Internet service is 25 Mbps Verizon FiOS.

[MEDIA=74]

Follow-up: It has been suggested that a better demonstration would be to compare the BDP-N460 to the Roku HD when playing a HD video from Netflix Watch Instantly. Here is the comparison, taken with a Canon digital camera sitting on top of a Panasonic 720p front projector.

The Big Dig body count

I drive through the central artery tunnel of Boston’s infamous Big Dig every so often, when visiting my friend Morris, or seeing my retinologist. SamJay uses the Big Dig every workday.

The Boston Globe has been good about staying on top of the project’s many failings, most of which seem to be due to incompetence and/or corruption, rather than inherent engineering challenges. Today’s Globe has the story of how an alleged lack of attention to detail in the design of guard rails has resulted in deaths and dismemberment.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/14/the_big_digs_deadly_safety_rails/

Captain America steeping in the tea baggers

Marvel Comics is taking some heat for what’s being taken as a swipe against the Tea Baggers, in the latest issue of Captain America.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100211/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1129

I heard about this while watching Keith Olbermann. Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada issued a statement that seemed to implicate… the letterer?? Then, in the middle of the piece, Bill Clinton’s doctors held a press conference about his heart stent operation. I just checked the MSNBC site and this part of Olbermann’s show isn’t there, so I grabbed it myself from the re-broadcast at 10. I sure can make good video transfers off of Verizon FiOS TV, huh?

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2010/FEB/Olbermann.flv 512 384]

Clinton’s doctors refused to say what brand of stent was used but if it’s a Kamen stent there’s still a comics connection, because it was invented by Dean Kamen, son of the late comic book artist Jack Kamen.