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Trekkie Fan, photography, Aquariums, Animated Cel Art, Disney figurines, US Coin collecting,  US Stamp collecting and a partridge in a pear tree.

And like other guys cool video and audio gear and related gadgetry.

On the coin operated amusements side, besides IGT + machines, I enjoy working on and collecting Pinball, Pachislo, Pachinko ( electronic and vintage ), Seeburg Juke Boxes, Arcade Games and any old and interesting coin operated stuff. I try and collect some of the games that I played when growing up at the Jersey Shore in the early 50's.  I enjoy sailing, cooking, working on the house and I really enjoy my job. I am the Facilities Director at a high end private Golf & Country Club. Great boss and very nice club members and our management teams all work well together. I am remarried and the second time is definitely better. I am DOJ registered and will occasionally sell machines to legal states.

Frank A

My other hobbies Amateur Radio, Computers, Motorcycling -- Goldwing

Eventually want to own a couple of pinball machines, and simulator type arcade games

I am also into Pinballs, Computers, WDCC Classics, Latest and Greatest Audio/Video equipment, Classic TV- Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Addams Family, Munsters,  and the films of Laurel and Hardy. :3-

   I have been involved in communications monitoring most of my adult life and currently hold a Advanced Class Radio License along with a Associates degree in electronics..  I am also very interested in amateur astronomy, lasers, HAM Radio, electronics design along with some programming. Other interests I sometimes manage to find time for are target shooting,  camping / hiking,  woodworking and just about anything to do with graphical design on computers, digital photography and the like...  I have always been and am still interested in High Powered Model Rocketry  :43-

  My latest fascination is with full working Vegas slot machines !!! ... My new goal in life is to learn everthing there is to know about them...I currently own 2 and am working on acquiring another !!!  :82-

Well,
From my avatar...golf! 
I love bombing a ball 337 yards or placing beautiful iron shots into the green.
I raced Lasers for about 10 years, before that J-35's. A J-35 is about half the size of an America's Cup yacht.
Computers, dog training, puttering in the garage with a welder and various sprockets...making a go-kart!  :96-

OMG I NEED TO GET A LIFE OR A NEW  HOBBIE/JOB   :30- :30- :30-

30 Signs That Technology Has Taken Over Your Life


1. Your stationery is more cluttered than Warren Beatty's address book. The letterhead lists a fax number, e-mail addresses for two on-line services, and your Internet address, which spreads across the breadth of the letterhead and continues to the back. In essence, you have conceded that the first page of any letter you write is letterhead.

2. You have never sat through an entire movie without having at least one device on your body beep or buzz.

3. You need to fill out a form that must be typewritten, but you can't because there isn't one typewriter in your house -- only computers with laser printers.

4. You think of the gadgets in your office as "friends," but you forget to send your father a birthday card.

5. You disdain people who use low baud rates.

6. When you go into a computer store, you eavesdrop on a salesperson talking with customers -- and you butt in to correct him and spend the next twenty minutes answering the customers' questions, while the salesperson stands by silently, nodding his head.

7. You use the phrase "digital compression" in a conversation without thinking how strange your mouth feels when you say it.

8. You constantly find yourself in groups of people to whom you say the phrase "digital compression." Everyone understands what you mean, and you are not surprised or disappointed that you don't have to explain it.

9. You know Bill Gates' e-mail address, but you have to look up your own social security number.

10. You stop saying "phone number" and replace it with "voice number," since we all know the majority of phone lines in any house are plugged into contraptions that talk to other contraptions.

11. You sign Christmas cards by putting :-) next to your signature.

12. Off the top of your head, you can think of nineteen keystroke symbols that are far more clever than :-).

13. You back up your data every day.

14. Your wife asks you to pick up some minipads for her at the store and you return with a rest for your mouse.

15. You think jokes about being unable to program a VCR are stupid.

16. On vacation, you are reading a computer manual and turning the pages faster than everyone else who is reading John Grisham novels.

17. The thought that a CD could refer to finance or music rarely enters your mind.

18. You are able to argue persuasively the Ross Perot's phrase "electronic town hall" makes more sense than the term "information superhighway," but you don't because, after all, the man still uses hand-drawn pie charts.

19. You go to computer trade shows and map out your path of the exhibit hall in advance. But you cannot give someone directions to your house without looking up the street names.

20. You would rather get more dots per inch than miles per gallon.

21. You become upset when a person calls you on the phone to sell you something, but you think it's okay for a computer to call and demand that you start pushing buttons on your telephone to receive more information about the product it is selling.

22. You know without a doubt that disks come in five-and-a- quarter-and three-and-a-half-inch sizes.

23. Al Gore strikes you as an "intriguing" fellow.

24. You own a set of itty-bitty screw-drivers and you actually know where they are.

25. While contemporaries swap stories about their recent hernia surgeries, you compare mouseinduced index-finger strain with a nine-year-old.

26. You are so knowledgeable about technology that you feel secure enough to say "I don't know" when someone asks you a technology question instead of feeling compelled to make something up.

27. You rotate your screen savers more frequently than your automobile tires.

28. You have a functioning home copier machine, but every toaster you own turns bread into charcoal.

29. You have ended friendships because of irreconcilably different opinions about which is better -- the track ball or the trackpad.

30. You understand all the jokes in this message. If so, my friend, technology has taken over your life.
We suggest, for your own good, that you go lie under a tree and write a haiku. And don't use a laptop.

   Yes...My life changed forever when I purchased my first CoCO computer from Radio Shack in 1979?  :72-

THEN while I was working for N.Y.Telephone I joined the ranks of the first geeks by test driving a 25 lb brick of a unit called a cell phone... :97-

Well, starting tomorrow I will be outside of Louisville, KY. for the fall Knob Creek machinegun shoot and show. Held every year 2nd weekend in Apr and Oct. The Apr.2008 show was cancelled due to flooding from the heavy rains. Weather says sunny in the mid 80's Woo-Hoo!!!!!! Will take my laptop along and check the site from time to time though.

 Dan (tacman)

soooooo..jealous   :18-  Happy shooting... :107-

I share many interests in common with others here.

I hold an extra class amateur radio license, have an avid interest in photography, and am an amateur astronomer. I am a lifelong musician (piano) and have a home MIDI studio. I love watching movies of any age and I have an extensive collection. I'm a big Trekkie/er and collect both fan-made and original props. I also collect old U.S. paper money, Warner Brothers animation cell art, and space paintings.

I like numbers and statistics, particularly as they apply to gambling and blackjack theory. I got into fractal geometry and chaos theory a while back and spent some time creating fractal artwork on computers. I have an interest in lasers, but never did anything with them (I always wanted to setup a holography table but never followed through with it). I've been using computers since 1980 and even earlier, so I guess that's technically a hobby too.

I like fast cars in general and have fallen in love with the Corvette. There's the obligatory male video/audio/technology attraction of course.

And then there's slots, pinball machines, pachislo, and pachinko. I guess they could have gone without saying. :127-

Hobby??...I think I had one of those once. Used some salve and it cleared right up! :97-





If I actually had the time, I'd like to do some fishing, camping, hunting.
If I had the $$$ I'd REALLY like to get back behind a yoke. Way too damned expensive to fly for fun anymore. :25-

I don't really have time for hobbies too much, I work 2 jobs 5 days a week 16 hours a day, friends this is what greed does to you, and my 2 off days are generally reserved for a mild comatose state. Luckily 1 of my jobs allows plenty of down time to cruise the internet and over see the day to day operations of my website.

Stat while I was reading your post I had a weird flashback to Dr. Evil talking about his past during group therapy.. for some reason

I knew I shouldn't have plagiarized Austin Powers!  :5- :25-  "Silly-me" made me do it.

My favorite car that I bought new off the showroom floor was a 1966 Corvette convertible in Mossport green, black interior and black top. I wish I could afford it now.

Well, weather is beautiful. I spent most of the day scrounging for and buying needed items. Here's a few pics of the range line. Before a black powder naval gun is fired and after! Koff-Koff

 Dan (tacman)

   Hummm...Presently have a Meade LX50 EMC 10" Schmidt-Cassegraine and a Smaller Meade Autostar Telescope along with a pair of Bushnell 16x50 Binoacs mounted on a tripod for stability... :89-

Some of which i actually use to look at the sky with... :97-

That's a nice scope. It's great to be in the SW United States, isn't it? :91-  We definitely have some of the best viewing.  :71-   I'm with you on the tripod for the binoculars. I don't do well without one unless I use image stabilizing models. One of our astronomy club members has a pantograph device. What's really nice about those is that once you are pointed at something you can let others bring the binocs to their eye level without losing the object.

I have a Meade LX200 8" SC with a set of four Naglers. They cost almost as much as the scope, but they make a world of difference. I have a Meade DSI imager pro but I've found the software difficult to work with. I also have a Coronado PST H-Alfa with a double stack.

I take the Coronado to our club's public daytime events. I used to drag my Meade to those events with a Thousand Oaks type II filter but the stuff was so heavy to lug around just for sunspots that I found myself volunteering to bring it less and less. With the Coronado I can carry the scope and the tripod in one hand from my car to the event, and people are much more excited about seeing solar prominences than sunspots.

Truthfully, I've been spoiled by looking through all the 18"+ Dobs owned by the other members of our club. I really got spoiled rotten a couple of years ago when Steve Kennedy (unfortunately not a member of our club :8-) showed up with one of his "smaller" scopes, a beautiful 28"  f2 point something truss Newtonian Dob (he was looking to sell it because he had "moved on" and only wanted to concentrate on making mirrors of 32 inches or more. :25- :25-)

The dumbbell didn't even look like a white dumbbell as it usually does. It had nebulosity and amazing depth. M13 actually had COLOR! It also looked three dimensional and had quite a bit of nebulosity as well as thousands of stars and detail that I had never seen before. I got to look at the Swan and a few globulars as well. With that super-fast mirror, the eyepiece was less than 8 1/2 feet off the ground, and that included the distance of the mirror face from the ground!

I couldn't look through my own scope for a month after that night! [drool drool ] Of course, one of his 30" mirrors costs more than most cars or a room full of slots. Oh well. I can dream...

   I can only WISH we had a club here in Yuma...  :8- ... I guess they had one many many years ago but nothing in the last 10.  :60-

I have actually thought about transferring to Tucson since they have a club or 2 there... :89-

   Yes...I understand all to well what it's like to lug around a big scope...Now i live in "the city" right across from the Hospital and their is so much light pollution i am lucky to see the Moon  :8- :37-

What area are you in?  :103-

Sent you a pm.

My hobbies

Hanging out at the cottage :BBQ-, fishing :95-, target shooting, I do professional fireworks,

but my most time consuming Hobie is this one, slot's

Wes :96-

I am a game addict. I am either fixing/playing an arcade or casino game. I also play with my four kids. They love games as well. We hit Vegas arcades weekly.  :71-

Here is my other inside hobby

Are those transformers or legos etc. :103- They are cool looking rigs. B.

Alll Lego's
Most of them are Technic, others are City and Creator the Ferris Wheel

They are pain to dust and clean though

I could imagine the dusting issue.  I think we all have some intricate things in our game rooms/collections that are a pain in the *** to dust.  Those legos, some of them are worth some good $.  I have had some hard to get and rare kits over the years and they brought good money.  I still have some new in the box I plan on giving my grand children.  I collect model trains, old guns/rifles actually just about anything.  I guess I would be classified as a pack-rat however I have had to "let go" in the last 5 years or so.  I did the pinball and veido game also and still have some-years of doing that.  I am currently obsessed with the slots and have been that way for a while.  They ease my mind and stress. :96-

I love my slots
Having them at home has saved me from wanting to head to the casino about hour away from me.

Well,  I plan on going to some on my b-day.  My machines,  playing them gives me the big head (false reality) when I do go.  Have about 33 to pick from in a somewhat close area to me(casinos).  You know we all play them at home and get pumped up to go play the real deal.   :89-

Been their dun that, we all play at home and start to feel pretty lucky, head off to the casino and then reality Hit's about a hundred  or so later, how quickly we forget our machines at home are set to max payback :25- :25-

Wes

Yup, You are rite about that.  I do however think for some of us here that have really dissected and anaylized some of these things it does help in the the real deal Unless we see the waitress too much and have too many beverages! :97- :25-. Thanks B, signing out for the evening here-pushing 11:30 pm goota get up and fix busted up pwrstrokes again t'mrow! :8-.

Foster,

Thanks for sharing. Boy it sure looks like LEGOs have changed since I was a kid and played with them. They look pretty cool.  :71-

CaptainHappy  :95-

Just saw the next page!  :25-

COMPRESSED AIR??  :103- :97-

CH  :95-

Actually 2 them use pneumatics to operate wheel lift on tow truck and boom on crane.

CH that is a great idea.
 

Hey CH, it's not just Brianzz that's beating me to the punch!  :96- :97- :97- 
Compressed air was my first thought when I read Foster's post. I thought I'd get to be the hero all the way down until I got to your post!!  :72- :72- :72- :72-

I guess I'll just go home now since my work here is done... :25- Wait! I am home.  D'OH!! :160- :161-

You could suggest to him that he blow them off outside so that the resulting dust doesn't relocate to his slots!!!  :97- :97- :97-

D'OH!! :160- :161-  Did I just accidentally read your mind and beat you to another post???  :72- :72- :72-

For some silly reason I am craving donuts???

CaptainHappy  :95-

Ok where do we start, well there are RC trucks both nitro and electric, going to turn the electric into a rock crawler soon, model trains working on making an HO scale Garden Layout of the Virginia & Truckee, The Virginia & Truckee Railroad both the old one and the new reconstruction project, Guns and shooting in general, pyrotechnics (fireworks) I have designed and built a fire control system to set off our New Years and 4th of July displays for over the counter fireworks so I can watch the show as well as set em off from my back porch, woodworking, and anything electronic, not to mention of course muscle cars. I am sure I must have left a couple of things out...........LOL

I would have to say anything that is electronic...From cell phones,DSS,games,computers,etc. Cant explain much more  :96- . Oh,and building and riding Harleys  :131-

During my Air Force days of the 80's & 90's I was really into collecting movies, typically old B monster flicks from the 50's drive-in era. I had them all until someone
decided VHS weren't good any more, so I've been changing to DVD and what happens BluRay comes along... Needless to say I won't be changing formats again
as it's getting to expensive and I'm getting to old!!! Got into slots while stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas during the time of the first Video Poker Machines, Fortune
One types If my memory is correct and going to Wrestling Matches every month at the Showboat!!! Ah what fun!!!
Cheer's

GCM

The good thing is that blu-ray players will play and upconvert regular dvd's as well. So at least your existing discs will work in the newest player. Also remember that every time they change formats that the sales of the titles in the last format will determine if that title will be carried in the next format. No guarantee that the titels you have now will even be released in blu-ray. I know, I'm sitting on a DVD library of about 3000.

 Dan (tacman)

Be careful with that one as it is not true...not for the time being anyway. Currently NOT all blu-ray players will play regular format DVDs.  :60-
Make sure you read the compatible formats on the box before you buy. I suspect this will come around as more of these come to market and
prices continue to come around but then again this is the electronics industry we're talking about! :25- Look what Sony did...they pioneered
the whole thing with their PS3 and even fronted that the new PS3 system would be reverse compatible when actually only certain models were
made to be reverse compatible. Some even only limited reverse compatibility. So here again, make sure you read the box for compatible formats. :89-

Personally, I'm tired of constantly being upsold the latest bill of goods. I have no complaints about the quality of my DVDs and, like others, I have quite a sum invested in my collection. I have no intention of switching to Blu-Ray.  :81-

I too was hesitant about Blu-Ray, but I bought a player on sale several months ago and love the quality.  We rent more than we own since the movies are generally still pricey.  If it is favorite movie, then I will buy it eventually and slowly build a Blu-Ray library that way.  My point is, I was skeptical about the whole thing, especially while the format war was ongoing with HD-DVD, but the increased quality on your favorite movie is amazing! 

Technology is amazing really how it progresses along as I get older.
I still own a reel to reel deck that plays such titles like "The Sound of Music" (my uncle gave me it lol )
I then went to 8-tracks....hoo boy!
I cannot bring myself to ditch an accumulated library of 2,000+ 80's and 90's music cassettes either... :72-
Loved it when I didnt have to stick folded paper or bookmatches under the 8-tracks to make them play. :97-
I'm kinda surprised I havent yet seen full-length movies on memory sticks...
 

I am still buying DVDs (non BlueRay) from the $5.00 bin at Blockbuster.
Once the discs have finished their rental cycle they go on the Previously Viewed Shelf for 14.99, then 9.99, then 6.99.
Somtimes they have a 2 for $20 deal on the $14.99, 3 for $20 on the 9.99 and 4 for $20 on the 6.99

When and what I buy really depends on what I have already spent.
IF the kids or I have seen it in the theater then I wait until it goes down to at least $9.99
IF we have not seen it and were contenpating renting it I would buy it at $14.99
If we have not seen it in the theater and its a new release rental then I will rent it but then wait until it hits the 6.99 bin to buy it.

We are using our PS3 as our BlueRay Player and like renting the Blue Ray disks. The only one that I own is BatMan.

I am seriously wondering if we will see a next generation of DVD media or if we will simply evolve to an on-demand world.
No - one uses a WalkMan with tapes or CDs anymore. They are all now just MP3s.

I had read that Hollywood wants to enact some pretty stringent anti-piracy practices.
   - Already any movies released to theaters have every 200th frame digitally signed. So when someone rips them off using a CamCorder they can slow the pirate copy down and find out from where it was pirated.
   - Suggested is that each DVD be encoded with a unique serial number, and purchases of DVD media would all be registered when it is sold. Privacy advocates are up in arms about that.
   - The next generation of DVD players are set to be PCs and have Hard Drives in which to download movies, send/receive Cookies pertaiing to viewing preferences etc.

   - 

Hobbies beyond slots:

Last year I got into gold panning, it's time to do that again, nice thing to do in the summer but very hard work. 99% of gold comes from dust. That's because hauling 5 gallon buckets of rocks and gravel for 2 days gets you a tiny bit... Nothing comes easy and that is the reason gold is a precious metal.

I also like to target practice, got a banger and a boomer...  it amazing what putting a couple rails with a tacticle flash light and a laser dot scope will do for fear factor on a rifle!

I also mix music as a hobbiest DJ, all digital set up with my laptop being controlled by an external USB linked controller... amazing results.

If it's dangerous, outside the box and involves breaking a rule or law somewhere I'm probably ok with it, as long as no one loses an eye!! Losing an eye is where I draw the line.

I genereally bounce between my hobby's througout the year, get bored then cycle back around.. I'm back to slots after a 4 month break.

Just a tip for the rifle/laser combo, try to keep it as far away from the muzzle as possible. Recoil throws MOST of the lasers off zero after only a few shots. If you are talking a red dot sight like an Aimpoint ML2 or an Eotech then it wouldn't matter since they are usually attached close to your regular aiming positions and are self contained within the unit. No dot projected out into the field, just on a HUD.

 Dan (tacman)

I too felt the same way.  I wouldn't go near the format.  DVD was perfect until I received a 1080p 4000 lumen projector and Blu-Ray as a hand me down from my dad - (he's crazier than me)  I just started watching the first 6 Star Trek movies in Blu-Ray and all I can say is.....
 I feel like a blind man that can now see. 

Now I don't know if it's just unique to the restored trek movies but
WOW. 

I think I would get one now that they are 150 bucks at Costco.    The only thing that is truly a drawback is the cost of the movies.   So I would suggest Netflix with Blu-Ray.

Thanks for the tip jdk. An inexpensive Blu-Ray player and Netflix sounds like the way to go. I won't participate in the marketing ploy of continually re-purchasing the same movies every time the technology advances.

JDK, don't forget the Blueray player also upconverts regular DVD's as well so you can still use your existing collection with a visual improvement.

 Dan (tacman)

How long do you think it will be before we can just store our content digitally.    An HD movie is what 20Gigs?  Give us a few petabytes and were good to go.  Anyway I too wouldn't repurchase a movie.  I still have casset tapes that I refuse to buy again on CD or digitally.  I'm not going to pay 2X or 3X for something I own already.

I purchased the Blue Ray Edition of Spiderman 3 and then picked up the regular Spiderman 3 in the previously viewed $5.00 bin.
Using a PS3 as the BlueRay Player I can't really tell the difference between the two.
I can however tell the difference if I play the standard disk in a regular DVD player that does not do upconversion.
I too have a 1080p Panasonic projector and 120" screen.

I am pretty impressed with the upconversion and if I had a limted budget to spend on new A/V equipment it would be $69.00 for an upconverting DVD player.

My friend has a Sony carsole that handles 300 disks. They are inexpensive now but I have not seen any come out with Upcoversion or Blueray yet. What Sony charges for a Blueray single disk player is criminal. I was hoping that once the standard was set they would be as cheap as regular players but not yet. What is nice about the Carsole unit is that you can scroll through movies by genere, tiltle, or by actors. Just like PayTV.

There is PC software that will do the same. I have been looking at putting in a media PC and ripping my 1200+ library to hard drive, but I am concerned that new formats will make this obsolete before its time.  I have a terra-byte of disk mirrored as a NAS device for household storage so size is not really an issue.

I really think that the future of media will be on-demand with the demise of the DVD as we know it.

I store movies on my Iomega Screenplay HD.  I download them (Don't ask where from  :96- ), then transfer them on to the Screenplay, then connect the Screenplay to my TV and watch them.  No DVD needed...  Its 500 gb.. Here is a link: http://www.iomega.com/about/prreleases/2008/042308_screenplay.html

I found it cheap on www.techbargains.com a while ago...

I must confess to having purchased some movies more than once, only because they are my favorites. Casino is one, Planes, Trains & Automobiles is another. I'll leave the rest to everyone's imagination.


That's not what she said.  :5-  :97- :97- :97-

Seriously, I have a terrabyte as well, but it's already at 83% of capacity; I'd need a second TByte to undertake such an endeavor. On the other hand, I know people who don't have enough data to fill an 80Mb drive.  :25-

Stat. Planes trains and automobiles is one of my favorite movies too.  John Candy was one of the best.  QUote from movie, "Those are NOT pillows!"
Disgusting but real funny.
Eric

If I define a favorite movie as one that I can watch repeatedly and be entertained, then PT&A ranks as my favorite film. I can't count the number of times that I've watched it; certainly more than the 18 times that Steve Martin says F%^king to Edie McClurg, whom I absolutely love in her short appearance in the film. An IMDB trivia buff posted that the scene was added solely to bump the film's rating to R in the U.S. I don't know it that's true, but it's a good story. I'm not even generally a Steve Martin fan, but he plays the straight roll perfectly against John Candy.

Of course, there are other definitions of what constitutes a favorite film. There are great films that I love, like Casablanca and Citizen Kane, and classics like It's a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night (1934), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Lawrence of Arabia, and The Quiet Man. There are the mafia films: The Godfather I & II and Casino (I like Goodfellas, but it doesn't quite make my list of favorites). There are films like Star Wars (1977) that were released at a time in my life that made them special and that were departures from anything that I'd seen before. Fantastic Voyage (1966) and The Andromeda Strain (1971) are two more examples, the latter being the better film. There's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the first DVD that I purchased, and Dr. Strangelove a Peter Sellers classic. There are newer films like The Shawshank Redemption that are becoming classics and even newer films like Ray. All of these are on my "short" list of favorite films.

And although it doesn't rank with the big boys as a great film, I can't fail to mention Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Python at its best.

I also have a small DVD collection in the 4-5000 range and there is no way in h*ll that I am going to duplicate anything I already have. Technology moves so quick, and to be honest I think the next step is here already just not being unveilled because they want to get several years of people buying Blueray before they announce this "New" system. It's all $$$. The only smart thing they did was make Blueray and the now defunct HD-DVD backward compatible with DVD.

 Dan (tacman)

I still have VCR tapes.... :5- but no more VCR to play them in.... :25-

One of the best upconvert dvd players out there are the defunct HD-DVD Players that can be found around for under $75.00.  Remember this was a pretty advanced piece of technology (in fact the one I have (Toshiba A20) is based on a Pentium 4).  It upconverts regular DVD's better than my PS3 does and when viewed on a 1080p projector, it's pretty good.  You cannot replace the detail on the newer blu-ray movies from recent releases, and you can clearly see a difference, but for the existing library (which is not quite as ample as some of the other members here) it does really well.

I have ripped and encoded to Apple Universal format (works on Apple TV, ipods, and anything apple) about 75% of my existing library (about 500 titles) so far, and it's taken about 500GB of drive space.  If you just do a straight rip, do not re-encode to a more efficient codec, and then only save the movie part and not the extras, then on a 1TB drive you can typically fit about 250 to 300 movies (250 x ~4GB = 1000GB).

I have also ripped my rather small blu-ray library (currently 15) and my HD-DVD library (curently 10) and those 25 films take around 18 to 25GB each.  I can lower the bitrate somewhat with the freely available X264 encoder, it's even multi-threaded so if you have a Quad Processor on your machine, it can encode a typical DVD movie in about 35 to 40 minutes and reduce the size on a typical DVD movie to about 800 to 900 MB with very good quality results.  if you are interested http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html , if you are not handy with CLI interfaces, then get frontend GUI's like handbrake ( http://handbrake.fr/ ).  All these programs are released as freeware under the GPL license.

Well I of course being an old man have about 250 laser disc's because at the time it got better resolution than vhs or beta and have a great player that looks like new
But now comes the Dvd's and another obsolete system is heading to ebay. I think I'm going to make blu ray my last system for quite a while

I'm with you I have about 300 laserdiscs, I even purchased some of the box sets that at the time were costing around $100 for them.  I still have 2 players that are active and 1 new in a box.  I have not duplicated any of the titles to DVD.  I have the entire Stark Trek Next Generation series on laserdisc, they were $34.95 each for TWO episodes, so 12 per season x 7, comes to about $2,700 for the series.  Now you can buy the DVD boxser for under $200.00, but like you said, at the time laserdiscs were FAR superior to VHS (You couldn't even buy them on Beta).  So for keepsakes, it was not even close.  I have a pair of Beta decks that I used for all my timeshifting as Beta decks also had a better quality that crappy VHS.  In fact I have a pair of EDV-9500's.

Oh God as I make a list for ebay and see how much I paid for these it makes you want to cry. I'm glad that there wasn't a lot of old TV shows out like there is now or I would have had 1500 disc's. I just found one I haven't even played yet  The Godfather Collection $129.85 Maybe tonight?

Hey Ron, those Edison wax cylinder recordings from when you were a teenager go for a good buck on Ebay now.  :97- :97- :97-

 Dan (tacman)

Mr Tacman
Isn't there a doughnut shop that you and your kind are eating into chapter 11???

Already closed the Krispy Kreme's working on Dunkin but they have alot of capital coming in from India and Pakistan, Damn!!  :96-

 Dan (tacman)

While reading the Las Vegas Review- Journal delivered to my Kindle DX this morning I see amazon is lowering the price on the Kindle by $60.  It figures since I just bought my wife one.
The DX has the large screen and is perfect for all the pdf's that I need to have around in case I need to change a battery or something

Since we've been discussing inexpensive DVD upconverters, I thought that I would post a link to this ad that I received from MCM Electronics today. It's a refurbished Phillips, and I have no idea if this model any good or not, so this not a recommendation -- I'm just passing it along. One can't go too wrong for $33.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/58-13485 (http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/58-13485)

That's actually not a bad model.  I paid too much for it last winter though....lol

Where can I get my hands on one of these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDbQ5xvsrIU&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDbQ5xvsrIU&feature=player_embedded)

Very Cool!!!
I wouldn't want to crash that baby! I could only imagine how much it must cost!

That thing is awesome!  -  I wonder if they are actual jet engines.  It sure sounds like it.

Absolutely awsome.  I would crash it in no time, but have a hell of a time doing it.  Has to be a real jet.

Thanks for the video and K+,
Wayne

Very awesome!
My dad was into rc planes for some time. Can't wait to show him that one!
If the video had started with the jet already in the air, I would have been very surprised to see it's actual size when it landed.
 
Here's where you buy them;   (currently sold out) added;(Stat has it correct below, this is obviously the affordable miniature version)
http://www.nitroplanes.com/5racosr71blt.html (http://www.nitroplanes.com/5racosr71blt.html)

I think that the RC plane in the video is considerably larger than the model that you referenced after reading the DIM's on the ad you referenced, but the model you pointed out is quite large as it is!!!

The sale price is reasonable if it performs at all like the one in the video, but I bet when it comes back in stock, the sale price will be gone!! I have seen that tactic before on the web!  :25-

I too would be afraid to fly an RC plane, especially one that costs more than $50!  :97-

CaptainHappy  :95-

WOW!! What a plane!   Heck, this guy seems to have even built his own private runway for the thing. (Okay, it's probably a public park or something, but it's still cool, although, given the probable cost of the model, he could have built the runway for it, and made it long enough to accommodate the needs of his plane. :5- )

 :185- :185- There's never enough drool around when you need it!  :131- :131- :131-


The plane in the video is turbine jet powered and was custom made. You can't buy it anywhere, but you can buy the small jet engines that power it and build a kit yourself if you have the time, money, and talent. (I don't. :5-)

The turbines alone for this jet model cost somewhere between $2500-$5000 each (that's $5k-$10k on this bad boy!). Here is a link to the product page of Jetcat.
http://www.sitewavesstores5.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=JetCat&Category_Code=TURB (http://www.sitewavesstores5.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=JetCat&Category_Code=TURB)
And here is their main page:
http://www.jetcatusa.com/ (http://www.jetcatusa.com/)

<ADD> The jets that these German guys used might of been from a different manufacturer, but I'm sure that the cost was in a similar ballpark. It looks like the only model on the Jetcat page that would mount internally is the SPT5 at $5300 each, and it looks like you could spend another couple of grand on the peripherals.

Then there's the cost of all of the rest of the materials, engineering the model, and the hundreds of hours building and finishing it. .. .. Just so you can crash the thing on it's maiden flight. :30- :72- :72- Seriously, I'd be too chickens$^t to fly the thing, but I'd love to see someone else fly it in person.

Regarding the model that Uniman posted, there are videos of the $300 EDF models on YouTube and they sound like toys when they fly by -- because they are toys.
Here's one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/-U3NOv9ny7A
Go to 4:45 to hear the engines.

Shoot anyone that can afford this hobby could get that big one, just sell 6 or 8 of your best slots. :97- :97- :30- :60-

Ron

(http://i28.tinypic.com/5nrc0p.jpg)                                                             (http://i25.tinypic.com/6r7wx2.jpg)
Yea, but your slots won't blow up if you pull the handle the wrong way. :58- :30-        $15,000 - $20,000 is a lot to lose because you sneezed.  :72- :72- :72-

Hey Stat,  I'll fly it if you buy it.  It would cost about the same as a new sled, but a sled is much more fun.

Thanks
Wayne

My favorite, but then I'm partial to BUFFs.

http://www.youtube.com/v/MeBNQtBFbKI&hl=en&fs=1 (http://www.youtube.com/v/MeBNQtBFbKI&hl=en&fs=1)&

 :185- :185- :185-

If I won the lottery................................................................................. (I guess that I have to play to win though?) :37- :37- :37-

These people have cool toys. They must have to have a special stakebed truck to transport their toy to the runway, unless of course they are like Travolta and they have their own runway in their backyard!!!

But, I bet that they don't have cool slot machines!!!  :96- :96- :96- :96- :96-
(OK, they probably have sweet slot machine as well!!!  :25- :25- :25- )

CaptainHappy :95-

There are more cool toys in this world than one man can master.  :5-  But then, that's a good thing, isn't it?!  :91-  :97- :97- :97- 

...Of course, most women would say that there are too many.  :175-  :30-  :24- :24- :24- :30-

That brings back memories brichter. I use to guard them in my young life in the AF. I did get to taxi down the runway one time during a practice alert. Boy that was a 100 years ago. :97-

Thanks for sharing.

Ron

Those jets are pretty kewl !  :89-

I had a helicopter a few years ago....I stress the word..."had"... :96-

I also over-stressed every moving part on it too...never try to land a helicopter sideways  :72-

Ron did Orville and Wilbur pay you to watch after thier aircraft or were you just frinds with them ?

:97- :97- :97- Ouch! I'm glad you weren't the pilot on my last Grand Canyon tour! :47-   "A tail here; a rotor blade there; model parts flying everywhere."
Look at it this way: It wasn't your fault that your helicopter didn't survive your landing; they just aren't making ground as soft as they used to. :96- :30- :30-

You know, it was so far back I can't remember :103- :97-

There are just not that many old Helicopter pilots for much the same reason.
Unlike a plane you can't just glide in. Any kind of a mechanical failure and you drop like a stone.

Ron, you probably just went over to the Wright's to play with their kids at the time, and they were probably older kids as well. :88-  Buzz, on the other hand, was probably at the helm of some of their first test planes before Kitty Hawk and was too old to pilot the maiden flight, which is why he's not famous today. :5-  :97- :97- :97-


Yea, but you sure don't land like one!  :72- :72- :72- :72- :72-

Alright you clowns! :81- :81- :72- :72-


Ron, I was crew chief on them in my young life in the AF, so you don't have to feel too bad... :25-

Bill don't tell anyone but I worked on the YF12A, later called the A11 and ended up calling it a SR71 Black Bird, The first ones were suppose to be called FY12A ( fighter experimental )but when Pres. Johnson released photos of the plane to public he called it YF12A, now the Pres. can't be wrong so they changed the name of the aircraft. Fighter my ass it takes 20 miles to make a turn. Another little tidbit when the plane was on the ground, they would leak fuel so bad you had to wear a rain coat to walk under the wings. they say the engines expand 3 to 4 inches when in flight. I didn't make this up we have a park in town called The Black Bird Park they have a YF12A and a SR71 on display oh and in a back corner there is a OLD ragged B52

lol...All U.S. fighter jets began with an F such as the F-15 or F-111...
Johnson might of had my reverse-problem (alternate medical term...I'm NOT a doctor  :186- )
The Air Force publicity personell must of freaked when he mis-pronounced the jet's name... :182-  :25-
I'm constantly correcting myself because I type backwards a tol... :96-

Buzz your absolutely correct about the fuel leaks. However that was by design. The plane would actually grow in flight. Once fueled on the ground it would get refueled inflight and continue. At altitude it didn't leak a drop.
The Airforce still today will not release the top altitude  or airspeed that the SR71 was capable of.
It's amazing what the engineers could do in those times without computers and only using a slide ruler.

In the mid 60's the Russian' s  held the fix wing aircraft speed record, I think it was around 1800 miles per hour.  At Edwards AFB they set up some clocks to time a YF12A.  So along comes the plane at about 1000 feet elev. ( right over the runway ) He beat the Russian's record by a small amount. After the plane cleared the timing lights the Pilot hit afterburner, pulled back the stick and hauled ass !! I think that was to show the Press that he had some speed left . I can tell you this is a true story, As a young GI stationed at Edwards I watched this whole thing happen. Last time I was out at NASA Edwards they still had 2 SR's they fly, and one B52

Buzz is absolutely correct.  My brother is a colonel in the air force and he has shown me some crazy stuff.  I should dig up vid we took in a fuel tanker.   We got down on our bellies as the tanker dropped the hose to fuel and I recored it.  It's on vhs now and I should convert it to digital.  It was really amazing.   He was stationed at Holloman base in New Mexico for many years. -  so I'm familiar with the area. 

i had a ex-GF that worked on them out of March AFB, I got up close and personal with the rain of jet fuel once or twice. They'd put just enough fuel in 'em to get airborne, then fill 'er up at altitude. The less the fuel load on the ground, the less they leaked.

Buzz, even the newest B52 is OLD.  :97- :97- :97- :97- Heck, I worked on the G models (H are the newest), and mine was 24 years old when I got to it! Darn thing was born before I was... :25- :25-

I'm pretty sure the first B52 flew in 1952, First landing was at Edwards and it blew out some tires when it landed. the base didn't have anything big enough to pick it up, so as the story was told to me it sat on the runway for a week or so until they could get a Crane   to pick it up. Edwards to this day only has one runway. But one big a__ dry lake bed they can use.

Ham radio here and satellite (FTA) receivers

  removed

 removed

 :97- :97- :97- :97-
That thing moves!!!!

I like to hunt.

Nice looking buck, Dale. Is a point sawed off the right antler by the kerchief? Thats a mule too right?

 Dan (tacman)

Thanks. Its a typical  4X4 mule deer with 4 inch eye guards and nothing broken. That is actually a plastic red tie that I used to attach the permit to the antler with.

Look at these eye guards, all he needed was some strings and it could be a harp..2010 Ohio gun season

 :137-     U.S.Auto Service
      Dan