Sunday, March 02, 2014

We're getting there...


19 comments:

  1. Zounds! Howard Dean!

    Cat—don’t keep resetting your DVD player region; leave it where it will be most useful (Region 1). I sent you an e-mail about it.

    Beating the egg whites for the Dutch Baby resulted in a super light pancake with a nice crust on the bottom, but nothing anywhere near as impressive looking as the original. I don’t think I will do that again, but I will probably continue with the grated orange peel.

    —Alan

    P.S. to Cat: At the Japanese video store we frequent in San Jose they carry region-free DVD (and DVD/Blu-Ray) players. I will make a note of the brands and model numbers the next time we are there. I think the DVD-only was a Sony and priced at $160; with Blu-Ray $225—maybe from Panasonic. We have had good experiences dealing with one of the big electronics retailers in New York (the name escapes me at the moment), and purchased from them a Panasonic DVD recorder/player with a hard disc and no recording limitations that isn’t sold directly in the US anymore. They had adapted it to US line current, and it works fine—so I suspect they would also have region-free players that might not be readily available in the US.

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    1. Ah, yes—J&R Electronics. If I didn’t mangle it, this link should take you to their region-free DVD players: Region-Free DVD Players [Click]
      —Alan

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    2. Wow, Alan, thanks! Think I've found the player. Only thing that worries me is, "Requires compatible TV." How do I find out of my TV is compatible? It's kind of old. Has a built-in VHS player, which give you an idear of how old. *scratches head* Got it in the late '80s or early '90s...

      Fortunately, I haven't gotten around to watching the DVD yet. Been busy-work busy again, largely fiddling with formatting; doing a little writing.

      Oh, and here's the link to the DVD player I've picked out: http://www.jr.com/pioneer/pe/PIO_DV2032K/#productTabDetails

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    3. I'm guessing that "compatible TV" probably means digital rather than analogue. Does it have an analogue-digital set-top box to watch broadcast (and I suppose cable) TV shows? You can't go wrong with Pioneer in my experience.
      --Alan

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    4. I see in the specs that the Pioneer has a digital/analogue converter; I guess if the plugs are compatible, the parts are compatible. I will see if I can inquire of J&R about the issue. Only one reviewer--s/he complained that the power plug was european-style with a US-style adapter, and didn't like the remote. If s/he thought that was odd, they should see the plugs for Arabia! The price is right, and Pioneer equipment generally ranges from good to great.

      --Alan

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    5. Inquiry sent to J&R.
      --Alan

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    6. Pioneer DV-2032...
      The B&H Photo listing (they don't carry it any more) says the player has both audio and video digital-analogue converters. If I understand their spec sheet, it has both digital and analogue audio and video outputs also. One Amazon reviewer says it works fine with an old analogue TV. One reviewer seems not to understand how to set it for region-free play. Karaoke gets mixed reviews. Video standard not specified, so probably 480P. Hmmmmm….TheDV3032KV has up to 1080P, so widescreen capability and upconversion for even bigger screens (if the system is compatible). Only one review on Amazon, but it is five stars, and the player is on sale for $49.99 with free shipping, $20 less than J&R:
      DV-3032KV [Click]

      Now on to Sony DVP-SR370 reviews….Oh, much better reviews than the Pioneer! Video standard is the old TV standard--480P.

      --Alan

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    7. Alan, I can't thank you enough for doing all this research! I couldn't even find the reviews on the JR page...

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    8. OK, I ordered the Pioneer. Thank you again sooooooooooooo much!

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    9. My pleasure, Cat. I hope it works well.

      --Alan

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  2. "I've had that experience. Usually means that something I thought would be quick and simple wasn't. Sometimes there are unexpected complications but sometimes it's just time-consuming. In fact, I had that experience today. Editing a section of a paper that the researchers had provided. Wasn't really difficult, but it was a long section and simply ate up more time than I had thought it would."

    Comforting to know this happens to other people too.

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  3. Warm and rainy. Had to turn the second space heater, lol! Tomorrow? 8-12" nasty wet icy snow. Sure hope they're dead wrong. . . .

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  4. The past week was VERY demanding, and this coming week was shaping up to be absolutely awful work-wise; but very quickly almost all of the anticipated court appearances (scattered over three quarters of the state) went away--mostly delayed for some reason or another. My consulting work situation has also suddenly ameliorated--all I have left to do at this point is to review a relatively small (if somewhat complicated) discovery packet this evening and make a few notes on it.

    The peach trees (old and new) in our back yard are now blooming. I cut up the remainder of the fruit tree prunings from a while back, so they can go into the trash cans as time and energy permit. The river is clearly up from what it was, and we have cloudy skies, but there is little prospect of rain this week.

    I think I may have found a couple of leads on the man who seems to have been my paternal grandfather; I will probably pursue at least one of them later this evening.

    --Alan

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    1. Oh--I think I didn't say that weekend before last, when I was pruning fruit trees, we saw some white pelicans in the river bottom. They now seem to have continued on their way north, but with the weather the way it is they may be stopping short of Canada for a while.

      --Alan

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    2. You get some interesting birds.

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    3. >>I think I may have found a couple of leads on the man who seems to have been my paternal grandfather<<

      Might seem like a strange statement except that I know almost nothing about my maternal grandfather. Apparently my grandmother never asked where he'd been or what he'd done before they got married, and he died about 5 years later -- the third husband she had buried, although the only one by whom she had children. But I don't have the ambition even to try to find out if he was maybe Cajun (family name Lovett).

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    4. As far as US public records are concerned, my probable paternal grandfather seems to have simply disappeared after 1910. Maybe he died, maybe he emigrated, maybe he didn't want to be found. My paternal grandmother sure acted like she didn't want to be found.
      --Alan

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