Messages

31

General Discussion / Re: Playstation/Wii/Xbox -Video Games

« on: October 26, 2015, 02:39:21 AM »

I don't have a complete list... but here's just a few games that I can think of. I have older systems as well, but I'd have to dig out the cartridges to list them (SNES and Sega Genesis... sorry guys, the Genesis is better in my opinion ). I also have an original fat version of the PS2 from when it launched. Still works great, just lost all of my games except for Grand Theft Auto Vice City.

Xbox 360:
-Grand Theft Auto IV
-Grand Theft Auto V
-Fallout New Vegas
-Portal 2 (LOVE LOVE LOVE this game. Hope a Portal 3 comes out!)
-Halo 3
-NHL 13 (Controls suck... as they did in NHL 2015 imo)
-FIFA 13 (Sold... didn't enjoy it at all)
-Doom II: Hell On Earth (I don't own this, but my buddy and I always play this on his house and is a fun port from the old PC version)
-Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare

Xbox One:
-Destiny (All DLCs... LOVE!!)
-Halo Master Collection (Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST, Halo 4)
-Mortal Kombat X
-Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag
-Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
-Watchdogs (I personally hate the physics engine so I don't play it much at all)

On my list of games to buy...
-Fallout 4 (Xbox One)
-Halo 5 Guardians (Xbox One... obviously as it's an exclusive )
-Borderlands Handsome Edition (Xbox One)

32

Local Forecast / Re: IntelliSTAR units to be retired this October...???

« on: October 25, 2015, 01:54:55 AM »

Would Local Now replace WeatherScan? i'm also wondering what's going to happen to the IS2 graphics if they're going to be updated or not.

Is there any indication that there may be another graphics revamp? I haven't been following much of anything recently so it'd be news to me.

I've not seen anything come through The Front about any graphics revamps. TWC seems to be sticking to the current graphics set.

I like the actual forecasts... very good graphics work there in my opinion. It's just the on-air LDL and sidebar that make me cringe a little. I tried accepting them, but I still find it a little too hard to enjoy. The HD STARs are better with the LDL and sidebar, but they still could use some work.

33

Local Forecast / Re: IntelliSTAR units to be retired this October...???

« on: October 24, 2015, 08:02:31 PM »

Would Local Now replace WeatherScan? i'm also wondering what's going to happen to the IS2 graphics if they're going to be updated or not.

Is there any indication that there may be another graphics revamp? I haven't been following much of anything recently so it'd be news to me.

34

Emulator Videos / Re: IntelliSTAR Emulator [ DOWNLOAD, NOT POWERPOINT ]

« on: October 15, 2015, 08:42:38 PM »

So, going with your first comment, I see a good reason to recode the emulator and use NTSC resolution so most monitors will be able to fit it on their screen. That will make it easier on me, and on the users of the emulator.
Your second comment brings up a good point. .NET forms aren't the best for rendering stuff quickly. If you look at most of my demos for the IS emu, you'll see the "The Week Ahead" slide fail to catch up to render the icons and text.
Your third comment is telling me to learn C#, which I am already fluent in. I will be recoding this emulator in C# with XNA to make rendering so much better, and make it easier for old computers to run.

Lastly, you asked me why I use Detroit as the city for my demos. My local IntelliSTAR uses Detroit as the city to get the forecast for. That is why I use it for my IntelliSTAR emulations.
tl;dr: I will most likely be recoding the emulator in C#, use NTSC res, use XNA(most likely, no guarantee), and I will take suggestions.

Maybe also look into Unity3D. Very powerful graphics engine, considering you're doing some intense graphic work (from a programming standpoint). XNA would work, but it isn't a **great** option as it is deprecated... with Unity3D, you can export to virtually any platform (iOS, Unix/Linux, OS X, Windows) using either C# (I'd recommend using Mono's IDE, not Visual Studio) or JavaScript Only caveat to using Unity3D, however, is it will show a one second Unity3D splash screen when the program starts. It's worth looking into in my opinion. And contrary to the name Unity3D, you can build 2D programs in there. You just have to get familiar with the workspace and how to manipulate cameras, scenes, etc.

35

General Discussion / Re: What's Your Speedtest and Pingtest results?

« on: October 14, 2015, 02:58:52 AM »

@TWCJim in SoCal my home internet speed wasn't at 60mbps with Charter... It was also around 30mbps.

36

General Discussion / Re: What's Your Speedtest and Pingtest results?

« on: October 12, 2015, 07:35:08 PM »

Here's my speedtest!

WOW offers those kinds of speeds? Fiber I take it? I lived in Lansing, MI for pretty much my whole life until recently. Out there they are starting to install residential fiber that promises about 1GB/s... LightSpeed is the company. To my knowledge, they also have a residential network in Detroit. Nice to see another person from the LP in Michigan on here 

Here's my most recent speed test result (and props to you, your speeds are faster than Cal State Universities network...):

37

Local Forecast / Re: IntelliSTAR units to be retired this October...???

« on: October 12, 2015, 07:29:06 PM »

^Oh cool, another Californian on this forum :big grin:

Something I never really understood... since I've never seen these newer units in use (IS2Jr or IS2XD)... how can you tell the difference between an IS2XD and the IS2Jr/IS2HD?

The I2Jr is fully SD and is easy to tell from the 2 others (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T1UbPx_P8M).

The I2XD (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zO5mRepmZc) and HD are somewhat difficult to tell apart since they're both HD. My best advice is to remember what channel the IS1 SD feed was on, and then check the actual HD feed (Xfinity around my area has this in the higher channels, with no local forecast). If the former SD channel is now in HD, check the HD channel- it should either be the national version or the I2HD.  If national on the HD channel is the case, then it's likely to be the I2XD on the SD channel. Of course, it's hard to tell when both the SD and HD channels have a local forecast. In this situation, either there's a I2HD that is being put onto both the HD and SD feeds, or separate I2XD and I2HDs.  To add on to this answer, I'd try seeing if the welcome message or backgrounds are any different on the two channels (which would prove that there are two different Stars in use).

Thanks. I've checked some resources that I have and I was able to conclude that the XD is the newest HD IntelliStar available, however as opposed to a BNC output from the IRD to the IntelliStar, it's using a digital transport stream from the IRD to the STAR, then another digital transport stream from the STAR to the cable operators modulator equipment. It's basically the same as the IS2Jr, but in HD and without the BNC connections.

From what I can tell, you appear to be correct when you say it's hard to tell the difference. I thought I heard that the XD outputs in both SD and HD, but it's letterboxed? To me that'd sound like the cable plant is splitting the output signal and down converting one to SD and keeping the other HD, then modulating those signals to the correct channel. This could also be achieved with the IS2HD. Now, if the XD didn't letterbox and had two output streams, that'd be impressive to me.

You're correct- the XD is the newest IntelliStar 2 unit, which basically allows headends to place the HD feed on the former SD channels. The XD is fully digital, and therefore you're correct when you mention no BNC ports on it.

Digital has nothing to do with BNC. Every STAR ever built is, by definition, 100% digital. The only thing that wasn't digital with every STAR before the IS is the transmission method. Everything now days is encoded with the DigiCipher II which is digital. The VideoCipher II that TWC used for the legacy STARs (XL and below) was encrypted, however it was an analog transmission. I just want to clear that up so people don't get confused :thumbs:

BNC doesn't dictate whether it's digital or not- 1s and 0s can still be carried over BNC, as can a modulated sine/square wave. The thing that dictates whether it's digital or not is the modulation method. In this case, now days TWC uses the digital DCII. In the old days, they used the analog VCII.

38

Local Forecast / Re: IntelliSTAR units to be retired this October...???

« on: October 09, 2015, 05:14:55 PM »

^Oh cool, another Californian on this forum :big grin:

Something I never really understood... since I've never seen these newer units in use (IS2Jr or IS2XD)... how can you tell the difference between an IS2XD and the IS2Jr/IS2HD?

The I2Jr is fully SD and is easy to tell from the 2 others (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T1UbPx_P8M).

The I2XD (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zO5mRepmZc) and HD are somewhat difficult to tell apart since they're both HD. My best advice is to remember what channel the IS1 SD feed was on, and then check the actual HD feed (Xfinity around my area has this in the higher channels, with no local forecast). If the former SD channel is now in HD, check the HD channel- it should either be the national version or the I2HD.  If national on the HD channel is the case, then it's likely to be the I2XD on the SD channel. Of course, it's hard to tell when both the SD and HD channels have a local forecast. In this situation, either there's a I2HD that is being put onto both the HD and SD feeds, or separate I2XD and I2HDs.  To add on to this answer, I'd try seeing if the welcome message or backgrounds are any different on the two channels (which would prove that there are two different Stars in use).

Thanks. I've checked some resources that I have and I was able to conclude that the XD is the newest HD IntelliStar available, however as opposed to a BNC output from the IRD to the IntelliStar, it's using a digital transport stream from the IRD to the STAR, then another digital transport stream from the STAR to the cable operators modulator equipment. It's basically the same as the IS2Jr, but in HD and without the BNC connections.

From what I can tell, you appear to be correct when you say it's hard to tell the difference. I thought I heard that the XD outputs in both SD and HD, but it's letterboxed? To me that'd sound like the cable plant is splitting the output signal and down converting one to SD and keeping the other HD, then modulating those signals to the correct channel. This could also be achieved with the IS2HD. Now, if the XD didn't letterbox and had two output streams, that'd be impressive to me.

39

Local Forecast / Re: IntelliSTAR units to be retired this October...???

« on: October 09, 2015, 12:46:41 AM »

^Oh cool, another Californian on this forum :big grin:

Something I never really understood... since I've never seen these newer units in use (IS2Jr or IS2XD)... how can you tell the difference between an IS2XD and the IS2Jr/IS2HD?

40

Local Forecast / Re: IntelliSTAR units to be retired this October...???

« on: October 06, 2015, 02:47:10 PM »

Now it is October 1st, and my IS1 still remains in existence. After all, didn't TWC's memo clearly state that all new IS2 XD/Jr units "must be installed by October 1, 2015 to ensure seamless activation with no disruption to service"?  Given that the memo also says all IS1s will be discontinued no later than November 16th, I wonder if TWC extended the deadline for headends such as mine who still haven't gotten replacements to get their new equipment soon. 

Yup, the IS1 in San Luis Obispo, CA is still kicking around... at least I'll get to hear the Allen Jackson narrations for a while longer lol

41

Emulator Videos / Re: IntelliSTAR Emulator [ DOWNLOAD, NOT POWERPOINT ]

« on: October 04, 2015, 09:39:32 PM »

My comments:

• Lower the resolution to standard NTSC resolution. The IntelliStar was developed with the NTSC standard in mind, and it isn't HD. Stretch any element, and you'll face image degradation as these are rasterized graphics you are working with. If you haven't already, try converting the .TIFF files to .PNG. If I remember correctly, converting those and applying different filters will achieve a nearly authentic data container like the real IS.
• Look into some kind of SDK that will allow you to take better advantage of video processing/rendering. I know XNA is what Bill used over at Taiganet, but is no longer supported by Microsoft. Anything that will help render the image in a smoother way will help. It'll prevent the text from turning into "blocks" of random color as it draws the text or element to the form.
• I emphasize learning C# or C++/Obj-C. Problem with Objective C if I remember correctly is Cocoa really shines with it, and is only available in OS X. I'd also play around with rendering techniques so you can manipulate elements as the program is running (such as fluid transitions, fading elements, etc).

Other than that, it's nice to see someone attempting this. I remember someone else tried this but the project feel off of the face of the planet. I'll probably blame inexperience in programming as the root cause for that projects dismissal. Play around with some stuff, get familiar with the language you want to program it in... then take a whack at it. Programming languages for the most part (aside from .NET languages), is as powerful as the programmer is. Don't take shortcuts and you'll have a nice little program going on Oh, if I may ask, what drove you to use Detroit as demo in that one video you posted?

42

General Discussion / Re: The Pot Belly Stove

« on: September 28, 2015, 05:34:43 PM »

Fall is here. The days of warm weather here in the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont are gone. We've seen high temperatures in the low 70s with mostly cloudy weather the last few days. I know it's getting cold when I drive around with my windows down and I feel the chill in the air in the middle of the afternoon.

Lucky. Here around Los Angeles it's been pretty hot... my dashboard read 102 degrees in the San Fernando Valley driving through Simi Valley (for those who are acquainted with SoCal). I miss having four seasons... one of my biggest regrets of moving away from Michigan.

43

General Discussion / Re: Android phone apps

« on: September 16, 2015, 01:16:10 AM »

As Billy said, optimizer apps aren't worth it. I find that they can make the problem worse depending. I've gotten into the habit of manually clearing programs in your recent apps (usually holding the home button, or a physical button on the Samsung Galaxy).

44

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: September 12, 2015, 03:48:07 PM »

I think everyone will enjoy! https://www.facebook.com/thesplat/videos/759384737518263/

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that is. Is it a new TV channel? If so, that's going to be awesome. I hope they include some of the old game shows and live action shows too, and not just the cartoons.

I remember the Front Porch was teeming with activities summers ago when I was in High School. Either way, only 11 more days until the Pot Belly Stove opens, if anyone even cares lol

I know what you're talking about. This forum has gone down the tube... nothing like it once used to be. This place is so dead, I can hear the crickets echoing

Curt, maybe the reason this forum has gone down the tube has something to do with how TWC itself has gone down the tube lol. Don't get me wrong, I still check in here every now and then, but I mainly browse the classic TWC forums. I have 0 interest in TWC as it is today. Now...if they move TWC back in the right direction (and canning AMHQ and WUWA was a great start), then maybe TWC will become watchable again. We'll have to see what happens.

I don't have much else to say except I agree. And yes I understand that people have lost interest in TWC, but there was a strong sense of community here that has gone **poof**.

45

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: September 11, 2015, 03:25:00 AM »

I remember the Front Porch was teeming with activities summers ago when I was in High School. Either way, only 11 more days until the Pot Belly Stove opens, if anyone even cares lol

I know what you're talking about. This forum has gone down the tube... nothing like it once used to be. This place is so dead, I can hear the crickets echoing