LOOKS like Hollywood is cutting off its nose to spite its face.
To prevent films released in the US being played on DVD players in other
countries, Hollywood studios put regional coding on DVDs. When British
supermarket chain Tesco publicly called on Time Warner to stop doing it, the
studios stuck to their guns and came up with Regional Coding Enhanced (RCE).
This is designed to defeat DVD players that have been 鈥渉acked鈥� to play any
disc.
Feedback was in the US when the first film using RCE, The Patriot,
was released on DVD by Columbia. So we bought one and tried it on a range of
hacked European players. Most played the forbidden disc perfectly.
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But in an ironic plot twist, the Hollywood movie chiefs found that the Apex
DVD player, sold by North American chain store Circuit City, will not play
The Patriot. The chain has sold around 100,000 of these players.
So Hollywood has largely failed to stop non-Americans playing the American
disc, but succeeded in sending American customers back to the stores to return
discs that will not play on American players.
Nice one, Hollywood. What鈥檚 the next bright idea?
FIRST the good news.
A poll commissioned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has
found a high degree of public concern in Britain about global warning. Over
three-quarters of those questioned鈥�78 per cent鈥攂elieve that they and
their families will be affected by climate change in the coming decades.
Now for the not-so-good news. A third of those questioned鈥�34 per
cent鈥攄id not rate cars as a significant factor in the build-up of
greenhouse gases. Even more alarming, 16 per cent think mobile phones are to
blame for climate change.
ARE YOU one of those people who will only believe in commercial space flights
when the tickets go on sale in the high street? Well, it鈥檚 time to start
believing.
British bookseller and newsagent WH Smith is selling vouchers for the first
flights, which it says are expected to take place between 2003 and 2005. A
colleague spotted the offer at a Smith鈥檚 branch in Stevenage, Hertfordshire,
where the vouchers were on sale in a cardboard box with a CD-ROM and a book to
give prospective astronauts something to do during the years of waiting for the
launch. The flight was advertised on the box as lasting 45 minutes and requiring
six days of training.
But business was hardly brisk. Our colleague, who was taken aback by the
price sticker saying 鈥溌�100,000鈥�, asked an assistant if many vouchers had
been sold.
鈥淣o,鈥� she said, adding: 鈥淭he price is wrong, anyway.鈥�
Our colleague was hardly surprised. There can鈥檛 be many patrons of WH Smith
who are able to fork out such a sum while dropping into the shop to pick up
their daily newspaper or a book to read on the train to London. But the
assistant had more to say.
鈥淚t should read 拢150,000,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o get it quick if you want one.
And I鈥檇 get it on our 10 per cent discount night if I were you鈥�.
Despite this sound advice, our colleague declined.
THE Bristol, Bath and District branch of the Science, Engineering and
Technology group has just sent out its calendar of events. One of these is a
lecture on 22 March next year by Tom Coultate of South Bank University in London
entitled 鈥淒eath in the Pot鈥攁n alternative view of our food鈥�.
The talk is followed by a buffet supper. We wonder how many takers they鈥檒l
have.
IT PROBABLY works just as well as the more high-tech versions.
Louise Atfield was driving through western Ontario this summer and stopped at
a trading post for a break. Outside was a wooden frame with a smooth,
dark-coloured rock hanging from it on a rope, with a sign saying 鈥淪erpent River
Weather Station鈥�.
Below the sign was this information: 鈥淚f the rock is wet, it鈥檚 raining. If
the rock is swaying, it鈥檚 windy. If the rock is hot, it鈥檚 sunny. If the rock is
cool, it`s overcast. If the rock is white, it鈥檚 snowing. If the rock is blue,
it鈥檚 cold. If the rock is gone鈥擳ORNADO!鈥�
THE IQ of students seems to be declining all the time鈥攐r at least,
University College London evidently thinks so. Written in red letters at the top
of the college鈥檚 online library database are the words: 鈥淵ou may only print from
machines attached to a printer.鈥�
Yes indeedy.
HERE is one high-tech company that is definitely ahead of its
time. Go to www.singlechips.com to read about LoggerLand North鈥檚 aquaculture
monitoring and control equipment. At the bottom of the page, under the proud
鈥淥ur Products Are Y2K-Ready鈥� banner, appears the text: 鈥淟ast modified Monday,
July 31, 3900.鈥�
FINALLY, Ron Petch was sitting in a corridor of his local hospital when he
noticed this sign: 鈥淗earing tests. Wait until called.鈥�
He waited, but didn鈥檛 hear anything.