Buffyverse Meta

1) I've no idea why, but this afternoon my monitor screen brightness suddenly shot up to where the blue light on white areas is practically visible. I went to my computer settings and found that the brightness slider was greyed out. I looked for info online and – along with various instructions which seemed to lead nowhere – it was suggested that I needed to change the settings on my monitor. Problem is, I'm using a Roku TV as my monitor, and when I went in there the brightness settings were already low and making them lower changed nothing.

I did a Microsoft update yesterday but supposedly all the downloads were related to security updates. I already use dark mode on both browsers but this doesn't apply to MS Word, and in any case the dark mode has to be switched off at times because it obscures buttons or other info in certain layouts. (This is also true of MS's accessibility dark mode themes)

2) Ok, then: Regal sold its inventory of $50 “Dune” tickets projected in 70 millimeter IMAX film in a matter of minutes. "Some 17% of film tickets sold last year were for premium-format theaters with bigger screens and better sound, compared with 13% in 2021. They cost an average of $18 nationally, according to research firm EntTelligence, and as much as $30 in big cities such as New York and Los Angeles."

3) Perhaps relatedly, Las Vegas Sphere is a Success. Although largely for music concerts, the site has also been used for movies, notably “The Wizard of Oz.” "Dolan decided he wanted to turn the 1939 classic film into an immersive experience. He recruited Google’s AI engineers for the $100 million project...Red apples made of foam drop from above in one scene, and leaves swirl during the tornado. From its opening Aug. 28 through Jan. 20, the movie generated more than $260 million in ticket sales, the company said."

But it comes at a high price: Tickets to Sphere concerts can range for a few hundred dollars to thousands.

4) Not thrilled with the Copilot product placement in Season 2 episode 18 of High Potential. It makes me think we should have a contest to see what increasingly absurd examples of AI use will start to intrude into scenes across TV shows.

5) My partner clearly enjoys Dark Winds, because Mr. I-Hate-Binging watched 2 seasons of it within 5 days with me. This was probably just as well because I was not thrilled with S4. ( Read more... )

Every time I planned to post and got sidelined, something else got added to the list.

1) 3weeks4dreamwidth is underway, and I am again hosting a points donation and gifting event. If you have US $3 (or more) to spare, join in!

Dreamwidth stays afloat by selling paid services, but a lot of users can't buy them for one reason or another. That's a lot of people who would like to support the site but either can't get the payment through or are currently unable to start or maintain services. So if you currently can, leave a comment (all donors and recipient comments are screened) by May 4. At that point, a call will go out for recipients and they'll be matched up by May 15.

2) Finished the Fire of Love documentary about French volcanologists spending their lives studying volcanoes. Some of the footage they got is just spectacular, almost technicolor. But the risks they took are appalling. ( Read more... )

3) We finished watching S1 of the Puzzle Lady last month. It was fine as a series; we would watch more. One thing that stood out to me was the wardrobe and decor which normally is not something that catches my attention. ( Read more... )

4) A recent episode of Jeopardy had the following quotes in a category about words from the Founding Fathers. I don't think their choices were a coincidence:

"Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net." – John Adams

James Madison wrote, "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."

5) I'm still watching Daredevil Ep 6 (which I have been looking forward to) but I thought Ep 5 was really well done. The way the stories were balanced out, the flashbacks, and the details were well written. I think that was probably the best Marvel show episode I've seen so far. ( Read more... )