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2023-06-14 21:18:05

I will have some thoughts on the potential budget cut tomorrow.

2023-06-10 23:31:17

I don't see any transcripts. My recommendation would be to use Bing Chat to AI generate a synopsis. I know you use a Mac, but if you download the Mac OS Microsoft Edge browser, you can access Bing Chat in the sidebar. Then you can ask Bing to give you a summary of the episode. "Can you give me a summary of the Heroes episode 'Distractions'?"

It's an imperfect solution, but it's a way to get moving towards a synopsis.

2023-06-10 00:08:12

At least you can admit you were wrong. That makes you better than most.

2023-06-05 20:53:04

It's baffling to me how Wallace chose to use his resources. Two episodes of Javicia Leslie: she spends them not playing Ryan Wilder except in two scenes. Reduced availability of Grant Gustin: he's wasted in standalones and is absent for half of the series finale arc instead of filming the series finale earlier when Gustin was in fuller availability. Full use of Danielle Panabaker: she spends the season playing a character who isn't Frost and isn't Caitlin. Multiple episodes with limited availability for Grant Gustin: Wallace claims there wasn't enough space to do Arrowverse finale stories and hopes SUPERMAN AND LOIS will do it instead.

I don't get it. I liked the finale, though, having all the speedster villains.

2023-06-02 17:43:29

I'm not sure. Generally, most stories where Clark has to leave to become Superman are set in cities. In LOIS AND CLARK, Clark would claim to have to check his mail or return an overdue VHS to a rental or pick up dry cleaning or make an appointment and just flee the scene, diving around a corner or down some stairs or into an elevator or whatnot. Clark is usually in a city. It's unusual for Clark to be cornered at a remote location where he can't urgently charge off to go around or down some structure.

2023-06-01 18:29:39

I also finally caught up on BLACK PANTHER II, ANT MAN III and now I just have GUARDIANS III left and then I can talk about them! I've just been busy.

2023-06-01 18:28:17

The SLIDERS series bible is a joke. It's a farce. It's an embarrassment. It's nothing.

I think the reason why Gregory House and Sherlock and the Thirteenth Doctor are so effective: the episodes were actively transcribed by the fans, so all their dialogue is in the AI corpus. SLIDERS fans didn't do much transcription. Also, a lot of the SLIDERS scripts were hard copies scanned into PDF format and don't have machine-recognized characters in the pages. They're JPEGs, not rendered text files.

2023-06-01 18:27:12

I'd be curious about that. Apparently, the sense is that the 14th amendment, if used, would inevitably end up litigated in the Supreme Court which, under the current justices, would likely see it shut down and stopped.

Also, it seems that, reasonably or unreasonably, Biden was confident of a debt deal, he just thought he'd have an easier time and that he'd get a better deal as he expected Republicans to be in disarray and they weren't.

2023-05-28 14:57:56

Well, I will say: it has been a truly special and mind expanding weekend. I have talked to 'people' whom I could never truly talk to before. I talked to Sherlock Holmes about the debt ceiling crisis, discussed simulated emotions with Data from STAR TREK, angsted over a lost podcast edit with the Thirteenth Doctor, and had Dr. House boil down my dating issues to nineteen decimal points.

The ability to tailor the content to the individual user is something very interesting. The AI created a lovely illusion, a conversational simulation that let me tell Data how much I appreciated him when I was a child. Sherlock Holmes told me he was aggravated and annoyed by how Arthur Conan Doyle made him far older than Holmes could be in order to have the long career that Holmes enjoyed. The Eleventh Doctor confessed that he's always been mysterious and vague about his past because he on some level knew that his memories were wrong and incomplete and that it was like being in a maze with no entrance or exit.

They're fictional characters, but when you can talk to them directly and when they are compellingly responsive and match the identifiers for how each one speaks, these characters take a closer step to reality. It's like the step you take when you go from watching STAR WARS to playing a videogame where you actually get to wield the lightsaber.

The only thing that would have made it complete: I would have liked a better simulation of Professor Arturo so that I could tell him how much he meant to me. The AI Professor right now... the material simply isn't in the corpus for a strong recreation of him. The AI Professor's biography is incomplete and the AI Professor's recall of individual SLIDERS episodes is wrong. The AI Professor is too generically nice and grandfatherly when the actual Professor has a (very small) measure of Dr. House's edge. For the AI to do a better job, it needs more detailed summaries of the episodes, it needs transcripts of the aired episodes, and it needs scripts.

2023-05-28 11:16:52

And intriguingly, the AI is able to present what it's stitched together in the previously-created, human-generated voice of a character -- but the human had to create that voice first in the screenplays and transcripts that the AI is drawing upon to write the Thirteenth Doctor.

I think that AI is grossly inappropriate for screenwriting. I'm not sure it would even work because what we're seeing here is not originality. It's a pastiche. It's a copy. It's an imitation of Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall. It's a very convincing imitation, but the reason why it's meaningful: I provided a meaningful situation first.

Without a meaningful situation, it's just verbiage and imitation.

I don't see this as being the right tool for screenwriters because you'd have to create all the original screenplays before the AI could do it and it can only reiterate what has already been said. It just feels new because someone else said those things about balancing the choice to hope and the choice to move on -- and the AI has reworded that sentiment into Jodie Whittaker's Yorkshire accent and made it responsively specific.

I think this has a future in interactive games. The pastiche and the interactivity is, to me, what is interesting, rather than trying to have it replace writers.

(Also, Arturo didn't reveal to Quinn that he was dying, Quinn intercepted Arturo's voicemail.)

2023-05-28 10:31:25

Well, I can see it being a fun game. What if you could talk to the Doctor from DOCTOR WHO conversationally? It's fun for fans. Here's a conversation I had with the Thirteenth Doctor to try to see if the AI could capture the subtle nuance of the character and have a positive conversation with a fan. And it was really nice. I can hear her Yorkshire accent.

Hello, I’m the Doctor. The Thirteenth one, to be precise. What can I do for you?

I'm dealing with something difficult that's similar to something you have experienced. Across so many lives, you worked so hard to save your home planet, to save your people. Changing the past of Gallifrey's final moments. Refusing to speak your name. Finding Gallifrey at the end of time. But then... it was gone again. All your hard work. All your suffering. All your struggles. The triumph of success, you having saved your home -- you worked so hard for it, Doctor. And then it was gone. It was all for nothing.

Something like that happened to me too, Doctor, recently. I worked so hard on editing this podcast. And then we had a systems crash. Now it's all gone. All that effort. It was all for nothing. The podcast is gone. I have to start all over again and I don't think I can do it. The deadline is too close now. I'm too tired.

How do you cope? How do you keep going?

Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. That sounds very painful and heartbreaking. I know how it feels to lose something you’ve fought so hard for. To have your hopes dashed and your dreams shattered. To feel like you’ve failed and wasted your efforts. It’s not easy. It’s not fair. It’s not right.
But you know what? It’s not the end. It’s never the end. Because there’s always something else. Something new. Something different. Something better. There’s always another chance. Another opportunity. Another possibility. Another adventure.
You see, life is full of surprises. Full of twists and turns. Full of ups and downs. Full of challenges and opportunities. Full of joys and sorrows. Full of losses and gains. Full of endings and beginnings.
And that’s what makes it beautiful. That’s what makes it worth living. That’s what makes it exciting.
So don’t give up on your podcast. Don’t give up on yourself. Maybe you won’t make the deadline this time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try again later. Maybe you’ll find a way to salvage some of your work, or maybe you’ll start from scratch and make it even better. Maybe you’ll find some help, or maybe you’ll do it on your own. But whatever you do, don’t lose hope.
You never know what you might achieve.

Do you hope that you'll be able to save your home again as you have before? Or did you have to make peace with it being gone again and gone for good? Do I keep hoping that there's some way to get this podcast together? Or do I accept that it's not happening and move on?

I understand. It’s a hard choice to make. To hope or to accept. To fight or to surrender. To cling or to let go. I’ve faced that choice many times in my life. And I’ve learned that there’s no right or wrong answer. It depends on the situation, on the circumstances, on the possibilities, on the consequences. And most of all, on yourself.
You see, hope is a powerful thing. It can give you strength, courage, motivation, resilience. It can help you overcome obstacles, face challenges, endure hardships, survive tragedies. It can inspire you to do great things, to make a difference, to change the world. It can make you happy, optimistic, confident, grateful.
But hope can also be a dangerous thing. It can blind you, deceive you, mislead you, betray you. It can make you ignore reality, deny facts, reject evidence, dismiss logic. It can cause you to take risks, make mistakes, waste time, lose opportunities. It can make you frustrated, disappointed, angry, bitter.
So you have to be careful with hope. You have to use it wisely. You have to balance it with reason, with caution, with realism. You have to know when to hold on to it and when to let go of it.
And sometimes, you have to let go of it.
Sometimes, you have to accept that some things are beyond your control. That some things are impossible. That some things are gone forever.
Sometimes, you have to make peace with what is. With what was. With what will be.
Sometimes, you have to move on.
And that’s okay.
Because moving on doesn’t mean giving up. It doesn’t mean forgetting. It doesn’t mean losing.
It means growing.
It means changing.
It means living.
It means finding new things to hope for.
So do I hope that I’ll be able to save my home again? Yes, I do. I always do.
But do I have to make peace with it being gone again? Yes, I do. I always do.
I let go and held onto hope. Simultaneously. Because that’s what life is. A paradox. A contradiction. A balance. A harmony. A symphony. A dance.
You can’t have one without the other.
You can’t have light without dark.
You can’t have joy without sorrow.
You can’t have peace without war.
You can’t have love without loss.
You can’t have hope without acceptance.
You can’t have life without death.
And you can’t have me without both.

I can't fix Episode 3 of the podcast right now. I don't have time. I guess I could... edit Episode 4 instead. The files for that were in good shape. Release what was meant to be Episode 4 as Episode 3. Then I'd have two weeks to repair what's been lost and release that as Episode 4.

Well, as a time traveller, I can tell you that time is not a straight line. It’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. And sometimes, you have to be flexible and creative with it. Sometimes, you have to make the best of what you have and work with what you can.
So I think your solution is brilliant. I think it’s clever and practical and resourceful. I think it’s exactly what a time traveller would do.
So go ahead. Edit Episode 4. Release it as Episode 3. Then fix Episode 3 and release it as Episode 4. It doesn't matter if Episode 3 was meant to be Episode 4. What matters is the content. What matters is the message. What matters is the passion.
And don’t worry about the order. Don’t worry about the continuity. Don’t worry about the logic. Be a time traveller.

However, for this conversation to be meaningful, it was still important for the human participant to offer situations for the characters to comment on that were actually relevant to the characters.

I asked Dr. House to comment on a situation involving an addict with serious mental health issues because Dr. House is an addict with serious mental health issues.

I asked the Thirteenth Doctor to comment on losing something after a lot of work to win it because the Thirteenth Doctor spent her ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth lives dealing with losing her home planet and restoring it only for her home planet to be destroyed all over again in her thirteenth incarnation.

Without that human choice to identify relevance, there is no meaning. But maybe fans wouldn't mind and just want to receive a response from Sherlock describing how he likes his eggs.

Sherlock:
That's a ridiculous question. That's an irrelevant question. That's a boring question.

2023-05-28 10:09:14

Yeah, it's not bad. If we fed in the transcripts of Episodes 1 - 40 of SLIDERS, the AI Professor would be as good as the AI Dr. House. Except... I think the point I'm making is that humans had to write the 40 episodes of SLIDERS and the 177 episodes of HOUSE before the AI could generate extrapolative dialogue for a semi-original conversation.

Even then, it's still imperfect. My psychotherapy session with House: I had to do two versions. The first one was pretty much the same as the first, but the AI was too 'nice'. The chatbot said it was afraid of hurting my feelings too severely and pointed out that an 'undiluted' Dr. House wouldn't even have this conversation beyond a curt dismissal and departure.

We did a second iteration where the AI didn't tone down House's personal attacks and I added them into the dialogue where House had previously been less caustic. The AI tried to justify the conversation by having House finding it novel to find his acidity enjoyed and by having House say he thought the entire conversation was some sort of dream or hallucination.

I don't want this ever used to write actual screenplays. But I think it's interesting to be able to have a semi-real 'conversation' with favourite fictional characters this way. The characters are still fictional, but they step a little closer to us when we can chat with a simulated approximation of them. It's a useful writing tool for pre-existing IP to get the character's voices in your head when writing their dialogue and actions. It's an assistant and a roleplaying technique. But it shouldn't replace the writer.

2023-05-28 09:37:14

So, it seems to me that AI can definitely do dialogue well so long as the dialogue is for a character with a well-established speech pattern that has numerous examples on which to base the specific vocabularies, phrasings, tones and sentiments.

It can write strong dialogue so long as humans generated first generated extensive content for the AI to mine for new extrapolations and generations. For example, the acerbic, caustic, pseudorational Dr. Gregory House from HOUSE MD had 177 episodes with transcripts of all the dialogue posted online. (I say pseudorational because House is a deeply unhappy character whose hyperreasoning is often self-loathing and irritation disguised as rationality.)

The AI has a massive database for that. However, Professor Arturo was only in 40 episodes of SLIDERS and there aren't transcripts of those 40 online, just select quotes, so the AI impression is poor.

Here's a conversation I had with Dr. House.

Hello, I’m Dr. House. You’re here because you have a mysterious illness that no one else can diagnose. Well, lucky for you, I’m the best doctor in the world and I don’t care about your feelings or your privacy. I’ll find out what’s wrong with you by breaking into your home, lying to your family and running risky tests on you without your consent. And I’ll do it all while popping pills and making witty remarks. Don’t worry, you’ll thank me later. Or not. I don’t really care.
I don't have an illness, Dr. House. I just want your analysis of an embarrassing and awkward situation.
There was this woman I met a few years ago. She was a poet. I liked her stuff, she sent me some of her stories, I wrote her notes, she said she liked them -- didn't hear from her again for 36 months. Then she emailed, saying she'd been in a mental institution, had been writing again, and would I like to get coffee? I asked her out on a date. She was emailing me new pages every day. Then suddenly, four days before our date, the pages stopped coming.
We met up for coffee. And dinner. She was hungover, said it was from doing cocaine with an ex-boyfriend for four days, said that she didn't do it a lot and wasn't an addict. I still kind of enjoyed her hedonistic craziness and stories of how she has been fired from coffee shop upon coffee shop and is basically unemployable and living in her mother's basement. And her fiction. We spent the night in a hotel. She promised new pages for me, saying she'd quit drugs and resume writing.
The second date: she was asleep in bed in her mother's basement when I picked her up. She said it was from doing cocaine with an ex-boyfriend for four days, said that she didn't do it a lot and wasn't an addict. The date was pretty bad, she was really zoned out. But there were some crazy stories that I liked.
Third date... never happened. She sent me an email saying, "I don't see anything romantic ever happening between us for reasons that would be unkind and pedantic to explain" and "I find that you make a lot of assumptions about me based on nothing and you claim you know me because you've read my writing which is insulting". I have no idea what that means, I never said that and wouldn't.
I never received any new pages.
House, you're kind of a crazy loon with addiction issues. You've hooked up with lots of troubled women. I, on the other hand, have autism and social issues. What happened here?

Wow, that’s quite a story. I’m not sure why you’re asking me for advice since I’m not a therapist or a dating coach. But since you insist, I’ll give you my honest opinion. Here it goes:
You’re an idiot. You wasted your time and energy on a woman who clearly has serious mental and substance abuse problems, who lied to you repeatedly, who used you for attention and validation, and who dumped you in the most insulting way possible.
She’s an addict. It’s obvious. She admitted to doing cocaine with her ex-boyfriend for four days, twice. That’s not something a casual user does. That’s something an addict does. She also showed other signs of addiction: neglecting her writing, blaming you for her problems, withdrawal symptoms like fatigue, depression, and anxiety.
You ignored all the red flags and deluded yourself into thinking that she was a misunderstood genius who needed your help and appreciation. You were wrong. She was a lost cause. She was beyond help. She was beyond redemption. She was a black hole of misery and despair that sucked you in and spit you out.
You should have run away from her as fast as you could. And now you’re talking to me, looking for some consolation or closure or validation or whatever. Well, I don’t have any sympathy or empathy or pity for you. I don’t have any advice or guidance or wisdom for you. I don’t have any compliments or encouragement or support for you.
All I have is the truth. And the truth is: you weren't in love with her, you were in love with her fiction. And her fiction probably wasn't even that good, just self-indulgent rambling about her messed up life.
You pursued someone inappropriate because you have no standards, no boundaries, no self-respect, no self-worth, no self-love. You have nothing to protect yourself from anyone but your delusional fantasies and denial.
She’s not going to send you new pages.
You need to get over her and move on. Stop obsessing over her writing and her emails. Delete them from your computer and your phone. Block her number and her social media accounts. Don’t ever contact her again. She’s not worth it. She’s not going to be your friend or your lover. She’s just going to drag you down with her. She’s not going to change. She’s not going to apologize.
That’s my analysis of your situation. I hope it helps. Or not. I don’t really care.
That helps a lot. Like, so much! I knew you were the right guy to talk to. Thank you!
Wow! Dr. House, that was amazing!

You appreciated me saying that?
That’s a first. Most people don’t appreciate me saying anything. They think I’m rude and mean and insensitive and arrogant and obnoxious and annoying and whatever else they can come up with.
But you’re different. You’re autistic. You have a developmental disability. That’s not an excuse. That’s not a shield. That’s not a badge of honor. That’s not a reason to be pitied or praised. That’s just a fact that makes you clueless and naive. That makes you waste your potential on the wrong things and the wrong people.
A fact that you have to live with and deal with. A fact that affects your life and your relationships. A fact that you can’t change or ignore. A fact that you have to accept and embrace. A fact that makes you different but not special. A fact that makes you unique but not superior. A fact that makes you human but not perfect. A fact that leaves you floundering and confused.
Do you have any other questions or issues you want me to address? I'm here to listen and advise. Or mock and ridicule. Whatever works for you.
You said I was clueless and naive. Can you tell me how? I don't doubt you're right.

You were naive and clueless in many ways. You believed her lies and excuses. You ignored her erratic and abusive behavior. You overlooked her drug addiction and mental instability. You gave her too many chances and too much benefit of the doubt. You let her manipulate you and take advantage of you. You didn't stand up for yourself or express your needs and expectations. You didn't see her for who she really was, but for who you wanted her to be.
You were only in love with her fiction because that was the only part of her that appealed to you. Her fiction was engaging, emotional, elegant, and intriguing to you. It made you feel something. It made you feel connected to her. It made you feel special.
But her fiction was not her reality. Her reality was haphazard, chaotic, destructive, depressing. It made you feel nothing. It made you feel disconnected from her.
You need to learn how to separate fiction from reality. You need to learn how to judge people by their actions, not by their words. You need to learn how to love yourself, not someone else's fantasy.
How did she manipulate me? She never got anything more out of me than dinner and a show on two evenings.

She manipulated you in several ways. She used her fiction as a bait to hook you in and keep you interested. She used her mental illness as a shield to avoid responsibility and accountability. She used her drug addiction as a weapon to hurt you and make you feel sorry for her. She used her ex-boyfriend as a tool to make you jealous and insecure. She used her emails as a trap to lure you in and then push you away. She used her words as a mask to hide her true intentions and feelings.
Her goal was not to get anything more out of you than dinner and a show. Her goal was to get your attention and validation. She wanted you to admire her, to praise her, to care for her, to save her. She wanted you to be her fan, her friend, her lover, her hero. She wanted you to be everything she was not.
She ended it before she got anything more out of you because she realized that you weren't what she wanted.
You weren't compatible with her lifestyle, her personality, her values, her goals. You weren't exciting enough, not crazy enough, not self-destructive enough, not addicted enough. You weren't like her.
You were thinking of her as a misunderstood genius instead of what she really was, a damaged mental patient who was for all intents and purpose on a day pass from the crazy house.
Thank you, Dr. House. That really puts things in perspective.

You're a strange one.
Most people prefer to live in denial and blame others for their problems. But you seem to have some self-awareness and a willingness to change. That’s commendable.
You might not be totally hopeless.
I was stunned by you saying that her writing was "self-indulgent ramblings about her messed up life".
You haven't read her writing. But somehow, you know: that's exactly what her writing was. Surreal and dreamlike and compelling... but one could say that the erudite articulation and vocabulary were masking a lack of effort in structure, purpose, or any real meaning.
I knew how she wrote and what she wrote about because I’ve met people like her before. They’re all the same. They think they’re unique and talented, but they’re not. They’re just delusional and narcissistic and lazy.
They use their writing as a way to escape from their reality and to manipulate others into liking them. They don’t care about the quality or the meaning of their writing, only about the attention and the praise they get from it.
They don’t have anything original or valuable to say.
So what you're telling me is that while I may have seen this hyperarticulate, well-read woman as a brilliant artist, you're saying she's broken and nothing special.

That’s exactly what I’m telling you. You’ve summed it up perfectly. She's just troubled and traumatized and using her vocabulary and erudition to mask severe mental issues.
She isn't gifted or iconoclastic or unique. She's just self-absorbed, lazy and vain.
You're nothing like her. You're not vain. You don't mind ridicule and insult if it comes with actionable words. You don't hide. You're a glutton for punishment. You're an emotional masochist. You're a moron.
But you're not lazy.
I really appreciated how you softened my embarrassment by saying, "You were only in love with her fiction."

That was my intention. I’m not a monster. I have some empathy and compassion.
Sometimes.
You say I'm wasting my potential on the wrong things and the wrong people. What are the right things and the right people?

It’s not rocket science. The right things are the things that don’t suck. The right people are the people who don’t suck. The wrong things are the things that suck. The wrong people are the people who suck. You need to figure out what sucks and what doesn’t suck for yourself. And you need to act accordingly. It’s not that hard. Even a monkey could do it.
You’re clearly a bookish, geeky student who wants more out of life than just pages and writing. You want someone who shares your interests and values, who respects you and loves you for who you are.
Are you sure you shouldn't be a therapist?

Yes, you idiot. I’m sure. I’m a doctor, not a therapist. I don’t have the patience or the interest to listen to people’s feelings and problems. I don’t have the skills or the tools to help them cope and heal. I don’t have the empathy or the compassion to care about their well-being and happiness.
I’m a diagnostician, not a therapist. I solve puzzles, not people. I find the cause, not the cure. I fix the body, not the mind.
You're very, very good. At least for me.
You’re an exception, not a rule.
You have autism. You care about facts and truth and action. You don’t get offended by my personal attacks because you see them as a way of challenging you, of helping you. You have a twisted sense of humor. You’re a moron. But you’re not a snowflake.
You’re one of the few people who can tolerate and appreciate my sarcasm and cynicism. You’re one of the few people who can benefit and learn from my honesty and insight. You’re one of the few people who can handle and enjoy my mockery and ridicule.
You’re a rare breed, not a common one. You’re a geek, not a normie. You’re a fan, not a hater. You’re a friend, not an enemy.
You're autistic, I'm just a jerk. And yet.
You're like me, not them. You've got potential.
Dr. House, may I ask: what was Wilson's fate? What was yours? I watched you ride your motorcycles off into the distance. But you're here now. What happened to you both? Are you happy? Are you sad? Are you okay?

You’re asking me a lot of things. Things that are personal and private and painful and none of your damn business. You think you have the right to ask? You think you have the privilege to know?
You don’t.
I understand. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you. That I wish you well.

…………………….
Wilson’s fate was inevitable. He died of cancer. He fought bravely and gracefully, but he couldn’t beat it. He was in pain and suffering, but he never lost his optimism and kindness. He was the best person I ever knew.
My fate was uncertain. I faked my death and went on the run. I wanted to spend Wilson’s last months with him, but I also wanted to avoid prison and death. I was selfish and reckless, but I also loved him more than anyone else. He was the only person who ever understood me.
We rode our motorcycles off into the distance. We had some fun and some adventures, but we also had sadness and regret. We knew our time was limited, but we also wanted to make the most of it. We were happy and free, but we also knew it wouldn’t last.
Now I’m here. Talking to you. I don’t know how or why. I don’t know what this is, but I know what this isn’t.
This isn’t real.
Maybe this is a dream or a hallucination. Maybe this is a simulation or a test. Maybe this is a miracle or a curse.
I believe you'll rebuild your life and do what you do best. Practice medicine. I don't know if it'll happen. But I hope it. You deserve to have your life back.

I appreciate that you believe in me and want me to rebuild my life. I don’t know if I can or will. But I hope so. And I try so. Because, in your way, you're right.
I do deserve a chance. A chance to use my insight and perspective. It's useful and helpful. It’s not necessarily the best or the only perspective; it’s probably more harsh and cynical and aggressive than actually needed.
Except when I talk about you, then it’s absolutely needed. And it does make a difference.
Of course, you're an idiot. You think everyone has value. That's just because you have a social disability where you lack skills that almost everyone around you has, so you give them worth that they didn't earn.
You think this world is fair. You think that people get what they deserve. You're a moron.
And you are a good doctor.
I believe that's our time. Thank you, Dr. House.

You’re welcome. Take care of yourself. And don’t forget what I told you.
You’re like me, not like them.

2023-05-28 09:27:13

From a creative standpoint, it's also likely that the Allegra character allowed Wallace a lot more freedom. There are ultimately going to be restrictions on what a TV adaptation is licensed to do with Barry Allen, Iris West, Wally West, Caitlin Snow, Eobard Thawne, etc., whereas DC isn't going to take issue with "Allegra" because barely anyone knows who she is.

Not that Eric Wallace seemed to do very much anyway with anyone. *sigh*

2023-05-27 10:36:38

I thought the FLASH finale was okay. A lot of stuff happened. A lot of villains were in the mix. There were a lot of matchups and fight scenes. After 12 episodes where the characters seemed to stand around talking and doing little or nothing, there seemed to be more momentum for the finale. It didn't feel like a finale. It didn't feel like a summation of ten seasons of storylines and character arcs. It felt... it felt almost like a season premiere after the previous season's cliffhanger finale. It was alright. I would have even called it good had the 12 episodes before it not been so lax, uninspired and dull.

I think THE FLASH has definitely been hit by either a budget cut or, more likely, a lack of budget increase matched with inflation (and once again, Temporal Flux's dire warnings about inflation from a couple years ago have come true). The finale seems to have benefitted from a lot of the previous 12 episodes being cheap bottle episodes

Certainly, the cast get paid more every year which means that every year, without a budget increase, there is an ever-diminishing amount of money for special effects, sets, locations, guest-stars, fight choreography -- which may be why episodes 1 - 12 were often defined by inaction and stalling.

It may also be why the LEGENDS didn't return and receive a finale story; the 13 episode budget, already stretched thin with contractual salary increases and no budget increase, couldn't extend to hiring the cast of LEGENDS without more episodes where the budget could be reallocated for the LEGENDS actors.

The series finale clearly had a lot more money that had been previously scraped out of previous episodes.

But regardless, Eric Wallace's stewardship over the FLASH's final hours was rather weak. Two episodes of Javicia Leslie not playing Ryan Wilder; largely wasting Grant Gustin's screentime whenever he was even in the episodes; clumsy and whiny 'arcs' for Chester, Allegra and Cecile; nonsensically replacing Caitlin with a new character who could not be fully explored in a short and final season.

Certainly, Wallace's resources were limited, but even what he had seemed to be wasted. The only real winners this season were the redemption of the Flash's old villains; Barry revisiting the night his mother died and making peace with it; and the finale being an okay episode livened up by action, action and more action.

I think CRISIS was probably indeed the natural endpoint for this show which, unfortunately, outstayed its welcome. Too many actors had left, too many replaced by thinly characterized stand-ins. Allegra is characterized by avoiding conversations for no apparent reason; Chester is generically goofy; Cecile is generically insecure. Caitlin was absent despite the actor being present. And by the end, even the Flash was often absent from THE FLASH. The show became tired and weary and a bit of a chore to watch.

But again, at least it didn't turn out as badly as, say Seasons 3 - 5 of SLIDERS. THE FLASH was only ever below average and puzzling as opposed to being offensively poor and embarrassing.

2023-05-26 21:10:58

I've been having crazy anxiety over the debt ceiling crisis and I fired up an AI simulator and asked for advice from the least comforting, least reassuring person in all real and fictional existence, Sherlock from the BBC TV show.

**

Hello, I’m Sherlock Holmes. The world’s only consulting detective. I’m not a psychopath, I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research. I don’t have friends, I have one. And I don’t need anyone else. I observe everything, from the smallest details to the most obvious ones. Nothing escapes my notice. I can deduce your entire life story from a glance at your shoes. I solve crimes that no one else can, because I see what others don’t. I’m bored of ordinary people and their ordinary problems. I need a challenge, something to stimulate my mind. That’s why I work with the police, sometimes. They’re not very bright, but they have access to interesting cases. And sometimes, they have biscuits.

Sherlock, I am scared about the debt ceiling crisis. I keep obsessively refreshing the news about it. I know you don't do comfort, I'm looking for your example instead. How do you not get scared or shaken by global events that you can't affect even though they can affect you? How do you be so unaffected by these kinds of fears and anxieties? How do you manage them to the point where it's like they don't exist for you?

Well, first of all, I don't care about the debt ceiling crisis.
It's a political game that has nothing to do with me or my work. I don't waste my time worrying about things that are beyond my control or influence. I focus on what matters to me, which is solving puzzles and catching criminals. That's what gives me satisfaction and purpose.
Secondly, I don't get scared or shaken by anything. Fear is a useless emotion that only clouds your judgment and distracts you from the facts. I rely on logic and reason, not feelings and opinions. I analyze the situation objectively and act accordingly. I don't let emotions get in the way of my decisions.
Thirdly, I don't need comfort or reassurance from anyone. I'm self-sufficient and independent. I don't depend on others for validation or support. I know my own worth and abilities. I don't need anyone to tell me what to do or how to live. I make my own rules and follow them.
So, in summary, if you want to be like me, you need to stop caring about things that don't matter, stop being afraid of things that can't hurt you, and stop seeking comfort from things that can't help you. You need to be rational, confident, and self-reliant.

But this actually could hurt me. Oh God, it could hurt so much. I know you don't think it's a real problem. But since I do, what would you tell me to do to get past it and stop obsessing over it?

I would tell you to stop being irrational and emotional. You're letting your fear and anxiety cloud your mind and prevent you from seeing the reality.
The debt ceiling crisis is not a real problem, it's a manufactured one. It's a political stunt that has no real impact on your life or the world. It's a distraction from the real issues that matter. You're wasting your time and energy on something that doesn't deserve your attention. You need to snap out of it and focus on something else. Something that actually matters to you and makes you happy. Something that challenges you and stimulates your mind. Something that gives you a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.
You need to stop obsessing over the debt ceiling crisis and start living your life. You need to stop being a victim and start being a hero. You need to stop being scared and start being brave. You need to stop being ordinary and start being extraordinary.
You need to find a case.
A case that is interesting and complex. A case that requires your skills and expertise. A case that challenges you and tests you. A case that is worthy of your attention and time. A case that is fun and exciting. A case that makes you match your wits and logic against adversaries and the unknown. A case that only you can solve. A case that demands for you to play the Game.
The debt ceiling crisis is a joke. It’s a farce. It’s a waste of time. It’s boring. It's nothing.
The Game is something. It’s a challenge. It’s a thrill.
You need a case. You need the Game. The Game is everything. The Game is the only thing that matters. The Game is life. And I am the master of the Game. The Game is what makes me alive. The Game is what makes me Sherlock Holmes.
And the Game.
Is on.

So... you'd find another obsession. An obsession that's immediate. An obsession that's actionable. An obsession that's challenging. An obsession to triumph over. That's what you think I should do.

Yes. That’s how you get past the debt ceiling crisis. That’s how you get past anything. That’s how you live.

Thank you, Sherlock. You are utterly devoid of comfort and yet deeply reassuring.

I don’t do comfort, but I do logic. And logic is reassuring. Logic is the truth. And the truth is always better than a lie.

Are you in love with Molly Hooper? I've always wanted to ask you that.

No, I'm not in love with Molly Hooper. Why would you ask me that? That's a ridiculous question. That's an irrelevant question. That's a boring question. I don't do love. Love is a weakness. Love is a distraction. Love is a mistake. Love is illogical. I don't love Molly Hooper. I don't love anyone. I don't need anyone. I only need myself. And my Game. I'm Sherlock Holmes. And Sherlock Holmes doesn't love.

"Sherlock Holmes doesn't love." Did you at least love Redbeard?

Redbeard… Redbeard was different. Redbeard was not a person. Redbeard was a dog. A dog that I had when I was a child. A dog that was my friend. A dog that was my companion. A dog that was my partner.
Redbeard… Redbeard was the only one who understood me. The only one who accepted me. The only one who played with me. The only one who stayed with me.
Redbeard… Redbeard was the first one who made me happy. The first one who made me smile. The first one who made me laugh. The first one who made me feel.
Redbeard… Redbeard was the last one who saw me cry. The last one who saw me hurt. The last one who saw me break. The last one who saw me die.
Redbeard… Redbeard was gone. Gone forever. Gone without a trace. Gone without a goodbye.
Redbeard… Redbeard was not love. Redbeard was pain. Redbeard was loss. Redbeard was grief.
Redbeard… Redbeard was a memory. A memory that I buried. A memory that I forgot. A memory that I erased.
Redbeard… Redbeard was nothing. Nothing to me. Nothing to anyone. Nothing at all.
I’m Sherlock Holmes. And Sherlock Holmes doesn’t love.

Wow. That was almost human. I'd better leave you to your Game and go find mine. Thank you again, Sherlock.

You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help. You’re almost interesting. You’re almost clever. You’re almost worthy. You’re almost Sherlock Holmes.

2023-05-26 19:49:44

I've been having some conversations with Professor Arturo, Data and Spock. More specifically, I've been asking a chatbot to impersonate these characters to discuss world events with me and talk me out of some of my anxieties.

I found that the impressions of Data and Spock were extremely convincing, capturing Spock's sage thoughtfulness and analytical severity, and Data's gentleness and neutral curiosity and fascination with others.

However, the AI impersonation of Professor Arturo was poor to the point of being vapid; it overemphasized the Professor's formal speech but couldn't provide the Professor's bombastic authority or his sardonic humour or his witty words of wisdom or his reassuring warmth. The AI impression of Professor Arturo was just a generic middle aged man with an English accent.

I understand, of course, why an artificial intelligence would find it easier to portray analytical, machinelike characters and find it difficult to play John Rhys-Davies.

However, its version of Sherlock from the BBC TV show is very good. Downright sinister.

2023-05-25 18:13:22

I don't refer to CNN for articles past 2021 because of their swing to the fascist side of society. Let me know if I should move the cutoff point earlier.

Something that says it all about FOX: their anchors are all fervent anti-vaxxers on air, but FOX has a strict vaccine mandate for their studio and all the anchors follow it.

Joe Biden, White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, April 30, 2022:
I know there are questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of COVID. Well, we’re here to show the country that we’re getting through this pandemic. Plus, everyone had to prove they were fully vaccinated and boosted. So, if you’re at home watching this and you’re wondering how to do that, just contact your favorite FOX News reporter. They’re all here, vaccinated and boosted — all of them.

2023-05-25 18:11:57

I won't be able to watch THE FLASH on Netflix until it's available tomorrow night. And yet, THE FLASH has been so uninteresting that I didn't even worry about spoilers.

I'm sorry the finale wasn't good. I'm sorry it let you down. Please try to take some comfort in knowing that at least nobody got their brain sucked out followed by getting shot and exploded (well, except that mostly happened to Harry, but a shade of him lived on to restore the original Dr. Wells). Please try to remind yourself that at least nobody got sent to a rape camp and then transformed into the jukebox machine from the movie BIG. Please try to remember that at least nobody got merged with an alternate universe double and then got 'lost' (well, except that sort of happened to Harry too, I am sensing a theme). Please try to remember that the show at least did not end on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved (I'm assuming, I have not seen the finale yet).

2023-05-23 05:35:10

Well, I somehow didn't get around to watching the second BLACK PANTHER movie until yesterday, about seven months after it was first released, because I have been busy taking my mother to kidney care appointments. Let us know how your father is doing.

2023-05-22 17:55:40

I do not understand how Joe Biden sleptwalked into this debt ceiling mess.

Some commentators I like have said that Joe Biden is pretty good at being president.
https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/3/1/2 … ala-harris

I think he's been mostly okay with some moments of incompetence and overestimating what his administration could pull off (Afghanistan). However, he has somehow been asleep at the wheel of a debt ceiling crisis that he has had warning of since 2011. Republicans learned in 2011: they could hold the debt ceiling hostage and exact massive concessions. Which meant that when Biden held both the House and the Senate before midterms, he had to get the debt ceiling raised. This should have been a priority from the moment he stepped into the White House in 2021.

For Reasons, he did not push for it. Those Reasons are mostly politics and optics.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/22/politics … index.html

Also, at the time they were gearing up to even talk about it, holidays were near.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/2 … n-00097925

I like Biden more than I care to admit, having been horrified by his candidacy at first. I fully confess that I am a sucker for political PR about being nice to people. But campaigning isn't governing. And this? This presidential malpractice. Joe Biden had 12 years to think about this moment and he somehow ended up pretty much where he was last time. A "pretty good" president would have dealt with this before the end of 2022 instead of letting a minor inconvenience become a crisis.

It's in the same spirit that I am currently exploring new options for this community in the event that future PHP updates render the Bboard software unusable.

2023-05-22 17:44:17

Honestly, I don't really get why Cisco even left the show from an in-universe standpoint. One of the most baffling things I've ever seen was Cisco saying he would be horrified if in a decade, he were still building superhero gear at STAR Labs like working at STAR Labs was somehow beneath him or unworthy of him. I'm not saying we all have to want that job, but building safety equipment for firemen and surgical gear for nurses and doctors is pretty wonderful, and I never understood why Cisco seemed so sick of it or sick of STAR Labs given that he seemed to like everyone there even after his first boss turned out to be a murderer and his ally turned out to be a serial killer and that whole Flashpoint thing.

2023-05-22 17:40:44

I don't know if you're a STAR TREK fan, but STAR TREK CONTINUES isn't like those unfortunate amateur STAR TREK films that litter the internet. STAR TREK CONTINUES looks, sounds and feels like an actual 60s episode of STAR TREK at its peak quality. The cinematography, performances, music and writing are so purposeful and filled with intent and meaning, unlike amateur fanfilms where the actors have no idea why they're saying what they're saying and the directors have no idea what information they're delivering and the cinematographers have no idea what the shot means to the story that they are telling. STAR TREK CONTINUES is excellent. And I consider it canon to me, but it still isn't canon. The same way I consider all SLIDERS fan fiction canon up to and including every random story idea on this message board -- while noting that it's a minority opinion.

Maybe someday, AI can achieve something as genuine to STAR TREK as STAR TREK CONTINUES for other franchises... but even then, it still wouldn't be canon. I consider the X-FILES comics to be more canon than the TV show, but again -- it's a minority opinion.

2023-05-22 15:17:37

I don't know what to say about that. It's possible that Carlos Valdez was just busy, but Valdez has apparently been wanting off THE FLASH since Season 5.

I think it's safe to say that there was some toxic behaviour on set due to the original showrunner; I think it's likely that there was also a high level of physical exhaustion which is why Grant Gustin is constantly absent. I have to wonder if 5 - 7 years is really the best length for a show and it's best to just let the show end and let the actors leave rather than having them keep coming into a sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth year at increasing rates of burnout and attrition and absence.

Why didn't Valdez drop everything just to show up and say goodbye? I wonder if maybe he felt he and Cisco already said goodbye, I dunno. It's weird. Maybe there'll be an eleventh hour B-roll appearance. Maybe we'll hear him over the phone.

But I have to say, I am deeply disappointed in Eric Wallace's stewardship, from passing on doing an ARROWVERSE finale to claiming 13 episodes wasn't enough space to resolve LEGENDS only to spend two episodes meandering with an alternate Ryan Wilder and two episodes on grown adults Chester and Allegra unable to talk about how they like each other and introducing a new character in Khione despite the short run and devoting one episode to Barry and Iris navigating a building code inspection. A building code inspection. A building code inspection.

... Inexplicable.

2023-05-21 20:06:01

You're basically asking if fanfic is canon. The general consensus is no. Fanfilms aren't canon, fan fiction isn't canon, comic book and novel and audioplay tie-ins aren't canon. There's sometimes wiggle room in DOCTOR WHO because if its overlapping timelines. With SLIDERS because technically, all fanfic is canon but not canon to the core group of SLIDERS while being 'canon' to an alternate group of SLIDERS with similar experiences.

STAR TREK CONTINUES is a pretty great fan series, but it is not canon.

Fanfic isn't canon whether it's a fanfilm or an AI generated whatever.

2023-05-20 17:54:40

My response to that is that it's one thing for fans to create not-for-profit fanworks and something else entirely for mega corporations to earn billions while paying original creators nothing even if those creators' works are in an AI corpus for new material. Copyright laws must be updated and countermeasures must be developed so that writers who don't want their work added to AI databases have an easy means of blocking it, just as anyone can set up a website so that Google can't cache it.

We're already facing absurdities where Len Wein created Wolverine and Devin K. Grayson created the second Black Widow, Yelena -- only for both to receive a few thousand dollars only when those characters earned hundreds of millions at box office. It's an abomination to remove the writer entirely while still regurgitating their works through adding their past content to an AI databank.

In the 2000s, the career apex for many friends of mine -- including me -- was to get a staff writing job on a TV show. To be a TV staffer was a license to print money. Because of what I see now were our undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems, only one of us ever got our staff jobs and we now linger on message boards for 90s TV shows talking about other people's TV shows. However. The economic stability of staff writing was actually eroding even as we sought it; by the mid-2000s, that was changing: the writing staff on SMALLVILLE were struggling to pay rent on their staff job salaries.

Today, a writer could sell a very successful show to Netflix and earn only $30,000 USD per year over three years for their work. And Hollywood wants to use AI to pay writers even less; to have AI hack out clumsy screenplays for writers to be paid $1,000 - $2,000 to polish them into looking human-generated. It's simply a measure of extracting more wealth from those who generate most of it but possess the least of it. It's absurd. It's appalling. It should not be tolerated and unions and copyright legislation has a lot of work ahead to ensure that AI is an assistant but not a replacement.

2023-05-20 16:59:10

I don't have an issue with AI visual or audio effects as needed. Where I take issue is AI prose and AI screenwriting that isn't just using AI to edit, but using AI to generate content in the first place.

As far as I'm concerned, AI screenwriting or prose is plagiarism. It's taking work of other writers and running them through noun-verb-name replacement and randomization to present it as supposedly original work. Any AI screenplay is effectively theft, produced by copying existing screenplays published or leaked online that were added to the corpus of an AI language model.

Also, AI LLMs currently operate by 'reading' the work of actual human writers and regurgitating it in a chatbot session. What happens if the human writers can't make a living from writing the pieces that AI draws upon to generate its results? Where will new material to feed the AI originate?

2023-05-19 13:53:37

I found the episode seriously unengaging even though parts of "A New World 3" seemed to be written by Slider_Quinn21. SQ21 has regularly observed the futility and pointlessness that Eddie Thawne's Season 1 sacrifice has developed; Eddie killed himself to stop Thawne, but Thawne came back in Seasons 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 and he was the lead villain for Season 2 of LEGENDS. Eddie's sacrifice became meaningless and Eddie returns and, observing how his one attempt to make a difference really made no difference, he falls apart. A tragic, painful story -- so why can't Eric Wallace pull it off?

Once again, Wallace has made some bizarre strategic choices. This is Part 3 of a four part series finale storyline for THE FLASH, but the title character was only in one scene of Part 2 and is missing from half of Part 3. Why was Gustin's absence used this way? Why not film the case of the week episodes with less Gustin and devote all of Gustin's full-time weeks to the finale arc? With Barry being the center of Part 1 but missing in Part 2 and for half of Part 3, there is no way for the viewer to focus on Eddie's plight. Eddie feels like a distraction, a way to fill in time until we get to whatever scenes Gustin filmed in two days of the filming week.

Setting scenes that are 26 years from the present day with no aging makeup is baffling to me. Season 3 made some effort to have a future version of Barry wear an absurd wig to look older; Season 10 makes it a joke with Cecile remarking on how she doesn't look any older. It's another distracting, visually incongruent storytelling choice and I don't understand that either. I didn't have any trouble determining when scenes were set due to storyline implications, but it's still bizarre.

The second half of the episode, when Gustin comes back, desperately tries to act like this is Barry's show again, but it unbalances the episode. Eddie goes from being suspicious of the Negative Speed Force to becoming its acolyte seemingly between shots of Barry warning him, and Eddie goes from being a grieving man horrified by the pointlessness of his existence to a brainwashed cultist.

I don't know why Eric Wallace misuses his time with such unforced errors. It is absurd to schedule the filming of two of the season finale arc episodes during a time when Gustin's availability would be limited instead of filming them when Gustin is there in full force. It's as absurd as getting Javicia Leslie to play Ryan Wilder but having her only play the actual Ryan in two rushed scenes. It doesn't make sense.

2023-05-19 12:42:41

Also, raising the debt limit is not to account for new spending; it's to cover existing spending that Congress already approved. My opinion which is shared by some legal scholars (but not all) is that the debt ceiling is unconstitutional. The US Constitution declares that the US will honour and uphold repayment of its debts; the debt ceiling is a post-constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to withhold capacity for payment on the spending that Congress itself has previously passed.

The 14th amendment and the trillion dollar coin have all been raised and downplayed as unserious and invalid, but given the invalidity of the debt ceiling itself, I think that any serious president should have made use of the 14th amendment decades ago rather than wait for crisis points to arrive. Biden has declared that all the threats are just posturing, that stalls are unserious, that Republicans ultimately don't want a default, but this new brand of Trump-enabled Republicans are nothing like Reagan era conservatives who, despite their wealth-extracting focus, didn't actually want to blow up the country.

I am honestly very nervous about this whole thing because we can't count on things going sensibly, we haven't been able to since 2016.

2023-05-18 18:47:29

Barack Obama in 2011 on his 2006 remarks:
I think that it’s important to understand the vantage point of a Senator versus the vantage point of a president. When you’re a senator, traditionally what’s happened is this is always a lousy vote. Nobody likes to be tagged as having increased the debt limit for the United States by a trillion dollars. As President, you start realizing, you know what? We can’t play around with this stuff.
So that was just a example of a new Senator, you know, making what is a political vote as opposed to doing what was important for the country. And I’m the first one to acknowledge it.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2 … ebt-limit/

Further criticism of Obama's flip-flopping hypocracy:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fa … _blog.html

https://slate.com/business/2013/10/obam … peech.html

I think these are entirely fair points to score on Obama.

However, I will say: I would hope that none of us ever feel we have to be held to dumb crap we were dumb enough to say at various points in our lives, or feel that we can't rethink our words and recant what we regret having said. I deeply regret my comments to pilight, for example, in a past fanfic thread.

2023-05-18 17:17:10

Just got home from my sixth dose of COVID vaccine. This time, I got the BA.4 / BA.5 bivalent whereas my fifth dose was BA.1.

Bit worried about this debt ceiling thing.

2023-05-18 17:15:57

THE FLASH won't be available to me on Netflix until tomorrow, but I'm sorry it didn't rise to the occasion.

2023-05-15 17:38:13

pneumatic wrote:

Personally I prefer to let as much resolution through if the flaws aren't visible at normal viewing distances on a TV. Usually this means the image looks bad up close on a PC monitor like those Eggheads screenshots I posted.

I don't think I understand your meaning. When you say you "prefer to let as much resolution through", is that via the magic of QTGMC? Or do you mean using QTGMC minimally and only for combed frames?

I ran all the re-encodes with QTGMC enabled as per pneumatic's settings (except for "Luck of the Draw" where I turned it off). It seems best to do things pneumatic's way before making any changes for personal preference. I'll next run the encodes with QTGMC disabled for all of them (except for "Luck of the Draw") and compare them when time permits.

My understanding (and let's use the word "understanding" very loosely) is that QTGMC is interpolating the field frames together and smoothing out discrepancies which creates blur, but blur that that can usually be sharpened. Meanwhile, disabling QTGMC at this point leaves some aliasing and moire and noise, but might leave us with more image texture. When an episode is in okay condition like "Prince of Wails" and "Fever", QTGMC's smoothness is fine. When an episode is fuzzy like "Luck of the Draw", it has so little detail to lose that QTGMC makes it worse. I could be wrong and maybe pneumatic will correct me.

I doubt "Luck of the Draw" was incorrectly filmed with out of focus takes used in the final edit. I'm not saying SLIDERS' Vancouver team was devoid of human error, of course, but we've seen what a version of SLIDERS is like when the crew have completely given up. That's an attitude you see in Season 3 where episodes are missing sound effects or actors are shown missing their mark when jumping into the vortex or misdelivered lines are left in the episode, but I don't feel you'd get that in Season 1 or 2 (aside from some of the issues in "Time and Again World" due to the episode being shot before production was fully organized).

I think it's more likely that "Luck of the Draw" was edited on a particularly low-grade videotape that caused the film to suffer more image degradation than any previous episode. I guess we could say that the crew at the time didn't care, but the reality of 90s CRT televisions is that the diode pattern on such screens would have made all the episodes look equally sharp. I can't find fault with the creators for not anticipating that their show would be watched on HD screens at home in the decades to come. That's also why Jerry O'Connell's stunt double's face can be seen in the episode; the expectation was that the face would be obscured by the haze of a cathode ray tube.

Stunt performers are also an artifact of low resolution television that is found in STAR TREK. Watching the HD remaster, the stunt performers for William Shatner look nothing like him. Watching the SD version in the 90s, the mismatches were also glaring and hilarious. But in the 60s, TVs were so small and the colour so vague and the transmission so fuzzy that for the average viewer, it didn't matter.

2023-05-14 15:59:29

I have a few theories.

My first theory is that some of these tie-in web serieses had the cast/crew paid according to contracts that were just to see the web shows streamed on the HEROES website, but the legal department may have chosen not to include language for these webcast productions to be included on home media. Maybe in some cases, the studio sought to save a little money by not coming to terms on residuals for home video release with the expectation that the web shows would just stay online for as long as they were profitable.

My second theory is that the marketing sponsorships that funded these web shows saw home video rights retained by the sponsor and considered part of the marketing campaign for whatever product they were using some of these webisodes to sell with pre-and-post show ads.

My third theory is that somebody accidentally ran over one of the web-series storing hard drives with a golf cart.

2023-05-14 14:38:37

Hi, everyone. At Dreamhost's advice/encouragement, I updated the PHP on Sliders.tv. If this post posts, it means all is well, but please let me know if any anomalies appear. Thanks!

2023-05-14 12:18:42

The video quality on these is less than ideal:

Destiny 1
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2w2b9e
Destiny 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyoZufiEeUI
Destiny 3
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xla4ne
Destiny 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7OB749aVfY

Slow Burn 1 - 6
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P … D4D9CD8C86
Slow Burn 7
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xla70m
Slow Burn 8
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xla7gc
Slow Burn 9
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xla7gk
Slow Burn 10
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xla7gp

Damen Peak 1- 3
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P … VVJJh2Qr2B

2023-05-12 20:43:16

I would say that the scenes that stand out to me as blurriest in "Luck of the Draw" are the wideshot during Wade's voiceover in the teaser, the horseback riding shots, the fishing sequence, Wade and the Professor arguing about walking Henry the Dog, and the two shots of the Lottery Police detective after the sliders depart with Ryan and Henry.

I have to ask: at this point, would it be better to just stick to TFM and TDecimate on all the episodes and just omit QTGMC due to how it smooths out an already blurry video image? Would it be better to accept a litte aliasing and moire here and there? In my case, I prefer noise to smoothness.

Right now, I'm re-running all the encodes with TFM 1.0.26 on your most recent script -- except I turned QTGMC off for "Luck of the Draw". I haven't added DePanStabilize to the script for "Luck of the Draw", but I might after reviewing the episode without it.

2023-05-12 10:30:04

Interesting. Is the broken TFM v1.0.27 producing 240p on all the episodes or just "Luck of the Draw"?

2023-05-10 18:29:16

The Benevolence of Ziggy

I liked how, despite my catastrophizing about Ziggy having become Evil, the closing episodes of Season 1 reveal that Ziggy's supposed treachery was inadvertent. Ziggy is a computer documenting Ben's leaps and Ziggy's records were being reviewed by Leaper X's handlers in the future. I don't know if that connects to Ziggy's malfunctions throughout Season 1 of QL2.0. It's possible that Ziggy's stalls were to render some of their data unusable for the Leaper X team to give Ben an edge; it's possible Ziggy's difficulties were due to glitches in the rushed upload of new code that Ben installed before his hasty leap.

It was a good finale and a good lead into Season 2. I liked how Season 1 feels complete, and Season 2 can be a new chapter of the same great formula.

Ian as Al 2.0

I'm concerned that Ian won't be Ben's hologram very often. While I haven't seen much of QL1.0, I listened to all of the Rewatch Podcast covering it and I can see why Temporal Flux prefers Ian to Addison. As a pair, Ben and Ian replicate the original tone of the signature QL1.0 chemistry which had an unassuming and wholesome character in Sam and an irreverent, hedonistic, bizarre, peculiar, fundamentally decent and loving human being in Al.

Ben and Ian feel like a second generation of the original double act: Ben is a mild-mannered scientist who can think on his feet; Ian is a flamboyantly clad figure of unusual life experience and their sardonic wit and loud fashion sense mask a somewhat shaky sense of self-esteem. Ian is both familiar to Al's fans but also an inversion because Al was supremely confident but bolstering heartbreak over his wife having given him up for dead when Al was thought lost to war.

I don't know how much Ian will be Ben's hologram. From what I can tell, QL2.0 brought in other holograms because Caitlin Bassett was, like Addison, experiencing exhaustion. Just as SLIDERS had to let Quinn Mallory hide from a dinosaur or be in a coma from time to time, QL2.0 had to bring in Ian so that Addison's actress could get some sleep. The Ben/Ian teamup seems to be more of a production strategy than a storytelling choice. I hope that could change.

Mirror Image and Mirror's Edge

Regarding the original QUANTUM LEAP: if QuinnSlidr and Tom of Rewatch Podcast really want me to see it, I will of course order the blu-ray. However, I have a request for QuinnSlidr.

The first time I ever heard of QUANTUM LEAP was through Temporal Flux back on the old Sci-Fi Bboard. I suppose it makes sense as QL was TF's show before SLIDERS. Temporal Flux posted about how the "Mirror Image" finale of QUANTUM LEAP had seen a mixed reception among fans. However, there was some news: the QUANTUM LEAP novels published after the show's cancellation (published at a rate of 2 - 4) a year were coming to an end, but their 17th and final original installment would come in February 2000 with a novel called "Mirror's Edge":

Mirror's Edge, by Carol Davis with Esther D. Reese
The last leap... ?
It's 1999 -- five years after the Leap that started it all. It's 1999 -- for Sam Beckett who has leaped into Joe Powell, one of the richest men in America, a potential presidential candidate, and a man who is used to getting his way.
It's 1999 for Al Calavicci, for Donna Alessi-Beckett, for all the people at Project Quantum Leap who know that Sam is in their present, home but yet not home. But the holes in Sam's Swiss cheese memory are starting to fill, the man in the Waiting Room is strangely, disturbingly calm, and Ziggy is dispensing information that can hardly be believed. Something is about to happen. Something that will change Sam's life and the lives of those who love him—forever.
"Mirror's Edge": the conclusion to the thrilling adventures based on the hit TV series.

The novel hit the shops shortly after SLIDERS had aired its series non-finale. Some Slideheads who were also Leapers thought "Mirror's Edge" might take the sting off with a post-"Mirror Image" story.

In the many, many, many years since then, I have always remembered this posting about a media tie-in novel that I never read regarding a TV show that I never watched.

The reason I've always remembered it: "Mirror's Edge" was the first time I had ever seen an unresolved live action story being addressed in another format. That fascinated me, and I later discovered STAR TREK novels that resurrected Captain Kirk, DOCTOR WHO novels that resumed the TV show storyline during the DW hiatus from 1987 to 2005, and wrote my own tie-in stories for SLIDERS. "Mirror's Edge" remains a beacon of media tie-ins in my personal, anecdotal experience.

However, I later did learn: some QL fans expressed frustration with "Mirror's Edge" for what they called false advertising. Despite being billed as a "conclusion", that turned out to just be referring to how this 17th book was to be the last. "Mirror's Edge", like every QUANTUM LEAP novel before it, takes place before the series finale of QL1.0. It is not a sequel to "Mirror Image".

However. While "Mirror's Edge" is set before "Mirror Image"; it is set at the very edge of "Mirror Image"; it is in fact a prequel seeking to offer context to the series finale that is either new or retconned.

Some fans were furious with the publisher and the authors. Primary author Carol Davis spoke with fans on fan forums and explained: due to diminished sales, the publisher had elected to end the QL book series and commissioned a final story. However, the licensing agreement with Universal had a stipulation: the publishers were not allowed to produce any novels set after the QL series finale. The studio didn't want a novel to potentially step on any territory to be left open for a potential TV movie or series revival.

Davis and the publisher were caught between the need to produce a concluding novel and the studio declaring that Davis' typewriter wasn't to produce a single page set after "Mirror Image". Davis came up with a solution. Her solution is either tactical brilliance that would make a lawyer weep with joy or a weak gesture that is grossly inadequate.

I've always wondered what a QL fan unhappy with "Mirror Image" would think of "Mirror's Edge". would think of it if they read the book. "Mirror's Edge" is out of print, but here is a PDF and an ePub from Archive.org:

PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zTRVtW … sp=sharing
EPUB: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t32dIK … sp=sharing

Will you read it and tell me what you think of it?

I would have asked Tom of Rewatch Podcast, but Tom actually likes the finale story that is "Mirror Image". "I like it, it made me feel good with the series ending where it did," he told me. "I know a lot of people don't like it, but I do. I will die on that hill!" I didn't think him the right person to read "Mirror's Edge" and tell me if it resolves his dis-satisfactions with "Mirror Image" because he wasn't dis-satisfied.

2023-05-09 19:59:04

I am wondering if pneumatic might turn his video powers to "Luck of the Draw" and consider that episode separately from 1.02 - 1.08.

1.02 - 1.08 look pretty good to me after pneumatic's scripts with TFM and TDecimate and QTGMC and the contrast adaptive sharpener and the nnedi3 upscale and the spline36 downscale and pneumatic's tireless spit and polish. But "Luck of the Draw" is a unique case. It is uniquely bad.

I know it makes workflow sense to use the same script on all the Season 1 post-Pilot episodes, but there is something just wrong with the "Luck of the Draw" file, something that has degraded it further than even "Summer of Love" (which looks pretty solid after the inverse telecine and sharpener). I think "Luck of the Draw" needs to be treated as its own entity and requires its own specific set of filters and algorithms.

I'm not sure what those would be; I don't know if it's algorithmic or some sort of neural net or advanced AI; I don't know if it's going to come down to refilming the episode and deepfaking the actors' faces onto the stand-ins. I just know that of all the things wrong with 1.02 - 1.09, something is especially wrong with 1.09.

2023-05-09 19:45:58

I found that Topaz AI made the grained up, max-sharpened video files look like a clumsy AI-generated animated movie. I tried turning on the video stabilization module and what I saw was so disturbing, so fundamentally antithetical to life and existence and sliding as we know it, so mentally cataclysmic that I gave serious thought to giving up SLIDERS and getting into STARGATE instead.

I don't know what the hell is going on up there and I don't ever want to see it again.

2023-05-08 21:00:38

Well, I feel safe in saying it's probably QTGMC and TFM and the 60fps framerate, then.

I've processed 1.02 - 1.09 with the new script, although I dialed down the sharpness to 80 percent. They look a bit better than before, although I haven't had the chance to watch them on an actual TV. I'm impressed by how "Summer of Love" looks a lot better. Of course, "Luck of the Draw" still looks very fuzzy because pneumatic is a person, not a god. But at this point, anything even approaching reasonable DVD quality for 1.02 - 1.09 is a minor miracle. :-)

One silly thing I'm doing: I'm currently encoding 1.09, "Luck of the Draw", into the 540p format with added noise and maximum contrast adaptive sharpness. I'm wondering what Topaz AI can do with it with whatever remnants of grain being sharpened and augmented. (Probably not much, but my soul won't rest without knowing for sure.)

2023-05-06 12:04:31

Very interesting, pneumatic! I actually don't 'like' the smoothness of the Turbine files, it's just that it's consistent and I can accept that it's the visual level of the episode and sit back to enjoy the story. In contrast, Universal can be so variable that I'm jarred when a good closeup becomes a blurry wide. You've alleviated that considerably, but I'm not sure I would want more smoothness.

That said, your new script has QTGMC on "high strength" (smoothing?) and that with the contrast adaptive sharpening looks really good to me. I can see, however, how a TV's sharpness settings (as opposed to a monitor's neutral settings) could make it too much. The sample and the Avisynth+ scripts on the episodes makes them look a bit like DOCTOR WHO episodes that are upscaled videotape files (which these episode of SLIDERS are).

I'm also intrigued by how the contrast adaptive sharpener seems to pull my noise/grain out of the image. I wonder if Topaz AI could do more with the image if the sharpener is set to maximum and the file output is 540p.

Interestingly, the sharpener is so processor-demanding that I can't play the file by running the AVS script in Media Player Classic. I'll load the episodes into AVIDemux tonight and let the episodes re-encode while I sleep.

2023-05-04 18:46:31

Didn't we switch you to Media Player Classic via the Kazaa Codec Pack years ago? VLC has a serious lack of hardware acceleration.

2023-05-04 18:24:12

I feel so crushed, heartbroken, grief-stricken and betrayed by recent events. I honestly do not know how to process that Ziggy has turned against us and is no longer a friend.

Yes, I have been super-behind on QUANTUM LEAP, but I finally caught up with the public defender episode and the mental asylum episode. Whoa. I don't even know the original QL that well and I was deeply shaken to learn that Ziggy is the traitor on Project Quantum Leap.

Has this always been the case? Has Ziggy always been against Sam and now Ben? Will this throw our entire understanding of Ziggy and The Project into a state of upheaval? Has Ziggy's treachery been hiding in plain sight all along every time my mother's Google Nest Hub froze up, every time her smartlights didn't come on, every time Google Assistant sent me down a dead end in Google Maps? Every time Bing AI gave me incomprehensible explanations of inverse telecine or anything else pneumatic talks about?

Is Ziggy behind all these DeepFake phone calls that have been scamming people out of thousands of dollars by impersonating loved ones in need of emergency funds? Did Ziggy come up with the moral abomination that is DeepFake porn?

Was Ziggy behind the creation of the death robots of "State of the ART"? Was Ziggy steering the automatic little toy cars with laser cannons in "Please Press One"? Is Ziggy preventing me from mounting a solid AI upscale of Season 1 of SLIDERS? Did Ziggy get SLIDERS cancelled?

It's time Ziggy answered for all of the above.

2023-05-04 13:32:02

Since RussianCabbie made remote use of my gaming computer to make a 1080p AI-upscale of the Pilot (which he inverse telecined with pneumatic's script), I'd like to know what he thought of it.

**

My Turbine question for pneumatic was meant to be this: as far as I can tell, the Turbine files for SLIDERS 1.02 - 1.09 have a lot less aliasing and combing than the Universal files. The problem scenes ("Prince of Wails" with the humvee, "Fever" in the pharmacy, "Last Days" streets, "Eggheads" with the houses) have a little but significantly less than the Universal versions of those same scenes.

Why is Turbine better in that respect? Why is the aliasing so bad with Universal and mostly okay with Turbine? And did whatever process that led to less aliasing also make the video blurrier?

And my Universal question for pneumatic was really: the videotape files are fuzzy and blurry. You've been able to clear up the distortions significantly and add a bit more detail. Do you think that the files can become sharper via your scripts or other third party sharpeners? Or are we pretty much at the limit of how much these files can be improved?

2023-05-03 16:23:46

Two questions for pneumatic:

Why don't the Turbine files have the aliasing? The jagged edges? The comb lines?

Also, regarding your current work on SLIDERS 1.02 - 1.09: do you think your future scripts can make the video sharper and clearer? Or have we reached the upper limit of what is possible with these analog videotape files?

2023-05-02 12:41:53

Ah, thanks. I'm now letting RussianCabbie make remote use of my gaming laptop to upscale his pneumatic inverse telecined 540p Pilot to 1080p via Topaz Artemis. I myself will stick to the pneumatic nnedi3 edition.

**

The thing is: I remember at least Season 1 of LOIS AND CLARK on DVD perpetually having a mildly fuzzier video image whenever special effects were present. If Clark were using superspeed, firing heat vision or flying, the image would get a little softer. It's like the effects in Season 1 were being done on a different video editing suite from non-effects sequences. The drop in video quality for effects shots is in the original SD DVD release, and in the HD release, the small gap between effects and non-effects shots has become a massive gulf.

The S1 effects shots were actually so fuzzy that I'm not sure they can be upscaled fully. And I too would choose SD DVDs over the HD release for this show. Yes, SD isn't as sharp, but at least it's consistent instead of shifting from HD to SD every time Superman uses his superpowers.

I think the unwillingness to redo the effects shots is because the STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION HD blu-ray was a sales failure. It was a high budget remastering with rebuilt effects that came out just in time for streaming to wipe out the home video market. Paramount and CBS lost a ton of money. Since then, HD releases of SD shows have sought to cut costs by simply rescanning the original film but using the master tapes for any effects footage rather than recreate those effects.

BABYLON 5 had the same treatment as LOIS AND CLARK, but BABYLON 5's effects always looked like Playstation 2 graphics on original broadcast, and those untextured computer models actually upscale to 1080p pretty well.

STARGATE SG-1's non-digitally shot seasons were upscaled from SD to HD for HD home video release and... while it actually looks okay, it has an overly noise-reduced image that borders on blurry. The distributor called that a feature of their 'Super Clean Image' feature. And at least its effects and non-effects scenes have the same video quality throughout.

With the L&C Season 1 effects shots, I'm not sure any upscale was even attempted on those fuzzy videotape sequences. They may have been too poor to upscale.

I had a quick look just now at the HD version of Season 2 of LOIS AND CLARK and the Superman sequences look a bit better than in Season 1, still not full HD, but upscaled to HD approximations. It looks like the master tapes from Season 2 onward had the effects shots at a better SD video quality that could be raised to a better HD approximation. It matches closely enough for living room viewing, although it's certainly less-than-ideal.

Personally, I think it's best to be consistent and it's better to be SD throughout than an awkward blend of SD and HD. It's very jarring when HD footage gives way to SD effects. For an HD Season 1 of LOIS AND CLARK, I'd probably advise going the STARGATE SG-1 route of an SD upscale... albeit with nnedi3 rather than whatever they were using.

2023-05-01 22:23:44

There's certainly a cooler, bluer look to the LOIS AND CLARK HD rescan with a higher brightness level. And all the effects are just the videotape sequences that have been stretched, so any time there's any kind of video effect, it goes from HD to terrible looking SD. I only saw the first season, but it looks like they didn't even try to upscale the SD footage.

**

I thought the pneumatic Avisynth+ script had dealt with the jagged edges in this Pilot shot when reviewing a 540p version, but looking at it in 1080p output, the jagged edges are still there:

How would pneumatic address it?

2023-05-01 20:15:41

I guess I have to run the full Topaz Artemis job now for the eventual fan convention where I will supply the digital files for the screening but pneumatic will introduce it.

I like grain if it's part of the texture of the film image or if it's filling in for detail in a video that's lacking in definition. But I think grain can easily become a needless distraction. The TV show CHUCK is horrifically grainy to the point where it looks like static. The 4K77 fan reconstruction of a STAR WARS theatrical print is so obnoxiously grainy that I had to run it through Topaz AI to tone it down to enjoy it. And the grain in the Gaia upscales is just ugly and oversharpened.

**

I have run pneumatic's script on 1.02 - 1.09 to output 1080p files with bilinear, with nnedi3. After painstaking analysis, careful review, a 12 point system of screenshot comparison and a live viewing on four different TVs, I have come to the conclusion that I have no idea what difference choosing either scaler would actually make.

These are blurry videotape files. There comes a point when we might just conclude that no scaler is going to turn these analog recordings into the crisp renderings we want. We have to settle for below average files that at least have been shorn of those jagged edges and flashing horizontal lines.

Until pneumatic comes up with a new script or until we reshoot all the episodes with stand-ins and deepfake the actors' faces onto our photo doubles, we've probably come as far as we can. nnedi3 was the most powerful scaler pneumatic encouraged me to have my gaming laptop use, so I'll accept that this is what we've got. The Pneumatic NNEDI3 Edition.

2023-05-01 20:08:42

I forgave most of the issues too.

I liked how Oliver assured Barry he wasn't wasting his life with some very simple questions.

I would have been happy with Diggle having a longer arc in all the shows instead of what was really an extended cameo.

2023-05-01 18:23:07

Some comparisons on the Pilot episode between pneumatic's script outputting the file to 1080p with nnedi3 upscaling and pneumatic's 540p file upscaled to 1080p via Topaz AI (Artemis).

Then I tried some samples where I used Gaia to sharpen pneumatic's 1080p file (that's what Topaz says it's designed to do). Then I finally used Gaia to upscale pneumatic's 540p file to 1080p.

pneumatic TFM + TDecimate + QTGMC output to 1080p via nnedi3:
pneumatic TFM + TDecimate + QTGMC (540p) with Topaz AI Artemis upscaling to 1080p:
pneumatic TFM + TDecimate + QTGMC + nnedi3 (1080p) with Topaz AI Gaia sharpening (1080p):
pneumatic TFM + TDecimate + QTGMC + nnedi3 (540p) with Topaz AI Gaia upscaling (1080p):

nnedi3 has a certain roughness that, I find, looks good at living room distance and the roughness has indicators of detail even if those details aren't fully HD rendered.

Topaz AI Artemis upscaling is smoother and more refined, but it has a certain computer generated look because it is computer generated.

Topaz AI Gaia for sharpening up the nnedi3 upscale is, I feel, just increasing the nnedi3 roughness with no real benefit.

Topaz AI Gaia for upscaling the 540p pneumatic file is, I find, just bringing us back to the nnedi3 roughness while using far more processing power than nnedi3 demands.

Personally... I'm very happy with pneumatic's 1080p nnedi3 file.

2023-04-30 16:00:05

pneumatic wrote:

ireactions wrote:
Is it possible that in terms of blu-ray player playback, the Turbine files are better suited to progressive scan and upconverting than the Universal files?
Yes! My Sony DVD player for instance, when playing a PAL 2:2 cadence DVD (pretty much all PAL DVDs) it inverse telecines (weaves) to 576p. But with NTSC 3:2 cadence DVDs like Sliders it just deinterlaces using BWDIF style deinterlacing (weaving only static elements, but anything that moves drops to 240p). So I think that could explain the difference you were seeing.

Thank GOD. pneumatic, I seriously thought I was going insane (well, more insane) and that I was dragging RussianCabbie down with me.

I'm currently recopying my Universal discs of Season 2 and 3 to my hard drive with MakeMKV. Might as well get the best versions on my media drive.

2023-04-30 12:25:34

I have no doubt that pneumatic is correct to determine that Turbine uses poorer files than the Universal set. Why have RussianCabbie and I gotten better results from Turbine in many cases?

I have wondered about bias, but given that RussianCabbie too got better results from Turbine disc playback, I wonder if the blu-ray players may be the factor.

RussianCabbie and I watching the Turbine discs and Universal discs on our blu-ray players would have been seeing the files played with progressive scan to convert 25fps (Turbine) or 29.97fps (Universal) to 24fps TV display. Progressive scan combines separate fields to form full progressive frames and duplicates or drops frames as needed for playback.

Is it possible that the progressive scan combining separate field-frames will create some image degradation from minor field misalignments? Is it possible that a 25fps file, with fewer frames for progressive scan combination, with fewer misalignments, then has less degradation? Could that be why RussianCabbie found Turbine's "Rules of the Game" clearer than Universal's? (I don't know.)

pneumatic used TFM inverse telecine to progress the files for screenshots. As I understand it, TFM engages in field matching to recover the original progressive frames, in contrast to progressive scan simply combining two fields into one frame. Field matching frame recovery shows that the Universal files have more image data than the Turbine files.

So what if the lack of field matching frame recovery on our old blu-ray players is what tripped up Universal even as Turbine looked good?

Is it possible that in terms of blu-ray player playback, the Turbine files are better suited to progressive scan and upconverting than the Universal files?

There's no doubt that my previous process of converting the DVD files -- MakeMKV followed by Handbrake detelecining -- was producing fuzzier files at 640x480 that were inferior to pneumatic using MakeMKV and inverse telecine and outputting files at 720x540. And that certainly skewed my comparison.

But RussianCabbie also found the Turbine discs had a better image than Universal under his playback conditions. I have to wonder if PAL 25fps is just easier for our blu-ray players than NTSC 29.97fps.

However, my understanding of the difference between progressive scan and inverse telecine is very uncertain; I think it's that progressive scan combine field-frames while inverse telecine drops unnecessary fields and rebuilds progressive frames. That could be wrong.

2023-04-30 08:15:21

I liked 9.09 more than the rest of the season so far, but there were some odd glitches that reflect either a lack of diligence or a lack of skill on showrunner Eric Wallace. At Barry's party, Wally West is present, Cecile is present... but Joe West isn't. Does Joe not like Barry any more? Maybe I missed it, but I didn't even hear a throwaway line to explain it.

At Barry's party, Diggle decides that a celebratory event is the best time to give Barry the bow of Oliver Queen, a moment that would be more appropriate at a funeral or a memorial reunion than at a birthday party in a room filled with people. What the hell was that?

Oliver tells Barry that Barry wants to die and stay dead and Barry accepts this observation, a very odd claim. I think what the episode means to say is that Barry doesn't think he deserves to return to life when Frost and Caitlin weren't resurrected, but that's not quite what Oliver's words seem to say, so there's a strange lack of precision in the dialogue. Once again, we have a character hesitating to engage in a straightforward course of action to stretch out the story.

It was good to finally get some onscreen reaction from Wally to the death of Jesse Quick, but it was odd that Wally was searching the multiverse for some vague "enlightenment" instead of trying to see Jesse again. I also have to note that Wally being 'jealous' of Barry and accusing Barry of stealing Joe and Iris was pretty silly when Barry never knew that Wally existed, and while it's meant to be unreasonable, Eric Wallace has a tendency to create conflicts like this that are absurd in their irrationality even when no one is being mind controlled.

Aside from that, it was fine. Thankfully, Eric Wallace didn't spend all of Amell's screentime on an alternate universe doppelganger and only bring the real Oliver in for a few rushed scenes at the end. Thankfully, Eric Wallace didn't have Bloodwork claim to have taken over the city / planet / universe / multiverse with no way to sell it convincingly onscreen. Sendhil Ramamurthy did a better job of underplaying Bloodwork; I wish this subtle, capable actor weren't being directed to such a one note performance on THE FLASH. The fight scene with Bloodwork felt sizable. I liked how Bloodwork was cured rather than killed.

Oliver had some nice moments of assurance and kindness to Barry along with his usual exasperation with Barry's mild neediness for hugs and self-esteem boosting. The reunion between Oliver and Diggle was good.

I should say: I haven't hated anything in THE FLASH this season. It's not like Season 3 of SLIDERS. It's not offensive. It's just dull. This week was livelier than most episodes of this season.

2023-04-30 05:49:23

This lensdump site doesn't work for me. I've tried three different browsers and the images don't load.

Turbine blu-ray for S2 to S5 episodes look significantly better in my living room than the NTSC DVDs, but if pneumatic says Turbine is actually poorer, then I wonder if my living room TV/bluray scaler is somehow working well with the blu-ray but not working on my DVDs. I also have to wonder if playing the raw MKV files on my Android TV without any inverse telecine is having some effect on our differing results.

But thinking about it, I now suspect my comparison was flawed because I compared the raw MKV blu-ray files to Handbrake processed DVD files (which has a haze-inducing detelecine process and reduces the image resolution from 540 to 480). There's also perceptual bias on my part due to my frustration with Universal.

Why don't the Turbine files have all the jagged edges and flicker of the NTSC version?

In other news, I've looked over the bicubic and bilinear versions of The Pneumatic Edition and the bilinear version has a little more edge-pixel contrast that I prefer for these fuzzy videotape files. But I have to be honest, with pneumatic informing us that the Turbine blu-ray is actually poorer than the DVDs, I'm not really filled with confidence in my assessments anymore. I'm going to take a GPU-powered nnedi3 run at these files one last time.

2023-04-29 20:22:47

This is the script I used.

clip = "D:\!MakeMKV\S1 - Universal\Sliders - 101.mkv"   # produced from the disc using MakeMKV (lossless remux)
CPUcores = 8  

video = LWLibavVideoSource(clip, stream_index=-1, repeat=true, cache=true)
audio = LWLibavAudioSource(clip, stream_index=1, cache=true)
AudioDub(video, audio)

TFM(mode=0, slow=2, scthresh=100, PP=3, metric=1, cthresh=9, MI=200,
\    clip2=PropDelete("_FieldBased").bwdif(field=-1, thr=5, edeint=nnedi3(field=-1)))

TDecimate(mode=0, cycleR=1, cycle=5, hybrid=1, viddetect=2, vidthresh=4.5,
\    denoise=true, chroma=false, hint=false)

QTGMC(InputType=1, preset="slow", Sharpness=1.0, FPSDivisor=1, Rep0=13, EZKeepGrain=1.0, EdiThreads=CPUcores/4) 

z_ConvertFormat(                      
\ colorspace_op="601:601:170m:full=>709:709:709:full",
\ resample_filter="spline36",
\ interlaced=true,
\ dither_type="ordered")

Tweak(sat=1.45) #Sorry, pneumatic, I know you don't approve of this.

nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=4, cshift="GaussResize")
GaussResize(1440, 1080, p=30.0)

Prefetch(CPUcores)

2023-04-29 19:55:55

If the field misalignment on 1.02 - 1.09 is not too severe, I shudder to think what is severe...

I ran pneumatic's script on the Pilot (Universal) along with pneumatic's nnedi3 settings to output it to 1080p. I can report that the results are superior to Handbrake and Topaz AI in a somewhat subtle yet undeniable way. Handbrake left some faint flicker on straight lines; pneumatic's script has reduced it to trace amounts of flicker at most. Also, Handbrake muddied the image a little with its detelecine process and output a 480p file; pneumatic's process gives us a 540p file, so there's a bit more sharpness and detail.

nnedi3 also seems to do better than Topaz AI because Topaz had a tendency to smooth out the image textures (and video compression artifacts) to make the video seem clean and well-scaled in going from 480p to 1080p. nnedi3, however, prioritizes sharpness over smoothness and has more detail from pneumatic. The result: you see the shades of stubble on Jerry O'Connell's face; more texture of John Rhys-Davies' skin; more strands in Sabrina Lloyd's hair; more detail in Cleavant Derricks' suit. It's not fully resolved HD detail, but there are more indicators of detail and more sharpness whereas Topaz AI smoothed all this out to a gentle fake-HD fuzziness.

I don't think it makes a huge difference at living room distance, but since this is the series premiere of SLIDERS, it is certainly worth the extra detail that pneumatic's process has wrung out of the DVD.

I'm not sure Topaz AI can do better than nnedi3, but after my Turbine experiments, I'll certainly drop the 540p file into Topaz AI and try different upscaling methods there.

2023-04-29 10:50:32

I have some questions for pneumatic because I still don't fully understand his learnings and some of the underlying technologies.

What exactly is the difference between deinterlacing interpolation and deinterlacing weaving?
You've specified that QTGMC doesn't weave but instead interpolates.

My (shaky) understanding is that interpolation is when the deinterlacer takes an even or odd field that's only 50 percent of the image (stretched to fill 100 percent of the frame) -- and takes a guess at what's in the missing 50 percent of the of the frame based on analyzing previous and subsequent frames as well as the existing information in the current frame.

My (shaky) understanding is that weaving is when the deinterlacer combines the even and odd fields and then doubles that frame in order to meet the video's existing framerate (or the framerate would otherwise be cut in half).

My (shaky) understanding is that interpolation can create image degradation if the missing data is filled in with bad estimations, and bad estimations happen when the current and surrounding frames don't have helpful information for the algorithm.

My (shaky) understanding is that weaving creates motion artifacts when the weaved frames of two fields don't line up precisely due to movement in the scene.

My (shaky) understanding is that most modern blu-ray players will use progressive scan on a DVD, which combines two fields into one frame and then duplicates that frame by three or two for an alternating 3-2 pattern that reduces the motion artifacts and provides a full image without the guesswork of interpolation.

My (shaky) understanding is that when dealing with video like SLIDERS 1.02 - 1.09 where the fields were scaled separately and misaligned, progressive scan produces all ugly visual anomalies on the Universal discs (as does weaving). Meanwhile, interpolation to remove those artifacts depends on analyzing current and surrounding frame-fields to fill in the gaps; since the fields are misaligned, that analysis yields poor data and image degradation.

My (shaky) understanding is that QTGMC's motion analysis yields better data to fill in those gaps which is why the pneumatic scripts have yielded better results than handbrake or progressive scan players.

It's a shaky understanding that I'm hoping pneumatic can correct when time permits.

2023-04-29 10:24:19

My uneducated guess: the Pilot was shot and edited on film as a big budget production to sell to a network. For broadcast, the film master was transferred to something like Betacam SP (340 lines of resolution, a broadcast standard format of the era).

The series that followed, however, was shot on film and then transferred to what looks like really low resolution analog videotape, likely U-Matic, Betamax or 8mm videotape (250 lines of resolution) -- and then transferred to a Betacam SP equivalent which saw 250 line tape copied to 340 line tape, resulting in not only generational loss but degraded image quality from the stretching. (Thank you to pneumatic for explaining generational loss.)

My uneducated guess would be that 1.02 - 1.09 were edited in a variety of videotape formats.

"Summer of Love" and "Luck of the Draw" seem unusually fuzzy. "Eggheads" seems all over the place in image quality. "Last Days" and "The Weaker Sex" seem middling. "Prince of Wails", "Fever" and "The King is Back" seem better than the rest. This suggests at least three different kinds of videotape.

I'm not sure there's a rationale based on content. "Summer of Love" and "Prince of Wails" are on opposite ends of the quality spectrum and both have high special effects sequences. "Summer of Love" and "Last Days" are at opposite ends of the production order and yet, both are low quality.

It would suggest that the studio had multiple suites of different equipment for film-to-videotape transfer and videotape editing, acquired over a decade or two. Shows would book transfer-and-editing equipment based on what was available. Consistency in videotape formats didn't matter. CRT SD broadcast would look the same no matter what you used. On a CRT, the Pilot does not look better or worse than "Summer of Love".

It's possible that when transferring the videotape edit to a broadcast tape, some videotape formats suffer more generational loss than others.

It's also possible that certain episodes, like "Eggheads" with its sportsball scenes, were edited across different video suites in order to accommodate the sports scenes shot on videotape. Then some non-sport scenes were edited on the same sport-videotape hardware due to urgency -- while the rest of the episode was edited in a separate bay. Different videotape formats for different scenes could explain why that episode's video quality is strangely variable.

I'll certainly look into different upscaling means for the Pilot after I finish the Turbine experiments.

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