WootArchive-2008-06-29

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. This DVD player/recorder doesn't have a TV tuner. And Toshiba's website says an "external tuner source [is] required to record television programming." So what are you going to record? Well, it does have a DV port for your camcorder, so we guess you can record DVDs of your own movies. Satisfying as that exercise will no doubt be, it's hard to figure how this player's "commercial skip" feature is going to help you watch your own home movies--which, if you're anything like us, are not sponsored in part by Gold Bond Medicated Powder or anyone else.

So that's kind of weird.

But here's the good news. Its video upconversion capability will help ease your transition into a higher-definition world. One day, all your media will be Super-Duper-Eye-Dazzling-High-Def-So-Real-You'll-Poop-Your-Pants, and all your media-playing hardware will display in SDEDHDSRYPYP, too. That's going to be awesome, as we all agree, except for the omnipresent stench of everybody's soiled pants.

But until then, your lower-res movies are starting to look a little bit sub-excellent on your series of ever-higher-definition screens. Upconversion gives them a little boost.

You know what it's like? It's like how, in the movie biz, CGI is still not at the point where a computer-animated prairie dog looks real. But there are going to be times when the script calls for stuff that even the best-trained real, live prairie dogs can't do. And prairie dog puppets have their own obvious limitations.

So what you want to do, see, is take your trained prairie dogs and your prairie dog puppets, and digitally upconvert them. They've still got real-looking fur and body movements, but maybe you can make them move at the right time, or wink at the camera, or whatever.

Actually, this is not a very apt analogy. Sorry. We've just been thinking a lot about those stupid digital prairie dogs. Seriously, one just pops up in the very first shot. That's to tell us "don't worry! This movie is not going to be very good!"

This Toshiba has some other nice features, by the way, but now we're all ticked off about those crummy prairie dogs, so just check the listed specs.

Ugh, and the monkeys! Don't get us started on the freaking monkeys.

Warranty: <a href="http://www.woot.com/user/warrantyinfo.htm" target="_blank">90 Day Woot Limited Warranty </a>

Features:

• Video Upconversion via HDMI 720p/1080i/1080p with HDMI cable included
• DivX Home Theater Certified
• Supports WMA & MP3 Playback
• Supports Slow-Motion 1/2(fwd) 1/4(back), 1/8X, 1/16X
• Tri-Lingual on screen display (English, French, Japanese)
• Records up to 8 hours on 1 disc (TV tuner not included)

Video:

• Progressive Out
• Video DAC -10-bit/54 MHz
• Video Upconversion via HDMI™ 720p/1080i/1080p
• Digital Photo Viewer (JPEG)
• Y/C Separation

Audio:

• Audio DAC 192kHz/24bit
• WMA & MP3 Playback
• Dolby® Digital (2Ch) Audio Recording
• DivX® Home Theater Certified
• L-PCM Recording XP mode only
• 3-D Virtual Surround Sound (Internal Speakers)

Convenience:

• Tri-Lingual OSD (English, French/Japanese)
• 1.5x FF with Audio 1.3x /0.8x with Audio
• Scan FF/REW 2X(fwd) 5X(back) ,20X,40X
• Slow-Motion 1/2(fwd) 1/4(back), 1/8X, 1/16X
• Zoom
• Instant Skip
• Editing Features Playlist/Rename Title/Replace Title Thumbnail / Chapter Creation (User and Auto)
• Timer Back Up (at standby mode)-30 sec.
• Commercial Skip
• DVD-RW (VR & Video Mode)
• DVD+RW (VR Mode)
• DVD-R (Video Mode)
• Time Slip - Chasing Playback w/-RW (Except XP.SP)
• Recording Modes 1H(XP)/2H(SP)/4H(LP)/6H(EP)/8H(SLP)
• Auto Finalization w/ undo
• V-Chip Recording
• Timer Recording 12 programs/1 month
• Camcorder Controls Yes (Dubbing)
• Time Slip - Pause Live TV

Inputs/outputs:

• Component Outputs (1)
• HDMI™
• S-Video Input
• S-Video Output
• RCA Video Inputs - Rear (1)
• RCA Video Outputs - Rear (1)
• A/V Inputs (1)
• A/V Outputs (1)
• Coaxial Outputs (1)
• Front DV Input (1)

Weights and Dimensions:

• Weight: 5.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 16-9/16×2-5/16×9-3/4 (WxHxD)
• Weight With Packaging: 7.72 lbs.
• Dimensions With Packaging: 20-1/2×5-13/16×14-1/4 (WxHxD)

In the box:

• Toshiba DKR10B DVD Recorder
• HDMI Cable
• Remote
• Composite Video/Audio Cable
• Users Guide

3rd place in Derby #48: Bugs, with 600 votes!

There's an idea, I think it comes from Chaos Theory, that even minuscule events can have a significant effect on larger systems. The proverbial example is a flutter of a butterfly's wings, which could change atmospheric conditions--however slightly--in a way that could end up steering a hurricane right at a city. I'm not making this up; this is just math.

And I don't want you to think that I'm bringing this up to try and shift the blame away from myself in this mishap at the Blockbuster Video. I was at the wheel of the car when it crashed through the front of the store and repeatedly rammed the employee favorites display. And yes, I got my axe out of the car, and I was the one who was holding it while it demolished the three sales registers. I'm not trying to say I don't bear at least some of the responsibility for the damage there.

All's I'm saying is: Maybe a certain Harlequin doesn't fart so much in India, and none of this has to happen. You find that Taxila haquinus, and you'll find the real culprit behind this shameful spree of violence.

This shirt was designed by: chogentry, an unholy amalgamation of two of the Derby's most fearsome participants! They are one beast--with two creative brains, twenty dexterous fingers, and hundreds of Derby voters in its thrall! Eef'n you like this shirt, you may also enjoy the two other chogentry creations still available: <a href="http://shirt.woot.com/friends.aspx?k=5837">It's Going Out Faster Than It's Coming In</a> and <a href="http://shirt.woot.com/friends.aspx?k=5844">Green Knight: The Weekend Warrior</a>.

Wear this shirt: to rent the forthcoming direct-to-DVD feature The Butterfly Effect 3. Part one was one part too many for us. But obviously you're into it.

Don't wear this shirt: at all, if you hope to change any weather patterns. Instead, just take it out into the backyard and start a-flappin' it.

This shirt tells the world: "I knew the day you met me, I could love you if you let me"

We call this color: Asphaltering The Course Of Subsequent Events

Placement: Centered

Printed Size:
3X - M: 12" x 11.97"
S - WS: 9" x 8.97"

Pantone Color(s): - 301 C - Process Blue C - 290 C

Please check American Apparel's sizing chart <a title="http://www.americanapparel.net/sizing/default.asp?chart=mu.shirts" href="http://www.americanapparel.net/sizing/default.asp?chart=mu.shirts" target="_blank">for men</a> or <a title="http://www.americanapparel.net/sizing/default.asp?chart=womens.shirts" href="http://www.americanapparel.net/sizing/default.asp?chart=womens.shirts" target="_blank">for women</a> before you order. The Woot Tee, constructed by American Apparel, follows their classic closer-fitting style. If you prefer a baggier look, order a larger size. If there is not a larger size, consider starting a belly-hanging-out trend.

Here's Donati again, to carry us to the end of the week on a wave of white wine.

White. Pristine, austere, antiseptic white. Color of purity. Color of sterility. Color of John McCain's hair and his voter base. Color of lots of things, really. But not the color of these wines.

Yes, they're what are known in the oenic parlance as "white wines", but hell if we know why. Any idiot can see they're actually golden, or amber, or something else along yellow lines. Was everybody color-blind in days of yore, or what? When we were younger, it was this sort of thing that made us think that the world depicted in black & white movies was actually black & white.

Still, Donati could call these "plaid wines" and it wouldn't detract one jot from their refreshing summer-friendly pleasure. The Donati 2007 Pinot Blanc even has the French word for white in its name, so it's lying in two languages. But its distinctive minerality and tangy hints of vanilla and apple tell a greater truth. Grown from 40-year-old vines on a 5-acre smidgen of Donati's Paicines vineyard, this silky seductress is ready for seafood, shellfish, or sushi. Wait, aren't those last two covered under "seafood"?

Not that it matters. Not when the Donati 2006 Pinot Grigio gives us something so much more interesting to talk about. Descending onto your palate from a high-elevation vineyard at the crest of the Paicines Hills, this is lusher, more riper, and just plain better than the run of the mill PG. It's those cooling afternoon breezes, you know. Or maybe it's the slow, cold stainless steel fermentation. The result is a rich, nutty white that's just perfect for all that pistachio biscotti you've got laying around.

Some may consider Chardonnay the training wheels of the white wine set, like a Fisher-Price My First White Wine or something. These unnamed cynics clearly have never indulged a gulp or ten of the Donati 2005 Chardonnay. Allowed to thoroughly ripen on a steep, gravelly, limestone-laden hillside, the tiny, concentrated berries produced a Chardonnay that you won't find on the menu at Denny's. Flavor and acidity intertwine in such a delightfully sensual way, you may even feel a little embarrassed - like watching those two snails in Microcosmos. You'll enjoy it with roasted chicken, salmon steaks, grilled summer vegetables, or just about anything else with char lines burned into it.

Maybe, way back when, they couldn't agree on exactly what shade of yellow this kind of wine is, so they just said "screw it, white is close enough." Or maybe there's a more duplicitous motive. Maybe the early yellow winemakers didn't want their product associated with the color of urine and cowardice. But the whole kerfuffle makes us realize that as long as we're being plied with spectacular wines like this Donati three-pack, we don't mind being lied to.

2007 Pinot Blanc

• 25.5 Brix/ 3.73 pH/ .47TA
• 14.1 % alcohol
• 100% stainless steel
• 100% Pinot Blanc
• Over 40 year old vines

2007 Pinot Grigio

• Harvest: 23.4 degrees
• Brix: 3.6 pH
• Total Acidity: .61 g/L
• Alcohol: 14.1%
• Blend: 100% Pinot Grigio
• 572 Cases produced

2005 Chardonnay

• Harvest: 25.1 degrees
• Brix: 3.34 pH
• Total Acidity: .79 g/L
• Alcohol: 14.1%
• 80% barrel fermentation French Oak, 20%
• Stainless steel fermentation with partial malolactic fermentation
• 1,215 Cases Produced
• Blend: 100% Chardonnay