bloggarriv

Needs Sugar

Dave — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:19:55 +0000

One of my favourite Garfield comic strips:

Star Wars goes Blu-ray in 2011

David Meehan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:44:19 +0000

George Lucas announced today that all six Star Wars films will make their HD home theater debut on Blu-ray disc in fall next year. The box set will include the Special Edition remastered version of the original trilogy.

Lucas made the announcement at Star Wars Celebration V, the official convention for the movies and their related properties, and the 2011 launch for the Blu (Blu)-ray discs will mark the 35th anniversary of the release of Episode IV: A New Hope, the first Star Wars film. The discs will include documentaries, interviews, outtakes, deleted scenes and other footage unique to the new set.

The Star Wars films are among a number of killer apps that could encourage movie buffs who’ve been sticking to standard definition DVDs to finally buy Blu-ray players. Advocates of the Blu-ray disc format should be thrilled that this new incentive to adopt the format is finally arriving, but some Star Wars fanatics will be less than pleased that the controversial Special Editions are the only versions of the original trilogy that will be available.

Lucas’ explanation: The original theatrical editions would cost too much to convert to the high definition format. Much of the needed work was already done for the Special Edition remasters.

(via mashable)

Ireland vs. Argentina

Dave — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:30:30 +0000

The Republic of Ireland team to face Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday has been named.

Manchester City shot-stopper Shay Given will start in goal, with a back four of Paul McShane, Richard Dunne, John O’Shea and Kevin Kilbane. Across the middle will be Liam Lawrence, Keith Andrews, Paul Green and Damien Duff, whilst Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle are in attack.

Dunne and Doyle are doubts, however, with knee and calf injuries respectively, so Darren O’Dea and Cillian Sheridan are on standby. Also manager Trapatoni has been hospitalised with food poisoning, but it is hoped he can recover in time for the match. Marco Tardelli, his assistant took team training today.

No Commercial DTT until after Analogue Switch Off

David Meehan — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:04:07 +0000

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has ruled out introducing commercial digital terrestrial television (DTT) until after analogue television services are switched off at the end of 2012. The BAI said it would review possible dates for the launch of commercial DTT at the end of 2011, at which point it might seek fresh expressions of interest. A competition could be held in 2012 with a view to commercial DTT coming on stream in 2013, it said.

In a statement, the BAI also indicated that it intends to ask the Department of Communications to give it the power to mediate between future commercial DTT operators and RTE NL, which controls the transmission network.

For more information see www.bai.ie

European Football Draws

David Meehan — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:19:29 +0000

Here are the draws for the final qualifying round of the Champions League and the Europa League.

First the Champions League, the first leg of the two-legged ties will take place on either the 17th or 18th August and the second legs will be played on the 24th or 25th August:

Young Boys (SUI) v Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Sporting Braga (POR) v Sevilla (ESP)
Werder Bremen (GER) v Sampdoria (ITA)
Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) v Auxerre (FRA)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) v Ajax (NED)
Salzburg (AUT) v Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Rosenborg (NOR) v Copenhagen (DEN)
Basel (SUI) v FC Sheriff (MDA)
Sparta Prague (CZE) v MSK Zilina (SVK)
Partizan Belgrade (SRB) v Anderlecht (BEL)

And then the Europa League. The two-legged ties will take place on 19th and 26th August:

Paris St Germain (France) v Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) v Tavria Simferopol (Ukraine)
CSKA Moscow (Russia) v Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus)
Hajduk Split (Croatia) v Unirea Urziceni (Romania)
Feyenoord (Netherlands) v Ghent (Belgium)
Racing Genk (Belgium) v Porto (Portugal)
Debrecen (Hungary) v Litex Lovech (Bulgaria)
Aris Saloniki (Greece) v Austria Vienna (Austria)
Galatasaray (Turkey) v Karpaty Lviv (Ukraine)
Palermo (Italy) v Maribor (Slovenia)
Club Bruges (Belgium) v Dinamo Minsk (Belarus)
Omonia (Cyprus) v Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Vaslui (Romania) v Lille (France)
Napoli (Italy) v Elfsborg Boras (Sweden)
Sporting (Portugal) v Brondby (Denmark)
Grasshoppers (Switzerland) v Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Liverpool (England) v Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Celtic (Scotland) v Utrecht (Netherlands)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany) v Garabagh Agdam (Azerbaijan)
AIK Stockholm (Sweden) v Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)
Sturm Graz (Austria) v Juventus (Italy)
Getafe (Spain) v APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus)
Dundee United (Scotland) v AEK Athens (Greece)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) v FK Atyrau (Kazakhstan)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) v Lech Poznan (Poland)
Rapid Vienna (Austria) v Aston Villa (England)
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) v TNS (Wales)
Besiktas (Turkey) v HJK Helsinki (Finland)
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) v VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia) v PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Maritimo (Portugal)
Luzern (Switzerland) v Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Gyor ETO (Hungary) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
OB Odense (Denmark) v Motherwell (Scotland)
PAOK Salonika (Greece) v Fenerbahce (Turkey)
Villarreal (Spain) v Dnepr Mogilev (Belarus)
FC Timisoara (Romania) v Manchester City (England)

Star Wars Subway Car

David Meehan — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:04:44 +0000

The latest from DTTland

Dave — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:13:21 +0000

RTÉ’s Chief Financial Officer has said that it has spent €40m putting the Digital Terrestrial Television infrastructure in place. Conor Hayes was speaking this morning at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

Mr Hayes told the committee that RTÉ wants to make two complimentary digital systems, DTT and free-to-air, available to replace the analogue service. Mr Hayes said RTÉ is working against the clock to achieve analogue TV switch-off, which is planned for 31 September 2012.

He said that by October of this year, RTÉ would have a national TV free-to-air multiplex operational, which would be capable of being received by 90% of the population. Mr Hayes said the total spend on the project will be €70m for the two multiplex platforms. Originally, it had planned for six multiplex platforms.

Head of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland Bob Collins told the committee that unfortunately the project has not proceeded at the pace it should have. Households without satellite or cable television services will have to upgrade to DTT.

via RTÉ News

Welcome to the future!

Dave — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:38:40 +0000

Today is the day that Marty McFly arrived in the future after hitting 88mph in a pimped out Delorean in 1985. This is the future.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

Dave — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:02:25 +0000

Here is the trailer for the final part of the Harry Potter movies, but you will have to wait until July 2011 to see the final part!

The first half of the two-part finale is released in cinemas this November. Oh, and its also available in 3D

Mark Webber Valencia Crash

David Meehan — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:49:22 +0000

Here is some footage of Mark Webbers spectacular crash with Heikki Kovaleinen in last weekends European Grand Prix in Valencia