Tag: media

Android CM12 LiveDisplay vs. Netflix

Cyanogenmod is a custom firmware distribution for Android devices. When I installed CM12.1 (based on Android 5.1.1 aka Lollipop aka API level 22), I noticed a problem with the Netflix application: When I tried to watch content, I’d get audio and see subtitles, but there was no video (just a black background).

Long story short: Netflix video playback doesn’t work if the new CM12.1 “LiveDisplay” feature is enabled, which it is by default. (LiveDisplay is a feature of CM12.1 which adjusts the display to have a warmer color temperature between local sunset and sunrise.) To complicate things, the problem only manifests at night (when LiveDisplay is actually active).

If you’re on CM12.1 and can’t get your Netflix on when the sun is down, disable LiveDisplay and try again. Instructions after the jump.

Continue reading Android CM12 LiveDisplay vs. Netflix

Dawn Treader

Some brief musings on the latest vaguely Narnia-themed theatrical treacle:

If you happen to like any linear combination of dragons and/or Art Nouveau, you should probably go see it. Treat it as a slide-show of visual wonders, occasionally interrupted by boring people talking.

I regard it as pretty absurd to talk about “spoilers” in the context of a work (ostensibly) based on a book that’s over fifty years old, and I don’t think I commit any. Nevertheless, here’s a cut:

Continue reading Dawn Treader

Sintel

I’ve just watched a movie that is my strong favorite of all those I’ve seen this year, and which has earned a place in my lifetime top ten. It’s animated, it’s only fifteen minutes long (of which two are credits) and it’s free. It’s called Sintel, and you should stop what you’re doing and go watch it right now. (While you can see the whole thing on YouTube, it is well worth the download of one of the full-res versions. If you must go the YouTube route, at the very least choose one of the higher resolutions.)

More spoiler-free images and discussions after the jump.

Continue reading Sintel

Media: The Eagle (Bryan / College Station)

Sat down this Saturday afternoon at TRF for a nice plate of bees (right), and had a lovely chat bees+dumplingwith Michelle Casady of The Eagle (Bryan / College Station). We talked about renaissance fairs, and what might possess people to go to them, how many times we’ve been (“Is there even a number that big?”), and the details of our attire. (“My costume is itching me. Do I have to wear this? I don’t wanna wear this.”)

Despite her persistent questioning, I kept quiet about the fact that pretty much every other shop has an opium den in the back, not to mention the place being a non-stop orgy after closing. She wrote a nice article for her newspaper, one that may well lure more unsuspecting victims into the louche and depraved life of the regular renaissance fair patron.