Hell, when I was with Verizon DSL, I got kicked off all the time! d:
OK, if you haven’t figured it out by now I wasn’t allowed to touch the mod/dem. This has been bugging me all day, I should have said 9600 BAUD, not 9600 kb/s.
baud rate =/= bit rate
Baud rate is the number of modulation changes per second, and these changes in modulation are used to represent bits, 0’s and 1’s (or noughts and ones for those across the pond)
What I fail to understand is the modulation used in the old mod/dems. I know modern devices use quadrature phase shift keying, differential quadrature phase shift keying, binary shift keying, quadrature amplitude modulation… heck, I might be able to DRAW some of those constellation diagrams for you… But I still don’t get the conversion…
So the value of the bit I just received (0 or 1) is determined by the change in phase/amplitude of one symbol to the next. I understand that perfectly clearly, but without knowing the modulation method used I can’t calculate the bit rate of a 9600 baud mod/dem. Which, for some reason, I feel the need to do.
Hey, was that geeky or WHAT?!?!?
Damn, I revisited the definition, and it still makes my head hurt.
Me also, so I kept calling and they eventually ran a new line!!!
Now all is good.
So, guys, I think the biggest mainstream Anime is Spirited Away.
Yeah, well, I couldn’t sleep last night because I was thinking about it.
So I came to the conclusion that it was FSK, frequency shift keying, but when I cheated and looked it up I was only half right, old mod/dems used AUDIO frequency shift keying. This makes perfect sense because if one can HEAR the signal (as you can on an old dial up mod/dem) then it must be in the audio frequency range, right?
Duh. I missed that detail because I work in the wireless industry and the frequencies we’re at are 800mHz to 2.6 GHz. At those frequencies devices generate what’s called a carrier signal which is then modulated to carry your data. Old mod/dems can generate the modulated carrier signal in one step because they operate at lower, more stable frequencies.
This one’s fun and illustrates very well the concept of modulation changes being the indicator of 1 or 0.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMSK#Gaussian_minimum-shift_keying
When I learned about this stuff it was called chip rate, not baud rate, but it’s all the same thing: symbol rate.
Here’s that constellation diagram if you REALLY want to geek out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation_diagram
http://cnx.org/content/m14500/latest/graphics11.jpg
I think that’s more than enough.
Now maybe before that was prolly Howls Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke and before those Akira
When I first got into anime around 2001, the biggest stateside were Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Mononoke, in that order. Now I’d say Spirited Away is the biggest, and revived classic My Neighbor Totoro is up there with the others. Howl’s Moving Castle never really caught on that big, I felt, at least not as well as Spirited Away or Mononoke did. While Miyazaki’s films don’t always add up that well (Ponyo), they’re still a delight to children of all ages.
I called Comcast and my problems went away. d:
Now yall done started a real Enterprise vs. Star Destroyer war, but I’ll try to remain civil. (:
I think Jarathen is the most “correct.” But, for us “oldies”, the biggest/most popular/well-known anime were Akira, Vampire Hunter D (original), Bubble Gum Crisis (aka BGC), Macross, and Gundam. Honorable mention goes to Ninja Scroll and maybe Fist of the North Star (original)
If I’d ask anyone what anime had seen, they’d say Vampire Hunter D and/or Akira. And many times, the story/art style or violence/gore didn’t agree with them. But 90%+ of the time, people who had claimed to have seen anime would state one or both of those movies as reference.
Now, I’d replace BGC with Evangelion. I have my own issues with Evangelion as a series which I won’t go into, but the movie remakes are great imo. Ghost in the Shell should get another mention as well as Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun.
Now for the last decade, I don’t have a general idea what’s most popular other than series/movies that have high ranks on animedb and Anime-Planet. And, there are quite a few. Every year has their best series like Claymore (a favorite of Sean and mine [the story is continued in the manga btw), Haruhi, Lucky Star, etc.
But, Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli stuff are always sure bet.
Back in the ol days on channel 4 (friday nights was good tv)
They would show the sci fi of the time (Space above and beyond,earth 2,etc) then they would do an anime. So I got to see Guyver, Appleseed, Legend of the four kings,etc…
Throw in Roseanne, whose line is it anyway and fridays were golden 
I’m enjoying everyones stories about “becoming” a geek. I guess I never realized how lucky I am to always have had a least a few people to enjoy geekdom with.
Both of my parents are geeks of some kind, so I guess it never seemed odd to me. I remember watching Star Trek (Next Gen) with my parents as far back as I can remember, and by “watching” in the early days I mean being in the same room while they were watching. Star Trek is a pretty fun thing for a 4 year old. Bright costumes, cool visuals, great sound effects, funny looking aliens, am I right?
I guess I am also lucky in that I grew up in the 90s, which was a pretty geek friendly time for kids. Almost everybody played video games. When the Special Editions of Star Wars came out I was in 5th grade, and I think every guy in my class either collected the toys or the cards from the Customizable Card Game. In middle school, even though I was never into it, Pokemon was very popular. Throughout grade school, some of the most popular books were Goosebumps and Animorphs, both somewhat geeky. Buffy was pretty popular when I was in High School.
Unlike previous decades, all of those things were pretty main stream, at least where I lived on Long Island.
Does anyone remember getting kicked off their dial-up because the phone connection was too noisey?
I would have to say from my standpoint the two most readily accessible series for introducing people to anime would be-
-
Cowboy Bebop: Great music, wonderful style/design, great and highly flawed characters, it balances itself very well between its main elements… Action/scifi/comedy/tragedy. And it all happens in a dark and believable future, which is well thought out. It is an emotional roller coaster.
-
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood: An interesting world with a well thought out magic system, great characters and it also balances… Action/magic/comedy/mystery/tragedy/conspiracy. Nice style and design, has a nice manga feel to it, good music.
To see a series not balanced well watch Trigun, that series frustrated the Hell out of me, it was very dyslexic. And I disliked the main character which did not help much. I actually preffered the preacher character.
And while I realize it is not for everyone, no mention of Steamboy???:eek: That was the very first anime I ever saw on the big screen, is was awesome looking.
And as far as Miyazaki goes, beside beautiful and detailed artwork he also puts a lot of heart into his work, which is I believe what really sets his movies apart. You become emotionally invested in his characters, and the composer he uses just pushes the experience over the top for me. Good stuff!
Really loved this week’s podcast, so much goodness.
-
Garth Sundem interview: So cool and interesting. Favorite line: (bad paraphrasing, so forgive me if the wording is wrong): “Geeks are people who love something not for just itself, but also loves all the information about it.” So true. Star Trek is the best example for me of course. I used to intently study all the deck plans, the Technical Manual, novels, the FASA Star Trek RPG—all the aspects of it. Total geekdom.
-
Solai’s Harry Potter community. So interesting. Solai, you’re totally an internet pioneer—though you must have had the patience of a saint to have done all that in the age of dial-up modems (the horror!!).
-
Audra’s introduction to tabletop RPGs/D&D – In today’s age of super high quality video games, I worry that many will miss the unique experience of table top role-playing games. I was so pleased to hear you (Audra) not only give it a try, but also, from what you said about the experience Audra, I can tell that you totally “get it”. Hopefully you can continue playing.
Also, Abigail, I probably never smiled so big when you started talking about Deadlands. I love Deadlands and I Gamemaster—sorry, I should say I Marshall – a Deadlands campaign for a bunch of my friends. We only get together to play it 5 or 6 times a year tops, but it’s so great.
I don’t know if you’re on the forum Abigail, but if you are, I’d love to hear more about your Deadlands / Savage Worlds gaming experiences. -
Chuck, thanks for playing my call. LOL re “wooden ships” --the phrase that shall not be spoke. I gotta a couple PMs asking me about wooden ship model making as a hobby, but I think I chose the wrong words. I’m not into model making, but rather I’m interested in the genre of Napoleonic Era wooden ship fighting sail fiction and non-fiction. There as a thread somewhere with many GWCers geeking out about that —if someone could find the link, please bump.
This podcast was worth every minute of the 3 plus hours. Thanks for your hard working preparing it Chuckster.
My friends and I had played other RPGs like D&D for a while before I introduced Paranoia to them. I loved the dark humor of it. In the game your character has a “Six Pack” of clones. So when you die, the next clone takes the current one’s place. The game is meant to be played with player charcters dying A LOT. Also, there was a true Paranoia element in that you were not just out to fight the “enemy” but also backstabbing (or back shooting) was par for the course. My friends did try one adventure of this with me, but they couldn’t adjust to those aspects of the game.
Because Chuck mentioned it, I yesterday went up to my attic and found the game and some adventures stored away. Just reading them is fun—like a Doug Adams book kinda.
Excellent choices Omra!!
I might also add that age might play a factor too. For an eight year old Voltron, Robotech and things of that nature.
For the adult with a kid inside perhaps something like the Full Metal Alchemist series (all of it, not just Brotherhood, though I see why you picked it and agree totally.) or Gundamwing.
But of course the best Gundam series is 08th MS Team
I have to disagree with you on Trigun, but everyone has different tastes.
Steamboy didn’t get much attention. I’ve seen it, but the memory is vague to me. I get an “it was ok” when I try to think how I felt about it. I might have to rewatch (or frak) it again some time.
That one is an old favorite. My personal favorite (prolly because it was my first Gundam series) is 0083. People seem to fall into either War in the Pocket (0080) or 0083 from that era.
Btw, I cannot sing enough praises of the newest series Gundam Unicorn. The plot may not be excellent, but everything else is A+ in my book.
Cowboy Bebop transcends genre like Calvin & Hobbes and The Beatles. I’ve yet to meet a person who didn’t like it.
And fastcart, Vampire Hunter D was another I checked out. I considered putting it on te list but didn’t know if it was all that popular or if I jsut ran into it. Either way, I wasn’t a big fan. I liked Blood: The Last Vampire, though.
I really enjoyed the podcast. The RPG intro was a nice surprise. I haven’t played any table top games in years, but I definitely had a phase where I played all I could, and I still have a drawer full of dice. D&D and the White Wolf games were my games of choice.
To add to the anime discussion, I believe the first anime I watched and enjoyed was Helsing. It would be a good one for vampire fans out there. It has horror without being too “anime-y”. I think the Outlaw Star series (much like Cowboy Bebop) was what really added fuel to the fire.
OMG^2! Another Paranoia fan? Just as you said, it was awesome fun to just read (and growing up in Homer AK there weren’t many players). I forgot to look through my old stuff last time I was back home. I could’ve brought it back with me.
Damn. Maybe I should go to the meetup.
Listening to Audra’s D&D character made me think of good times with the original set of books. I still have a few of them. And it got me thinking of a fun character to play: A Lawful Neutral cleric who think’s he’s Lawful Good. Not so much a reflection of me, but if he gets his ass kicked I won’t be that upset. (… and the carnage of a Paranoia session wouldn’t bother me either).
Awesome podcast, guys. Loved the interviews as well.
My longest term D&D character was 13th level Cavilier named Matthew Glidhem— Duke of Wesstleton and Siridar Governor of East Albion. He was Lawful Good, but I played him as very heavy on the lawful— I would get the party in trouble sometimes because he would never lie and follow the strict letter of the law–even when the “law” contradicted the “good”. Also, I played him with a Monty Python Graham Chapman kid of accent. Such fun!
Unfortunately I won’t be at the meet up, but in my dreams the Meet Up would include an 11:30 p,m. to 3:30 am session of D&D (or Deadlands or Paranoia …or all three )
Oh snap!!! I’m behind!!! Gundam Unicorn, I need to check that out haven’t seen that one!!! Fastcart you made my day sir.