Personal Messages?

As always, I realize that server space, and the fact that this might be (yet another) pain in the butt to implement, are factors to consider... that said, I think it would be REALLY cool (as well as convenient) to be able to leave people personal messages on their profile pages, as well as have it show you (when you log in) that you have messages. There have been quite a few times where I've wanted to ask individual people questions about their home theater systems, or other personal questions that aren't necessarily pertinent to the topic thread.

Sorry to give you more headache's Henning. Just trying to help.

- Josh

it might just be easier if our e-mail addresses are displayed. pms would definitely take up too much space (and cause too many connection errors, obvious).

I thought about the posting of email addresses, but then I thought about the privacy issue. I've seen certain people at DVD Town that post now and then that have some SERIOUS anger management issues. I don't think anyone would want to deal with harassment or stalking. I suppose there's no perfect answer. :(

- Josh

It usually is a privacy issue, Josh. Not only harassment or stalking are an issue, but when you post an email address on a site, it's an open target for marketing sites that just love to send junk mail. Many sites that depend on sending junk mail to promote their products use programs that search the - EXTERNAL LINK - email addresses on nonsecure pages.

I'm currious, but who here has serious anger management issues? :o

Tim,

I forgot about those "bots" that search web pages for email addresses. That would be bad as well. As for my "anger management issues" comment, I wasn't referring to the staff AT ALL. You guys are great! It's just some of the members of the site. I didn't want to "name names" and get black listed (ha ha), but you've probably seen some of the "heated issues" discussed here on the message board. If you watch, there are certain people that post, that are repeat offenders. Eddie has warned one of these people a couple of times, and there are some others as well. It's not a huge deal, everyone has a right to speak their minds... it was just a concern for posting email addresses.

PS
Tim, (referring to your comment on your own theater setup in the other thread) you should update your profile to reflect what you've got! I'd love to see what a "THX" setup incorporates! If you've got the cops coming over occasionally, and you're cracking the paint on your walls, I think if I were to see your theater, I'd probably just stare and drool! I'm not sure if I believe that you've had "GL" over to your house in person, but it was funny to read anyway. If you're interested, I found a really cool site of a guy that documented his home theater build. It's pretty cool.

- EXTERNAL LINK -

Thanks

- Josh

Josh,

I actually was joking about the THX sound system. Sorry if I got your hopes up. I'm afraid my personality is one that is always animated. I'm known as the office clown where I work, and I can be best described as some one who is as close to Jim Carrey’s sense of humor as they come.

What I have written in my profile is what I really have; however, I do have a new Mitsubishi DVD player. Guess I need to go up there and change that.

Now to the issue of angry posters. I guess I've never taken too much notice to it or just haven't been involved in the forums where it's happening. What anger I have seen here really isn't that bad at all. Try the critic’s forum on Rotten Tomatoes if you really want to see some juvenile behavior. John Puccio and I met there a few years ago. We both stopped posting comments there a couple years ago because of the irrational behavior in most of the people around there. For the most part, even when we have a few angry posters, it's nothing compared to what John and I used to see on RT. I actually feel we have a very good group of people around here and most everyone brings up very good discussion, including yourself, Josh. If anything, you could point the finger at me more often, because of my constant clowning around. However, that's just my personality and I mean no harm by it. I'm just not a serious person, but I do realize there are times I need to be. I'll try to get better at it my friend.


;):D

I guess in my many travels across the message board, I've never come across a "Cool_Dude" post. Should I be scared? ;)

- Josh

hey dude, watch out--i'm gonna sic "cool_dude" on you. :D

Don't make me come over there Eddie! :D

that's it, josh--you're banned.





:D

Ahh levity... it's a dish best served in person! Tim, don't kill the humor! If there's one thing the world needs, it's more humorous people! Being one myself (a humorous people I mean) I enjoy making people laugh, and having a good time. I haven't been known as the quickest of witts however, and a lot of times sarcasm can get lost in text. I'm only serious when a situation merits it.

Thanks for the compliment! I agree that the vast majority of the people here at DVD Town (both staff and members that I've witnessed so far) are intelligent, thoughtful and considerate people. As I mentioned, there are just a few out there (only members that I've seen thus far) that are still very childish in their responses, and attitude. I'm actually amazed that there aren't more "children" on this site being that the vast majority of discussions revolve around movies, and opinions on movies. I don't mean for that to sound like an insult to the site... more that it just seems like you can't go to ANY site on the web without running into a mob of the angry "Y" generation. It seems like all these people do is wander around different sites looking to pick a fight about anything! Versus discussing things, and contributing to an intellectual conversation/discussion.

I don't mean to rant here. I pride myself on being a Patriot, and love the fact that we have the right to speak our minds. I gave 8 years of my life to the military defending that belief. I just think that people abuse that right far too often. It happens usually when people only consider their own rights, and not others. Sorry to wax philosophical.

Any way, that's my take on it. I didn't mean to write a book.

Thanks

- Josh

Yeah those "SF" guys are tough buggers! They used to be nicknamed "Snake Eaters". A lot of Americans are lulled into a false sense of supremacy. It's a lot harder to kill a rat in his own maze... let alone when there are 7 other rats that look almost exactly like your target. The odds of us actually getting him were fairly slim. We may be the best at a lot of things, but one thing we tend to be bad at is humility... and is the main reason the rest of the world doesn't like us.

It sounds like your friend is a pretty stereotypical build of most of the SF guys I've met. However I've met some scrawny ones that are tough as nails too!

It's been an interesting 30 years. Hopefully another 30+ to come.

I'm glad I stumbled upon DVD town. It's funny, I found DVD Town as a result of a search on Google for "HD DVD". Since I've found you guys, it's been the best site I've ever come across, with the best group of people.

To Tim, Eddie, John, Henning and the rest of the staff... I think I speak for the rest of the members when I say you guys are a class act, and I hope that DVD Town just keeps getting bigger and better. It was great to see Eddie's mention in USA Today a while back, and I hope things of that calibur continue for you all.

See you on the message board.

- Josh

That's an interesting story, Josh. I'm just gald you're around and are able to tell it to us all. I have a good Italian friend named Dominic who spent time in the first desert storm war. He was on some top secret, special force unit in the Army that was sent in to track down Sadam. They never could find the little rat, because he had so many look alikes. He has a bullet wound scar on his belly but he's still one tough dude! If you met him, you'd say he looks like The Rock, and he really resembles him well.

Sounds like you've had a very interesting life so far. It's great to have you around to as part of the group up here at DVD town.

;)

Sean,

I'm not sure if you're thinking (because of my login name) that I have an "international perspective" but I was (proudly) born and raised in the US. In the military my first duty station happened to be Germany. My login name I chose because of my time spent in Germany, as well as my love for the comic book character "Nightcrawler". The login name is a literal translation in German of Nightcrawler. This has been the A&E Biography of Josh's login name history.

Tim,

I joined the US Army strait out of high school at the tail end of the first conflict in Kuwait "Desert Shield" in 1992. I was a Cavalry Scout for 4 years Active duty. A Scout is quite literally the eyes and ears of the Army. It was a great job, and incredibly exciting! Scouts as a rule try to stay hidden, and call in air strikes or artillery. If we wound up using our personal or vehicle weapons systems, it usually meant that something went wrong, and death was probably eminent. Even though we "might" have had armored Hum-V's, they don't do much against a tank. In a full fledged battle, a Cavalry Scout's life expectancy is 3.4 seconds. The time I spent in the Army was VERY cool at times, being that I got to fire just about every weapon the Army had to offer, and qualified expert with all but the M-16. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Lol.... the Army is a mixture of emotions. After my 4 year stint, I went into the US Air Force as Military Police for 4 years in the Active Reserves. The Air Force takes much better care of their people than the Army, however their budget doesn't include as much weapons training as the Army. Great food and housing?... orrrr, blow stuff up?... hmmmm.... it was a tough decision, but seeing as how I had spent the previous 4 years blowing the heck out of old dead military vehicles, I thought I'd see how one of the other services fared. Air Force MP was very cool! It was funny to see even the strongest of people get nervous around me, like they were afraid I had caught them doing something wrong. But after my 4 years there (and many travels around the world) I decided the military wasn't my forte'. While I was prepared to give my life for my country as a Soldier, I think the man up stairs was looking out for me, being that MY VERY LAST DAY in the military was just after the September 11th attacks, the day when President Bush said "If you wear a military uniform... get ready." I consider myself VERY lucky. I missed both conflicts... although my unit was put on ready status to deploy to Mogadishu during the "Black Hawk Down" incident. So that movie means a lot to me. They had us packed and ready to deploy down there. It was pretty scary however, because we would have been under UN control, which meant we would have been sent down there with "rubber bullets"... rubber bullets will break bones (at most) and ALL of the people there were armed with AK-47's with REAL rounds! It was a scary proposition for us.

Any way. There's the "short" of Josh's military career.

Hooah! 8)

- Josh

Cool Dude was banned, but now he's under a new alias known as "DVD Town Guy". He's just an annoying troll and it's probably best to never respond to any of his pointless rants.


Josh,

That's very cool about the military. Tell us more about what branch you served and what you did. ;)

Josh,

Just joking...guess it's the Tim in me. They'll have to drag me out of here! :)

I have to agree with you that for the most part everyone at DVDTown is not only civil, but downright friendly in their exchange of ideas. I find it very enjoyable to discuss topics on this website, and to that I'm glad that we acknowledge the great folks that run this site.

You keep 'em coming too, Josh. Having the international context on subjects from you and others is a great way to keep these typed conversations interesting and insightful.

Sean (can insight be out of sight?...)

P.S.: Cool_Dude posts in the comment section on the DVDs, and his posts are pretty wacky. Probably a blessing that you have avoided him!

Sean,

I didn't mean you at all. Actually I thought we'd seen eye to eye on a LOT of toppics. I generally don't have a problem with people that are expressing their opinion on a specific topic or subject. It's the people that feel they have to tear someone else's ideas or opinions down by name calling, or profanity (both of which are signs of a weak mind) that I have a problem with. From what I remember in your past posts Sean, you've brought forth some fine points, and well thought out arguments.

So don't jump ship... I'm glad you're aboard!

- Josh

Though this is a bit off the topic of the off topic subject, I have to agree with Tim that posting our e-mail addresses on the site is not a great idea.

Josh,
Now, on the other subject. I GET IT ALREADY! I'll just ban myself. ;)

So long, cruel world...

Sean (it truly would be a cruel world if people stopped using Ban. stinky, stinky!...)

Nacht...
>>>>>I agree that the vast majority of the people here at DVD Town (both staff and members that I've witnessed so far) are intelligent, thoughtful and considerate people<<<<<
Thank You!
>>>>>I pride myself on being a Patriot, and love the fact that we have the right to speak our minds. I gave 8 years of my life to the military defending that belief. <<<<
THANK YOU!

mra,

You're welcome!

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- Josh :D

Josh,

I recalled you were from the US (up North, isn't it?), but understood you were living overseas. Just meant that you're more tapped into that European vibe than I ever could be having been born and raised in good ole' Okie-homa.

By the way, is that picture of Nightcrawler on your profile something you drew or did you pull it from somewhere?

Sean (I used to draw...oh, wait, that was drool...)

Sean,

No problem, I just didn't want you to think I was from somewhere else. A few people have thought that already. I was born 'n raised in Utah. I've lived in a few places around the world, and the US, but as they say... there's no place like home!

No, I WISH I drew that picture of Nightcrawler... but it's one of the coolest I've found yet. I do draw myself... I don't do it well, but I will be replacing my picuture with "my own" drawing of Nightcrawler as soon as I can get DVD Town to take my pic! It's not working for some reason. I'm going to have to start another thread in the "support" section and see if there's anything I'm doing wrong.

Josh,

So you are from up North! (BTW: I flunked geography... :D)

Looks like they got your picture problem taken care of. Awesome way to show your personality while personalizing your profile.

I'd love to have your home theater setup! DANG! Maybe in a few years when the kids are out of the house and I get permission from the wife...

Sean (I'm not whipped, I just understand that my wife can kick my a**!...):o

Sean,

Thanks! Yeah, I love my home theater... but... like most guys, I MUST HAVE MORE POWER!!! (insert Tim Allen grunt here) My receiver is pretty wimpy actually. It only put's out 90W x 5 channels. My mains can handle 300W per! So, I'm only using 1/3 of their capability! I MUST find out what they're capable of!

The only reason I've got the setup I do however is because of my 4 years in the Army (strait out of high school) living in the Barracks... e.g. no rent for 4 years.

It looks like you went the logical route and got the horse first with your receiver... I'm a "cart before the horse" guy through and through. It looks like your Aiwa has plenty of wattage!

My picture problem got fixed... I forgot to delete the internet cache! Thanks for the compliment, I know it's not the best picture... but at least it's mine!

- Josh

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[Post edited by Nachtkriechen on May 13, 2004]

Sean:

My Onkyo does me fairly well too. The only problem is I bought it a while ago (around 1999 or so), and it wasn't the top model by any means, so the highlights of this receiver is that it has Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and DTS surround (back when having DTS was a BIG deal on your receiver) and has about 5 theater effects. Now just about everything has a DTS decoder. Before I had my Onkyo however, I was using (and this is pretty sad) a Sony "shelf" system to power everything! However, at that time I was using my Bose AM-5's as my front mains... not impressive. Now I have the Bose's as my side surrounds (which is sort of pointless because I don't have a 7.1 receiver yet) and I'm sure they'll perform well as surrounds. However, I REALLY must recommend (if you have an extra sub sitting around, and it has the capability) hooking up your rear surrounds through it! Talk about a RUMBLE across the sound stage! My front room is medium to small medium as well. So my monstrous Definative 2002 TL's ROCK!

Tim:

That makes sense about the receiver being plenty, especially considering my two tower mains both have powered subs. It does play quite loud (louder than I'm comfortable listening at). The speakers play to the receivers max WITHOUT clipping! However, at low volumes, you tend to miss some of the lower bass output.... that or I've lost some of my hearing and just don't hear it at lower levels! :D

Josh,

Unless you've got incredibly inefficient speakers (no matter how big or what the manufacturer rates their power-handling capabilities), your 90 watts per channel should be capable of driving them to very high volumes. Understand, an average loudspeaker of modern design can usually play at about 90 db on a single watt of power. For every three db increase, it takes approximately a doubling of power. So, at that rate, your amp should be able to power your speakers to well over 100 db, a pretty loud noise, you know?

At loud volume, do you hear your speakers breaking up? Crackling or spitting? Means you're probably running out of power. If not, either your speakers are efficient enough to run on the power you're feeding them, or the amp goes into clipping (overdriving) smoothly.

John

Josh,

Well, I do like my AIWA, it's done me well, but that's the total wattage. So, I've got 80 watts per channel w/ a 100 watt sub. Not amazing by any means, but it gets me by. My living room is mid-size, so I can still get plenty of bang.

Sean (or as that American Idol guy says..."She Bang!"...)

Josh,

Do you lose any surround transparency running your rear surrounds through the sub? I'm just afraid that since my sub isn't top of the line, I might lose some rear info.

Sean (don't worry...I won't give you all too much info on my rear...)

Sean,

Let me make this completely clear, that you shouldn't do this with your primary sub. Not that it will damage it, or anything of the sort, rather because your sub will only play the sub frequencies sent through the "surround" channels. E.g. if you use your primary (or only sub) you'll no longer have the main subwoofer signals that you'd have normally. The way I'm setup is, both of my main front speaker towers have a 12" sub in each tower, as well as an "input" for the sub cable on each. I have my front right (preferance) tower sub connected as the main sub for the system. The left speaker sub (inconsequential) will just perform as a large woofer. So, my main sub channel is routed through my right front tower. Because I had a Cerwin vega 10" powered sub (layin' around) I remembered that it has a built in crossover in back (as most subs today do) to route speaker signals through it. I don't lose any speaker info. at all. If you look at it from a simplistic viewpoint, the processor in your receiver is sending the surround signals down the wires to your sub (in this particular instance), your sub then acts as a cross-over sending all signals (except the sub frequencies) to your surround speakers, and then obviously sending the sub frequencies to the sub. As long as you follow good speaker connection protocols (e.g. making sure you have the best speaker connections you can afford) you shouldn't lose any speaker info. One thing to remember however is that DVD's (even with DTS & THX) are still trying to "get with the program" of putting sub signals in the surround channels. I can easily tell which one's do and which ones don't. Good 'ol George Lucas and the people at THX have made sure that Episode I, and Episode II, both have the surround sub frequencies. And let me tell you... particularly in Episode II, at the very beginning (chapter 3 I believe) where Amidala's ship fly's overhead from rear to front with those growling engines... SOUNDS PHENOMINAL with a powered sub in both the rear and front of the system!!

If you don't have another powered sub sitting around, and your wife won't let you buy a new one... check ebay. You might be able to find yourself a sweet deal! You don't need to have the "top of the line" powered sub to make a considerable difference in your setup. Just find a powered sub that has a cross-over, and you're ready to rock n' roll! However, I don't recommend using small speakers like Bose (as I did in the beginning) as your main surrounds... you miss a LOT of mid and low range sound. Some day I'll have the cash to buy Definative's bi-polar surrounds to complete my setup.

So... there you have it. 8)

- Josh (all this importance placed on sub's... do you think it's from "sub"liminal messaging?) ...(insert "Dr. Evil" laugh here)

Josh,

Well, my primary sub is powered and hooked up through a coaxial connection to the receiver. I assume that means that the LFE channel is being sent to it so I should still get the oomph that the LFE is putting out. However, if I hook up my rear surrounds to the sub, are you saying that I could lose this response?

Right now, I get great bass response from the sub, but if I could amp that up in my rear speakers, I'd love it.

I get the feeling you already answered this in your previous post, but I'm pretty thick!

Sean (I think Jethro Tull wrote Thick as a Brick just for me!...) :o

Sean,

I think I've lost your point. Why do you WANT to run your rear speakers through your powered bass amp? Is it because you have a bigger amplifier in your bass speaker cabinet than in your main receiver? But Josh is right: You would only be getting the signal sent to the bass, usually below 100 Hz or so.

Ideally, by the way, a bass speaker should be set to operate below 50 Hz, where the low notes are entirely non-directional. That way, no matter where you place the bass speaker (front of the room or back), it supplements the bottom-end response of both the front and back speakers.

John

John,

I was trying to understand from what Josh was saying as to whether I would lose my rear surround feed by hooking up those rear surrounds to the sub, or if I would still get that feed just with some pumped up bass.

If I lose the surround signal to my surrounds, no, I definitely don't want to do that, and I think that's what you were getting at.

My hopes were twofold: 1) that I could get more bass out of my rear surrounds, and 2) that I could hopefully get past that annoying static on T2 that we had discussed in another thread.

I would assume that if I want to still have my rear surrounds and increased bass response in the rear, then I need to add a rear sub, or maybe a couple of extra rear surrounds hooked into the sub. Am I close?

Sean (all this talk of rears and bass...y'know, if you just take the "b" off of bass, you're back to rear!...)

If you're getting "static" in your rear speakers during loud audio passages, it sounds like you need either more efficient speakers in the back or, more probably, a new receiver/amplifier with a little more or a little cleaner power. I'd go with a new 5.1 receiver. Costs are down and power is up.

John