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Archive for May, 2007
Category: Theme Parks
From signonsandiego.com:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Charles Dickens famously opened “A Tale of Two Cities.” He also wrote, a line or two later: “It was the age of foolishness.”
Was the age of foolishness? If only Dickens could see what his greatness has wrought, 137 years after his death.
Today in Chatham, England, about an hours drive from London, a $125 million theme park called Dickens World opens to the public. It has boat rides, a haunted house, animatronic characters and costumed characters walking around the Dickensian streets some of them snow-crested re-created out of the pages of “Nicholas Nickelby,” “Oliver Twist” or “Great Expectations.”
The price of admission: $25 for adults, $15 for kids. Cheap by the standards of some theme parks — are you listening, Disney?.
(Note from Mark to the author: That entire park doesn’t even cost as much as Expedition Everest alone — Disney is more than worth the price of admission)
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 25, 2007 at 5:28 pm · Permalink
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Category: Technology
From nwsource.com:
In this photo released by Sony Corp., the company’s new 0.3 millimeter (0.01 inch) display is shown at Atsugi Technology Center in Atsugi, southwest of Tokyo May 21, 2007. In the race for ever thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all, a razor-thin display that bend like paper while showing full-color video. (AP Photo/Sony Corp., HO)
TOKYO — In the race for ever-thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all - a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video.
Sony Corp. released video of the new 2.5-inch display Friday. In it, a hand squeezes a display that is 0.3 millimeters, or 0.01 inch, thick. The display shows color images of a bicyclist stuntman and a picturesque lake.
Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that’s so thin it bends in a human hand marks a breakthrough.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 25, 2007 at 12:36 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney
From nwsource.com:
“I got myself in the headlines a couple years ago by making comments about making DVDs available at the same time that movies were available in movie theaters. What I really meant was I thought that we had to listen to the consumer and make content available more aggressively, which meant that I thought at the time that the window, meaning the time that movies are in theaters, would probably collapse and should collapse.
“I actually believe that the movie-going experience, when you go into a theater with a number of other people and see it on a big screen, is a good experience and an important experience for the business, and I dont think that should go away. And I believe it actually should be protected in a few ways. One, we should all be working as an industry to make the product more compelling, which means everything from digital theaters, digital cinema to just a better movie-going experience.
“But I also believe that the window to when its available in the next form ought to be maybe a little shorter than it has been in the past, and weve seen some of that compression. It ought to be designed to continue to maintain value for both windows — for what Ill call the home-video window and for the theatrical window. I dont think were going to get to a point where everything is available at all times, but you will see, thanks to technology, a lot more available than ever before.”
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 25, 2007 at 12:33 pm · Permalink
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Category: Misc
From nationalgeographic.com:
Seoul, South Korea Photograph by Michael Nichols
Hungry tigers stand on display atop an SUV in Seoul, South Koreas Everland Resort amusement park. The parks tigers are fed chunks of meat dangled from a tour bus so sightseers can view the staged carnage up close.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 25, 2007 at 11:33 am · Permalink
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Category: News
From myfoxla.com:
Authorities on Thursday captured an alligator believed to be the elusive “Reggie” who lived for two years in a murky lake in a city park for two years.The alligator was spotted on dry land near Harbor Regional Park’s Lake Machado around 3:30 p.m.
Park officials put a fence around the animal and, with the assistance of firefighters, it was loaded into a truck for transport to the Los Angeles Zoo, said Fire Department spokeswoman D’Lisa Davies.
Reggie was an illegal pet allegedly tossed into the 50-acre lake by a former policeman when it got too big.
When the 7-foot reptile was first spotted in the murky waters of the lake in 2005, he became a sensation as crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of it.
Locals named it Reggie, though it’s not clear whether the reptile is male or female.
(photo:nationalgeographic.com)
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 25, 2007 at 8:19 am · Permalink
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Category: Apple
From reghardware.co.uk:
Apple’s diminutive Mac Mini is due to be discontinued, it has been claimed, quite possibly the victim of the even smaller but no less Mac OS X friendly Apple TV.
According to an AppleInsider report, Apple sources claim the Minis for the chop - maybe after a near-term upgrade, or maybe sooner.
If the allegation is true, its no great surprise. The Mini was launched essentially as a compact, living room friendly Mac, and almost immediately Mac fans began to wonder how they could use it as a TV-centric media playback machine. Apples apparent unwillingness to bundle the box with a TV tuner and DVR software - despite many rumours that it would - left the Mini as just a smaller, cheaper Mac.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 25, 2007 at 8:15 am · Permalink
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Category: Theme Parks
From rideaccidents.com:
(
Friday, May 18, 2007) - In Rakvere, Estonia, an Enterprise-type amusement ride somehow caught fire, leaving 37 people with burn and smoke inhalation injuries. The victims, six of whom suffered serious injuries, were rushed to local hospitals where they were treated and released within 24 hours.
The carnival is operated by Tivoli Tuur. The carnival manager suggested that arson could be to blame, but no evidence of arson has been found in preliminary investigations.
The ride consists of twenty 2-passenger gondolas which are suspended from the outside of a wheel that is raised to a vertical position while spinning at high speed. The fire broke out while the ride was operating at full speed.
A criminal investigation is also underway.
(Note from Mark: Link includes the awful video footage — the entire Enterprise ride is settling back to the ground with every car whipping around on fire and the other video of people trying to get passngers out of the burning cars. )
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 24, 2007 at 10:56 am · Permalink
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Category: Technology
From yahoo.com:
CALGARY, Alberta Reuters - Canadian researchers say they have developed the most detailed model of a human yet, a movable “4D” image that doctors can use to plan complex surgery or show patients what ailments look like inside their bodies.
Called CAVEman, the larger-than-life computer image encompasses more than 3,000 distinct body parts, all viewed in a booth that gives the image height, width and depth, the researchers said on Wednesday.
CAVEman also plots the passage of time — the fourth “D.”
Scientists can layer on the unique visuals of patients, such as magnetic resonance images, CAT scans and X-Rays, giving physicians high-resolution views of the inner workings of the body while it appears to float within arms reach.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 24, 2007 at 10:45 am · Permalink
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Category: Disney, Movies
From allmoviereplicas.com:
Ratatouille Bus Shelter Poster Print
Movie Poster - Poster Print - Bus Shelter Style A
Description: Reprint; large; bus shelter, rolled
Year: 2007
Condition: New
Dimension: 43″ x 62″
Genre: Animation
Movie Poster Print Style A
High quality 43″ x 62″ reproduction, printed on satin finish paper. Reproductions are almost identical in quality to original 1 sheet posters, and are ideal for framing and display in your home theater. $59.99
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 24, 2007 at 7:22 am · Permalink
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Category: Movies
From darkhorizons.com:
He-Man is coming back. Its now confirmed that producer Joel Silver and Warner Bros. Pictures are moving forward with a planned “Masters of the Universe” live-action film adaptation of the famous Mattel toyline and 1980s animated series.
The producer and studio are in negotiations with Mattel to acquire the rights to the property. Newcomer Justin Marks, who recently scored a co-writing gig with David Goyer on the Green Arrow prison film “SuperMax,” has been brought on board to pen the adaptation.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on May 24, 2007 at 7:11 am · Permalink
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