Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 February 1

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February 1

Does anyone happen to know if the polarized glasses I got at Avatar will work for the Grammys' 3D tribute to Michael Jackson?

A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 02:29, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

There are two types of polarized lenses in use. Most are linear polarization. To work properly, the polarization has to match almost exactly. So, if left is 0 degrees and right is 90 degrees, that is what your glasses need to be. It is not possible to know if that will be the angles unless you go to the same theater (I see no reason for them to change the polarization on the projector). The other is radial polarization. One is clockwise and the other is counter-clockwise. You have a 50/50 chance of them working. -- kainaw™ 02:32, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick response, Kainaw. I'll find out in about 20-25 minutes. I'll DVR it, so if it doesn't work, I'll just run out to Target to get the glasses. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 02:38, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Nope. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 02:55, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

The Grammys are on TV, so the 3D will probably be the red-blue kind. --70.254.86.38 (talk) 03:00, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

It's red/green, and looks awful (without glasses, anyway). Comet Tuttle (talk) 05:56, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Correct. Red/Green and Red/Blue 3D has absolutely nothing to do with polarized 3D. That technology is old and will die out soon. Polarized-based 3D televisions are now ready for the consumer market so 3D movies (including broadcast 3D) will be available very soon. -- kainaw™ 15:07, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

I would like to bet that red/blue anaglyph stays around for a long time. In print if nowhere else. APL (talk) 19:49, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

For those interested, RealD Cinema gives info about the glasses & 3D system.--220.101.28.25 (talk) 01:44, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Bronowski's computer

What computer is Jacob Bronowski shown using in The Ascent of Man? (He manipulates some very basic vector graphics on it using I think a trackball.) 81.131.17.113 (talk) 14:44, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Is this the one? I don't know what it is but there's an interesting device on the left that appears to have indentations for putting your fingers in. --Frumpo (talk) 16:42, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

For those of you too young to remember this stuff, the keyboard/screen behind Bronowski is just the display for the computer. Some of the actual computer can be seen behind him, to our right. The display appears to be actual vector graphics, which probably means it is some kind of Tektronix terminal. They were once the leader in this kind of display. However vector graphics terminals were already rare in the 1980s. DJ Clayworth (talk) 16:58, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

There is a hint here that it might be at the National Research Council in Ottawa.--Frumpo (talk) 17:17, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

The picture in this article looks like the same device (and it's at the NRC). In which case the Q&A section indicates that it's a SEL 840A with the graphics controller built in-house. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Frumpo (talk • contribs) 17:51, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

darn it, that's a good article. Way to go, Frumpo. DJ Clayworth (talk) 02:21, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Big 8 German TV stations

Which German TV stations fall under the Big 8? --84.61.165.65 (talk) 17:26, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

The German wikipedia Einschaltquote (=rating) mentions the 8 biggest in an external weblink to dwdl.de. That site lists 8 logos when you click on tv-quoten for the 8 channels: the logos are from ARD (the '1' logo), ZDF, RTL, SAT1 (the 'ball' logo), PRO7 (also known as Pro Sieben), RTL2 (also known as RTL-II), VOX and the last KABEL1 (also known as Kabel Eins). 195.35.160.133 (talk) 13:21, 3 February 2010 (UTC) Martin.

Please add the German TV stations to the article Big 8! --84.61.165.65 (talk) 15:49, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

The "article" is a disambiguation page. It only links to existing articles. To what existing article would you like to link from that disambiguation page? Also, perhaps you could try it yourself?! 195.35.160.133 (talk) 16:16, 3 February 2010 (UTC) Martin.

The Real Ghostbusters episode

There is a The Real Ghostbusters episode, where Peter dreams of Tahiti, seeing Tahitians. What is the episode's title? 85.132.99.117 (talk) 20:38, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

There's an episode guide here. You could try emailing the maintainer. They're probably closer to an expert than anyone here. Dismas|^(talk) 06:53, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Unknown children's melody

Can anyone identify this melody? It has been recorded from a musical toy for children. --Fistanes (talk) 22:41, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

This may or may not help you out, but after about 21 seconds into the song, I'm hearing I Have a Little Dreidel in there. If it was a recording from a musical toy, it might not have a name, and the music may simply be a variation of I Have a Little Dreidel with some other parts added in. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 02:20, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

What's the toy? Can you post a picture of it? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

You can find a picture here. It's an 'Electronic Book' with the shape of a Butterfly. It's in Spanish, but it must have been translated from French. The one I have is titled 'The adventures of the little bear Dadoo'. Other characters are the cat Barbilou (sometimes written as Barbilú, as if it was adapted to Spanish) and the frog Barbotina. The manufacturer is mbi-international. There's an additional code that reads 'registered/design/model/bravel MBI-2582-W435fr49629-M4068256-BXF44'.--Fistanes (talk) 09:11, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I notice that the melody is designed to facilitate learning to count as each additional verse has more repeating notes in the first two phrases than the previous one. The would suggest that if it was not written for that toy that it is the kind of song that adds words to each successive verse snowballing into longer and longer verses, like Alouette. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.55.186.95 (talk) 15:35, 2 February 2010 (UTC)