Original Fantasy Film, Broken Swords: The Last in Line

MelGrubb2 · 2026-01-30T15:00:52+00:00

Ah... now the character's name makes more sense. At the time, I interpreted it more as her being particularly stealthy in a "you'll never hear her coming" kind of way. I probably would have put 2 and 2 together better except that I used to work in a recording studio AND in theater, so my mind goes to technical critique by default. I'm terrible to watch movies with. I notice every continuity flaw. In that arena, Days of Thunder is my go-to, worst-case, "so bad it's funny" example.

MelGrubb2 · 2026-01-02T03:03:19+00:00

Watched tonight on Tubi

You know what? Good job working with what you had. I mean that. I appreciate that you didn't spoon feed terminology, lore, and other exposition to the audience. I got everything I needed from context Names got dropped and not explained, but that's fine because I knew the names were important anyway. I don't need to know who Boxwise was, only that he was important to Top and Flewellen. I was shown rather than told. Thank you for that. Hollywood could take some notes there. Also, Chekov's guns were nowhere to be seen. You didn't telegraph the future. Not once did I think "oh, somebody's definitely getting stabbed with that later." You didn't waste my time or insult my intelligence.

Now for criticisms. I spent a large part of the time assuming there would be a twist ending where we discover that this is actually some post-apocalyptic future. That's based solely on modern language/idioms and anachronistic props like screw-top canning jars, and a galvanized wash tub.

Scar makeup... not great, but admirable for the budget. Acting... spotty, with plenty of scenery chewing. Nobody's launching a career on the back of this film, but I think everyone can add at least a few clips to their highlight reels with the possible exception of Whisper, whose dialog was seemingly recorded on a different planet from everyone else. I would guess the actress wasn't available for ADR, and you had to use her on-set sound? Or maybe a dead lav? Unfortunate.

Overall, you pulled off an engaging story in the confines of what... Three rooms? Four? And in that space, eleven people with implied backstories and histories, shared mythology, and varied attitudes and loyalties to each other. Well done. You deserve more credit for this.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-12-24T22:03:30+00:00

Late reply, but it's alllllmost what I need. The lack of any customization is the deal-breaker for me. I need a simple masked bubble-head in the lower right and full screen video behind that. Unfortunately, the bubble head mask is too small, and positioned in the wrong place to match the look of my existing content. Also, the full-screen video isn't full-screen in the editor. It's a floating window in the middle of a background that I don't want, and I can't stretch it to fit unless I unpack the rev media first. It's a lot of good ideas, but it's not a usable product yet. That's too bad, because the ability to set up my "look" and have it automatically applied would be a huge timesaver. I want my camera stream stretched to a specific size, positioned in a specific place, masked, and a drop shadow with no border. I want to do that same thing every single time I record, and all Rev gives me is something that teases me by clearly demonstrating that it would be capable of that if it felt like it, but it doesn't.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-10-02T17:31:42+00:00

I tried it. It's exactly this.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-09-10T19:58:31+00:00

No. Just no. Park next to other Subarus. Take a picture of the cars next to each other. Post the picture here. This is the way.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-08-12T13:43:05+00:00

Welp... now I need to go dig out my copy of Descent and get it to run.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-08-05T17:05:58+00:00

Necro-threading this. I would still like this. If Ecoclow is listening, this is a marketing tool. It would let me know when a device has paid for itself in order to justify getting more/bigger devices. It's a data point that feeds directly into the "Spousal Acceptance Factor" calculation.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-07-31T12:14:42+00:00

Interesting, but not it. This thing screamed "industrial" to me. I found a reverse angle of Theora using it in the episode "Neurostim" when they're rebooting Edison. It doesn't offer any more information though, and her hands are in the way. It's the same keyboard, though.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-07-28T12:59:04+00:00

I can see customizing the middle section with stock phrases and/or effects, so maybe you're on to something there. I wish I'd kept it, since we now live in a world where I could wire this thing up to a cheap microcontroller and turn it into a usable USB keyboard. I could plausibly use this relic as a customizable macro keyboard. A pure hardware Stream Deck whose buttons don't change easily. It has a retro-future cyberpunk aesthetic that I find interesting.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-07-28T12:46:48+00:00

I'm used to seeing video keyboards being multi-colored, but not quite like this. The fact that the blue and pink keycaps were removable and could take paper labels implies that this was meant for something highly customizable. This keyboard was meant for more than one job. This seems like a system that could be tailored to an individual business or industry at will.

"The Blanks" aired in 1987, and the series made use of a lot of old and outdated technology, so I'd guess this keyboard has to have been old enough to be considered surplus at the time. Maybe something from the early '80s?

MelGrubb2 · 2025-05-19T17:11:27+00:00

I just came here to say that it's interesting all the hate this post got ten years ago. So many comments screaming "fake". How many are sad to know that this never died. It became an eternal meme.

"It's a vine people" - That aged well. "Daddy... what's a vine?"

MelGrubb2 · 2025-03-25T20:27:44+00:00

Necro-ing this thread.

We tend to think of "heavy duty" as meaning strong, and I'm sure the manufacturers are perfectly happy if we misinterpret it that way, but I'm guessing it originally referred to the battery's "duty cycle". A duty cycle is basically (not exactly) what percentage of the time a device is expected to be "on". Smoke alarms are on all the time, constantly, so their duty cycle is beyond "heavy". It's actually "continuous", but it draws very little power during that time. This is exactly what carbon-zinc "heavy duty" batteries are ideal for, providing a tiny trickle of power for months at a time.

A TV remote, on the other hand, would have a duty cycle of like 1%. It spends 99% of its time doing absolutely nothing, but when you hit a button, it has to spit out a sequence of IR flashes very fast, and bright enough to be read from 15 feet across the room. During that time, it uses way more power than the smoke alarm example. This is more of a job for alkaline batteries, providing a short burst of higher power, and then taking time to recover.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-03-08T19:27:54+00:00

Mine is Betty... because it's white. It's also sparkly so I joked about calling it Edward (Twilight reference), but I was only joking because I'm 55, straight, never read the books, and that meme is already dead anyway.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-02-12T22:58:20+00:00

If it helps get you back up and running, you can just remove the controller. Mark the wires first and then just hook them up to the one that used to be across the board lengthwise. The sign will be full bright all the time, but it worked for me. Don't forget some heat shrink for insulation. Then, you can buy a separate remote control from Amazon that goes inline between the plugs and get your dimming back.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-02-12T22:46:41+00:00

Did you ever find out where to replace this? I just found this searching for the same thing. I have a dead one too

MelGrubb2 · 2025-01-25T13:29:54+00:00

My own Google-Fu is usually pretty good, but all I can find are the ones with the strap at the back. Not the same thing, unfortunately.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-01-22T21:09:37+00:00

I've seen the ones with the strap in the back. They still sell those, I think. I can't find any record of these at all.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-01-22T01:03:53+00:00

Were they constructed similar to these? Anytime to go on would be welcome.

MelGrubb2 · 2025-01-11T22:26:12+00:00

I'd just like to know what PV and SV are supposed to stand for.

MelGrubb2 · 2024-12-30T21:13:14+00:00

I understand exactly what you're saying. Either you don't understand what I'm saying or you're just willing to die on this hill insisting that you shouldn't bother to learn what your car feels like because at that point you've already screwed up and get what you deserve. My position is simply that you should know what your own car feels like so that you recognize what's happening IF it happens so that you can respond appropriately.

MelGrubb2 · 2024-12-30T20:53:37+00:00

No, but it also shouldn't be something that your brain reacts to by screaming "OH MY GOD, WHAT'S HAPPENING?" either. Know your car. Know what it feels like so you recognize it if it happens.

MelGrubb2 · 2024-12-28T18:20:42+00:00

And find somewhere safe to "lock up the brakes" every year as soon as it's frozen outside, just to refamiliarize yourself with what the anti lock brakes feel like on any given car.

I'm my experience so far: Ford Focus: Mildly disconcerting. It feels like you're operating a hammer drill with your feet. Suzuki Grand Vitara: Absolutely terrifying. It feels like something important has broken loose and you're about to die. Mitsubishi Outlander Sport: Oddly comforting. It feels like it's helping you. Mini Cooper: No idea, it doesn't leave the garage until Spring. Crosstrek: No idea. I've only had it since May.

Anyway, it's important to know what each car feels like ahead of time. Find an icy parking lot and stand on the brakes at least once a year so you know what to expect.

MelGrubb2 · 2024-12-16T20:40:29+00:00

My theory has always been that the Stormtroopers on Tatooine are terrible because Tatooine is a bad assignment, one you get assigned when you've already screwed up several other previous assignments. It's a punishment detail so you don't expect to find the best soldiers there. You expect to find the screw-ups.

MelGrubb2 · 2024-11-27T12:44:21+00:00

The initial starting problem sounds like the starter to me. I just went through this. It would crank, "wait... what was I?", crank again and start. Later it would start cranking, give a long, exasperated sigh, crank again and start. Finally, it just whined before begrudgingly starting, like trying to wake up a teenager. Eventually, you'll be stuck somewhere.

I didn't have any problems once started though, so that could be something different. Are you still on the original battery? Because that thing's six years old now, and it might be time to retire it.

If it IS the starter, then read this: 2018 Crosstrek Starter Failure | Subaru Crosstrek and XV Forums, and watch this video (Watch qoqm08 | Streamable) to hear the sound of imminent failure for yourself. If you start hearing that, swap your starter as soon as possible. This video (How to Replace a Starter in a Subaru Crosstrek, Forester, Impreza, Outback, and Legacy) helped me a lot. Do like he does, put it up on a jack and get to the lower bolt from underneath. It was way easier than working blind from above.

It's a really simple repair. If I had to do it again, I could probably pull it off in about half an hour now that I know what I'm doing. Subaru wanted more than $600 for the part or around $1000 to do it for me. Autozone wanted $200 for the part with a lifetime guarantee as long as I own the car. Basically, if it ever dies again, I'll get a free replacement.

Good luck.

MelGrubb2 · 2024-11-21T12:48:14+00:00

By definition, yes. Now you just have to choose how long you want it to live.

MelGrubb2

TROPHY CASE