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It's good to be reminded sometimes that automated technology solutions can't fix everything. That reminder came recently with the announcement of the impending big-screen return of The Beatles' trippy 1968 animated film, "Yellow Submarine."

A team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque is responsible for the restoration effort. Sure, it's a digital restoration, but that's not all that was involved with bringing it back to life. The team couldn't just load the film into a powerhouse computer, press go, and wait for the remaster to spit itself out.… Read more

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants a federal law banning talking or texting on a cell phone while driving.

Yesterday at an event in San Antonio, Texas, he called for tough federal legislation that would deal with what he called a "national epidemic" of distracted driving, according to a Reuters report. LaHood told a group of doctors, government officials, and other advocates for bans on cell phone use while driving that police should have "the opportunity to write tickets when people are foolishly thinking they can drive safely or use a cell phone and text and … Read more

Researchers at the University of Liverpool say they have developed a new imaging technique that will help them identify, and thus analyze, tissue fibers in the heart that control whether the muscle beats regularly.

Using a micro CT scanner, the team imaged hearts whose tissue had been highlighted using iodine. The scientists discovered that certain tissue -- the conducting tissue that sends an electrical wave to trigger each heartbeat -- absorbed less of the solution than the muscular tissue.

This contrast made it easier to identify which tissue was producing electrical activity in 3D, which has until this study had … Read more

Recently I went shopping for a Blu-ray player. Call me old-fashioned, but there are some movies I want to see in full 1080p glory and hear in full 5.1-channel surround.

Plus, I'd just purchased my first 3D-capable TV and needed a 3D-capable player to go with it. (If you're in the same boat, be sure to check out my recent post, "Where to find 3D movies to watch at home.")

Given that I wasn't planning to buy another Blu-ray player for a long time -- possibly ever -- I wanted a decent model with features like Netflix streaming, built-in Wi-Fi, and, of course, support for 3D. I was also hoping for a price below $100.

My usual process for buying something like this is to browse sites like Amazon and Newegg in search of the models with the highest user ratings, then check the professional ratings at sites like CNET to see how well they match up.

Just one problem: I was hard-pressed to find a single Blu-ray player with uniformly positive user ratings. I perused models from LG, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, and Vizio, and nearly every one had reviews that were all over the map.… Read more

If I had to recommend just one Blu-ray player for 2012, it would be Panasonic's DMP-BDT220 ($130 street price). It's in the sweet spot of Panasonic's Blu-ray lineup, with built-in Wi-Fi and an excellent set of streaming-media services, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant, Vudu, MLB.TV, and Pandora.

And while competing players from Samsung and Sony offer just as many streaming apps, they're hamstrung by awkward user interfaces.… Read more

Here's a happy fact: 3D-capable HDTVs now cost little more than their non-3D counterparts.

Here's another happy fact: 3D-capable Blu-ray players now cost little more than their non-3D counterparts.

And, finally, a sad fact: You can't rent 3D movies from Netflix. Or your local Redbox kiosk. Nor can you stream or download them from Amazon, Netflix, or iTunes.

So now what? What good is the gear if there's no content? Turns out there are a few sources that can deliver 3D goodness to your home, either through the mail or over the Interwebs. Here are your … Read more

You can call it "Mission: Impossible 4" or Tom Cruise's comeback flick after a career that suddenly hit the skids. But whatever it's called, Paramount's done another stellar job with the video transfer and the Blu-ray version offers impressive fine detail along with an equally dynamic soundtrack to back up the picture quality.

As for the movie, well, it's also pretty good, so this one might very well be worth a purchase rather than a rental.

I know, I know, a lot of you don't buy discs anymore, you just stream everything or … Read more

Sometimes we need to see to believe. I remember understanding on an intellectual level, from a young age, that smoking was bad, but I didn't really get it on a visceral level until I saw a smoker's blackened lungs. The effect was so profound that, to this day, I go so far as to hold my breath when walking past people smoking.

Unfortunately, it's not easy to peer inside our own bodies and check out the health of our lungs. It's also difficult to see the effects sun exposure is having on our skin, especially when … Read more

The BP620 is LG's "flagship" Blu-ray player for 2012, but you couldn't tell by its $130 street price or ordinary feature set. It includes all the important features that manufacturers are charging for this year, such as 3D compatibility, built-in Wi-Fi, and a suite of streaming-media services.

The big catch, especially if you were familiar with LG's platform last year, is that Amazon Instant will not be included on 2012 players, which could be a deal breaker for cord cutters. However, LG continues to have one of the best-designed streaming-content portals, with a dead-simple user … Read more