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it's paraphrasing a genuinely amusing moment in the film "The Princess Bride", when one of the characters keeps saying "inconceivable" as The Man in Black continues to follow them through in a seemingly impossible fashion. one of the others turns to him in puzzlement/exasperation and says exactly that: "you keep using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means"

and, yes, like most situational gags it completely loses its appeal when written down ;-)

the film itself actually won a "Best Screenplay" award from Writers Guild of America and, if i remember correctly, it also won the Toronto International Film Festival "People's Choice Award". and an Oscar and a Grammy for something a bit random to do with the music i think. was all around 1988

Violence in video games is not real. Violence in movies is not real. Real violence is real. Real people get hurt. Pretty simple, huh?

There seems to be a general confusion of fantasy with reality in all of these conversations, and those who object most strongly to fictionalized depictions of violence share the same inability to distinguish the two that these crazed snipers do.

And some of it was just complete fantasy-land, like the cute girl wanted to hang out with the class nerd while he played a computer game in his bedroom. I ask you.

Not so implausible. We know she had a thing for robots.

We must investigate this further, if only to find out whether the dodders are really the brains behind The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! And then hatch a scheme to stop their murderous rampages once and for all. Maybe a moratorium on ketchup will soothe their jihad...

I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned this.

I just did a quick page search on the comments. Have we all really forgotten about the sequal to Alien titled Aliens where our bad-ass Ripley pwns our favorite acid-for-blood monster in such a suit?

It's like a SIMONE thing. Besides do you think Larry would do that favor for slashdotters considering our current reputation of... oh nevermind...

...notice that their religion has become the new sand, and science/secular humanism/rationality has become the new rock.

This is *exactly* the point I was trying to make, although I like your phrasing better. And I can certainly relate to your "brain in a vat" example of conciousness.

My faith is based entirely on generalization from self. For example, many times in my life I have prayed/meditated/pondered/slept on it before making a big decision. Usually my answer will come to me rather clearly; but from where does this answer come? The collective unconcious? Jesus? Random synapses in my brain? Experience and judgement? A combination of these? Even as I write this I wonder what I am going to type next, meanwhile, another part of me already knows.

I also have strong emotional reactions to certain "spiritual" things; sunrises, great sex, great food, etc. When engaged in these activities I can sense a significance to them that reaches far beyond myself. Is this God, or simply some under-developed schizophrenia lurking in my brain? (Speaking of: this article might be right up your alley.)

My biggest hang-up with the whole "God/no God" debate is death. The logical part of me laughs at the Judeo-Chrisitan definition of "Heaven". However, I'm sure we've all read about those near-death experiences where people see the "white light" before being revived. Is that the gateway as described in the Bible? Perhaps. But perhaps not: I have also taken a few solid knocks to the head, and also saw a bright flash of light, although I was nowhere near death at the time.

My biggest problem with "hardcore" atheism is the concept of nothing; I have never experienced nothing and so I have no frame of reference. When asleep, I dream. When bored, my mind races onto its own little tangents. If I sit in the dark with my hands over my ears, I start to listen to my heartbeat. To me, the concept of "nothing" makes no rational sense.

I'm rambling now, but if you have never seen it I will highly suggest the movie Waking Life which explains that the "after-life" is simply a few minutes of leftover brain activity; a sort of lucid dream in which we can exist in a self-defined universe for a conceptually infinite period of "time" (in quotes because that's a whole quagmire in its own right). I'm not suggesting a religion based on a movie, but I do find the theory extremely logical. For example; if my memories consist of good deeds and happy times, wouldn't this dream state be a personal heaven? On the other hand, if I have lived a "wicked" life and die with a tortured concious, couldn't I lapse into a nightmare of my own personal hell?

Call me crazy, but I'm still looking for the common ground. I can't believe that 75% of all the people on the face of the Earth could worship the same God (Jews, Chrisitans, Muslims) and yet all be 100% wrong.

Does anyone recall that giant bug in Men In Black I? Perhaps that "giant" thrip was hunting for the galaxy?

I applaud the effort and think it's a great step in the right direction. It really makes me think that a suit of this type (slimmer and sexier of course) isn't far around the corner for our astronauts to wear as they get further and further into the unknown.

it's really not a far stretch to mantis then but as cool as it would look, it would also open up the door for military application (though i'm sure they're already working on something of the nature...) in true exo-squad fashion.

what was the name of that one with the 3 guys with the power suits? one for land, air, and sea. the air dude was ace macleod and i think the chick on the show was named krystal?... what was that one...

I applaud the effort and think it's a great step in the right direction. It really makes me think that a suit of this type (slimmer and sexier of course) isn't far around the corner for our astronauts to wear as they get further and further into the unknown.

it's really not a far stretch to mantis then but as cool as it would look, it would also open up the door for military application (though i'm sure they're already working on something of the nature...) in true exo-squad fashion.

what was the name of that one with the 3 guys with the power suits? one for land, air, and sea. the air dude was ace macleod and i think the chick on the show was named krystal?... what was that one...

Using our convenient Earth Maggot saddles... [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138813/]

Take for example, The Whole Nine Yards. For those who haven't seen this movie, it's a compedy. There is nothing beyond comical violence in it. There *is* some nudity when Amada Peet is topless.

Now, take a look at the ratings. Pretty much every single country except the US has it rated for Young Adults 13-14. The US has it rated "R", which means it is barred from anyone under 17.

I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Ah, you beat me to it. Yes, this is a great movie. Very thought provoking, like the best sci-fi is. Incidentally, here's the link you probably wanted: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364343/

It seems the alien invasion of the Earth has just started!

No.. it's really Richard Branson's newest Eco-Friendly transportation mode. See, we'll strap seats to the backs of these giant genetically modified insects and they'll run us or fly us anywhere we want to go. What could possibly go wrong?

microsoft europe strenuously denied it was a bug from their code, "ours are a few metres smaller."

It seems the alien invasion of the Earth has just started!

No.. it's really Richard Branson's newest Eco-Friendly transportation mode. See, we'll strap seats to the backs of these giant genetically modified insects and they'll run us or fly us anywhere we want to go. What could possibly go wrong?

microsoft europe strenuously denied it was a bug from their code, "ours are a few metres smaller."

I was bringing some andouille sausage with me to cook at a friend's house...

...on fusion/cold fusion when Dr. Emma Russel already knows the answer? All someone has to do is seduce her and steal the cards out of her brazier! A much simpler plan. Plus, you get some booty from a hottie while you're at it!

About dozen years ago, a guy who was writing a book about a modern-day civil war in the USA posted some of his chapters to sci.military...

About ten years ago I saw an HBO movie called "The Second Civil War". The premise was that Idaho decided to secede from the USA because it disagreed with federal immigration policy. It was done as a relatively light comedy, but it made you think. And watching it today, it's just a little bit scary.

More info on the development of the ABL here.

NASA says the worst-case scenario is that the ACS could lose half the channel's field of view, so it would take longer to observe its targets.

Maybe he shouldn't have said he was an auditor, but instead a security systems checker. Then he could have charged more.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310288/

All you wanted to know and more...

Another good movie is Strange Days, in which the main character is a dealer of illegal 'squid' recordings - recordings made directly from the cerebral cortex of the participant, which allow the viewer to see, feel and experience everything the participant experiences as if they were there.

Nice film, creepy at times, but quite relevant to this discussion.

My memory went back a bit further to a 95 movie called Strange Days which I think did a much better job on the topic. Final Cut looked into the moral questions of memory recording, namely of having to decide to implant the chip at a young age before someone could actually decide if they wanted it, and then controlling who has access to those memories. Strange Days also looked at the dubious commercial entertainment industry that would spring up once we could record and sell our sense memories for others to experience.

Star Trek did it!

I preferred Meet the Feebles http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097858/

I think I saw this movie.

I'd much rather see a sequel to Braindead first...

The MPAA ratings board is even more opaque than the ESRB. The members of the board are not publically identified, and the board will not give specific reasons behind their ratings, only generalities. Also, their appeals process involves a board made up entirely of major studio and major distributor insiders.

In addition, the MPAA suffers from the same problem the ESRB seems to have by rating sexual content (even if it's only implied) far more harshly than violent content.

To say the ESRB has shortcomings and then invoke the MPAA's ratings board as an example of the right way to do things is silly. Check out This Film is Not Yet Rated for more details on how the MPAA Ratings Board (doesn't) work.

Link? It's not what you think. I've just got this band holding my radio station hostage, and it's one of their demands.

You have some good points, but you need to clarify your terms.

For example, what is an "antibac?"

I bring this up because resistant strains of bacteria are resistant to antibiotic treatment, which is a term used to describe specifically-designed microparticles that attack weaknesses in the bacteria biological makeup. For example, penicillin is a chemical that binds with transpeptidase, which is an enzyme that certain bacteria use to build cell walls. When this enzyme is bound to by the penicillin, it becomes useless in the creation of the cell wall during reproduction; get enough penicillin in action, and weak areas in the cell wall start to form. Eventually, the cell wall stops doing its job of protecting the bacterium (e.g. the wall bursts), and it dies.

Resistance to penicillin in particular happens when the bacterium can produce penicillinase, which is an enzyme that binds with penicillin, preventing it from binding with transpeptidase and weakening the bacterium's cell walls. If only one in 100,000 bacteria can produce this enzyme, and it survives, it will replicate to form a colony of 100,000 bacteria that now have the potential ability to resist penicillin.

Anyway, my point is that this type of chemical is called an antibiotic, whereas a chemical such as chlorine bleach has no such presumptions. It is not designed as such, but it tends to have powerful general anticellular properties. Because of the way in which it so aggressively attacks the organic structure of bacteria (and your own skin, and many things), it is difficult for bacteria to become resistant to this type of chemical.

Please note that I am not advocating injecting chlorine bleach in order to eliminate a bacterial infection, or any other internal use for that matter (I'm sure we all saw Heathers).

Why would it need telephone operators? Isn't Manhattan Island one big prison?

Nature may abhor a vacuum, but it loves a space elevator!

No but it matched Colin Greenwood

Who is this evil person!?

Two of the themes in the original (1975) Rollerball are really relevant. One is the power of corporations over the individual. The other is more subtle and probably missed: freedom of information. The whole mystery could have been solved if Johnathon could have had access to the data, but through technological obsolescence (probably planned) not even the archivist could get at it. That's this whole WMV/WMA codec + DRM thing in a nutshell.

I expect that the 2002 version would be a complete waste of time, but am curious if that whole pursuit of information plot was cut out of the film. I bet it was sanitized by the big money and lacks any allusion to of loss of codecs or loss of data.

I'm making up a conspiracy theory. It would make a decent political thriller to find out that Those in charge and in the know in the Soviet Union -- wanting to provoke a war with the west, intentionally "injected" ghost launches to provoke the internal politicos into a full launch to the U.S only to be thwarted by somebody afraid to launch. Humans make poor failsafes and I think back to the opening sequence of the original movie http://imdb.com/title/tt0086567/ Wargames.

King Kong is a long movie. Its also shit (in my opinion, YMMV).

You think 100 minutes is a long movie? Seems like average to me.

The confusion over the pod term has led many people to think that iPods are the only portable MP3 players. I still deal with people shocked to find out there are other (cheaper, better) brands. I myself stayed away from podcasts at first cause I assumed they were only for iPods. Why on Earth would they not want that kind of identification out there? Seems like their legal department needed something to do and they didn't think to consult with marketing. But then given how bright marketing folks tend to be, perhaps they did. Plus, doesn't Walter Wanger Productions Inc. have dibs on the whole POD term anyway?

If you haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth, yet, do try. Like Al Gore, it's a bit clunky, but there's a lot of truth in there and shouldn't be discounted just because you may not like the presenter.

My belief is, we'll keep right on going in this direction until we feel sufficient pain* to stop. Famine and flooding will certainly increase the likelihood of conflict. Darfur as depicted in the film was an eye opener, the severe drought which may be caused by warming now appears more likely the root of conflict as people scrabble for remaining water and land.

It may become the view that USA and Europe, have had it good long enough and they should cut down on emissions first. It will come to a head when cities like Shanghai are under water and each country is blaming the other for the fine mess things are in. Those who have dipped deepest and longest into the carbon fuels trough the will have an uncomfortable time of it.

Actually, why it matters is because it's nice to be able to finish games before you run out of time or interest.

I'm reminded of Lagaan, a movie I saw a while back. It would have made a decent 90 minute flick, but at 224 minutes (nearly 4 hours!) it was a chore to watch.

Like overly-long movies, overly-long games are usually bloated, repetitive and tedious.

What about McDowell's? With the golden arcs and two all beef patties, special sauce, on a Plain bun? My favorite part of Coming to America

>The problem comes in because 'pod' can be derived from both iPod and podcast.
But both those words are derived from 'pod'. Who has the copyright on 'pod' alone?
Don Siegel? (See http://imdb.com/name/nm0796923/)

They're setting up for Pod People vs. Apple.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/quotes
[talking about the Time Machine] Marty McFly: [looks through a camcorder] This is uh... This is heavy duty, Doc. This is great. Uh... does it run, like... on regular unleaded gasoline? Dr. Emmett Brown: Unfortunately no, it requires something with a little more kick - plutonium. Marty McFly: Uh... plutonium? Wait. [lowers the camcorder by his side and points to the DeLorean] Marty McFly: Are you telling me that this sucker is nuclear? Dr. Emmett Brown: Hey, hey, hey. Keep rolling. Keep rolling, there. [Marty looks through the camcorder again] Dr. Emmett Brown: No, no, no. This sucker's electrical, but I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 jigawatts of electricity I need. Marty McFly: Doc, you don't just walk into a store and buy plutonium. Did you rip that off? Dr. Emmett Brown: Shhhhhh. Of course. From a group of Libyan nationalists. They wanted me to build them a bomb, so I took their plutonium and in turn, gave them a shoddy bomb-casing full of used pinball machine parts! Come on! Let's get you a radiation suit. We must prepare to reload.

You talk like it's one man one vote, or like voting registration and counting weren't been cheated in the last two presidential elections.

I turned 18 in September of 2000, and I have only had ability to vote in the last two presidential elections. Both times it has been obvious to even a lot of non-tin-hat-wearing Americans that forces outside of America's voting power control, to some extent, the outcome of the election.

It's easy to place the blaim squarly and singly on the shoulders of the public, declaring them/us "too fucking lazy to learn about politics", and saying that:

"Any political failures in the American political system are not the fault of evil corporations and politicians."

But so many Americans rely on major corporate news outlets for their education on public issues. I mean, they are journalists right? They're on TV, it's the news, it can be trusted, right? But even if you don't believe in corporate conspiracies, it's hard to ignore the claims against Fox News (News Corp) and yet it remains the highest rated news channel (even despite a recent decline in viewership).

So the uneducated Americans are uneducated why? Not because of a corporate plot? How about because of a lack of corporate responsibility, or governmental responsibility to educate the masses.

Mass media was created to reach the masses, because it's hard to get information to 300 million people who are busy trying to work and live and such, as I'm sure even you are. If the mass media outlets are not providing the people with truly "Fair and Balanced" information on the issues, how can the American people be expected to know, or even care, about what goes on?

Americans apathetic and uneducated about voting? Yes, but the system doesn't exactly tender an educated voting culture.

Almost all social problems can be viewed as either indivual problems or stuctural problems. To err solely on either side is to admit to being one of the uneducated voters.

Aha! And IMDB is apparently ahead of you by 7 years:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274518

Pornography is ahead of the curve on technology use.

...and Americans wonder why some people around the world seem to keep taking the piss:

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0286244/13.jpg?path =gallery&path_key=0286244&seq=27

Venture out of your MacDonalds Monoculture and you might learn something.

Yes, WarGames took some dramatic license. But except for the silly talking computer, it wasn't all that bad, particularly considering when it was made. I always wondered where the money came from to buy all the fancy computer gear, considering that it was (in 1983) worth about the same as a nice used car.

I'm reminded of the display at Parkes about The Dish, where they talk about the things that really happened, and the things that made a good story.

There is a line between dramatic license and badness. Personally, I don't think WarGames crossed that line.

...laura