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I have this desk and love it - I think it's the most versatile and sturdy desk you can buy for the money. They come in different colors, and you can get all kinds of accessories for it - swivel monitor shelves, an extention to add another shelf at the top, side magazine and cd/dvd racks, side PC mounting shelves. It's an all around super geek desk. Even if the standing up thing doesn't work out, you will still end up with a pretty sweet desk.

Finally, I wanted to add one more famous person that works standing up: Walter Murch, one of the more well-known film and sound editors working today.

"Hi, and welcome to Half-Life 2: Portal. I'm Dave, and this is VAL."

Obligatory, movie reference - Demolition Man
In move, good behaviour problem solved by 'teaching' crimials through DMA.

Reminds me of the movie Boiler Room when Affleck's character is giving the speech to the new sales guys, trying to give them tips on how to make the sale while on the phone... "Get off your ass! Move around. Motion creates emotion!". I used to get up and walk around when I did tech support for the same reason as those sales guys, it keeps the blood flowing.

Affleck was the bomb in Boiler Room. That speech he gave in that movie might be the highlight of his career. ;)

After watching this, you might not be surprised why the boxes were lost.. its a pretty rinky-dink operation from the security standpoint.

> flash freezing prevents the formation of cell-rupturing crystal structures in ice. The problem is how to uniformly flash freeze such a large mass

I think I has the solution!

Cryogenic Incarceration anyone?

Sounds like a version of Cryonics that might actually work. Anyone remember seeing news items on those vaults full of corpses frozen in liquid nitrogen since the 60's?

Yeah, I saw Demolition Man too.

See The Dish and you'll understand. It takes place at the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, Aus. Actually, it's a pretty good movie - especially for folks like 'us'.

The problem is just that they still need to be edited, because the higher fidelity versions clearly show "Capricorn One" on the patches.

(Mars, Moon, what's the diff?)

The Dish is the lighthearted 'adapted' history of the Parkes observatories role in the tracking and transmission of the first lunar landings. Quite funny if you get Australian humour.

Unfortunately, the Cane Toad problem in Australia is not recent. I was astonished when it showed up as 'news' on slashdot recently. I remember watching a documentary about the Cane Toad menance back in the late 1980's.

It's Walkenarific!

Replicants is a reference to Blade Runner. A move by Ridley Scott.

The IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/

The move is based on the work of Phillip K. Dick. It also stars Harrison Ford in his least favorite role.

This has applications in military intelligence, face-recognition, anti-terrorism, and hunting down replicants

I don't know what replicants is, other then this Replicant (but who would want that).

This has HUGE applications in finding that perfect pr0n pic.

I guess the guy was selling them weapons to kill all the sealife!

Yuri Orlov is the guy from Lord Of War

-- Sig: What sig? Oh, you mean this one? Nah...

'If it bleeds, it leads'

A tired old newsmedia saying imortalized by Kelsey Grammer's Robert Hawkins in 15 MINUTES proves that nothing drives ratings up like death and misfortune.

Just look at just 3 historical events to generate 'wall to wall' coverage...

The President Kennedy Assasinaton (1963-11-22)

The Challenger disaster (1986-01-28)

and of course

9/11 (2001-09-11)

I've only seen snippets of the Kennedy Assasination coverage on TV mostly from archival footage so I can't comment.

For the Challenger disaster I happened on to it one day while running an errand. Truly a national tragedy shared by (seemingly) the entire US population thanks to nonstop coverage by CNN who got 'the scoop of the century' by still covering Space Shuttle launches after the 'big 3' networks gave it up to dish out more 'mass media entertainment'. The drawback, if it could be said of it, was that the CNN coverage that day was highly repetitive but I guess it was designed that way to accommodate people watching at different times of the day.

The same thing could be said for 9/11 coverage that day -- repetitive and somber. The thing that stuck out in my mind was that the 'big 3' networks became 'little CNNs' with around the clock news coverage for a few days afterward with NO commercial breaks at all (surely at great expense) - just the usual station identification stuff and on-screen 'watermarking' (which I hate but understand is necessary in an ad-soaked visual mass media like broadcast television).

Anyway, this kind of media coverage gives the average viewer a carthartic, detached, reassuring 'glad it wasn't me' kind of feeling. I don't know if that is ultimately good or bad but it does fuel ratings and drive/generate ad revenue for the networks.

Ultimately, it's all about the eyeballs and how much cash to extract from their owners in exchange for goods and services.... Just look at how assinine and silly commercials have become lately. The best of the bunch right now to me is the (in)famous Avis XM Satellite Radio TV commercial with 3 guys in the car lip-syncing to a rap song which I was able to find via GOOGLE - it was a bit difficult to get the MP3 of the song but I got it! :) No, I won't reveal where and how to get it because I don't want to Slashdot the source and drive up their bandwidth bill and you have to 'jump through hoops' to get the MP3 itself anyway.

Thank goodness for the VCR. I use it regularly to watch shows and zip past the ads for stuff I am eminently not interested in or have seen already. You can save around 15-20 minutes an hour watching previously recorded broadcast TV shows by bypassing the ads - you aren't missing much if most/nearly all the ads they show on TV do not interest you. If they ever make PVRs unable to fast forward/rewind to skip ads at least VCRs will be around for awhile in spite of their inferior sound and picture quality when compared to PVRs... :) Maybe that's the ultimate reason why there was the push in the U.S. to adopt 'digital TV' and dump the current analog model...it would obsolete incompatible analog VCRs and 'enforce' ad viewing/DRM with certain 'broadcast flags' when recorded/played back with approved PVRs... :P

Commercials, as wasteful and scattershot they are are the price one pay to get 'free television' in the U.S. The better, more expensive UK model would never work in the US - people would either 'go without' or 'cheat the system' to get their TV fix. Case in point: Who watches PBS programming during 'pledge drive' time then turn away/fast forward (previously recorded material) to avoid the pledge breaks interspersed within like 'standard' commercials. Just about 'everybody' I gather. But the nice thing about PBS is you get content that is pretty close to the advertized run time like hour-long

I find it highly amusing that the "server" versions of windows all ship with a complete copy of directx (including direct3d, and support for various gaming-related networking protocols and joysticks etc)...

If you watch the movie Hackers, you will find out that real servers are accessed by virtual reality interfaces where you get to fly over a landscape of translucent towers with glowing green lettering on them, while pounding on neon acrylic keyboards.

For this sort of futuristic server interface, you definitely need DirectX. Microsoft is just being forward thinking by including DirectX in their current server products, in anticipation of their Vista Server product, which will make full use of it.

In both works, items with 'monomolecular edges' were used as weapons:

Linna Yamazaki's hardsuit 'battle ribbons' from BUBBLEGUM CRISIS

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088863/

Takahashi's 'garrote' wire from JOHNNY MNEMONIC

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113481/

Maybe one day they'll exist in the real world. But who would use them -- THEY ARE LETHAL!!! :P

In both works, items with 'monomolecular edges' were used as weapons:

Linna Yamazaki's hardsuit 'battle ribbons' from BUBBLEGUM CRISIS

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088863/

Takahashi's 'garrote' wire from JOHNNY MNEMONIC

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113481/

Maybe one day they'll exist in the real world. But who would use them -- THEY ARE LETHAL!!! :P

I am no longer infected.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066765/quotes

I'm waiting for the Snakes on a Plane game ;-)

I'll bet they upgraded the inflatable autopilot from Airplane!

Snakes On A Plane 'is' a 'remake' of sorts of FER-DE-LANCE (1974)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071494/

'Snakes On A Sub' :)

PS: I much prefer 'Airport (1)', and 'Air Force One' as being the best of the 'airplane thrillers'.

Airport - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065377/

Air Force One - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118571/

Snakes on a Plane - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/

Snakes On A Plane 'is' a 'remake' of sorts of FER-DE-LANCE (1974)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071494/

'Snakes On A Sub' :)

PS: I much prefer 'Airport (1)', and 'Air Force One' as being the best of the 'airplane thrillers'.

Airport - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065377/

Air Force One - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118571/

Snakes on a Plane - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/

Snakes On A Plane 'is' a 'remake' of sorts of FER-DE-LANCE (1974)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071494/

'Snakes On A Sub' :)

PS: I much prefer 'Airport (1)', and 'Air Force One' as being the best of the 'airplane thrillers'.

Airport - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065377/

Air Force One - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118571/

Snakes on a Plane - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/

Snakes On A Plane 'is' a 'remake' of sorts of FER-DE-LANCE (1974)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071494/

'Snakes On A Sub' :)

PS: I much prefer 'Airport (1)', and 'Air Force One' as being the best of the 'airplane thrillers'.

Airport - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065377/

Air Force One - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118571/

Snakes on a Plane - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/

yes, i am waiting for that gorillaz movie...

daft punks' interstella 5555 was great

or even DJ QBert's Wave Twisters was a fun watch.

more animated music videos people!

dont forget the classic river city ransom work it mvid.

yes, i am waiting for that gorillaz movie...

daft punks' interstella 5555 was great

or even DJ QBert's Wave Twisters was a fun watch.

more animated music videos people!

dont forget the classic river city ransom work it mvid.

Neophilia is actually a sexual paraphilia describing those who are attracted to Keanu Reeves. Attempts by fundamentalist members of the Screen Actors Guild to "cure" it by exposing Neophiles to good-looking and expressive actors have so far been unsuccessful.

Found at this link; a year before Mrs. Doubtfire came out ; this DVD is still making me laugh ; this man sure has talent.
In 2007 there is a Mrs. Doubtfire 2 planned.

You know, with some of the recent medical advances I keep idly wondering how long it's going to be before the statement "same-sex couples can't have biological children" is no longer true.

Well our Governor proved that you don't need a woman for a pregnancy - several years ago (http://imdb.com/title/tt0110216/).
Now where's the artificial egg? That'll show 'em!

"Take good care of the forest, Huey..."

I'm going to start a company which sells DVDs containing *only* the naughty bits from movies...

Anyone else reminded of "1999 was the year that the Indian nuclear satellite went out of control."?

So does this mean that it's illegal for broadcast and cable stations to edit shows for content and length? I think that is a bigger travesty. At least trading in your DVD was a voluntary act, being subjected to bleeps, blurs and horrible dubbed lines should be deemed illegal as well.

Depends on the country. Here in Canada movies shown in the evening are generally shown un-cut, nudity, profanity, etc. intact. Epecially on channels like Bravo and IFC, who make a point of caring about films. Bravo showed Beverly Hills Cop the weekend before last, for example. Uncut, every 4 letter word intact. You don't like it? Don't watch. That's what the warnings are for.

It sometimes seems like any tv show worth watching carries a warning about violence, coarse language, mature subject matter, etc., when what's really happening is that adult characters are going to act like adults.

Many years ago Siskel & Ebert did a special about film ratings, and they propsed a new A rating, to replace the X ratine that once merely meant "adult content", nothing to do with pornography. Instead of movie producers desperately cutting their movies to avoid an X or NC-17 rating, an A rating would be a mark of distinction, something to aspire to. A condition of an A rating was that it would be shown uncut, exactly as the director intended.

...laura

I saw people on the internet worrying about a science-fiction type scenario where the development could lead to a world devoid of women.

I think it's the GNAA.

No rly.

You can also bet your ass that astronauts are required to say that the pills are made up in the case that they aren't (I can't imagine a situation where they'd lie to make NASA look like it had a backup plan for, lacking a better word, incompetence). I've been to the Air and Space museum a few times and I don't recall ever seeing a suicide pill of sorts, but I can't say that I've looked for one either. But they gave one to Jodie Foster in Contact, and that's good enough for me.

Yeah, hi. 1992 is on the phone. They said you need to shut off the portal, because their power bill is stratospheric. (Either that, or this is the subtlest Keanu Reeves joke 3v4r.)

Only if you do it with style...

There are a number of sites that are based on user-submitted data. One that immediately comes to mind is the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). Now, I'm not intimately familiar with the workings of Wikipedia, but based on TFA, the main difference I see between them and IMDb is that IMDb has a more restrictive additions policy. With IMDb, any registered user can submit information, but every iota of information (aside from some user reviews/comments, which are presented as such) must pass through an editorial review.

Some will say that IMDb has the luxury of doing this, being owned by Amazon. But IMDb has been online since before there really was World Wide Web. It was started in the Usenet newsgroups back in 1990 and didn't get a web interface until a Welsh grad student built one in 1993. They have always exercised editorial oversight and did so even back when they were a loose group of volunteers with no funding to speak of.

It used to be that IMDb's structure made it less than nimble in responding to breaking news because of an involved and complicated build process. But over the years, more modularization and granularity have been built into their systems. But even if they're right on the forefront of a news event, their editors and data managers are scrutinizing what becomes part of their "official" record.

Now, people try to trick IMDb, flood them with wrong facts and bad info. Sometimes a bit gets by their editors. But the bits still have to go by an editor before they become publicly visible. AFAICT, this isn't the case with WikiPedia and that is its fatal flaw. And it's not just the wackos and those with an agenda that need to be guarded against. More damage can be done by a cadre of well-meaning fools than a handful of agitators. And it seems that even if they need to defend their systems against the axe grinders, they need to put double the effort into defending against fools.

Maybe I'm comparing apples to oranges since IMDb is a lot more narrow in scope than WikiPedia. But they're both large repositories of user-submitted information, they both started as volunteer projects, and they're both widely regarded as great resources. The difference is that IMDb has always exercised more editorial oversight before letting user submissions go live, and IMO, that makes it more trustworthy. Perhaps Wikipedia should take a page from IMDb's book.

- Greg

... and why am I reminded of Looker ?? ;)

I'll rent Antitrust from my local EU Blockbusters.

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0218817/Ss/0218817/ 13?path=gallery&path_key=0218817

Bambi where his parents show up again at the end of a movie?

Guess you missed this one. That's right, Bambi's dad isn't a deadbeat!

What was the deal with the pizza delivery guy going to that one chick's house to deliver a sausage pizza? Did they ever get around to eating the pizza?

Depends... did she order it with Extra anchovies? :)

Ever seen Cinema Paradiso?

By "Pet Sematary" did you mean...?

It's like when Steven Spielberg refused to allow an edited version of Saving Private Ryan to be broadcast on TV. Taking out the violence in his film completly killed the what he was trying to convey to people.

It's like when Steven Spielberg refused to allow an edited version of Saving Private Ryan to be broadcast on TV. Taking out the violence in his film completly killed the what he was trying to convey to people.

To the uninitiated (hopefully not many here), amen, brother.