Slashdot Mirror

Anonymous Coward: Sylvester's catch phrase was "sufferin' succotash!"

Or, as Mel Blanc would have put it:

"Indeed, hith behavior ith dethpicable", said Mr. Duck.

"Thufferin' Thuccotath!", said Sylvester.

Examples of surveillance abuse and public acceptance: http://imdb.com/title/tt0093894/ The Running Man (1987) http://imdb.com/title/tt0120382/ The Trueman Show (1998) Also see the following: http://imdb.com/title/tt0076987/ Blakes 7 (1978) http://imdb.com/title/tt0061287/ The Prisoner (1967) There were rumours of a Steve McQueen film which was banned. Anybody know about that?

Examples of surveillance abuse and public acceptance: http://imdb.com/title/tt0093894/ The Running Man (1987) http://imdb.com/title/tt0120382/ The Trueman Show (1998) Also see the following: http://imdb.com/title/tt0076987/ Blakes 7 (1978) http://imdb.com/title/tt0061287/ The Prisoner (1967) There were rumours of a Steve McQueen film which was banned. Anybody know about that?

Examples of surveillance abuse and public acceptance: http://imdb.com/title/tt0093894/ The Running Man (1987) http://imdb.com/title/tt0120382/ The Trueman Show (1998) Also see the following: http://imdb.com/title/tt0076987/ Blakes 7 (1978) http://imdb.com/title/tt0061287/ The Prisoner (1967) There were rumours of a Steve McQueen film which was banned. Anybody know about that?

Examples of surveillance abuse and public acceptance: http://imdb.com/title/tt0093894/ The Running Man (1987) http://imdb.com/title/tt0120382/ The Trueman Show (1998) Also see the following: http://imdb.com/title/tt0076987/ Blakes 7 (1978) http://imdb.com/title/tt0061287/ The Prisoner (1967) There were rumours of a Steve McQueen film which was banned. Anybody know about that?

Yes, but if he had wanted to dodge bullets he could have learned from this guy.

Although not fictional, Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard) remains one of my all-time favorite scientists in the public view. He, along with Carl Sagan, did more to inspire and educate than I think I can put into words.

As for fiction, the entire cast of Real Genius gets my vote. Between the college nuts, the shy freshmen, the stressed grad students, the selfish prick, the government's fingers in research, and the utter creativity for its own sake, this movie nailed almost everything it attempted. A few sloppy bits don't ruin the premise for me, and it remains a favorite. (Right up there with Sneakers. Accept the mulligan and enjoy the rest of the plot.)

Although not fictional, Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard) remains one of my all-time favorite scientists in the public view. He, along with Carl Sagan, did more to inspire and educate than I think I can put into words.

As for fiction, the entire cast of Real Genius gets my vote. Between the college nuts, the shy freshmen, the stressed grad students, the selfish prick, the government's fingers in research, and the utter creativity for its own sake, this movie nailed almost everything it attempted. A few sloppy bits don't ruin the premise for me, and it remains a favorite. (Right up there with Sneakers. Accept the mulligan and enjoy the rest of the plot.)

Which war are you talking about? The one on false pretexts (WMD) to invade an oil rich country and topple a dictator we installed (Saddam) or the upcoming one against another oil rich country which hasnt done anything illegal (allowed nuclear fuel cycle acc to the NPT).
How about instead of waging illegal wars we cut the size of our military spending from about equal to the rest of the world put together to a tenth of that and use the money to repay our debt to china and research alternative fuel sources eliminating the need to invade countries on false pretexts :)
Btw watch The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear...very enlightening (by the BBC)

Oooh, one handed.
Difficulty rating.... seven.
Burn's software matches her wet-wear!

IMDB

So it's apparently legal to shoot polar bears in Canada, despite the fact that they're considered one of the animals facing increasing threats in the future from withdrawing sea ice?

Polar Bears around that area are so numerous they're getting to be a big problem and they have to be culled. Mostly because Polars like to supplement their diet of seals, fish and walrus with fresh dump pickings. I've heard stories of smoldering polar bears wandering through the dump at Churchil Manitoba.

And it's also legal to shoot a half-grizzly, even though shooting grizzlies is illegal?

Apparently. But I guess the F&W folks felt it was sufficiently polar bear to count as a polar bear.

What a waste of a magnificent (and apparently rare) animal.

Understandable, but from TFA, they've created the exact same hybrid in captivity and even gotten them to breed. Which, to me, completely goes against the definition of species I learned in school. Go figure.

But these wealthy big-game trophy hunters, who look for rare and wondrous animals only to shoot them and turn them into rugs or wall ornaments, make me sick.

Yeah, but since Jimmy the Toucan went out of business, what else are you going to do with them? :-)

Imagine if some guy wandering around the Antarctic finds a meteorite with evidence of Martian life in it, and whacks it with a sledgehammer...

As I understand it, that's what scientist do until they find out AFTER they whacked it open. :-)

sorry guys, it's doomed to work too well in the wrong hands.

Here are two particular movies the submitter urgently ought to get for the weekend:

1. GATTACA
2. Minority Report

I'd throw Brazil in there too for good measure.

First of all, you brought up Red Dwarf which is a perfect example of how to do sci-fi comedy. The sci-fi elements were cheesy as hell (like a shape-shifting emotion-sucking genetically-engineered lifeform that turns into a beachball to travel around), but that's what made them work.

Other good examples: Sleeper, the Woody Allen take on those 1984-style dystopias. Galaxy Quest, I hate Tim Allen, but this movie's pretty damned funny. The Back to the Future movies were successful by anybody's standards. Hell, even the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch was funny, and science fiction.

And yes, I think Spaceballs is hilarious. Sue me.

First of all, you brought up Red Dwarf which is a perfect example of how to do sci-fi comedy. The sci-fi elements were cheesy as hell (like a shape-shifting emotion-sucking genetically-engineered lifeform that turns into a beachball to travel around), but that's what made them work.

Other good examples: Sleeper, the Woody Allen take on those 1984-style dystopias. Galaxy Quest, I hate Tim Allen, but this movie's pretty damned funny. The Back to the Future movies were successful by anybody's standards. Hell, even the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch was funny, and science fiction.

And yes, I think Spaceballs is hilarious. Sue me.

First of all, you brought up Red Dwarf which is a perfect example of how to do sci-fi comedy. The sci-fi elements were cheesy as hell (like a shape-shifting emotion-sucking genetically-engineered lifeform that turns into a beachball to travel around), but that's what made them work.

Other good examples: Sleeper, the Woody Allen take on those 1984-style dystopias. Galaxy Quest, I hate Tim Allen, but this movie's pretty damned funny. The Back to the Future movies were successful by anybody's standards. Hell, even the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch was funny, and science fiction.

And yes, I think Spaceballs is hilarious. Sue me.

First of all, you brought up Red Dwarf which is a perfect example of how to do sci-fi comedy. The sci-fi elements were cheesy as hell (like a shape-shifting emotion-sucking genetically-engineered lifeform that turns into a beachball to travel around), but that's what made them work.

Other good examples: Sleeper, the Woody Allen take on those 1984-style dystopias. Galaxy Quest, I hate Tim Allen, but this movie's pretty damned funny. The Back to the Future movies were successful by anybody's standards. Hell, even the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch was funny, and science fiction.

And yes, I think Spaceballs is hilarious. Sue me.

Yes, Mystery Science Theater 3000 's Dr Clayton Forrester was named after War of the Worlds 's.

Yes, Mystery Science Theater 3000 's Dr Clayton Forrester was named after War of the Worlds 's.

Spaceballs not funny? Dude, if you don't like Mel Brooks' films don't see them. They will give you a case of High Anxiety

A good question, IMHO, but one cannot "buy" a good name except perhaps *only* in financial/legal circles. IMHO, the real question in your 2nd paragraph is one of ethics in general (vis-a-vis the ethos of a narrow segment of society).

So, the question(s) that I am seeing in your second paragraph are this:

Many people will spend whatever it takes to be liked (or at least perceived to be liked), even for ulterior motives. The question of joy vs. sorrow and debt to society can go all the way down to the individual level: What is the individual ethic vs. the society's ethic, even if constrained to financial markets? IMHO, a society is composed of like-minded individuals within any given generation and nationality, but it is the collective aggregate of the individual's behavior that will form the society. And with a large enough pertubation that behavior might well turn out to be something that nobody likes. BTW, nice tagline re: Jon Postel

Qalaxy Quest with Tim Allen is much less known than the other ones you mentioned, but also pretty nice: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177789/ Especially because of the many references to Sci-Fi fans and their peculiarities. Or am I insulting people here now :)

Dr. Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) from Star Trek: First Contact. After 30 years of hero worship for Zefram Cochrane in the various series and movies, this Zefram Cochrane is finally not the typical Einstein-style geek scientist.

(No, I won't explain the plot. If you read slashdot without knowing that film, you must come from another planet. Welcome on earth.)

Tux2000

Dr. Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) from Star Trek: First Contact. After 30 years of hero worship for Zefram Cochrane in the various series and movies, this Zefram Cochrane is finally not the typical Einstein-style geek scientist.

(No, I won't explain the plot. If you read slashdot without knowing that film, you must come from another planet. Welcome on earth.)

Tux2000

Dr. Lillian Reynolds, and Dr. Micheal Brace from Brainstorm.

expertly played by Anthony Geary, but he's closely followed by Dr Emmett Brown: "the way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine out of a car, you gotta do with style"

"Or is a blood sample like a fingerprint, something that everyone should provide to their government?"

Here are two particular movies the submitter urgently ought to get for the weekend:

1. GATTACA
2. Minority Report

"Or is a blood sample like a fingerprint, something that everyone should provide to their government?"

Here are two particular movies the submitter urgently ought to get for the weekend:

1. GATTACA
2. Minority Report

Dr Charles Forbin. This is one of the only 'computer' movies I have ever liked. I remember seeing it in the 70s as a kid and it profoundly influenced me to go into IT.

A good computer movie where no systems were harmed in making the movie - quite the contrary.

Thats Durand Durand. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062711/

Duran Duran is the band naming themselves after him, but dropping the D's on the end.

Some how I feel sad that I know this.

One of the best scientist this is neither mad nor a joke could be Dr. Falkin in War Games:

What he says is still so relevent, the nuclear threat is far from over, and with the climate changes, we may very well share the same fate as the dinosaurs, as well explained by Dr. Faken:

Stephen Falken: Now, children, come on over here. I'm going to tell you a bedtime story. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. Once upon a time, there lived a magnificent race of animals that dominated the world through age after age. They ran, they swam, and they fought and they flew, until suddenly, quite recently, they disappeared. Nature just gave up and started again. We weren't even apes then. We were just these smart little rodents hiding in the rocks. And when we go, nature will start over. With the bees, probably. Nature knows when to give up, David.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/quotes

Dr. Herbert West from Re-Animator was a great mad scientist

I'd nominate the scientists portrayed in Brainstorm. It did have the cliché subplot of the nefarious military who want to turn the discovery into a weapon, but the characters clearly loved what they were doing, and their scenes at work were far more convincing than the average Hollywood film.

Plus it has some great one-liners http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/quotes One of my favorite 80's flicks.

Plus it has some great one-liners http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/quotes One of my favorite 80's flicks.

I liked Matthew Broderick as Richard Feynman in Infinity...

I've been working lately on a new moderation system for sites like this, based on collaborative filtering and (what I consider to be) a novel generative distribution which can be used with clustering to reduce the dimensionality of the problem significantly... I've been discussing this via email with Kevin Rose and it's my hope that something like this can be implemented there, as their discussion have even worse moderation than they are here.

The motto for my system - "The Mods Must Be Crazy." If you don't get the ref, check here.

(railing against mods on slashdot seems to get one modded up - my theory on this is that there are multiple different "factions" of mods, and each thinks the others are crazy - my system would isolate these so that people got moderation they agreed with)

IMDB saves the day again

Here, have some more engineers.

Pronounced kah-nig-git.

Marge : There's a man here who says he can help you.
Homer : Is it Batman?
Marge : He's a scientist.
Homer : Batman's a scientist.
Marge : It's not Batman!

Despite what Marge says, Batman is my favorite scientist.

Probe

...from the original War of the Worlds .

He went fishing, saw aliens, flew a plane, killed an alien, watched the Army try to nuke the aliens, lost the girl, wound up in church. And he didn't even need to kill the rest of the aliens.

Also, the Professor on Felix the Cat. Much better then the Master Cylinder.

I'll have to go with either the original rock star physicist, Buckaroo Banzai, or perhaps Chris Knight, or Lazlo Hollyfield.

Okay, probably Chris Knight, I identify the most with him. "Another in a long series of distractions..." is a pretty good description of graduate student life!

Jim

I'll have to go with either the original rock star physicist, Buckaroo Banzai, or perhaps Chris Knight, or Lazlo Hollyfield.

Okay, probably Chris Knight, I identify the most with him. "Another in a long series of distractions..." is a pretty good description of graduate student life!

Jim

The scientist in Stalker.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0079944/

Anyone from the movie The Core, hands down

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298814/

The Man in the White Suit

Lazlo Hollyfeld in Real Genius.

The original 1920's Dr. Calligari is of course a classic and way ahead of his time as a Crazy Scientist:http://imdb.com/title/tt0010323/ It was also remade last year as: http://imdb.com/title/tt0441741/

The one that really takes the prize is his grandaughter though. The 1989 Dr. Calligari is WAY out (and up) there: http://imdb.com/title/tt0097228/

The original 1920's Dr. Calligari is of course a classic and way ahead of his time as a Crazy Scientist:http://imdb.com/title/tt0010323/ It was also remade last year as: http://imdb.com/title/tt0441741/

The one that really takes the prize is his grandaughter though. The 1989 Dr. Calligari is WAY out (and up) there: http://imdb.com/title/tt0097228/