Jon Katz To Be Played By Jeff Bridges

Robotech_Master writes, "Long-time Slashdot veterans will remember Jon Katz, the editorial writer whose Slashdot articles invariably generated heated controversy. It appears he may have the last laugh; how many of the Slashdot posters who ridiculed him went on to be played by Jeff Bridges in a movie? From the article: 'In his new book, "A Good Dog: The Story of Orson," Katz chronicles the life and death of the lovable but troubled border collie that transformed his life. It continues the story begun in Katz's last book, "A Dog Year," now being made into a movie starring Jeff Bridges as Katz.' Katz critics may get a chuckle out of the plot synopsis for the film: 'A man having a mid-life crisis has his life turned upside down when he takes in a border collie crazier than he is.'" The film should be released in late 2007.

Comments

Good casting

[coolgeek]

A man having a mid-life crisis has his life turned upside down when he takes in a border collie crazier than he is.

Can't think of anyone better than Jeff Bridges to play that role.

Re:Good casting

[Anonymous Coward]

I was thinking Jeff Daniels of Dumb & Dumber fame. That would be a more appropriate character IMO.

Re:Good casting

[s20451]

I hope they get Wilmer Valderrama to play Junis.

Re:Good casting

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope they get Wilmer Valderrama to play Junis.

For those with shorter memories, read about Junis in one of Katz' greatest hits "A message from Kabul". Highly recommended in this post-Columbine world.

Re:Good casting

[Anonymous Coward]

nice...hehehe

Re:Good casting

[PrescriptionWarning]

Sounds almost like me (albeit 20 years older than me) after I got my Border Collie, she's awesome, but completely insane. Thank god I recently got a treadmill... put her on that sucker for about an hour or two a day and she's a lot more managable.

CowboyNeal

[Anonymous Coward]

They've also announced that CowboyNeal will be played by a CGI'd Andy Serkis.

Re:CowboyNeal

[Gilmoure]

They're using CGI to make a character that looks like Andy Serkis?

If I wear them elsewhere, they chafe.

Re:CowboyNeal

[KlomDark]

They've changes the name. The movie will now be known as "Dogs and Katz"

Ta Dum!

Life does imitate art

[Anonymous Coward]

But nothing gets stranger than real life. Fare thee well, Jon Katz.

Re:Life does imitate art

[Anonymous Coward]

You will be hot grits.

This dog has fleas

[Scareduck]

I hadn't remembered Katz's journalistic peregrinations here, but I sort of assumed he had gone the way of the dodo. Is he somehow related to the movie's producers?

Re:This dog has fleas

[PCM2]

Indeed, the way of the dodo -- like the American educational system. In its place, a Satanic hellhole of perfidious opporession. The greater question here is not whether Jon Katz is related to the producers... but whether, in this post-9/11 era, any of us can truly say that we are more than a few degrees of separation from the producers ourselves? And what does that say for our crazy, mixed-up culture, when so many of our voices are forever silenced, gagged by forces every bit as insidious as the MPAA itself? I say here's to the new heroes of this tumultuous age, so powerfully exemplified by the likes of Jon Katz and the heart-wrenching experiences to which he was subjected in this, the cruelest of online forums.

Re:This dog has fleas

[BigGerman]

Forgot globalization, dude. Can't be Jon Katz mocking without globalization.

Re:This dog has fleas

[syrinx]

Brilliant. If only I had mod points.

Man, I miss Jon Katz.

Re:This dog has fleas

[GoofyBoy]

Get... out ... of ... my ... head!

Re:This dog has fleas

[zero1101]

oh, THAT guy.

Re:This dog has fleas

[Anonymous Coward]

Donnie, you're out of your element!

Re:This dog has fleas

[Anonymous Coward]

You didn't travel far enough back in time. The Katzian phrase wasn't "post-9/11", it was "post-Columbine". And you forgot to mention nerds.

Re:This dog has fleas

[bumchick]

I wish I missed Zonk... sigh.

Re:This dog has fleas

[Bertie]

Say what you like about the tenets of the American educational system, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

Re:This dog has fleas

[Oriumpor]

The thing that's hilarious is I didn't know Slashdot could block article authors until Jon Katz went off on his insane tangents. To me he's been gone for years, in reality I haven't thought of him unless to make reference to a wordy, logically unsound, obnoxious shill.

But hey, that's why I blocked him.

I still wonder *why* /. stopped carrying his stories... maybe I wasn't the only one blocking his articles.

Re:This dog has fleas

[umbrellasd]

The greater question here is not whether Jon Katz is related to the producers... but whether, in this post-9/11 era, any of us can truly say that we are more than a few degrees of separation from the producers ourselves? And what does that say...

It says that the line between idiocy and intelligence is thin and red.

Re:This dog has fleas

[gfxguy]

And also "post Columbine." Maybe throw in something about people digging up their Vic-20's from the holes they burried them in in Afghanistan to go online with.

Re:This dog has fleas

[SuperQ]

Yea, I also blocked Katz long, long ago...

I'm still waiting for my Cringley and Dvorak filters. :(

Re:This dog has fleas

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice.

Re:This dog has fleas

[Custard]

I signed up for an account just so I could block him. If only I had known earlier. I could have had one of those cool four digit numbers.

Re:This dog has fleas

[kypper]

That was just fantastic. Thanks for making my day.

Re:This dog has fleas

[Anonymous Coward]

Look, the rest of us don't really care that you've nobody to blow anymore, OK?

Re:This dog has fleas

[PCM2]

You snooze, you lose. ;-)

Re:This dog has fleas

[benbean]

Some sort of net-wide filter where we can block the rest of the world from viewing Dvorak articles would be good.

Re:This dog has fleas

[ajlitt]

I am the walrus?

Re:This dog has fleas

[yet another coward]

Cool?

Re:This dog has fleas

[nczempin]

Avoid clichés like the plague!

Re:This dog has fleas

[PCM2]

Au contraire, mon frere. I can't help but think that a three-digit ID is infinitely less cool than a four-digit one. In fact, we should probably both re-register with new accounts immediately, and regain some self respect!

Re:This dog has fleas

[Anonymous Coward]

Shut the fuck up, Donny.

Roland

[pete-classic]

In other news, Tom Cruise to play Roland Piquepaille.

-Peter

PS: Dude, you're being very un-dude right now.

Re:Roland

[bunions]

Co-starring an irate Corey Feldman as Zonk.

Re:Roland

[Anonymous Coward]

And Michael Richards as - you guessed it - Michael Sims.

Jon Katz?

[zerocool^]

I thought he was dead!

I've had him blocked in my preferences since 2000, when the feature was introduced. Voices from the hellmouth, indeed. What really happened at columbine (as told by someone who hasn't been a highschool kid in 30 years, and who was a thousand miles from colorado when it happened).

Now, he wrote a book about a cat. I wonder if it's as preachy as his other dribble? I'd guess so if it's a hollywood movie now.

In conclusion, DIAF. All you new slashdotters that missed him, be glad. He used this website as his personal soapbox.

~Wx

Re:Jon Katz?

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Actually, for being out of school for 30 years- his Voices from the Hellmouth was pretty damned good. But you're right- he used Slashdot as his personal soapbox, and now that his main topic is dogs, I'm glad he's retreated to Slate, which can appreciate his right-coast elietist ramblings.

Re:Jon Katz?

[Anonymous Coward]

> What really happened at columbine (as told by someone who hasn't been a highschool kid in 30 years, and who was a
> thousand miles from colorado when it happened).

so, he couldn't possibly know what was going on unless he was was either an attacker or a victim?

Re:Jon Katz?

[drinkypoo]

so, he couldn't possibly know what was going on unless he was was either an attacker or a victim?

Jon, is that you?

Seriously though, I think a few things might have changed in thirty fucking years. Like the whole cultural backdrop.

Re:Jon Katz?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously though, I think a few things might have changed in thirty fucking years. Like the whole cultural backdrop.

Yeah, these days nobody ever yells at the students, jocks no longer assault nerds, and the boys in computer science classes are awash in invitations to the homecoming dance.

Riiiight. I think the only thing new now is the cops and the tasers, and those were mostly post-columbine with the exception of the high crime schools where yet another school shooting didn't even make local front page news back then.

Re:Jon Katz?

[Anonymous Coward]

> Seriously though, I think a few things might have changed in thirty fucking years. Like the whole cultural backdrop.

Lets see, civilization has been around for about 6000 years or so. During this time teens:
    - sometimes felt alienated
    - sometimes fell in love
    - sometimes were enslaved or exploited
    - sometimes got sand kicked in their faces
    - sometimes had little to hope for
    - sometimes were harassed by bullies
    - etc, etc, etc

So there are some minor differences, so what? It's not like we're talking about silicon-based lifeforms here. Trying to understand the lives of other people is what historians, anthropologies and authors do. It's their job, and they are often good at it.

The pathetic thing is the tendency for people to think that their situation is special and nobody has ever been in that situation or could even comprehend it. Man, kids griping about how tough it is to be a kid today should be drop-shipped into Bagdad or Sudan to see what they think about tough lives.

Re:Jon Katz?

[Anonymous Coward]

His all time low of course was when he actually posted an article that was just an advert for his book.

Nobody was surprised when after that he got canned.

Except... now we get an advert for the movie of his book. WTF?

Re:Jon Katz?

[Anonymous Coward]

Every single time the topic of Jon Katz comes up, the little scrawny nerds turn into exactly the kind of hateful jocks that used to flush their heads in the toilet back in high school (you have left high school by now, haven't you?). We know you didn't like his writings. He's no doubt heard that already, in several dozens of comments to this thread alone. If you would care to remember, his reason for quitting was that he couldn't take the hate anymore. And no, he wasn't universally disliked. There were a lot of Slashdot readers who cared for what he wrote. If the rest would simply have used the block feature and not infected all Katz threads with their rotten tirades, everyone would have been a lot happier.

I didn't fancy Katz' writings myself, but the way he was treated on this forum was just sad all around. And, apparently, continues to be.

Re:Jon Katz?

[bunions]

that's a great point. Maybe we should reflect on the works of Pliny the Elder for a relevant perspective on the Columbine Shootings.

Re:Jon Katz?

[Oriumpor]

His writing, for the most part, would have been more appropriate in a personal political blog than on a technical blogoforum. As such, I can't blame any of the slashdotters for bashing him, his writing was truly out of place. At least it felt that way before there was a politics category, which one could argue was created partly due to his rantings in the first place.

But regardless, He was offensive to a great deal of /. and from what you say his withdrawl was because of the reaction to his writing. With the initial reaction he recieved it would be a bit like Bill Clinton showing up to talk at every NRA convention to talk about gun control... Not exactly smart, possibly brave, but not the best use of his time if he was looking for a sympathetic audience.

Re:Jon Katz?

[kaffiene]

In conclusion, DIAF. All you new slashdotters that missed him, be glad. He used this website as his personal soapbox.
 
~WxRather like Zonk?

Re:Jon Katz?

[OfficeSubmarine]

Pliny the elder was a hack. Pliny the younger, his hip and edgy style is where it's at.

Re:Jon Katz?

[suv4x4]

Man, kids griping about how tough it is to be a kid today should be drop-shipped into Bagdad or Sudan to see what they think about tough lives.

*builds dropships*

Oh man, I'm out of crystals and gas! Life is hard.

Re:Jon Katz?

[Anonymous Coward]

> that's a great point. Maybe we should reflect on the works of Pliny the Elder for a relevant perspective on the Columbine Shootings.

well, millions in the US reflected on the christian bible - all written 1800+ years ago, some written 3000+ years ago.

so yeah, reading plato, shakespear, etc might make perfect sense. Maybe not to understand the specifics of the two attackers, but to understand the general issues.

Re:Jon Katz?

[bunions]

> well, millions in the US reflected on the christian bible - all written 1800+ years ago, some written 3000+ years ago.

that doesn't make it [i]relevant commentary[/i]. It might be a good guide on general moral issues, of course, but that's not what we're talking about here.

I have a firm belief that US education started going down the toilet when they stopped teaching latin in schools. I am all for a strong grounding in the classics. But pretending like there's nothing new under the sun and that the situation now is the same as it was 3000, 100, or even 30 years ago is just not grounded in reality.

I have to ask...

[Otter]

Is this the dog that (supposedly) started chewing on his graphics card during his ill-fated attempt to run Linux?

(I cringe at the thought of what useful information could have been stored in the neurons that were holding that shred of memory...)

Some people are cat people

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Some people are dog people, and Jon Katz is a dog person despite being named Katz. I don't know if that explains why his version of "mid-life crisis" was "tinfoil hat" theories about Columbine followed by plugging his own books on Slashdot, but if I ever go that crazy, I hope to have friends like Cmdr Taco around to let me promote my own books.

Re:Some people are cat people

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude. You need to have had a life to have a mid-life crisis.

Katz sat in his mom's basement, made up stories about Afghans who download porn over non-existent phone lines to imaginary Commodores, and presented them as fact.

This guy never had a life.

He probably made up the dog*, too. And then...*sniff*... it DIED! Oh! The humanity!

*(He borrowed a real person's dog for the talk show appearances)

That border collie...

[Angostura]

...really tied the room together, man.

Re:That border collie...

[confusedneutrino]

At least I'm housebroken. -The Collie.

Re:That border collie...

[FrankDrebin]

No, I'm not JOHN, man. I'm the Katz. So that's what you call me. Katz, Katzer, or El Katzerino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Story

[mondoterrifico]

Is this the story about a man his dog and a commodore 64 and their fight to free the columbine children from afghanistan?
If not I am not seeing it.
:)

I can understand why Katz liked his dog.

[davmoo]

I can understand why Katz and his dog were so close. What Katz wrote was almost identical to what came out of his dog's rear end.

Re:I can understand why Katz liked his dog.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's so amusing to see a comment mentioning the "rear end" moderated as insightful.

Re:I can understand why Katz liked his dog.

[Anonymous Coward]

"What Katz wrote was almost identical to what came out of his dog's rear end."

And, you know this how? Were you in charge of overseeing what came out of the dog's rear end?

Re:I can understand why Katz liked his dog.

[The-Bus]

Not really. The dog wouldn't even sniff Katz's stories.

Even more important casting question

[Anonymous Coward]

Who gets to play A. Coward?

I'm thinking Brad Pitt.

Cool

[Fear the Clam]

I'm looking forward to the heartwarming scene where he and his dog bond while watching videos on his TRS-80.

Cut from the write-up as submitted...

[Robotech_Master]

Further amusement comes from this article about the movie's filming, with this quote from the owner of the house used to double for Katz's:

Mercaldi said she was looking forward to seeing the film, with her home of 13 years as a co-star, "especially since they trashed it," she said. "The character was a real slob, so it doesn't look like our house."

And Junis?

[dedazo]

Who plays Junis? Kevin Federline?

Re:And Junis?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahh, memories!

ps. Reading old slashdot is like finding crumbly, yellowed newspapers in your grandparents' attic. Gnutella? DivX?

Re:And Junis?

[dr_dank]

Maybe that kid from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is free for the project.

Katz (takes long bong hit): Dude, we should totally get some pizza. I'm feeling post-Columbine munchies
Juniz: Hallo esteemed friend JONKATZ, I would like to compile GNU/HURD on my amiga while watching latest hollywood blockbuster like Problem Child. Show me the money, wheres the beef?

Re:And Junis?

[stud9920]

Sacha Baron Cohen would be ideal

I think it was the motherboard.

[khasim]

He had ordered a new PC via mail order. When it was delivered, the cards were loose. So loose that his dog picked up the motherboard in its mouth and walked around the house.

Anyone who has actually assembled a computer will see the flaws in his stories. Or anyone who has owned a dog.

Re:I think it was the motherboard.

[GoofyBoy]

Or anyone who can read.

Verklempt

[Zigurd]

This makes me all verklempt thinking about the first time I learned to block Slashdot articles.

Re:Verklempt

[Danny Rathjens]

This article really pulled all of us old-timers out of the woodwork. :) It's like a special club of those of us sane enough to have blocked JonKatz articles all those years ago.

Re:Verklempt

[djp928]

Katz articles remain the only thing I have ever blocked on Slashdot. Ah, memories.

-- Dave

Re:Verklempt

[alexdw]

I remember tenatively unblocking Katz a few years ago, just to "clean out" my filter. To my suprise and delight, I was not immediately assaulted with reminders of our shocking post-Columbine world. Katz had already left.

Is this a joke?

[Anonymous Coward]

Jon Katz buys a farm and falls in love with his dogs?!?

The crazy ranting former slashdot editor???

""Jon's writing reflects the way he is as a human being -- sensitive, smart, funny, perceptive, and generous beyond imagination," said Liz Manne, producer of "A Dog Year" for HBO Films. "That's why his books attract such a loyal and engaged readership.""

WHAT THE FUCK!!! REALITY IS BROKEN PLEASE USE EMERGENCY EXITS

Re:Is this a joke?

[hey!]

""Jon's writing reflects the way he is as a human being -- sensitive, smart, funny, perceptive, and generous beyond imagination."

I should poitn out that none of that precludes his being horribly misinformed, espcially on technical issues.

In fact, it often seems like an either/or proposition. You can get the "humanity" feature or the "competence" feature.

Re:Is this a joke?

[drinkypoo]

Well, having never met the guy, I can see how perhaps some of those were true, with the exception of sensitive, smart, funny, or perceptive. Perhaps he's so generous that it makes people believe some of the others?

Re:Is this a joke?

[Anonymous Coward]

He wasnt just misinformed, he was slashdots bill o reiley. There is a reason why every single slashdot poster old enough to remember has nothing but bile for this man. Of course it is probably just my latent fears of hyper-repurposing-rural-globalization that is killing the small farmer in this post columbine farce you call a world.

Re:Is this a joke?

[glenrm]

For enough money drinkypoo I would find you sensitve, smart, funny, and/or perceptive. Perhaps the same is true for this Katz fellow...

Re:Is this a joke?

[hey!]

He wasnt just misinformed, he was slashdots bill o reiley. There is a reason why every single slashdot poster old enough to remember has nothing but bile for this man. Of course it is probably just my latent fears of hyper-repurposing-rural-globalization that is killing the small farmer in this post columbine farce you call a world.

Thats a misrepresentation and exaggeration.

The problem with Katz is that he is an outsider who had the temerity to write about us. That's fine when you write for other outsiders, but the generaliations you use when you write to other outsiders don't stand up when you are writing for insiders. You either end up insulting or patronizing.

Katz and O'Reilley may both be pompous, but few of us here can afford to throw stones on that account. The problem with O'Reilley is that he is a bully who shouts down and abuses people he disagrees with. Katz didn't have the power to cut our mic so he could dress us down, and most of us can take care of ourselves if we have a chance to respond. The impression I get of Katz is that he's a nice enough guy who foolishly bit off more than he could chew. He wasn't one of us, he wasn't going to deliberately insult us, so he ended up patronizing us, with the best of intentions.

I imagine American Indians feel that way about all that noble savage nonsense. If I were one, I'd rather see an Indian version of The Simpsons than another Dancing with Wolves.

It was only a few years ago, but the Jon Katz/Slashdot phenomenon belongs to a past era, like FDR's fireside chats or newsreels shown at movies. "O brave new world, that has such people in't." Like Miranda in the Tempest the public had discovered that the Internet was a whole universe of new possibilities, but they didn't know how that universe worked or what the people who made it run did.

I have no bile towards Jon, and while many do, I'm sure quite that's not universal. Personally, I wouldn't even mind seeing a Katz piece every couple of months. It doesn't hurt us to look at oursevles from an outside perspective every now and then. I think a Slashdot interview would be a good idea too.

whoa

[bunions]

that was uncanny

Predictions

[Dirtside]

Don't get me wrong, I think Jeff Bridges is great (Tron atones for a multitude of sins), but in my family we have a saying: "Want your movie to fail? Cast Jeff Bridges."

Re:Predictions

[solevita]

It's a movie about a crackpot who spent too much time on the internet and too much time with his dog. Throw in some Peter Jackson CGI pixies and this can't fail.

Anyone replying to the recent Revenge of the Nerds story with comments asking for originality in films rejoice! Nothing like this has ever been done before!

Re:Predictions

[Reziac]

I liked TRON too, but having worked with Jeff Bridges on 8 Million Ways to Die... lordy, talk about being unable to follow a script. (Well, when that film HAD a script.)

Cowboy Neal?

[MikeFM]

So who is going to play Cowboy Neal? When does casting for the Slashdot movie start?

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[Skater]

So who is going to play Cowboy Neal?And will he be driving the Slashdot PT Cruiser?

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[Korin43]

Slashdot: The Movie
-Has almost no plot, everything good about the movie is dependent on the random conversations of the people next to you in the theater.

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[eln]

Also, the movie is only 5 minutes long, but it's repeated 25 times.

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[geekwithsoul]

Close, but it's actually just the same movie you saw last week with the title slightly changed and it will open on April 1, 2007

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[Dabido]

The first four minutes of the flim is people standing there going, 'Dupe', 'I for one welcome our new Border Collie Overlord', 'Wait till we get the friggin' lasers on their heads', 'In Soviet Russia, the void is crazier than the border collie' etc etc.

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[RLiegh]

and, of course, instead of popcorn they'll be selling hot grits at the concession stand

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[benbean]

Wow, The Great PT Cruiser Controversy. Today is truly a day for Slashdot [f|s]lashbacks.

Re:Cowboy Neal?

[sg_oneill]

costaring Natalie Portman I presume.

This dog was stolen

[SoCalChris]

I'm not saying that the dog was living a good life, but he flat out stole the dog, and then wrote an article about how the dog was stolen.

http://www.slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2113564&GT1=6 082

Re:This dog was stolen

[RedWizzard]

but he flat out stole the dog, and then wrote an article about how the dog was stolen.

If the story is to be believed, then he didn't steal the dog, someone else did. He did, however, receive stolen property.

Re:This dog was stolen

[Software]

I wonder if the farmer whose dog was stolen is going to want a cut of the movie's revenue. Maybe he will press charges against Katz for receiving a stolen dog. I hope not; I don't want Katz to go to jail, which would give him even more time to turn out more drivel.

I like the "underground railroad" aspect of it; likens the dog to a human slave, with all the attendant sympathies. Maybe I should try that excuse if I get picked up for shoplifting: "But this $400 leather jacket was being abused, just sitting there on the rack. I didn't steal it -- I rescued it. I was going to send it on to my fence^W underground railroad connections."

Re:This dog was stolen

[abigor]

No, Junis dug it up out of the sand along with his Commodore 64, and sent the dog to Katz after using his trusty Commodore to purchase food from Pets.com.

Re:This dog was stolen

[Galvatron]

Wow... Just wow... I always thought jonkatz took too much abuse on here. Yeah, he overdid it on finding ways to tie anything into "our electronic, post-Columbine world," but gloating about stealing private property? That's quite a low. I find his implied threat particularly repulsive: "The Internet has made every dog a potential national adoptee." In other words, if we don't like what we observe about the way you treat your dog, we'll steal him, too. Moreover, the article conveys only the perp's side of the story, so we can assume that the treatment of the dog was, at worst, as described in the article, and quite possibly substantially better. Besides, as someone said in the comments on the article, if you care so much, and the owner really doesn't value the dog, why not buy her? I can't wait to see how this is portrayed in the movie.

Re:This dog was stolen

[BrentWM]

Didn't he eventually have this dog killed (presumably so he wouldn't have to share the royalties)? Feel good story for the new millennium.

Re:This dog was stolen

[topham]

The best part?

The 'liberated' dog had issues and was potentially violent.

Gee, you think maybe the first owner determined that the dog had issues and potentially dangerous?

Re:This dog was stolen

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if the farmer whose dog was stolen is going to want a cut of the movie's revenue. Maybe he will press charges against Katz for receiving a stolen dog.

Interesting question. Possessing stolen property is a crime. I think profiting from your crimes is as well (definitely is in some states), so I believe the farmer could theoretically get Jon's share of the profits from the book and movie. I'd be shocked if it actually happened, though, for several reasons:

• The farmer probably isn't aware of the book or movie.
• The farmer never actually reported the dog as stolen, so he probably has no documentation of the crime.
• The farmer might not know of this law.
• The farmer probably wouldn't care to pursue it.
• If the profit thing is a criminal law (don't remember), the district attorney would have to as well, and he/she probably wouldn't.
• The judge and (if it's criminal) jury would have to actually go with it. I'm oversimplifying, but they basically have the ability to ignore the law if they don't feel it applies.

I hope not; I don't want Katz to go to jail, which would give him even more time to turn out more drivel.

Luckily, his writing seems to be entirely for pay. In the unlikely event he were put in this situation, any profit from this book would be taken from him as further violation of the law, so I doubt it'd ever be written.

Re:This dog was stolen

[Reziac]

Speaking as a professional dog trainer, this sort of crap just fuels every sort of problem people can have with their pets, including the notion that it's okay to just confiscate dogs because you don't like their owners.

Plus he's supporting the "animal rights" loons by his willingness to be part of this outright theft. They're NOT about being good to animals; they're about depriving people of *human* rights. Hmm... they say dogs are equivalent to children, and it's okay to steal a dog if they don't like how it's kept. What if "activists" don't like how you raise your kids, should they be allowed to just take them??

I got along okay with Katz until he was a party to stealing that dog.

I wonder if the original owner knows where his dog is.

As to "Orson", my experience is that if the dog is the least little bit "off", people like Katz make the dog's behaviour vastly worse than it would be in the hands of someone who actually knows what they're doing. And THESE are the people "rescuing" dogs -- often dogs that are psychologically marginal in the first place (there *is* inherited psychosis in dogs).

One has to wonder how much of this is by DESIGN, to cause people to fear their pets and be more willing to give them up. After all, PETA and HSUS both have a stated goal of ELIMINATION OF PET OWNERSHIP.

Re:This dog was stolen

[operagost]

What if "activists" don't like how you raise your kids, should they be allowed to just take them??

That's pretty much how DYFS works in New Jersey. You can make any outrageous claim about your neighbor and a social worker will show up with a police officer and demand access. If the parent is not home, they'll intimidate whoever is supervising (such as an aunt or sibling) into handing over your child without so much as a warrant.

Re:This dog was stolen

[Reziac]

It works the same way in Los Angeles. Child Welfare and Animal Control are both *required* to "investigate all complaints" even when the complaint (and the complainer) is KNOWN to be spurious, and Child Welfare will remove children solely on the basis of such complaints, regardless of the circumstances or any evidence that the children are well-cared-for. Animal Control has historically been a bit saner, but I expect that will change now that a PETA supporter heads the department.

The worst part is, anonymous complaints are not only allowed but encouraged, are regarded as solid evidence by the courts, and you have NO right to face your accuser in court. And you are regarded as guilty by default, with little or no chance of proving your innocence.

Re:This dog was stolen

[falcon5768]

with a police officer and demand access. If the parent is not home, they'll intimidate whoever is supervising (such as an aunt or sibling) into handing over your child without so much as a warrant.

Having worked with DYFS in the past this is complete bullshit. One of DYFS biggest problems is that they go through so much to investigate a case that it could be too late by the time they gather enough evidence. If a cop and a DYFS worker are showing up at your door, then they have enough evidence from multiple sources to prove that the child is in danger in your home. Every child investigated pretty much has their teachers, religious leaders, and neighbors involved on top of the child themselves being watched, and if any multiple of them feel that the child is in danger, they are getting pulled.

Sound interesting

[tourvil]

It sounds interesting, but I really have to wonder how a movie like this fits into the post-Columbine world of today...

[begin long dissertation]

On CNN

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/books/11/27/books. katz.dogs.ap/index.html

Odd

[TheRealFixer]

I'm just surprised that in a post-Columbine world, this movie would get made.

Really?

[Greyfox]

I always pictured Katz as more of a Keanu Reeves. If Keanu wasn't available they could always have tried that guy who played the hero in "Team America: World Police". His acting was a little more lifelike and less wooden than Keanu's but he'd still have been a good match (IMHO.)

Every time I've just about forgotten about Katz something comes along to remind me of his existence. Usually a "Whatever happened to Jon Katz" posting on this site. Apparently he was not killed by a pack of wild dingoes as per my previous speculation. So I'd suggest looking forward to that 20 part "Columbine Revisited" story any day now. On the plus side I probably won't see it if it's posted on this site -- I got my account here for the sole purpose of disabling posts from him and as far as I know there's still a setting in the database preventing me from seeing a story by him (If not about him)

Re:Really?

[PygmySurfer]

If Keanu wasn't available they could always have tried that guy who played the hero in "Team America: World Police". His acting was a little more lifelike and less wooden than Keanu's but he'd still have been a good match (IMHO.)

Did you mean the guy who provided the voice, or the actual puppet?

Re:Really?

[packeteer]

I think his joke flew by your head, he meant the puppet. Get it? A wooden puppet is mroe lifelike and less wooden than Keanu.

Re:Really?

[PygmySurfer]

Oh I got it, I was just trying to stretch it, but I guess I failed.

Re:Really?

[TobascoKid]

I got my account here for the sole purpose of disabling posts from him and as far as I know there's still a setting in the database preventing me from seeing a story by him (If not about him)

Same here. It wasn't until this article that I even realized that Katz had left.

movie bomb or not?

[mcguyver]

IANAL(or movie exec), but as a drama I can see this moving working. As a comedy this movie may likely be another one of the many bombs produced by has been actors wanting to cash in on their name...ex The Shaggy Dog or Dr Doolittle.

GUH!?

[duguk]

Wtf...

Well, it is Tuesday.

/me gets all nostalgic

Monkeyboi

Ad Hominem

[autocracy]

Just tell me where we found a Border Collie crazier than Jon Katz...

Wow!

[flibuste]

The nerd in me feel so concerned about this incredible news! It really matters to me.
Oh wait...maybe I'm just being insensitive...

The Dude abides.

[Onan]

Ah, JonKatz. The sole reason that I finally relented and created a user account, just so I could filter out his inane babbling. Good times, good times.

Re:The Dude abides.

[daveb]

yeah - he was the first, and I think ONLY, person I ever filtered out.

It wasn't just that he talked crap about stuff he doesn't know about (hell this IS slashdot after all). It was the volume of crap which seemed to get a high profile that drove me to figure out what my profile was for.

He was an idiot. I doubt much has changed.

Re:The Dude abides.

[garcia]

He was an idiot. I doubt much has changed.

I swear that Zonk is really Jon Katz. They're both similarly retarded.

Re:The Dude abides.

[acidrain]

I'm Katz is what /. implemented filtering by author for. In theroy the content is catagorized in some way that you can sort for what you want, without just thinking poster == crap. Anyone out there even filtering out a specific person posting content these days?

Re:The Dude abides.

[Profane MuthaFucka]

That is *precisely* why he started writing about dogs instead of geeks. He found out that geeks are smart, and we don't accept bullshit, lies, or false sentimentality.

Now, imagine a morbidly obese divorced woman confined to her La-Z-Boy for months because her hip replacement is still healing. She has a bag of knitting on the floor, and Oprah Winfrey on the television, playing just a little too loud. In her lap is a little yap of a dog, maybe it's a Yorkie. It could be a Cocker Spaniel too.

When she gets on the Internet, the first thing she does is log into Yahoo Groups and finds the discussion area for Yorkies. Maybe the group moderator named the fucking thing sweet_yorkie_lovers or something. The moderator and everybody in the Yahoo Group is a similarly divorced obese 40-ish woman, and they write stupid shit like "litle Buster just LUVS it when i scrtahc his tumy." (SIC) Someone else replies "LOL".

That's who Katz is writing for now.

Basically Katz is an amazing and cynical opportunist. He THOUGHT he could do his shit over here, because hey, we're socially inept geeks, right? Well that didn't work out too well, so he found a much more, ummmm, less critical audience who eats that shit right up.

Jon Katz is my fucking hero.

Re:The Dude abides.

[ConceptJunkie]

Good post. Hopefully the Yorkies won't get all torqued off and start hopping around and barking frenetically over Katz' book. I'm sure their owners would get upset, and the darn little things tend to pee when excited.

Conservatism is a failed ideology which has joined communism in the trash heap of history.

I hope you're not basing this claim on the past 6 years, because in the past 6 years there wasn't much conservatism going on.

Re:The Dude abides.

[khallow]

The moderator and everybody in the Yahoo Group is a similarly divorced obese 40-ish woman, and they write stupid shit like "litle Buster just LUVS it when i scrtahc his tumy." (SIC) Someone else replies "LOL".

This stuff just writes itself.

Re:The Dude abides.

[Breakfast Pants]

Zonk

Re:The Dude abides.

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Actually, I'm going by Ronald Reagan's example. But that's offtopic. It's YORKIE TIME!!!!! YAYAYAAY! Just for shits and grins, I went to Yahoo groups and looked up Yorkie. It's easy to see how Katz decided they were perfect targets.

The big list http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=yorkie

Check out the description of this one: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/smalldogsmidwes t/ Awwww! What a cute little Chihuahua! YACK!

Great news. "yorkieland2" has public archives. What the fuck is in there I wonder? http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/yorkieland2/mes sage/24437That one is titled "Anal Glaucoma O/T (HEY GOLDIE)" and the text is "i HOPE i DON'T OFFEND ANYONE BUT THIS WAS PRETTY FUNNY." But the attached image, which I really hoped to jack off to, wasn't archived.

Keep reading. In July 2006 there were over a thousand messages posted to yorkieland2. Picking one at random for everyone's amusement:


Title - "THEY'RE SHOOTING YORKIES!" (my comment: one can only hope)

I just had to share this story that came my way :)

Welcome to the July 2006 edition of LITTLE SHOP NEWS

THEY'RE SHOOTING YORKIES!

Well, it's the most dreaded time of year around our
household, and I'm not talking about flea and tick season.
With two skittish little Yorkies, I can only be referring
to Independence Day.the 4th of July..Fireworks
Incorporated.

Technically, they can't sell fireworks in my little town
until July 1st, but someone always manages to get them a
little early, and our nightly walks are turning into a bit
of a game and adventure. For about a month now, we've been
going on long walks every evening right around the time it
starts cooling off and getting dark. We've been trying to
walk the girls more often, because Cesar the Dog Whisperer
from Discovery channel tells us they should go for a walk
every day. So this was going along just fine and we were
all enjoying our evening walks. Usually Rylie is leading
the way, tugging with all the might her 5-pound body can
muster, and making me wish I had worn roller skates. She
always seems to be on the hunt of some mysterious object we
can never quite catch up with. And then there's Ellie.
She's about 8 pounds, and 6 years old going on 45.so she is
usually bringing up the rear. She only gets excited if we
happen to see people out on our walk, so that she can visit
and show them how gorgeous she is. The actual walking
though, she could do without, so she drags along behind us
and sighs in disgust with each request to hurry up. That is
until.

We're out walking a few nights ago and about two blocks
away from home when we hear a very very distant little
"pop" from a firecracker. This was not a boom by any means,
and not even as loud as a bottle rocket, but Ellie was off
to the races. She immediately did a u-turn and started high
tailing it back home. Now Rylie is the one lagging behind
as Ellie tugs away and looks back as if to say, "Run
Dad.they're shooting at us!"

So now the adventure is CAN we convince Ellie to go for a
walk, and the game is HOW far can we get before they start
shooting at us and we have to run for cover? It happens
every year and the worst part is it takes a few weeks after
the 4th for her to really start trusting us when we say,
"They've stopped shooting at you, Ellie, it's safe to go
outside again."

Here's hoping you and yours have a nice 4th of July, but
please, if you happen to see a couple of Yorkies trying to
get in their evening walk, do us a favor and cease fire for
20 minutes or so. J

Re:The Dude abides.

[kubla2000]

That's it! It's him! Amazing. Nice find.

Re:The Dude abides.

[gangien]

insightful? maybe funny.. but not insightful.

zonk's id 12082
JonKatz's id 7654

i have my doubts jonkatz created an account so he could maybe use it in the future (because katz was an editor well after i got here and I'm 6 digit). Plus I happen to like zonk's postings unlike katz :) (which probably explains why i'm responding)

Re:The Dude abides.

[Anonymous Coward]

Man I am so glad that I don't have a userid higher than JonKatz's id.

Re: The Dude abides.

[gidds]

...and finds the discussion area for Yorkies.

They have a dicussion area for chocolate bars??? Quick, tell me how to subscribe!!!

Re:The Dude abides.

[bill_mcgonigle]

zonk's id 12082
JonKatz's id 7654

4333 here - I can't claim to have created an account just for JonKatz though he did get my exclusive use of an author filter.

Zonk is often misguided - JonKatz was an insidious troll the like of which make John Dvorak bow in awe.

Even when michael goes off on his political rants he's easy to ignore - JonKatz had a skill for annoyance unlike any other. A skill, to be sure, and fortunately one the author filter dealt with.

Re:The Dude abides.

[Doctor O]

The moderator and everybody in the Yahoo Group is a similarly divorced obese 40-ish woman, and they write stupid shit like "litle Buster just LUVS it when i scrtahc his tumy." (SIC) Someone else replies "LOL".Holy cow. You owe my boss a keyboard.

Note to self: Don't drink coffee when reading Slashdot at work.

Re:The Dude abides.

[LKH]

Yup, me too. Just checked, always used to be Katz I had filtered out, now it's Zonk. Too many crap stories, usually dupes.

Re:The Dude abides.

[Benson Arizona]

> That is *precisely* why he started writing about dogs instead of geeks.
> He found out that geeks are smart, and we don't accept bullshit, lies, or false sentimentality.

Dogs don't care what you say so long as you feed them... Actually they arn't all that different from geeks.

Meanwhile, I hear that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis are competing to play the dog.

Re:The Dude abides.

[spun]

Conservatism is a failed ideology which has joined communism in the trash heap of history.

I hope you're not basing this claim on the past 6 years, because in the past 6 years there wasn't much conservatism going on.

That's why it's a failed ideology. Note that defenders of communism similarly claim that communism never failed as it was never actually tried. If your ideology invariably leads to gross corruptions that themselves fail miserably, your ideology has failed. Make all the excuses and apologies you like, but all that we are now seeing in America is what the conservative ideology necessarily leads to.

Re:The Dude abides.

[ConceptJunkie]

While your comparison is valid, I disagree because in this case, there are specific conservative values that were not being followed. The corruption is endemic to any powerful government, and if you don't think that's the case, then we have nothing to talk about.

To wit: Here are the conservative values that were flouted:

1. Leave the rest of the world alone unless it's in our vital and direct interest. An argument can be made that Bush was acting on this principle, but in retrospect, one has to wonder. Bush also made the mistake of trying to help make the U.N. relevant. The U.N. is corrupt and feckless, and it really doesn't bother me that various countries completely flout its resolutions because it has consistently demonstrated there are no consequences to doing so, so I can't blame them.

2. Small government. 'Nuff said.

3. Enforce existing laws before or rather than making new ones. The border issue is the perfect example.

4. Strive to maintain sovereignty. (There are a number of issues here, but this overlaps with #3 as well).

Reagan, for all his faults, made conservatism work, but no one has practiced it since. By your standard, which is a valid one, liberalism, as defined and practiced in the U.S. has also not only failed, but it cost more too.

The difference here is that unlike American conservatism or European liberalism, communism has never worked anywhere.

Re:The Dude abides.

[alexdw]

Damn Katz never can get his facts right. That dog whisperer idiot is on the National Geographic channel, not Discovery.

Re:The Dude abides.

[yet another coward]

Your (yes, you're) just scared to look into the Hellmouth.

Don't you know that the Intarwebs changed everything? Then Columbine changed everything. Then 9-11 changed everything. Then I stopped paying enough attention to television to know what changed everything in the last five years, but I'm sure that something changed everything quite a few times since I stopped paying attention. Judging from JonKatz, puppies changed everything.

Your just scared to look into the dogmouth.

Re:The Dude abides.

[spun]

I agree with you about the specific ways in which conservative ideals have not been followed. But there are specific ways in which the Communist ideology was never followed, either. For instance, Communism was always meant to be a crutch, a transition from Capitalism to Anarchy. But all "communist" regimes that have ever existed pretty much started killing all the anarchists within a year or three of foundation.

Re:The Dude abides.

[b0bby]

Yep, me too. I just couldn't take it anymore.

Re:The Dude abides.

[sammy baby]

To take another example from Communism: it was always assumed by Marx that Communism would naturally arise from societies in which the poor had been continually disenfranchised. Lenin's contribution was essentially the notion that a Communist state could be created more or less out of whole cloth.

Re:The Dude abides.

[Profane MuthaFucka]

I just picked the stupidest thing I could see on the page. Was that really written by Katz?

Re:The Dude abides.

[ConceptJunkie]

The problem with Communism, which is also the problem with pure capitalism (with no governmental oversight or regulation) is that immoral people will (not just can, but will) wreck the system and enslave the less powerful and engage in tyranny. In fact, any system of government or economics that does not have a very meticulous system of checks and balances, as well as limited and decentralized power will suffer the same consequences.

If you read the Acts of the Apostles, you will see the early Christians communities lived in what is pretty much a text-book communal (or communist) society among themselves. With a small group of people who are like-minded, zealous about their beliefs (as any adherent to a new religion, particularly if he is being persecuted for it, would be), this can work, but of course it didn't last long, and once the Church became large and successful its wealth and power were often subverted for less-than-Christian ideals, which is one reason today why it specifically eschews political power and uses the vast majority of the wealth it maintains for good works.

Similarly, it's easy to have a startup company with, say, 8 people where everyone is top-notch, hard-working and delivers good results. It's impossible to have a company with 1000 people where everyone is the same. Communism doesn't scale. Socialism bypasses the corruption stage and goes straight to tyranny. Capitalism can be subverted for evil. No system is perfect as long as we flawed humans are a part of it.

That said however, I still find the conservative principals to be qualitatively more sound than the alternatives.

Here's my take on "conservative" principles, some of these are no doubt compatible with "liberal" principles or are at odds with "conservative" principles as espoused by some "conservative" politicians. I think that's a good thing.

1. Equalize opportunities, because you cannot equalize results.
2. People can generally take care of themselves, and should be left to, until they prove otherwise.
3. Help people when they truly need it, but if aid doesn't cost as well as provide, it will be abused.
4. The rights of the individual take precedence. Anything that compromises individual rights and opportunities will compromise the chances for success. However, it's often much easier to infringe on the rights of others than you realize.
5. Any aspect of government should be as local as possible, there are very few things that require implementation at the national level.
6. Real education is the best tool for any person. Investments in education will always pay off (but remember #3).
7. Humans are the best and most important natural resource on the planet. Human life, therefore, should be held in the highest regard.
8. We are stewards of the Earth, we neither own it or are owned by it.
9. There will always be evil. Be prepared to neutralize it, or you will be defeated by it.
10. Liberty is not license. Freedom necessitates responsibility and duty.
11. Sovereignty is a right. It cannot be denied to those who want it or forced upon people who do not wish to take part*.

#12 and #13 are specifically addressed to so-called liberals:

12. You have no right not to be offended by others.
13. Life isn't fair. Get over it.

#3 was the hardest to word succinctly. Here's what else I wanted to say:

Any social safety-net or entitlement will be gamed as much as possible and is guaranteed to be inefficient. Compassion is the most easily subverted intention, the easiest to take advantage of. People should not be allowed to starve or live without shelter, but without a real chance to fail, many people will let the system take care of them.

* Specifically, states should have the right to secede.

Re:The Dude abides.

[pete-classic]

I think there is a substantive difference. In the US "conservatism" has been replaced by mealy-mouthed centrism. This is a result of a tragically confused electorate who mistake this for a democracy. I'm not sure how the electorate became so confused, but I don't see how you can lay it at the feet of conservatism.

On the other hand, implementing collective ownership of substantial assets requires a proxy. That proxy, the government, naturally becomes too powerful to be trusted. This is endemic to Communism itself.

-Peter

PS: I'm a radical social liberal (though a staunch fiscal conservative), so I'm not just axe-grinding for conservatism.

First the Simpsons Live Animated, now Dr Katz?

[BubbleSparkxx]

wow - i didn't know that the Dr Katz cartoon had such a big fanbase to warrant a live action movie. My head always hurt after watching it, with all the squiggly lines and all. So will Jeff Bridges be shaving his head or just going to wear a wig?

Good flick

[Anonymous Coward]

The Fabulous Baker boys starring Jeff Bridges, his brother Beau, and Michelle Pffeifer was a good movie.

Re:Good flick

[Ginger Unicorn]

for some reason i thought beau bridges was his dad :)

fear and loathing

[spoonyfork]

Out of suffering comes creativity. You cannot spell painting without pain.

We have suffered much for Jon's art. Must we suffer more?

Re:fear and loathing

[Anonymous Coward]

You cannot spell fart without art either.

This just in

[Anonymous Coward]

Jeff read the book and bowed out.

Jon is now to be played by Mr. Twig, formerly of South Park.

"Mr Twig is a fine actor who manages to convey the Jon Katz experience accurately", said a movie studio spokeperson. "Also, the fact that we plan to release the movie direcly to DVD-R should really save on production costs"

Copies of the movie are expected to be released to bulk trash bins nationwide in 2007.

Re:This just in

[Gorshkov]

Copies of the movie are expected to be released to bulk trash bins nationwide in 2007.

They're bundling them with the products made by the AOL "Coasters 'R' Us" division?

Heated controversy?

[stonedonkey]

I don't there's anything controversial about how his writing was almost universally disliked.

you mis-spelled it

[gosand]

I sort of assumed he had gone the way of the dodo

It's spelled "doo-doo".

Fuck Katz

[Lord Apathy]

Fuck Katz (figure of speech) who is going to play me? I really can't think of anyone in hollywood sexy enough to cover it.

Re:Fuck Katz

[Carthag]

Oh I dunno, Philip Seymour Hoffman? Paul Giamatti?

Your average editorial writer

[Anonymous Coward]

Long-time Slashdot veterans will remember Jon Katz, the editorial writer whose Slashdot articles invariably generated heated controversy.

So he is exactly like everyone else? /rimshot

Tip your waitress...

The backdrop

[Anonymous Coward]

I hear it all takes place in the Shadowrun universe. It's probably still based on Katz's life as I doubt he ever lived in this universe.

John Katz

[Oldav]

As a long time reader and rare poster I never understood the resentment some showed to Mr Katz on this site, perhaps it is the fact he writes lucidly and well, compared to the incoherent drivel served up by the whinging moronic posters who like to complain about him. Jealous of someone truly talented prehaps. The from the hellmouth series was excellent in my opinion-and there were a lot more regular visitors when Katz was posting here regularly.

Re:John Katz

[Maurice]

It was because of ignorance, condescension and grandstanding in all of his articles. A rich vocabulary can't fix that, even though it sounds impressive on the face of it.

Re:John Katz

[NDPTAL85]

The only reason why his Hellmouth article was anything near decent is because it covered a national tragedy that was pretty much non-technical in nature. So the Columbine killers played DOOM, big whoop. 30 years ago they would have been playing Dungeons and Dragons....the board game version.

People here on Slashdot hate JonKatz because he's a non-geek. He is practically computer illiterate yet he weighed in on highly technical subjects like he knew first thing about them. Look up his other articles. You'll see.

Re:John Katz

[Anonymous Coward]

It wasn't resentment. It was disdain. He was a terrible combination of arrogant and ignorant. His complete ignorance, naivety, and even outright stupidity made him post complete and utter nonsense all the time, and his outrageous arrogance made him refuse to accept that he was so frequently wrong, and had no idea about anything he was blathering about.

When someone posts about afgan kids digging up commodore 64s to download and watch videos on to a site for nerds, and then refuses to admit he's full of shit when those nerds call him on it, everyone with two brain cells to rub together complains about his bullshit. The fact that you don't see a problem with his crap speaks volumes about you.

Nerds tend not to like morons, especially morons who insist they know everything and are always right. If you don't know about something, don't make retarded posts on a site about that topic, and then tell the people there that they are wrong and you know everything.

Re:John Katz

[rawtatoor]

Hi Mr. Katz! Good luck with the movie!

The poor dog

[DragonHawk]

"...a border collie crazier than he is."

Wow. That is one farked up dog. The poor thing.

(Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the meatloaf.)

aaaagh!

[minus_273]

Taco! there is something wrong with slashcode. I blocked these jon katz stories ages ago. Heck i never even read the Junis story on slashdot until someone told me. WTF is this doing on the front page. Where should i submit the bug?

Slashdot...

[Anonymous Coward]

...Actually has editors?

Get a life

[gammoth]

Go on, I dare ya

Hmmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm in doubt... is this really "ad hominem" or "ad canem"?

Anyway, I remembered him the other day (actually some 4-6 months ago) and wondered where in the world is Jon Katz? I was one of the few who appreciated what he wrote. Too bad he got fed up... wow, this was how long ago? 9-10 years?

Wow. 9 years and still AC...

Wherever you are, Jon, I wish you success!

What's wrong with my Jon Katz filter?

[stungod]

I think the filter must have broken after the upgrade...I still saw that.

Actually, I kind of miss the guy. It was so nice to see so many comments that agreed with each other. Say what you will about Katz, he united many of us Slashdotters in our distaste for his writing. Never have I seen so many ways to say STFU as in the comments for a JonKatz post.

I always figured he finally got the hint and got a job that didn't encourage his delusions of grandeur. Now he's got a movie about how he got a dog smarter than he is. Or crazier - ol' Jon's a zany dude. I'm just disappointed in the casting. I would have picked this guy instead. (sorry Bubbles!)

Re:What's wrong with my Jon Katz filter?

[doom]

stungod wrote:

I think the filter must have broken after the upgrade...I still saw that.

Yeah, I was just wondering "How did this get through my Katz filter?"

Thankfully, my sappy-new-movie-filter will save me from seeing the subject of this story.

Good karma from Jon

[El_Smack]

I went from 0 to +50 Karma just pointing out the most obvious flaws in his "articles". Good times.

Re:Good karma from Jon

[Moofie]

Come on, that's like kicking puppies that don't have any legs.

Jon Kat'z Style Tangent

[Oriumpor]

Well, there was this one time my sister's 14mo old labrador ran smack into my case, which had the sidepanel off and knocked it's head right into the motherboard. It didn't unseat it, or undo any screws, it bent a couple capacitors but hell it didn't even reboot. I got some bad sectors from the rattling around and eventually had to replace the power supply, HD and blow some dog hair out of the case. The mobo worked for years after that running my SMB shares and print server...

Though I guess, as the parent said, if his dog actually picked the motherboard up, number one he should be taken to jail for animal mistreatment for being so damned negligent, but more importantly he should have called The Guinness Book because he must have the only dog that can operate a screwdriver in the world. Not to mention no reputable shop would ship a mobo detached from the case. The thing would be DOA every time the way they get chucked around in transit. Ugh, which goes back to the first thing I said in this thread: ...I haven't thought of him unless to make reference to a wordy, logically unsound, obnoxious shill.

Certainly a more appropriate topic for Mr Katz

[DrKludge]

Yep, I would tend to think that dogs are certainly a more appropriate topic for Mr Katz to write about than geeks. I do, however, wonder how dogs feel about his treatment of their world...

Literally wooden?

[BorgCopyeditor]

I am failing to comprehend. Keanu Reeves is human, and thus fleshy, and thus not made of wood. Furthermore, jokes are incapable of flight. (*pause*) Or perhaps this is another "idiom" with which I am unfamiliar.

Jon Katz stole Ted L. Nancy's idea!

[gillbates]

560 N. Moorpark Rd., #236
Thousand Oaks, CA. 91360

Jul 15, 1995

DIRECTOR
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
1260 Avenue of the Americas
New York, N.Y. 10020

Dear Sir or Madam:

Is it possible to rent Radio City Music Hall out for the week?

I would be putting on my production of "CINNAMON - A LIFE IN PROGRESS." This is a warm hearted family drama. It has been playing in the Maine and Minneapolis area.

Now it is ready for NEW YORK.

Please let me know how I would go about renting out Radio City Music Hall for my production of "CINNAMON - A LIFE IN PROGRESS."

There will be NO Bee Wrangler for these performances. (May hear loud barking).

Thank you. I remain...

Ted L. Nancy

- From Letter's From a Nut, by Ted L. Nancy. Avon books, 1997.

Jon Katz to star in "Logjammin"

[Silent Node]

God damn you Katz! You f**kin' asshole! Everything's a f**kin' travesty with you, man! And what was all that shit about A Good Dog? What the F**K, has anything got to do with your dog? What the f**k are you talking about?

-or-

That's a great plot, Katz. That's f**kin' ingenious, if I understand it correctly. It's a Swiss f**kin' watch!

MOD PARENT FUNNY

[Anonymous Coward]

Hilarious!

Old school

[Darth Maul]

Nothing like the mention of Jon Katz to bring out some of the slashdot old-timers, eh? Ahh, those were the days. Learning how to block stories...

Its not just films

[Roger W Moore]

It also seems to work for TV series as well.

Slashdot, please do a JonKatz interview

[Augusto]

In the vein of something like "Where are they now?". I know we all liked to flame the heck out of him, but in a weird way, I kind of miss him. Reading this article about him reminds me of late nights coding with co-workers, eating pizza and reading an inane story about the post-columbine world that would get me upset to the point of waking me up so I could keep coding.

Ah, the good old days.

I want details Re:I think it was the motherboard.

[kendor]

If this is correct, sounds like Jason B.-style invention, impossible, a lie.

Where does this chestnutty anecdote appear in Katz's works? I want details. It's demonstrable horseshit. When did K buy the "PC"? From who? Dell? When?

He's still an idiot

[JonKatzIsAnIdiot]

Ahem.

He's still an idiot.

That is all.

ignore

[xx_chris]

This would matter only if I cared. I put Jon Katz on my omit list when that was possible. Luckily he doesn't post anymore.

I smell...

[rk]

Direct to video!

"generated heated controversy" is putting it mild.

[solios]

Seriously. Every Katz "article" was the dictionary definition of "-1, Flamebait" and the comments were usually along the lines of "OMFG STFU!!!!" or "OMFG FOAD!!! AUGH!" or such.

IME, "near-universally reviled" and "controversial" are different things, and Katz (his /. "articles" at any rate) is the former.

How to be more reviled by slashdot?

[Faylone]

Perhaps I'm just too new here, but I didn't have a clue who Katz was, however reading the comments above it seems that the only way he could get more reviled is getting in bed with the MPAA, which he now seems to have done.

Re:How to be more reviled by slashdot?

[whosit]

Have some fun and go back to read his articles. You can still look him up by author. Even funnier is reading the comments ripping him a new one.

Ten thousand insults and two good words

[Anonymous Coward]

I never did block Katz, when I kept my /. account active.
It didn't matter what he said about technology. I didn't give a flying fling about his technology opinions. But when he wrote about people, the results were worth reading.

I guess all the friendly people moved on to Digg.

The next book...

[famebait]

'In his new book, "A Good Dog: The Story of Orson," Katz chronicles the life and death of the lovable but troubled border collie that transformed his life. It continues the story begun in Katz's last book, "A Dog Year," The next book is rumored to be called just "Katz and dogs" *bad-da-bissshhhh* Thank you, you're wonderful.

Hi Katz!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are you posting as an Anonymous Coward, don't you already have a slashdot account?

A solution...

[s31523]

Just dump the e-waste in the ocean along with the rest of God knows what corporations illegally dump there... What could possibly go wrong with that!

Sad commentary on Hollywood

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

The fact that Hollywood actually thinks this would be something people would pay to see is a great example as to why I no longer watch American movies, despite the fact that I am American and live in the good old USA. I see maybe 2-3 American movies a year. Man, Hollywood is just desperate for ideas. I've started watching Asian films and every now and then a European film because at least they are still trying to make good movies in other countries.

Great another chick flick.

[generic]

Thanks katz.

Dr. Katz?

[gers0667]

Will it be done in squiggle vision?

I need some help with /. preferences

[sheldon]

I saw this news about some movie with Jon Katz being played by Jeff Bridges.

But I'm having trouble figuring out how to filter stories written by or about Jeff Bridges from the front page.

DVD Sales?

[bill_mcgonigle]

Anybody have a URL for a site that compiles DVD sales data? For example I see The Big Lebowski made $17M at the US Box office, but I suspect DVD sales are higher than that. It's my conjecture that most Jeff Bridges movies fit that trend since he tends to go for the unpopular genres but does a really good job at them.

I miss his witty writing.

[whosit]

In this post-Johnathan Katz internet

slashdot didn't deserve him anyway

[wardk]

that man did a decent job and slashdot mercilessly ripped on him

good for Jon Katz

People like an Afghani teenager named "Junis"?

[Anonymous Coward]

There was a large controversy when Katz posted an article about an e-mail he believed to be from an Afghani teenager named "Junis", writing to him via the newly-restored Internet. Katz never disclosed the original e-mail, but it was an evident hoax and probably a parody designed to fool him. According to Katz, Junis wrote his e-mail from "his ancient Commodore computer", which he had 'dug up' and was now using to download movies, pornography, and MP3s thanks to the recent liberation of Afghanistan.

ROTFL! Though I do feel sorry for the dog he snatched.....

his dog?

[iamhassi]

hope someone kills his dog. That'd barely get you probation in the US.