With 30 or 40 million I could wire every classroom, buy new text books, and complete ALL needed repairs for every school in Orange County.
And I would have enough left-over that we could re-introduce the school lunch program... but I know, I know it's important to show the youth of America that we can win the cup.
The scriptwriter for Chicken Run, Karey Kirkpatrick, is to complete the script from a draft version written by author Douglas Adams before his death last year. Really not sure how to take this one: Chicken Run was funny and well-made, but... It must difficult for Kirkpatrick to step in and finish something a lot of people consider a masterpiece. I don't envy his job. Austin Powers director Jay Roach is to direct, and Adams will be posthumously credited as an executive producer. Joy Roach is a good director (did a fabulous job on Austin Powers; although he did have a good cast and excellent script).
I have a lot of hope for this project. It's nice to see Hollywood making at least one "non-teen-idol goes on a road trip/goes to college and finds them self" movie for next year.
"Get something by purchasing our album, that you couldn't possibly get by downloading."
The music industry sees downloading as a "problem," when in fact they should see (treat) it as competition. If the industry stepped up and spent half of the money they spend "combating" Napster sites on adding value to albums (in the form of posters, liner notes, inserts, giveaways, etc...) they might see a distinct change in consumer attitudes toward downloading.
Not to mention the album had great artwork and an insert with more artwork and liner notes. Yes liner notes, something that most bands today know nothing about.
Lyrics (of course more than 50% of the bands today don't write their own music or lyrics, so they couldn't add lyrics to their insert) and artwork and photos, etc... adorned almost every album from the early Beatles to the last Zeppelin album. Original artwork, reproduced works...
It would be nice to get more than 12 songs on a shiny disc for $18.99.
I suspect if bands began adding inserts, posters, registration numbers for concert tickets, anything really, people would be a little more motivated to "PURCHASE" albums, rather than downloading. However, there are still those people who (rightfully in my view) refuse to pay $18.99 for something that isn't worth more than $10. So, Napster-like services will remain extremely popular.
It's refreshing to hear of a "retail-minded" band that is adding value to their CD in order to combat piracy. I like the idea of "perks" for those people who purchase the CD.
Hopefully, this will do well and maybe the industry will begin looking at alternative ideas, those that benefit the customer, rather than punishing, to combat piracy.
Mr. Simonyi has left Microsoft with the right to use the intellectual property he developed and patented while working there.
That's only because Bill Gates owns his soul.
Re:Guardian Interview with Christopher Reeve
on
Politicizing Science
·
· Score: 2
Sure, Bush has his reasons. You're right. Bush has many reasons for limiting stem cell research; including, political, financial, and honestly most importantly his religious faith. Bush looked to his advisors, his party, his family, polls, and his bible to make the decision he did.
And Chris Reeve has his. Right again. Reeves has many reasons for promoting stem cell research: including walking and breathing on his own, assisting others to walk and breath on their own, finding treatments for ALS and MS, etc... I'm sure, like Bush, Reeve looked to his family and faith in making his decision.
Does Reeves sound more noble, than Bush? It's easy to say yes in this case. Helping people to walk and breath is slightly nobler than protecting individual cells of dead fetuses. However, we have to respect the political and religious views of everyone in this nation. And Bush made a tough decision; one I don't necessarily agree with, but respect.
Just because it sounds good and sounds like it will do magnificent things, doesn't make it right.
It will take people like Reeves to turn the tide in this country; to make people see that stem cell research and usage will benefit people for generations. But before we begin to introduce stem cell technology, we must address the moral and ethical questions and set VERY distinct boundaries.
In my humble opinion, pretty simple: If your research is funded by tax dollars, then you should be subject to "politics." Honestly, if you take public dollars to fund your project, then you should be answerable to the public (i.e. politicians or some public leadership).
If you don't take public funds, then you should only be answerable to the law and your conscience.
It may be Gantenbrink's "claim," but it is Zahi Hawass' responsibility and job to promote, protect, and preserve Egyptian heritage. If that means he "bullies" some archelogists; so be it.
Again, I say if the pyramids were in America, only American archeolgists would be "permitted" to study them. Same goes for just any other nation of the world (especially China).
Is there something behind the second door? We'll find out soon enough... but I think it's great that after 3000 years the pyramids still have not surrendered all of their secrets. Even in the technology age, the pyramids hold tight their secrets! I would have said their "last remaining" secrets, but who knows 10 years from now maybe some young Egyptian student will find something else to intrigue us all.
Interesting, a group that fought for a decade to break Ticketmaster (in the name of the fan), that allows taping of their live shows, and in response to piracy: released their own live shows on cd (just as Dylan did almost 2 decades ago) would allow such a hokey marketing thing...
I wonder if there will be any back-lash from the radio or retail industry?
I remember watching the original attempt to crawl up this shaft; and when they ran into the door. The team operating the robot just about jumped out of their skin in excitement.
One thing that kind of pisses me off about the whole egyptology thing, is that the egyptian government is pretty strict on who they let come and do work like this over there. If they don't agree with some of your views on the history of the pyramids, good luck getting a permit to do anything there. The history of the pyramids is very sketchy, and how the traditional egyptologists think their theories are 100% correct is very arrogant.
Please remember that the pyramids are Egyptian, not American, not English, etc... The Egyptian government is only protecting their culture, their history. And if it seems like they're are too harsh, too strict I think you need to remember that most Egyptian artifacts and surviving mummies are in foreign museums, not Egyptian. (The majority of the world's mummies are at the British Museum). I think that the American government (or any nation's government) would install the same strict laws and codes to protect its people's heritage from export.
I took my nephew and some of his friends to see the 1st Harry Potter movie. I thought it was pretty good (although I have not read any of the books), but they all agreed that it wasn't quite as good as they expected.
I think that expectations for some of the bigger films (i.e. HUGE ad campaigns) outgrow the film. We are inundated with print ad and TV spots for 2 or 3 months before the film is released. We are teased with quick shot after quick shot. And by the time the film is released, it doesn't meet with our overgrown expectation. In addition, any movie taken from a best-selling novel tends to not live up to the original novel.
"Actor Robert De Niro is inviting screenwriters with an interest in science to send their scripts to his film production company."
"Two winning writers will get financial assistance, along with help developing their scripts from filmmakers and scientists. At least one of the scripts will be read at De Niro's Tribeca Film Festival in 2003, and a film based on one of the screenplays will debut at the 2004 festival."
Aside from the inane comments of Doron Weber, this sounds like a great opportunity for aspiring screenplay writers. And I love the fact that they are promoting science (definitely something in this country that needs MASSIVE PROMOTION!)
I do hope that De Niro stays away from the "Hackers" / "Gen X" type kiddie movies that promote large corporations and their view, rather than the truth; and goes for something serious and honest... maybe a story based on Kevin Mitnick or something chronicling the birth of the Internet (definitely room for characterization...) or a comedy based on BOFH.
Probably wouldn't be too difficult to adapt the "fabric control panel" to access an MP3 player.
But you're forgetting that Sony had to come up with some kind of "cool" marketing idea to get rid of all of the MD players collecting dist in warehouses across the country.
"Furthermore, they plan on not fixing Word 97, leaving millions of users out in the cold."
That's not entirely true. It is true that before this story broke, Microsoft had no plans on updating or offering any new fixes for anything '97.
However, CNN and AP reported this morning that Micorsoft hasn't ruled out a fix and that they are in the process of determining what it would take to make a fix available.
I can think of 10 better books-that-should-be-films as well... hopefully someone will step up and invest some $dollars to make something other than another teen-pop-idol goes on a road trip to find him/herself, only to realize that mom and dad were right.
Thank god for Stan Lee and the whole Spiderman creative team. They saved Summer 2002 from absolute movie doom. (Runner-up awards to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Goldmember")
My novel-to-movie short wish list:
1. With the success of LoTR, I would like to see some of R.A. Salvatore's work make it to the big screen... but who could possibly play Drizt? Hmmm...
2. On a Pale Horse (Piers Anthony)
3. Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut) Would love to see the ILM folks create some Ice-Nine.
Star Trek: The Movie and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan were great! Then... sadly, they continued on and ended up making drivel. Spock dies, but then comes back in next movie. Kirk dies, but no it was a morph... hmmm... can you say regurgitation?
The NextGen movies weren't much better. And it's sad, because there are some pretty cool story lines they could have come up with. Just as in Voyager, they would come up with an interesting idea, but never play it out. The shows writers and producers always wanted to create a problem and solve it in one episode.
But oh well... we have Star Wars... oh no, never mind George didn't dive too deep into his creative pool for the new films.
I guess we just have to wait for the new Spidey film(s) and the next 2 LoTR movies. Maybe someone can convince Tim Burton and Michael Keaton to team again and do another Batman? Or maybe John Woo can step up and do a Justice League movie...
"Additionally, they should build a better arena and allow all those weapons currently outlawed, like EMP weapons, chemical, flamethrowers, magnetic grapples, swarms of multi-bots, etc. Should be much more exciting."
Absolutely! In the beginning it was so much fun because no one knew what to expect. Now, 6 years after the "first" organized 'bot matches, people have rooms full of research and development and scouting reports on other 'bots.
I think they should introduce new weapons to livin' up the competition. Less restriction, more destruction.:)
"These people aren't dumb. Behind the times, yes. Unmotivated to look for something better, often. But they read CNN's site and they hear about the continual MS holes. They hear about Linux, this "new" free Windows replacement that supposedly has better security... I get a few questions every now and then."
I agree. People are not dumb. However, we do live in a "Happy Meal" society: every 7 minutes most people lose interest at the commercial break.
I guess I'm preaching the difficulty of selling Mozilla and Linux to the masses. The "other guy" has millions to make "cool" commercials and buy old, should-be-retired band's hit songs. We just have good products that work and generally don't need 3 or 4 "service packs" to fix problems that should have been fixed before release.
"I haven't tried to set anyone's grandma up with Linux, yet, but I will soon."
LOL! Sweet! When you do, let me know. I'd love to set my Grandma up with Linux.
"because of the perceived loss in privacy and online rights as a result of post-9/11 legislation."
First, it is not "perceived" it is real. Second, the only change (IMHO) in the last year is that the government is less covert in their limitation of our freedoms and that the average citizen accepts it in the name of "security." (See this story)
Slashdot Mirror
With 30 or 40 million I could wire every classroom, buy new text books, and complete ALL needed repairs for every school in Orange County.
And I would have enough left-over that we could re-introduce the school lunch program... but I know, I know it's important to show the youth of America that we can win the cup.
The scriptwriter for Chicken Run, Karey Kirkpatrick, is to complete the script from a draft version written by author Douglas Adams before his death
last year.
Really not sure how to take this one: Chicken Run was funny and well-made, but... It must difficult for Kirkpatrick to step in and finish something a lot of people consider a masterpiece. I don't envy his job.
Austin Powers director Jay Roach is to direct, and Adams will be posthumously credited as an executive producer.
Joy Roach is a good director (did a fabulous job on Austin Powers; although he did have a good cast and excellent script).
I have a lot of hope for this project. It's nice to see Hollywood making at least one "non-teen-idol goes on a road trip/goes to college and finds them self" movie for next year.
Again, this is "value-added" to the album.
"Get something by purchasing our album, that you couldn't possibly get by downloading."
The music industry sees downloading as a "problem," when in fact they should see (treat) it as competition. If the industry stepped up and spent half of the money they spend "combating" Napster sites on adding value to albums (in the form of posters, liner notes, inserts, giveaways, etc...) they might see a distinct change in consumer attitudes toward downloading.
Not to mention the album had great artwork and an insert with more artwork and liner notes. Yes liner notes, something that most bands today know nothing about.
Lyrics (of course more than 50% of the bands today don't write their own music or lyrics, so they couldn't add lyrics to their insert) and artwork and photos, etc... adorned almost every album from the early Beatles to the last Zeppelin album. Original artwork, reproduced works...
It would be nice to get more than 12 songs on a shiny disc for $18.99.
I suspect if bands began adding inserts, posters, registration numbers for concert tickets, anything really, people would be a little more motivated to "PURCHASE" albums, rather than downloading. However, there are still those people who (rightfully in my view) refuse to pay $18.99 for something that isn't worth more than $10. So, Napster-like services will remain extremely popular.
It's refreshing to hear of a "retail-minded" band that is adding value to their CD in order to combat piracy. I like the idea of "perks" for those people who purchase the CD.
Hopefully, this will do well and maybe the industry will begin looking at alternative ideas, those that benefit the customer, rather than punishing, to combat piracy.
Then again pigs may fly over my house...
Mr. Simonyi has left Microsoft with the right to use the
intellectual property he developed and patented while working there.
That's only because Bill Gates owns his soul.
Sure, Bush has his reasons.
You're right. Bush has many reasons for limiting stem cell research; including, political, financial, and honestly most importantly his religious faith. Bush looked to his advisors, his party, his family, polls, and his bible to make the decision he did.
And Chris Reeve has his.
Right again. Reeves has many reasons for promoting stem cell research: including walking and breathing on his own, assisting others to walk and breath on their own, finding treatments for ALS and MS, etc... I'm sure, like Bush, Reeve looked to his family and faith in making his decision.
Does Reeves sound more noble, than Bush? It's easy to say yes in this case. Helping people to walk and breath is slightly nobler than protecting individual cells of dead fetuses. However, we have to respect the political and religious views of everyone in this nation. And Bush made a tough decision; one I don't necessarily agree with, but respect.
Just because it sounds good and sounds like it will do magnificent things, doesn't make it right.
It will take people like Reeves to turn the tide in this country; to make people see that stem cell research and usage will benefit people for generations. But before we begin to introduce stem cell technology, we must address the moral and ethical questions and set VERY distinct boundaries.
I am assuming (and hoping) that you are being sent to a "minimum" security facility.
33 months, I'm sure you'll have some free time; do you plan to study anything in particular? (I.e. Programming, hardware, philosophy, art, etc...)
Second question, how is your family taking your (future) incarceration?
Take care... I do hope that you don't have to serve the full 33 months.
In my humble opinion, pretty simple:
If your research is funded by tax dollars, then you should be subject to "politics." Honestly, if you take public dollars to fund your project, then you should be answerable to the public (i.e. politicians or some public leadership).
If you don't take public funds, then you should only be answerable to the law and your conscience.
Of course, that is in a perfect world...
It may be Gantenbrink's "claim," but it is Zahi Hawass' responsibility and job to promote, protect, and preserve Egyptian heritage. If that means he "bullies" some archelogists; so be it.
Again, I say if the pyramids were in America, only American archeolgists would be "permitted" to study them. Same goes for just any other nation of the world (especially China).
Is there something behind the second door? We'll find out soon enough... but I think it's great that after 3000 years the pyramids still have not surrendered all of their secrets. Even in the technology age, the pyramids hold tight their secrets! I would have said their "last remaining" secrets, but who knows 10 years from now maybe some young Egyptian student will find something else to intrigue us all.
Interesting, a group that fought for a decade to break Ticketmaster (in the name of the fan), that allows taping of their live shows, and in response to piracy: released their own live shows on cd (just as Dylan did almost 2 decades ago) would allow such a hokey marketing thing...
I wonder if there will be any back-lash from the radio or retail industry?
Great comic about this story, here.
I stand corrected.
The majority of "above-ground" mummies are in the British Museum.
One thing that kind of pisses me off about the whole
egyptology thing, is that the egyptian government is pretty strict on who they
let come and do work like this over there. If they don't agree with some of your
views on the history of the pyramids, good luck getting a permit to do anything
there. The history of the pyramids is very sketchy, and how the traditional
egyptologists think their theories are 100% correct is very arrogant.
Please remember that the pyramids are Egyptian, not American, not English, etc... The Egyptian government is only protecting their culture, their history. And if it seems like they're are too harsh, too strict I think you need to remember that most Egyptian artifacts and surviving mummies are in foreign museums, not Egyptian. (The majority of the world's mummies are at the British Museum).
I think that the American government (or any nation's government) would install the same strict laws and codes to protect its people's heritage from export.
I took my nephew and some of his friends to see the 1st Harry Potter movie. I thought it was pretty good (although I have not read any of the books), but they all agreed that it wasn't quite as good as they expected.
I think that expectations for some of the bigger films (i.e. HUGE ad campaigns) outgrow the film. We are inundated with print ad and TV spots for 2 or 3 months before the film is released. We are teased with quick shot after quick shot. And by the time the film is released, it doesn't meet with our overgrown expectation. In addition, any movie taken from a best-selling novel tends to not live up to the original novel.
"Actor Robert De Niro is inviting screenwriters with an interest in science to send their scripts to his film production company."
"Two winning writers will get financial assistance, along with help developing their scripts from filmmakers and scientists. At least one of the scripts will be read at De Niro's Tribeca Film Festival in 2003, and a film based on one of the screenplays will debut at the 2004 festival."
Aside from the inane comments of Doron Weber, this sounds like a great opportunity for aspiring screenplay writers. And I love the fact that they are promoting science (definitely something in this country that needs MASSIVE PROMOTION!)
I do hope that De Niro stays away from the "Hackers" / "Gen X" type kiddie movies that promote large corporations and their view, rather than the truth; and goes for something serious and honest... maybe a story based on Kevin Mitnick or something chronicling the birth of the Internet (definitely room for characterization...) or a comedy based on BOFH.
Probably wouldn't be too difficult to adapt the "fabric control panel" to access an MP3 player.
But you're forgetting that Sony had to come up with some kind of "cool" marketing idea to get rid of all of the MD players collecting dist in warehouses across the country.
$1000US... uh, no thanks.
"Furthermore, they plan on not fixing Word 97, leaving millions of users out in the cold."
That's not entirely true. It is true that before this story broke, Microsoft had no plans on updating or offering any new fixes for anything '97.
However, CNN and AP reported this morning that Micorsoft hasn't ruled out a fix and that they are in the process of determining what it would take to make a fix available.
I can think of 10 better books-that-should-be-films as well... hopefully someone will step up and invest some $dollars to make something other than another teen-pop-idol goes on a road trip to find him/herself, only to realize that mom and dad were right.
Thank god for Stan Lee and the whole Spiderman creative team. They saved Summer 2002 from absolute movie doom. (Runner-up awards to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Goldmember")
My novel-to-movie short wish list:
1. With the success of LoTR, I would like to see some of R.A. Salvatore's work make it to the big screen... but who could possibly play Drizt? Hmmm...
2. On a Pale Horse (Piers Anthony)
3. Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut) Would love to see the ILM folks create some Ice-Nine.
Star Trek: The Movie and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan were great! Then... sadly, they continued on and ended up making drivel. Spock dies, but then comes back in next movie. Kirk dies, but no it was a morph... hmmm... can you say regurgitation?
The NextGen movies weren't much better. And it's sad, because there are some pretty cool story lines they could have come up with. Just as in Voyager, they would come up with an interesting idea, but never play it out. The shows writers and producers always wanted to create a problem and solve it in one episode.
But oh well... we have Star Wars... oh no, never mind George didn't dive too deep into his creative pool for the new films.
I guess we just have to wait for the new Spidey film(s) and the next 2 LoTR movies. Maybe someone can convince Tim Burton and Michael Keaton to team again and do another Batman? Or maybe John Woo can step up and do a Justice League movie...
"Additionally, they should build a better arena and allow all those weapons currently outlawed, like EMP weapons, chemical, flamethrowers, magnetic grapples, swarms of multi-bots, etc. Should be much more exciting."
:)
Absolutely! In the beginning it was so much fun because no one knew what to expect. Now, 6 years after the "first" organized 'bot matches, people have rooms full of research and development and scouting reports on other 'bots.
I think they should introduce new weapons to livin' up the competition. Less restriction, more destruction.
Yet another reason I only listen to the music (and voices) in my head.
"These people aren't dumb. Behind the times, yes. Unmotivated to look for something better, often. But they read CNN's site and they hear about the continual MS holes. They hear about Linux, this "new" free Windows replacement that supposedly has better security... I get a few questions every now and then."
I agree. People are not dumb. However, we do live in a "Happy Meal" society: every 7 minutes most people lose interest at the commercial break.
I guess I'm preaching the difficulty of selling Mozilla and Linux to the masses. The "other guy" has millions to make "cool" commercials and buy old, should-be-retired band's hit songs. We just have good products that work and generally don't need 3 or 4 "service packs" to fix problems that should have been fixed before release.
"I haven't tried to set anyone's grandma up with Linux, yet, but I will soon."
LOL! Sweet! When you do, let me know. I'd love to set my Grandma up with Linux.
***Looks around. Makes sure no one is watching or listing***
I know how you feel.
"because of the perceived loss in privacy and online rights as a result of post-9/11 legislation."
First, it is not "perceived" it is real. Second, the only change (IMHO) in the last year is that the government is less covert in their limitation of our freedoms and that the average citizen accepts it in the name of "security." (See this
story)