when I turn off the phone. Not my cell phone (I don't have one, and I never expect to have one), my old-fashioned handset at home. It has a switch that turns off the ringer. She gets even madder when I ignore incoming calls. I turn if off so the damn ringing doesn't interrupt me.
Let me get this straight: hearing a live actor speak is "unnatural", and, I suppose, hearing a recording of an actor through speakers is "natural"? I think this is backwards. And I've stood in ancient Greek theatres where the back rows are quite far from the stage. If that's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.
Since I became wise to the world, I've never been fooled by the so-called "stunningly real scenarios" in the movies; I know that they are stiched together from the technician's bag of tricks. When I go the theatre, I know that what I am seeing is really happening, so I can focus on the quality of the storytelling.
Perhaps you've never seen a well-done play. A good production will move me every time. The theatre is very powerful, because the actors can't fall back on "good editing" or "digital enhancement" to improve their performances; they have to know how to create the illusion with their own bodies. This is not an easy thing.
There's no way actors will ever disappear. Media producers have learned the value of the "star system": you promote certain entertainers (regardless of their talent), mainly by feeding interesting stories to the press. How big is J-Lo's butt this week? Who was that I saw checking into the Betty Ford Clinic? Whoops! Brittney did it again! A CG character just can't generate that kind of interest. And that interest is what pulls the rubes^H^H^H^H^H audience into movie theaters.
You can compare this to the rise of the phonograph record. Everyone predicted that live performances would disappear. Hasn't happened yet. Some people will always want to see live actors (REAL actors) on a stage.
Aside: I love to tease the wife about this. She has her Equity & SAG cards, but every time a new & improved CG effect is produced, I tell her, "See, it's just a matter of time before you'll be fetching my Mt. Dew!"
1) juggling balls -- learning to juggle is a great way to get the blood moving when you need a break from the books. The beanbag style can double as hacky sacks.
2) frisbee -- sometimes by accident (wink, wink) they get thrown toward cute guys.
3) ukulele -- easy to play, and making your own music is so much better than listening to the same-old same-old on the radio.
Actually I think "reduction in cost" was Moore's addendum to the law from the late 80s/early-90s. Sometimes this has been referred to as Moore's 2nd Law.
Actually, Moore's 2nd Law refers to periodic doubling of fab cost.
The observation that the logic density of silicon integrated circuits has closely followed the curve (bits per square inch) = 2^(t - 1962) where t is time in years; that is, the amount of information storable on a given amount of silicon has roughly doubled every year since the technology was invented.
It really pisses me off when people replace "logic density..." with "computing power", or "reduction in cost".
For a long time, I've been in the habit of listening to the radio while watching TV. Every so often, the audio & the video intersect in a way that is highly entertaining.
Maybe my memory is faulty, but as I recall, the Spider-Man in the comics had a dark, brooding personality. Until the very end, this spidey has really only one scene where he shows that, and the scene came out of nowhere; it didn't really fit. Perhaps he'll move that way in S-M-II.
is a toilet that flushes my doodies down the first time. I just bought a new house, and if I had known better, I would have brought my turbo-toilet with me.
In 1978, I had the *cough* *cough* pleasure of spending my mornings with
Heinz Lenz. Here was a guy in his early 50's, and the rumor was he swam a couple miles before he led our little workouts. He put most of us 18-year-olds to shame. I'll never forget: "Good morning trrroops! Side strrraddle hop, begin!"
Whose marketing study has Katz been reading today? As usual, he conflates so many different ideas, if he were coherent he would be wrong. There is a story here, but Katz's ignorance prevents him from writing it.
I was fortunate to know the 'net from 1985 to 1994. (I'm sure some of you will remember the Great AOL Invasion.) I could read, every day, all the newsgroups I liked, and could try out a new one. I could browse for information with gopher and archie. Mailing lists were sources of highly distilled information. I connected to BBSs, and guess what, their main points of interest were "products, games, and entertainment". Today, it takes more work, but I can still get the stuff I want. I use a gui browser when I must, but I usually use lynx. The most notable thing is that there are many more choices today. I like that.
Re:cold + malnutrition + stupidity + foolishness
on
The Coldest March
·
· Score: 1
Actually, Shackleton's low-tech approach resulted less from "lessons-learned" and more from lack of funding. (He always had to scrape for cash.) Scott had the blessing of the RGS, so he could afford to experiment. And all sailing ships carried plenty of experience on them; they had only themselves to rely on. The history of Arctic exploration if full of ships stuck in the ice, marooned explorers, etc. I would agree that Shackleton was probably the best leader of explorers there has ever been.
Re:cold + malnutrition + stupidity + foolishness
on
The Coldest March
·
· Score: 1
Yes, all these contributed to their deaths, but if Scott et al had been properly nourished, they *would* have made it back. Compare to the 1986 walk to the pole (and back!) by Mear, Swan, and Wood.
Not cold, malnutrition
on
The Coldest March
·
· Score: 3, Informative
They didn't know about vitamins & minerals in 1912. The English diet contained a lot of processed wheat, fat, and meat. The Norwegian's included buckwheat and preserved berries. By the end, Scott & his team had starved to death. Read all about it in Roland Huntford's "Scott and Amundsen". (unfortunately, out of print)
The visual arts have long passed the need for "acting talent". Today's production techniques allow a director to show anything he wants. The only use for "stars" is to help market the product. The cult of celebrity has replaced critical appreciation. I see no reason why a CG character can't be added to the pantheon.
But I'm a little depressed, because many of the posts so far compare CG characters to "real" characters. As I noted above, directors can use CG tricks to show anything they want, so for TV, movies, etc. there is no such thing as a "real" character!
You could almost say that "The Matrix" already exists -- it's called Television. Almost everyone has one, it's controlled by greedy, nebulous forces, and it sucks out your energy. The antidote is the red pill: engage the real world. Don't watch a basketball game on TV, go to an arena, or even better, play a game yourself. If you want to see fine acting, screw the movies, go to a play. Downloading music is ok, but nothing beats real, live music.
Slashdot Mirror
They aren't developing weapons of mass destruction?
Oops, I forgot about the .info TLD. Never mind.
I recommend Vacuum Bazookas, Electric Rainbow Jelly, and 27 Other Saturday Science Projects. Loads of fun things to do, and each project includes a section for the science behind the project, which will allow you to get as in-depth as you want.
CD-RRRRRRR
I'm having trouble logging on to the Internet. Should I upgrade to AOL 7.0?
by Vannevar Bush, in As We May Think
It's everyone's favorite treat!
Please pass the mustard.
when I turn off the phone. Not my cell phone (I don't have one, and I never expect to have one), my old-fashioned handset at home. It has a switch that turns off the ringer. She gets even madder when I ignore incoming calls. I turn if off so the damn ringing doesn't interrupt me.
When you went to your culinary school, what was the most difficult technique you learnead? Is there an easier way to do it that is "good enough"?
Let me get this straight: hearing a live actor speak is "unnatural", and, I suppose, hearing a recording of an actor through speakers is "natural"? I think this is backwards. And I've stood in ancient Greek theatres where the back rows are quite far from the stage. If that's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.
Since I became wise to the world, I've never been fooled by the so-called "stunningly real scenarios" in the movies; I know that they are stiched together from the technician's bag of tricks. When I go the theatre, I know that what I am seeing is really happening, so I can focus on the quality of the storytelling.
Perhaps you've never seen a well-done play. A good production will move me every time. The theatre is very powerful, because the actors can't fall back on "good editing" or "digital enhancement" to improve their performances; they have to know how to create the illusion with their own bodies. This is not an easy thing.
There's no way actors will ever disappear. Media producers have learned the value of the "star system": you promote certain entertainers (regardless of their talent), mainly by feeding interesting stories to the press. How big is J-Lo's butt this week? Who was that I saw checking into the Betty Ford Clinic? Whoops! Brittney did it again! A CG character just can't generate that kind of interest. And that interest is what pulls the rubes^H^H^H^H^H audience into movie theaters.
You can compare this to the rise of the phonograph record. Everyone predicted that live performances would disappear. Hasn't happened yet. Some people will always want to see live actors (REAL actors) on a stage.
Aside: I love to tease the wife about this. She has her Equity & SAG cards, but every time a new & improved CG effect is produced, I tell her, "See, it's just a matter of time before you'll be fetching my Mt. Dew!"
Funny. I don't have a TiVo & I still have no idea what the hell this means.
1) juggling balls -- learning to juggle is a great way to get the blood moving when you need a break from the books. The beanbag style can double as hacky sacks.
2) frisbee -- sometimes by accident (wink, wink) they get thrown toward cute guys.
3) ukulele -- easy to play, and making your own music is so much better than listening to the same-old same-old on the radio.
Actually, Moore's 2nd Law refers to periodic doubling of fab cost.
It really pisses me off when people replace "logic density ..." with "computing power", or "reduction in cost".
For a long time, I've been in the habit of listening to the radio while watching TV. Every so often, the audio & the video intersect in a way that is highly entertaining.
Maybe my memory is faulty, but as I recall, the Spider-Man in the comics had a dark, brooding personality. Until the very end, this spidey has really only one scene where he shows that, and the scene came out of nowhere; it didn't really fit. Perhaps he'll move that way in S-M-II.
is a toilet that flushes my doodies down the first time. I just bought a new house, and if I had known better, I would have brought my turbo-toilet with me.
In 1978, I had the *cough* *cough* pleasure of spending my mornings with Heinz Lenz. Here was a guy in his early 50's, and the rumor was he swam a couple miles before he led our little workouts. He put most of us 18-year-olds to shame. I'll never forget: "Good morning trrroops! Side strrraddle hop, begin!"
But next time I go by, I will have to stop for gator-fest
There is music on MTV?
When did that start?
I was fortunate to know the 'net from 1985 to 1994. (I'm sure some of you will remember the Great AOL Invasion.) I could read, every day, all the newsgroups I liked, and could try out a new one. I could browse for information with gopher and archie. Mailing lists were sources of highly distilled information. I connected to BBSs, and guess what, their main points of interest were "products, games, and entertainment". Today, it takes more work, but I can still get the stuff I want. I use a gui browser when I must, but I usually use lynx. The most notable thing is that there are many more choices today. I like that.
Actually, Shackleton's low-tech approach resulted less from "lessons-learned" and more from lack of funding. (He always had to scrape for cash.) Scott had the blessing of the RGS, so he could afford to experiment. And all sailing ships carried plenty of experience on them; they had only themselves to rely on. The history of Arctic exploration if full of ships stuck in the ice, marooned explorers, etc. I would agree that Shackleton was probably the best leader of explorers there has ever been.
Yes, all these contributed to their deaths, but if Scott et al had been properly nourished, they *would* have made it back. Compare to the 1986 walk to the pole (and back!) by Mear, Swan, and Wood.
They didn't know about vitamins & minerals in 1912. The English diet contained a lot of processed wheat, fat, and meat. The Norwegian's included buckwheat and preserved berries. By the end, Scott & his team had starved to death. Read all about it in Roland Huntford's "Scott and Amundsen". (unfortunately, out of print)
The visual arts have long passed the need for "acting talent". Today's production techniques allow a director to show anything he wants. The only use for "stars" is to help market the product. The cult of celebrity has replaced critical appreciation. I see no reason why a CG character can't be added to the pantheon.
But I'm a little depressed, because many of the posts so far compare CG characters to "real" characters. As I noted above, directors can use CG tricks to show anything they want, so for TV, movies, etc. there is no such thing as a "real" character!
You could almost say that "The Matrix" already exists -- it's called Television. Almost everyone has one, it's controlled by greedy, nebulous forces, and it sucks out your energy. The antidote is the red pill: engage the real world. Don't watch a basketball game on TV, go to an arena, or even better, play a game yourself. If you want to see fine acting, screw the movies, go to a play. Downloading music is ok, but nothing beats real, live music.
Everyone should go out right now & buy a ukulele.